Spikes Destiny Chapter 8: All That is Below

*Dragon Lands-Dragon King Mountain* earlier that same day.

King Euphrinos was not happy, at all, news about the invasion and freedom of not only Wrath but from the rest of the deadly prisoners inside Valkatraz had shocked the entire dragon kingdom and the rest of the dragon empire. Said news was delivered by one of the prisoners, a dragoness charged with the crime of rampaging and destroying a complete Minotaur city in the past, killing hundreds on the process. The dragoness had arrived heavily wounded at the mountain of Sabarius and lived long enough to tell him the news personally.

The news of the liberation of Wrath spread out before he or Sabarius could do something to stop it, it had been a painful reminder that, even locked away and imprisoned, the legend of Wrath was still fresh between all the dragon races, especially in those old enough to have lived during the rebellion.

To make matter worse news about the assault on Canterlot reached him thankfully from Celestia’s pet phoenix, Philomena, and averted an even greater chaos among his kingdom. But what perplexed him the most was that Wrath was not there to face her and her sister, but to face her son, the young dragon Spike. Celestia had asked him to come and talk personally to her, for some urgent and private matters, sadly that would have to wait until he was done with his current meeting.

“What should we do, my king?” Deathglare asked. “The dragon clans in the north have gone into unrest, they threaten revolt! And our borders with the Griffon Empire in the south fare no better with tension rising every moment!”

“Also, my king, there are reports that our water brothers have began to close their trade lines and borders, mostly by fear I suppose.” a blue dragon said.

Euphrinos was meditating throughout the meeting, letting all the information sink before making any kind of decisions. “Anything else to report?” a unison of ‘No, my king,’ boomed in his meeting chambers before humming. “Valesha, I want you to take fifty of your best warriors and go to the north, stop them at all costs. Krygarius, I want you to go personally to our east borders and assure the Minotaur Republic that they have nothing to fear, we will handle this situation. Johotzi, you are to go to our Sea Serpent brothers, stay there and make sure they keep their trade lines open, we cannot risk creating tension with the Ursai, Penguni and Sealisium tribes. Finally, Gomboro, you shall go on a diplomatic mission to the Griffon Empire, talk with king Silver Feathers on my behalf and make sure this tension doesn’t escalate into anything bigger. Go now!”

With a nod and a bow said dragons left, leaving only three dragons inside the chamber.

“What shall I do, my king?”

“Nothing at the moment Deathglare, but I need you and your clan to be ready for war, Wrath is planning something and I will be ready for him, we will all be.” His tone was low yet full of authority. Moments like this serve to remind the two why he was king, to rule by power is one thing, to rule by fear is another, but to rule through awe. It was a trait few next to none have.

“And what shall I do, my dear old friend?”

“You have the most important role of all, Sabarius, you will stand in my place while I go to Equestria, it seems Wrath had made a move and visited our dear Celestia.”

The look that overcame Sabarius’ face in that moment was pure horror as he shouted, “Is she alright? Is Celly alright!?”

“Slightly injured and with a heavy heart, it seems her most faithful guard and friend died protecting her,” Sabarius sighed in a mix of sadness and relief. “Now, as I was saying, this morning Philomena came to my private chambers delivering a rather urgent message. By the looks of it Wrath did not go for her nor Luna or Discord, at all, he went for her son, Spike.”

Both Sabarius and Deathglare were taken aback by the news, “But my king, if what you say is true then what could be Wrath’s goal for it? Kill the hatchling to hurt the great Celestia?”

“Apparently, he already did.” Euphrinos turned his gaze upwards seeing the ceiling. “Wrath was capable of smashing the young hatchling against the ground, but it seems this only serves to deepen the mystery of this young dragon. He can regenerate at phenomenal speed.” Sabarius looked at him silently questioning him if it was true while Deathglare held his maw agape. “But even that pales in comparison to an even greater feat,” The dragon king went silent for a moment before looking at his two friends. “What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room, you understand?” His friends nodded slowly.

“Spike the dragon, the unknown hatchling, son of the sun Goddess, can hurt Wrath with his flames.”

The two dragons before the dragon king seemed to be frozen in time with clear surprise written on their faces.

“H-how is it possible? I thought the only ones capable of hurting him with our fire breaths were you and I, Euphrinos.”

“This hatchling can do that? Are you certain my king?” Deathglare said nervously, “I am not saying I doubt your or the sun Goddess’s words, but how can it be possible?”

“I am unsure of how can it be possible myself. Even I would doubt this as true if Celestia herself did not say so. She would never deliver a secret message if it was false.”

“What are you going to do then, Euphrinos?”

“I will do as we agreed, Sabarius. I will go to Equestria and discuss our current problems with Celestia; once I am done I will retrieve the hatchling and put him under our protection, if Wrath was able to attack Canterlot and injure her, then it is clear she is not fit to protect him,” Euphrinos gave out a soft sigh. “As I said before, you will stay in my charge until I return fro—“

“No”

“What?” Euphrinos said, eyeing Sabarius.

“I will not allow it.”

“Sabarius—“

“You cannot go, the kingdom needs their king in this time of crisis,” Sabarius said looking at Euphrinos somewhat nostalgically. “It is my responsibility to take care of this hatchling myself, for it was I who had the chance to keep him with us when he was still an egg and that it was I who convinced Luna and Celestia to let Wrath live.

I understand your need to see the hatchling and talk with them about this current situation, my friend, but this is something I must do personally.”

“I see,” Euphrinos said putting a claw on Sabarius shoulder. “Go then, bring the hatchling, sort this and any possible problem with Celestia and Luna and be back as soon as you can.”

“I will.”

With that said Sabarius left the chamber leaving his two friends inside it. After a minute of silence Deathglare looked up to his king.

“My king, if I may ask, why did you allow Lord Sabarius to take your place that easily?”

“Because, my dear old friend, I may be the king and I may have full authority over him, but Sabarius is something far more important to the Royal Pony Sisters.” Euphrinos smiled “Sabarius is not only their friend, but he is also their Godfather.”

“Their godfather!? I always thought that title was reserved for Sir Discord, seeing how close he was to his majesty Aurora Solaris.”

“It’s a long, yet quite funny story, my friend. Sadly we don’t have the time for it, come, we must prepare before any more bad news arrives.”

“As you command,” as both dragon walked out of the chambers Deathglare thought about something. “My king, where is prince Eukrarius? Shouldn’t he have attended the meeting also?”

“My dear nephew is guarding my hoard; it is too precious to leave it unprotected and aside from Sabarius I can only entrust its care to him.”

“But my lord... I thought you did not gain any kind power from it, since you are an honor breed, why could it be so… Impor…….it………..it cannot be.”

Euphrinos chuckled. “Finally realize it?”

“I thought it was taken away and destroyed.” Deathglare stopped and looked at his king worriedly. “Why would you have his hoard under safekeeping!?”

“Do not worry my friend, only Sabarius and I, well, now you too, know who’s hoard it is. To regain his power he will need his original hoard, until then he will be weak and won’t be a threat beyond his legacy,” Euphrinos smiled cockily. “And even if he does manage to know it’s his hoard my nephew will be there to stop him.”

“But……..if the prince is defeated?”

“He won’t be, he is skilled and powerful and in Wrath’s current state, while still dangerous, cannot fathom to defeat my dear nephew, and this nightmare will end before having a chance to start.” Euphrinos gave out a small laugh. “Come now, my friend, let’s make our way to your clan, I wish to speak with the elder in person.”

Both dragons made their way out of the mountain and of to the territory of the Fire Born Clan.

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*Griffon Empire-Castle of Griffophobis* Same time.

The great and marvelous Castle of Griffophobis stood high and proud over the mountain is was built on. It was a much bigger albeit less colorful sight then Canterlot would be, even in the distance the proud banners of the Griffon Empire danced in the wind as life surrounded it, it was a very loud castle like fortress any day of the year, but this day it was even louder, thanks to the enraged shouts of the king.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS??” King Silver Feathers shouted throwing a scroll before a bowing griffon, who was not moving. “Assassination attempt against the son of Celestia and princess Twilight!?” The bowing griffon said nothing nor moved an inch “WELL?”

“My dear,” A female voice said behind him. “Calm yourself and let our general talk.” The king huffed but calmed as his wife told so. “Now, general Clawshift, can you bring some light to this accusation.”

The general rose but still looked at the ground. “My king, my queen, I assure you, I had no idea this……this treason was being done, I would never try to do something as stupid and treacherous as this.”

“General, I know, we all know you and your ways and I’m sure you are innocent, but you must realize that due to your family’s past we cannot simply take your word for granted.”

“I realize, my queen.”

“Clawshift, you are not only one of our best generals but you are a dear friend of mine,” The king said. “So I want you to find the culprits, and not simple scapegoats, of this war attempt against Celestia and the ponies, now go, I must write a letter to Celestia.” The general rose his head up and looked at the kings eyes

“Clawshift,” The queen said. “You are a proud and dear friend to my husband and me. But should it come that you possessed knowledge of the act that had transpired in Canterlot... You do realize the repercussions... Yes?” She asked a slight frown on her face, though her voice was icy and cold.

“I know, my queen, I assure you I will find the traitors inside my household and end them myself if I must, there shall not be another Mardoclaws, at least not inside the same family.”

The king hummed satisfied as a servant approached with a scroll and fresh ink at his side.

Clawshift left the throne room and walked towards two of his personal guards. “Inform every guard and every family member to be present in the household in two hours, it seems we have a traitor inside our home and I will find out who the rats are.”
The two guards nodded and flew away.

“Is it true, dear?” A concerned female voice asked from his right side. “Are there really traitors inside the household?”

“Yes, my love, an assassination attempt was executed a few days ago in Equestria, the targets were the newly crowned son of Celestia, prince Spike Solaris and princess Twilight Sparkle, the leader of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Do you believe it was really one of us and not a hoax?”

“I believe the blood of Mardoclaws is still fresh and running in the family and I believe idiots who believe the nonsense of Celestia and Luna not controlling the sun and the moon are beyond stupid, what more proof do they need than what happened three years ago? The sun and the moon didn’t move for two full days until Nightmare Moon was defeated.”

“I know dear, but many still think it was only a show, an illusion if I may say so.” The griffon sighed “what are you going to do now?”

“The proof it was one of our is irrefutable, the assassin was not only in possession of one of our stamps but it also had the blood mark on her chest,” Clawshift gritted his beak. “Once I find who the traitors are I will force them to say everything they know and then I will kill them, slowly and painfully, it doesn’t matter whoit turns out to be, I will NOT allow our family to fall into shame and death.”

The female griffon smiled warmly at her husband and hugged him tenderly, “I know you will succeed.”.

The two griffons shared a loving kiss, unaware of the pair of eyes looking at them from the distance.

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*Somewhere* same time

A group of cloaked beings around a table were discussing the most recent event of their plans and how they should proceed.

“So the assassination was a failure?”

“No, it wasn’t, our spies report that the lizard can regenerate at great speeds, at first I thought it was just an exaggeration, but it seems the dragon’s attack yesterday proved this information to be real, the green dragon crushed the little lizard and then it got back up and healed up,” A grunt escaped the shadow’s lips. “It seems Celestia is a clever one, it must be some kind of spell only she can do It would explain why she is so weak right now.”

“You are wrong sister, Celestia is always weak, but yes, I must admit her force is even lower than usual, I think your spell theory must be correct.”

“Then what are we going to do with the little monster? It seems we cannot kill it that easily.”

“We won’t have to; he was going to be a way to create an opening against Celestia.”

“Then why don’t we use one of the Elements as our target?”

“Because, we need the Element bearers to be alive, if one dies the other Elements will be rendered useless.”

“True, but then what can we use to against Celestia?”

“Are you forgetting we also have Luna and Discord to worry about?”

“Of course not, but Luna is even weaker than Celestia, and Discord, while powerful, has gained a great weakness, one that I plan to exploit given the right time.”

“Now that I think of it, where is Winda? Shouldn’t she be here now?”

“It seems the operation failed, we haven’t got a word from her and her forces.”

“Then what shall we do now? Wrath was our ticket to an early victory.”

“We must wait, wait and see what happens, if Winda failed then we shall proceed with the plan, but if she succeeded then we shall execute phase two.”

“Soon, very soon my brothers and sisters, the tyrant reign shall end and the world will finally be free from her lies and threats.”

“Death to the sun tyrant!” A voice said.

“DEATH TO THE SUN TYRANT!” A multitude of voices said in unison.

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*Dragon Lands-Unknown location* same time

“Why must we listen to this griffon?” A pink dragon said while carrying mineral ore towards a lava pit. “She has no authority over us.”

“You fool, didn’t you know? Our Lord Wrath put her in command until his glorious return.” A yellow dragon answered.

“I still don’t buy it, why would our lord put that chicken in command?”

“I don’t know but we just have to do as she says. For the moment, that is.”

“HEY! You two get back to work!” A red dragon shouted above them. “The armor and weapons are not going to build themselves, now get to it!”

Winda watched from the skies as a hundred or so dragons, wyrms and drakes worked by either smiting weapons, armors or by fueling the lava pits. Wrath had put her, in a way, in charge until his return so she was going to make sure his forces were going to be strong and ready for battle. She had established a camp where he could rest peacefully, one abundant in resources, and where he could strategically command his forces, at the same time she was keeping an open eye in the distance to see if the dragons she sent to help her lord would return.

Her vigilant eyes soon caught the sight she had wished to see since yesterday, the sight of her lord flying fast towards them, flanked by two dragons, filled her with glee.

“Form up you maggots!” Winda shouted flying fast and low over the camp. “FORM UP! our lord is returning!”

There was no need for more words as the entire camp stopped what they were doing and quickly formed ranks, ready to greet their God of Greed. Almost all in rank and file were eager this would be their first time seeing him, their lord, the strongest dragon, this would be there first time seeing Wrath.

In a single minute every dragon was lined up and eagerly waiting for their lord to arrive, their wait was cut short as the two dragon landed softly on the earth and a few second later Wrath descended to the ground with a loud impact, almost making the ground below quake and the lava pits roar.

Wrath took a step forward as a heavy grunt escaped his scaly lips and fell down to the ground, holding his neck painfully.
“MY LORD!!” Winda screamed and flew right to him, levitating in front of him. “My Lord, are you injured? What have those pathetic ponies done to you!?”

“It……it seems you were right, griffon.” He said, groaning in pain. “I was *cough* too weak to face my foes so early, I let my vengeance cloud my thoughts………but *cough* it was not in vain, for I have claimed the life of the hatchling.” A smile appeared on his lips as a grunt escaped them.

“My Lord, please tell me what you need and I shall deliver it! The ponies will pay for daring to hurt your magnificence!” Windas eyes shone with pure fanatical light as she was ready to do anything for her lord.

“I will need my hoard back, that way *cough* I will be able to heal and regain my strength, and more*cough*” Wrath looked at Winda and smiled “What is your name?”

“Winda Breezeina, here to serve you and only you under the alliance of truth.”

“I see, Winda, please tell me what is that alliance of truth?”

“Of course my lord, the alliance for truth is a series of great and powerful groups in many kingdoms, we exist only to show the farce the pony race and especially that whorse of Celestia really are, pretenders and liars, a race so weak they have to claim power over the sun and the moon to keep themselves alive, to show all Celestia for what she really is, a tyrant.”

Wrath smiled before coughing and grunting a couple of times “Who conforms it?”

“As I said my lord, numerous groups of races, not the majority or the rulers themselves but very numerous and powerful fractions, such groups are almost all the noble houses of Equestria and the Griffon Empire, the rebels of the Minotaur Republic, several Diamond Dog clans, Zebra rebels and many other forces, our most powerful leader is Prince Eukrarius, but even he knows victory would be difficult without your outstanding force, intelligence and might.”

“I see,” Wrath stood up. “Contact lord Eukrarius and the rest of our forces; we shall proceed with discretion until I recover my strength. Your new orders are to go and inform our ‘allies’ about my freedom, tell them that as of now it is I who shall decide when and how to advance against Celestia, Luna and Discord, they are free for doing whatever else they please.” Wrath smiled wickedly at himself, “is that understood, General Winda?”

“Yes, my—“ Winda stopped for a moment before looking at Wrath.

“Now go, and do NOT fail me.”

“Yes, My lord!” Winda shouted before flying off as fast as she could.

Wrath watched as Winda went off to complete her mission, the burn marks on his skins still hurting him, a satisfied sigh echoing in the silence of the camp.

“Now that I have taken care of that heretical hatchling, I can focus on the search for my hoard and once I find it, Sabarius and Euphrinos will die by my claws, so will those three fools and then, this world will finally be cleansed of the weak and pathetic creatures that roam it, just like the insects they are.”

Wrath turned back and walked towards the biggest tent of all, once he stepped in the rest of the dragons cheered madly his name before returning to their work.

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*Canterlot Castle*

“SPIKEY!!”

Celestia screamed as he tried and failed to get up to follow her son, she could see the tears left on the floor, the pain on her side was too great to move at her fullest. But in her heart she knew Spike’s pain was worse.

“SPIKEY!!”

Celestia repeated as a grunt escaped her lips, finally seeing her surrounding and seeing just how much damage her son had made, all in the name to protect her. She gritted her teeth hard and got up, ready to follow her son and assure him it was all a big mistake and to hold him close to her.

She felt the pain in his eyes when he noticed the fear in hers, but it wasn’t fear of him, it was fear for him and what could happen to him in the future, she took a step forward before a claw stopped her.

“Let him be.” Discord said holding his face, his wound closing slowly. “The worst thing you can do now is to follow him, remember what Aurora did, Tia.”

“I can’t Discord!” She said, barely standing. “He needs me, Spike needs his mother!”

“Look around you!” Discord replied. “We must—“

“Princess Celestia!”

A shout in the distance was heard before a full regiment of both Solar and Lunar guards entered the room, the guards froze in place at seeing the damage not only on the room but to the ones inside it as well.

“Wh-what happened here.” A guard wearing a red armor asked. “We heard roars and shouting and came as fast as we could.” he then looked around the room scanning it.

Princess Celestia was clearly very damaged, if the scars and the burns marks over her body were any signs to go by. Discord was looking at the ground, he wasn’t sure, but he saw a bit of blood falling from his face. Princess Luna, princess Twilight, princess Cadence, the Ex-captain and their new changeling ally were getting up from the floor, small cuts and bruises over them, except for Chrysalis, who had a very nasty injury on her face and most of her wings were cut down.

Then the Element bearers with the company of Sir Fancy Pants were either stunned, trying to mumble something out or trying to help the only injured member of the bearers. But the damage to the room was what concerned him the most, it was clear to him and to any soldier really, that this was the result of a short lived but intense battle, the problem is, who was the enemy?.

“What happened here?” The guard repeated, this time targeting everyone in the room.

No one said anything, most were trying to say something but nothing came out, the guard was slowly losing his patience but before he demanded anything the laughter of Discord filled the room.

“Whats so funny monster?”

“Monster? Wow, how original of you……pony with no name?”

“I am General Red Shine; I demand to know what happened here!”

“………… Seriously? A general? Pitiful.” Discord walked towards the general and the rest of the guards. “It took you two full minutes for you to get here? Who the buck trained you? A tortoise? No wonder an assassin can sneak up so easily with such weak and lowly guards.”

Those presents, excluding the guards, were stunned at his words, not of what he was saying, but just how convincing it sounded.

“And here I thought it was the fault of Celestia or Luna or the Ex-Captain or somepony directly in charge, but no! The fault lies in the guard itself!” Discord walked around the room extending his limbs and arms every so often rather exaggeratedly. “Two minutes is enough for a Real trained group of attackers to succeed on a surprise attack.”

“W-what!??” The general finally said finding his voice.

“To answer your earlier question, this was my deed, I just,” With a snap of his finger he changed form to that of a black formless monster. “Wanted to test the power of our dear rulers and allies, the bearers were a happy accident!” With the echo of a snap Discord was back to normal and walked towards Fluttershy. “I’m sorry I was so harsh on you, my dear, but I had to be convincing.”

“O-of course Discord, I u-understand” she said before grunting a little in pain.

“Let me patch you all up,” With another snap of his fingers the room was back to normal and everypony else was healed up instantly, even Chrysalis was fine now “Now……on to the real issue.”

Discord teleported right in front of the general, his eyes shining red and his fangs bigger than usual.

“How dare you call yourselves royal guards!” His roar made the very walls of the room tremble “Your reaction time was so bad I think a snail would have gotten here faster than you!”

“Huh? B-but!”

“No buts!” Discord roared again. “Leave this instant and inform the rest of the guard, both the Lunar and the Solar that as of tomorrow I will personally train them until I see your abilities are at least magic kindergarten level, is that understood?”

“Y-you can’t do that!” The general answered back.

“I said, is that understood, Private?”

The general gulped harshly before turning around and shouting orders to the rest of the guards, making a hasty retreat.

Discord waited for a couple of second before snapping his fingers, returning everypony to their previous, injured state. “Sorry about that, but my healing powers don’t work like that.” He said teleporting back to Fluttershy, putting his lions paw over her injury for a couple of seconds before healing her completely. “There you go, my dear, good as new.”

“Thanks Discord” Fluttershy said, slowly standing up, seeing that, in fact, she was completely healed. “W-why did you do that, Discord?” Fluttershy asked as Discord walked towards Twilight and did the same to her.

“What? Oh yeah, the whole training thing? Well it’s half true, isn’t it? The guard really does need to improve, seriously Ex-Captain, two minutes to get here? What did you train them with? Tea parties and spa sessions?” He said as he walked up to Cadence.

“Thanks,” Cadence said as Discord finished with her. “Why did you lie to protect Spike?”

“What can I say? I like the little guy, plus it’s hardly his fault anyways.” He said as he finished healing Luna. “believe me, I know.”

“What do you mean ‘hardly his fault?’ He almost killed me!” Chrysalis exclaimed as Discord started to heal her, “Awwww…..ohhhhh, feels so much better now.”

“Oh really, then tell me, what were you doing before he started to go all Spikenator on your flanks?”

“Well, Chrysalis was healing princess Celestia with her magic,” Shining said. “And we were holding her down, the princess let out a scream of pain, then he burst in...”

“And started attacking Chrysalis.” Twilight ended the sentence as Discord finished up with her brother.

Discord turned around to see them all before face palming. “Yeah, because a former enemy that can brainwash her victims is shooting a magic beam to your mother while the ones close to her, say family and friends, are holding her down harming her, from his point of view at least, is an everyday occurrence and by no means should be confused as an attack.” There was a moment of silence. “And he is at fault here?”

“W-when you put it that way.” Chrysalis said, feeling ashamed for jumping to conclusions. “But that still doesn’t explained why he wanted to not only kill me, but anyone else that got in his way”

Discord walked to Celestia as everypony in the room looked at him expectantly.

“Tell me, have you ever bottled up so much frustration, anger, fury, impotence, self doubt, hate and all sort of nasty stuff deep, deep inside you and it all just pops out in one swift moment of lost control?” Silence met him. “I’m guessing no, the results can be pretty bad, even worse if we add a touch of Black Magic taint into the mix.” Everypony in the room gasped at the revelation.

“N-no, not my son, not my Spikey!” Celestia moved forward to Discord, urging him to heal her. “How can you be so sure!”

“I didn’t want to tell you,” Discord said. “I even thought he was unaffected, until I saw his purple fire, but Spike was also affected by dark magic in the Crystal Empire, Spike saved Twilight from a Shadow Door and in turn got caught inside the spell himself.”

“Th-then it’s because of me Spike was turning into that….that…that thing!?”

“No, thankfully, the contact was short lived and I think it only truly acts when he is angry. That ‘thing’ you say he was turning into……..I cannot say for sure, but I think everything he had bottled inside him was turning him into a powerful lethal protector.”

“But if that is true then why did he attack the princesses, eh?” Rainbow asked him.

Discord coughed a little before speaking. “Spike protect mommy!” He said imitating Spikes voice perfectly, managing to send shivers down their spines. “I think that was pretty clear, he wished to have the strength to protect you, Celestia, thankfully he hurt you accidently and thus was able to turn back into the Spike we know and love.” Discord placed his lion paw over Celestia’s head.

“Celestia, I’m going to heal you but you must promise me you will NOT go after him, you must give him time until he comes back to you, understood.” Celestia nodded slowly, not showing her face to Discord ever since his reveal. “Do you swear it in the name of Mot—Moon Light and Arurora?”

“I do.” She said weakly.

“Good.”

Once she finished up with her he walked towards Twilight and placed his claw over her head.

“Don’t talk or react, look at the ground.” He said inside her head, quickly she did as he told her. “Go to him, he will need you.”

“But why don’t you let princess Celestia, his mother at that, go to him?”

“Because right now he feels like the worst monster in the world and if he sees her now he could do something far worse, what he needs now is a friend, and what best choice than his oldest and best friend?”

“Promise me you won’t go after him either, Twilight.” Discord said out loud, Twilight nodded.

Twilight did not say nor did anything else; she just stood there on her place until Discord was done with her.

“Now carry on, you still have much to do and I have a picnic to attend to.”

With a snap of his finger he was gone along with Fluttershy, leaving a group of worried ponies inside the room.

“Sister, do you wish for me to search for our nephew?”

Celestia began to walk slowly outside the room, not bothering to answer her sister.

“Sister?”

“I will be in my chambers,” Celestia said, her voice barely audible and cracking every so often. “Do not disturb me until my little Spikey is back.”

Celestia walked away, for all but Luna it was the first time they saw the great and proud princess Celestia, the one who always shine with glory, power, elegance and wisdom, walk away sad, broken and defeated.

A minute of silence fell down as Celestia was lost along the hallway.

“Ehem,” all turned to the source of the noise. “I believe we must also depart. If you are willing, I gladly invite you all for a good evening dinner in my mansion, to clear our minds and sort our ideas. It would be a great honor to receive you as my guests.”

Luna nodded. “We accept, Sir Fancy Pants, it seems we all need to discuss these events in private.” Slowly everyone in the room left, all except Twilight. “Twilight, are you not coming?”

“S-sorry, I must be…..alone for a while, I’ll catch you all later, alright?”

“Ya sure Twi? You aren’t going to go crazy on us, right?” Rainbow asked concerned about her friend.

“Nah, don’t worry” Twilight answered, trying her best to ‘be chill’. “I just need to think for a bit and do some research, that’s all.” She smiled at her friends who in return smiled back before continuing their way.

Once she was alone she teleported outside, ready to find her number one ex-assistant.

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Spike ran as fast as he could, away from his mother and go somewhere else, he didn’t care to where, he just wanted to be away from her, to protect her from himself. He wasn’t aware of how much he was running, how far or where he was going, all he wanted was to be away from everypony.

After what seemed like forever he finally stopped, catching his breath Spike came to a halt resting against a rocky wall. Finally finding a place to sit and think.

‘I hurt her! I hurt my mommy, I hurt my friends! I HURT MY FAMILY!’ He yelled inside his mind, his voice nowhere to be found as his crying intensified.

‘I….. I wanted to kill them…… for hurting my mommy………. but, they weren’t hurting her.’ His crying increased as painful sobs left his mouth. ‘A-and now mommy is afraid of me………they are all afraid of me.’

“I’m a *sob* m-monster,” He said, his voice cracking down. “I’m a monster,” He repeated “W-what are *sob* my friends going to do? What is going to happen to me now?” A sudden headache rocked him away from his senses.

“Do you think I would still be your friend after what you did, Monster?, Go away and die for all I care!” Said a voice much like Rainbow Dash inside his head.

“No…..no, please.”

“Y-you scared me……. you are scary……. monsters are scary……… and….. y-y-you a-almost k-killed me, Spike…… I…. I thought you were my friend!”

“No, Fluttershy, I d-didn’t mean to---“

“Oh sure, this dreadful monster trying to justify his actions with petty and false excuses? I can’t believe I once held such a beast as a gentledrake, humph.”

“P-please, no, I-it it wasn’t my fau—“

“Go away meanie pants! Nopony wants to be your friend anymore, nopony in Ponyville wants you after you destroyed it, I DON’T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!”

“S-stop it---please….” Spike held his head with his hands, the headache increasing by the second as more voices echoed.

“Ah’ reckon you are nothing but a vermin, a pest to all of us, if ya’ll stay here you’ll only end up killing us, just go away and live like the monster ya are!”

“HNNGGGAAAARRRRRR” Spike rolled on the ground, holding his head painfully.

“How could WE possibly trust you after what you did, dear nephew? We can’t and you must be punished by your actions.”

“Stop it!!” His shout echoed in nothingness.

“I thought……I thought we were like family, Spike.”

“Please, STOP IT!” His fists found home on the ground, breaking it slightly.

“To think I let such a dangerous beast like you be near me, it makes me want to vomit each time I cared for Twilight and you…..you dangerous animal!”

“I BEG YOU, STOP IT!!” Again his fists hit the ground, this time cracking it.

“You disappoint me, Spike. I was hoping to be the father figure you wanted; turns out REAL monsters don’t have families or friends!”

“STOP IT!!!!!” Another hit from his fists created a crater.

“I promised I would never leave you, that I would never sent you away………….but you are too dangerous, monsters are dangerous, you are dangerous, Spike. I’m sorry, but you must go away and never return.”

“No…..please, Twilight, don’t make go, I don't want to go!” His headache vanished letting him cry inside his makeshift crater, before a very familiar voice echoed around the cave.

“I loved you with all my heart,” His mother said. “I loved you like the child I could never have, like the child I can never have.” A ghostly image of herself appeared in front of Spike.

“M-m-mommy?” He said as green fire surrounded her, after a few seconds the fire vanished leaving only a deformed ghastly Celestia. “MOMMY!!!”

“You did this to me, Spike!. You hurt your mother, you killed me!”

“No….NOOO!”

“I hate you!”

“You lie!”

“I fear you!”

“LIES!! Mommy loves me!”

“You are not my son anymore, monster.” Celestia said with the most venomous tone his mind could muster.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

Spike landed one last punch to the small crater turning it even bigger, his cries of pain echoing around him for what seemed like eternity. His cries became softer and softer until something touched him on the back of his head, looking up he saw the ghostly figure of the female gemstone dragon he had seen days prior. She was smiling warmly at him.

Looking at her eyes, his fear, his pain, his hate, everything just vanished, slowly he got up as the ghost moved backwards.

“W-who are you?”

“Come with me”

“Go with you where?”

“Come with me, please, come with me”

“………” Spike couldn’t find anything to say as the dragon ghost moved away and down a tunnel, finally realizing where he was “The Crystal Caves, how did I--”

“Come with me, I don't have much time left.” Said the ghostly echoing voice in the distance.

Wiping off his remaining tears Spike decided to follow the ghost, wherever it was leading to he was going to find out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------*************************************

Twilight trotted lightly, following the trail her locator spell was pulling her to, she had already passed the entire Royal Garden and one of the guard barracks. The path she was following was slowly turning to be quite familiar to her.

“This is leading me towards the Crystal Caves, but how could Spike know how to find them?” She thought accelerating her trotting. “Maybe princess Celestia told hi—“

A not so distant ‘Nooooooooooooooo!’ yell followed by a small earthquake made her lose her focus and ended up falling to the ground face first. Recovering quickly she knew the voice of the yell could only belong to Spike.

Arriving at the entrance of the Caves she lit her horn a little allowing her to see the surroundings and the trail of small feet left in the dust, slowly she followed the trail for several minutes, until after turning from a corner she saw a small purple light a good fifty meter before her.

Twilight smiled as she decided to approach slowly at the dragon, when she was only twenty meters away she saw him get up, seemingly in a trance and thanks to the echo of the cave she could hear him speak.

“W-who are you?”

Twilight got confused at the aimless question. “Who is he talking to?”

“Go with you where?”

“Go? Go with who!?”

“………..The Crystal Caves, how did I--” Spike suddenly focused on the path in front of him, whipped his face and advanced quietly onwards.

Twilight was speechless for a moment, she wanted, no, she needed to be near Spike in this great hour of need for him, but now she was greatly curious as to whom or what Spike was talking to. She decided to follow him, from a distance, to both guard him and discover what she had stumbled upon.

Casting a soundproof spell on her hooves she began to follow the little dragon towards the unknown depths of the Crystal Caves. For almost half an hour she simply followed him from a good thirty or forty meter distance and thanks to her spell she went undetected allowing her to see, with what limited light she had, the magnificence of the Crystals and also to notice something…….rather unnatural on them.

Spike suddenly stopped and looked down; he stood there for a minute before jumping over the edge of something. Twilight had almost shouted in terror but the small patch of purple light descending from the border prevented her from blowing her cover. Slowly she advanced and was able to recognize where she was, it was the same gigantic hole she and Cadence had to fly over to reach the exit during the changeling invasion.

Finally reaching the edge of the hole she saw Spike climbing down the wall, deciding to follow him, but not getting caught by him she casted another spell around her, this time an invisibility spell. “I have been searching for a good excuse to use it, might as well be now.” Opening her wings she followed Spike in his descent, still minding the distance between the two.

For twenty minutes Twilight followed Spike on his dangerous descent, each meter making it increasingly harder to breathe and hotter all around for her, performing yet another spell to keep her cool and with a good supply of oxygen she landed a minute later after Spike reached the bottom and kept on going his way.

“Now that I think of it, how is he able to glow like that?”

Twilight followed him through a very wide tunnel for a couple of minutes, seeing that the crystals down here were different from the ones on top, these crystals were more transparent, almost like windows but still sparkled against the light provided by the body of Spike, speaking of which, had came to a halt in front of a crystal wall.

“Huh? How am I suppose to do that?” He asked to the air. “My friend? What friend?” Spike turned around but thanks to her invisibility spell he didn’t see her or her light. “There’s nopony behind me”

Be it because it seemed like the right time to show herself or by the fact she was right down scared by his words, Twilight decided to drop her invisibility spell. Spike, upon seeing her, was speechless.

Spike tried to say something but couldn’t, instead he turned around away from Twilight.

“Spike” she began “I’m sorry I fo—“ something knocked her to the ground hugging her by her neck, she could also feel hot water damping her coat.

“I’M SORRY!” Spike yelled against her coat. “Please Twilight I promise to be good, I promise I will be your assistant again!” The muffled noise against her coat made it hard to fully understand him but she knew what he was saying. “Just…….just please…..d-do-don’t send me a-a-away, p-please.” Twilight wanted to cry as well as she hugged her ex-assistant tenderly.

“I-I know I’m a monster….. but I don’t……. I don’t want to be alone.” Twilight couldn’t hold back her tears anymore as Spike kept going. “I w-want to be with you, and Cadence, and *sob* and the girls, and a-aunty Luna, and Shining, and *sob* Discord, and ponies, and mommy. I want to stay with my family…….please, don’t send me away.”

“Oh, Spike.” Twilight hugged him closer to her and stayed like that for what seemed like hours until she finally calmed herself enough to talk “W-we never thought about sending you away, any of us, we love you, Spike.”

“B-but I hurt you, I hurt my friends…… I hurt mommy.” He said against her coat, hugging her a bit stronger.

“It wasn’t your fault; you were just trying to protect her.” She kissed his forehead lightly. “We all love you, Spike, you are not a monster, you could never be a monster.” She kissed him again. “I made a promise, didn’t I? I will never send you away from my side; I will always stay by your side no matter what.”

Another couple of minutes passed in silence before Spike broke the hug and got up, whipping from tear remains. Twilight did the same and smiled at each other.

“Say Spike, w-who were you talking to?” Twilight never believed in ghost or anything like that, but after the events of the book and now this, she was seriously having doubts about it. “When I found you, you were talking to somepony, who was it?”

“She is not a pony, Twi. She is a dragon, like me, you can’t see her? She is right in front of us.”

“I-I’m afraid I can’t see or hear her, Spike.”

“That’s weird because she can see you and---eh?” Spike said as he turned around at the front seeing nothing but air. “Alright, I’ll ask her.” Spike turned around again to face Twilight. “She asks if you could use your light to illuminate the entire cavern.”

“Why?” Twilight asked him, she was afraid alright but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be cautious.

“So that she can see us and we can see her.” Spike answered a few seconds later.

“Is she a dragon, like you? A gemstone dragon?”

“Yes.”

Twilight looked at his eyes for a moment before closing her eyes and focusing more magic on her horn, after a few seconds a ball of light emerged from her horn and shot up to the top of the cavern, revealing it was bigger than she thought it would be. Once the ball of light hit the top of the cavern it exploded, creating a miniature white sun and providing the cavern with enough light to see all the beauty and clearness of it.

“WHAT THE HAY IS THAT??” And also see through the crystals.

Right before them was a colossal skeleton inside the walls of the crystal cavern, they couldn’t see all of it for it was the biggest thing they had ever seen, but they could clearly see the gigantic arms, claws, bones and more specifically, the skull of a dragon in front of them.

Suddenly the eye sockets of the skull glowed red “Now you can hear me too, ascended sister.” said a ghastly voice around them. “I welcome you to my grave, dear ascended sister and young one.”

Twilight was frozen to the ground she stood on, her logical brain shut off and her instincts lost somewhere inside of her, but at the same time she felt something rather familiar about this dragon, she couldn’t quite put it together but the feeling was there. So it was no surprise when Spike answered first.

“W-w-who are you!? Are you a z-zombie?”

“No young one, I’m afraid I do not know what a ‘zombie’ is but I believe you already know who I am, after all you saw me during your experience with the book.”

“H-how do you know that!?” Twilight asked, free from her initial shock.

“The moment the seal was broken so was mine……….and as the book, my time is limited, please young one, let me guide you and warn you with what little time I have left.” There was a second of silence in the cavern. “I am the terror of the world, I am Echidna.”

Like lightning crashing on the ground the memories of what they saw in the book came back to them in an instant, Spike took the first step away from the wall.

“Please, do not run, but listen.” her voice was monotone and soft, as soft as a ghastly voice can get. “I mean you no harm.”

“WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU?” Spike shouted angrily “Thanks to you I'm the last gemstone dragon!” He took a step forward, his anger clear on his face.

“Because, while I am to blame for what I did the fault cannot be completely mine, I was like you once, young one.”

“As if!”

“You are lost within yourself, you are unable to decide what you should do or what path you must follow, your feelings betray you and you feel powerless and wishing for the power to do anything of real value to aid and protect the ones you love, always doubting your own capabilities and fearing you may turn into a monster if you lose control for even a second.”

Spike’s mouth failed to let out a single word or noise, it just hung open trying and failing to say something.

“H-how did you know that?”

“I know what you are feeling, for I felt the same when I was young and alive.” For a moment everything was silent, the only sound coming from the breathing of Twilight and Spike. “I couldn’t find a path worth doing, I tried and failed at every single one, for a century I remained the same, never changing, never growing, never finding my destiny.”

“Until one day, I was tricked, I was promised strength, I was promised might and wisdom, everything I would need to be strong enough, and, as the fool I was, I accepted, even when my parents and mentors always warned to never listen to those demons.” The eyes of the skull shone with a deeper red light for an instant. “The Nightmares.”

“You were possessed, like princess Luna was?” Twilight asked, not entirely trusting of the words of the monstrous dragon from the book.

“Yes, ascended sister, as it promised it gave me the power I so long and desired for, but at the cost of my mind and self control.” A distant sobbing was heard. “The rest I believe you already saw.”

“But you were annihilated by the Elements of Harmony!”

“No, dear ascended sister, I was killed, that much is true, my body casted into these crystals as my soul remained attached to it as punishment and it would remain that way until our book was destroyed.” Her voice turned serious for the first time in their conversation. “Now I wish to make what little amends I can, and guide this young one towards a glorious path.”

“How can I do that? I almost became a monster because of my greed and earlier today because of my hate!”

“You are mistaken young one, while your first one is correct the second one is not, that was not hate, it was love”

“LOVE??” both Spike and Twilight shouted.

“How can that be in any way love!? I tried to kill my friends!”

“Yes, you did. But what you wanted to do, what was the primordial thought that unleashed your short lived transformation after seeing what the Windigo was doing to your mother?”

“I…. I wanted to protect my mommy.” Spike said confused. “B-but I felt so angry, I felt the need to make all those who hurt her pay.”

“Indeed, but when you hurt your mother, did you not changed back?”

“But……why?”

“Because you felt weak.” Twilight said at his side. “Because you thought you were impotent to protect princess Celestia from harm, you were angry at everything else, even at yourself, but it was your desire to protect her, your love for her, that made you act the way you did, Spike.”

“Most accurate, dear ascended sister, love is a dangerous weapon for the wielder of it. It can become the greatest shield and strength you can have or be your greatest weakness.” The voice around them slowly began to die down. “You are a gemstone dragon, young one, you must control your emotions and desires, or they will end up controlling you. Follow your heart and you shall find your way, but be wary, there will be obstacles, you must learn to recognize and evade them and carry on until you are ready to choose your destiny.”

“Keep in mind, young one; there are two things you must never do.” the light on eye sockets of the skull began to fade away as well. “The first one is the path of hate, if you ever succumb to real hate you shall become a mindless beast with the only purpose of destroying anything in its path. Although similar to greed, hate cannot be satieted.” Spike nodded nervously. “The second one, is to never listen to the Nightmare, if it ever comes to you simply ignore it, no matter what it may offer you, no matter what it may promise, do NOT give in, or you will end up repeating my story, young one.” The light almost vanishing and the echo of her voice fading away even further. “Do you understand?”

“I think I do,” Spike looked at the massive skull in front of him. “What’s going to happen to you?”

“If I’m lucky I will finally be at peace and join my brothers and sisters in the great beyond.”

“Wait!” Twilight shouted, as her sun orb spell began to also fade away. “You said Chrysalis was a ‘Windigo’, how do you explain that?” She asked pointing a hoof at the skeleton “ and now that I remember, the dragon queen, Waldarys also said we had fought against them, but we never did, what do you mean by that?”

“The black creatures, the emotion eaters you call ‘Changelings’ are the descendants of the ice demons, the Windigoes. Do not judge them for it, all they wanted was to live among the living.” A sigh of relief echoed inside the cavern. “Remember young one, your decisions will lead you to your destiny………Sa kyr'am…… nau tracyn …..kad,… Vode …..an” The red glow on the eyes sockets died and the echo in the voice faded as the last words of that ancient tongue were said.

“Spike?” Twilight called to him after a minute of silence in the darkening cave.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know……what does that last part means?”

“……….Forged like the saber…………in the fires………..of death, …Brothers...... all” Spike said, for no real reason he felt very nostalgic about that chant.

"That's sounds very sad, doesn't it?"

"Very"

Another minute of silence followed.

“Twilight?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go home”

“Alright”

Spike walked towards Twilight and climbed on her back, both of them giving a last sad look at the skeleton encrusted inside the crystal walls before walking away. The sun orb Twilight created died away, the last spark of it illuminating a ghostly dragon figure looking at them.

“Follow your path, young one.”

The ghost said before fading away from existence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------***********************************

Celestia was lying on her bed, doing nothing but waiting for her son to come, she didn’t think of anything, not even on what she could possibly say to her little Spike, she just laid there on her bed, waiting and waiting.

A warm scaly hand touched her on the back of her neck, making her turn around. She saw her little Spikey smiling at her, an apologetic gaze on his eyes. Celestia smiled back at him before turning around completely and wrapping her hooves around him, hugging him lightly.

“I’m sorry for running away, mommy.”

“I’m sorry for making you cry, my son.”

Twilight watched from the entrance of her former mentor’s room as the mother and son embraced.

Just then the moment was ruined by a royal guard rushing inside the room.

“Your highness I bring you an urgent message.”

Celestia and Spike stopped their embrace to look at the guard bowing before them.

“What’s the matter, guard?” Twilight asked also entering the room.

“Chancellor Sabarius has just arrived and is asking for a meeting, right now.”

“Tell him I will be on my way,” Celestia hugged her son again. “As soon as I’m done with my son.” Spike and Celestia smiled, content by their simple, yet interrupted, moment of happiness.

Chapter 8 end.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to all those who read this!

Special thanks to Bennet001 for proofreading and minor editing!

Special thanks to Inferno demon Dash for proofreading!

This is to give you an idea for what it sort of looked like to see Echidna inside the crystals: Base for Echidna

also for those who might ask, Im not using the name of Echidna as a sort of spinn from my user name, I use it because Echidna is the mother of monsters, even she isnt a dragon I do love the name XD.