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Chapter 2-Temporary Vessel
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Moonlight shined in through the window of Spike's room in the new Golden Oaks Library at the castle, the young drake lying on his bed passed out, and after what he had been through earlier that day, he was justly so. After being hit with that spell, Twilight had rushed him back to Ponyville as fast as possible, though at first he had felt that she had been overreacting a bit, and he had protested her babying him, but she had refused to pay any mind to him. However he was grateful that she hadn't listened, because as they got halfway to town Spike had been hit with the most severe pain in his skull that he had ever experienced. By the time they had reached Ponyville, the sensation had spread all across his body, and could only be best compared to a series of wasp stings.
But after being taken to Dr. Heartstrings clinic, where he had spent nearly an hour being poked and prodded at and getting a pop-sickle stick shoved down his throat, he had finally been sent home with strict orders to stay in bed, as the doctor had diagnosed him with having a slight concussion along with a minuet case of the dragon-measles, something that both he and Twilight had found utterly ridiculous, and had strongly argued against. But Dr. Heartstrings was unable to give any other explanation for the burns across his back, since it was well established that dragons were highly magic-resistant. Of coarse at first he had complained about having to be restricted to his room for however long, that is until he had been given a strong dose of pain medication.
And that's where he had been for the rest of the afternoon, his head and chest bandaged while he was drugged up on whatever the doctor had given him, but whatever it was, he liked it, he really liked it. He felt great, everything around him seemed to be floating pasted him like a dream. Twilight and Nyx, whom for whatever reason that had compelled him had given and had repeatedly called Nyx Moonie's Crybaby, had brought him water, which he had asked a lot for, along with anything that he had asked for during the duration of that afternoon. Even Rarity had come over when she had found out that he had been hurt, giving him some herbal tea that she had made for him with a guaranteed that it would make him feel better. However, just to be in the same room with her was to him the same equivalent as drinking herbal tea and experiencing a high from pain killers. She just had the effect to make him feel like a million bits.
However even though he felt fine, his head had felt really light, like he had inhaled a large amount of Zecora's incense. He had considered telling Twilight about it, but he had shrugged it off as some side-effect of the drug that he had been given. That, and the fact that something in the back of his mind was forcing him to stay silent, telling him that it would better if he keep his mouth shut. All he wanted to do was sleep, and after struggling to keep himself alert, he finally allowed himself to slip away, spending the next four hours mumbling in his sleep.
But suddenly Spike's eyes opened, and instead of the natural green they were known for, they revealed that the two glowed luminous blue in the darkness. He slowly looked around his room before he rose up out of his bed and walked out into the hallway. He quickly and quietly passed both Twilight and Nyx's bedrooms, creeping down the staircase into the opened space of the library. There, after looking all around him to assure himself that he wasn't being watched, he knelt down on the wooden floor in the middle of the room and held out his right hand, closed his eyes as he started chanting in a voice and language foreign to his own.
"MAJ-IN! MAJ-IN! YAR TRIṈ KȮL YÜNA. HƎR MǏȮIS NAŮ, ƎN Ȱ-ƁĀ MǏ KE-ḾAN, WÊ MĀ-BE ẂƎNBORA."
A light began to glow above his hand as he repeated his words, but he didn't react to it. Instead he continued his chant over and over, each repeat causing the light to grow brighter and brighter until, with a blinding flash, a large purple gemstone fell with a small thud into his claws.
A smile crept onto Spike's face as he held the star-shaped gem to his chest, while muttering something inaudible underneath his breath. Spike then got himself back to his feet, sighing before walking to the front door, opened it, then turned and looked over his shoulder one last time to make sure that he wasn't going to be followed before running out into the darkened street. But unknown to him, a pair of serpentine eyes had watched his ever move from the upstairs railing.
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"Mom. Mom! Wake up!"
Nyx had walked into Twilight's room just moments after Spike had left the library, and now she was on top of her mother, who was proving difficult to wake.
"Come on, Twilight, wake up!" Nyx wined.
Twilight groaned and opened her eyes halfway to look up at her daughter, who was staring back down at her with a pretty worried look. It had been almost a year since the Hearth's Warming Calibration, and her now nine-year old foal had her hoof jabbed in her stomach. She moaned, moved slightly, causing Nyx to fall off of her in an attempt to return to her sleep. But the filly would have none of it, taking the blanket covering Twilight in her teeth and started to pull it off of her, immediately drawing a reaction from the purple mare, who grabbed it with her own teeth, beginning a heated tug a war between the two. Nyx used her little wings to give herself some extra strength, giving her somewhat of an advantage over her, while Twilight on the other hand was in an awkward position that left her unable to use her own, silently cursing herself that she had allowed Rainbow Dash to train her daughter in the ways of flight.
But Nyx finally prevailed over her groggy mother, falling backwards when Twilight gave up on the sheets and let them go, squeaking in surprise as her body was buried under the cover.
"Nyx, what do you want? It's one in the morning!" Twilight grumbled while look at the clock, agitated that she had been pulled from her rest.
Nyx steered from underneath the blanket trying to find an opening to poke her head out, "Mom, you need to come with me right now! It's Spike, he's in trouble!"
"Hmm, what about Spike?" Twilight said weakly, her eyes threatening to close.
Nyx bit her lip, "Mom! Spikes' left the library!"
"Oh, that's nice, honey." Twilight let out a yawn before lying down on her pillow to go back to sleep.
"WHAT!?"
A small yelp escaped Nyx's throat, quickly jumping back under the sheets to avoid being hit by one of Twilight's flayed out wings as she stood up on her bed, her head jerking around this way and that in a panic while Nyx fumbled under the sheets to make some space between herself and her frantic mother.
"Spike?Where'sSpike?!Wheredidhego?!Whatdidhedo?!Whydidheleave!?Didhesayanything!? What-"
Twilight was suddenly silenced by a pillow that Nyx had levitated to throw into her mother's face, pulling Twilight back into reality.
"Mom, please! Just calm down, I can tell you what happened!" Nyx cried, jumping up to catch one of Twilight's front hooves, which she wrapped herself around, her eyes beginning to tear up in fright.
Twilight stared down at her crying child, that one image beginning to tear at her heart. If one thing had not changed about Nyx after she became Nightmare Moon, it was that she was so easily upset, allowing her sensitivity from time to time to draw her into a crying-spell. Nyx had become more resilient to depression, but she would still resort back to the scared crying filly that she had rescued from the Everfree forest three years before, and at times it made Twilight happy that Nyx kept that one trait, feeling that somehow it formed her warm innocence into a living reality. But now it broke Twilight's heart that she had frightened her foal so badly.
Looking down at the trembling child at her hooves, Twilight lowered her head and nuzzled Nyx's cheek, using her hoof to raise the filly's chin up so that she could look into her daughter's eyes, "shhh, it's okay. It's alright. I'm sorry I upset you Nyx, it's just that...Spike has never done anything like this before, not even when he was first hatched. I'm just worried about his safety. Can you at least tell me that he's alright?"
Nyx had stopped crying, but her ears still drooped down to her forehead, "Umm...Well, I'm not sure."
Concerned, Twilight looked down at the grim face on her daughter, "W-What do you mean, sweetie?" she said feebly, cocking an eyebrow.
"I-I...," Nyx said weakly, her words forming slowly in mouth, "Well, I got up to get some water from the kitchen, but as I was walking out of my room, I heard a voice coming from downstairs. It was Spike, but something didn't seem right, so I hid behind the railing where he wouldn't see me, but I could watch him in secret. I think he was talking to himself, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. He was talking really funny, too, like when you're speaking through a microphone."
"Talking really funny? Microphones? Nyx, are you sure that you didn't just dream this up?" Twilight asked, a little doubtful.
"Yeah, and it was really deep, too, like this." Nyx lowered her voice, trying her best to make the deepest, manliest tone that she could, "And he was all like 'I'm in charge. I'm in control.' attitude, and really calm acting, Mom."
"But," Nyx began, her voice returning to normal, "I was gonna go down there and ask him about what he was doing, but before I could do anything, this bright light came out of nowhere, and when I looked back, he was hold-" However before she could continue Nyx fell silent, not exactly sure what she was supposed to say.
"Nyx, what was he holding?" Twilight asked, trying to coax an answer out of her, but the little black filly said nothing.
"Nyx, please tell me?"
Nyx looked up at Twilight, a strange, cold fear that she couldn't understand welled itself up inside of her as she spoke, "He...he was holding your element, Mom."
Twilight was taken aback by this, not really processing what Nyx had said to her, "What?"
"Before you tell me that I must be mistaken, I KNOW what the elements look like. I've seen them up close, and I say it again, Spike left the library with the Element of Magic."
Twilight's mouth hung open, unable to grasp anything that she had just heard, "But...but how? The Elements were returned to the Tree of Harmony, sealed away with a powerfully advanced magic! None of them can be removed unless Equestria desperately needs them. So how did Spike get ahold of mine?! He can't even use magic!"
Nyx however didn't have an answer for this, instead looking down at her hooves while Twilight was off trying to gather any logic from this. However Nyx suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground by Twilight's horn, setting the filly on her back along with her saddlebags.
"Where are we going?" Nyx asked.
"Nyx, we're going to find Spike before he gets himself hurt even more, or worse. But first, we need to gather the girls. We're gonna need all the help we can get if we're going to get any answers, and solve this mystery."
"Let's go."
"Now yer sayin' he did WHAT?"
Applejack looked forward dumbfounded along with the rest of the mares, all of them standing around Twilight and Nyx in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight had gone to each and every one of their houses, half-dragging them out of the comforts of their beds all because she was going off on some nonsense that they had a critical situation on their hooves, and that's where they had spent the last thirty minutes, listening to a half-crooked story that the two alicorns were trying to pass off to them. Unfortunately, the group was having a hard time accepting their claim, and each one of them was closer to falling asleep right where they stood then they were in following, let alone comprehending, a word of what they had to say. So Twilight had to start all over again. And again. And again, until the group finally showed some sign that they were beginning to understand what was coming off of her lips.
"So yer all tellin' us that Spike, our Spike, was goin' aroun' sayin' some kind of hocus-pocus, and then SUDDENLY, the Element of Magic just appeared?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I wouldn't call it 'hocus pocus', but yes." Twilight answered, a little annoyed that she would refer to magic as 'Hocus Pocus'.
Applejack snorted, shaking her head, "Oh, what the hey is goin' on, Twilight? Honestly I think you migh' need to have yur head checked."
Twilight scoffed at this, gaining some snickers from her friends. Of course, not all of them were taking this unrealistically, though maybe not as seriously as one would hope for.
"This is so awesome! And here all this time I thought dragons couldn't use magic. That little sneaks' been holding out on us!" Rainbow Dash chimed in, finding the whole conversation all too interesting for all the wrong reasons.
Fluttershy looked over at Dash, who was hovering over the rest of the group, while she herself preferred to stay on the ground,a little more worried than the rest, as expected, "Umm...that's because they can't, Dash."
Dash looked at her confused, "Well what do you know about it, then?"
Fluttershy looked down at her hooves, not really wanting to speak up in the first place, but it was too late now, having sparked everypony's curiosity, "Umm...dragons are greed driven, Dash, and because of that they can't focus well enough to use it. In fact, any kind of negative emotion in a non-pony will cause an inability to perform magic. That's why not many other races can do it."
All of them stared at Fluttershy slack-jawed, causing the yellow pegasus to hide behind her mane.
"Tarnation, that was a mouth-full." Applejack broke the silence, trying not to laugh.
"Fluttershy, where did you learn that?" Twilight asked inquisitively, amazed by the block of knowledge that had come out of her friend's mouth.
"Umm...I borrowed some books from the library about it." Fluttershy answered weakly, keeping her head low.
Twilight looked at her curiously, "I-I never realized that you had an interest in that kind of subject. I mean, you're scared of dragons! What motivated you to pursue it?"
"Oh," Fluttershy said while looking at Twilight through the strains of her hair, "It was back when you first moved into Ponyville. I just thought if Spike ever got sick, it would be good for me to know any natural remedies that would help the poor thing to get better."
Twilight allowed a smile to form on her face as she placed a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, "That was very thoughtful of you, Fluttershy. Thank you."
The pegasus blushed, smiling shyly before she returned her gaze to her own hooves.
"Ah, excuse me, I don't wish to be rude but, don't you think we may be getting a little diverted from the current situation at hoof." Rarity spoke up. All this time she had been listening a little more anxiously to Twilight and Nyx's story than the rest of the mares about what had happened to Spike, and she was making it quite evident.
"Yeah! If we don't find Spike soon, how can I give him his "Super Duper, Hope You Feel Better" party tomorrow, if he won't even be there to have it?" Pinkie Pie chirped out, being as childish as usual while she bounced up and down.
Rarity glared at her, "Really darling, how could you possibly think of a party at a time like this? Spike is wandering out there in the dark somewhere, alone! The poor dear is probably frightened out of his mind."
However, Pinkie didn't answer Rarity. In fact, she had stopped bouncing all together, instead her attention was drawn to something that she had spotted off to her right.
"Alright, so this is my plan." Twilight began, levitating a stick towards herself so she could draw a map into the soft dirt, "We'll split up into three groups. Rarity and Nyx will go with me to investigate..."
"Umm, Twilight?" Pinkie said nervously, but Twilight didn't hear her.
"...the palace. Now, Applejack, you and Rainbow Dash can go and search..."
"Twilight?" she said a little louder.
"...with Fluttershy. That way we can all cover more ground in a lesser amount of time. Alright, let's-"
"TWILIGHT!?"
Everypony in the group was caught off guard by Pinkie's sudden increase in volume, and immediately turned their heads to face the pink mare, whose hair had deflated to run down the side of her face, staring ahead of them wide-eyed, frowning.
"Pinkie? What's wrong?" Twilight asked, worried by the Party-pony's sudden change in demeanor.
"I-I think I know where Spike is." she said nervously.
"Oh, thank Celestia for your pinkie sense," Twilight cheered, "So what is it? Wrinkled nose? Twitchy tail? Achy hoof?"
Pinkie shook her head in reply, choosing instead to answer by lifting up her hoof to point ahead of her, refusing to take her eyes off of what she was focused on, causing everypony else to look at whatever she was staring at.
What they saw made them all turn white.
They were all staring at Everfree, but the threatening atmosphere of the forest that it was known for looked a hundred times worse, thanks to a large mass of clouds that had formed above the forest canopy, changing the skyline all around into different shades of gray, black, and red while lightning flashed across the circling cloud. But the phenomenon wasn't following the random pattern of normal weather, instead the clouds were being focused over one central point above the forest.
The vortex circled above the ruins of the Everfree temple.
Spike walked slowly across the floor towards the stone altar that rained from the middle of the temple, a smile spread over his face as he gazed around the beautiful interior of the structure. He was both thrilled and astonished that after all the long years since it had first been built it had withstood the sands of time, and though he could see that the eastern wall had begun to crumble, signaling that it had started the path into slow decay, it made him happy that at least ONE thing was left to survive from his world into modern times.
His world. His...home.
Spike quickly shook the unhappy memory away from his current thoughts. He would have plenty of time to mourn later. But for now, he had some work to do.
Eagerly placing his claws on the alter, Spike began going over the right materials that he would need to prepare in his mind. Of coarse, potions and enchantments had never been his persona during his youth, leaving those areas of study in the worthy hands of his younger brother, leaving him with no room for failure. He would only get one shot at this.
Of course, if he DID screw up he'd never realize it until it was all too late, and to say the least the ending result would prove disastrous for everypony.
So looking around the chamber, Spike spotted a series of jars lined side by side of each other against the furthermost wall. His eyes glowed, and out of the corner of the wall a large jewel-encrusted vase levitated over to him and came to a rest in his claws. Peering inside to stare at it's contents, he was filled with satisfaction as his eyes made contact with the blackish-gray powder inside. He took a strong whiff of it and smiled as his nostrils were overwhelmed with it's aroma, the scent a cross between raw cinnamon and vanilla. The rarest of the ingredients needed, the aged ashes of the Northern Black Oak tree was probably the most important as well, for the nature of it's origin had to be in sync with the character of his heart if he was ever going to hope to awaken from his stone slumber. And right now, his heart was a burning furnace.
Pouring the contents of the vase into the bowl-like container on the top of the altar, he filled it up until it covered the emerald jewel that was at the heart of the bowl, then he levitated two smaller jars towards him, emptying the contents of the first one in with the black oak powder, but with the second he opened the lid and only took out three golden threads, placing one into the mix of ingredients, but lying the other two on the rim of the altar. He would have to wait and put the others in throughout the ritual, otherwise he would run the risk of...complications.
Finally, after he felt that everything was ready he sat the empty jars onto the floor away from him. He prepared to add the final piece of this delicate puzzle, which came when he inhaled a large amount of air and held it, waiting until the fires deep inside of him were hot enough before he let out a stream of the emerald flames onto the collected mixture, devouring it all before it burst into silver fires.
Spike backed away for a moment, contemplating the reality of his situation, while at the same time marveling at the scene. Soon, soon he would finally be free of his stone imprisonment, and this one thought was starting to fill him with anxiety. He so disparately desired to go out and breath the fresh mid-night air and to feel the cool wet morning grass underneath his hooves, but at the same time he was afraid of what might await him in this new world. He wasn't a fool; he knew that a great amount of time had passed since he last walked the earth, and for all he knew, things could have gotten even worse since then. But looking down at the pouch at his side he was comforted that he would have the power to make things right. Nothing could change what had happened, but he COULD make amends for the damage caused by his brother, vowing that he would never allow for that horror to ever happen again, and now that he would soon be reunited with his element, he would do everything in his power to set things on a new and brighter path.
The flames above the altar suddenly flashed white, signaling that he would have to put in the second thread. It was important that he waited to put them in, otherwise the spell could become unstable and potentially cause an explosion, one that could easily wiped both Ponyville, Canterlot, and half the Everfree Forest right off the map. Of course, he wasn't completely stupid when it came to performing a ritual spell, and after a few minutes the white flash would appear again and he would place the third and final thread in, after which it would be ready to receive the purple gemstone that now rested comfortably at his side.
But for now, he would have to wait patiently for the time to come as he sighed and walked back to the altar and placed the second thread in.
"Spike? What are you doing?" A voice said from behind him.
Spike stopped dead in his tracks, looking behind himself to gaze at the pony who had addressed him. At the entrance of the temple stood seven ponies held right where they were like stone, one of them considerably younger than the rest in the group, all of them staring in disbelief. He turned his body around to face them, his eyes passing slowly between each member of the group. He noticed the look of shock and confusion on their faces, as he slowly tried to remember who they were.
One pony in particular stood out from the rest, her attitude suggesting to him that she was the leader, "Spike? What are you doing? Get away from there!" she yelled.
Spike frowned. This pony had only spoken a few words and already she was testing his temper, disturbing him from his work so she could scold him. However, though she was trying to be firm with him, he noticed her expression, betraying her by telling him that she was more distressed than angry. At the same time, she was beginning to spark his interest, studying her body over, from her lavender coat that went well with the tri-color of her mane and tail. And for a cutie-mark she had a six-pointed pink star, with five smaller white stars circling around it, and-
…
He trailed off from his train of thought when he noticed the horn and wings that identity her as an alicorn, something that shocked him. But as he looked to the other mares he discovered that there was yet another pony among them, the youngest of the group, who had also been blessed with such a high status, though he was a bit confused with her irises, glowing brightly in the dark. Interesting…
"Spike, please come home."
Spike looked back at the older alicorn's face. The mare's eye's had started to tear up, making him question why she was so attached to this dragon.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT, WOMAN?"
The group jumped as Spike spoke, startled by his sudden use of words. But his voice was too deep to be compared to the drake they knew, the way it echoed through the chamber sent chills down their backs. None of them answered right away, too fixed on what could have happened to him to speak.
Finally, Twilight stepped forward and swallowed, "W-What did you say?"
"I SAID," he began calm and slowly, though his voice still held a great deal of it's power, "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT, ALICORN, ARE YOU DEAF? OR DOES STUPIDITY COEXIST WITH YOUR YOUTH?"
"My word!" a white unicorn gasped, taken aback by his sudden rudeness.
Spike immediately turned his head to face the unicorn, a gentle smile spread across his face.
"Rarity?" he said softly, in voice more closely resembling his own.
Rarity stared at him blankly, a little curious about what he had to say, "Y-Yes Spike?"
He shook his head around for a moment to clear his mind. He had lost control of his host for a minute there, allowing the dragon's emotions to mix with his own. But he regained his dominance, though not before he had been bombarded with memories of these ponies; happy memories of friendships, loyalties, admiration, and love. Things that he shouldn't have seen, but was surprised to find, but this knowledge was going to make what he had to do much harder.
"I AM CONFUSED. IF YOU CARE TO EXPLAIN, HOW HAVE YOU BECOME FRIENDS WITH THIS DRAGON? AND MORE PREFERABLY I WOULD LIKE AN ANSWER FROM YOU, TWILIGHT SPARKLE."
"I've known and raised him from an egg, and we've…" Twilight said before she looked at him skeptically, taking a step towards him, "Wait a minute, who are you? And how do you know my name?"
"WHO AM I?" he repeated her question, pondered it over in his mind, "I...I AM A GHOST. A MEMORY. OR, TO BE MORE PRECISE, I AM ONLY THAT WHICH IS THE SHADOW OF ANOTHER, AND I WAS AWAKENED WHEN YOUR 'FRIEND' PUT HIS GREEDY CLAWS ON MY ALTAR."
Spike looked at her with a smile, "AS TO HOW I KNOW YOUR NAMES, YOU CAN THANK HER." he said as he pointed a claw at Rarity, making her uneasy.
"M-Me? I don't understand, what did I do?" Rarity asked rather quickly, aware of the looks that she was getting from her friends.
"NOTHING. AT LEAST, NOTHING DIRECTLY. PSYCHOLOGY, SPIKE IS NOTHING BUT A PASSENGER, AND WHILE YOU SEE HIM BEFORE YOU IN BODY, EVERYTHING THAT HE HAS DONE OR WILL DO ON THIS NIGHT IS THE RESULT OF MY WILL."
"HOWEVER," he said, looking at their confused faces, "IN HIS HEART, EMOTION HAS A STRANGE WAY OF MOMENTARILY BREAKING SOMEONE FROM MY POWER, AND THE EMOTIONS I SENSE INSIDE HIM TOWARDS YOU ALL IS STRONG, BUT IT IS AT IT'S GREATEST POTENCY WHEN I AM CLOSER TO YOU, RARITY. IT ALLOWED ME TO SEE THINGS MORE CLEARLY, AND I MUST CONFESS, I DID NOT HAVE TO LOOK INTO THOSE MEMORIES TO LEARN OF WHO YOU ARE TO HIM. I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THERE IS A SPECIAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU TO WARRANT SUCH POWER, WHAT DO YOU THINK?" he asked her with a grin.
Rarity stared in shock as she listened to this personal revelation, while Twilight stepped a little closer to him, looking at him grimly, "So, tell us, why did you steal the Element of Magic?"
Spike arched an eyebrow at this question. What was the 'Element of Magic'? He looked at Twilight inquisitively, pondering how to respond to such a ridiculous accusation. He had stolen nothing, and the fact that they had claimed that he had done otherwise was adding more fuel to his anger. He could feel it welling up inside him threatening to burst, but before he could dwell on this matter for any longer than he should have he tightened his grip on the jewel that he held in his grasp, forcing a particular memory into his mind. That's when he pieced it together.
"DO YOU TAKE ME AS A THIEF? HERE IS YOUR 'ELEMENT'!" he held up the purple gem for all of them to see, "AND I ASK YOU: WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT I AM A THIEF WHEN I HAVE TAKEN ONLY WHAT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO ME?!" his voice raised in volume, growing with his agitation.
"What belongs to YOU?!" they all shouted in unison.
"The Element of Magic doesn't belong to any one pony, it belongs to all of Equestria!" Twilight shouted.
"HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME! YOU IGNORANT LITTLE-" Spike stopped himself and breathed, trying to keep his cool. So instead of blowing up on these ponies, he turned his back on them so he could face the altar, just in time to see the fire in it glow white for the second time, "I HAVE SEEN HIS MEMORIES OF YOU ALL, TWILIGHT SPARKLE. IT IS FOR THAT REASON THAT I DO NOT WISH TO CONTINUE IN THIS ARGUMENT ANY LONGER, FOR HIS SAKE ONLY. SO I ASK THAT YOU DO NOT INTERFERE WITH MY INTEREST. OTHERWISE, I ASSURE YOU, THINGS WILL BECOME UNPLEASANT. YOUR HEART WAS ABLE TO UNLOCK THE ELEMENT'S POWER. ALL OF YOU WERE, AND THAT SHOWS ME THAT YOU ARE INDEED GOOD. BUT WHAT YOU FAIL TO REALIZE, IS THAT YOU ARE ONLY A BEARER OF THE ELEMENT OF FAITH, BUT I, I AM IT'S MASTER."
"NOW, IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO." With that, Spike made his way to the altar. But before he could get halfway across the room to his target destination, he suddenly felt himself being lifted off the ground by a levitation spell.
He spun his head around, just in time to see that Twilight's horn was glowing, lifting him in her magic.
"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he shouted in alarm, struggling against her hold on him, "LET GO OF ME!"
But she wouldn't, looking at him with a scowl, "NO! I've had enough of listening to this malarkey, Spike! You're coming home with us right now!" Twilight turned to the temple doors, levitating Spike behind her.
Oh, he had had enough of this.
"I SAID," he motioned his hand forwards, directing it towards Twilight, "LET. ME. GO!"
Suddenly, she was rocketed forward by a shockwave of pure energy, slamming her into the wooden-frame doors, knocking the air out of her lungs. The force of the hit momentarily stunned her, but after a moment she was able to shake it off, her attention being drawn immediately back to the origin of the blast, everypony in the group staring at it in shock.
"Wha-!?"
Floating in midair before them, magical energy pulsated around Spike's body and claws, the one that he had point at Twilight smoking from the spell he had used to force her away.
"S-Spike?!" she whimpered.
Spike raised his head and looked at the horrified ponies before him, bearing down his teeth at them while his eyes glowed a bright, burning electric-blue, "DID I NOT JUST SAY TO NOT INTERFERE?! DAMN YOUR STUBBORNNESS!" he raged at them, forcing them to back away, "IF YOU WILL NOT CONCEDE TO MY WISHES WILLINGLY, I WILL MAKE YOU LEAVE!" He raised his head back, sucking as much air as possible.
"DOOZY! BIG DOOZY!" Was all that was heard before he attacked, blasting them with a stream of emerald fires.
Yelps escaped all their throats as they dodging behind fallen columns and rocks to avoid being singed by the flames, while Twilight and Rarity used their magic to create a barrier between them and Spike. This enraged him, retaliating by amping up the intensity of the fire, causing the rocks that had not been encircled by the shield to glow red from the heat, and when that didn't work, he canceled the stream and cast a spell around his claws, before slamming his fist into the barrier. They had to use all the magic they had to keep the shield up, and it was starting to put the strain on them, a growing pain swelling in their horns as they continued fighting. They tried to reason with him to stop with no success, though the only thing that their protest DID seem to accomplish was making him angrier. They were shocked at how powerful his attacks were, and they knew that if something didn't change soon, he was going to break through.
But he was growing tired as well. He knew that if he kept this up, he was going to faint. As he ran over different outcomes to get out of this in his mind he tightened his grip on the Element, looking at it as he did so while an idea formed in his head, then he looked over his shoulder back to the altar. He wouldn't have time to put the last string in and wait, but he had gone too far now to give up to defeat. He only had one option, but he had to risk it.
He stopped his attack and stared at the two for a moment, eyes narrowing as he hissed at them. It was a hiss that they had never heard before, something that would have been expected from a full-grown dragon, not him, and it pursed right through them like a knife.
Rarity lips quivered as she looked at him, "S-Spike?!"
Spike suddenly turned and bolted to the altar with blinding speed, something that would have made Rainbow Dash proud. Twilight and Rarity let the barrier disappear, galloping after him, but they were too late, and could only watch as he placed the Element into the silver flames.
Immediately Spike was blasted back as another shockwave shoot from the altar, sending him flying through the air until he slammed head first into a wall, falling onto the stone floor with a small thud, knocking him out cold as the blue glow in his eyes faded.
Twilight and Rarity ran over to him to see if he was alright, shaking him frantically to get a response. It took a few tries, but he finally gave a weak moan, signifying that at least he was alive.
Their attention however was soon drawn back to the altar, which began to turn on it's axis with a loud crank, twisting the turbines inside that started to move the statues around in turn. As it moved things around, the Element glowed brighter and brighter until it liquefied, mixing in with the ritual fires, changing it's color from silver to a turquoise blue. Suddenly, after the last of the Element had dissolved into the spell, the flames formed into two flaming streams that circled around each other before fusing into a single beam of light that shot upwards, penetrating through the cloud cover above.
However, nothing happened right away, in fact, the wall of clouds seemed to slow in their movements, while all the sound in the forest ceased, the breathing of the ponies was the only thing left to be heard. An eternity seemed to pass as the group watched anxiously for what would happen next, some wondering if it had all been a gag. But then, the clouds turned more violently than they had before as a series of powerful lightning bolts rumbled and cracked in the heavens, traveling across the skyline to the central point of the vortex, creating a sphere of energy that grew and grew as it absorbed the storm clouds into itself with each pulse until, after it had completed its task by expanding to consume the storm into itself, it exploded in a blinding flash of white light, crashing down towards them.
CCCRRRAAAACCCCKKKK-KKKKAAABOOOOOMM!
The earth shook as the sphere slammed into the altar, stirring up dust and debris in its wake. Then, the energy began to shrink into a small blue globe the size of a soccer ball, however it's light in comparison grew only brighter until it was so powerful that it lit up the chamber as if they were standing in the presence of the sun. But the globe was spinning out of control, faster than the eye could hope to keep up with, until, and with a final pulse, it shot forward and struck the nearest statue with a loud BOOM!
"Twilight? Twilight! Are you alright?"
Twilight groaned as the world around her slowly came into focus, bring a headache with it.
"Come on Twilight, say something! Can you hear me?"
Twilight looked up to face Rainbow Dash, who hovered over her with a hoof extended to help her up.
"Y-Yeah, I'm o.k., thanks Rainbow." Twilight grumbled out, shaking her head around in an attempt to get rid of the ringing in her ears. Rainbow Dash helped her to her hooves, allowing Twilight to lean on her side for support until she could regain her balance.
But, as her eyes became focused on the room around her, her body began to shake with anxiety, her head searching around the surrounding destruction in a panic, "Wait, Where's Nyx? Where's Nyx?!" She cried, breathing heavily.
"I'm over here!"
The two mares turned their heads behind them in unison, looking across the rubble lining the floor of the temple at a broken column that had succumbed to the force of the blast and toppled over. And crouched underneath, Nyx and Fluttershy laid close together coughing from the lingering dust in the air.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. Fluttershy had been quick enough to grab and pull the black filly under a pile of boulders with her to avoid the fire. And they had both stayed under when the pillar fell down on top of them, keeping them in safety.
But out of the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed the rest of her friends gathered together off in a corner, and when she turned to look at them, she saw that they were nugging Spike around, trying to wake the unconscious drake, and quickly made her way towards them.
"Spike! Is...is he?" she asked frantically.
"He's fine, Twilight. No need ta get upset, he's jus' a little shaken up is all." Applejack assured her, nudging Spike with her hoof until he gave a weak moan, calming Twilight's fears. However, her fears began to surface again when the ponies in front of her stared ahead wide-eyed, transfixed on something behind her, something that she was soon made aware of by an intense, purple glow that it began to emit, blinding her when she turned to look at it.
The light's intensity was too great for them to see anything, but as it's glow began to fade slightly, they were able to make out the outline of a large pony that stood high above them. It stood in the place of the statue that had been hit by the blast, and was now nowhere to be found. When the light had softened to a faint violet glow in the center of its chest, the pony in front of them became fully defined.
By the facial features they could tell that the pony was a full grown stallion, though he was a bit bigger than average. In fact, he was so large that at first they had almost mistaken him for a horse, due to the similar build that he shared with Trouble Shoes. But that assumption had been ruled out when they noticed the long horn on his head, and to their astonishment the two large, majestic wings that popped and cracked at the joints as he stretched them out from his body, both traits that were exclusive only to ponies. And with the pure-white coat that he sported, it almost would have been possible to have passed him off as a male version of Celestia.
In the light they were about to see that he was individualized by his long-haired characteristics. Any stallion seen on the street had a mane and tail that was short and solid colored, but his was more like a mare's, the hairs on his tail grown out long to the point where they almost touched the floor, though it needed some tending to in its ruddy state. His mane was a light-blue and was stylized with white locks that grew around the top and the base of his ears, and came up in one thin lock that was in a alfalfa manor at the crop of his scalp, and he had a short, white beard that only came down a little under an inch. Finally, he had a golden scepter cutie-mark on his flank, with a pair of raven's wings growing out and two bolts of lightning underneath it.
But what got to them the most was the electric blue of his eyes, something that they got a good look at when weakly opened them to gaze at the group, the same bright orbs that Spike had used to stare angrily at them just a few moments before, holding a soft glow around the pupils.
A minute passed before he made a move. Breathing heavily he took a step forward, and with the chaos that had just taken place and the evident shock that the group was experiencing that if he had moved forward normally, they would likely have ran. But, it was soon clear to them that he was having difficulty with his balance, wobbling from left to right until his face contorted and fell over screaming in pain as the light, which had originated from his chest, changed from violet to a violent red, his body shaking on the floor until relaxing while everything in his world went black, and with it the light, revealing the element that had been it's source.
