Chapter 1: "The StorybOf How I Became A Hero."
[Time: 4:34pm
[Location: Castle of the Two Sisters]
The Castle of the Two Sisters, once a beautiful castle full of life and joy, was now left to rot deep in the Everfree forest, losing everything that made it so great and wonderful. Thankfully, the ruined and gloomy aesthetic of the castle has drawn many new ponies across Equestria; especially those in recent years, after centreries of abandoment. One of these ponies was Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship and the forth official princess. With her was her little helper and little brother, Spike.
This wasn't their first visit here, nor will it be their last. Twilight's visits to the castle often involve her friends help clean and bring the castle back to what it once was, wanting to give something back to Celestia and Luna everything they gave her over the years.
For this trip, Twilight was more focused on collecting books from all across the ruins, always ecstatic to learn new things from new materials; especially from materials over 1000 years old. Spike was just laying on a pile of pillows, reading his new Power Pony comic, curse free as well. Twilight didn't mind Spike resting, as he spent enough time cleaning the crystal castle and helping her around. She would rather have him rest and then endlessly work.
After hours of exploring, collecting, and quick skimming through books to satiate her ADHD, Twilight noticed the sun was reaching close to the horizon, meaning it was time to leave before they needed to stay the night. It wouldn't be her first time, but after a few incidents of the Everfree forest critters being spotted outside the forest's borders in broad daylight, she knew it wouldn't be safe and they've better leave now before they are at risk of being attacked.
"Spike! It is time to go! The sun is about to set, and I want to get home before it gets dark!" Twilight shouted, Spike closing his comic book and meeting up with Twilight near the enterence.
"No worry, Twily. If anything happens, I'll be right by your side and keep you safe!" Spike said shiveriously, pumping his chest out and letting a small amount of smoke come out of his nostrals.
Twilight laughed a little, saying she felt so protected with him by her side. This gave Spike a proud smile, hearing how protected his sister felt around him. As they walked outside of the castle, they filled their wagon full of books and various interesting artefacts Twilight wanted to test back at her castle's lab.
Strapping the wagon onto her back, she floated Spike onto the wagon with her magic, softly placing him in, and began her treck back to Ponyville. Spike just kept reading his comic, using his own flames as a source of light as they passed under the overgrowth of the forest.
Their walk back home was going as well as any other walk back home, yet Spike felt like there were eyes from every angle around them. When Spike brought this up to Twilight, feeling like they were being watched, Twilight said that he shouldn't be worried, as long as they stay on the path, they're safe.
"We're on the path, so we are perfectly safe from anything. If we do encounter something, maybe like a ferocious Timberwolf or a terrible Manticore, the all mighty Spike; hero of the Crystal Empire, can keep me safe!" Twilight pronounce with all her chest, Spike blushing from Twilight metioning his title up north.
*Growl*
A sudden noise; akin to a growling dog, came from a few meter ahead of them. They looked forwards, their eyes widen when they saw a Timberwolf, growling at them. Twilight lit her horn up, ready to steike back at the beast if it tries anything. Spike was a little scared, even though they had faced them before, he can't help shiver at the sight of the wooden monster.
"I think you spoke too soon, Twily." Spike said, calming his nerves and jumping off the wagon, fire breath at the ready.
"By why just one? They usually come in a pack between 8 and 10. So why isn't there..." Twilight pondered why the Timberwolf was alone, until Spike called out,
"TWILIGHT, DUCK!!!" Listening to Spike's command, she dropped to the ground, and she just saw a siloette of a wolf like creature jumping over her.
She watched the creature land and it revealed to be an another Timberwolf, as it charged at her again, but she used her magic to destroy it, turning the beast to ash, so that it can't reassemble.
But this sudden attack led to more Timberwolves to reveal themselves, either walking out of the greenery around them or just pouncing at them. Twilight and Spike were able to defend themselves easily with only a little struggle, Twilight using her magic and Spike using his flames. But then the Timberwolf pack kept getting bigger and bigger, as more and more kept coming out of the forest, slowly overwhelming them.
"What the?! Why are there so many of them?! Timberwolf packs never has this many Timberwolves!" Twilight panicked, unable to count the large horde she and Spike were being surrounding with.
"Twilight! Behind you!" Spike yelled again, and Twilight turned her head to see a pair of Timberwolves charging at her.
Before she could blast either of them, Spike burned one to ash with his fire and Twilight was thankful, as she was left with one for herself, but Spike's flames blinded her, causinf the blasted she sent to barely graze the beast. Her magic tore apart the side of it face, but it didn't stop, as it lept at her. Before Twilight could recover, it closed the distance and before she knew it, a rush of unimaginable pain surfaced to her head.
"Twilight! Nnnooooo!!" Spike yelled as he watched the beast dig it wooden, but still very teeth deep into Twilight's left hind leg, accompanied with the worst scream he has ever heard from her.
*CRUNCH*
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Spike was horrified by the sight, hesring such an unholy scream coming from his sister, but it was nothing compared to the graphic scenery he was watching. The Timberwolf didn't even let go, it kept digging deeper into Twilight's leg, blood pouring even more as the ground underneath her leg began to form a puddle of her own blood.
Spike wanted to move, to act, to save his sister, but he was frozen, unable to move. He was scared beyond belief. Was it for his own safety? Was it for Twilight's? Was he scared for both their lives? He didn't know, and his brain could only process what he had just seen and heard.
After Twilight screamed her lungs out, she was able to finally react, destroying the Timberwolf on her leg. But she couldn't rest when they were being pushed tighter from all sides. She knew Spike couldn't take all of them on at once, especially with the high number of them, plus he looked too scared to fight, probably from the scene he just watched. She came up with a plan to both save them, and to dedtroy the horde of Timberwolves.
Lighting her horn up with magic, she pulled Spike to her side, the sudden pull throwing Spike out of his mental panic, and without hesitation, she conjured a shield bubble around them; including the wagon, pushing any Timberwolf away, keeping them safe for a while.
Spike was a little in awe from the beauty of the sparkly shield, but he had other things to worry about, so he turned his focus on Twilight and the massive wound on her leg.
"Twilight. Are you okay? Does it hurt?" Spike asked his sister various questions, and Twilight was happy to see her little brother safe.
"I'm alright, Spike. You don't need to worry. As long as I get to the hospital, I'll be fine." Twilight said, but her words didn't reassure Spike.
"But how can we get you to a hospital if we're surrounded from all sides?" Spike asks, but Twilight's face didn't lose its smile, as her horn glowed again, this time a little more softly.
That was when Spike felt Twilight's magic surround him again, but he could tell this was different to her levitation magic. Spike looked up to Twilight and she told him that she couldn't teleport both of them at the same time, saying it would take more magic then she has, telling him the venom the Timberwolves had injected into her leg has began draining at her magic and slowly wakening her, so she can only teleport one of them, and she chose Spike to get help.
"What, no! I'm not leaving you! I don't want to leave you!" Spike rejected his sister's plan, hugging her, but it didn't stop Twilight from finishing her spell.
"Listen, Spike. I need you to be a brave boy and bring our friends here as soon as possible. Can you do that for me?" Twilight asked Spike, but he kept saying he didn't want to leave her alone.
Twilight didn't want to pressure Spike anymore, so, with a heartful goodbye, she teleported Spike away, leaving her alone with the Timberwolves, her magic levels slowly draining my the second, her shield shrinking in size the more exhausted she began to feel.
[Location: Ponyville/Castle of Friendship]
[Time: 4:52pm]
Spike had his eyes closed during his teleportation, so when he opened his eyes, he was shocked, horrified even, to see he was no longer with Twilight, but outside the Castle of Friendship. Spike began to ball his eyes out, unable to cope with the potential loss of his sister.
Bursting out of the castle doors came Starlight Glimmer, who heard Spike crying and asked if he was alright. Spike couldn't speak through his tears, so she brought him in for a hug, saying everything was alright, saying she was here.
"Everything isn't okay! It's anything but okay!" Spike yelled, Starlight asking what Spike was talking about.
Spike finally told Starlight the situation he and Twilight got into, and Starlight was horrified, but knew they needed to get everypony together if they wanted to save their friend before they were too late.
"Alright, Spike. If we want to do this as fast as possible, then we need to split up! Starlight said.
"I'll go grab Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack whilst you find Rainbow Dash, and we can meet up with Fluttershy by the forest's entrance. Do you understand all that?" Starlight asked, and Spike, who calmed down by now, nodded in confirmation.
Starlight nodded with him, and they parted, Starlight heading straight to Sugercube Corner to fetch Pinke, while Spike ran across town, shouting out for Rainbow Dash
[Location: Everfree Forest's Enterence]
[Time: 5:06pm]
It didn't take them too long to gather everypony together, and soon they were all by the mouth of the Everfree forest, Spike, Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Rairty, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy; who brought her bear friend to help.
When they came together, they wasted no time before they ran straight into the forest, ready to save their friend from certain doom. While they ran through the forest, Spike rode on Rarity's back, who comforted him the whole way there, saying they'll save Twilight before anything bad would happen to her. Spike knew she was telling the truth, but his heart was too broken to register her words as such, thinking if he was faster, he could have saved her before she was hurt.
Once they arrived to Twilight's location, they were all horrified to see their friend, fully surrounded by an ocean of Timberwolves, as they all attacked the bubble shield that was much smaller thqn before, as it was also covered in cracks. It barely covered all of Twilight, who seemed to be very exhausted from keeping up the bubble.
"What in Tartarus?! Why are there so many Timberwolves?! This is probably more Timberwolves I have seen in my life!" Applejack said, not expecting to see this many Timberwolves all at once.
"Who cares! Twilight is in danger! If we have to fight an entire army, we will!" Rainbow yelled in confidence, ready to mow down every single Timberwolf with her great speed in sight.
"Rainbow's right! It's Twilight life we're here for, and we'll do whatever it takes to protect that life! C'mon girls, let show these piles of twigs the meaning of friendship!" Starlight shouted, and everypony yelled in triumph, their shouts grabbing the attention of the Timberwolves.
Applejack bucked any Timberwolf that pounced at her, using her great earth pony strength to shatter the Timberwolves into pieces. After destroying a large group of them, she took out of lasso, gripped it with her teeth, and tied up to 5 Timberwolves together. She then flicked the lasso to toss the tied up group in the air, allowing Raimbow Dash to come flying in like a speeding missile, using her body as a bartering ram to mow through them like a shredder through grass.
Rainbow cheered as she kept up her greater speed continuing to barrel through the horde, ranking up the largest body count out of all her friends, leaving visable trails in the Timberwolf horde. But her lust for battle wasn't fed enough, so she fly high the air, barely flying through the treeline, then took a 180 and fly straight down, barely handling the sudden g forces, then crashing into the ground, causing a mini shockwave when she landed, destroying any Timberwolf that was near her in a 5 meter radius.
Pinkie Pie was having just as much fun as Rainbow, giggling like a happy child during Heart's Warming Day. She used her bottomless storage in her hair to pull crazy weapons like her iconic party cannon, covering her portion of the battle field in glitter and confetti, while she attacks them in close range with a giant hammer almost three times her size, and was as heavy as she wanted it to be. Each hit of her hammer took out large groups of Timberwolves, similar to Rainbow's shockwave.
Rarity was fighting like she was on the red carpet, striding across the path like an elegant pony, blasting any Timberwolf that came near her with a simple magic bullet. If any did reach her, she used her dancing skills to avoid and attack them before they could reach her, to then use her hooves or magic to shatter them to pieces. It was miraculous that she was able to fight with such elegance and power.
Fluttershy, however, didn't fight the Timberwolves directly, but was happy to see her bear friend fight for her, as he rip through any Timberwolf in his way. She even called even more critters from the forest to help fight off the horde even more.
Starlight was using her high-level magic to rip through the Timberwolf horde like a hot dragon scale through butter, as she left nothing but ash in her wake. She wanted to make sure the Timberwolves wouldn't reform.
Spike, however, stayed on the sidelines and watched every pony fight for Twilight. He wanted to help. He wanted to protect Twilight, but he was too scared to move. He could see the top of the bubble surrounding Twilight, and all he could see was the pain in his sister's eyes and the horendous wound he caused. His body was frozen in fear and couldn't bring himself to break the fear.
[Minutes of Fighting Later]
The girls didn't need to fight for long when the large horde of Timberwolves began to run off in defeat, the piles of sticks and stones around them stripped of their magic, being taken with the frleing horde.
Twilight was happy to see her friends successfully drive the Timberwolves away, putting down her shield with a happy smile on her face. But as she did, exhaustion finally took her and she fell unconscious, yet her smile showed she embraced it like a warm hug, happy to finally rest after constant straining.
"Oh my, holding up that shield must have worn her out, huh?" Fluttershy meekly asked, not noticing the large wound on her friend's leg.
"Aaaahhh!! Oh my Celestia! Look at that all this blood! How dare those beasts hurt out friend!" Rarity screamed, then pointed out the wound on Twilight's hind leg.
"Yikes. It looks really painful. Spike wasn't lying about how bad it looked. We need to get her to the hospital before it gets infected." Applejack offered, and everypony agreed.
With the help of Fluttershy's bear friend carrying Twilight in his arms, the group slowly made their way out of the Everfree forest, undisturbed by any more beasts or monsters in the forest. Spike walked with them, but instead of walking near Twilight like most of his friends expected, he was trailing behind them, looking down to the ground and twidling with his claws, a nervous and guilty expression on his face.
"Poor Spike, he must be really worried for Twilight." Rarity said somberly, looking back at Spike with pity.
"Yeah, I mean, he's her brother, so it makes sense. But why is he all the way back there? I thought he would try and be as close to her as he can?" Rainbow asked, confused why Spike was far in the back.
"I don't know. I'll go accompany him, he may need somepony to comfort him." Starlight offered, and everypony agreed, watching Starlight slow down to walk with Spike next to her.
Starlight knew speaking with Spike was going to be difficult, so she decided to wait to speak with him after Twilight was properly taken care of. All she could do know was float Spike onto her back and give him a reassuring smile.
[Location: Ponyville's Hospital]
[Time: Morning 2 days later]
When Twilight was brought to the hospital, the doctors saw her the awful state she was in, and she was immidantly brought in for emergency surgery for her wound. During Twilight's care, her friends took this time to let everypony close to Twilight know about what had happening, like her parents, her older brother and all three princesses.
After hours of waiting, the hospital was filled even more with the visits of Twilight Velvet, Night Light, Shining Armour, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence. They were all worriwd but thankful that were allowed to visit Twilight after her surgery, but her personal Doctor; who also the lead surgeon during her surgery, warned them she was under some heavy antibotics and pain killers, so they needed to be aware of loud noises because her sense, yet dulled, were highly sensitive and any loud or sudden noises could set her off. That was when everypony consciously looked in Rainbow's direction, and she couldn't argue back with how embarrassed she was from all the eyes staring at her.
When they entered her room, Velet, Night Light, and Shining all grouped around her first, her friends next and the ln the princesses; Cadence being the closest of the three. Spike was by her bed aswell, happy to see his sister was recovering well and somewhere safe, but just seeing her bandaged leg made him flinch in guilt, remembering the reason why she had it in the first place how he could have stopped it from eveb happening.
Everypony were showering her with all their love, saying how worried they were, how happy they are to see she was okay. Her parents talked about how brave both her and Spike was. Their parents thanked the stars for Spike and their friends for saving their daughter's life. Applejack says that it was nothing, saying if it wasn't for Spike, Twilight wouldn't have made it.
After the visits, everypony was told to leave, so Twilight can rest in peace, but Spike was the only one to stay, a request made by Twilight and the doctors allowed it, only if Spike doesn't make a rucus in the hospital.
Spike didn't feel like he needed to be with Twilight, because he was the one who put her here in the first place, but when he asked if Twilight was alright with him staying the night, Twilight says they have been through quite a lot last night, so she believes it will help him to sleep with the pony who experience it, just so he can get some needed shuteye, as she learned from just looking at him that he barely slept the night before, yet she couldn't blame him.
In the morning, Spike was the first to wake up, and when he did, he kept staring at Twilight's bandaged leg and could only feel guilt and pain. Constant guilt he felt over the last few days. So, without disturbing Twilight's sleep, he left her a little letter, saying he was on his way home and will visit her later in the day. He gently ppaced the letter onto the tableside next to Twilight's bed, which had various other gifts from everypony, like flowers from her mum and Cadence, a Daring Doo book from Rainbow, a juicy apple from Applejack, a lovely necklace from Rarity and some sweets from Pinkie, but didn't have the heart to tell her pink mane friend she wouldn't be able to eat sweets until she left the hospital.
[Location: Ponyville – The Castle of Friendship]
[Time: 7:06am]
The trip back home wasn't long, only a 2 minute walk from the hospital, but for Spike, the walk felt like hours, each step adding more weight onto his back. This feeling felt similar to when he turned into the large dragon on his birthday, but instead of being empowered and full of strength and vigor, he just felt drained, miserable and hollow.
When he arrived home, he knocked on the large gate of the castle, and Starlight was the one to answer the door. She was a little shocked to see Spike at such an early hour, expecting to see him later at the hospital.
"Oh, hey Spike. How are you doing? Did you sleep well?" Starlight asked, but Spike didn't answer her, only stepping past her quietly, not looking back.
"Oh, Spike." Starlight said quietly, obviously seeing the pain in Spike's wobbly movements.
Starlight knew what Spike was feeling, but this feeling was different to her old feelings, yet she knew it would take time for Spike to heal both mentally and emotionally.
Meanwhile, Spike was walking through the castle's halls, leaving himself alone to dwell on his thoughts, now away from everypony to properly process everything in his head.
He knew what happened in the forest was an accident. He knew it wasn't his fault for Twilight getting hurt. But his mind replayed the same events over and over again, and the positive thoughts he had were then overwhelmed by his ever growing guilt. He yelled at himself that if he was just a little faster, just a little stronger, if he could have taken out both Timberwolves, Twilight wouldn't be resting in the hospital with a potentially lasting scar. He was weak, too weak to protect her. Twilight had protected him so many times, and for once, he was given a chance to protect her, but when he was given that chance, he fumbled the opportunity and it nearly costed her life.
Just then, tears began to pool in his eyes, ready to spill. He tried to hold them in, but he couldn't hold back his built up emotions no longer. So when they finally burst through his mind's dam, tears began to pool up in his eyes, sobs leaking out of his maw. His sobbing wasn't loud, but with how empty the halls of the castle were, they travelled through the whole castle with little resistance. This, of course, caught Starlight's emidiant attention. Without hesitation, she ran to Spike's location, which was very far from where she was. She saw the hunched over body of Spike, and she didn't hesitate to lower herself down to Spike's level and bringing him into a close hug.
"It's okay. It's alright, I'm here. Just let it all out." Starlight whispered, rubbing his back gently, as he gripped her chest tightly, his tears smearing on her fur, but she didn't mind or care about what happpens to her fur, all she cares abput is helping Spike with his emotions.
"It is all my fault. I wasn't strong enough. I let her down." Spike spoke, Starlight quietly listening to Spike, ready to help him through this.
"I'm not brave, I didn't help at all. I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough. I could have saved her. But I couldn't because I was too weak." Spike sobbed, his words hurting Starlight's heart, and she believed Twilight would be heartbroken from hearing how little Spike speaks of himself.
"No, you're not. You are not weak. What happened wasn't your fault. It was an accident. Twilight knows that, and she wouldn't be disappointed in you. That isn't like her, y'know that." Starlight spoke encouraging words into Spike's ear, but nothing she seemed to say calmed him down.
She tried and tried again, but no matter how much she tried, no matter what she said, she couldn't calm the baby dragon down, his sobbing seemingly increasing in volume.
"All I want is to be a hero. A hero who can protect everypony on my own." Spike said so quietly, so quietly not even Starlight could hear his words.
*Ding Ding*
Suddenly, Spike's attention was brought to a sudden halt, as his ears was met with the melody of soft chimes. He stopped his crying; either intentionally or not, as he pulled himself away from Starlight's chest, listening out where he was hearing the music.
[Look up R3 Music Box's Cha La Head Cha La Music Box Video/https/youtu.be/VCXYRNVeGM8?si=qxfTwyg9N4547F6A]
Starlight asked Spike what was wrong, his sudden movement startlingly her. Spike didn't respond, his focus on the melody he was heard. Then the melody chimed again, and he was drawn towards the source of the sound.
With speed not even Starlight or Spike himself knew, he rushed through the castle, trying to locate where the music was coming from. Starlight followed after him, shouting for him, asking what he was looking for, but like all the times she tried to talk with him, he ignored her, but this time he couldn't hear her, his ears overwhelmed by the chims of the melody that felt familiar but also new to the baby dragon.
Spike stopped for a second, listening out for the melody again, but Starlight's yelling took his attention away from it, as he watched her run up to him.
"Spike! What is going on?! You just started running off! Is everything alright?" Starlight asked, catching her breath.
"Don't you hear it? The music." Spike asked, and Starlight was confused, asking Spike what music.
Spike was shocked. The melody was clear as day to him, but it seemed to be completely silent to Starlight. Then the melody appeared again. Spike told Starlight he heard it again, yet she didn't hear a thing.
"I don't know Spike. Maybe you are hearing things? Maybe you didn't get enough sleep last night?" Starlight offered an explanation to Spike's strange behaviour, but the second she looked away and looked back, Spike was already gone, running down the hallways with incredible speed and vigor.
"Ugh!" Starlight groaned, tired of constantly chasing Spike down the castle, but she left her announce to the side, letting her worry for Spike push her too keep going.
Soon, Spike arrived at one of the many libraries of the castle, where he believes he is hearing the melody from. This room, compared to many in the castle, was special. Close to the centre of the room was the mirror that was also a portal to another world similar, but also vastly different to Equestria. This portal had various machines scattered around it, which helps keep the portal open 24/7, instead of relying on the 3 day window every 30 moons. But something wasn't right with it. The machines around the portal were turned on, orange electricity bouncing across the whole thing. Wait, orange? Why was the electricity; which is usually pink when it is on, orange. The swirling portal in the mirror was also orange. Another thing that wasn't right was the gems that lined the frame of the portal. Their colour turned the same orange, and they flash with a small amount of light, their flashes syncing up with the beats of the melody Spike was hearing.
Starlight entered the room, awestrucked by the sight she was seeing, but also horrified that such a powerful and dangerous machine was on, with nopony around. She knew she wasn't the one who turned it on, and Spike couldn't have either, because he didn't have enough time to turn it on, so there must be somepony else in the castle who turned the portal on. But why? So, to make sure they were safe, she looked around the room, making sure nopony was with them, possibly being a threat to them. If there was somepony here, Starlight theorise the portal might be a destraction and the indtruder might use this portal to get rid of then.
("Whoever did this could still be here. Where ever they are, they won't escape me!") Starlight thought, but once she finished scouting the whole room, she released a heavy sigh of relief, glad to know they were alone and safe, for now.
Oh right, Spike was in the room. Looking to where she last saw him, she was horrifed to see Spike slowly walk towards the mirror, only a few steps away from entering the potential dangerous artefact.
"Spike, No!" Starlight shouted, conjuring her magic around him and pulling Spike away using telekinesis.
Spike felt the pull of Starlight's magic, so he started to stuggle out of her magic. Spike told her to let him go, but Starlight refused, telling him what he was doing was dangerous, and he could have get himself hurt. The mirror could be unstable and they didn't know what was on the other side.
"Let me go! I need this Starlight! Please!" Spike pleaded, his wild thrashing only accomplashing a small amount of distance.
"I don't understand? Spike, why are you acting like this? This isn't you." Starlight tried to understand why Spike was acting so rash and unpredictable, but Spike kept struggling under her magic.
"You don't know what it is like! How it feels to have everypony around you be so great, yet you have nothing! I want to be like her, somepony who can be looked up to, to be seen as somepony great!" Spike said, his trashing increased, Starlight's magic seemingly being weakened from his thrashing, but Starlight was too distracted to noticed.
"Spike..." Starlight quietly spoke under her breath, as she saw small tears in Spike's eyes, yet his tears distracted her from her magic hold being weakened.
"I just want to be like Twilight! Is that too much to ask for! All I want to be is somepony she can be proud of! How can she be proud of me if I hesitate and cower all the time!" Spike rambled on, his words breaking Starlight's heart.
"But Spike! What about your fame in the Crystal empire?! What about the Equestria games?!" Starlight tried to tell Spike he was somepony Twilight can be proud of, but Spike snapped at her.
"THEY'RE NOT THE SAME!!! I needed help from Cadence to save the empire! I was too scared during the entire Equestria game event! I was scared! Scared of what?! NOTHING!!!" Spike roared, the air around him increasing in temperature.
His roar also cause a small shockwave that caught Starlight off guard, pushing her back and making her let go of her magic. She also couldn't move, not from the pain that was caused by slamming into the crystal wall, but by some sudden force that seemingly paralysed her body, even her neck so she couldn't move her head, yet could still speak.
"I want to be somepony who can protect ponies with my own strength! Twilight was hurt because I hesitated! I just... just..." Spike anger grew, but it was also accompanied with sadness and regret.
She helplessly watched Spike walk closer to the mirror. She tried to use her magic, but just like her body, she couldn't cast any spells, like her horn was paralysed. Still not understanding why her magic wasn't working, she try to bring Spike back with her words
"Spike! You don't need to do this! We can help you! Just stop and think about what you are doing!" Starlight pleaded, her words stopping Spike inches from the mirror.
Spike turned to Starlight, his eyes full fo tears. He told Starlight he was sorry, saying he wants to be somepony more. Somepony more deserving of Twilight's trust. Before he walked through the portal, he asks Starlight a question.
"Starlight, can you give everypony a message for me." Starlight didn't believe Spike was leaving everypony so willingly, as she tried to ask what Rarity would think, but surprisingly, he ignored what she said, as he continued to speak.
"Tell them I'm sorry for being so weak, and when you see me again, I will be strong enough to protect then." His smile was warm, like the heat that was resinating from his body.
After those words, he walked through the mirror, the portal closing behind him. With it closing, the strange weight that kept Starlight from moving was released, as she ran to the mirror, slamming into it, screaming Spike's name to the highest reaches of heaven.
"SSSPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKKEEE!!!"
[Chapter End]
