Arriving at the clearing, I set him down so that I could rest. I turned him over to examine the wound. The spot where I stabbed him was still bleeding heavily. He needed help immediately. I used the ribbon from my armor as a temporary bandage to stop the bleeding, and I used my own armor a makeshift stretcher to drag him. I immediately started dragging him towards our medical tent behind our troops, they would tend to them there. He was going to be just fine, I knew there was nothing to worry about.
I walked no more than five feet before a horrible thought dawned on me, one that I regret having. "He was going to be just fine... But what about me?" I froze in place, my mind processing what it just thought. I was uninjured, and therefore still able to fight. Once I bring him there, they would send me back to the front lines. I... I couldn't do this without him. We always said that we would be in this together, no matter what. My legs began to tremble and my heart raced. A nervous sweat ran down my face. My mind began to argue with itself. "He needs help now." "I can't do this without him." "He needs help now." "I can't do this without him." "HE NEEDS HELP NOW!!!"
Another thought suddenly shot through my mind. Perhaps I could solve both problems. If I could get him to a nearby town, I could get him the medical attention he needs. My first thought was Canterlot, it was close by and easy to get to. But I turned that down when I realized that him and I would probably get caught by the royal guard and imprisoned for going AWOL. No, I needed to find somewhere else, somewhere that was close but not heavily infested with guards. I gazed over the edge of the mountain and saw Ponyville in the distance. Perfect I thought. All I would have to do is get him there quickly, then he would get the medical help he needed and I wouldn't have to fight anymore. I lifted his body onto my back and started to make my way down the mountain. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that everything was going to be okay. Little did I know at the time, I would live to regret this decision more so than any other.
"Alright Spike, you ready?" Twilight shouted to the baby dragon.
He stood in front of the four mares before him with a look resembling that of a scared mouse. "Uh... No." He responded, his voice quivering a bit.
Twilight looked at Spike sternly. "Spike, you are the only one who can destroy that monster once and for all. The outcome of the battle rest upon your shoulders."
"But no pressure, right?" Spike questioned. "You sure this is going to work? You have never successfully used an age spell before."
"That is why I'm having Celestia and Luna here to help me." She said, pointing a hoof at the royal sisters next to her. "The three of us should easily be able to cast that spell together." This was still failing to give the young dragon any faith.
"I'm still not one hundred percent on board with this."
Rarity then began to make her way up to spike. She looked at him in the most caring way she could and said, "Please Spikey, for me. One day, I want to move my boutique to Canterlot. But I can't do that if it's destroyed." She ended her statement by giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
Spike immediately started to go limp from the kiss. He then snapped back to the reality around him and stood up straight as he could, then gave a salute to the purple alicorn. "Spike the Dragon ready and reporting for duty ma'am." He said in a prideful tone. The three princesses did not hesitate at this response. They immediately shot three different colored beams form their horns at the young dragon. Rapidly, his body began to grow in size. The claws on his hands extended and grew sharper by the second. His head and neck extended away from his body and started to grow sharp spines. His tail and legs grew to enormous lengths to support his new physique.
When the transformation was complete, the new older spike towered over the ponies, about a story shorter than the Draco Crystallus. He let out a deafening roar that caused the entire mountain to shake. Pony and Changeling alike stopped fighting for a moment to gaze at the purple dragon. Spike returned his gaze back at the soldiers before him, licking his lips at the sight of the gem encrusted armor. He quickly scooped up a handful of soldiers and brought them close to his jaws. Before he could consume his catch though, he heard a small voice exclaim "SPIKEY!!"
He looked down to see Rarity looking at him with a look of utter disbelief. "Ra.. Rar... Rarity?" He responded, his voice much deeper than it had been previously.
"Spikey, I will not standby and watch you eat your own friends." With these words, Spike's eyes widened in terror for what he was about to do. He quickly set the fist full of ponies back on the ground and watched them scatter out of fear. He then lowered his head so that he was at eye level with the white mare. "I knew you were still in there Spikey. Now, we need your help." Spike responded by nodding. Rarity quickly jumped on to his face and made her way to his shoulder. "Now you see that delicious looking monster over there?" She said, pointing across the battle field. Spike turned his gave to where she was pointing, his mouth salivating at the sight of the crystal beast. "Be a dear and take care of that for me." Spike did not need to be told twice. He let out another roar and immediately sprang over the ponies beneath him and straight towards the beast.
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Among the troops, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were fighting off hoards of Changeling soldiers, ignoring the clash of giants going on in the distance. Applejack was using her strong legs and speed to easily take down the enemy, while Pinkie was using her small party cannon to blast them away. The soldiers and them were making quick work of the enemy. Applejack quickly looked to Pinkie and said "This is goin much better than expected. If this keeps up, we will have em runnin for the hill in no time." Pinkie only responded with a nod and another explosion from her cannon.
Applejack was about ready to kill another Changeling before a large crystal spike thrust itself out of the ground and beat her to it. "What In Tarnation?!" She exclaimed, skidding to a halt at the base of the spike. Suddenly, a series of these spikes began jutting themselves out of the ground in a circle around Applejack and Pinkie, eviscerating any pony or changeling unfortunate enough to be standing over them. They shared the same worried look as they noticed that the crystals had completely fenced them in. The two then tried to bust down the crystal pillars, with Applejack bucking them as hard as she could and Pinkie firing her cannon at them. They failed to so much as scratch the them.
They suddenly heard a sound of faint laughter. They both turned their heads to the source of it, as it grew louder with each passing second. Suddenly, a red horn emerged from one of the crystals, followed closely behind by the rest of the dark unicorn. The stallion had an evil grin on his face as he stared at the two of them. "My, my, my." he started. "Why, you both were quite entertaining to watch. I almost didn't want to step in." The two earth ponies couldn't move. They kept their gazes on Sombra, wondering what exactly he was going to do. "But, all things must come to an end eventually." He then looked at one of the pillars with his horn glowing. Then, a couple of crystallized shackles emerge from the pillar and hovered next to him. "That is of course, unless you wish to submit to me." Pinkie and AJ stood their ground, refusing to give in to the corrupt king. "Oh you don't have to worry my pretties, I won't put you to mining duty like I will the other slaves. You two would be more along the lines of pets."
AJ decided to decline his offer by spitting in his face. Sombra responded by wiping the saliva off his brow and slightly rolling his eyes. "Well that's such a shame. You too would have been treated much more nicely than my other slaves." He then levitated another spike out of the ground and pointed it straight at the two mares. "Hopefully you will have more time to think about your mistake in the next life" He finished.
He was moments away from thrusting the spike through the mares, when all of a sudden, another explosion occurred that rocked the entire foundation of the mountain. Sombra stumbled to support himself, releasing the his magical hold on the crystal, causing it to fall to the ground. Pinkie did not waste this opportunity. She quickly grabbed AJ and pointed her cannon straight at the ground. "Pinkie?!" AJ started. "What are ya doin?!"
"I have no idea" Pinkie responded, in a cheery and oblivious tone. She fired the cannon at the ground and used the force to rocket them out of the crystals and into the air.
They flew though the air for a while before being caught by Twilight's magic. She rested them on the ground in front of her.
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Spike lunged at the drake with a ferocity never before seen in him. He tackled it and had it pinned to the ground. This only caused the crystallized beast to become more angry and push spike off in a fit of rage. Once both were on their feet, it tried to swipe spike with it's claws, only to get it caught in Spike's jaws. Spike immediately chomped down on the claw and swallowed his catch. The drake took a few steps back, examining the nub that used to be it's hand.
It then started to violently shake it's body. It's limbs, tail, and neck became shorter and much thicker than previously. Again it took a swipe at Spike with it's claw, only to be again caught within Spike's jaw. Only this time, no matter how hard Spike bit, he couldn't fracture the beast like before. It then used this opportunity to attack Spike with it's other claw. Spike let go of the hand soon enough as to dodge the strike. They continued to strike back and forth at each other with neither giving the other an inch. Rarity meanwhile was holding on for dear life and shouting words of encouragement from Spike's shoulder.
Just above them, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin were circling. "Uhg. This isn't getting us anywhere." Rainbow dash exclaimed. "Even a dragon can't stop this thing."
"No, it can." Spitfire responded. "It's just going to need a little help."
"How are we going to help captain" Soarin said. "Our weapons are useless against it."
"Same way it was destroyed the first two times. A giant boom." Spitfire replied with pride.
Rainbow's and Soarin's eyes both widen at that moment, because they knew exactly what she was getting at. "You're not suggesting a Sonic Rainboom are you?" Rainbow dash asked. Spitfire only responded with a nod. "But that's crazy. Anypony that does a rainboom into that thing is going to be obliterated."
"Exactly. Which is why you and Soarin are going to stay behind while I do it." Spitfire responded.
"With all do respect captain, I'm not going to sit back and watch you kill yourself. I'll be the one who does it." Soarin exclaimed.
"No, I'll do it." Rainbow said. "After all, I'm the only one who has ever successfully pulled it off."
Spitfire looked at them with authoritative anger. "This is not a suggestion, it's an order! Now do as I say or I'll see to it that you both get a dishonorable discharge!"
Rainbow was shocked by the sudden outburst. Soarin on the other hand just smiled. "In that case captain." He said "Consider me discharged." with these words, he flew straight up into the sky as if a rocket were attached to his back.
He was quickly followed suit by Rainbow and Spitfire, who were gaining on him. All three were gaining more and more altitude by the second, none of the stopping to even take a breath. When the air started to thin to much, Soarin stopped to look down and take aim at the beast, only to be greeted by the two mares that were giving chase.
"SOARIN!!" Spitfire exclaimed, grabbing him by his shoulders as she did so. "As captain of the Wonderbolts, I order you to stand down."
"Sorry captain, but I believe I was just discharged." Soarin responded, not even fazed by her shouting as he looked at her with a serious expression.
"And soon your going to have a hoof up side your head if you continue to be stupid!" Spitfire shouted.
"Then I suggest you start swinging, because I'm not going to stand down!" Soarin shouted back.
Spitfire then took this opportunity to smack Soarin across his cheek. He still maintained his composure. "Why are you so insistent on this?" She questioned.
"Because this is not your day to die Spitfire."
"Who are you to decide that?!" She then smacked him again across the face. A bruise could be seen starting to form and blood started running from his nose. "Why won't you just act like a good soldier and let me do this?"
"Because!... Because... Because, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost you like this." He responded. She then let go of him and flew backwards a little to look at him. Tears could be seen forming in his eyes, but not from the blows she inflicted. She could tell that this sorrow was from something else. "Spitfire... Somepony as special as you does not deserve to die out here." He continued. "When I first saw you, with your hair blowing in the wind as you soared through the air, I knew that I wanted you to be mine." The tears started to flow more from his eyes. "But, I was too shy to express my feelings to you. So I joined the Wonderbolts in hopes of impressing you." Soarin let out a small chuckle as he realized how cheesy he just sounded.
Spitfire couldn't help but stare at him from this confession. "Soarin..." She started, her sentence trailing off as she searched for the best words to use.
"So I'm going to do this, so you won't have to." He said. "My only regret in life, waiting until now to tell you how I feel." Without another word, he wiped the blood and tears from his cheek and started to dive bomb at the monster. Again, Spitfire and Rainbow followed in hot pursuit. Spitfire quickly caught up to him and latched a clip from her suit onto his, making it impossible for them to separate. This didn't stop him from falling, but it made him lock eyes with her again. "What are yo-" He was interrupted by her smacking him across the face again.
"You idiot." she said, a tear forming in her eye. "You think your the only one who felt that way?" Soarin tried to open his mouth to speak, but instead just settled on a tearful smile. Rainbow then began to get really close and was about ready to clip her suit on as well. She was stopped by Spitfire grabbing her fore leg. "Sorry Rainbow Dash, but this is a dance for two." Spitfire looked at Soarin, who responded with a nod. Ignoring the mach cone forming just bellow their heads, they each grabbed one of Rainbow's legs and started to violently spin. "Besides, we are going to need someone to help train next years recruits." They both let go of her and sent her flying rapidly across the battlefield to where the three princesses were, a rainbow following her as she flew.
They continued to descend with more and more speed, the drake they targeted getting closer and closer. Soarin looked into Spitfire's eyes as he could feel them about ready to break the sound barrier. "Hey Spitfire. After all this is over, would you like to go get a pie with me?" He asked with a giant grin and watery eyes.
She smiled at him in return with tears flowing from her own eyes. "Yes. I would like that." She brought him in close for one final embrace before they met their ends. They were no more than a few inches above the drake's head when the sound barrier broke.