Spike and the Dragon Tree

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Tragedy Strikes
Chapter 2 - The Cure
Chapter 3 - Setting Out
Chapter 4 - Fireside Stories
Interlude: The Last Will and Testament of Rarity the Unicorn
Chapter 5 - Pranceton

Chapter 1 - Tragedy Strikes

Spike and the Dragon Tree

***

Chapter 1 – Tragedy strikes

“Spike, SPIIIIKE!” Rarity’s melodious voice echoed across the open field, calling her assistant over to her. “I’ve found another one.”

It was a glorious day in the fields around Ponyville and Rarity had taken the opportunity to replenish her stocks of gems. While she was perfectly able to find the gems herself; her magic was specially attuned to finding the crystalline formations of gemstones, she was far pickier about actually digging them up. Fortunately for her, Spike was more than willing to get a little dirty to assist her. While he had made it clear that he was willing to help her out pro bono, she didn’t feel right taking advantage of him like that. Once the day was over, Spike would have his choice of the gems. Rarity had even managed to find a fragment of a fire ruby that she was sure he would like, though she knew that his first question would be where the rest of it was.

“Coming, Rarity,” Spike’s voice came from over a small hill. A few seconds later, he appeared, dragging a small metal cart loaded with different gemstones behind him. Rarity thought she could almost see the hearts floating above his head as he came to a stop before the spot she had marked out. With a quick flick of his claws, Spike shredded the soft earth, revealing a small batch of glittering gems resting under the ground.

Rarity’s eyes boggled as they always did when she saw the cluster of precious stones. She didn’t know why it was that gems always seemed to be perfectly grouped together, but she was thankful that it was so as it made collecting them far easier than hunting for single gems. The nearly full cart was testament to the ease at which she and Spike were able to work together. Rarity knew that it wouldn’t be long before she had all the gems she was going to need to finish her new fashion line. It was going to be stunning; certainly better than some of the designs she had put out in the past.

As she was looking down into the hole, Rarity suddenly felt a wave of light dizziness come upon her. She wobbled for a second, bringing a hoof up to her head to rub an ache that she felt near the base of her horn. Spike noticed her movement and looked up, concern crossing his face. “Rarity, are you alright?”

“Yes… yes, I’m fine,” she said slowly as the dizziness passed. “Just a touch of heatstroke. Let’s take a break and have some lunch. Does that sound good, Spike?”

Spike jumped up out of the hole, the mention of lunch banishing the sudden concern he had just felt. Rarity led the way over to the shade of a large tree where she had set up a picnic basket. A pair of bottles of lemonade and a fresh daisy sandwich floated out of the basket, caught in Rarity’s soft blue magic. A couple of crunchy emeralds also made their way out of the cart for Spike to snack on. Rarity noticed that everything seemed a little harder than she was used to. Normally she could levitate dozens of things at once with ease but right now she was having a little bit of trouble just holding the bottles and gems in place. It was like she was trying to grab her magic through a thick goo of some kind; it was there, but hard to keep a steady hold of. She felt her magic flicker for a moment, and she nearly dropped the sandwich, recovering at the last moment before it touched the ground.

Settling down in the shade, Rarity opened the bottles of lemonade and handed one over to Spike before taking a small bite of her sandwich. Spike began to attack his gems with gusto, his sharp teeth and powerful jaws making short work of the hard crystals.

Rarity watched Spike devour his treat, her own sandwich remaining almost untouched. Despite having been working for several hours now, she didn’t really feel all that hungry. She knew that she should be starving; she hadn’t had much for breakfast.

‘Or dinner last night, now that I think about it,’ Rarity suddenly realized. It had been nearly a full day since she had eaten anything of substance; she should be starving but the idea of actually eating something make her feel sick to her stomach. Absently, she picked at her sandwich, taking a few small bites, but not really getting into it. A headache started to come on, reducing her already small appetite even further. Rarity took one more look at her sandwich before wrapping it up and putting it away, giving up on trying to finish it off. It would keep until dinnertime. Surely she would be hungry by then.

Looking back over the open field, Rarity felt the headache begin to grow in intensity, as if a hot nail was slowly being driven into her skull. The root of it felt as if it was right at the base of her horn, as if her horn had turned around on her head and was trying to burrow pointy end first into her body.

‘Maybe I have been overdoing the magic a little,’ she thought. She had been using her magic all day, and the last few days had also been draining on her. Several intricate orders had to be done, and one of them had called for an enchanted platinum tiara. Metalworking and enchanting always took more out of Rarity than she realized at first. Maybe she really was just a little burned out; if she was, a few days of rest would do her good. She resolved to take a short vacation once she had all the current orders finished. The coast was meant to be lovely this time of year.

“Spike, do you mind if we call it a day? I’m feeling a little tired.” Rarity pressed her hoof to her head again, willing the mounting pressure in her head to go away. It didn’t, though it didn’t seem to be getting any worse.

“Sure, Rarity,” Spike said, eager to please the prettiest pony in Ponyville, “Is something the matter?” The concern he had felt before had returned. Rarity had never called off a hunting trip before.

Rarity waved off his question. “Of course not, darling. I’m just tired is all; too many late nights working on orders. I think an early night and a trip to the spa will be all I’ll need and tomorrow I’ll be as good as new again.” She got up to her hooves, a little unsteady again. A wave of nausea threatened to bring back up the few scraps that she had eaten for lunch. Quickly, she lowered her head down between her forelegs, closing her eyes against the dancing specks of light. A buzzing noise was beginning to sound in her ears and she took several deep breaths before opening her eyes again.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Spike could see that something was wrong with Rarity. Placing a claw to her forehead, he pulled it back quickly, exclaiming, “You’re burning up, Rarity. Let’s get you back to Ponyville. If you aren’t feeling better in the morning, Twilight and I can run you over to see Dr. Stable.”

Rarity gave Spike a weak smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just a little magical burnout. I’ll bet that Twilight has experienced it a few times in her life.”

Spike nodded once. Twilight had indeed burned herself out on occasion and she usually felt rotten for a few days after while her body replenished its natural reserves. “Well ok then. If you’re sure it’s nothing. I’m still going to walk you home though.” He grabbed the cart of gems in one claw and began to lead the way back to Ponyville.

“You are such a gentledrake, Spike,” Rarity said, a little more energy returning to her being. She set off after Spike, concentrating on putting one hoof in front of the other. That seemed to be all she could manage, just one hoof and then the other.

The walk back to Ponyville took longer than Rarity had expected, and by the end of it she was sweating profusely. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, but as they reached the outskirts of Ponyville and Carousel Boutique came into view, Rarity could positively feel the sweat dripping off of her face. The headache had returned in full force and it was like the nail had been joined by three others, all trying to outdo each other as they stabbed into her brain. By the time that they reached her front door, Rarity was swaying back and forth on her hooves and the only thing she could think of was taking a couple of sleeping tablets and curling up in her bed.

“Thank you for walking me home, Spike. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Rarity leaned forward and gave Spike a quick peck on his cheek. She nearly over balanced doing it and Spike had to catch her as she toppled to one side.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go see a doctor?” Spike could see that Rarity was panting hard and her eyes were a little unfocused. Something was clearly wrong. He had never seen a magical burnout this bad before, not even when Twilight had tried casting every spell she knew one after the other back when she was still in school. He hoped that Rarity knew what she was doing.

“I’m sure, Spike. I think I’m just going to go straight up to bed. We can sort out those gems later on. Feel free to take whatever you want. I’m sorry that I had to cut our expedition so short. I hope you don’t mind.”

The last thing on Spike’s mind was sorting through the gems that they had collected today. That could wait until Rarity was feeling better. “I would never mind, Rarity. I’m coming over first thing tomorrow to check on you. Hopefully you will be feeling better by then.”

Rarity felt a sense of relief at the dragon’s dedication to her. Normally, Spike’s crush on her made things a little awkward between the two of them, but to hear him so concerned for her wellbeing, it was heartwarming. “Me too, Spike, me too,” she said, pushing the door open with one of her hooves. The door opened smoothly and Rarity deftly flipped the sign so that it was clear she was closed for the day. Spike watched her, his eyes narrowed as he looked her over.

Rarity saw the young drake off, giving him one more assurance that she was going to do nothing other than go to bed before turning to head inside. The interior of her shop was cool on her dripping fur and for a few seconds, she felt a little bit better. Even still, the thought of climbing up the stairs to reach her bedroom was not an appealing thought.

‘Maybe some water first,’ she thought and turned to head towards the kitchen. Each step of her hooves was getting harder and soon it became a struggle just to stay standing upright. The nausea had returned at the idea of drinking anything and she came to a complete halt in the middle of her showroom floor.

Rarity held her position for a few seconds, her head wavering as the pressure in her skull became too much for her to handle. The buzzing noise in her ears overwhelmed her hearing as it rose up a loud roar and she felt herself slip sideways as her left hooves buckled under her own weight.

The last thing Rarity saw was the floor rushing up to meet her. Distantly, she felt her head connect with the hard slate tiles of her shop and then she was floating in blackness, surrounded on all sides by empty space.

Spike had gotten barely twenty feet before he heard the distinctive sound of something solid striking the floor. Abandoning all pretence, he turned and rushed back to the boutique. Rarity hadn’t bothered to lock the door, so he didn’t waste any time in getting in.

As soon as he entered, he stopped short at the sight of Rarity crumpled on the ground. It was clear that she had just fallen over, but she showed no signs of trying to get back up. Spike could see her chest rise and fall rapidly and he rushed over to check on her.

“Rarity? RARITY!” The white mare showed no signs of hearing him and Spike crossed to her side in an instant.

As he approached, Spike noticed that even though she was freely dripping sweat from almost every centimeter of her body, Rarity was shivering constantly as if she was freezing. Her horn was also odd. It felt like it was on fire, and the heat it was producing would have certainly burned his skin, had it not been fireproof to begin with. It was clear to Spike now that this was no mere case of magical burnout. Rarity was sick with something and he had to get her help as fast as he could. He didn’t want to just leave Rarity here, but he knew that there was little that he could do to help her; she needed skilled medical help which he wasn’t qualified to give.

Spike gave Rarity one last look before running out of the boutique, flagging down Junebug as she passed and rapidly telling her to get Nurse Redheart. Junebug didn’t quite understand what he wanted, but she recognized the urgency in his voice and dashed off without a fuss, dropping her shopping bag and heading towards the town clinic.

Spike himself turned on his heels and ran as fast as his legs would carry him towards the library. Twilight would know what to do.

Right?

Chapter 2 - The Cure

Spike and the Dragon Tree
***
Chapter 2 – The Cure

Rarity’s eyes slowly fluttered open and she blinked several times, trying to focus. The room eventually came in to sharp relief and she looked around at the unfamiliar setting. Clean and sterile walls that were most certainly not her home greeted her and she could hear a soft but regular beeping coming from somewhere close by. A thin tube of some kind ran up along the side of her bed, ending up in what she quickly realized was a nasal cannula. A second tube filled with clear liquid ran from a bag hanging over her head and attached itself to a drip affixed to her left leg.

All those things added up to only one thing in Rarity’s mind.

‘The hospital? How did I get here? Last thing I remember I was going to bed,’ the thought came groggily to Rarity. She tried to turn her head around but found that her muscles only partly obeyed her commands. Her limbs felt heavy and they throbbed every time she tried to lift them.

A soft voice came from beyond the edge of her perception, “She’s waking up, everypony.” Rarity very slowly turned her head, only now noticing that everything around her bed was covered in a hazy purple glow. She recognized the glow as one of Twilight’s bubble shields, though she didn’t know what one was doing around her hospital bed. She just had a severe case of magical burnout, nothing a few days of rest wouldn’t cure. What could she possibly need protection from?

From outside the bubble, Rarity could see her friends all looking down at her anxiously. They all looked very worried, but a little relieved that she was awake. Pinkie’s mane had deflated as it always did when she became severely depressed. The sight of it drew a sudden icy sensation to Rarity’s heart and doubt that this was just a minor problem began to gnaw at her.

“What’s going on?” she asked before noticing that he mouth felt like sandpaper. “Water, please,” she finished.

Outside the shield, Twilight nodded and picked up a glass from the bedside table. Slowly, she approached the shield, walking through it as if it was not there. As she passed through it, Rarity noticed that Twilight had covered herself in a second, body hugging shield, though she had kept the glass outside the field. Once she was fully inside, she passed the glass of water over to Rarity, holding it to Rarity’s mouth when it became clear she couldn’t grab it herself. Rarity gulped it down quickly, noticing for the first time just how thirsty she actually was.

“Twilight, what’s going on. Why all these shields?” Rarity repeated her earlier request once she had finished with the glass of water.

Twilight gave her a sympathetic look. “Yesterday, Spike came rushing up to me, screaming incoherently about how you had just collapsed after gathering gems. I hadn’t seen him so frantic since the time you were taken by the Diamond Dogs.”

“It’s just a silly case of burnout. I’ve been pushing myself too hard lately. Nothing to be concerned about, darling. Spike always thinks it’s the end of the world, but I’m made of tougher stuff than he realizes.”

Twilight shook her head a couple of times before looking Rarity straight in the eye. “It’s not burnout, I’m afraid. The doctors and I all agree that your symptoms and the speed at which it came on all point to one thing. I’m so sorry, Rarity, but you have Autoimmune Polythaumine Horn Syndrome. It’s an autoimmune viral agent that corrupts the host’s immune system, causing your natural white cells to attack healthy tissues. If left unchecked, your body would slowly destroy itself.”

“Autoimmune Poly-what?” Rarity struggled to form the words in her mouth. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place where she had heard it.

“It’s more commonly known as Aether Pox,” Twilight clarified.

At the mention of Aether Pox, Rarity instantly understood the precautions Twilight had taken. Memories of her time at school and listening to health class slowly came back to her. While it was a rarely seen virus, Aether Pox was highly infectious once symptoms set in. It was also, Rarity remembered, terminal in 99.9% of all cases. Only one in one thousand unicorns survived being infected, and it would leave them disfigured and weak for the rest of their lives, requiring constant medical treatments and blood transfusions. Fear gripped at her being as Twilight spoke; surely she must be wrong about this. She couldn’t have Aether Pox, could she? Such a thing was meant to have been stamped out years ago, or it was meant to only affect those ponies who lived in unclean conditions. A healthy unicorn like her wasn’t meant to get it.

“Aether Pox? No, surely you must be mistaken. It could be any one of a number of other things. Maybe there are more tests to run, something the doctors missed. Anything but Aether Pox.”

Twilight saw the fear appear in Rarity’s eyes. She wanted to lean down and give her a hug, or tell her it would all be ok, but she knew that neither one was possible. Even if Rarity wasn’t contagious yet, direct contact was strictly forbidden, and things were most certainly not going to be ok. As soon as she had realized what she was going to be dealing with, Twilight had poured herself into her medical textbooks and spoken with Dr. Stable about treatments. The answers she had gotten were not encouraging.

Dr. Stable had told her, and all the journals backed him up, that there was no cure, either medical, traditional or magical for Aether Pox. They could manage the pain that accompanied symptoms, but that was all. Given that it was such a rare disease, there had not been as much research into it as other, more common diseases. There was, quite simply, nothing that they could do for Rarity that they were not already doing. There was a fractional chance that she would survive, but the chances were very slim and her quality of life afterwards would be extremely poor.

“There is no mistake, Rarity. Based on the symptoms you have exhibited, Aether Pox is the only possible option. No other disease matches up so well on every level.”

“You must be wrong!” Rarity suddenly snapped, her voice taking on a harsh edge. Outside of the shield, Rarity noticed her friends recoil away. Twilight just remained where she was, weathering the outburst. It was to be expected and she knew that it wasn’t really directed at her; she was just a convenient target for Rarity to vent her sudden anger and shock on. She would have likely done the same thing in Rarity’s position.

When Twilight didn’t try to explain herself any further, Rarity realized that this was real. All question of this being a mistake, or a horrible prank by Rainbow or Pinkie Pie left her mind, leaving her filled only with questions about what happened next.

“There must be something that can be done,” Rarity said, calmer now. "These doctors are the best in Ponyville. Money is no object if they need it. Have them call in specialist, experts even. Just tell me what it will take to make this go away.” Rarity brightened a little as she entered regular territory, trying to barter with Twilight to cure her. She had plenty of bits stashed away in the bank; she could afford whatever specialist treatments it took to cure her of this virus.

Twilight shook her head sadly. “This isn’t something that can just go away, Rarity. This is serious. You are infected with a lethal disease and there isn’t any known cure.”

The last glimmer of hope died from Rarity’s face. “What will happen to me?” she asked. She sounded calm, but Twilight could hear the fear behind her voice.

“At first you are going to feel dizzy and weak. As the disease progresses you will begin to experience increasingly severe bouts of paralysis. After that, lesions and pustules will begin to form first around your horn, and then the rest of your body, preventing you from using magic. This will also signal the start of the period from which the virus will be transmittable to another host, necessitating total isolation. Nurse Redheart is preparing a hermetically sealed room for you right now. Once the pustules begin to burst, death is almost certain within a week.”

Rarity’s face drained. She had known that Aether Pox had an almost certain mortality rate, but she knew it in an academic sense, like how a pony knew that the Griffon Sea was large, but you couldn’t conceive just how large until you were floating alone in the middle of it. Her heart fluttered for a moment, which was reflected in the beeping coming from the machines she was hooked up to. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. With a start, something she had forgotten came to mind.

“How is Spike?” she asked, realizing for the first time that he had spent much of the day with her. He could also be infected and she would never forgive herself if anything happened to him.

“He’s ok, Rarity. Dragons seem to be immune to most pony diseases.” Twilight motioned behind her and Rarity saw Spike stretch up and wave to her. His face said it all. He was terrified out of his wits.

“That’s good to hear. I suppose there is nothing to do but wait then,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “I always hoped I would go in my sleep as an old mare, surrounded by my many children, but if this is going to be how my life ends, I’m not going to cower. Would you be so kind as to get my lawyer? I would like to make sure that all my affairs are in order.”

Twilight nodded to Rarity. “Don’t give up. I’m sure that we will find something before it is too late. The princess has some of Canterlot’s greatest minds working on it right now. If you need anything else, call me. I’ll be here for as long as you need.” Slowly, she began to retreat out of the bubble shield, exiting back out before dispelling her smaller personal field. As soon as the shield was gone, all her friends rushed up to crowd around her, each one throwing a barrage of questions at her. Twilight quickly made her bubble shield soundproof so that Rarity would be spared having to listen.

Her friends all spoke at once, each one of them trying to make their question heard first. Twilight shut her eyes, focusing on each voice with a different part of her mind, a skill she had honed over many years.

“Rarity’s isn’t really going to die, is she?”

“What can we do to help her, sugar?”

“She is going to be ok, isn’t she?”

Twilight held up a hoof, silencing further questions. “Everypony listen. Rarity is going to need us to be strong over the next few weeks. Pearl and Magnum know; they are on their way back from Prance and will be here later today. They have asked that we not tell Sweetie Belle until they have a chance to see her first.”

“But we can’t do nothing,” Rainbow said, slamming a hoof down on the table next to her with such force that it dented slightly, earning a sharp look from a passing nurse. “There has to be something we can all do to help. Rarity wouldn’t just sit back if it was one of us in there.”

“There isn’t much we can do. There is no cure and I don’t know of anypony who has any ideas.” Twilight said, hanging her head. She hated being this powerless. All her wisdom, all her magical power and she couldn’t do anything to save one of her closest friends.

“Zecora,” Applejack said, quietly but firmly. “If anypony is going to know something about some rare disease that’s not supposed to have any cure, it’s going to be her.”

“Applejack, that’s it!” Twilight said, brightening again. She had been so focused on the scientific side that she had forgotten the shaman living almost on her doorstep. “Rainbow, can you-“

Rainbow’s prismatic streak was already vanishing out the window, angled directly towards the Everfree forest.

Just over an hour later, Rainbow returned to the hospital with Zecora in tow. She had a hoof stitched bag filled with a selection of bottles and potions slung across her back. She gave Twilight a quick and friendly nod, but noticed the serious and somber expressions on every face she looked at.

“Your brash young friend did bade me hurry. What is it that makes you worry?” she asked, not wasting any time. It was clear that this was no simple Parasprite infestation; something was seriously wrong.

“We need your help, Zecora. Do you know anything about Aether Pox?” Twilight asked, leading Zecora away from the room Rarity was resting in. She could maintain the isolation shield from a reasonable distance. She had dropped the soundproofing when it became clear it was draining her reserves too fast and she didn’t want Rarity to overhear this, just in case it got her hopes up for nothing. Right now, Rarity was sleeping comfortably, but Twilight knew she was a light sleeper and even the slightest noise could wake her up again.

“That is a name I have not heard in a while. All I know is that it is a disease most vile. If you are infected, that is most grim. Whose life is it that grows dim?”

“That would be Rarity.” Dr. Stable called from across the room. He walked in slowly, giving Zecora a slight nod of his head. While he would never really approve of her witch doctor methods, he had to admit that she knew her stuff when it came to herbal treatments. Not that they would ever take the place of proper scientific medical procedures, of course. He paused when he reached Twilight and handed her a piece of paper he had been holding. “The bloodwork confirms it, I’m afraid. Rarity has the early stages of A.P.H.S. I know that this is a hard time for you, but know that we are immeasurably lucky that the first symptoms came on so quickly. If she had remained out in the general population for much longer, every unicorn in town and beyond could have been at risk. There are documented cases of A.P.H.S wiping entire towns of unicorns out. At least this way, nopony else will be infected.”

“At least that’s something,” Twilight had to admit. While she was just as worried as all her friends were about Rarity, she was also Princess Celestia’s student and royal representative to the town. She had to look beyond the one pony that was going to suffer and consider the needs of the many, no matter how important to her that one pony was. “Can you give us a prognosis? How long does she have?”

Dr. Stable consulted his notes, doing some quick calculations in his head. “Since we caught it so quickly, we can slow down the progress of the virus with medication. The general health of the patient, their weight, and diet can all make a difference as well. At an educated guess, I’d say that Rarity has about three weeks to live, a month at the most. Once the pustules begin to form, we will have a clearer idea of the timeline.”

“Is there anything we can to do help her?” Fluttershy asked from over in the corner. She was wringing her mane through her hooves and looked very ragged. Twilight realized that normally she and Rarity would be at the spa right now.

Dr. Stable sighed, shaking his head. “No. We can make her comfortable, but that’s about-“

“There is a cure that very few know, though it is not something one can just grow.” Zecora said, cutting the doctor off mid sentence. Every jaw in the room dropped at her words. For a full ten seconds, nopony even blinked as what she had said sunk in.

“You know a cure?” Twilight said, rushing over to Zecora, breaking the trance everypony was in. They all blinked rapidly before asking similar questions. Excitement and joy was etched on each of their faces. Twilight had known that Zecora would have been able to help them out.

“It is not a cure, but rather a tale that speaks of that which can restore health and hale. I speak, of course, of the Tree of Life, lost long ago in the age of strife.”

“The Tree of Life? I’ve never heard of it. What is it?” Twilight asked. She had never come across a reference to such a thing before. She had thought she knew most of the types of tree that grew in Equestria.

“The tree is said to be the progenitor of all Dov. Even now, it resides in a long lost grove.”

“Wait a minute, progenitor of all Dov? You’re talking about the Dragon’s Blood Tree!” Spike said suddenly. He was on his feet in a moment, rushing over to stand next to Twilight.

“The Dragon’s what Tree?” Applejack asked. “Tree’s don’t have blood, they have sap. Least not any tree I’ve ever seen.”

“It is a legend told only to dragon kin. Spike, would you be so kind as to read us in?”

Spike picked up the thread from there, his spirits buoyed that he might know something that could help Rarity. “I heard one of the elders talking about it during the migration. I did more than just hang out with Garble and his cronies. The elder told us the legend of how dragons came to be.” Spike tapped his foot a few times, claw scratching his chin in thought. “Now, how did it go? Ah, got it!”

Everypony settled down in the waiting room as Spike told them of the legend he had heard. “The story goes that many ages ago, before the land of Equestria had been founded; before ponies existed; before even the princesses had been born, there was a tree. Flowing through this tree was meant to be the blood of the first dragon who ever lived. He was immortal and he was alone. He lived for countless millennia, amassing a hoard like no other that had ever existed. One day, as he was counting his riches, he had a moment of clarity and saw how hollow his life was with no other dragons to keep him company. Not willing to face the rest of eternity alone, he landed on a hill in what would later become the heart of the dragon lands and withdrew into himself in meditations, ascending to a higher plane of existence where he resides to this day. Over thousands of years, his body grew into the hill and a tree sprouted from his back. The tree’s sap is meant to be his blood and it was from the fruits of this tree that the first of the new generation of dragons were meant to have spawned.”

“Skip the history lesson, Spike,” Rainbow said quickly. “Get to the part where this helps Rarity.”

“Oh, right! The legend said that the sap of this tree is meant to be special in that it can be used to cure just about any malady that a dragon can suffer from. Those who the guardian of the grove finds worthy are allowed to take some of the sap. If we can get some of that sap, maybe we can use it to cure Rarity.”

“Sounds better than any other plan we have right now,” Applejack said. “Let’s all get ready. We have a tree to find.”

“Not so fast, my dear Applejack. You may want to take just a few steps back. The sacred grove is not for your eyes to see, as only a dragon may approach the tree.” Zecora turned to look at Spike. “This quest is Spike’s and Spike’s alone, but do not fret, worry, or moan. I will accompany the young drake on this vital quest, and guide him along as I know best.”

“But didn’t you just say that only a dragon could approach the tree?” Twilight asked. “Why would it be any safer for you to go than us?”

Zecora didn’t say anything but produced a small metal orb from one of the pouches of her bag. Opening the orb, she revealed that inside it was a small burning mass of ice blue fire. It burned without any visible source of fuel and seemed to be emitting cold rather than heat, as a normal fire would.

“A token from a grateful ice wyrm I saved from lust and greed, this fire shall grant me the access I need. The honorary title of drake was bestowed to me, and is all I need to approach the tree.” Zecora kneeled down before Spike, setting a striped hoof on his shoulder. “Little dragon, I would suggest you return and prepare. This quest may take us anywhere. Within the dragon lands is what we seek, but this is not the time to be weak. The one that you love lies at death’s door, so there is no time to waste, of that I am sure.”

Spike gulped but nodded bravely. If it would help Rarity, he would delve into the deepest depths of the underworld itself.

Twilight put her hoof on his other shoulder. “Good luck, Spike. I’m sure that you can do this. Rarity couldn’t be in better hands than yours right now.” She turned to face the others, raising her voice to get everyponies attention. “Everypony listen up. Rainbow, Fluttershy, I want you to make best speed for Canterlot. Head for the archives and find me every scrap of information you can on the dragon lands. Legends, myths, personal accounts, lore, maps. Any and everything that might give us a clue as to where this tree could be located. I’ll make sure that the princess knows you are coming.” She turned to face Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “AJ, Pinkie. Same deal here. Search the library and find me something. Rarity is counting on us; we can’t fail her.”

“What about you, sugar?” Applejack asked.

“I can’t leave here just yet,” Twilight said, pointing to her glowing horn. “Until the isolation room is ready, I need to maintain the shield around her. Once she is settled and Pearl and Magnum have arrived, there is something I want to check out. Remember that dragon Fluttershy convinced to leave? His hoard is still in that cave. I want to go and check if there is anything in there we can use; a diary or history book would be perfect. After that, I’ll head to Canterlot. Does anypony have any questions?”

Nopony had any. They were all focused on the thoughts of their individual tasks. Life and fire began to return to their eyes. Pinkie’s hair even started to poof up again, though it was far from her normal gravity defying style. They all wanted something, needed something to do rather than just waiting around for the inevitable.

Zecora pulled several glowing bottles out from her saddle bag and put them down on the ground. “These potions will ensure she will feel no pain, and should last until we meet again. Now, Spike, come along and pack. There is no telling when we will be back.”

Spike gave Twilight a tight hug, wrapping his claws around her fore hooves. She buried her face into his shoulder. “Good luck, Spike,” she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. Knowing that every second counted right now, they didn’t hug for long, breaking apart as quickly as they had come together in the first place. “Alright, everypony. You all know what to do. Rarity is counting on us; get to it.”

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all nodded and quickly exited the hospital’s waiting room, heading off to their respective tasks. Zecora kneeled down and allowed Spike to mount her back. “Do not worry, Twilight. I will see he returns alright,” she said.

“I know you will,” Twilight said. “Good luck, both of you. Hurry.”

In a flash, Zecora followed Applejack’s retreating hoofsteps, Spike clinging on to her thick fur.

“You know this probably won’t work, don’t you?” Dr. Stable said, coming to stand next to Twilight, “Ancient legends and vague references. This is a fool’s errand you have sent them on.”

“I know,” Twilight said sadly. “What would you have me do? Just let them wait until the end. At least this way, they will have hope and something to keep them distracted.”

Dr. Stable gave her a long look. “That’s as much as anypony can ask at a time like this, I suppose. The room will be ready for use in about an hour. I will make sure that Rarity is as comfortable as she can be. After that, well, I guess it’s up to fate.”

Twilight nodded slowly before following Dr. Stable back towards Rarity’s room. All she could do now was hope that fate was feeling charitable.

Author's Note

Chapter 2 is up and the game is underway.

I'd like to extend a quick thanks to two other users: Flint Sparks and TracTix for suggesting the names of the condition Rarity is suffering from.

From this point out, updates are going to be weekly at best.

If you enjoy these first two chapters, do let me know. Like or fave the story and please tell your followers or add it to appropriate groups

Chapter 3 - Setting Out

Spike and the Dragon Tree
***

Chapter 3 – Setting out

Spike had never packed so fast in all his life. As soon as he entered the library, he had grabbed the large square of cloth that he had used as his bindle the last time he had set out on a journey and quickly filled it with various things that he felt would be useful. Jars of preserved food, a couple of bite sized gems and a detailed map of Equestria made up the majority of the items he would be able to carry with him.

Zecora also grabbed several cans of food, as well as several packs of highly concentrated feed Twilight sometimes used for her cram sessions, shifting some of her smaller items to the pockets of her cloak. Spike also grabbed a roll of parchment and a couple of quills from a desk stand, adding them to his rapidly filling bundle of goods. A jar of ink was the last thing he added, taking care not to crack the glass. It was at times like this that he was sorry that his magical dragon flame could only send and receive letters. It would be useful to be able to send a letter to Twilight or the princess, and then burp up a tent or a packed lunch. He knew that Twilight could store items in a pocket dimension, but he didn’t think he could do anything like that.

Zecora had to stop him from packing a couple of items that would almost certainly have proven to be useless. Sentimental things like a photo of him and Rarity together would only slow them down with unnecessary weight. “Please, Spike. You must pack light. It is important that we leave before the arrival of night.”

Around them, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were ripping apart the library, searching for anything that could help them in their search. Applejack, being a level headed pony, had begun her search in the ‘D’ section, reasoning that anything to do with dragons would be stored there. Pinkie Pie had just pulled the first book she could off the shelf. She was now looking over ‘ye olde atlas of Equestria most ancient.’ That it was written in archaic Equestrian, and making reference to Equestria as ancient spoke much about how far back this book was meant to be delving. Pinkie Pie had shrugged this off, suggesting that they needed very old maps to find something lost for thousands of years. There was a certain type of logic to Pinkie’s method, so Spike let her work.

Spike returned to his packing. He wanted to argue with Zecora after she told him to leave behind just about everything extra he had wanted to pack, but eventually had to concede the point and removed all but the most basic necessities from his bag. Taking one last look at the photo of Rarity, Spike touched a claw to her smiling face. “Don’t worry, Rarity. I’ll save you,” he whispered to himself before turning to face Zecora.

She had the map of Equestria unfurled on a table and was looking at it intently. Along the eastern edge of the map, Spike could clearly make out an arrow with the words ‘Dragon Lands’ printed under it. To highlight the point, several renditions of dragons were flying around the border of the map along with the words ‘here there be dragons’ posted unnecessarily below them.

Zecora pointed a hoof at a series of hills right up against the edge of the map. “These hills are the fastest way. If we are lucky, we can be there before dawn of the fourth day.”

Spike recognized the hills as the same ones he had traveled through during his trip. It had taken him about the same time to reach them. Reaching the other side of them would mark their arrival in the dragon lands. Spike had no desire to return there. The dragon lands were harsh and barren, devoid of any life that wasn’t hardy enough to eek out an existence amid its jagged crags and outcrops. For Rarity though, he was willing to go back.

Zecora traced out a straight path from Ponyville, passing through mostly open fields and light woodlands. Spike had followed a similar path during the migration and it was as good as any trip that they could take. It would be no problem for the pair of them to get to the border of Equestria; that was the easy part of this trip. Once they got to the dragon lands however, that was when things would really become dicey.

Looking at the border of the map, Spike realized something that he hadn’t really thought about before. It was something that could scuttle this trip before it even began. “Zecora,” he started, “how are we going to know this tree when we see it? I’ve never actually seen any pictures of it, and every dragon who mentioned it to me had a different description for it.”

Zecora gave him a quick smile and walked over to one of the shelves of the library, selecting a familiar green covered book from the ‘S’ section. “That is a question most wise. Luckily, the answer is right before your eyes.” With a flick of practiced hooves, Zecora opened the book and flipped it around to a page right towards the back. Spike peered around her, trying to catch a glimpse of what she was looking for until she stopped on one specific page.

On the page, Spike saw what looked like a rough sketched image of a very odd looking tree. A single, almost vertical trunk with branches splitting off it at regular intervals. Each of the branches divided again, forming an increasingly dense network of limbs the higher the tree went. There was not a scrap of foliage anywhere except on the crown of the tree. The entire thing looked very much like as if it was made in the design of one of Rarity’s saddle mounted umbrellas. It was unlike any tree he had ever seen before.

“This is the only picture of the Tree of Life. It was drawn by a griffon trying to save his wife,” Zecora said, pointing out the artists initials next to the image. There was a little caption next to the image. Spike quickly skimmed through it, thankful that years of being Twilight’s assistant had honed his ability to read quickly.

Of all the fabled cure-alls, none had remained as elusive as the so called ‘Dragon’s Blood Tree,’ also known as the Tree of the Firstborn, the Tree of Life, and the Tree of fools hope. Despite searching for nearly ten years, I was unable to locate anything more than the most basic of clues as to where it might be found. From the fact that it has remained hidden all these long years suggests it is in a remote part of the land not easily accessible. The few dragons that were willing to talk to me were very tight lipped about what, if anything they knew regarding its location. The only thing I ever found out was from one of the younger dragons. In exchange for a king’s ransom of gems and coins, he described the tree in great detail, which I have attempted to reproduce here, and told me that ‘You must travel through the maw and down his gullet.’ I have no idea what he meant by that, nor did he care to elaborate. I think that not even the dragons know much about this tree, but I must not loose hope.’

“So that’s what it looks like,” Applejack said, coming up behind Spike to take a look at the picture. “Doesn’t look all that fancy to me. I was expecting something more… impressive looking. Spines and spikes, or something like that.” She quickly skimmed the caption, re-reading a couple of lines along the way. “Sounds like more than one pony has gone looking for this tree before. What do you suppose he means by ‘down his gullet and all that? That part doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see how getting eaten by a dragon is meant to help you find the tree. I think that there dragon was just taking this griffon for a spin and conning him out of his money.”

“Maybe it’s some sort of literal riddle. You know, like that one about friends and doors from that book about that ring,” Pinkie said, not looking up from her atlas.

“It is indeed a riddle, one of which we are now right in the middle. I can only surmise that it is a clue, the answer for which eludes me or you.” Zecora closed the book and rubbed her hooves against her head, pressing the flats up against her temples in concentration. The golden bangles on her left hoof jangled together as she rubbed. She remained in that stance for a while, clearly deep in thought. Spike watched her for a few moments, puzzling himself over what it could all mean. When Zecora didn’t move for nearly five minutes, he returned to his packing, grabbing a bag of emergency bits he had been saving out of the housekeeping and shoving it into the last remaining space in his bindle.

He had been planning on using those bits to by Rarity a very special birthday gift. He hadn’t decided what it was going to be yet, as everything he could think of seemed to be either tacky, or had already been done. He figured that using the bits to try and save her life was a worthy goal instead.

With nothing else to do, he moved over to check on Applejack and Pinkie Pie’s progress. “Got anything?” he asked Applejack. She shook her head at him as she sorted through another section of the shelves.

“Nothing over here. Can you believe it; not a single book in the library starts with the word ‘dragon.’ Pinkie Pie’s no help either. She’s just looking through that atlas over and over again, mumbling that silly riddle over and over again.”

There was a flurry over movement from the table and Spike looked up to see Zecora smiling at him. She had a look of triumph on her face that could only mean that she figured out a possible solution to the riddle.

“Pinkie Pie, my dear. Bring that atlas over here.”

Pinkie Pie trotted over to Zecora and handed her the atlas. Zecora quickly flipped through the pages of the book before coming to a page that showed much of the eastern edge of Equestria. The map was richly detailed, filled with streams and lakes, settlements and towns, though most of the information on it was vastly out of date now. There was also a rough sketching of the borders of the dragon land, though there was little detail on that, save for a few large rivers and mountains. It showed the shape of the land, but not all that much else.

“What are you thinking?” Spike asked as Zecora began tracing a hoof along the page, clearly looking for something. “What did you realize?”

Zecora’s hoof came to stop on one edge of the map, pointing directly at a rough outline of the coast. A large river exited into the sea right under her hoof, and it passed through a long cove. On the map, the river snaked its way south for a while, starting its journey to the sea from a mid sized lake fairly close to the center of the dragon lands. The lake was surrounded on all sides by steep mountains and around that were deserts. Spike took a closer look at the exit of the river. The cove was slightly longer on the top side, and each landmass had a couple of jagged bumps that looked suspiciously like teeth. Another lake, unconnected to anything was situated above the river in an almost perfect oval.

“Oh, you don’t think…” he said, realizing what Zecora had found out.

“The riddle was in fact, rather apt. We are fortunate that this place was mapped.”

Spike took another look at the map before him. The shape of the coves and the isolated lake looked almost like the head of a dragon. ‘Through his maw and down his gullet,’ he thought, looking at the river running through the map. If you looked at it right, it almost looked like an esophagus, and it ended up in a lake that was almost inaccessible. It was the perfect place to hide something of great value.

“You think this tree might be somewhere in around there?” Applejack asked.

“Its hiding places are great and many, but this is as good a place to start as any,” Zecora confirmed, closing the atlas and slipping it into her saddlebag, along with the Super naturals book. She gave her bags one final look over, checking that everything was in position and securely fastened. Once she was sure that her bags were filled with everything that she was likely to need, or at least as much as she could carry, Zecora picked up her staff and slipped it through a couple of knots of rope woven into the back of her cloak. With both objects properly attached to her body, Zecora gave a quick nod to Applejack and Pinkie Pie before motioning for Spike to follow her.

“Are you all set, or are there things you must do yet?” she asked. Spike gave his bindle a quick check over and shook his head. He was no stranger to packing quickly, and he had a general idea of the sorts of things he would need on a journey. He was fairly confident that he had what he needed to take. Except for the unforeseeable, but they would just have to deal with that when they got to it.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie both come over and gave Spike a hug. Applejack kneeled down before him and looked him straight in the eye before saying, “This is a real brave thing you are doing, Spike. I know Rarity couldn’t be in better hooves than yours. Come back safe, you hear? I don’t plan on loosing any friends over this, and that includes you.”

Pinkie, on the other hand, gave Spike advice that was a little bit more random, though no less practical. “Remember, Spike, those other dragons can be real meanies. When you get back, I’ll throw you a big ‘Spike saved the day!’ party, and everypony will be invited.”

“Thanks, you girls,” Spike said. “I’ll try to be careful. Zecora and I will find that tree, and be back before you know it.” He hoped that he sounded more confident than he felt.

“Spike, come along, the day grows long,” Zecora’s harmonic voice came from over at the door. She was fully kitted out and ready to be on her way. “The little time Rarity has left goes to waste. If you wish to return triumphant, we must make haste.”

Spike spared one last look at Applejack and Pinkie Pie, both of whom looked a mixture of excited for him, and fearful for their friend. He gave them one last wave of his claw before grabbing his bundle from the ground next to him and marching over to meet Zecora.

Taking a deep breath, Spike put his foot down onto the earth outside the library, taking the first step on the most important journey he had ever taken. Looking up at the setting sun, he felt a resolve hotter than the affirmation of Celestia’s will burn within him. Without looking back, he took his second step…

Twilight watched helplessly as the medical staff of the Ponyville general hospital moved Rarity from her temporary room into the specially prepared isolation ward. Nurses Red Heart and Tender Care had taken all possible precautions, donning sterile hoof gloves and filter masks over their muzzles. Twilight had wanted to help, but they had both refused to let her anywhere near Rarity during the transfer. Now they were placing Rarity onto the bed that she was likely to die in, taking care to make sure that none of the various wires and tubes hooked up to the white mare were crossed or chafed at any point.

Twilight could only watch from outside the sealed glass cube, standing in a small observation area. From this point on, there would be no direct contact with Rarity without a doctor being present and all who entered even the observation area would be required to undergo sterilization before leaving.

The two nurses worked efficiently and soon Rarity was as comfortable as she possibly could be, given the circumstances. She had been given a sedative prior to being moved; nurse Tender Care had told Twilight that Rarity would be asleep until the morning at least. She would be able to receive limited visitors starting tomorrow, though only those with relevant business would be allowed in.

Exiting the cube, nurse Red Heart gave Twilight a firm squeeze on her shoulder and a sympathetic look before following Tender Care over to the decontamination area, leaving Twilight totally alone with Rarity.

As soon as the door closed behind Twilight, she dropped all pretence and collapsed to the floor, burying her face into her hooves and letting the flood of tears she had been holding in seep out onto the floor. “Rarity, I’m so sorry this had to happen to you,” she sobbed out. “I wish I could take your place; you don’t deserve this.”

With no other pony around to see her, Twilight lost track of how long she had spent on the floor. She had to be strong for her friends; they expected her to lead them, to know exactly what to do in a situation like this. It had nearly killed her, having to tell them that she didn’t have anything. She had felt so helpless, so powerless to do anything against such an insidious foe.

“I don’t want you to die, Rarity,” she continued. She could feel her eyes puffing up from all the tears running down her face and her throat was becoming raw from the sobs. “Don’t worry though. Everything is going to be alright. Spike and Zecora will know exactly what to do.” She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince; the still sleeping Rarity or herself.

A sudden banging of some doors broke Twilight out of her reverie and she looked up just in time to see the double doors to the isolation room swing open, revealing a light pink unicorn looking around with fearful eyes.

“Where is she? Where is my daughter?” Pearl cried out, hysterical and seemingly looking in every direction at once. Behind her, Twilight recognized Rarity’s father, Magnum looking apprehensive and equally as worried. He was talking to Dr. Stable and the pair of them looked like they were arguing over something. Pearl burst into the room, nearly running right into the glass of the cubes edge and banging her hooves uselessly against it.

“Rarity! Oh sweet child, tell me that you are going to be ok. Please be ok.” Pearl beat her hooves against the glass again before eventually sliding to the floor in a heaving heap.

‘Time to be strong again,’ Twilight thought to herself as she walked over to comfort Pearl. She slipped her hooves around the sobbing mare, pulling her in tight. Pearl looked up in fright for a moment before recognizing Twilight as one of Rarity’s friends.

“Oh, Twilight, I didn’t see you there. Please tell me that this is just a mistake, that the doctors have gotten it wrong. Rarity could never get Aether Pox, could she?”

“Rarity is going to be ok, Mrs. Belle,” Twilight lied. She wasn’t sure why she said that, but she just couldn’t bring herself to tell Pearl the truth. “A team of scientists and doctors are close to finding a cure. Rarity is going to be up and healthy again before you know it.”

Pearl grabbed at the lifeline Twilight had offered, either not noticing, or deliberately looking past the obvious falsehood in favor of grasping at any hope that presented itself. She hugged Twilight in hard, tears streaming down her face. “Thank you, Twilight. I knew I could count on you to help Rarity in her hour of need. She always spoke so highly of you whenever we visited.”

Behind Pearl, Twilight saw Magnum enter the isolation room. She could see in his eyes that he knew this was a serious situation and it would be a disservice to him to try and present it in anyway other than the stark truth.

Pearl released Twilight and went back to looking through the glass at her daughter. All the various machines Rarity was hooked up to blinked or beeped regularly, indicating that she was in good general health considering the condition she was suffering. Slowly, Pearl’s tears began to dry up, replaced by a heaving sob every few seconds. She levitated a silk handkerchief up and dabbed it at her eyes, causing her eye liner to run and blot.

Magnum walked over to Pearl and put his hoof around her shoulder and pressing his head up against hers. “Don’t worry, love. You heard Twilight. Rarity is going to be fine. Look at the poor girl; she must have been here for hours. Do you think you could find a cup of coffee for Twilight?”

Pearl looked up sharply, turning to stare at Twilight before seemingly noticing the sagging bags under her eyes. Magnum was right; Twilight had been in the hospital for many hours now, and she wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been since she got any sleep. Not since Spike had come running to her, so at least a full day had passed. Suddenly she felt tired; the pretence of appearing so calm and collected, plus the constant drain of holding her magic for so long were beginning to take their toll on her.

“Right, right. I’m sorry, I should have asked if there was anything you needed. How do you take it, Twilight?” Pearl asked.

“Uhh, just black will be fine,” Twilight finally replied. She wasn’t a big fan of coffee. It tasted foul and left her jittery, but she wasn’t about to refuse and say no.

Pearl nodded and left the room in search of a coffee machine, or even a simple boiler pot. As soon as she walked out, Magnum gently closed the door before turning to face Twilight. His expression was totally serious. He could tell that Twilight had been sugarcoating it for his wife. He, however, wanted it straight up. He was just a simple stallion and had no time for games, not when it was his daughter’s life on the line.

“Twilight, I appreciate you trying to spare Pearl, but please, I want to know the real story. How bad is it?”

Twilight sighed, steeling herself to deliver what was likely going to the most devastating news Magnum had ever heard. In the end, she decided just to be straight up blunt with it. He had asked to hear it untempered, so she figured he could handle it. “Not good,” she admitted. “It’s true that Celestia has a team of the most talented researchers in Canterlot working on it right now, but the chance that they will find something useful within the limited timeframe we have open to us is slim. The doctors here have made it very clear that Rarity’s chance for survival is only about one in one thousand and they estimate that she has about three or four weeks to live. She won’t be in any pain, but as the virus progresses, she will become more and more debilitated.”

“Is there any good news at all?” Magnum asked. He knew that he would need something to comfort his wife with once she realized just how serious this actually was. Magnum loved Pearl dearly, but she did tend to be a little air headed at times. She had wrapped herself up in a cocoon of her own delusion and would remain in there for as long as she could.

“It’s hardly good news, but we have a very remote possibility to find a cure.” Twilight told Magnum about Zecora and Spike and how they were heading off to find a lost legend in the hopes of acquiring a long forgotten sap that just might help Rarity. Magnum listened intently, not interrupting once.

“It’s a long shot, I know,” Twilight said, coming to the end of the story. “A lot of ifs based on maybes, but it’s all we have right now.”

At that moment, Pearl came back through the door, holding three foam cups of black coffee in her magic. She looked a little calmer now, but one glance at her daughter hooked up to half a dozen machines caused her eyes to start to water over again. Twilight quickly grabbed the coffee cups out of Pearl’s grasp before they fell to the floor and passed one over to Magnum, keeping the other one for herself. One sip of the acrid liquid told Twilight that this was the usual cheap kind of coffee one would find in any number of public buildings.

“Thank you, Pearl,” Twilight said, forcing herself to swallow the tepid mixture. Drinking the rest of the coffee, she felt some of her energy begin to return, but that also only served to highlight just how tired she actually was.

Soon, all three ponies returned to look at Rarity. She appeared to be resting comfortably. Mangum and Pearl were pressed up against each other, while Twilight kept a respectable distance apart, not wanting to intrude on their grief. After a few minutes of just watching, Twilight decided that she was going to have to mention to metaphorical elephant in the room.

“What are you going to tell Sweetie Belle? I assume she doesn’t know yet.”

Magnum shook his head. “No, she doesn’t know. Sweetie Belle has been staying with Apple Bloom while we were on holiday. Right now, she and her friends are off on one of their crusader sleepovers. We didn’t want to ruin her good time just yet. I don’t know what we are going to tell her; she idolizes her older sister.”

A soft knock from behind them stopped all further conversation. Twilight looked behind her to see Dr. Stable standing in the doorway. He looked a little hesitant; almost as if he wasn’t sure he should be there. Twilight gave him a questioning look.

“Visiting hours are almost over. I’m going to have to ask you all to leave.” His tone was quiet and respectful. This wasn’t the first time he had needed to do something like this before, Twilight guessed. “Rarity will be well taken care of during the night, I assure you. She should be awake some time early tomorrow, but I would ask that you not do anything to excite her. The best thing we can do for her right now is to keep her calm and rested.

“When can we come back? I don’t want her waking up alone,” Pearl asked, not taking her eyes off of Rarity. It was clear she didn’t want to leave her baby girl.

“First thing in the morning. Don’t worry, Mrs. Belle, if Rarity’s condition changes, I will alert you at once.” Dr. Stable held the door open and gestured for them to follow him.

“Come along, dear,” Magnum said gently, giving Pearl a slight tug. “We need to let the doctors do their work. We can come back tomorrow. Besides,” he said, pausing to give Twilight and Dr. Stable a significant look, “the situation is well in hoof. You heard Twilight; Rarity will be fine. All she needs is for us to stand back and let the doctors and nurses do their jobs.”

“Yes, yes,” Dr. Stable agreed, picking up on the ruse quickly. He gave Twilight a questioning look, but didn’t say anything to her. “Rarity just needs time to rest and recover. I’m certain that in a month’s time, she will be as healthy as you or I.”

“Alright,” Pearl said, finally turning away from Rarity. She instead looked at Twilight. “You have been a good friend to my daughter. She is going to be ok, isn’t she?”

Twilight nodded once, not trusting herself to speak. Pearl was willing to believe just about anything right now, and Twilight just couldn’t bring herself to shatter the illusion she had surrounded herself with just yet.

Giving Rarity one last look, Twilight followed Pearl and Magnum out of the hospital and headed back towards her beloved library. With the sun just setting over the hills, she thought about Spike and his quest to find the Dragon Tree. It was a ludicrous possibility, but it was the only chance Rarity had.

‘Good luck, Spike. Safe journey,’ she thought before she arrived at her door. She had to get a good night’s sleep tonight, as tomorrow she would be headed straight for Canterlot to join Rainbow and Fluttershy in searching the archives for any clues Spike and Zecora could use.

It may have been a fool’s hope, but even a fool’s hope is better than none.

Chapter 4 - Fireside Stories

Spike and the Dragon Tree
***

Chapter 4 – Fireside Stories

It was well after nightfall when Zecora called for a halt and began to set up camp. In the few hours that they had been traveling, Spike and Zecora had made good time; They had already passed through the white-tail woods and were out into the hills beyond. Over the hill would be flat pasture marred by the occasional stream or dip. It would be easy travelling almost all the way to the edge of Equestria. Providing that they continued to make decent time and the weather remained clear, they should make the border of the Dragon Lands within another three days.

Spike wanted to keep going through the night, but Zecora called for a halt, pointing out that travelling through uneven ground at night was inviting disaster. A single miss placed hoof could mean a broken ankle, or even worse. Spike had to agree with her reasoning. They would set out again at first light, but Spike couldn’t pass up the feeling that they were wasting time.

Zecora led the way to a small cave that looked to be well sheltered from the wind and elements. Giving it a quick look over to check if there were any other inhabitants already using it, the pair stepped inside the mouth and settled in for the night. A more through look into the deeper parts of the cave revealed a small colony of strawberry fruitbats, but nothing larger. The bats chattered away at the rude awakening before launching themselves into the sky, looking for flies or small bugs to eat. Spike watched them go before settling in and opening his bindle to pull out something to eat. The small stash of gems he had brought looked inviting, but he turned his attention towards the jars of preserves he had packed. The gems would be more useful if they encountered other dragons who needed a little incentive to be talkative.

Spike was just about to open the first jar he could lay his claws on when Zecora put a hoof over his. Spike looked to see her shaking her head slightly.

“Food in the Dragon Lands is sure to be rare. We should save what we can until we are there.”

“Well what are we meant to eat then?” Spike asked as his stomach gave a gurgle. He hadn’t exactly had the time to eat his fill before they had left the library. He wasn’t sure if he could keep going tomorrow without having something to eat in the meantime.

Zecora just smiled at him before producing a pouch that she had placed around her neck earlier in the afternoon. Spike had seen her stopping on occasion to add things to the sack, but he hadn’t asked why. Zecora opened the sack to reveal that it was filled with an assortment of herbs and edible plants. Spike could see basil and sage, along with what looked like a couple of dandelions, plus many other ingredients he couldn’t instantly recognize.

“A hearty soup fit for two. That should satisfy me and you,” Zecora gave Spike a knowing smile as she produced a small pot from somewhere in her cloak and added the selection of ingredients to the mix. Once she had added everything to the pot, Zecora went outside to fill the pot with water from a nearby stream. Realizing what she was doing, Spike set out in search of twigs and sticks that they could use to start a fire with to cook the soup.

The hillside was covered with dead shrubs and fallen logs, so it was no great challenge to gather enough wood to last them through the night. Within a few minutes, Spike had gathered a mighty faggot of wood and had stored it by the mouth of the cave. One he was done, he noticed Zecora holding up a hoof, with one of the fruitbats perched on top. It looked like the Zebra was talking to the bat, though Spike couldn’t make out what was being said. He doubted that anything was really being said. While he knew that Fluttershy could understand animals better than most ponies, he wasn’t sure if it was actual language, or just a really good understanding of intent. Either way, Spike was hesitant to believe that Zecora could speak bat.

After a few moments, the bat flew off, chittering to a few of its companions, and all three of them flew away, keeping low over the hills as if they were searching for something.

“What was that all about?” Spike asked as he made a little circle of stones to contain the fire. Zecora had returned to mixing up the soup, adding in a couple of new ingredients she had found around the cave; the walls were covered with mosses and lichens, most of which Spike recognized from Twilight’s frequent botanical surveys. He knew that they were non-toxic, though their taste was questionable.

“I was just asking about the final ingredient of this stew. I wanted to see what the locals knew. They really are a most helpful breed, and have promised to search with all possible speed,” Zecora replied, hanging the pot from a long stick they had erected to hold the soup away from the flames.

Spike gave Zecora a long look. “Riiight,” he said, not quite hiding the disbelief in his voice. He knew that Zecora was very knowledgeable about almost everything, but he still didn’t believe that she could command the loyalty of animals just by asking them. He shrugged it off and got back to work, piling a bundle of wood into the stone circle. Once he was sure that everything was in place, he took a deep breath and gently blew his dragon flame over the dry timber. The kindling caught at once and within a few seconds, there was a healthy looking green fire crackling in the center of the cave’s entrance. The rich smell of the wood smoke filled the cave, but most of the actual smoke escaped out of the mouth. Slowly, the flames changed from the emerald green of Spike’s own breath to the more normal color of orange and yellow.

Within minutes, the pot began to bubble and the smell of cooking added to the deep woody smells already permeating the cave’s insides. Spike took over the duty of watching the pot, giving it the occasional stir with a metal spoon, while Zecora set about making two makeshift beds out of piles of leaves and a few larger clods of earth.

After about twenty minutes of cooking, Spike heard the chittering sound of bats returning to the cave. He looked up into the night sky and spotted a trio of bats flying his way. Dragons had excellent night vision and he could make out a pair of rounded objects being carried between them, though he couldn’t tell exactly what they were. The bats were almost upon them when they broke into a steep dive, angling directly for Zecora, who held a corner of her cloak up to act as a basket to catch whatever it was they were bringing. Two dull whistling noises could be heard, followed by soft thuds as the objects landed into her cloak with pinpoint accuracy. The three bats landed directly before Zecora, and she held up a trio of fresh looking flowers. The bats quickly shoved their faces into the flowers, greedily licking up the sweet nectar contained within before returning to the air to join in the hunt for more meaty prey.

“Ah, right on time. Would you care for a twist of lime?” Zecora asked, holding up the two green fruit for Spike to see. Not holding out for his answer, she crushed one of the fruit above the pot, allowing the tart juice and pulp to fall into the mix. A couple of drops missed the pot and landed in the fire, evaporating in a sudden hiss. Zecora gave Spike a smile and took the spoon from him, stirring the zest into the soup.

Spike gave the stew a couple of sniffs and he had to admit that it smelled mouth watering. That he was hungry enough that almost anything would have smelled good was beside the point.

Zecora let the soup simmer for a few more moments, before taking it off of the heat and allowing it to cool. Once it seemed cool enough, she poured out two measures into cups and passed one over to Spike. He took the cup and sipped at it gingerly, nearly spitting it back out as the scalding liquid washed over his tongue. While his mouth was perfectly developed to handle fire, it was not so good with hot liquids.

Zecora chuckled a little before lifting a spoon of her own meal up to her mouth, blowing on it before sticking it into her mouth. Spike watched her swallow in enjoyment and he gave his own soup a second sip, making sure not to drink too much. Being ready for it this time, Spike noted the warming tastes of the herbs, complimented by the earthy bite of the moss. Running through it all was the bright, bold taste of the lime. He had not expected them all to work so well, but they all combined together to create a truly unique taste, one that he found quite pleasant.

The pair ate in silence for a little while, looking out of the cave mouth up at the stars. Spike wasn’t entirely sure, but the moon seemed to be larger and brighter than it had been before; almost as if it was keeping vigil over the land. He figured Luna really was watching over Rarity back in Ponyville. He hoped that she would keep an eye on him every now and then; he could really use an alicorn’s protection on this trip.

“Spike, how long have we known each other for? It would be three years or more?” Zecora said, breaking the comfortable silence they had been maintaining. Spike got up off his back and turned to look at the Zebra. Zecora was seated on her back and had both eyes closed. Her staff was perfectly balanced vertically from the tip of her muzzle. Spike recognized the position as a meditation pose from the time when Twilight had analyze meditation and yoga down to their base components.

“Yea, I guess it would be about that long. Why?” Spike was a little confused. He and Zecora had never really been particularly close during the time they had known each other. Something about her little voodoo shack in the Everfree forest creeped him out.

“We know so little about each other. I don’t even know the name of your mother.”

“Wait, you want to know about me?” Spike asked. Zecora nodded once, her staff wobbling slightly, but not tipping over. “Well, there isn’t really all that much to tell. I was hatched as a test for Twilight’s entrance exam into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She had to prove that she was a skilled at magic, so her test was hatching a dragon’s egg. Ever since then, we have grown up together. Twilight’s parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, that’s their names if you are interested, raised me as if I was their own second son. I’ve always worked as Twilight’s assistant ever since I was old enough to read. Sometimes, I wish she would stop treating me like such a baby; I'm only a few years younger than she is, but she still calls me a baby dragon and acts like I can't look after myself. In the end though, I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her.”

Spike took a breath before looking up at the stars again. He thought that he could almost make out Rarity’s face in the cluster above him, a trick of his imagination he was sure. After a minute he decided to keep the conversation rolling. “So how about you, Zecora? You’re a zebra and a witch doctor, but I don’t really know anything about you, or even zebra culture for that matter. Do you get cutie marks like a normal pony?” Spike looked down at Zecora’s flank and the swirled sun mark there. He didn’t know if that was a natural aspect to her stripes or if it was something like a cutie mark. What did it mean it that was the case?

“It is not a cutie mark you see, but something no less personal to me. I can tell you all about my times of old glory, if you are not adverse to hearing a story.”

Spike shook his head. Now that she had brought it up, he was actually interested in learning more about Zecora’s life before Ponyville. She had to have seen so much to be as wise as she was.

Slowly, Zecora began her tale, going back through the mists of time to when she was just a young filly, no older than when Twilight had been in his.

In a camp not far from the Equestrian edge of the Zebracan savannah, a grand celebration was underway. Today was a day of great joy for the herd of zebra, for on this day, the shaman would select her successor from among all the colts and fillies of the tribe. It was always a great occasion, as being shaman was a position of great respect and responsibility. As the tribe’s spiritual leader, the shaman would be responsible for ensuring that all traditions were followed out and, perhaps of even greater importance, leading the worship of the earth mother. Almost every member of the tribe had at one point or another wanted to be the shaman, though only the most talented would be selected.

Around a grand bonfire, the defenders of the tribe danced, working themselves up into a frenzy, all in the name of the blessed earth spirit that watched over them all. Behind them, the other adults tended to their children, or joined in the dancing. On a raised platform before the fire sat the chief of the tribe, resting on a throne of carved wood. A golden scepter lay sat across his lap as he directed the worshippers in their revelling. Off to his side was the current shaman and she watched the entire proceeding with a calm detachment. She could remember the last time this had happened, the night when she had been chosen. It was all so long ago, but felt like it was yesterday.

Dressed in a simple cotton robe and wearing a wooden mask, she could feel the power of the earth through her hooves. Years of practice and study in the occult and the arcane alike had given her a connection to the earth that not even the earth ponies of neighboring Equestria could match. The earth spoke to her, and she in turn informed the tribe of the mothers will.

Gently, she turned to look at the chief and nodded once. In turn, he banged the scepter down on the platform, the loud thud cutting through the sounds of celebration. Quickly the revelers came to a stop and all turned to face the chief. Slowly he got to his hooves and addressed his tribe.

“My fellow kinsman, tonight is a auspicious night. Tonight is the night that Arma shall select her successor; one who will guide our tribe through the trials of the future and beyond. Such a post is not one to be undertaken lightly, and all who choose it are pledged to always hold the earth mother above all.”

There were shouts of agreement from the tribe. It was the natural way of things; that the shaman should be above the petty concerns of mere mortal zebra. Their will was the will of the earth mother, to be respected at all times.

“Let all the candidates be brought forward. Let the choosing commence!”

From out of the crowd, seven young zebra stepped forward. They all looked excited to be there and they quickly formed a small blob before the chief and shaman.

Two of the foals clung close together. They were twins and had always done everything together, including the desire to become the next shaman. They had both studied intensely for this moment, memorizing ritual spells and incantations.

The larger one turned to face his sister, giving her a cheesy grin.

“I hope they get on with the choosing, dear sister

All this waiting is setting my stomach a twister

I hope that it’s soon

So I can go back to my room

For my hooves are starting to blister.”

“It will start soon, my dear Zecara,” Zecora replied, giving her older brother of ten minutes an almost imperceptible shove. He wrapped one of his hooves around her and pulled her in close. “Though the smart money is on Farah,” she added, pointing to another filly sitting close to them. Brash and confident, the filly had an expression on her face that said she was sure the choosing was nothing more than a formality.

“She is the favorite one for sure

Though I think I like you more

You are smart and your eyes

Speak of a mind most wise

Farah would be such a bore.”

Zecora chuckled lightly, hoping that Farah hadn’t heard them. A sudden tingling up her spine made her look forward and she saw the eyes of both the chief and the shaman looking down at her. She instantly pulled away from Zecara and shut up, dropping her eyes down to the ground before her.

Once he was sure that all seven children were still, the chief motioned to the shaman. She stepped forward and picked up a small vial of a glowing orange liquid. Upending it, she gulped the entire vial down in one burst before doubling over in what looked like pain. When she stood up again, her eyes had changed. Where there had once been a serene golden hue, there now were two burning orange orbs. The potion would allow her to see the signs of the earth mother. Whichever child had the gift of the mother would be chosen. She began moving through the children, occasionally pausing to examine some aspect of them. She took her time; this was not something to be rushed. Slowly, she inspected the children, dismissing some almost at once, though some she lingered on. She spent quite a while examining Farah from every angle, searching for some sign that only she could see. Farah just looked straight ahead, her expression now changing an inch as the shaman touched or prodded her.

Eventually the shaman turned to face Zecora and her brother, Zecara. Looking at them with her spirit eyes, it was almost blinding. Together they were stronger than almost any power she had ever known. Without hesitation she lifted a hoof and pointed at them.

“Both,” she said, not lowering her hoof.

Zecora felt her jaw drop when she heard the announcement. It had been a long time since a pair had been chosen, though as they were twins, it did make a certain about of sense. They were linked in a special way. Occasionally, Zecara would say that he could sense her emotions, and she had been sure she could hear his voice in her head a few times. They had also entered each others dreams more than once. Zecara wrapped his forehooves around her neck and pulled her in close. To the shaman’s eyes, that only served to intensify their auras. Before long she had to close her eyes and look away.

Around Zecora and Zecara, there was a scattering of disappointed ‘aww’s’ as parents realized that their child was not chosen, but for the most part the zebra’s of the tribe stamped their hooves in congratulations. Farah stamped her hooves into the dirt and shot Zecora a dark look. Zecora’s father, a stern old Zebra warrior came up and put his hooves around both of his children. Zecora rubbed up against his familiar stripes, and she felt Zecara do the same of the other side.

A gruff cough came from over at the stage and all eyes instantly turned to face the shaman. Zecora saw a pair of green potions in her hooves and she knew what they meant. The choosing, the easy part, was over. Now came the time that the prospective apprentices would have to prove that they were worthy of the post to which they had just ascended to. In order to truly become a shaman, a student would have to undertake a vision quest. During the quest, they would commune with the earth mother and the spirits would reveal to them a great personal truth. It was said that your guardian spirit would come to you and show you yourself. Not all initiates made it past this point; many would be driven mad by what they saw during the visions. Some would reject what they saw. Only the most worthy of all would pass the test. Zecora had no doubt that together, she and he brother would pass this trial and prove themselves to be worthy of the secret teaching of the wise old witch.

A potion was handed to both foals and with a look of supreme confidence on his face, Zecara upended his in one sharp swig. Zecora followed, not wanting to appear hesitant. The potion tasted foul and it burned all the way down her throat. She quickly saw why Zecara had just gulped his down without thinking about it. Almost instantly, she felt her guts heave and she wanted to expel the bitter potion, but she forced herself to remain standing and holding it down. If she spat it up now, it would only prove that she wasn’t worthy to be a shaman.

After a few more second, a new feeling of peace and calm descended upon Zecora and the pains of the moment before vanished. Lifting a hoof up into the air, she was pleased to see a thin trail of light following behind it. She waved it around a couple of times, giggling as she made the trails of light cross paths to make a shape in the air.

The noise of a bug chirping caught her attention and she looked around for it, finally spotting a gigantic cricket playing a harmonica on a rock nearby. The cricket stopped playing and looked at her, gave her a quick dip of its top hat before exploding into a cloud of multi colored fireworks. Zecora tried to point it out to Zecara, but couldn’t as he was now nearly one hundred feet tall and a mongoose. She shrugged as if that was the most normal thing in the world and went back to looking around her.

An owl landed next to her, clutching a mouse that it had caught in its talons. Rather than squirm and try to get away, the mouse simply climbed up into the owl’s mouth, gave Zecora a wink, said “Personally, I’d prefer a little extra room,” and jumped inside before being laid a second later as a speckled egg.

Zecora was just about to try and touch the owl, wondering what it would be like to be laid as an egg herself, when a blinding light came from above her. She looked up, squinting her eyes nearly shut to see a golden sun hanging high in the sky. It burned with a majesty she had never seen before. It was glorious; the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Zecora never wanted to have to spend another second not feeling the rays of the sun on her face again.

Suddenly, the light faded away and Zecora saw a cold and harsh moon creep over the face of the sun. On the face of the moon was the imprint of a horned pony’s head. The moon blotted out the light of the sun, leaving her cold and alone. Without the sun, Zecora felt small and afraid, not wanting to look up at the moon and the wan light it gave off.

The eye of the mare started to glow a bright red and Zecora could feel it penetrating her very soul. Nothing could escape its blank stare and she wanted to run and find somewhere to hide. Her hooves refused to obey her commands, leaving her rooted to the spot. Just as she was about to burst into tears of fright, six stars around the moon came to life, each one glowing a different color of the rainbow. Beams of light shot out of the six stars, all converging on the moon right where the glowing eye was, their combined lights engulfing the pale light of the moon. Zecora had to close her eyes again as suddenly the moon vanished to reveal to bright light of the sun again. Its gleaming light radiated out and filled Zecora’s life with sunshine and joy once again. Around the sun, Zecora could still just make out the six gleaming stars before the light overwhelmed her and she could see nothing but the brilliant white light of the sun.

The feeling of cold water splashing onto her face brought Zecora’s attention back to the present and she quickly jumped up to her hooves, coughing and spluttering. A moment later, she dropped back to the ground as shooting pains ran through her back legs, followed by cramps and severe pins and needles. She winced as the pain shot through her body, curling into a tight ball to avoid putting pressure on her hooves.

The cold water and the pain combined to clear her head of the last foggy thoughts, and Zecora slowly thought back to what she had experienced in her dream vision. She couldn’t remember all of it, and some of the things she did remember were so distorted that they made no sense. One thing did stick in her mind though, the image of the sun glowing high above her.

With a groan, she climbed to her hooves. A hoof appeared before her, offering to help her up. Zecora looked up to see Zecara standing above her. Unlike how she felt, he looked fresh, but there was something different about him. Zecora knew her brother, and there was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before; they were eyes that had seen something and it aged him. Gone was the young colt who had always looked out for her. A stallion stood before her now.

He gave Zecora a quick nod and the pair of them exited the tent where they had spent the second half of their visions. Pulling back the flap, they exited to find that it was the middle of the night. There were a couple of tribesmen standing on watch, but aside from them, most of the camp was quiet. By the dying fire, Zecora caught sight of the shaman; she was poking the fire with a stick while stirring two small pots.

At the sound of their hooves, the shaman looked up and quickly got up to her hooves to greet the two new initiates. Without a word, she pulled two small rolls of hide from a pocket of her robe and passed them over to the siblings. A jar of paint followed.

Zecora knew what was going to come next – the final stage of the initiation was the marking. Much like how the ponies of nearby Equestria gained symbols that indicated their place and skills in the world, a tribal shaman would also mark themselves with a deeply personal design; something that could only come to them through introspection and intense meditations. That had been the purpose of the visions they had just taken – to reveal to them what their symbol would be. Zecora thought about it for a moment, but quickly came to rest on the only thing that it could possibly be.

Not hesitating, she unfurled her hide sheet and dipped her hoof into the pot of paint. While other species might hesitate at touching something that had once been a living creature, Zebra had no such qualms. Hide, leather, horn, bone; it all had use in Zebran society, and not a piece would be wasted.

With deft strokes, she painted the image she could see in her mind. The gleaming sun appeared on her sheet, a swirl making up the body with short strokes to indicate its divine power. Zecora painted with the speed of one possessed and within a few minutes she was done. Transcribed onto her hide sheet was a symbolic representation of her vision, and looking at it, Zecora knew that it was hers. It would forever be a indication of her destiny.

Beside her, Zecora saw that Zecara was still hard at work creating his own design. He worked no less swiftly, but his design was more complex. Zecora watched his hoof glide over his sheet of hide, adding in lines and swirls. Slowly, a shape took form, and Zecara held up a geometrically perfect triskelion. Soft curves made up the circles within circles.

When they were both done, the shaman took both sheets of hide and the paint away, giving Zecora and Zecara a moment reflect on what was about to happen next. The shaman returned to the fire and picked up something that she had been holding at the edge of the flames for some time. Zecora knew what it was, but still, her blood ran cold at the sight of the large, curved obsidian knife clutched in the shamans hoof.

The ponies of Equestria magically got their marks when they discovered their special talent. Zebra got their marks through more… conventional means.

Feeling her heart race, Zecora sat before the shaman, facing the fire and hoping that she would be able to block out the searing pain she knew she was about to feel. At first she felt nothing, and wondered it something was the matter, but a second later, a searing pain carved its way through her flank as the tip of the knife dug into her unmarked flesh. Zecora whimpered and bit down hard on her lip. The taste of copper washed over her tongue, but she refused to cry out to flinch.

Slowly, the knife cut its way across her flank, carving out an exact replica of the pattern she herself had provided. Each slice was agony, but she kept staring directly into the fire, doing her best to focus past the pain and consider exactly what the meaning behind her vision could have been.

By the time the shaman got started on her other flank, Zecora had given up on trying to hide the pain. Tears streamed down her face at every kiss from the knife, and she longed for it to be over. Zecara stood by her side, but he didn’t do anything to offer her support; tradition dictated that an initiate must undergo this trial alone, with no help from others.

None to soon for her liking, Zecora felt the shaman finish, marking in the final ray of light onto her flank. Zecora collapsed forward, but she wasn’t nieve enough to think that the ordeal was over. Instead she grit her teeth again and waited. She wasn’t disappointed as the shaman put the knife down and instead picked up a ladle of the boiling mixture she had on the fire. The mixture was applied directly to Zecora’s bleeding flanks, sending stinging pains throughout her body again.

Zecora knew that the mixture was important. It would ensure that the cuts wouldn’t become infected and would prevent them from forming scar tissue. Once the cuts had healed up in a few days, there would be left a darker band of fur, identical to the color of her stripes in the shape of her sun mark. She would forever be marked with it; it would become part of her, no less personal than the cutie marks of the ponies over the border.

Eventually, the shaman finished with Zecora, and she replaced the knife into the fire. Zecora could hear the drops of her blood sizzling away, and after a few seconds, the shaman pulled it back out, inspecting the blade for any ash or dirt that could cause infection. Finding nothing, the shaman turned her attention to Zecara. Like Zecora, he just stared into the fire while the seer carved his design into the sides of his flanks. He appeared to take the experience better than Zecora did, but she knew that he had to be hurting just like her.

With one final stroke, the shaman pronounced herself done, and coated Zecara’s body in the past as she had done Zecora. With that, the ritual of the choosing was finished. They had been selected from among the tribe, sent on a vision quest to speak with the earth mother, and finally been marked as shaman adept. Zecora knew that she should be happy, but she just felt exhausted.

The wise woman handed them both a cup from the second pot that had been neglected over the fire. They both took a gulp of the mixture and felt the pain in their flanks disappear as if it had never existed. Zecora could only feel a pleasant fog descend over her eyes as she returned the empty cup and started to trot back to her families tent. Zecara plodded along next to her, his flanks coated with the thick paste, as were hers. When he pulled alongside her, he whispered into her ear, taking great pains to ensure that the shaman didn’t hear him.

“Well, now that this had come to an end

I wish our flesh, she did not have to rend

It seems like such a great pain

For so small a gain

Let us go to bed, that our flanks may mend.”

Zecora could only agree with him. While she knew that the marking was a traditional part of Zebran spiritual life, and that she would be expected to do exactly the same to her own apprentice when the time came for her to do so, she couldn’t help but feel that it was an archaic method; as much a trial of pain and endurance than an actual part of the tradition. Still she would never actually admit that to anypony, except her brother.

“It is all for the good of the tribe, my brother. You know it is expected of us by father and mother.”

Zecara pointed in the direction of the Equestrian border.

“But it is all so unfair

They get it so easy over there

No pain, no suffering, no trial

All they do is wait a while.

And it appears out of thin air.”

Zecora shook her head. She knew Zecara was half right, but she was in no mood to discuss this with him right now. Her hay pile was calling her and in the morning they would both have to begin moving their few meager possessions over to the shaman’s hut, where they would be staying from now until their apprenticeship was complete.

It would be a challenge, but Zecora knew she was going to be up to the task.

Spike blinked a couple of times when he realized that Zecora was finished with her story. It hadn’t been at all like what he had expected; the magic of cutie marks was so ubiquitous in Equestria that nopony ever stopped to question it. That other races may not get marks the same way had barely ever crossed his mind.

He clutched his bowl of now cold soup up to his mouth and blew a gentle stream of flame over it to bring it back to an acceptable temperature. When he offered to do Zecora’s, she declined and finished off the last dregs of hers in a single swig. Her staff had been placed at her side when she had begun to talk.

“And that is the whole of my tale. When stacked against yours, I hope it doesn’t pale,” she said, covering the cooking pot with a piece of cloth to keep the nightlife out of it.

“But how did you end up here?” Spike asked. From Zecora’s story, it sounded like she wouldn’t have ever really been able, nor wanted to leave her tribe. They would have been looking to her and her brother for guidance, and Zecora had never struck him as the kind of pony to abandon those who actually needed her help.

‘except for that one time she took your gem and gave it to the filly scouts,’ a voice in his head popped up.

Zecora gave him a kindly smile, but shook her head. “That is a story for another day. I think it is time we hit the hay.”

Spike had to agree about that last part. They still had many days journey just to reach the border of the Dragon Lands, not to mention the time it would take them to even reach the place where they thought the tree might be hidden. If either of them could fly, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but Spike’s wings were will no more than under-formed bumps on his back, and Zecora certainly didn’t have any.

The pair quickly packed up most of the things they had used to make camp, knowing that it would save them time later on if they did. Once they were ready, they both climbed onto their respective hay piles and curled up for the remainder of the night.

“Night, Zecora,” Spike said as he shifted a few leaves around, trying to get comfortable.

“Good night, don’t let the bugs bite,” Zecora replied.

Spike stared at the roof of the cave for a few minutes, thinking about what he had gotten himself into. He knew that he was way out of his league here; despite how mature he seemed at times, in dragon culture he was barely more than a newborn infant hatchling. He had no idea what awaited him when he found the tree, or even what the most of the Dragon Lands would even be like.

The one thing that comforted him as he heard Zecora’s breathing steady out into the rhythmic rise and fall indicative of sleep was that he was doing this for the most noble cause he could think of. For Rarity, he would go to any length.

The image of Rarity stayed with him until he fell asleep, whispering to him that he was doing the right thing.

At least in his dreams, they could be together forever.

Interlude: The Last Will and Testament of Rarity the Unicorn

Spike and the Dragon Tree
***

Interlude – The Last Will and Testament of Rarity the Unicorn

Back in Ponyville, Rarity’s isolation room was a hive of activity, something that seemed a little contradictory to the idea of keeping her as far away from other ponies as was possible. Aside from Rarity herself and the medical staff expected to be on hand, there were two other ponies who had come at her express request.

The first was Goldenrod, a slightly aloof, bright yellow unicorn who had all the hallmarks of being Canterlot born and raised: a superior expression, and a perfectly tailored suit and top-hat. He had provided legal services to Rarity and her family for years, and he had come as soon as he had gotten the message that she needed to see him. Seeing her hooked up to machines and being tended by ponies dressed up in full hazmat suits, it was clear that she had called him there for a very specific reason.

The second pony was a local. Looking through the glass with concern and sympathy on her face was the schoolteacher, Cheerilee. She wasn’t sure why Rarity had requested to see her; they knew each other a little, but Cheerilee didn’t consider them to be close friends. After they had graduated from the same class at school, they had both taken very different paths in life.

Inside the cube, Dr. Stable tapped Rarity on her shoulder as he passed a glass of water over to her. “The ponies you requested are here, Rarity.”

Rarity nodded and tried to lift herself up a little higher in her bed. Dr. Stable had to assist her when she couldn’t quite manage on her own. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said before turning her attention to the ponies looking at her through the glass. “Goldenrod, Cheerilee, thank you both for coming at such short notice. Normally I would invite the pair of you to share a drink or exchange pleasantries, but as you can see, now is not the best time.”

Goldenrod gave Rarity a courtesy chuckle, but Cheerilee just looked concerned again.

“As both of you may have heard, I may not be long for this world. Thus, I want to make sure that all of my affairs are in order while I am still able to take care of them. Goldenrod, do you have the necessary papers to write up a will with you?”

“Of course, Rarity,” Goldenrod replied, levitating a briefcase from his saddlebag and flicking it open. “Specifying your will is one of the most important thing you can do right now, and will require that two other ponies are present to witness it. Rest assured that whatever you specify here will be treated as your legal wish and will be respected as such.”

Cheerilee looked at Goldenrod when he mentioned witnessing. Maybe that was why she had been called here; to put her hoofmark on an official document.

“Very good then. I think I know how I would like my estate to be divided once I am gone, so we should begin with that.”

Goldenrod levitated a pen up alongside several pieces of paper covered with official looking letterhead. “Before we get to that, you should record any messages that you would like to be read. Final words to your parents or friends.”

“Oh, I suppose you are right,” Rarity conceded. “Very well then, take this down.”

“To my friends and family; if you are listening to this, then I have passed on. I know that you must all be devastated about that, but I want you all to be strong and carry on. Mother, Father, Sweetie Belle is going to need you both to look out for her now more than ever. I know how much she wanted to be like me; to be a famous designer, and I would like you to encourage that dream as much as you can. I know it is going to hurt now, but please do not mourn for me for too long. Sweetie Belle has her whole life ahead of her, and I don’t want her to spend it crying over my memory. To my closest friends – Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash; you girls were the best friends I could have asked for. Even when things got tough, I knew I could count on all of you to do your best to carry me through. That you all never gave up on me means the world to me, be it when I was taken by Diamond Dogs, or forgiving me when I made a fool of myself on Twilight’s birthday made me so happy to call you all my friends. Please live again; Pinkie, you keep on throwing parties. Maybe throw one in my honor every once in a while. Rainbow, the Wonderbolt’s would be lucky to have a mare as talented as you in their team. Just keep practicing and one day I know you will make captain. Fluttershy, please take care of Opal. You always seemed to have a way with her that I’m sure you will make a great new guardian for her. Applejack, remember not to work yourself so hard that you forget to take care of your skin. And finally, Twilight, I know you are going to beat yourself up for not being able to find a cure for this condition. I wish you wouldn’t. This isn’t your fault, so don’t act like it is. You all did your best to help me, but in the end, I guess that it was just my time. I can only hope that the ferrypony will look kindly on my soul. I can’t wait until I can see you all again, but I hope you understand when I wish that it won’t be for many years yet. Again, you have been the best friends I ever had, or could have asked for, and I wish you well in your lives. Farewell, everypony.

Rarity.”

Goldenrod scribbled down everything that Rarity said onto his papers in shorthand. He would convert them into formal documents later on, but for now the shorthand would allow him to keep every word correct. It would be an insult to try and change even one word of a pony’s last testament. He finished writing a few moments after Rarity stopped speaking. “Alright then. Now we can move onto the division of your estate. From what I can gather, your property can be divided up into several main groups – materials, money, real estate and products. Which one would you like to start with?”

“Lets just go through the list in order, and come back to specifics as we need to,” Rarity said. She sounded firm; a little color had seeped back into her voice. Here was something familiar to her that she could work on; a far better change than simply lounging in bed waiting for the next pony to come in and gawk at her while offering sympathies.

Goldenrod nodded curtly, picking up a fresh sheet of paper. “Materials can be broken down into several main groups – cloths, gems, and metals. All the component parts you would use to make your dresses. How would you like to divide them up?”

“All my unused materials are to be sold and reduced to a pure bit value. That money is to be added to my bank accounts and divided up in accordance with my later stipulations. Any gems that do not sell are to be given free of charge to Spike the dragon, resident of Ponyville and assistant to Twilight Sparkle. He will make very good use of them.”

Goldenrod duly noted Rarity’s requests. “Alright, moving on to money. As your accountant, I know you have a fair sized bank account; even more when we account for the income that selling your materials will bring in.”

“That money is to go to Sweetie Belle. My parents are doing fine and do not need or want to receive anything from me. Half of the money is to be held in trust for Sweetie Belle until she comes of age. Of the other half, half of that amount is to be made available to her to be spend as she wishes. The other half is to be earmarked to pay for her further education.”

“A most generous decision, if I may say so, Rarity. If she is smart with her savings and invests wisely, your sister may never need to work a day in her life. Now how about property?”

“The only real estate I own is Carousel Boutique, and like my money, the deed is to be held in trust until Sweetie Belle comes of age, at which point it is to be signed over to her name. I would ask that you establish a second trust from my personal savings to cover all rent and upkeep until such time as the deed passes to Sweetie Belle.”

“Very well. And what about any works that you have currently in development?”

“Aside from my usual dresses in production for sale in my shop, I only have two commissions at the moment. The first is an experimental design for Fleur-de-lis, entitled ‘A Mare for all Seasons.’ This dress and companion bracelets are enchanted to keep a mare warm or cold depending on the surrounding temperature. The second one is a back order gem studded jumpsuit for Sapphire Shores. Neither one is finished, and thus I would like them to be provided to their intended owners free of charge. Please send both mares my apologies that I will be unable to finish their orders.”

“I think that they will understand. Now, is there anything else that you would like to stipulate?”

“Yes, two things. First, before anything is to be sold or passed off, I would like to gift each of my aforementioned friends with a piece from my collection. They may choose whatever piece they wish to remember me my, excepting those that have already been marked for receipt by others.”

“I’ll make a note of it,” Goldenrod said, marking down Rarity’s request on his papers, “What is the second thing?”

“My Element of Harmony. As you may know, my friends and I represent the six Elements of Harmony, a primal magic that we have used to keep the peace in Equestria on numerous occasions. The magic only works when all six elements are united though, thus I must name a successor to my element; a pony who represents the spirit of generosity as well as I did.”

“Do you have anypony in mind for this?” Goldenrod asked. “This sounds like it would be a large responsibility.”

“Oh, I know exactly who I want to replace me,” Rarity said before turning her eyes to face Cheerilee directly.

It only took a moment for Cheerilee to realize where this was going. “Oh, no, no. I can’t be the new spirit of generosity. I’m not worthy of such an honor. I’m not anypony special; just a schoolteacher.”

Rarity chuckled lightly. “You sound like I did when I first got my element. ‘I’m just a dressmaker, not a hero.’ I’ve thought about this for a while, and I want it to be you, Cheerilee. You are more generous that you know; all that time spent outside of class tutoring Sweetie Belle and her friends when you didn’t have to. Or when you pitched in on your day off to help with organize a bake sale. You never asked for reward, or even acknowledgement. And I know you donate some of your already meager paycheck to charity works. I know that you will make a great spirit of generosity; please take on this responsibility; if not for me, then for Equestria’s sake.”

Cheerilee took a deep breath, silently considering refusing. But she couldn’t do that; couldn’t refuse a pony’s last request like that. “Alright. I’ll do it,” she said, hanging her head forward slightly before looking up again. “But it’s not going to happen. Twilight is one of the smartest ponies I’ve ever met. She would never let one of her friends down. If there is anypony out there that can find a cure for this disease, it’s going to be her.

Rarity gave her a weak smile. “I trust her too, and as much as I don’t want to, I have to consider a future where I’m not around anymore.” Rarity relaxed back into her pillow as several machines beeped and whirred around her.

Nurse Redheart walked in and tapped Cheerilee and Goldenrod on the shoulder. “I don’t want to intrude, but hospital visiting hours are ending, and Rarity needs her rest. You can come back tomorrow if you need to speak with her further.”

Goldenrod levitated his papers back into his saddlebag and shook his head. “No, I think I have everything I need for the moment. I’ll go and prepare formal documents of Rarity’s wishes.”

“And I need to start grading papers for my classes,” Cheerilee added. She still wasn’t sure what she had just agreed to, but she meant it. If Rarity really thought that she could make a good new Element of Generosity, then she would do her best to prove her right.

She walked out of the hospital, following idly after Goldenrod as he strode with purpose towards the train station, and Canterlot beyond it. Cheerilee made towards her home, a little single cottage not far from the school with a small garden immaculately tended by her own hooves.

For all she had just agreed to, she was still a schoolteacher, and she had papers to grade. No matter how many disasters befell Equestria, that would always come first.

Chapter 5 - Pranceton

Spike and the Dragon Tree
***

Chapter 5 - Pranceton

Spike found that Zecora was up with the dawn. He didn’t know if it was that she liked to be up early, or if she simply was eager to get moving, but he found her sitting cross-legged on a lone rock outside of the cave. She was sitting so still that at first he feared that something bad may have happened to her, but as the first rays of the sun hit her face, she took a deep breath and lifted her head up a little.

The light reflected off of the golden rings she kept around her throat and on her leg. Spike had to squint a little when the light hit his eyes. Covering his eyes with a claw he approached Zecora, not sure if he should call out and disturb her, or simply allow her to finish up with what appeared to be her morning meditation.

In the end it was Zecora who spoke first. Spike hadn’t uttered a sound, and he had thought his footsteps were too quiet to be heard, but Zecora appeared to know that he was there anyway.

“Rise with the sun, in order to get things done. That was what we were taught, and I will not let the teachings be for naught.”

Zecora didn’t open her eyes as she spoke, but it was clear that she was aware of everything going on around her. Spike watched as she picked up her staff and rolled forward off the front end of the rock. The tip of the staff dug into the ground, creating a small furrow before it took all of Zecora’s weight as she held herself aloft, balancing her body through the tiny stick.

She held the position for a minute or so before allowing her body to twist forward again so that she landed on her hooves. Only then did Zecora open her eyes, blinking a few times as her iris’s focused on Spike standing before her. She didn’t look the least bit disorientated to Spike’s eyes. If anything, she looked exactly like she had spent the night on a comfortable bed, rather than a pile of twigs and leaves.

Spike was kind of envious. His own morning routine mostly consisted of either sleeping in way past his get out of bed time to the protests of Twilight, or getting up to find that Twilight had spent the entire night in some kind of study frenzy again. Both options invariably ended up with him cooking pancakes or some similar dish for breakfast.

The thought of breakfast caught Spike’s stomach off guard. While the soup last night had been filling, it was still less than he was used to. It gave a mighty gurgle at the thought of getting pancakes.

‘No pancakes for now. Just gonna have to get used to that, stomach,’’ Spike told his digestive organs. His stomach responded with another growl of hunger. If it wasn't going to get pancakes, then it was going to make sure that he knew about it.

Zecora gave Spike a knowing smile and picked up an orange from next to the caves entrance before handing it over to Spike. In response to his questioning look, she pointed to the cave, and to the bats now roosting from its ceiling.

“A parting gift from our friendly locals, though I sense you would prefer a buffet of opals.”

Spike had to agree that opal did sound good right about now, but he took the orange and split it down the middle with a claw. His claws were sharp, something he had noticed had been happening as he was getting older, and easily cut the soft fruit in half. He gave half back to Zecora before biting into his own slice. He wasn’t overly fond of oranges; ever since Twilight’s attempts to turn an apple into an orange that had resulted in the hybrid orange frog and bird, Spike had found his enthusiasm for the fruit waning, but he wasn’t in a situation where he could afford to be particularly picky. At least it wasn't a peach; Twilight's short obsession over those had forever turned him off of the fuzzy little balls.

The pair ate in silence for a few more moments before they got up and checked on their things. Zecora left a few more flowers out on the ground at the cave’s entrance as payment for having disturbed the bats, while Spike made sure that he had everything he had brought with him. While he wasn’t expecting to be robbed out here in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t want to find out that he was missing something because it rolled out of his bag during the night.

Finding nothing to be amiss with his pack, Spike hefted in onto his shoulder and the pair began to work their way further down the goat trails they had followed to get here. Far off in the distance, Spike could just make out the Widow Spine Mountains. The mountains marked the technical edge of Equestria. Everything beyond the summit of the mountain’s highest peak was officially considered to be the dragon lands, though the few ponies who lived near its base regarded the entire mountain range to be dragon territory. Though he couldn’t see it yet, Spike knew that there was one small settlement just a short distance away from the foot of the mountains that they would pass through. A little mining town by the name of Pranceton Pass would be their last chance to get supplies or local knowledge before they went beyond the reach of the princess’s authority.

With the sun now rising rapidly, they had no issue in navigating the rocky paths that led down from the hillside. It only took them an hour or two to make their way back down to flat ground and the verdant pastures beyond. Spike noticed that the weather seemed to be particularly pleasant on this side of the hill. It was sunny, but not hot, which would make for good travelling conditions. He figured that the princess may have subtly suggested altered the intensity of the sun so that it would be more comfortable for them. Whatever the reason was, he was glad that they weren’t facing freezing winds or boiling sands just yet.

As she had the day before, Zecora gathered herbs and fruits from along the roadside while they walked. Now that he knew what she was doing, Spike was eager to help out, and he even managed to dig up a few wild growing vegetables. A pair of carrots and a couple of edible mushrooms soon joined the selection of herbs that Zecora had amassed. When it came time for them to rest for the night, Spike knew that dinner would be a far exciting fare than the previous night.

The real prize of their searching was a pair of small truffles. Spike had scented the fungus while searching around in the leaf litter for mushrooms. He knew what they were the moment he smelled them, as he and Rarity had occasionally gone hunting for them when she had a full stock of gems. While not very large, or particularly appealing to look at, the two black growths would make for an excellent dessert. Spike had to wonder if Zecora had ever eaten one. The trees around the Everfree Forest would make an excellent place for them to grow, if you were willing to brave the hostile creatures and occasional sentient plant for them.

As traveling along the grassy plains was far easier than trying to hike through uneven ground, it didn’t take long for the pair to establish a comfortable walking pace. Spike had wanted to move at a faster rate, but Zecora counseled against it, claiming that while they had to move fast, they should not move in haste and rush, as that would only lead to disaster for more than just them.

Spike had to admit that Zecora seemed to be right, and they kept to a reasonable pace that wouldn’t tire them out too quickly. Even still, Spike had to ride up on Zecora’s back a few times when he just couldn’t keep going on his shorter legs. Zecora said that she didn’t mind carrying him along with their other burdens, but Spike knew that it had to tiring for the zebra to be carrying everything at once.

It was a stroke of pure luck when they found a small dirt track running towards the horizon in the direction they were headed, and along the track was a couple of ponies hauling a well laden covered wagon. At the sight of two other travelers on the road, they both brightened a little and picked up their pace.

The wagon pullers waved them over and invited them to share the road with them. One of them, a tan earth pony seemed delighted to have company, even if it was just for a short while.

“Well, hey there,” she said, cheerful, despite the load she and her partner were pulling. “Didn’t expect to see anypony else out here. I'm Sprite, and this is Kip," she said indicating her partner. "Where you two headed? Not exactly a huge amount of things to see this far east.”

“We’re going over to the dragon lands,” Spike said, hopping off of Zecora’s back and landing down on the ground. Given the mostly flat nature of the track, he could easily keep up with the slower pace of the wagon.

“Migrations not for a while yet; you off on a pilgrimage, little one?” the other earth pony, Kip asked. “Going to see the lands of your birth?”

“Not quite,” Spike replied. He wasn’t sure if he should be telling these two ponies anything about what he was really doing.

“Well, do tell,” Sprite kept on. “We’re headed for Pranceton Pass, dropping off supplies for the miners there. It’s about another day’s travel, and is on the way to the dragon lands. Why don’t you travel with us until we get there? We would be happy for the company, and we have plenty of food and water to spare.”

Spike looked to Zecora. She nodded back to him, and the pair fell into step slightly to the side of the wagon.

“So, you were saying something about the dragon lands?” Sprite prompted.

“Oh, right!” Spike felt that he could trust these two ponies, so he decided to tell them what he and Zecora were really doing. “I’m not really going to the dragon lands just on a whim. I’m really going there to save a friend…”

* * *

Spikes tale had taken up most of the day, and by the time that he had finished up to this point, the sun was already beginning to set, and orange fire covered the sky. Sprite and her companion hadn’t interrupted during the trip, and had both seemed very attentive. During the trip, they had offered to let the little dragon climb up onto the wagon, and to let Zecora store her saddlebags as well. Spike had felt bad about letting them take over their burdens, but the two carthorses had assured them that they regularly took far heavier loads than this one without straining themselves. It would be no inconvenience for them to take the extra goods for the short time that they would be traveling together.

By the time that they called to set up camp, Spike could just make out a large plume of smoke rising up beyond the heat shimmer in the distance at the base of the enormous mountain range that now covered the horizon.

Sprite unhitched herself from the cart and walked over to Spike. “Yep, that’s Pranceton Pass, alright. We should be there a bit before lunch tomorrow, if we set off at first light. Wow, I’ve never seen that much smoke coming from there before. They must have all the smelters running at full blast or something.”

With the sun now almost set, they stopped for the night, and the two earth ponies began setting up their camp with a clearly practiced ease. One started setting out the bed rolls, while the other ranged around a little and collected wood for a fire. Spike went off to assist him with gathering up kindling, while Zecora opened up her traveling pouch and started cutting up the vegetables that Spike had collected to add to the soup stock that the mare was putting together.

It didn’t take long before all four of them set settled down around a crackling fire, eating a far more invigorating broth than Spike had eaten last night. Spike even pulled out the truffles he had found and offered them around. Sprite declined them, but Kip took half of one of them eagerly. Even with the good food however, it didn’t take long before the exertions of the day began to catch up with him and Zecora. They had been walking for almost the entire day, and it sounded like they would be heading out again as soon as there was some light to see by.

“While I do know this is an important quest, my hooves are certainly glad of the rest,” Zecora said as they stacked the dishes away. Their hosts had insisted that they would get them washed when they arrived in Pranceton later the next day, and that they should all get some sleep.

Spike agreed, and they all settled in for the night. Sprite offered her sleeping roll to Zecora or Spike to use, but they would have none of it. The last thing that Spike noticed was the mare looking off towards where they would be traveling to in the morning. A column of smoke could still be seen rising steadily up into the night sky.

Sprite saw him looking, and she gave him a quick smile. “I’m sure they just found a new ore vein and are working overtime. But, even still, it's odd. The sooner we get there, the better."

Spike agreed.

The next morning, the foursome made a rapid trot for Pranceton. When they had awoken, they could see that the smoke rising from the town had dissipated to a few smaller plumes. With they goal so close, the two cartponies had set off early, picking up a still sleepy Spike and placing him on the back of the wagon. Zecora had offered to take one of their places hauling the wagon, but they had refused her offer. By their calculations, they would reach the town a bit before lunchtime, and they would be able to grab a few packs of supplies before they made their way up into the mountains.

It had taken them a little bit longer than they had expected to reach the town, but the sun was still hanging high above their heads as they started to crest the last hill that blocked their view of the buildings. The smoke from the smelters was clearly visible now, and the air around them was tinged with the smell of wood smoke.

“Mmm, I can’t wait to take a bath, maybe sleep in a real bed tonight,” Kip said, clearly excited about reaching the end of their journey. “I can almost feel that pillow.”

Spike had to admit that he was also looking forward to seeing how the town was doing. When he came through on the previous dragon migration, Pranceton Pass had been little more than a hole in the ground with a couple of shacks to house the mine workers. From what the two ponies had been telling him, the place had really started to develop since then, and was well on its way to becoming a fully fledged settlement, complete with agriculture and industry to support the mine.

They all crested the hill and paused to look down at the fledgling town. What they saw froze them all to the spot.

“Oh, no,” Sprite said, covering her mouth with her hooves.

The smoke they had been following; the large plume that had guided them to this exact spot was not the smoke one would find from the refineries or smelters operating to process ore into metal ingots. It was the smoke that came from when a town was nearly razed to the ground.

Almost half of the buildings that made up Pranceton had been reduced to cinders; burning logs and thatch had made up the fuel for the smoke. Everywhere, they could see ponies working together, trying to pull items out of the wreckage, or digging out trapped friends from the rubble.

“What happened here?” Spike whispered, in awe of the destruction he was witnessing.

“I do not know,” Zecora replied. “Perhaps we should go?”

Without anymore hesitation, they all headed down the small dirt track they had been following and closed the distance towards the ruin where the town had once stood. Now that they were so close, the smells of wood smoke and charred crops were clear, and Spike could hear ponies calling out for each other, or yelling for help with something. A few spot fires were still burning, but it looked like most of the town had already finished burning.

Sprite and Kip pulled the wagon up close to the edge of the town and unhitched themselves from it before galloping over to the closest cluster of ponies that looked like they knew what they were doing. Spike and Zecora held back a little, still reeling from all the senseless destruction they were looking at. It was clear that a very powerful being had attacked the town, but what could they possibly have had to gain from it. Pranceton was a mining town; it didn't have vast wealth, or strategic value. The only thing that the town had was ore and the occasional...

"Uh oh," Spike whispered, realizing who, or rather, what was likely to have attacked the town.

Zecora seemed to have reached the same conclusion, as she motioned for Spike to climb on her back again. "All this damage was the work of a dragon and his kin. We should be careful, lest the townsfolk allow a witch-hunt to begin."

Near the centre of the town, next to the husk of a fountain, Sprite and Kip were talking to what looked to be a couple of the town's ponies. From the way that the other townsponies were clustered around them, it looked like they were in charge at the moment. Sprite and one of the leaders were arguing and pointing at each other. From his position on Zecora's back, Spike could see that whatever they were talking about, Sprite was clearly loosing.

Suddenly, Spike was yanked from Zecora's back, grabbed by several pairs of hooves and thrown down to the ground. He rolled a couple of times, and tried to get back up to his feet, but a solid hoof pressed down on his back and kept him breathing into the dirt. He could see Zecora trying to push forward to help him, but a couple of other ponies had grabbed her and were holding her still.

"Hey!" the pony holding Spike down yelled out. The ponies near the fountain looked up, quickly zeroing in on Spike and Zecora. "We got another one here. What do you want to do with 'im?"

Spike struggled to get the hoof off of his back, but it was no use. The leader from over at the fountain trotted over and quickly gave Spike a once over before nodding to the pony holding Spike down. The hoof retracted, and Spike was able to pull himself up into a sitting position. When he looked up, he found the face of the leader pony just inches away from his own.

"What? Isn't it enough that you burned our town? You had to come back for seconds."

"Crystal, this one wasn't with them," Sprite called out from the back. "He rode in with us. There's no way he could have been involved with what happened here."

Crystal lifted up a hoof to silence Sprite, not taking his eyes off of Spike. His expression was one of pure anger and rage. "Tell me why, little dragon. Tell me why your kind did this." he moved his hoof around to encompass the razed buildings. "Is our suffering funny to you? Was our tribute not enough? Why did you break your end of the agreement?" He leaned in until his head was nearly pressed up against Spike's. "Tell me why!"

Sprite pushed through and yanked Crystal off of Spike, planting herself firmly between Spike and the clearly distraught pony. "That's enough. Spike's just a child, for Celestia's sake. I give you my word that he doesn't know what is going on here and that he had nothing to do with any of this. Now, what happened here, Crystal?"

Crystal gave Spike one more glare before turning his attention to Sprite. "We had just found a new ore vein and were excavating around it, getting ready to process when we found a large cache of gems buried in the rock. Diamonds and rubies mostly. We put half of them in the usual spot, and the mountain dragons came and took them, like they always do. We thought that would be it; we offer the local dragons a portion of any gems we find, and they leave us alone the rest of the time. yesterday, several younger dragons appeared and demanded the rest of the cache we found, saying that they would burn our town to the ground if we didn't give them what they wanted."

Crystal pointed a hoof directly at Spike. "We couldn't just give the gems to them. That would have told them that they could try it again. Every time we would leave gems, they would come back and demand more and more of them. We would have been ruined, so we refused. The next thing we knew, half the town was ablaze, and the dragons were just laughing. We got lucky that nopony was seriously hurt, but what are we meant to do now? We can't openly fight back against the dragons; We're farmers and miners. They'd kill us in a second."

Crystals' expression turned dark. "We can't let this go unanswered though, and we just happen to have a little dragon here. An eye for an eye, or so the expression goes."

"No!" Zecora yelled, dropping to the ground and twisting one of her captors over her back so that he fell heavily onto the ground with an 'oooff.' The second one looked on in shock for a second before taking a back hoof to the jaw and joining his crony on the grass. Now free, Zecora pulled out her staff and held it between Spike and Crystal. Kip and Sprite joined her, creating a wall between the dragon and his aggressors. "You would be well advised to let us go. An eye for an eye is not a healthy state of mind, for it would only leave the whole world blind."

"Yea," Sprite agreed, "Think this through, Crystal. I'm sure that the elder dragons would be just as horrified with what happened here as you are. You need to speak to them and let them know what happened. Hurting this one will not be a good way to open negotiations."

"No more talk. Sprite, Kip, I don't want to have to hurt you, or the zebra, but if you don't get out of the way..." Crystal said, advancing a few steps forward. His tone was low, dangerous, and there was a glint in his eye that said he would gladly go through them to get to his prize. A couple of his companions followed, and more still started egging them on. Zecora, Sprite and Kip all formed a close ring around Spike, who by this point was afraid for his life.

Crystal was nearly on them when Zecora yanked something out from under her traveling cloak. Spike saw that it was a small potion vial, which she hurled to the ground between her and Crystal and his cronies. The vial smashed, and let out a loud bang, followed a moment later by a billowing cloud of thick smoke. Spike quickly felt a pair of hooves grab him and place him onto someponies back. He lost track of what happened next when the smoke enveloped him. He could hear ponies coughing, and the occasional shout of 'Their getting away!" After that, the thick smoke got into his eyes, and he had to close them as they began watering. Having lived among ponies meant that he hadn't developed the same resistance to smoke and ash that his wild kin would have.

Not being able to see, Spike could only hang on as he bounced around on a back. When the smoke finally cleared from his eyes, he saw that he was on Kip's back, with Zecora and Sprite not too far behind him. Zecora was looking behind them, checking to see if anypony was following them. For the moment they seemed alone, and nopony else came running around the corner to grab them. Coughing could still be heard from the square they had just vacated.

Not too far off was the wagon that they had ridden in on, and Kip quickly put Spike down and went over to grab some things off of it. Sprite was trying to wipe her eyes with her hooves, tears streaming down her face.

"Hey, warn me... the next time you... plan to do that, ok?" she wheezed.

"My apologies for the rude escape. I did not think we had time to wait. The townsfolk were ready to riot, and I doubt that mere words would have kept them quiet."

"Fair enough," Sprite said, coughing out the last of the smoke. "So, what are we going to do now?"

Kip came back over from the wagon, a small bundle of jars on his back. He handed the over to Zecora, along with a couple of packets of travel biscuits and some dried fruit. "Here, take these. I've got a feeling that you are going to need them. Sprite and I can take care of things here. You two need to get going and save your friend. And if you can, please try to let the mountain dragons know what happened here. Crystal is right, somepony needs to pay for what happened, or it will just happen again."

"We'll do what we can," Spike assured Kip. He felt terrible just leaving the pair here to face the wrath of the angry townsponies, but he knew that his presence would only cause the situation to get worse. It would be for the best if he and Zecora made a quiet exit and let the situation calm down a little. Plus, they had Rarity counting on them, and Spike didn't know how much time she had left.

"Once Rarity is safe, I'll come back and solve this," he said to himself.

Zecora took the offered food and quickly repacked her gear to accommodate the new bulk. Kip wished them both a safe journey before turning around and heading back into town. A couple of ponies had already started fanning out to search for them. "Don't worry about us, Spike. You can do more good out there than you can here. Sprite and I have been in worse than a few angry ponies. I think it would be best if you got going before they find you again, don't you?"

Spike had to agree, and he and Zecora quickly headed out at a fast trot, making for the closest trail that headed into the mountains. At a fast clip, they could be well into the mountain range by the time they had to stop for the night. Tomorrow, they would be in the Dragon Lands, and their search for the tree could truly begin.

Unbeknownst to them, they had been seen leaving. Three earth ponies sitting on a rooftop watched them go. As one, they turned to look at the squabbling town ponies as they ran around looking for their already leaving quarry. With one curt nod from the biggest of the ponies, they all sheathed themselves in green fire for a moment. when the fire faded, they all stood there, exactly the same as before except for the pairs of wings now attached to their sides.

They had smelt it the moment the dragon had come to town; he was leaking love for somepony like a sieve. They would be able to eat like kings for a week after they drained him. Picking in town would be slim for the next while; the dragon rampage through town had seen to that, and in the confusion and activity that would follow, nopony would miss them.

One by one, the three changelings flapped their wings and took to the air, rising high enough to be covered by the cloud layer as they followed Spike and Zecora into dragon territory. It would be child's play to drain the pair of them when they stopped for the night.

Author's Note

This one took so much longer than I expected. Three near full rewrites it took to get to this point. Originally, there was no town, just a camp, filled with ponies who hated dragons, then it was a more wild west town, again filled with bigots. This run turned out better, but I still think that it's a bit off on the pacing.