Chapters The sun began to rise slowly over Ponyville. The warm rays of light gently rose upon Twilight's face through the large circular window next to her bed. Her eyes slowly opened. She gave out a small cute yawn as she stretched her legs out, pulling the cover from off of her by accident. Her purple coat was displaced out right, showing off her cutie mark, a spiky geometric figure to represent a sparkle, after her own name no doubt. Slowly she got up and looked over at her assistant, a baby dragon named Spike under his covers. It's only natural for her to get up first. Despite how helpful he is around the library and in everyday activities, he acted much more "mature" for his age. Speaking of mature, it looked almost as if Spike was getting too big for his bed, maybe he's starting to grow.
She slowly got up and walked over to her mirror, where she saw how messy her hair was. She giggled slightly at herself and shock her head to have her mane reveal her lovely unicorn horn. It began to glow and a brush on the dresser levitated. She proceeded to comb out her messy mane back into the tidy style she always has. She turned around and again her horn glowed. This time it was her sheets that levitated. She neatly made her bed before going downstairs to her kitchen where she proceeded to make breakfast.
Twilight hummed to herself as he prepared a small meal for two. Spike probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon, but it was best to get his food ready anyway. She continued to hum to herself while, unknowing to her, Spike come from upstairs, quite literally. He had jumped down from the second floor and softly landed on the wood floor. He proceeded to walked over to the fridge. As luck would have it, twilight opened it behind her back and took out some daisies for the meal. Spike reached into the fridge and grabbed the orange juice carton just in time before Twilight closed the fridge.
Gaining momentum in her breakfast preparations Twilight started to sing out an old lullaby from her fillyhood. Spike, orange juice in hand, now had to get a glass for it. He took a small hop and he levitated up high to reach the cupboard above the sink. As he did, Twilight turned around and looked for utensils. Spike, still in midair, took a minute to open the cabinet and grab a glass cup to pour his juice into before closing the cabinet and coming back down just as Twilight turned back around.
"Perhaps I made too much..." She said to herself as she looked at Spike's plate. She shrugged and slide some onto another plate. The fridge magically opened again for Twilight to put the extra in. Spike placed the orange juice in the fridge, and without skipping a beat, grabbed the plate of food that Twilight was putting in. Smiling as she gazed at her own work, Twilight glanced to her left to look at the clock. Spike, walked out back through the open door he came in from. The clock being in the opposite direction of the door, never saw or heard Spike, however as he stepped out of the kitchen, the wooden panel he was on squeaked. Twilight, startled, turned fast just in time to see Spike extend his wings and propel himself up, back to second floor. The purple pony's eyes widen and she gasped.
"Spike? Spike?!" She exclaimed as she ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. There he was though. She wasn't seeing things. Spike was sitting on his bed eating the food she had made half asleep. His wings out in plain sight.
"Spike!" She shouted at him, waking him from his trancelike state.
"W-What's wrong Twilight? Is it zombies? Are we under attack by ZOMBIES?" He groaned as he lifted his cover to hide himself from said attack.
"No, spike, look! Look at your back!"
Spike looked up form under his cover with an odd look on his face.
"What chu talkin' bout Twilight?" He did as she said and turned his head to see his back. He saw his wings. He extended them and closed them again before turning back to twilight and saying calmly,
"It's just my wings." However, after a second of processing what he saw and said, his eyes widened and he jumped up from his bed.
"By Celestia's name! I've got wings Twilight!"
"Yeah, but why? HOW? You didn't have them yesterday!" Shouted Twilight as she pointed her hoof at Spike's wings.
"I-I don't know. Does this always happens with dragons?" He asked as he turned to look at his dear friend.
"I don't know either...oh wait!" Twilight took off again, she headed down to the library where she began looking book by book for something on dragons. She had read every book in there, but taking another peek wouldn't hurt. She needed an explanation. Spike flew down and hovered by Twilight as she diligently searched the library. In all her excitement of running back and forth, she accidently bumped into Spike, who was flying at eye level to her.
"Ahk, Spike, could you stop flying all over the place?" She said as she held her snout with her hove. "Wait, how do you even know how to fly? If you JUST grew your wings shouldn't you need to learn to fly?"
Spike looked more puzzled than her as he looked at his wings.
"Geez, well, I don't know Twilight. I just kinda do. It's like-" However, he was interrupted by a burp. His own burp. A scroll appeared from green flames he spouted.
Both of them stared at the scroll from Celestia. Spike, feeling a little sick from delivering the scroll, runs off to the bathroom to bilge out some undesirables. Twilight's horn glowed and the scroll floated over by her face. It opened and she began to read.
"To my most studious apprentice, I am receiving a guest from a kingdom from far away. I would like you here for their arrival, I believe you will have much to learn from this visit. Your caring teacher, Princess Celestia."
Twilight looked up from the scroll and groaned. "Now? But we're having a crisis over here, how can I ignore Spike's situation?"
Twilight heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around and there stood Spike, with another scroll in hand. Twilight took it and read it out loud again.
"PS. Do not worry about spike, bring him too." Twilight gasped and looked around. "How did the Princess know I had doubts?"
Spike clears his throat, trying to regain composure. "M-Maybe she knows more about dragons..and knew I would age up today."
Twilight decided not to put too much thought into it. She instead began to pack. Usually when Princess Celestia summons her, she stays at the castle for multiple days. Twilight takes a suitcase and starts packing, blankets, books, and other essentials.
"Spike, will you prepare the hot air balloon?" She asks from upstairs. She turns and is startled by SPike being right behind her.
"Oh goodness! Spike, how did you get behind me without making any noise?" Smiling, Spike said,
"Feet don't make noise in the air." To that, Twilight rolled her eyes before asking.
"So, about the balloon?"
"Oh yes. It seems someone punched a hole in it, so we can't take it..."
"What?! So we have to take the road there?! Do you know how long it'll take us?!" Twilight's shout sent Spike flying to the other side of the room. Upside down, Spike says,
"It's not too far away. A day maybe. When did Princess Celestia need us there?"
Starting to pace back and forth Twilight responded, "The letter didn't specify, but what if we get there and it's too late? The Princess said she wanted us there for the ARRIVAL! Forget packing, we need to go NOW!"
Spike, still upside down on the bookcase began to levitate, this time by Twilights magic. Rushed, Twilights runs out, both the suitcase and Spike levitating behind her as she ran. Up the road, an orange pony stood at a stall where she was selling apples to a customer.
"Thanks Applejack!" said the filly that bought an apple pie from her.
"Well, you're mighty welcome young filly, now you come back anytime ya hear?"
"I sure will." said the young pony before walking off, while balancing the pie on her head.
Applejack went back to relaxing on the counter. As she did, she noticed a gust of wind in the distance.
"Now ain't that odd? I don't believe I've seen a gust form in the town before." However, as she squinted for a better look, she saw a purple dot getting progressingly larger. Her eyes widen as she realized it was Twilight, running at full speed...at her stall? Applejack took cover under the counter as she heard Spike shout at Twilight "Watch out!"
One second later Applejack finds herself under broken piles of wood planks, squashed apples, apple pies.
"What in tarnation, how many times is my stall gonna get torn down in one week?!" Shouted our Applejack as she popped her head out of the rabble. Next to her, Twilight pops her head out as well.
"Oh, I'm so sorry AJ, I got a little carried away..."
"A little is a bit of an understatement." Said Spike as he fly down and hovered just over the rabble.
"Oh my...Are those wings on Spike's back?" Applejack asked as she looked at Twilight. "What, did you use some sort of magic spell on him?" Twilight shook her head as they started to get out from under the rabble.
"No, he quite literally grew them overnight. I was trying to figure out if it was normal, but we were summoned by Princess Celestia to be at her castle by the time of a visit from a very important guest."
"However." Said Spike as he hovered between the two ponies. "The Princess didn't say when the visit would arrive, so Twilight here got off in a hurry to get there."
"So ya'll ponies need a ride?" Asked AJ as she started to clean up the mess and the wasted apples. Something she's grown used to doing over the past year.
"Why yes, but our balloon has a hole in it, we can't just-"
"Ah, but that.s where you're wrong my dear Twilight, you see Rainbowdash owes me a few favors for breaking my stalls, which, by the way, you guys owe me one too. So all I gotta do is get a pulling cart from back at the farm and Rainbowdash will get us there in no time.
"You'd do that AJ?" asked Twilight with a huge smile on her face, once would say it might even rival Pinkypie's smile.
"Of course! I'll always help a friend in need. Sides, I reckon the Princess would know a thing or two about Spikes sudden growth spurt."
"That's what I said!" exclaimed Spike as he and Twilight followed Applejack to her farm to ready a pulling cart. After a few minutes of getting the cart ready, and a few more in convincing Rainbowdash, they were ready to go.
"So let's get it straight, I pull this cart to Canterlot and I'm off the hook?"
"Yup." responded Applejack as she, Twilight, and Spike climb onto the cart.
"All 87 favors right?"
"Yup."
"Then let's get this over with." said Rainbowdash, getting hyped over not having to pay back every individual favor.
"Are you sure about letting go of every single favor?..." asks a reluctant Twilight. Applejack leans close, holding a hove on her right side to whisper to Twilight.
"Don't you worry, knowing Rainbowdash, she'll owe me another by the end of the week."
With a tug of the rope around Rainbowdash's mussle, they were off. Rainbowdash races off on the road, leaving a trail of dust behind. Twilight and Spike hold on to the cart, scared half to death about whether the cart will hold, AJ on the other hand is having a blast as she holds onto the rope. Over the next few minutes, Rainbowdash began to slow down. It was subtle at first, but at one point, Twilight noticed how tired Rainbowdash looked. It's only natural. She's not used to having so much weight pull her back, plus since Canterlot is by a cliff side, the road up to it is up a mountain. The strain on her having used a lot of energy at the beginning was no help either. Long story short, Rainbowdash could use a lesson on pacing.
"Hey, Rainbow, you alright?"
"What are you talking about...I'm great!" bluffed Rainbow like usual. She never was good at saying she couldn't do something, a little something she and Applejack have in common.
"We could take a break, we're ahead of schedule anyway." Rainbowdash was about to say no, but her fatigue caught up to her. She simple laid down and everyone got off the cart. Twilight came to RD's side and gave her some water she had packed. By pure chance, they had stopped right by a pond. It was still morning, so the sun made the water glisten. It was a beautiful sight no doubt. A moment that didn't last long enough. The girls heard a scream come from the forest nearby. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbowdash ran over towards where they heard it from. Spike tried to follow, but not being accustomed to his wings just yet, lagged behind them. It wasn't a long run. They quickly found a pony and stallion surrounded by a pack of dogs, no doubt trying to rob them.
"Hey!" called out Applejack. "What do you think you're doing?!"
One of the dogs turned around to see who was screaming. When he saw it was just three ponies he opened his mouth to shout.
"Stay out of this if you don't want to get hurt." However, the dog was shocked, it wasn't him that said that, rather, no one from the pack had a chance to speak out. It was the stallion that warned Applejack as he stepped forward to face the pack.
"Are you crazy?!" asked Twilight
"Yeah, you can't handle all of them by yourself." continued Rainbowdash. Had she not been completly wiped out by the pulling the cart, she would have jumped into action, but try as she might, her wings wouldn't move.
Together, the entire pack charge at the stallion. He leaped forward and head butted the one in front of him before leaning back on his two back legs to avoid a slash of one of the dog's knife. With his front legs free, he hit two of his enemies with his hooves, knocking them back. He turned around slightly began dodging and jabbing as the occasion arose. out of the corner of his left eye he noticed one of them lunge itself towards him. To that he leaned down, his front legs now holding him up, he kicked the incoming dog upward. At this moment, he was doing a handstand , his body completely stretched out, something all of the dogs who remained conscious saw as an opening. All together again they used they knives to stab forward. The stallion saw what they were up to and bent his front leg before throwing himself up all of the dogs ended up hitting each other in the middle ground. as they tried to recollect themselves they were quickly greeted by the stallion once again. Having grabbed onto the dog he had kicked into the air, he used him as a board to land on top of the pile of canines under him. He stood victorious over the body of his defeated foes. He raised one of this front hooves, as to stomp and continue to battle, but was interrupted.
"Silver!" shouted the mare behind him. "I think that's enough, no need to beat them further."
To that the stallion grunted and looked over at the Twilight's group, whom were in awe at the scene that happened in front of them.
"You three, who are you?" He asked in a very stale voice. Everyone could get a good look at him now that he was still. He was a well built stallion, an Earth pony since he had no horn or wings. His fur was grey, with his mane being charcoal black, hanging loosely over his right eye which was completely hidden. His cutie mark was quite odd though, it was sort of insignia that consisted of two colors, pink and yellow. It was kind of misplaced to his color scheme, however, he had a necklace on of the same insignia.
"I'll ask again. Who are you three?"
"I'll ask again. Who are you three?" Said the dark stallion with a cold voice.
"Uh..."started Applejack. She meant to introduce the group, but somehow couldn't bring out the words.
"My name is Blooming Star." Said the mare that stood behind the stallion as she walked closer to them.
"Miss Bloom." He called out to her.
"What? It's only polite to introduce ourselves first. As I was saying, my name is Bloomingstar, this is my knight and protector, Silvercharger."
Silver stepped to the side and got off the pile of dogs. He landed near Bloom who was walking towards Twilight.
"I-I'm Twilightsparkle, these are my friends Applejack and Rainbowdash."
"Well its very nice to meet you three, though I wish it were under better circumstances." The mare in front of them was a unicorn. A very bright yellow unicorn with pink hair and green eyes. Her mane was wavy and curled, not something that could take a few minutes in front of the dresser to make. She had a certain aura to her that made the group calm and relaxed. "Well, I know you didn't do much, but thank you for coming to our rescue when you heard my scream. Right Silver?"
The stallion was prepping the wagon for use again. "Yeah, sure. Thank you very much for your concern." He said very dryly.
"Geez, no need for such sarcasm." Exclaimed Rainbowdash.
"That wasn't sarcastic, that's just how he talks." Bloom said with the most sincere of smiles. The group didn't know whether to think it was true of not, but the way Bloom said it kind of made them want to believe. Silver came from behind them and said to Bloom, the dogs damaged the wagon's wheels, it's in no state to run I'm afraid."
"Oh my." said Bloom. "How are we going to get to Canterlot now?"
"There you girls are!" The entire group looked over to where the voice came from. Silver moved forward and raised and arm in front of Bloom, as to say 'stay back'.
Spike flew out of the bush, exhausted he stood on the ground. "I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you guys.
"A-a-a Dragon?! HERE?!" screamed Blooming star. Silver didn't hesitate, he charged forward. Everyone knew what he was going to do. Rainbowdash mustered some strength and flew past Silver and grabbed a hold of Spike, mean while Apple jack stood in front of Silver.
"Hold it there partner, what do you think you're doing?"
"If it wasn't already obvious, trying to kill a dragon."
"I don't think that's necessary, Spike wouldn't hurt a fly." Silver looked back and saw how Bloom quivered at the thought of being so close to a dragon again. and Suddenly got angry.
"He's a dragon, that's all they know how to do, out of the way." He tried to move past Applejack, to which she stepped to the side, grabbed a hold of his arm and jumped over him, causing him to fall. Applejack held him down in an arm lock.
"Don't be hasty now."
"If you protect a dragon, you're just as bad as them." Silver, who was under Applejack kicks her with his back legs. She wasn't expecting that at all, the surprise loosens the grip on his arm enough for him to roll and break free. Both Applejack and Silvercharger face each other off. Both being Earth pony, it was a battle of physical prowess.
Silver tries the same tactic he used earlier and dashes forward to head butt her. She jumps to the side and kicks with her strong back legs. He noticed her strategy and jumps up on his own back legs as she kicks, for a second, her legs are extended in front of him, and a second is all he needed. He grabs a hold of them and tosses Applejack to the side, she hit a tree and was knocked out. He quickly gets back to what he intended to do, he stepped forward towards Rainbowdash who was holding on to Spike. Both were exhausted and couldn't move. Twilight, however, stepped in between them.
"You can't take him head on." Said Rainbowdash from behind her.
"I don't have to..." Twilight responds. Silver runs full speed. Whatever she was going to do, he had to stop it. Twilight closed her eyes as she tried to concentrate. Her horn glowed and the light it gave out intensified. Just as Silver reached her she opened her eyes and blasted him back, trapping him in a sort of bubble. Silver couldn't get out.
"That...aught to cool you down..." Twilight said under her gasps of air. That spell, took a lot out of her.
Silver struggled to get free, to which Rainbowdash teased him.
"Ha! Whatcha' gonna do now huh?" Her taunt came at importune time, a sort of bolt hit Silver's imprisonment, breaking him free. Dizzy from the sudden upbringing, he tries to regain his composure, Bloomingstar, the one that freed him walks next to him.
"What? How did you break my spell?!" asked Twilight as she tried to put up a tough front.
"I am the most powerful unicorn from where I come from." Bloom said to her. Silver, now ready for another fight, starts to dig his hove at the ground. He was ready to charge in again, but bloom raised her arm in front of him.
"Now now, I know how you feel, but we can't just attack defenseless ponies. When in Rome do as the Romans yes?" Bloom walked forward, closer to Twilight's group. She looked up and closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow a bright yellow. The warm light gently fell on the girls. Applejack opened her eyes and got up.
"Wha-What happened?" She silently asked as Rainbowdash and Twilight also regained some of their strength. Looking a little lost, Rainbowdash put Spike down and stood up.
"I don't know, but I feel much better now."
"I think she healed us." Said Twilight as she looked over at Bloom. Her horn began to dim and suddenly she looked weak. The yellow unicorn fell to her side, the spell took a lot out of her, Silver was there to catch her fall. He looked a little angry, he clearly didn't approve of her healing the group.
"I-Is she alright?" Asked Spike while half hiding behind Rainbowdash. Silver glared at him, causing him to shield himself behind RD's multicolored tail.
"She'll be fine once we get to Canterlot." He said as he lifted Bloom onto his back and started walking away on the road.
"Uh..." Began Twilight. "We're on our way to Canterlot as well. We have a cart so it would be easier to get her there for you."
Silver looked back, his left eye shot a cold glare at the group. He looked back on the road and said without facing them,
"We don't need help from ponies that side with Dragons. We'll be off, I hope we don't cross paths again, and if you do, You should hope Miss Bloom is there to stop me from crushing you under my hooves." And with that he was off. The group was left in his tracks, frozen as he walked away carrying Bloomingstar. Twilight shook her head, as if trying to snap from a haze.
"We, uh better get going too." She said to the group, who also seem to have been snapped back to reality by her voice.
"Yeah, we shouldn't spend too much time in the forest alone..." Said Applejack, he voice sounding sort of depressed. Perhaps it was because she lost in a 1v1 with another Earth pony. Back in Ponyville she as the strongest and sturdiest of them all, she could even compete with pegasi. She could take defeat since sometimes her pride got the best of her and caused a match of strength, but this was different, the difference in power was almost too cruel for her, she felt so weak right now.
As everyone walked back, their thoughts raced. Applejack was preoccupied with Silver, while Rainbowdash was upset with herself. She was completely useless during that fight. She barely had the strength to protect Spike. Twilight had similar thoughts racing in her head, but more so questions. Jsut who were these strange ponies, and why were they so bent on Spike. And that Bloomingstar, she was able to break her spell without any problem. She was on another level than her.
When the group reached the cart again, no one said anything. Applejack got ready to pull the cart, Rainbowdash and Twilight got on as she cart began to slowly make its way to Canterlot. Spike looked around at the ponies he was with, they all looked so down.
"Hey, uh guys." He began, but he didn't know what to say. What could he say? It was clear that no one was in a talking mood. He just sat down and kept his head down.
What happened? I should have been able to take him, or at the very least have lasted longer. Thought Applejack. The more she thought about it, the more agitated she got. Subconsciously she started to gain speed pulling the cart. Soon she started to get tired, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to have her body move as fast as her mind was.
Rainbowdash's mane began to move, the wind from how fast they were going finally got her attention. She looked forward and closed her eyes. She imagined herself flying thought the sky again. She has been down before, this was no different, all she had to do was extend her wings and fly like she always did. RD stretched her wings out, the air moved the feathers, the air brushing against her small blue body brought a sort of determination back to her. She flapped her wings and took flight above the moving cart.
Twilight looked up at Rainbowdash. She saw her soar thought the sky like she always did. She always did envy her for how headstrong she was. Nothing stopped her. Ever. No matter what challenge arose, Rainbowdash always rose to the occasion. Suddenly, she didn't want to wallow in self pity. She wnated to get stronger, just like Rainbowdash.
Having the cart suddenly become lighter, Applejack ran faster than ever. Her determination had come back. The was no way she would stand idly by as she finally met her match. She was going to get stronger. Rainbowdash felt so serine back in the air. She wasn't going to stand in the background anymore, it just wasn't like her. Twilight stoop up, something a little reckless for her personality, but there they went. Canterlot in plain view for everyone, they all smiled.
I'm going to get stronger.
They all thought in unison as they made their way to their destination. Spike took a another look at everyone.
"Oh Geez, why do I even worry about them?" He said to himself as he put his hand behind his head to relax.
Everyone had a smile on their face. Things were heating up for them, and they will not be left behind.
It was almost evening and Princess Celestia was getting tired of readying through the documents in front of her. She put it down on the table and stood up. Leaning forward and opening her wings the princess stretched her entire body. The chair she was on may have been comfortable at first, but has gotten tiring over time. She took a quick glance out the window in her study and saw the sun was almost coming down.
"My my, I thought they would have arrived by now." She said to herself before starting to walk off. The came to a hallway decorated with multicolored stained glass windows. She had seem them thousands of times, but they were indeed a beautiful sight, especially at this time of day when the sun was in the right position to cast light thought them, causing the floor to reflect the images. The Princess passed by an open door where she saw her younger sister Luna read a book on a cushion on the ground. Despite how old she's gotten, at times like these she seems like a small filly trying to learn more about the world around her, kind of like Twilight.
Princess Celestia decided to head to a balcony. As she got there she saw a small gust of dust heading towards Canterlot. She smiled and knew exactly who it was. Twilight had a reputation to get agitated when she left out specific time in her letters to her. Though she a little behind schedule compared to what Celestia had thought. She wasn't usually wrong, so she must have overlooked something. It didn't really matter since her guests hadn't arrived yet either.
The Princess made her way down to the throne room where she was sure Twilight would be headed, no doubt in a hurry to know what her summons were about. As she walked down the corridor she was greeted by her Royal guards as they stood at attention at the sides of the walls. Sometimes she wondered if she should tell them to take a day off, it gets tedious even for her to see them so still. By the time she realized it she was already at her destination. The large throne she had sat on for a thousand years was right in front of her. There was a smaller throne to its side, it was added after Luna came back, at first she was hesitant to sit on it, but she came to soon after.
Celestia sat down. Her throne felt the same as always, a sort of comfort that made her feel empowered. She suppose it's what a throne is suppose to feel. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a calling.
"Princess Celestia!" Said a small purple pony as she and her friends entered the room. She gave them a warm smile as they approached her.
"Why hello Twilight, how have you been?"
"Better than ever." Twilight said with a hint of a fire in her eyes. This surprised Celestia. Did something happen to her? She seemed all fired up for some reason. She hadn't seen her like this since the time she was personally teaching her apprentice magic back when she took her under her wing. She took a quick glance at her friends who also seemed as pumped as her. As she scanned the scene, she took a notice of Spike, who as she predicted, had grown wings.
"Ah, Spike, it seems you're finally starting to mature."
Spike, who was flying nearby Applejack, landed and chuckled a little before speaking.
"Heheh, I just knew that you knew about what was happening to me." The princess smiled and looked out to the group.
"Why yes, it was about time for you to mature and start to become a grown dragon." To this Applejack looked a little confused.
"A grown dragon? Excuse me Princess, but shouldn't Spike become a kid first? or maybe a toddler?"
"Yeah." Continued Rainbowdash. "Last I heard, Spike was a BABY dragon."
Twilight nodded in agreement. The Princess looked a little surprised at how insightful they were, especially for Rainbowdash.
"My, you're all full of surprises today. Yes, you are right. Spike IS a baby dragon, and her would have followed the normal growth stages...had he been a normal dragon." Celestia stood and walked over to them. "Haven't you all noticed how Spike has been a baby dragon for quite a while?"
"The three ponies looked around at each other. Not knowing much about dragons, they weren't sure how much time it took for babies to become toddlers. Celestia smiles and pets Spike on the head with her hove. He responds with a giggle.
"Twilight, how long has it been since you met Spike?"
"It's been about 9 years since the entrance exam where I was tested to hatch spike." The purple pony said as she stepped forward.
"Yes it has. You see, I knew the moment I saw you that you had a great deal of magic potential. Spike's dragon egg had been with us for almost a thousand years before he hatched. We had tried everything to get him to hatch but nothing worked."
"A thousand years?" Applejack interrupted. "Wasn't that around the time Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon?"
"Yes, a little after my sister and I fought one another, I found Spike's dragon egg. It was in a very special place."
"And where was that?" Rainbowdash asked anxious to hear. The Princess closed her eyes and took a quick moment to gather her thoughts.
"In the altar where the elements of harmony were created." Everyone looked baffled. Now that they all thought about it, they all knew that the elements were created, but how or where never came to mind. Princess Celestia began her story.
"I am sure you are all aware of how Discord was tearing up our world. Us ponies were not the only ones to combat him. Every creature in existence tried to fight Discord, all of which lost. All except 2 races lost hope. Us, and the fierce Dragon race."
Spike looked down at his hands. As the Princess spoke, he felt strange, angry almost. He couldn't explain it, all he knew is that he wanted to know more. Finally, he was getting the answers he sought for so long ago.
"Dragons were unwavering in their fight with Discord. No matter how many times they were knocked down they always stood back up. Just like Luna and I, they never back down. However, Discord had a way to break an individual's spirit. And soon, they too began to give up. One by one, dragons left the battle field. In the end, only three of us remained. The only two alicorns of the time, Luna and I and the elder dragon, Turin the brave."
Spike's eyes widened. He didn't know why, but the named 'Turin' ringed in his head. His whole body began to shake. Was he scared? He looked around, but everyone was too busy listening to the story to notice him. He was thankful for it, he didn't really want anyone to know how he was feeling.
"Turin was a powerful dragon. He was the only dragon never to lose a fight with Discord. Their fights lasted days, but at one point Discord would grow bored and run off, leaving behind Turin at a draw. He seeked our council, for he knew that this fight could not continue forever. He proposed that we used our magic to help him create a force much stranger then Discord. A force that the God of chaos could not manipulate. He wanted to create the elements of harmony. Of course Luna and I agreed, however, we did not know how we could create such things. Turin said that these elements could be infused into gems. He gathered his forces to look for gems, what used to be nothing more than a delicacy for dragons, now could be the key to stopping the God of chaos. Once the gems were gathered he proceeded to consume them and he rested for months while we did our best to keep Discord away. During this time Turin hardened the gems in his stomach. Heating them over and over, so they would become unbreakable. Once enough time had passed we met once more. He told us to us our magic on him, that he would craft the elements inside him. We did as he said, only he failed to tell us one thing. As the elements were being forged, his life essence was taken from him and placed into the gems. By the time we realized it, it was too late. The elements of harmony were created, but at the cost of Turin's life."
Celestia opened her eyes and looked at the ponies in front of her.
"You all know what happened next. Luna and I used the elements to defeat Discord and restore peace throughout the land. But in Turin's haste to defeat Discord he forgot one thing."
Spike looked at her intently as she spoke.
"He forgot to tell his tribe. In the end, they presumed that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sacrificed Turin to defeat Discord. And now Dragons hate ponykind." Everyone looked shocked, for it wasn't Celestia who said it. They looked towards the door where a dark stallion with his mane over his right eye stood over a weak looking unicorn. Celestia gave them a quick smile.
"You've finally made it, Silvercharger and Blooming Star, how was your trip?"
Ponies From Dragon's Bane
Silvercharger walked slowly towards the Princess, Bloomingstar leaning against his side, clearly not recovered since she healed Twilight and the others.
"Long, treacherous, and boring. The usual." Said Silver as he walked. He quickly glanced at the group of ponies, though more specifically at Spike. Finally in front of Celestia, Bloom smiled and hugged her.
"Oh Princess, it's been far too long. The trip wasn't as bad as Silver said. We got to see lots of pretty sights." Silver took a few steps back as Bloom and the Princess spoke. Once again he looked over at Spike.
"Princess, is that dragon the reason you asked for us to come?" Silver asked. Celestia looked at him, just as she expected, he was quick to get to the point. It's only natural, from where he's from there isn't exactly ample time to spend on small talk.
"Yes, allow me to introduce you. This is Spike, and his caretaker, Twi-"
"We're already acquainted." Silver interrupted. Celestia raised an eyebrow, today was certainly a strange day for her, a lot of things happened outside what she predicted. "Are you now?"
Bloom poked Silver on his side. "It's rude to interrupt ponies, especially a Princess." Silver, with a stoic expression, looks back at the Princess and lowers his head. "My apologies."
Twilight and the gang were at a loss of words.
"Wait wait wait wait!" Shouted out Rainbowdash. "These are the special guests you wanted us to meet?!" Silver looked away, which only irritated her more. Her blue face turned red and opened her mouth to give Silver a taste of her mind but Applejack moved in front of her.
"Might I ask why you seem to hate us so much?" Silver looked straight in her eyes and spoke without any filters.
"Why? Because people like you are idiots who don't know how the world really works." He said in a monotone voice. Even Applejack started to lose her temper at him. How could he say that? He had no idea what hardships she had to go through back home. It was ignorant of him she thought.
"Ahem." Princess Celestia knew things would end badly if it kept going as they were. "How about we have a quick lunch break, then we can discuss about the matters at hand."
"Yes! That's a great idea." Said Twilight, not wanting to have her friends fight Silver yet again. Without fail, something always seemed to go wrong when Applejack and Rainbowdash got competitive. Celestia turned to Bloom who nodded to the suggestion. It was settled, everyone made their way to the outside garden where Celestia instructed for their food to arrive. While they waited everyone was awfully quiet. AJ and RD were glaring at Silver who didn't seem to care they were given him the evil eye.
"So Twilightsparkle was it?" Said Bloom to break the silence. "I hear you're Princess Celestia's apprentice, it must be very difficult."
"Oh not at all...well, some times. Currently she instructed me to study the magic of friendship at Ponyville." To this Silver raised his only visible eyebrow and chuckled softly.
"Have a problem with that?!" Exclaimed Rainbowdash at him.
"Oh not at all, it seems only fitting."
"And what is that suppose to mean?" Asked AJ. Silver looked to his sides, knowing that if she stayed it would only cause more awkwardness, he stood and said,
"I'm not very hungry, I think I'll just go for a stroll if that's alright with you Princess." Celestia smiled and nodded. As if feeling obligated to, the earth and pegasus ponies stood up too.
"I'm not hungry either."
"Yeah, me neither."
"Umm, are you sure girls?" Asked Twilight, feeling a little uneasy about them leaving the table.
"Yeah, we'll go for a walk too."
"If that's okay with you Princess." Again she nodded and they were off, as everyone guessed, in the same direction as Silver walked off.
"So, can you tell me a little about this magic of friendship?" Asked Bloom at Twilight. To this she smiled and began telling her of her misadventures in Ponyville. Celestia smiled and took a sip of her tea.
It didn't take long for Silver to notice the ponies following him. He tried to ignore them as he walked and looked around the castle. It was quite a sight to see, a castle with such poor defenses had very little signs of recent battles, or any battles for that matter. His train of thought was interrupted by Rainbowdash's voice.
"What nerve, just walking around the castle like he owns the place."
It slightly annoyed him, and his face showed it. He kept walking off, and as he predicted, they followed. Silver kept moving through the corridors and he came across some guards. They were white pegasi with gold armoring. He couldn't help but think how bad they were at their job. Armor made of gold is completely impractical, not to mention that standing still and at attention only made them large targets from a long range enemy.
"What is he up to now? Think he wants to learn from some real warriors?" Silver heard from around the corner. It was probably that cowgirl pony. Her remark actually ticked him off a little, to think of these guards as 'warriors' was a joke to him. However, he pushed his feelings aside and kept walking.
"Wow, it seems like you've had quite the adventure." Said Bloomingstar very excitedly. Twilight smiled and looked at her. She was the complete opposite to her guardian, in both personality and color scheme. Which made her realize something.
"Say Bloom, may I ask something about Silvercharger?" Bloom, who was a little distracted by the food finally arriving, looked back at her newly made friend.
"Uh, sure. I hope he didn't come off as a complete brute. He's much sweeter than he appears."
"Actually, I had a question about his cutie mark. I just happened to notice that he has a necklace that looks exactly the same. I mean, usually cutie marks represent what a pony is meant to do in life, but the insignia isn't like anything I had ever seen before." The Princess kept quiet as the food was set infront of them. She already knew this story but she watched carefully as Twilight got her first taste of the cruelty of the world outside Canterlot and Ponyville.
"Oh, I gave him that necklace. It's something I got from my father, it's actually my family's crest."
"So, Silver's cutie mark is your family's crest?"
"Yes, that's how he became my guardian."
Silver could feel Applejack's and Rainbowdash's glares on his back. He finally grew tired of and and stopped.
"If you have something to say, say it." He said without turning to face them. At first they pretended to not be there, but after a second or two Rainbowdash flew out and looked at him.
"Why do you have to be such an grouch?! It's not like we did anything wrong!" Silver slowly turned around to face her.
"Maybe not from where you're from, but back in my hometown, being with a dragon meant death."
"Do you have something against dragons?" Asked Applejack as she came out of hiding too. To this Silver sighed.
"I think you misunderstood what I meant. What I was meaning to say is that dragons are dangerous and being around one meant you were close to being it's midday snack."
"Not all dragon's are like that you know!"
Silver took a step forward.
"You're right, dragons that have migrated away from the nest aren't. But you know why? Because of ponies like me who keep the aggressive and powerful dragons at bay. The reason you get to have simple and comfortable lives is the reason I have to fight for my, and everyone else's life at Dragon's Bane, my hometown!"
Silver was starting to get heated. It wasn't really like him, but the ignorance displayed before him was getting to him. AJ and RD faced off with Silver, who for the first time, actually seem interested with fighting them.
"Let's settle this here and now!" Yelled out Rainbowdash. Silver smirked when he heard her say it. Finally, something that he knew how to handle.
"Alright then, back home we usually settled disputes with duels, are you pampered ponies up for it?" This really angered Applejack, she knew that she was far from having a 'pampered' lifestyle.
"You're on, who do you wanna fight first?"
"Why not both at once? You two could use an extra edge, too bad it probably won't matter." Both sides equally fired up, they walk over to an open field to start their match.
"Silver and I are from a town called Dragon's Bane." Bloom stated, feeling a little awkward about it.
"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked a little worried about her.
"Let me explain a little." Celestia said before taking a drink from her tea. "The Dragon's were outraged with having their elder sacrificed in the process, so they began to attack. However, we had very little resources to combat this new enemy. I spent most of my time and energy with simply fending them off. We couldn't exactly fight back, if more of them died the war would only become stronger and more brutal, so Luna used her magic to bring them all into a deep slumber. While they slept, we tried to come up with ways to fight, or maybe even negotiate with them. None of which really seemed sensible. One day a pegasus thought of establishing a society at the edge of the border of the dragon's territory. They would be the first line of defense against them when they woke up. Ponies from around Equestria volunteered to join the ranks of the Dragon's Bane. They built a castle fortress which would serve as their home until they awoke. When they did, they would fight them off as they approached us."
"Years past and ponies began to think they wouldn't wake up. They stopped training as hard as they should have and got sloppy with their scouting." Bloom added, it was very apparent she was hurting being reminded about her town's past.
"Yes they did. Once the dragons did wake up, they were furious. They attacked Dragon's Bane and the town lost a lot of ponies. One unicorn, however, managed to push them back with a spell he had made over the years they spent asleep. It was indeed very powerful because it used the town itself as a rod to amplify his magic. The dragons were driven back, but at a high price. Not only did they lose a lot of lives, the spell was so powerful it drained the energy out of the user, knocking him unconscious, asleep he wouldn't wake up for months. All the while the rest of the ponies had to fend them off. Over time, more unicorns came to Dragon's Bane and developed another spell to send a dragon back to their home without the use of the Dragon's Bane, but it did not mean that it wasn't used anymore. With increasing attacks and limited 'ammo', they had to be very careful with when to use it and when to just fight. Decades passed and the dragon's attacks lessened. It was a nice break from the constant fighting. The unicorn that created the spell was called Blazingstar."
"He is my ancestor. My family has been the beacon of hope to help keep the dragons at bay, but we've grown weary and tired of all this fighting. We've lost enough friends and family, we want it to stop."
"S-so, Princess, you mentioned something about going back to the altar where you made the elements of harmony." Said Spike hesitant to speak. He felt saddened to learn of what his 'brethren' did to the ponies he's grown to love.
"Ah yes, feeling depressed about being the only one left of the three who made the elements after I was forced to banish my sister, I ventured back to the altar to pay my respects to Turin. When I arrived, I saw your egg there. It was strange, I had gone to the altar every year, but only now did you appear. At first I was afraid dragons had made it out of their territory, but after looking around, I saw no sign of that. I brought you back with me and waited for you to hatch. I even tried using some magic to speed it up, but nothing worked. Somehow, I just knew the egg was a sort of heritage from Turin. I thought perhaps with you we could come to peace with the dragon race." Twilight tilted her head.
"Wait, so why was he my entrance exam to the magic academy?" To this Celestia giggled a little.
"Well, out of all the spells I used on Spike's egg, there was one that made me change the way I was handling the situation. I used a powerful spell that was suppose to link me up with the egg so I might understand it. It was simple in theory, I could better understand what I was supposed to do if I had a sort of mental connection to the egg. However, when I used the spell, instead of resonating with me, it linked up with another pony. I took the egg and used it as a means to find who it decided to link up with, and stumbled across you. At the time you were reading a book out on a bench. From that day on I kept an eye on you. I saw you had talent with magic and placed a means for your parents to help you get an audience to enter the magic academy. I requested that your test was to hatch Spike here."
"So...you planned it all?" asked Spike as Twilight looked in awe. It was strange to know that Princess Celestia had guided her even back when she was a filly. The Princess noticed how shocked Twilight was and simply giggled before taking another sip of her tea.
Silvercharger stood in front of Rainbowdash and Applejack. The Orange pony dug at the ground in anticipation while the blue one flew a few feet off the ground next to her. Time seemed to slow down with each flap of her wings. They had agreed to start the match when the stick he threw in the air hit the ground, however, no pony was looking up. They couldn't risk the other get the jump on them. It was silent, nothing else mattered right now except their opponent on the other side of the garden. Out of the corner of his eye, Silver saw the stick get close to the ground. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then it was heard, the slam of wood breaking on the hard ground. Slowly he opened his eyes and sure enough they were charging at him. It all seemed to move so slowly for him, after all...it was just another day for him. He lifted his hove and slammed it on the ground before running forward too.
"So Blooming star-"
"Just Bloom is fine" The yellow pony said with a smile.
"Right, Bloom. I never got around to thank you for healing me and my friends." Twilight said a little embarrassed. She thought back to the incident and remembered how powerful her magic was. How it looked so easy for her to break her spell.
"It was no problem, though I have to admit, it took a lot out of me. I've only used it twice before, all on Silver."
"Considering his attitude, I bet he gets in a lot of fights." Said Spike before taking a bite of a hay sandwich that was offered to him by a maid pony bringing their lunch.
"Yeah, he's kind of a hot head. But I can't say it's bad. It was because he is quick to jump into action that I'm alive right now."
"Oh? What happened?" Asked twilight, putting down her food to listen.
"Well, I had just taken the oath to use Dragon's Bane, kind of a rite of passage for my family. I think I was just out of fillyhood. As a test, my family took me to the center of the castle to activated the spell for the first time. However, I wasn't able to do it. It was really weird. My magic was far from lacking, but the spell just wouldn't activate it. Ashamed, I ran out of the castle and into the woods. Silver and I usually played their together, so it was safe enough. Or so I had thought." Bloom looked down at her tea. She saw her reflection and her thoughts raced. The image in the cup was rippled as a tear left her eyes and hit the tea. Twilight looked at her newly made friend and got worried. She was about to say something to her before she was stopped by the Princess.
"It had started to rain, but I didn't care. I was much too preoccupied with self pity. That is, until I heard a loud growl. Looked behind me to find a dragon, an adolescent. Thankfully it wasn't an adult dragon or I would have been dead long before I had heard the growl." Bloom looked again at her reflection and remembered how the rain stung against her face as she ran away from it. She tripped and fell many times, each time the dragon had gotten close to clawing at her, or sinking it's teeth into her flesh. But her endurance didn't last very long. She had made it out into a clearing before she had dropped.
"By the time I ran all I could I had only made it half way back to the castle. I knew there was no way I would survive this. I fell to the ground and placed my hooves over my head, as if that would have protected me at all, still, I was terrified, it's all I thought I could do. I remember hearing the dragon growl once more before leaping at me."
Silver was pushed back, his hooves left a track on the dirt beneath him. He barely had time to regain his composure before he saw Rainbowdash charge at him from the air. He dodge to the left.
"What happened to all that big talk?" mocked Rainbowdash as she looked down at Silver, circling around him.
A little annoyed, Silver looked at them. Maybe it was bad to underestimate them after all. He had to take this seriously. He changed his center of gravity and stood up on his hind legs.
Applejack saw it as an opening and ran full speed at him. It was a mistake. This was Silver's method of fighting, by standing on his back legs his front legs were free to do jabs and grabs. Silver moved one of his legs back and slide it around. Applejack missed her tackle by pure centimeters, Silver grabbed a hold of her torso and moved his legs to support the extra weight as he threw her at Rainbowdash up in the air. Surprised, Rainbowdash barely had time to react and catch Applejack.
"What in tarnation? You move on just two legs?" Silver narrowed his visible eye and said,
"It's fighting style I developed while training. After all, an Earth colt needs an edge over ponies with magic and wings. Now..." He said as he raised his hooves into position. "Allow me to show you what a real warrior can do."
Fed up with his cockiness, Rainbowdash put her friend down and flew circles around Silver as she bought her time to attack from a blindside. Silver didn't move an inch. He could feel the air around him change pressure from how fast she was going. He definitely did not want to be hit by her going at that speed. RD suddenly switch directions, she charged at him from behind. Silver knew that out all angles, an attack from behind was the more probable. The moment he felt the winds shift he knew he was right. As if on ice, Silver's hooves slid across the dirt. He turned himself around and his body faced Rainbowdash just as she was about to hit him. He leaned back and grabbed a hold of her hair. Silver allowed himself to fall, as he did, he placed his hind legs positioned against the blue pony's stomach. that one second where they were in mid air allow him to flip half way and kick her away with her own momentum.
"AHHHHHH!" Is all that came out of Rainbowdash as she flew across the air at a bush on the other side of the garden.
"Having long hair is a hindrance in battle..." Silver said as he stood back up on his back legs, getting into his fighting stance again. However, by the time he realized, Applejack was feet away from him, she twisted her body and roundhouse kicked him. Silver barely had time to react, but not enough to completely avoid the attack.
"Well your hair isn't exactly short either." Said Applejack as her back leg made brief contact with Silver's head. She saw it, if only for a second, but Silver's mane lifted from his face. She froze as she realized that Silver's mane wasn't just styled for looks. His right eye was closed shut by three large scars across it. He was blinded by what seemed to have been a bear claw, or maybe something worse...
"When I opened my eyes I saw Silver standing over me and the dragon sent flying back a few yards. But before I had time to thank him, something hit my cheek. At first I thought it was the rain, but it was too dense...to heavy. I look up and I see Silver with a bleeding face. He didn't just push back the dragon, he took that deadly hit for me and because of me...he lost an eye."
Twilight looked down, not knowing what to say. Spike was the same, he looked down at his right hand, more specifically his claws. Spike never once thought of hurting someone with his claws. He knew that it was possible to seriously harm someone, but to know that damage like this was real...he was just expecting it...I guess I really am still a baby dragon...He thought as he realized how naive he had been until now about who he was.
"I remember looking up at him and wanting to scream. I wanted to do something, but nothing came out of my mouth at all. I felt more and more helpless. But then he looked down at me and...and...and he smiled at me. 'I'm so glad you're okay Miss Bloom', I couldn't believe what I heard. Even after taking such a terrible hit, he was still worried about me." Bloom's tears began to fall more and more. The Princess place an arm around her as she tried to regain control of her voice to tell them the rest.
"He looked over at the dragon who was getting back up and really to fight and said to me, 'You stay right here Miss Bloom, I'll be right back. Won't take more than a minute.' as he walked forward and took up his usual fighting stance. I saw it then, his side glowed and he received his cutie mark. The insignia of my family."
Receiving a small shock to the head, he moved one of his hooves to keep his balance. He looked over at a frozen Applejack. He was sure she caught a glimpse of his scar. A brutal reminded of who his is and why he must fight dragons. He looked at Rainbowdash who was flying straight at him, but suddenly Applejack stopped her.
"Wait!" She said as she caught Rainbowdash before she could tackle him.
"What? We're kind of in the middle of a-" The blue pony couldn't finish before Applejack pressed her hove against her mouth to shush her.
"Listen...we're uh sorry about the trouble, think we could place our duel on hold for a bit?" Silver sighed and nodded. He began to walk away as he heard the two ponies bicker with eachother, the orange one giving excuses about why she put a pause on the duel, but he knew she was just taking pity on him. Everyone who has seen his scar had pitied him. He cringed his teeth as he walked out of sight. Just before he turned around the corner Applejack got one last glance at him, she slightly frowned and went back to calming down Rainbowdash.
"The fight didn't last long. Silver won swiftly, he ran circles around that stupid dragon." Bloom said with a smile, pushing her tears back and trying to be happy again. "It just proves that he wouldn't have gotten hurt like that if it wasn't for me. I felt so bad about it, but I remember how he walked back to where I was and smiled at me again. He glanced at his new cutiemark and said, 'Lucky me, looks like I get to be beside you all times now...so please Miss Bloom...please don't run off without me again.' I looked up at him and saw him tearing up while he smiled at me. I stood up and cried along with him. I didn't notice, but my horn was glowing. It was then I used that healing spell. It happened on its own. However, I wasn't able to save his eye..."
"It's fine, it's not like I need it." Said a hard sounding voice from behind them. Celestia looked back and smile at Silver who was walking back.
"Have a nice stroll around the castle?" Silver looked at her with a dead stare.
"Well...I could go on for hours about how bad it's defenses are, or how your guards wouldn't last a second in an actual attack, but I'll skip Bloom's lecture later and simply say, Yes, it was a good walk." Bloom puffed up her cheeks, a little annoyed at Silver who made her come across as naggy.
"Oh you, be quiet." She said before giggling at herself. Twilight smiled as she saw Bloom look happy again. She wasn't sure why, but it was apparent that this stoic character could brighten her day.
"That is until your friends challenged me to a duel." Twilight stood up shocked and angry.
"They did WHAT?!"
Silver glanced behind him and saw Applejack and Rainbowdash coming around the corner and a wild idea came to him.
"Why yes, they made a huge deal about how they were better than me. They even went two on one cause they couldn't wait their turn to try to punch my face, quite sad really, I put them in there place though."
Silver hadn't even finished before Twilight raced over to her friends and proceed to beat them, shouting things like 'I can't believe you'd do this' and 'When the Princess is around of all times'. Silver couldn't help but snicker at himself. Bloom took notice and realized he exaggerated his statement. She wanted to lecture him, but felt more happy then angry. She was happy he was finally relaxed. Silver regained his usual look at glanced over at Spike who was laughing at how Twilight was beating her friends. Somehow it was odd. He still felt that dragon's were his enemies, but this 'Spike' has made it of his list of dragon's to kill...for now.
The Princess went over to Twilight and her friends to split them up.
"Ahem!" She said. Everyone froze and they looked at Celestia.
"Twilight, I would like you and your friends to accompany Silvercharger and Bloomingstar back to Dragon's Bane."
Twilight and Silver looked rather shocked.
"W-what?"
"You see Twilight, Bloom here still can't seem to activate Dragon's Bane, so I would like you, as my precious apprentice, to help find out why."
"Dragon's what?" asked Rainbowdash, but she was pushed aside by her purple friend.
"Y-yes! We won't disappoint!"
Silver looked over at the girls and the small dragon that were to become his new companions and sighed.
"Well...looks like the trip back will be much longer than the trip here..."
Applejack turned in her sleep, as she did she accidently bumped her arm against Rainbowdash who proceeded project a loud snore which woke her up. She gave out a small scream and came to, to see herself surrounded by other ponies under one large blanket. It was just early morning and the wagon they were on was making small progress towards Dragon's Bane. VERY slow progress, actually, Applejack was surprised it was moving at all, the previous night they all had agreed that they would rest out on the wagon the Princess had given them to help transport. She looked around at the ponies in the wagon. Rainbowdash was sleeping rather stretched out while Twilight and Spike cuddled together. Blooming star was sleeping on her own, but she held a smile on her face. The only one missing was Silvercharger.
Applejack looked outside of the wagon, sure enough there Silver was pulling the wagon forward. His eye was dull as ever, but this time she thought it was simply because he woke up so early.
"Sorry." Silver said without turning his head to Applejack. "I tried to make sure to pull the wagon slow enough to keep everyone asleep."
"Uh, no no. I actually woke up on my own. You couldn't sleep?"
"I always wake up early. I didn't want to waste any time on getting back so I got out and started pulling."
Applejack wasn't sure how to deal with him. He is so dry, but somehow, she developed new patience for him after their little duel the previous day. The silence stayed for another minute or two, a period that seemed to last forever.
"M-maybe I should pull the wagon for a bit." Silver turned his head slightly.
"Why would you want to do that?" Applejack looked a little nervous when he finally looked at her.
"Well, you've been working so hard...you should rest for a little." Silver looked forward again and said.
"You're starting to sound like Miss Bloom.
"Why do you call her 'Miss'? She seemed to be close to you."
"Why do you refer to Princess Celestia as 'Princess'? You seem to be close to her too." Applejack kept quiet as she began to see his point. "It's the same thing. From where I come from, Miss Bloom is like royalty. Very important royalty , the only one in this generation which can push back the dragons if they get too close..."
Silence fell upon their conversation again and AJ started to get fidgety. She decided to join Silver in walking. Moving her hooves would help her keep calm. She made her way to Silver's side who other than given her a quick glance, kept looking forward not minding her. Applejack started to pay attention to how Silver looked up close. His charcoal mane swayed back and forth over his right eye and slender face. This grey coat seemed to chimer as the sun slowly began to rise over it. His necklace and cutie mark of the same design still seemed mismatched to his whole character. The Bright pink and yellow didn't seem to go with him at all. He didn't seem bothered by it. His ears flickered slightly, she saw that they somehow seemed larger than most stallions. Silver noticed how she was looking at his ears.
"Do they bother you?" Applejack became a little embarrassed that he noticed how she was looking at him.
"Back when I was a child my ears were much larger than others I was made fun of because of them. In time, I grew into them, so to speak. I'm not ashamed of them, they help me keep track of sounds and wind currents. It's how I was able to beat your blue friend yesterday."
"Oh really? Well that explains it...you know about the duel, I was wondering if we could forget about it and start over." Silver glanced over to Applejack for a second.
"I don't really have anything against it, but may I ask why?" Applejack looked away, unable to bring her words out.
"If there is one thing that I hate more than pampered ponies, it's being pitied. I'm aware that you saw my scarred eye yesterday, was it really a coincidence that you decided to stop the duel? I can handle myself just fine with one eye." Applejack looked at the stallion next to her and quickly spoke out.
"You've got the wrong idea! I just felt really bad. I was just so caught up on how you sounded all high and mighty, constantly talking down to Rainbowdash and me. I didn't realize there was a reasonto your madness...Twilight caught Dash and I on you and Bloom's background. I just think we got off on the wrong hoof." To this, Silver looked over at AJ and raised his eyebrow.
"I see, you're quite honest aren't you?" Applejack laughed a little and replied.
"Yes sir, that's kinda my thing, you know." She said with a smile, the mood lightened up a little, though Applejack still had a hard time making conversation with Silver. From behind a sheet on the wagon, Bloom smiled as she saw Silver and Applejack interact. It made her happy to see Silver start to warm up to their new friends.
It wasn't long before everyone else began to wake up. Silver continued to push the wagon as he heard everyone interact with one another. Bloom and Twilight seemed to have lost themselves in conversation again as they sat on the seats behind the reigns. Rainbowdash and Applejack bickered. The earth pony walked a little behind Silver with the pegasus flying around complaining about how slow the wagon was going.
"Can we hurry it up tall dark and brooding?" Raibowdash asked Silver, causing Applejack to argue with her. He DID believe they were lagging behind schedule, but going faster now would only make the blue pony believe she had won over him, and his pride wouldn't allow him to move faster, if anything, he began to walk slower to pester her passive aggressively.
"Are you sure you don't want me to pull the wagon? Even for a little bit?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Why would you do that? Let the guy do all the hard work." Rainbowdash said trying to insult him. Again the two 'friends' bickered. Silver could feel a vein on his forehead pop out as he grew more and more annoyed.
"...so then Silver comes up to him and whacks him right in the jaw." Bloom said to Twilight as they sat comfortably.
"Wow Bloom, if I didn't know any better I'd say Silver was just being a jealous boyfriend." Twilight replied as they both began to giggle to themselves. Somehow, that annoyed him more than the constant bickering that was taking place beside him.
"Oh Twilight, you don't know the half of it. Back home, Silver inspects everyone that gets close to me. It was cute at first but it's become a hassle now." Again they giggle. To makes matters worse, Rainbowdash had overheard the girls talking and began teasing him with it.
"Oh Miss Blooooom." Rainbowdash said as she flew around and sat next to her, pushing the girls closer together.
"What are you up to girl?" Applejack asked from beside the wagon. Silver didn't want to feed Raibowdash's urge to poke fun at him, but he couldn't ignore anything that had to do with Bloom.
"Oh nothing, I was just wondering if I could sit here next to them, my wings got tired after all." Twilight raised an eyebrow and said,
"But Rainbowdash, you've always been able to-" Twilight's mouth was covered by Dash's hoof before she could finish. Since Bloom was between her and Twilight, Rainbowdash now had her arm technically around Bloom. This really angered Silver, it was clear as he sent a death glare in Rainbowdash's direction. He clenched his teeth as he tried his best to hold back the urge to pick a fight with his new 'comrades'.
A long loud yawn came from behind everypony. Out from behind the wagon's sheets came Spike. Everyone except Silver and Bloom held a blank expression on their face. "Good morning..." Spike began stretching as he stepped out onto the seat where almost everyone was sitting. He sat down next to Twilight who looked at him, jaw opened.
"I-is something wrong Twilight?..." Asked Bloom as she saw how petrified the purple pony looked. Spike, who used to come only leg height to Twilight, was now at eye level to her. His body proportions were different, his baby fat was no longer noticeable and his wings seemed bigger than before.
"Umm...Spike, I think you had another growth spurt..." Applejack said from the side. Spike opened his eyes wide as he looked straight forward. He quickly inspected his body to see what was different, and before anyone could say another word he jumped up joyfully."
"WOOOHOHOHO!" He screamed out as he flew around. "I'm just as big as you guys now!" Excited by his new proportions everyone looked worried as he flew around.
"Is he going to get a growth spurt every night?" Twilight asked out loud to which Silver responded.
"I certainly hope not. It's going to be hard enough to get him in without causing a panic as it is."
Spike came back down and Bloom petted him on the head. "There's no need to worry, I'm sure they'll let him in if I say he's ok." Silver looked off into the distance and thought to himself. The problem isn't whether or not they let him in, it's whether or not they'll try to kill him once he's inside.
The day continued rather boringly. Second night came along and everyone made a campfire next to the wagon. They all sat in a circle as Silver went off to collect fire wood. Spike sat on a log alongside Rainbowdash as they talked about how big he was getting and how excited he was for his next growth spurt.
"Say Miss Bloom." Began Applejack.
"Just Bloom is fine" The yellow pony responded with a smile.
"Umm, Bloom. Is Silver always as uptight? Or is it cause we're around." Bloom smiled before responding.
"Silver has a hard time expressing himself sometimes that's all. But she always has everyone's best interests in mind. He's a big teddy bear underneath it all."
"I would like it if you refrained from calling me a teddy bear." Silver said as he made his way over to the group. He was carrying firewood with his front arms while walking on his hind legs. Everyone grew quiet as they saw him. Many ponies could balance on their back legs but no one had ever seen one walk on just two legs for long periods of time before. Silver put the wood down and sat down next to Bloom.
"Where did you learn to walk like that?" Asked Spike. "As far as I know, I was the only biped that lived with ponies.."
"It is exactly because dragons like you can walk on two legs that I taught myself to do the same. Ponies are already at a disadvantage when fighting dragons, being on two legs allows me to fight more efficiently." Silver explained. Applejack began to remember the duel they had the day before and how much he overpowered her and Rainbowdash. Was it really just cause he could stand on two legs?
"Silver always was a little different when it comes to fighting. Actually, he is one of the only earth Colts to be part of our army."
"How come there aren't many Earth ponies?" Asked Twilight as she looked over at Silver who was throwing in more wood into the flames. He looked up at her and responded.
"Think about it. We earth kind may have more physical power, but we can't exactly hold a sword very well. Unicorns on the other hand can use their magic to levitate and swing it around. Pegasi make excellent scouts cause of how fast they can fly. For the most part, Earth kind don't really have a use in an army against dragons."
"So what makes you so different?" Rainbowdash asked.
"I don't use weaponry. I fight with my hooves, something much more deadly than ponies give it credit." He turned to look at Applejack. "You're a farmer pony right? By your cutie mark I presume you work with apples? Bucking them I would say. Tell me, have you ever kicked another pony with your full strength?" Applejack seemed shocked. The thought of her using her full strength in her kick against someone made her chinch, something like that would do more than just hurt the other pony.
"Well, I know there would be a lot of broken bones..." She finally said.
"Yes. The pure strength of Earth kind is their own advantage, however, not many have the will power to use it."
The night progress as Silver spoke about the army he was part of and how it ran. The whole conversation made Twilight worry about what was in store for them. The way he spoke about fighting and how serious he was made her believe that their lives would be in danger soon. She took a look at Spike who had fallen asleep on her shoulder and pondered if bringing him along was really a good idea. They were going to enter a castle who's only purpose was to kill dragons. All she could do was hope Bloom was right and that they would listen to her when they got there.
The next morning was like the first. Silver woke up early and got up, but to his surprise, Applejack was already pulling the wagon.
"Sorry partner, couldn't have you do all the heavy lifting on your own." She said as he got out to walk next to her. Somehow he wasn't sure how to feel about having their roles reversed like this.
"Say..." Applejack began. "Do you think that we'll end up fighting dragons once we arrive at Dragon's Bane?"
"Yes, it has been a while since we had an attack, might be some time soon. There's this dragon that comes every week or so, almost like if its on some sort of schedule." Silver said nonchalantly, he was clearly used to fighting them on a regular basis.
"Do you think you could teach me to fight like you?" The orange pony asked a little nervously. Silver looked over at her and raised an eye brow.
"I could yes...but why would you want to? Do you plan to fight alongside Dragon's Bane if we are attacked?"
"Now that's a silly question. Of course I would. I'm sure I can speak for Twilight and Rainbowdash too when I say that we wouldn't stand in the background while ya'll do all the work."
Silver looked forward and he saw his town in the distance. Dragon's Bane, the only border stopping the dragon's from invading the rest of Equestria. He smiled and said to his orange friend.
"Sounds like fun, how about you enroll in our army as a temporary soldier when we arrive."
"Sounds like a plan." Applejack said as she looked forward and saw their destination. She quickly looked back and shouted.
"Hey ya'll, we're here!" Her voice woke up the rest of the group and they all peered through the sheets of the wagon. Twilight and Rainbowdash looked in awe as they grew closer to the castle. Bloom, who was behind them didn't have a smile on her face anymore. Though her home was right in front her, the responsibilities that came with being back in Dragon's Bane came with it. Alongside her was Spike who also had a worried look on his face. It seems he had another growth spurt after all...
The sound of a wagon's wheels echoed thought the woods. Ponies on top of the walls of Dragon's Bane glanced its way and one signaled to point a cannon at it. The wagon kept its slow pace until it reached the large gates of the city.
"Who goes there? Any sudden movements and we'll obliterate you to Cloudsdale." Silver, who was pulling the wagon looked up at the pony who spoke out.
"Not only did you not say what you were suppose to, but you failed to recognize your commanding officer from this close of a distance. You are here by reassigned back to combat trainer." Silver's cold hard voice echoed through the walls of the city and everyone opened their mouths. The pony who had spoken out began to sweat.
"Oh...Commander, Sir. I am terribly sorry. You fools! Hurry up and open the gates!" He said to ponies who stood beside him. They quickly obeyed and ran down to open the gates. Slowly the large doors opened inward. The cold breeze pushed out and swayed Silver's hair who proceed to pull the wagon in. Inside the wagon were the rest who remained quiet as they entered. Spike and the others remained inside the wagon's cover that had served as their sleeping quarters on the trip. Finally Bloom poked her head out from the wagon and asked.
"Siiiiiilver. Can we get out yet?"Her voice was cutely whiny. Silver looked back and waited until the gates behind them closed all the way before nodding to her. Instantly she and the rest of the ponies jumped out.
"Remind me again why we had to hide in the wagon when we were practically here already." Asked Rainbow as she stretched her wings out. Silver handed over the wagon to another pony and instructed him to take it to the stable.
"Because it is around the walls of Dragon's Bane where Dragon worshippers stalk to attack unsuspecting passengers."
"No one has actually been attacked though..." Bloom tried to interject to no avail.
"We could have taken them!"
"And risk Miss Bloom getting hurt? No thank you."
Rainowdash pouted as Twilight passed her.
"Umm Silver, about-" The grey stallion interrupter her and said.
"Do not worry, we'll come get him later when there are less ponies around." Twilight wasn't sure how to feel about leaving Spike alone in the wagon surrounded by ponies trained to kill dragons, but Bloom came by her and smiled, which somehow comforted her. The charcoaled maned stallion led the way and everypony followed behind. Rainbowdash looked around as all the ponies went on with their day, they all had either a tired or dead expression. It was clear their work wasn't all that enjoyful for them. However,it was then she noticed something peculiar.
"Hey Bloom, howcome every pony has the same cutie mark as you?" Asked the pegasus. "Does that cutie mark mean you belong in the army?" Bloom looked back at her friends with a sad expression.
"No, everyone in the army has this mark branded on them." Silver stepped in for Bloom who was clearly not too comfortable talking about it.
"This cutie mark was first woren by Blazing Star, Miss Bloom's ancestor, as his own, it was later implemented as the army's insignia for our flag. Over time we noticed how ponies wouldn't achive their calling by staying in the army as they would if they lived their lives, so whoever joins the army is branded with a special spell with takes place of their cutie mark, for you see, joining this army is a choice, not a calling, unlike a real cutie mark."
"But you have your own cutie mark, and you're in this here's army." Added Applejack.
"Like I said, it's a cutie mark given by a special spell, think of it as a temporary cutie mark. If, and I mean if, you somehow get your real cutie mark it will replace the army's brand, however, there has only been a hand full of ponies how have gotten their real cutie mark."
"That seems a little sad, it's no wonder everyone seems to unhappy." Twilight said as she looked around. She saw one pony with a unique cutie mark. It was a chef who was distributing rations to the other ponies. He seemed a little bit more lively than the others.
"Look around and be thankful, for it is because of these ponies sacrificing their happiness and calling in life that you are allowed to enjoy yours." Everyone remained quiet, for once, everyone seemed to understand a little of why Silver is the way he is. The sound of their hooves echoed much more loudly as they entered the castle where they would be staying. It was battle scarred for sure. Tall and old looking with vines and cracks everywhere. The inside was not anymore pleasing to the eye. The interior was lit by mere candles, giving the entire structure an eerie feel. As they went in they were greeted by guards on their patrols, most of them only said a word to Silver and Bloom, but there was a young filly in a cloak who also came by.
"Oh hello there." She said with excitement. "How was your trip Miss Bloom? I see you brought some friends along." Bloom kneeled down next to the small filly and rubbed manes with her in a hug.
"It was a very nice and peaceful trip, and these are some friends I made along the way." Bloom introduced them and before the small pony would get another word out, she was called from across the hall.
"That there is one young little fella', is it okay for her to be in this place?" Asked Applejack out of worry.
"I was just a child when I joined, I see no problem in it." Said Silver as he continued walking on, leading the group up some stairs.
"But I doubt everypony here is like you Silver." Applejack said.
"Actually, she was found." Said Bloom in a slightly cheerful tone. "Doesn't remember a thing about how she got to Dragon's Bane. It was quite odd actually. It was like if she just appeared within the walls of the city. Silver wasn't too pleased that a small filly made it past his elite guards." She added with a giggle. Since the grey stallion was leading no one saw his annoyed expression, but everyone knew he had it. Everyone joined in on the laugh, and somehow the whole mood was lifted from the gloom of before.
Silver finally made a turn to a door, which was quite large, he seemed to struggle slightly on opening. Everyone looked in awe as the light slowly illuminated the large room that had been their destination. It was a large circular room with a pentagram of sorts in the middle. In the middle was an insignia that they all knew since they had seen it none stop since arriving, Bloom's family emblem. The whole pentagram drawing was very elaborate and detailed, inside the giant circle where 5 empty sections where an altar stood in each.
"Wow-wee, where are we?" Asked applejack with her mouth gapped open. Everyone slowly stepped inside, as they did the ground lit up and the insignia on Bloom's cutie mark glowed in a similar green fashion.
"This is Dragon's Bane, the altar which is used for repelling the dragons when they try to over run us.
"This is all good and dandy, but why are we here?" Asked Rainbowdash who flew a few feet from where everyone was standing.
"I was sure the Princess instructed you to help us with activating Dragon's Bane, I thought it would be a good idea to start as soon as we arrived." Silver responded in a cold manner. The girls were about to retort to his response when Twilight stopped them.
"There there girls, he's right. I should get started right away." The earth pony and pegasus stood back as Twilight slowly made her way to the glowing engraved pentagram. She stared at it for quite a while and the ponies grew worried.
"Everything ok sugarcube?" AJ asked as she took a step closer. Twilight slowly shook her head as she looked franticly at the pentagram.
"No...everything isn't ok. I have no idea what anything of these things mean. It's like a completly different language." Twilight kept trying to make sense of the pentagram and the writing on it. She circled the room. She was so distracted she didn't noticed Bloom when she bumped into her.
"Now now Twilight, no need to worry yourself. The language you see is in dragon tongue. I can show you what they mean." Bloom said with a smile. Twilight smiled back and they began talking to eachother over what was written. Silver walked over to AJ and Rd. He nudged them and gave a gesture that it was time for them to leave and let them have some peace to work. He walked out of the room and they followed suit.
"Miss Bloom will work with your friend to find the answer we need, for now I believe we're done. Would you like me to show you to where you'll be staying at?" Rainbowdash and Applejack looked a little shocked at how courteous Silver was being with them.
"Well I guess you aren't as rude as I thought. Thanks but no thanks, I have some exploring to do." Rainbowdash didn't even allow Silver enough to time give a response, in just a few seconds she was off and out of sight. Silver, looked in the direction Rainbowdash flew off in and kept his rather indifferent expression.
"I'm mighty sorry, I'm sure she won't cause any trouble though." Silver turned and began walking in the opposite direction.
"I know. That corridor leads to a series of halls that if you're not familiar with, you'll only get lost in. I think we'll probably see her by supper." Silver smirked to himself. Applejack caught a glimpse and smiled along as she followed Silver.
The sun was slow to set, however, because of Dragon's Bane's large walls, it became dark much faster than in Ponyville. Everypony began to prepare for their night routine. Guards were posted and began to make their rounds, and every pony else headed to the barracks where they wold rest until early the next morning. As the busy courtyard began to lose it's momentum, Spike became increasingly worried. His last growth spurt left him with large claws and a more quadruped body structure but still able to stand up right. Soon he would look like the dragons in the gang he met during his quest to find himself a while back. They, of course, are still much taller then he is right now, but he would definitely would look threatning.
Now he definitely can't be seen by the others. They'll attack him on the spot. I, for one, do not want to cause a panic.
Silver's words still echoed in IN the Dragon's head. When he saw him earlier he was just about ready to attack him yet again. Bloom's terrified face didn't help Silver back down, if it wasn't for Twilight and the others sticking up for him and coming to a compromise, he would have been a goner for sure.
Spike's train of thought was interrupted by hoof steps he heard coming closer and closer to the wagon he was still hiding in. Ponies had walked by before earlier in the day, but having everything be so quiet made Spike's heart skip a beat at every clank of the hoof hitting the ground. He wished and hoped it was Twilight coming to get him, if he was discovered now Twilight and the others wouldn't be able to fix the Dragon's Bane spell like the Princess wanted them to.
His fears come true when he heard the hoof steps come to a stop and the guard talk to himself.
"Man, why do we have to do these silly little rounds? By now all those Dragon worshippers are probably eaten anyway, there shouldn't be any of them left for us to fear of an attack." Spike felt the wagon move as the guard leaned against it. His heart began to beat faster and faster, he was sure that if the guard didn't find him, the loud beating of his heart would give him away.
"Maybe I should take a quick nap in this wagon, no one would mind right?" The guard pony climb over the wagon and placed his hoof over the sheets covering it. He was but seconds from pulling it to the side and leaving Spike in plain sight.
"I would mind it quite a bit actually." A cold voice said from the other side of the stable the wagon was being kept at.
"C-captain!" The guard pony jumped down and stood at attention. He began to sweat nervously as Silvercharger walked closer to him.
"Tell me something, do you do this every night? Sneak into the stable and take naps on the carts and wagons we have?" Silver said while what appeared to be with glaring eyes.
"No sir! I was simply wondering why the night rounds if the Dragon worshippers are probably all eaten by now, since they stay to close to dragons and such...uh sir."
"So you think we should ease the patrols?" Silver asked, now mere inches away from his troop. The guard's eyes wanted to avert and look away but he couldn't Silver's gaze intimidated him past his own ability to move. Spike peeked through a crack in the sheets and saw the ordeal taking place, and the only thing going through his head was wonder what Silver has done to keep all his army under such deep rooted intimidation, and whether he should be scared of him as well.
"Well I cannot deny that we haven't had an infiltration since last year. Perhaps we should relax our patrols. I'll strike you a deal. We shall relax our patrols to more infrequent and with less guards out, if you take night patrol duty for the next six months. All night, every night." No matter what the guard choose it was a lose-lose situation. However, he decided to take a fall for the team, with him taking the offer, his comrades would be spared long night patrols, and so he nodded and Silver signaled he was free to go on his way. Silver stood there watching as the guard walked out to spread the "good" news. Silver remained stationary and without looking back spoke.
"Alright, it's clear. You can come out now." Spike slowly peeked out and looked over at Silver who did not seem to want to look at him. Things were quiet for a while.
"How long?" The grey stallion asked. His cold voice startled Spike, he slowly got out of the wagon and stood moderately close to Silver.
"How long 'till what?"
"Until you have another growth spurt again."
"Oh." The purple dragon scratched his scaled on of top his head. "I don't know. I only have them over night, I'm asleep during that time, so I have no idea when I grow." Silver finally turned back to look at him.
"Did you take a nap while on the wagon?" The series of questions were strange for Spike, but he answered anyway.
"Well, no. I snore so I did my best not to fall asleep or else I might have given myself away. But uh, why?"
"From what I hear, you were a baby dragon for about 9 years. As we have observed here, dragons tend to grow rapidly between the time they are born to about the teenage phase, where they grow at an extremely slower rate. They spend about 100 to 500 years in this phase before taking an initiation into adult hood, which will last for any time around 6000 years before entering the "sage" stage. The great dragon Turin, being the only recorded dragon to reach said stage."
"Umm, alright, so what does any of this have to do with sleeping?" Spike asked still a little lost.
"The teenage stage starts at age of 10 years. The growth experienced by dragons during their childhood happens mostly in their sleep. I am thinking that you are going through an exaggerated version of it, to make up for all the time that had passed while you remained the same."
"But Zacora said dragon's only grow with greed. When they gather and horde things they want."
"Yes, that is how dragon's are suppose to grow. Which is probably the reason you stood at a standstill. However, there has been no record of dragons staying as babies since they all get greedy at some point in their childhood. Your body must be reacting differently since it hasn't gotten its dose of greed."
"So what does this all mean?"
"It means, that your body is going to react to normal dragon stimuli at an exaggerated level. When you sleep, for example, you will grow rapidly. Celestia forbid you start getting greedy right now."
"Been there...done that..."
Silver began to walk to the back of the stable. Spike noticed and followed him. They sneaked out a window and the stallion signaled a stop. They waited for a few seconds before a guard passed by. They allowed for him to pass before continuing on their route. They followed narrow passages, spots that usually Spike would have no trouble getting through, but his new body was being rather hard to adjust to. Plenty of times did Silver have to help pull him out of tight squeezes. Finally, they reached the side of tower the rest of the group was staying at. Silver pulled out two large bricks which gave way for a secret entrance. Spike awed in astonishment at how closely Silver knew about Dragon's Bane. That pony probably knew every nook and cranny of the city, and he could probably spot if a stone was an inch too far gone. Spike and Silver walked through the newly made entrance the stallion sealed it back up behind them.
As they continue to walked through the cob web infested hall, Spike felt a little awkward next to Silver. Before long, he tried to break the ice.
"So...you're captain of the guard here? Twilight's brother is captain of the guard back in Canterlot."
"Really now? I'd like to meet him. He could use some pointers." Spike sweated a little and gave out a faint nervous chuckle.
"I do not wish to come off as rude...Spike. But perhaps you shouldn't sleep tonight." Spike expression changed as he saw Silver's face. "If you only get growth spurts while you sleep, than you shouldn't grow at all until you do."
Spike looked down at his hands suddenly the image of Bloomingstar's scared face came to mind, he definitely didn't want to scare anyone else. So he nodded and agreed. Spike had his mind set on finding who he truly was while here, and getting bigger and bigger wouldn't make things easier for anypony.
Finally, they came to their destination. The hall ended at a wall, Spike looked confused as he saw the dead end, but Silver continued to walk until was face to face wall. He stared at it for a few minutes and the purple dragon observed. He was sure he was about to do something awesome, like open another secret passage way.
"We're lost. I think we took a wrong turn." Silver said with his indifferent expression. Spike's mouth gapped open and screamed out.
"WHAT!? But you seemed so confident about the way you were navigating the maze back there!"
Silver turned 180 degrees and started to walk back. "Yes, but I have only taken this route once, and it was with a map. Not to mention I was engaged in conversation with you. Now, let's head back and see where we took a wrong turn." Spike wasn't sure how to react. The fact that Silver considered their few exchange of lines plus the long while in silence as they walked 'an engaging conversation' kind of made him want to laugh, but he held back, lest he offended the one pony most capable of killing him. Spike just sighed and continued walk along side Silver, who's facial expression was still as indifferent as ever.
The sound of the hooves of two ponies echoed through the long halls of Dragon's Bane's castle. While one seemed up and happy, the other set of hooves lagged behind. Twilight, the tired pony, stretched her neck back and a loud set of pops followed. Blooming start giggled at her purple friend as she slowly caught up.
"How can you be so peppy? We just spent hours hunched over looking at that pentagram."
"Oh, I'm used to it. When I was a filly I spent all day in there trying to understand the writing."
"And by the looks of it you succeeded, too bad we don't have years for me to fully understand the dragon's tongue." Twilight followed her yellow friend and soon they arrived at a room, the place they would be staying at while they visited Dragon's Bane. It was Bloom's bedroom, actually, it was one of the only rooms in the castle that could be called a bedroom. Bloom had told Twilight and the others earlier about how basically everyone in Dragon's Bane stayed at the barracks or in houses within the walls. Only the royal family who could use Dragon's Bane had a room for themselves in the castle itself. As she had instructed, her room now had 3 more beds, one for each of her friends while they stayed in the city.
"If you'd like, we could visit the library we have for references." At that moment Twilight's eyes sparkled, as she looked over at Bloom, who was a little freaked out to say the least.
"Oh my Gosh! You have a library!? Why didn't you say so earlier? I LOVE reading!" Twilight carried on into a rant of sorts explaining why books were so important while hugging Bloom, who was sweating nervously.
"Could ya'll keep it down?" Groaned an orange pony from one of the extra beds. Both unicorns looked over at Applejack who was slumped over her bed, with barely the strength to talk.
"A-Are you alright Applejack?" Twilight asked a little hesitantly. She moved closer to her friend who was face down on the mattress.
"Eyup...I told Silver to walk me through one of the training routines for the soldiers. I wanted to prove I had was worth a spot that army of his while we stayed. It was my mistake to tell him not to take it easy on me cause I was used to physical labor." Bloom laughed nervously, had she known this was happening earlier, she would have intervened, no pony has ever fully coped with Silver's "training program" on the first day.
"Oh...that stallion just doesn't know the meaning of refrain." The yellow unicorn said as she gazed over at Twilight trying to comfort the earth pony in her distress of aches and pains that were already starting to set in.
Rainbowdash flew quickly down a hall way. She appeared panicked as she looked around the long narrow corridor. Finally, she came to a fork in the halls.
"Oh, which way should I go?" She asked herself as she looked back and forth between both paths. She had been in this predicament dozens of times already. Ever since she flew off after Twilight and Bloom started working on the Dragon's Bane she had been flying endlessly. Somehow she was sure she had already been down this hall, but they all look the same, no noticeable differences anywhere to be found.
"Umm, maybe this...way?" She said softly as she began to doubt her choice. She shook her head and recomposed herself as she made a choice and flew by as fast as she could. Again she went down a corridor that was long and with twists and turns. Usually she could navigate pretty well, but all the sharp turns of the hall was disorienting, she couldn't even tell where north or south was anymore. As her wings grew more and more tired, she began to slow down again. She had already walked when her stamina gave out earlier, and this was frustrating her even more. Ahead of her, one of the walls moved and slide open like a door, she was flying so fast at the moment she didn't have time to react and crashed head first into it.
"See? I told you I'd find the way just fine."
"Yeah, but you led us into 3 dead ends." Silver and Spike walked out from the newly made door. The walls shut once more and there was Rainbowdash, suspended in midair for a second before finally falling down. Spike looked over at his friend and laughed.
"Rainbowdash, are y- are you alright?" He asked between his laughing fit. The blue pegasus shook her head and stood up.
"What the hay? Where did you guys come from?!" She asked, irritation showing on her face.
"I just went to pick up Spike from the wagon, we used a secret passage to get inside without anyone seeing him." Rainbowdash rubbed her head and looked over at Silver who she was expecting to laugh at her just like Spike.
"Well? Aren't you gonna laugh?" She asked. Silver raised an eyebrow and replied.
"Why would I laugh? Come now everypony...and dragon. Now that we're in the halls of the castle I know the way for certain." Silver went began to walk and Spike followed. For some reason, Rainbowdash was more irritated at Silver for not laughing than she would have been had her at least have smirked. His entire presence just made her angry, but she was lost, and had no choice but to follow.
"...AND THEN we sparred. Can you believe it?! After all that work out, we were finally got the "meat" of the training he said." Ranted out Applejack from her bed as Twilight and Bloom sat listening. Bloom had heard how brutal Silver's trainings were, but she didn't really know they were that intense, its no wonder she never sees new recruits until a week or so in.
"That seems a little harsh AJ, are you sure Silver said it was the intermediate training?" Asked a nervous sweating Twilight. Applejack nodded and slumped back down to rest her neck. Bloom giggled slightly and stood up to open a window. The wind rushed in and blew her mane back. She stared out to the moon which was starting to come out.
"I noticed the moon doesn't have that shadow of a mare anymore." Bloom said from as she continued to stare out into the night sky.
"Didn't I tell you? The mare in the moon was Nightmaremoon, whom we turned back into Princess Luna." Twilight said as she walked over to Bloom.
"Oh, so it was Princess Luna? I guess that explains why news of her return came around the same time the shadow disappeared. I'm quite envious of you Twilight, you have been able to do so many things in your life. Fighting Nightmaremoon, The Spirit of Chaos, and even King Sombra. And here I am, not able to do the only thing I am suppose to do, and activate Dragon's Bane." Bloom laid her head on her hooves as she leaned on the window frame. Twilight walked close and put her arm around her to get her attention.
"Chin up, we'll figure it out together."
"Yeah sugarcube, Twilight didn't do all of those things on her own. She had all her friends there to help her out." Applejack said from her bed.
"Applejack is right, I could have never done any of the things I did if it wasn't for the friendship I shared with everyone around me." Bloom smiled back at Twilight and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a words, the door slammed open.
"Twilight!" Called out Spike from the door way. The purple unicorn smiled at him and ran over to hug him.
"Oh Spike! I was so worried about you." As they hugged Silver and Rainbowdash walked in, the pegasus glaring at Silver who chose to ignore it.
"Good, so everyone found their way here" Bloom said with a smile. "Though I expected you to get here before us actually."
"Well we would have had Silver not gotten us lost along the way." Spike whined from behind Silver, who felt himself pierced by his words, his face didn't show it, but his ear twitched, and Bloom knew very well what that meant.
"Oh really now? I thought you didn't need a map" Teased Bloom. Silver's ear twitched again, which made her giggle.
"...If there is nothing else, I will retire to the barracks." Said Silver after a small pause. Everyone in the room laughed Bloom nodded to his request. Silver left the room, though he stopped the door from fully closing with his back hoof.
"Oh, and I expect you up by dawn tomorrow Applejack." He said before shutting the door. Applejack sweated slightly.
"You betcha'..." She said softly before falling on her bed again. Spike stood up and looked over at Bloom.
"I thought Silver wasn't capable of making mistakes." Bloom smiled and responded.
"Oh, actually he's pretty clumsy with things. He just works extra hard to give off that image of a strong perfect leader and soldier." Bloom climbed into her bed and continued talking.
"Actually, he became Captain of the guard by chance." Everyone looked shocked.
"How exactly does somepony become a captain by chance?" Bloom giggled once more and began her story.
"The city was attacked by a lone dragon. The previous Captain lead the fight. It was an adult dragon, they are significantly larger than the teenage stage dragons that normally try to breach because of their curiosity. The fight resulted in the captain's death and the squad he led. Silver was stationed at one of the walls towers. He had the bright idea of jumping onto the dragon that flew by. Somehow, he was able to hang on and slowly wear the dragon down by steering it onto cliffs and trees."
"How'd he steer a giant dragon?" Asked Raibowdash who loved action stories like this one. She had completely over looked the fact it was about Silver and was getting excited.
"While on the dragon, he climbed his way to the head and kicked at the eyes and brows, when the dragon flinched, it would turn its flying path on the other direction of the eye that got hurt by reflex. Every time the dragon reached for Silver he would jump around onto the arms and just frustrate the dragon. Silver, if nothing else, is agile, so he was able to steer clear of its grip. Of course, the dragon wasn't standing still as he fought off Silver's pestering and was easier to for him to direct it into cliffs. Over time, the dragon gave itself a concussion. The unicorns of Dragon's Bane used the teleportation spell to teleport it back into the middle of the dragon's territory. So if the captain hadn't perished and Silver wasn't in the tower at that moment, he wouldn't have been able to climb up the ranks and looked up to. He confessed to me later that he had no idea what he was doing while on the dragon's head" She giggled at her last statement.
"So wait, you didn't kill it?" Applejack asked from her bed. "I mean, it's not like I want ya'll to kill dragons or anything, but it sounded like you all were dragon slayers."
"Oh no, we can't kill dragons. Well we can, but we shouldn't. Dragons are a proud and powerful race. it's been a thousand years of them having a grudge against pony kind, but they don't see us as a threat, it's the only reason they haven't started a war against us. If they fought all out against us, we'd all be goners. So all we are allowed to do is send them back into their territory, lest we anger them and start a war we can't win."
"But ya'll have Dragon's Bane."
"Had...unfortunately, I can't activate it, it's a tradition for a descendent of Blazingstar to be the one to use Dragon's Bane to push back the dragons, but I just can't seem to activate it."
"I don't mean to be rude, but why can't some pony else try activating Dragon's Bane?" Raibowdash asked, looking a little puzzled.
"Because no pony else knows how. All the star decedents usually activate Dragon's Bane instinctively, I was supposed to do the same, but I can't seem to do it."
"But it's our job to help you do so." Twilight added. "You needn't worry Bloom, we'll figure it out somehow." She said with a smile.
"I just hope we're not attacked by a swarm mean while, we wouldn't be able to stand a massive attack." Bloom said a little worried.
"Ya'll just need to concentrate on finding a solution, Rainbow and I will help Silver if it comes to that." Bloom felt a little reassure by Applejack. All the while, Spike looked a little gloomy. Being a dragon meant he couldn't help out.
It took a while for everypony to calm down and finally go to sleep. Spike, who was laying next to Twilight, sat up and looked out the open window. The moon reflected in his cat like eyes. He stood and walked over to it. Leaning on his elbows, he glanced around to make sure there wasn't anyone around to see him from the window. Since Silver had given the order to have less guards out, Spike could barely see any pony making rounds. He did manage to see Silver out, he was in the sparring field, praticing his moves no less.
"Is this what Bloom said about having to work extra hard?" Spike said as he saw Silver trip during one of his kicks. He got back up and began again. No doubt he was one for those ponies that wouldn't just stop when he gets something right, but rather when he can't get it wrong.
"When does he find the time to sleep?" It was then he remember what Silver said about his growth spurts. Spike around at himself and looked a little gloomy. "I-I can't grow anymore. If I do I won't be able to hide." He made up his mind. He was to stay awake all night for as long as he could, weeks if he had to. Just long enough for Twilight and Bloom to figure out how to activate Dragon's Bane. Spike spread his wings and flew out, he was careful not to let his shadow get anywhere close to any of the guards. He softly landed in the sparring arena where Silver was practicing.
"What are you doing here?" Silver asked without looking over. He had heard something land and made out that it was Spike.
"I don't want to go to sleep, so I won't grow again." Silver stopped and decided to look over at this dragon.
"That's nice and all, but why are you here specifically? You'll be caught if you're not careful, it'll be counterproductive to be out in plain view.
"I..was wondering if I could train along with you." Spike said a little hesitantly. Silver raised and eye brow to this. He gave it some thought. Spike dug at the ground with his foot as he waited for a response.
"Alright. If I'm with you, I can make sure you're not caught and I'll have a sparring partner, one that can balance on two legs." Spike's face brightened up and he ran over to Silver who gestured him to come over.
"Let's get started shall we?"
Dawn began to come, the sun slowly rose over the cold black night and the Bloom's window began to peer light into her room. Spike, who had spent all night sparring with Silver slowly and wearily flew into the window. He gently made his way to the bed he and Twilight were sharing. The dragon barely had time to get under the covers when a loud bell rung through our Dragon's Bane. The ringing abruptly awoke Twilight and her friends, who all proceeded to fall out of their beds.
"In Celestia's name...What was that?" Rainbowdash asked slowly as she stood up and saw everyone do the same. Bloom, on the other hoof, had managed to stay in bed. She sat up and stretched her arms out giving off a cute yawn.
"Oh, good morning everypony, I see the bell woke you all." Everyone sweated at how Bloom reacted to the same situation they had gone through, it was obvious this was a normal day for her. Everyone, wide awake now, proceed to make their beds and get on with their day. Silver had come by to get Applejack and Rainbowdash, who wanted to take part of his "training routine." As they all left to the mess hall, Twilight noticed Spike's weary eyes.
"Are you alright Spike? You seem really tired."
"Oh...it's nothing Twilight, just couldn't sleep last night is all." Under his breath he muttered to himself. "Yeah, Silver made sure to slap me awake if I so much as dozed off a little lastnight..." Spike followed the group through the corridors, as Silver had instructed the day before, Spike would be free to roam through the secret passages of the castle to his leisure, it would give him something to do while everyone carried on their business.
"So where is this library?" Twilight asked from behind Bloom who was leading them to the mess hall.
"It's on the 3rd floor, if you want to hurry ahead, you can take this corridor here, take it two floors down, take a left, go straight, another staircase up and then a right. After you hit a dead end you-"
"I think I'm good..." The purple unicorn interrupted. Bloom gave her a smile and they carried on. They left the castle and entered a long building, as Twilight had guessed, it was where they get some breakfast. They got in line for the food and instantly the soldiers took notice of the duo.
"Oh Miss Bloom, you can go on ahead of me if you'd like."
"Me too, I can wait awhile longer." Another one said. Instantly Bloom began to retreat as they all began to pull her and Twilight towards the front. They proceeded to gather their breakfast and quickly made their way back out. It was very lucky that both of them were unicorns, had it been different they would have had no choice but to stay in the mess hall to eat since carrying the strays would be a nightmare, worse even if one of them happened to drop it.
"I'm sorry Twilight, this happens every day."
"Don't like when they do you favors?"
"I found it nice the first few times, but now I feel a little awkward when they do. I do not like to have ponies drench me with special treatment, especially when I cannot do the only thing I should be good for." Twilight looked at how Bloom's expression quickly changed. It was strange to see just how quick Bloom's mode changed from happy to sad and vice versa. She shrugged it off and they walked together to the library where they would eat and study up.
Silver walked back and forth in front of ponies who were lined up. He was giving his morning lecture. Rainbowdash, who was in the rows, yawned from how much Silver was talking.
"Ranbowdash, it seems I am boring you. How about we put your hooves to work then?" Silver said as he walked by the blue pegasus, who immediately was about to retort but had a hoof stop her from talking.
"Silver, she didn't mean nun' by it." Applejack spoke up trying to get her friend out of the deep trouble she herself had dug into just the day before.
"Ah Applejack, it seems you wish to join your friend. Now the both of you shall start with a simple warm up. How about you go to the field and run 20 laps around Dragon's Bane."
"Now hold up!" Began Rainbowdash. "You're always barking out orders to the rest of us but you don't seem to any work around here yourself, why don't you show us just how much of a big shot your really are?" Everypony gasped as they all heard her speak in disbelief. No pony had ever spoken back to Silver with such arrogance before, they wall sweated as they stood at attention, not wanting to make a peep lest they too be sent into the punishment group.
"Make that 35." Silver said as he began to walk away. "Now everyone, do the usual routine, I am sure you know it by heart. Don't let me catch you slacking off. The rest of the soldiers walked off to do their usual warm up and then their practice. Rainbowdash whipped her tail as she saw how obediently the others did as Silver had asked. It annoyed her even more when she saw Applejack follow Silver out of the walls of Dragon's Bane.
"Wait what?" The pegasus looked confused as Silver walked next to Applejack.
"Hurry along Rainbowdash, as part of your punishment, I'll continue the lecture as I run along side you those 35 laps." Rainbowdash couldn't help but smirk as Silver actually began to live up the all the hype made about him.
From a crack in the castle wall, Spike looked over at the city. He had explored out the secret corridors, but that had soon lost the excitement. He saw how much everyone was at work, and it only made him even more tired. He looked around at the old corridors he was allowed to stretch his legs in while everyone did their thing. He sure wasn't used to this much free time, Twilight certainly made sure of that, working his claw and quill tirelessly every day with her lists and letters. However, it seemed the opposite extreme was no better.
Spike yawned as he walked. He knew that Silver told him to keep from sleeping if he could, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up, it was just the first day and he could already feel his eyelids shut on their own. Just how much more would he grow if he did sleep? As large as the teen dragon since he was technically at that age, or as large as when he did on his birthday a few years back. It was hard to tell. His train of thought was interrupted by a small squeak. The purple dragon turned to see a rat sniffing the ground further down the corridor. Spike paused, he got down on all fours and prepared to pounce. His cat like pupil thinned as he jumped forward.
"Twilight slumped her head on the table she and Bloom occupying. She usually liked to read, but Bloom's books had such a strange vocabulary it only made her head hurt. Then a loud thud made the purple unicorn lift her head.
"And here's the second batch." Said Bloom as she placed even more books on the table. Twilight groaned to which the other unicorn giggled.
"Too many books?"
"I never thought I of all ponies would say that, but yes...too many books." Bloom took a seat next to Twilight and opened one herself.
"I've read all of them myself, they all talk of dragons, some were written here from data we collected, but most of it is interpretation. Funny, how no one bothered to write down how to activate Dragon's Bane." Twilight continued to read from where she left off, it was one of the books Bloom had just talked about, one of the city's observations.
"A dragon's diet is carnivorous, with the exception of its youth where it will eat plant life..." Twilight read out loud. "Thank goodness Spike had been a baby dragon so long, he would have a hard time finding food in Ponyville otherwise." It was then she suddenly stood up.
"Spike!" Twilight's loud voice startled Bloom who looked over at her friend.
"I-Is everything alright?"
"Spike hasn't eaten anything since yesterday!" Twilight said as she grabbed the plate he had gotten from the mess hall earlier. "I had been so busy with this that I forgot to feed him. Oh he's probably starving." Twilight quickly ran out and headed to the secret passages everyone had told Spike to stay in. It didn't take long for her to get to the secret entrance along with a plate of food.
"Spike? Spike are you here?" Twilight said as she walked around the corridors filled with dust and cobwebs.
"Twi-Twilight?" Spike said hesitantly as he poked his head from around a corner. The purple unicorn smiled and walked closer.
"Spike! I'm sorry I forgot you hadn't eaten anything, I brought you some food from the mess hall." She said with a smile. Spike come all the way out of hiding and took the plate that she was handing him. With a forced smile he said.
"Why thank you Twilight." They stood at a pause for a second there before Twilight awkwardly spoke.
"Something wrong? Usually you would chow down when you go without eating for only half a day."
"Oh, right, yeah!" Spike opened his mouth and took a bite of the carefully picked vegetation Twilight had gotten for breakfast. It was then Twilight noticed just how sharp his teeth had gotten since last time. She played it off as something he got from a growth spurt. Spike forced himself to pass down the 'food' he had placed in his mouth. Feeling accomplished Twilight began to turn.
"Well, I got some studying to do, I'll catch up with you later Spike." She turned and trotted off, Spike waving at her. When she was out of sight he spit out what had remained in his mouth and placed the plate down. He walked back to where he was and looked at the rat he had pounced on in shame. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like eating meat was a disgrace to his pony upbringing.
"I don't know what happened." He murmured to himself. When he saw that rat earlier crawl around he suddenly remembered how hungry he was, catching one and taking a bite out of it made him more hungry, before he knew it he was roosting it with his own flame and eating it like it was nothing.
Gasping for air, Rainbowdash slowly walked behind Silver who had slow down enough for her to keep up with him.
"And lastly, I would like to remind you to keep vigilant, for even through there are no immidiate threats, a dragon could begin to wander by at any moment." Silver concluded his morning and turned to see his tired friend who was more than fed up with the sound of his voice, which only urged him to poke at her more. "Any questions?"
"Just...one..." Rainbowdash said as she slumped down to the ground. "How many more laps?..." Silver looks ahead and saw the front gate just a few meters from where they were.
"Once you reach the gates, you'll only need 9 laps around the city." Rainbowdash, already annoyed by the ordeal, just could not stand the tone of indifference he had anymore.
"And why are YOU not tired?"
"Oh please, this is morning routine for me." Silver said as he yawned. He was, however, sleepy from staying up all night with Spike, but the pegasus took the yawn as him looking down on her.
"If you'd just let me use my wings I'd been done by now!" She said as she stood up to face Silver up close. However, he wasn't looking at Rainbowdash, he was more concerned with the orange pony trotting along to where they were.
"Well, it looks like your friend will be done in a few seconds." Applejack jogged passed them and made ti to the gates where she proceeded to fall on the ground catching her breath. "You should take some pointers from her." He said before starting a slow run to where Applejack was. Having had Applejack as her rival for years, this really rubbed her the wrong way.
"Why you, listen here-" However, Rainbowdash was cut by a sudden roar that shook the ground. Everyone remained still as they all gazed up to see a large red dragon fly overhead. Without a moment's hesitation Silver ran in through gates just as the bell rung, setting all the ponies in alarm to the threat lingering over them. Rainbowdash and AJ followed in behind the dark stallion. The sentries around the walls began to load their large crossbows with nets and fired off, trying to catch and center the dragon who had proceeded to set the city ablaze. Through the crack in the wall, Spike watched as the city was terrorized. His hands became sweaty and his pupils thinned. He placed his claws through the crack and pulled it apart, allowing him to fit through. He took flight.
SilverCharger ran through the hectic streets of his home city. The dragon overhead spat fire as it glided by, to it they were nothing more than ants to play with as he pleased. Ponies left and right ran away from the flames. One of them, however, tripped and fell as a nearby wall began to collapse. Silver dashed by and grabbed the little colt by the nape, throwing him on top of him. Silver ran towards whom he identified as his parents and handed him over to them.
"Go now, the guards will handle the situation." He commanded, they did not dispute him and fled. From behind him came Applejack and Ranbowdash.
"What's the plan?" Applejack asked as she looked up at the dragon which was circling the sky above them.
"See the sentries? They will do their best to slow the dragon down, once he becomes immobile the unicorns will use their spell to send it back home." Silver said, his cold voice barely peering over the screams around them.
"What about everyone else?" Rainbowdash asked as she saw the burnings burn around them.
"The other guards shall see to their safety." Silver said as he began to walk forward. He noticed his blue friend stare at the houses and buildings. "Do not worry, the buildings here are made of stone for a reason, they will not burn down quite that easily." He said with a half smile. A guard came running towards them, Applejack noticed it was the same one that Silver had demoted the day they entered the city.
"Captain sir! Near 50 percent of the villagers have made it to the underground safe house." He said as he tried to catch his breath. Silver patted him on the shoulder and dismissed him before turning to his friends.
"I assume you still want to help as part of the army?" He asked
"You betcha!" Applejack exclaimed as Rainbowdash flew quickly around them.
"Enough with the honorary stuff, what should we do?" The blue pegasus was clearly itching to get into the action. Silver nodded to them and began to give his instructions.
"Alright then. Applejack, you shall join the city guard and help get all the villagers to the safe house."
"I'll have it done lickety split." She said before running off over some rubble.
"And you Rainbowdash, join the other pegasi who should be forming rank as we speak, you all will be trying to corral the dragon in the city, if it gets out the havoc it will bring to ponyfolk will be devastating."
"Don't you worry tall, dark and gruesome, if that dragon tries to leave I'll send him flying back with its tail between its legs." She said before dashing off. Silver stood there a moment and looked around, when she saw that he was alone he walked close to a wall and leaned on it. His knees were about to give in. Silver looked to his side and saw his reflection on a broken glass nearby. In that reflection he saw how his eye was hidden away and slowly he raised a hoof to pull the hair away. Truth be told, the day he got the scar, he became terrified of dragon's so much so just thinking about the red dragon rampaging he could feel his knees buckle.
Silver clenched his teeth at how weak he looked, this was definitely a side of him he did not want anyone to know about. The dark stallion shock his head and stood up strong, determination back in his eye, he ran over the flames and into the fight.
Bloom ran to the window as she heard the roars echo over the city, Twilight was close behind and they both gasped as the sight of flames scorching the small buildings down below.
"We have to get to Dragon's Bane." Bloom said as she turned around to grab some books she had on the desk. Twilight's mane was pushed back as the pegasi scouts flew close by the window. They were trying to intercept the red dragon which had gotten bored from the mayhem it caused. The purple unicorn saw how they flew close to the large dragon's wings to throw off the wind currents that were vital for the large reptile to get over the tall walls of the city.
"Do you think you can use it now?" Twilight asked as she joined Bloom in gathering some books that they were readying only moments before.
"I'm not sure, but I've got to try." They got what they could carry and ran out to the chamber from the day before, oblivious to the unicorns, Spike flew by the window down to the city streets. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but when saw that dragon, a strange feeling awoke inside of him. It was different from the herd that he formed part of a few years ago. It was like some dormant instinct within him. He hit the ground with full force, landing on all fours. Not far from where he was, two guards ran to a nearby house. It was in flames and screams could be heard from inside, however the door had a debris in front of it and they couldn't seem to get it out of the way. Spike flapped his wings and flew in through a window and stepped on the burning ground. The heat didn't seem to bother him at all, which didn't surprise him, after all, he had taken a swim in lava before.
"H-Hello?" Spike said hesitantly into the smoke filled house.
"Help! Help us!" Somepony screamed from around the corner. The purple dragon moved some fallen wooden pillars from the way with ease to his surprise. It seems his physical strength had also improved through his growth spurts. He finally made it to where the screams were coming from, however, he wasn't sure of HOW he could help, after all, they would only run from him since he's a dragon. He didn't have ample time to think of a plan so he did what he could instead. With his new acquired strength he cleared the way to a window before finally making some headway to the trapped ponies. With his claw's he broke through the only wall between him and them.
"Oh by Celestia's name, thank you!" The ponies said as they climbed through the hole in the wall, however, they didn't see anypony. All that stood infront of them was a path to an open window, with the wind blowing the window's door back and forth. They didn't question it, they just took the chance to get out. They were greeted by guards who seemed to have been looking for something. Spike watched from up above as the ponies made it out safely. He gave out a sigh of relief, but was quickly brought back to reality by the roar of the dragon. Again, his pupils thinned when his ears heard the loud roar echo around.
Rainbowdash made it to the top of the walls to see somepony give out orders to platoons of pegasi.
"The dragon is getting more and more agitated, it will without a doubt start to get more agressive against us pegasi. We need to be more cautious!" Another pegasus barked from before the pony who seemed in charge.
"You know very well what's at stake if we fail and everyone knew the risks when they signed up. We Cannot allow it to get back out of the city." The chief said as he saw the red dragon breath fire at the squad that were messing with his wings trying to steady him for the sentry bows.
Rainbowdash looked over at the other pegasi fall, their wings too scorched to fly anymore. It was then she began to feel a little queasy at her stomach. She gulped as her wings folded into place, fearing that the same fate would befall her. Applejack, who was on the roof trying to make a path into a house from above, saw the pegasi fall from above her. She looked around and saw rope ponies were using for drying out clothes, without a second thought, she ran for it and used it as a lasso from back home. She quickly started to spin the rope over her head as she took aim, though there was no way she could save all three of the pegasi falling, she could definitely save at least one. She made a quick judgment and threw the rope over to the one pony she was closest to, which was also the one closest to the ground. The lasso made it around the torso of the pony and she pulled on it. Her strength was just enough to make the pony change directions and was now flying towards the orange pony. Applejack caught the pegasi and watch as the other two still fell to their doom.
Seeing her friend perform such feats brought some bravado back to Rainbowdash. She held a valiant expression and raised her wings. The chief behind her took a notice of her just before she took flight. The force behind her first wing thrust pushed ponies back and the cheif looked in awe as Rainbowdash left a rainbow colored trail behind her. She continued to gain speed as she made her way to where the falling pegasi were. Her eyes watered as the wind resistance pushed against her magenta eyes. She extented her hooves out and caught the last two pegasi just before they made contact with the ground and flew them to where Applejack was.
"Woo-wee Rainbowdash, you made it just in time." AJ said as she tended to the pony she had lassoed. Rainbowdash held a look of concern at the scorn wings of the pegasi and asked.
"Think they'll ever fly again?"
"Not too sure, but I betcha' they'll at least be glad they're alive."
Silver ran at full speed towards one of the sentry towers. He planned to man one of the bows and add to the chance of hitting the dragon. As he got close to the door way, the dragon flew over head. As if it knew what he was thinking, it blew fire into the entrance and closed it off. Silver looked around and saw a manual lift soldiers used to get ammo to the top of the wall in a hurry. It had a crate already at the top and an idea popped into his head. Silver ran to the lift and bit the rope that was holding the crate up there. He kept a tight grip on it and kicked the level they used to manually pull the rope. His hoof broke it and the crate fell, carrying Silver all the way up to the top. He let go as he neared the top and stepped onto the wall. His sudden entrance startled some soldiers but Silver walked right up to a cross bow as if nothing had happened.
"Soldier, remind me to add more manual lifts to other parts of the wall." Silver said as he manned the cross bow and took aim. He shot the first net at the dragon who seemed to had eyes on the back of his head. It quickly turned and scorched the net, neutralizing it. The dragon and Silver made eye contact and their gaze didn't break for a good minute.
"Soldier." Silver said with a stoic tone. "Load another net."
Bloom and Twilight made it to the chamber of Dragon's Bane. Both of them looked a little exhausted from running and they dropped their books on the floor. Gasping, they walked over to the pentagram.
"All the 'stars' of my family have always stood at the center when they activate Dragon's Bane." Bloom said as she made her way to the center circle to stand where s many ponies before her had.
"Have you figured out what you need to do?" Twilight said as she used magic to lift a book to her eye level to read some more. She glanced back and forth between the book and the writing on the pentagram.
"No, but I've got to do something..." Bloom said as she closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow and the pentagram lit up in turn. The five altars at each edge of the pentagram seem to shake. Bloom had never noticed this since she always closed her eyes when she struggled to activate Dragon's Bane. Twilight looked in wonder as the whole chamber was illuminated by Bloom's light. The walls shook as something was about to be set into motion, but Bloom's strength gave out and she collapse, dimming pentagram until the light completely faded. Twilight rushed to her friend's side who smashed her hoof on the ground, angry and frustrated with herself.
"Why?..." Blooms asked as her eyes watered. "Why can't I use Dragon's Bane?..." Twilight wasn't sure how to comfort her friend as she saw her breakdown in front of her. She herself didn't know what to do now.
Silver took yet another shot at the dragon who evaded it. Even Silver began to show some frustration as he ordered another reload for his bow.
"This is the last net sir." The soldier next to him said.
"Well I guess I'll have to make it count." The dark stallion said as he took a tight grip on the large cross bow. He squinted and took aim yet again, but hesitated to take a shot, after all, none of the others had worked before, even when the dragon looked in the other direction. It was then Silver noticed a small projectile make its way towards the dragon, but upon a closer look, it wasn't a net. It was...Spike?
Spike flew as fast as he could up towards the red dragon, and though he paled in comparison in terms of size, he had some strange confidence. With a roar of his own, Spike used his claw to trace along the side of the dragon, wounding it slightly. The red dragon groaned out and faced his small opponent. It gasped for air and exhaled a scorching flame that even Spike could barely take. Burned, Spike began to descend a few meters downward, but was caught by Rainbowdash who helped him get stabilized in the air again.
"You ok Spike?" She asked as she saw him shake his head to recompose himself.
"Yeah..." He said as he grabbed his head. "I will be as soon as we stop him." Rainbowdash caught a small glimpse of Spike's eyes. It gave her a weird feeling, but she brushed it off. Spike flew back up and sped by the dragon, again landing a long claw strike as he came by it. What he lacked in fire power he made up in mobility, at least that's what Silver had told him the previous night. The dragon took aim at Spike again but its aim was thrown off when Rainbowdash kicked it on the jaw, just barely missing Spike. The blue pegasus and dragon alternated between landing hits and watching each other's back and the dragon grew more and more frustrated. Gotten fed up, it decided to simply shot flames everywhere around him. Both Rainbowdash and Spike did their best to avoid the flames but they could no longer get close to it to attack.
Silver still kept his aim on the dragon but didn't take the shot. He wasn't sure it would hit and he wouldn't waste it unless there was a 100 percent chance it would hit. Applejack, by this time, had made it to Silver's location.
"We managed to get all the villagers out." Silver didn't break concentration and simply responded with nod. Applejack looked over at the fight and started to wish she too could fly. Silver wanted to take the shot plenty of times over, but he had an itching feeling the dragon would just burn it like before. It was at this moment that he came up with an idea.
"Say." He began. "What's your outlook on stupid plans?" Applejack was a little surprise by the question, but she smiled and responded.
"I think they work more often than ponies give them credit."
Rainbowdash had flown circles around the dragon, but even after the long fight it seemed like they were barely making a dent on it. Caught a little off guard, she come to halt when a wall of flames blocked her path. Before she knew it she was surrounded by fire and her fear of scorched wings grew ever closer. Panicked, she looked around to see if she could find a way out. She saw a small opening and she went for it. Her wings had never carried her so fast before, but just as she went through the opening she came face to face with the dragon who had its mouth open, ready to fire. Rainbowdash froze in both shock and fear. She could see the flame rise up from the dragon's throat and her eyes reflected the bright flames. It was then Spike flew and positioned himself in front of his pegasus friend. He used his own body as a shield to keep the scorching flames off of Rainbowdash. Spike could feel his scales start to break and his eyes squinted in both strain and pain. He himself took a deep breath and shot out a flame of his own. His fire, unlike the dragon's, was green, and it had a different composition. It was somehow able to pierce through the dragon's flame and wounded the dragon from the inside. The red dragon grabbed it's neck and chest as it shook in pain. Spike was unable to fly and fell, Rainbowdash flew down and caught her friend and just in time.
Silver had used RD and Spike as cover to hide the net he fired which was heading straight towards the stunned dragon. As if by some miracle, the dragon regained its composure and slapped the net away with its tail and glanced over at Silver, but to his surprise, Applejack manned the cross bow. Silver was actually on the dragon's tail. He had gotten Applejack to not only shot the net, but him along with it. The moment the dragon had slapped the net, Silver had grabbed on. The dragon was still internally scorned and was oblivious to Silver climbing up his back. He had a knife in his mouth and once he reached the dragon's shoulder blades he jumped and stabbed the knife into the wing. He slid across it and cut a huge hole in the dragon's wing. The dragon shrieked in anguish and fell down along with Silver.
Silver had a blank look on his face, he had not thought his plan all the way through and was falling along with the dragon. Spike, who was in Rainbowdash's arms saw Silver fall along with the dragon and broke free of the pegasus' embrace. He flapped his wings as much as he could and made his way to the free falling stallion. The unicorns who had been in stand by rushed out. They didn't want the dragon to hit the ground so they began to cast their spell. Spike had barely gotten a hold of Silver when the unicorns fired their return spell. It hit the falling dragon but Silver and Spike were caught in it as well. In a flash the all disappeared and the city became silent and still. All stood quiet and shocked, what were they to do now?
Applejack was pushing some fallen debris out of a door way. The door itself was in no better shape. She reached for the knob but couldn't get it open. She sighed and reached for a clipboard nearby. She had been tasked to help form a damage report, but she felt that their time would be better spent actually fixing the place instead of just talking about how bad the place was. The sound of hooves began to echo close by and she turned to see who it was, much to her surprise before her stood a purple unicorn with a clipboard of her own.
"Oh hi Twi." Applejack said out loud, getting her friend's attention.
"Hello Applejack. How are things over here?" The orange pony sighed and responded.
"Not much better. Things ain't exactly an all-time high right now. Say, how's Miss Bloom?" This time it was Twilight's turn to sigh.
"She's hanging there, sure did take the lead in getting things organized since Silver isn't here, but honestly speaking, I don't think leadership is a strong point for her." Applejack finished what she needed to do and the two friends began to walk together down the destroyed city block.
"Any word from Silver?" Applejack asked.
"No, it's been a few days since he and Spike were teleported away by the city's unicorns. I hope they're ok. " Twilight's face showed a deep worry as they walked. There were injured everywhere, most without a home to come to, had to stay in the underground safe house. As she looked overhead she saw a glimpse of Rainbowdash flying towards the clinic, or rather, the large tent we're the injured were being treated. The Two friends looked at each other and agreed to go check it out.
It didn't take long before they arrived, they saw Rainbowdash peek in from a hole in the cloth of the tent.
"What the hay are you doin' girl?" Applejack asked as she walked up behind Rainbowdash.
"Ahhh!" Screamed RD as she flew up high. Noticing who stood behind her she quickly landed.
"Nuthin'. Just, you know, looking inside."
"Well why not just walk in?" Twilight asked, seeing just how odd Rainbowdash was acting. She stepped up to the hole and peek in as well. From the inside of the tent they heard Bloom's voice.
"Now now, it'll be alright, just close your eyes." That instant Applejack and Rainbowdash crept close to peek in as well. Bloom stood between two stretch beds, the pegasi from the day of the attack who got their wings burnt. The sight of their wings made the blue pegasus cringe. Her friends noticed it and began to understand why she didn't want to step in. Bloom closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. A bright yellow light began to engulf the small area and the pegasi's pain began to cease. They slowly extended their bandaged wings. Assistants stepped close and unbandaged the wings revealing featherless wings with bad scarring. As the warm light of Bloom's horn shined on them, they slowly began to heal. Sweat became visible on Bloom's face but she kept on. As if gaining momentum, the wings of the pegasi healed faster. Once the horrible scars disappeared, the produced freshly grown feathers, it only took a few seconds before their wings looked like new. Bloom could feel herself buckle at her knees, but did all she could to keep standing. She wanted to give a strong impression to those around her. With a weak smile she spoke.
"There you are...Like it never happened. Now where's the other one? I believe there were three pegasi who got hurt." The three friends leaned back away from the hole they were peeking through and Rainbowdash had a very relieved expression.
"Wow, Miss Bloom sure is amazing huh?" Applejack said as she became a little excited over what she just saw.
"Yeah, I was so worried that maybe they wouldn't be able to fly again, but I heard that Bloom was gonna try to heal them so I had to come check it out." Rainbowdash said. Twilight decided to peek in again and saw Bloom go to work on the last pegasus with burnt wings. Seeing it from a different angle, She noticed how Bloom's cutie mark began to fade in and out as she healed the scout. She leaned back out and began to think while her friends spoke behind her.
"Hmmm. I wonder." Twilight said to herself.
The sound of hooves smashing against stone echoed through valley of rocks. Silver ran around a corner with a purple dragon on his back. For days he had been running, and it seemed that for days to come he could have to continue running. He turned his head and saw the corner he had just gone around. The large red dragon that had attacked the city wasn't too pleased with how things had turned out and would not rest in its chase. Silver tried to keep a level head as he ran and jumped over obstacles. He had no idea where he was headed, for all he knew there were more dragons around the corner. As doubts began to cloud his mind the dragon would close in, Silver knew he had to lose it now or die.
As he ran, he saw a small crack on the wall large enough for him and Spike to squeeze through. Silver came to a quit halt and turned around. The dragon tried to bite onto him but he jumped to the side, just barely avoiding the razor sharp teeth. The grey stallion then ran underneath the dragon's belly. Not wanting to lose its prey, the dragon jumped and flapped it's wings to see from above, but it's wing was still torn and didn't get it very high. When the dragon looked for the small pony it was no longer there. From inside the wall's crack Silver held Spike, his hoof over his mouth so his breathing would be muffled as the dragon passed by. Silver's heart raced as the dragon's eye peered through the crack. Silver sweat as he feared that his heart beat would give him away, but mare luck was on his side. As he heard the dragon walk away Silver let go of his held in breath.
He looked down at the purple dragon he held and looked slightly annoyed. Why was he even trying to hide him? Surely a dragon wouldn't be in danger in dragon's territory. He couldn't shake the feeling that Spike himself might be a threat to him, but he shook his head and pushed those thoughts away. He gently placed Spike down and took a better look at his surroundings. He was in a large room of sorts, but most of which was in ruins and couldn't tell what it was for. A star spider crawled down from webbing as he walked around. He looked up and saw a large web of them. He made a note to stay quiet so not to disturb them since though mostly docile, had deadly venom. He continued to look around and saw what seemed like stairs. Some pony had built an elevated altar of sorts which he found rather strange.
"Huh..." He began to talk to himself. "Who or what would build this. Clearly not the dragons, the stairs are much too small. It seems to have traces of Mesopotamian architecture" This raised more questions than answers. No scout had ventured this far into the dragon's territory to find this, he wished that he had paid more attention when he was outside to see what it looked like, but it was hard to enjoy your surroundings when chased by a 30 foot tall fire breathing reptile.
"Uhhhh." Silver heard from where he had left Spike. The purple dragon slowly sat up and grabbed his head. "Where am I?"
"A temple of sorts." Silver said as he made his way back to Spike and helped him to his feet.
"A temple?" Spike asked, still woozy from the trip, he must have gotten motion sick while he was unconscious and riding on Silver's back.
"Yes, a temple in the midst of the dragon's territory, why or how it's here I don't know." Spike looked around the temple and couldn't help but feel strange about his surroundings.
"How did we even get here?"
"We must have gotten caught in the warping spell the unicorns used on the red dragon when they teleported it here." Silver said as he walked back to the steps, his hooves echoing in the dark room making Spike anxious as he followed close behind.
The two spent a small while looking through the rubble of the temple, whatever it was for, it couldn't fulfill its purpose now. No matter how he looked at it, Silver just couldn't understand why this place existed in the first place. The architecture dates back to early buildings neo gothic in the surroundings of the room, but the temple itself looked more Aztec than anything. The only possible explanation is that the building was built over the temple to shield it from the dragons, but what pony would want to shield rubble from dragons that would sooner become docile than bother with architecture. Now that he thought about it, the style looked awfully similar to the design of the castle of the two sisters. Silver shook the thought out of his head as he sat and took a break. He looked over to his dragon companion to see how he was doing, but much to his surprise, is entire half of the room was clean and tidy.
"Spike….what are you doing?..." Silver asked as he began to sweat.
"Oh you know, tidying up a little." The dragon responded as he lifted a pillar back into place, or rather where Spike presumed was its place. Silver watched in awe as Spike spat some green flames at metal rods to seal them together again and placing them on top the pillar. It didn't take long before the entire place seemed to have been brought back to life. Spike finished by making a bon fire for them to rest at.
"That was quite…efficient." Silver said as he sat down next to the flames.
"I do a lot of work back in Ponyville, with this new body I can get more stuff done." Silver took another look at his companion and noticed that his ears had gotten ever so slightly larger. It must have been from the fast nap he took when he was carried him here. His growing hadn't seemed to have come to halt at all. The dark stallion sighed and laid down on the dirt. Well, it doesn't matter now if he grows or not, he's a dragon in dragon's territory. He thought as sleep slowly crept up on him.
Spike noticed Silver starting to fall asleep and smiled to himself. Despite getting off on the wrong hoof, they seem to be getting along just fine now. He stood and went outside to take a look around; surely he could do some scouting without causing some trouble right?
The purple dragon stepped outside rather hesitantly. Seeing that it was alright, he took a deep breath and stretched his arms and wings out, after the 'incident' earlier, he needed this peace and quiet. Night was beginning to set in and Spike could only imagine Luna raising the moon back in Canterlot. She governed the night, was there a chance that she could see him right now? He shook the thought out of his head and took flight. No matter how many times he takes to the sky, it still all feels like a dream to him. To think that being a dragon was so much fun was mind boggling since the only life he ever knew was being 'Spike, the number one assistant'.
Twilight and her friends all entered their bedroom slowly, it had been quite a long day, especially for Bloom who was being helped getting to her bed by Applejack.
"So when are we gonna hit the dragon territory and rescue Silver and Spike?" Rainbowdash asked as she flew up and landed on her bed nonchalantly.
"We can't." Began Bloom as she made it to her bed. "Silver made it a rule that no pony was allowed into the territory that wasn't a scout, and most of ours are down because of the attack.
"So you expect us to just sit here while they survive on their own in a land filled with dangerous dragons?" Bloom looked down as Rainbowdash asked. She herself was considering going in, but Silver had never put down rules if they weren't absolutely necessary. She sat there, being torn between what her head and heart were telling her to do.
"That's quite enough Rainbow." Twilight said from the window as she gazed up at the moon. "We all want to go rescue them, but we have duties here. We should at least fix up Dragon's Bane before treading in the dragon's territory…" Twilight gulped down. "…in case we don't make it back."
The room fell silent as they all began to realize what was truly at steak.
"What about the Princess? Can't we just get her highness to come help? This IS getting a little out of hoof if you catch my drift." Applejack said, breaking the eerie silence.
"I wish I could, but without Spike we would have to go back and tell her ourselves, and we can't just leave the city like this." Twilight said before turning to look at the moon again. He wondered if maybe Spike was looking up at it as well.
"Oh Spike, I hope you're ok."
Spike closed his eyes as the cool wind brushed against his face. His wings were spread in a smooth glide as he took in the night. He now knew why Rainbowdash rarely touched the ground; this feeling of freedom was like no other he had ever experienced. Before he realized, his glide had gotten him near the ground and was now heading straight into a dense forest. Spike opened his eyes just in time to see and quickly freaked out. He fluttered up and down, dodging the branches as best he could, but his foot got stuck on a tree, knocking him out of balance and stumbling into another large branch before falling to the ground in a loud thud. The purple dragon grabbed his head as he stood up.
"Ouch….Rainbowdash makes it look so easy…" As he stood he had a strange sensation crawl up his spine. As he moved his hand from his face, his pupils thinned more cat-like than normal again. He turned and saw a very tall mountain close by, with thick black clouds covering the tip. He quickly forgot about the pain he was feeling and took flight coming higher up towards the black smoke. He could feel the chills running across his scales get stronger as he got closer. As time went on, he slowly got control of himself again and stopped in midair to shake his head.
"Wha-what came over me?..." He said as tried to recompose himself. By this time however, he was already deep into the black clouds. He didn't actually have any idea of where he was but didn't want to just fly down in fear he would hit something again. As he moved slowly across the black veil he felt those chills again, it was almost like a radar, guiding him further and further into the black abyss of smoke. But a sudden feeling of déjà vu spread as he soon felt a warm wave of heat pass over him. The smoke began to clear as he saw flowing lava run down the pit that sat on the top of the mountain he now knew to be a volcano. Spike slowly flew down to stone flooring to gaze into the lava flowing like a stream.
"That's odd…lava shouldn't flow like this, it's almost like….a river." The dragon took to the air and began to follow the stream down a tunnel. The strange sense that he had been here before would not leave his mind as he flew over the lava, but while he was busy thinking to himself, he did not notice a large figure creep up behind him. The tunnel shook as a loud roar echoed through, Spike quickly turned to see a very large dragon flying towards him. Acting out of fright, he just places his hands over his head as he expected the worst, but to his surprise the dragon simply flew over him. Spike took a minute to think and hesitantly followed the same path as the dragon that past him. He was soon greeted by a sight to behold, a large towering structure that seemed to work as both a pillar to hold the cave ceiling up and as homes for the thousands of dragons that were now flying around. The lava stream seemed to come to an end into a pond of sorts as dragons and their young played on the solid surface that served as flooring. Spike couldn't help but me astonished by the scene, it was almost like dragon heaven. The heat clearly not bothering anyone here, but rather played in the molten magma like if it was water. He was no stranger to this, as it was something he remembered doing back in the herd he was part of for half a day.
Another loud roar echoed across the sanctuary which startled Spike once more. He fell into the lava and was slowly pulled up stream to the playing infants. Spike poked his head out of the lava to gather his bearings, but was quickly pulled out of the lava by a large claw.
"Aren't you a little old to be playing in the lava with children?" A large dragon said as it carried Spike out of the lava, he quickly looked at the large dragon that had 'rescued' him. It had a long neck, with green and orange scales, not the most blending of colors; it gently put spike down and waited for a response.
"Oh…uh thank. I just fell into the lava after I-"Another roar was heard and Spike covered his ears until it passed. The green dragon laughed.
"Not from around here are you? Names Ralik and you are?"
"Uh, Spike." The Purple dragon said hesitantly, to which Ralik busted into laughter.
"With a name like that there's no way you're from here." Ralik said covering his face and looking away. Spike was flustered as he watched his new acquaintance try to compose himself.
"Where are you from mate?"
"Ponyville, well, I was hatched in Canterlot, but I've been living in Ponyville for like ever now."
"You LIVE with the Equines?" Ralik asked, almost shocked. "But they usually attack dragon kind on sight, how did you manage to survive for so long?" Spike held in a laugh as he imagined such a large dragon afraid of his pony friends.
"You say it like if they hunt dragons." Spike said while slightly snickering.
"But they do! Rumors go around about how dragons that get too close to them will be suddenly bombarded by arrows, and that once they are down, they wake up back in our territory." Ralik come close to whisper in Spike's ear. "If you ask me, they probe them before bringing them back. They might even….place weird magic stuff into their brains!" Ralik finished in a loud shout. All the surrounding young dragons looked at them for a moment before one of the little youngling come close to them.
"Ral, are you talking about the Equines?..."To which Ralik responded with a nod. At once all the young dragons screamed and ran away, no doubt to their parents.
"Spike my friend let me introduce my younger brother here, Vince." Ralik said as the dragon just a little smaller than Spike grabbed onto his brother's leg. He wore them same color scheme as Ralik and slowly looked at him as his fright left him.
"It's nice to meet you." Vince said as he extended a claw to greet Spike, who took into his own to shake hands. As if on cue, Spike's stomach growled loudly. A little embarrassed, he blushed slightly as his new friends looked at him then smiled. It wasn't long before the brothers took him into their home to share a meal, and Celestia knows he needs one, it had been a few days since arriving at the dragon territory and he had not eaten anything. He sat at a stone tabled while Ralik cooked on what he presumed to be a stove powered by the other dragon's flames breaths. The godly scent of meat clogged his nostrils and Spike fell into complete bliss. It only took a few minutes before the meal was served and the brother's sat along with him. They commenced to eat, Spike chowing down like never before. Vince laughed at how Spike was eating before mimicking and doing the same. Ralik didn't notice them eating so rapidly, so when he reached for seconds, there was nothing left for him. Spike and Vince sat at the table with filled stomachs, leaving Ralik with a rather annoyed look. He was about to say something but was suddenly cut off by yet another loud roar. Only Spike reacted to it again, hiding under the table until it passed.
"Hehe, Spike is a scaredy dragon." Vince teased.
"How can you guys stand such a loud screech?" The purple dragon asked as he slowly got out from underneath.
"Oh don't pay them no attention; they'll be gone in a few days. It's just the weekly arena fights going on, the Sage's son returned a few hours ago, so they're all going at it."
"Going at it?"
"Ya, you know, fighting? It's all in good fun; you must have lost of experience fighting if you're from the Equine territory."
"The 'territory' is called Equestria." Spike corrected, getting tired of having his home and his friends referred to 'Equines.'
"Ye don't say…well, what say we go doing to the arena? You could prowl with some of them, I mean sure you might be small, but you must be tough." Vince got up and started jumping around at the thought. To this little dragon, like all younglings, love the idea of fights.
"Umm…I'd rather not thanks."
"None sense!" Ralik said, dragging Spike as he began to make way to the arena, Vince not far behind, still jumping and shouting 'arena' over and over.
Against his better judgment, Spike followed his friends to this arena, the roars getting louder and louder as they got close. It wasn't long before they saw a crowd of dragons gathered. The trio squeezed between them and after a while they got to the front where they witnessed a fight between two grown dragons. It was quite the rough play, as one slammed another into the ground. Spike's face lost some color as he saw one of the contestants with a tattered wing. There was no doubt about it; the large red dragon fighting was the very same dragon that had chased Silver and him for days.
"That there is Xancus, the Sage's son. Don't know what happened to his wing though; bet it was some fight he got into." Spike gulped as he witnessed the fight.
"I uh, have to get going, my friend could be worried about me and there's so much I have to do before-"Spike however, was interrupted by a loud roar which came from an amplifier, signaling the end of the fight.
"Another falls to my strength! Is there no one stronger!?" Xancus asked out, his opponent carried away by other dragons. Ralik picked Spike up by the arm and screamed out.
"This dragon here is from the Equine territory, uh, I mean Equestria! Bet he can give you a run for yer money!" As the words left his mouth the loud crowd around them became dead silent. Whispers arouse.
"From the equines?..."
"He MUST be strong…"
Xancus took a good look at Spike and quickly recognized him.
"YOU! We have some unfinished business! You and your little buddies tore up my wing!" After his little outburst, even more whispers.
"He tore Xancus' wing?..."
"He really must be strong then…"
Spike couldn't help but feel like he got into a horrible situation to where there was no turning back. The crowd cheered once more as Spike somehow ended up on the arena, Xancus on the opposing end. Ralik who had walked to the starting spot with him said.
"Eh, don't worry, I'm sure you can put up a good fight." Spike who was sweating bullets stood still, his comment not reassuring in the slightest.
Another roar echoed and Xancus charged at Spike. Scared, the purple dragon took to the sky, injured, Xancus couldn't get to him from there. The red dragon took this as a gesture of ridicule since he could not fly, angry, he took a deep breath and sent out a very large fire ball in a thick crimson flame. Spike did his best to evade it, but he faced with a barrage of fire balls. He innately got hit by one of them, sending him flying down. Again the red dragon charged at him, and tried to strike with his right claw. Spike rolled and evaded the strike. Being so close, he returned fire, his green flames making contact with the dragon's eyes and burning him. The crowd whispers amongst themselves.
"A green flame?..."
"But we haven't seen a green flame in ages…"
Xancus was staggered as he tried to regain sight. The purple dragon took flight once more and struck at Xancus with his claws as he circled around him. The red dragon tried to fight back, but his vision had not returned quite yet. Again and again Spike strikes at his opponent, but it didn't seem to do anything.
"Drat, it's not working." Spike said to himself as he landed a few feet away from Xancus. "It's just light last time, nothing I do does anything to him." By this time Xancus had recovered and he looked over at him.
"Grrr, you'll pay for that!" Spike readied his claws, by wasn't sure what he was going to do with them. Again Xancus striked down at him with his heavy hand only to have Spike fly over his shoulder. But as his flew over the red dragon, Spike was suddenly hit by a long spiked tail, sending him flying back only to be caught by Xancus who proceeded to try to crush him in his hands. Xancus began to laugh.
"Not so tough now are ya punk?!" The red dragon said as he continued to laugh. Spike could feel his bones beginning to crack under the intense pressure. When his slightly opened one eye and saw his opponent laughing. His jaw barely about to move, he opened his mouth and spit out another small flame into Xancus mouth, burning him from the inside again. The red dragon immediately let go and faced away as he held his neck.
He began to cough quite loudly as he hit the floor, trying to catch his breath, Xancus did the same but for a completely different reason. He slowly stood up and held his left arm as he tried to ready himself for what was coming up, but the signal roared and ended the fight. Spike's eyes opened wide as he looked around. He hadn't noticed since he was preoccupied with the fight, but the crowd was roaring in excitement, chanting his name over and over.
"I..I won?" Ralik immediately ran up to him and hugged him.
"You won you won! I can't believe you won!" He said as he held Spike high in the air.
"How did I win?!" Spike asked out loudly.
"The winner is decided by either a forfeit…or by having one dragon downed for 15 seconds…" Spike heard from nearby. He turned to a very large dragon walk up to him and Ralik. "Since you were standing while Xancus here was on the ground trying to recover from your hit for 15 seconds you won."
The dragons around became very silent as he spoke in a rather soothing voice.
"My name is Casalisk, the only sage of Dracopia and Xancus' father."
Spike wiggled around as he sat at a table with Xancus, the dragon he just defeated in a dual. The dragon had an annoyed look on his face as his leaned on his elbow. The difference in size was more than apparent. Xancus continued to look away as they sat in silence for what seemed like a decade.
"So sorry to keep you waiting, I had something to discuss with another...creature." Casalisk said as he walked back into the library he had brought Spike to. The sage was quite different than the other dragons, for one he was dressed in a sort of robe; none of the other dragons wore any clothing. Like his son, he was red, with black spikes all around him. Definitely had the appearance of someone that could tear you apart in an instant, yet his voice was much too gentle.
"It's no problem…" Spike said softly.
"Speak louder!" Xancus said pounding his fist on the table, startling Spike. "I will not have the dragon that bested me act so weak."
"Yes S-sir!" Spike said sitting up straight. To which Casalisk laughed.
"Ohoho, both of you calm down. I brought you here just for a quick chat, that's all." The sage said as he sat down at the table.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?..."
"Well for one I want to congratulate you on your victory." To this Xancus scuffed and looked away. "And I wanted to ask you about your flame."
"My fire breathing?"
"Yes." Casalisk snapped his claws and at once another dragon come. "Fetch me the old book of flames please." The dragon, who Spike recognized as a female now, did as she was instructed, looking in a nearby bookshelf for the book. It didn't take long before she found it and brought it over, quickly glancing at Spike, sending him a soft smile as she set down the book close to the sage.
"A dragon's flame is elemental, while they all hold the ability to 'burn', they do so in different ways." Casalisk began to say. "A crimson flame like my son's, is an intense fire that will scorch over everything."
"But doesn't all fire do that?" Spike asked, to which Xancus responded by standing and slamming his hands on the table.
"No! A crimson flame doesn't just burn, it its equivalent as the molting fire of the sun."
"Right, my son's flame is a rare one, the fire is so strong it will not just consume what it touches, but will continue to burn even if there is nothing to feed the flame. Likewise, there is a blue flame. It also 'burns' but it does so by freezing what it touches. The nerves perceive the frost that eats away at the touch as a burn since it gives an instant frostbite." Casalisk said as he put the book down.
"However, a green flame is that of the wind element, one that we have not had here in Dracopia in a very long time. That is why I brought you here, I would like to examine your flame and how it works so we may see develop our young to be born with it."
"You can make a dragon be born with a certain flame?" Spike asked reluctant to comprehend how that would work.
"Why yes, it all depends on the how egg is hatched, a dragon egg in constant cold, will either kill it or give it a blue flame for example." Spike cringed at the thought of taking a gamble like that just to get a baby with a blue flame.
"So what would you have me do?...fight Xancus?" Spike asked as he glanced over at his 'friend'.
"As much as I would enjoy a rematch and crushing your bones, we aren't allowed to fight for a week." Xancus said as he sat back down.
"A week?"
"Are you not familiar with the dragon code? I suppose there's no need for it in a land of Equines. One of the many rules we follow is that when two dragons duel, they must wait a week before having a rematch, allowing for rest and recovery." Casalisk said as Spike looked down at his claws. He then spat out a flame and took out his hand made dragon code card. To which both of the dragons were amazed.
"What? How did you do that?!" Xancus asked quite loudly. Spike looked down at his card and said.
"Well, I got a note card from out of one of Twilight's drawer and-"
"No you idiot, how did you make it appear out of…" Xancus began to trail off as his father finished for him.
"Thin air?" Casalisk chuckled. "This is the power of the flame of wind." The sage stood up and began to make his way out. "Xancus, I would like you to help teach our guest here how to use flames."
"…Yes father." Xancus responded before taking hold of Spike by the head and dragged him away. The large red dragon walked rather in silence as Spike was still being dragged. They took some rather complex turns around the structure they were in, all made out of stone. Very similar to the temple back where Silver was at. Spike began to think about his old friend and how he might be doing all alone, sure Silver can take care of himself, but what's to say he doesn't go out searching for his dragon friend only to get attack by a dragon, then again, dragons think Ponies as some sort of boogiemen, so the most probable thing that would happen is they just run away.
"Say Xancus…" Spike began.
"What is it?"
"Why did you attack Dragon's Bane?"
"Is that the city where the Equines live? Fitting name. I attacked because they are the strongest opponents around, and no dragon has beaten them yet. I want to be the one to defeat them and be crowned with the title of the strongest dragon. Nothing more to it." Spike wasn't sure how to feel about having such powerful dragons think that ponies all the great and powerful being of the universe, but he couldn't deny it was somewhat true, with the Princesses and all.
"Not to mention I have some unfinished business with the dark Equine with the missing eye."
"Silver?"
"That his name?" Xancus said coming to a halt and bringing Spike up to eye level.
"Yeah, his full name is Silver Charger, he's the leader of the 'Equines' at Dragon's Bane." Spike said.
"Amazing, he is truly worthy of being my rival in battle." Xancus said as he threw Spike into the air in his excitement.
"Anyway, we're here. Now come out and so we can get this over with." Spike slowly tried to get to his feet, as he looked up the dragoness from earlier held a claw out for him. He blushed slightly and took hold of it. She helped him up and gave him something.
"Here." She said as she returned the hand-made dragon code card he had pulled from earlier.
"Uh, thanks." Spike said before taking the card and blowing some flame onto it, making it vanish into thin air. The dragoness looked with astonished eyes and then giggled before jogging away. Spike started into space as his mind drifted far away, but he was quickly brought back to reality when a stone hit his head.
"Hey! I said come here, we don't have all day." Xancus said as began throwing another stone up and down, warning Spike to hurry. The purple dragon did as he was told and ran out into the field where his 'instructor' was waiting.
Twilight stretched her hooves out as the morning began to rise. As she sat up on her bed she noticed Rainbowdash and Applejack weren't in the room like always. They have morning practice and duties as new soldiers of Dragon's Bane. Bloom who was also starting to wake up yawned cutely nearby.
"Oh good morning Twilight." She said with her mane in a complete mess.
"Tough night lastnight?"
"Yeah." Bloom said as she stretched and got out of bed. "I don't think I went to sleep until around 3 in the morning." Twilight did the same, soon the two unicorns were up and about. They went on with their usual activities: managing the repairs, making visits to the wounded, and continue their study on Dragon's Bane, though it was mostly for Twilight since Bloom knew most of it by heart.
As they finished their morning routine they passed by the courtyard on their way back to the library, they could hear the soldiers hard at work trying to balance helping with repairs and their own training.
"Steady now…that's it…" Twilight heard her dear friend say in the distance. Applejack was helping restore some of the buildings that had been damaged in the attack, her experience in repairs were unmatched back in Ponyville, mostly on Rainbowdash's account. Twilight couldn't help but smile seeing how natural it all felt, it was almost like she was back home.
"You're friend sure is good at repairs." Bloom said, knocking Twilight back into reality.
"Oh yeah, she does a lot of farm raising back in Ponyville with just her family. Something like this is nothing more than normal routine."
"And why is that? Does she have a very large farm and puts up new buildings all the time?"
"Well…it's usually building up farms that have been knocked down…" Bloom giggled and continued to walk back to the library that had become almost like their own little hidden away spot. As soon as they opened the door they were greeted by stacks and stacks of books they had taken down from the shelves. It was almost like passing through a maze until they reached their 'sanctuary'. It was the table where they had sat to read, but with so many candles it looked like a sort of altar. It was almost comical to see them as they were now, just sitting and readying in complete and total silence as the light the candles illuminated would flicker as a soft wind would pass every so often. Twilight would change position as she continued to reach and at one point even read upside down, her head the ground as her legs dangled on the chair she had been sitting on, the book being lifted by magic so she could keep readying. This could easily be one of the most enjoyable assignments for her Celestia had ever given her, except that the fate of the whole city still hung on their shoulders, but what else is new?
"Finding everything ok?" Bloom asked as she took a small break from readying and looked down at Twilight who was hanging from her seat.
"Yeah, for the most part. I'm just really wondering why some of the recorded dragon attacks seem to be with the same dragon." Twilight says as she started to sit back up on her chair. "I mean there are like 3 or 4 that just seem to stumble upon Dragon's Bane, all the others seem to be the same red dragon attack on purpose. It's almost like it has a grudge against you guys."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it does, we've had to repel them thousands of times over the last century, I'm sure they don't like that."
"What about the other dragon heard that migrates over Equestria, how did they get past you guys?"
"That heard didn't originate from here, they came from the further South, over the wild west part of Equestria. It's odd though, those dragons don't seem to care much about pony kind, so Silver said it was best to just stay here. He said that if there was trouble, Celestia would contact us."
"I see. Has Silver always made the decisions?"
"For the most part…" Bloom said looking up at the ceiling. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like he doesn't run them by me first, but he usually knows best. During one of the dragon attacks when I was a filly, a very large portion of the castle was badly damaged. When we were doing repairs we underestimated how sturdy it was and my parents didn't make it."
"I am so sorry to hear about that."
"It's alright, Silver was in the accident too and even though he tried to save them, he wasn't able to. He felt horrible about it and decided to join the soldier ranks to try to make it up to me, but I never blamed him for it. It wasn't long after that that I became the head of Dragon's Bane and began trying to activate it. Since I was so involved in my studies, Silver took over most of the 'head' responsibilities."
"He is really amazing isn't he?" Bloom stretched her arms and leaned back.
"He is, but just between you and me, there were times when I would find him completely freaking out and what action to take, this always happened behind closed doors, but it was cute seeing a different side to him." Twilight giggled along with her friend and soon continued their research.
"Ha, I'm having a hard time imagining him 'freaking out'."
"He paces....a lot. I could almost see him make an indention on the wooden floor from one day to the other!"
Xancus was at the end of his patience as he saw Spike miss the targets with his fire balls.
"I'm ashamed that I lost to a wimpy dragon like you, I don't even know how you aimed the flame at me in the first place!" The red dragon screamed out. Spike was notably irritated and whispered under his breath.
"It's cause you have a big bucking mouth…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Spike said with a pretentious smile. Xancus sighed and stepped close to his 'companion'.
"Maybe fireballs aren't your thing. Maybe there's another technique I can show you."
"I thought that a green flame hadn't been born in Dracopia in a long time, how come you know so many green flame techniques?"
"While there are a few skills here and there exclusive to a particular flame type, they all work in the same way, just have different effects. Here watch." Xancus moved his claws close to his mouth before spiting a bright crimson flame onto them. His claws seemed to soak in the intense fire and without a moment's hesitation; Xancus used his now powered claws to ram a close by target post, the impact crushing it, the pieces then began to burn with the crimson flame, and quickly consumed the pieces. Spike looked in awe as the flame continued to burn even after there was nothing to feed the flame just like the sage had said, something like that would definitely do a number on ponies.
"Alright, now your turn." Spike gulped and looked down at his claws. Hesitantly, he did the same as Xancus, spiting a flame onto his claws and soon they began to burn in his green flame. He turned to look at Xancus who only raised an eyebrow. He got what the red dragon was trying to say, he wanted him to use his claws. Spike looked around and found another target post. Spike took to the air and slashed at it with his claws. His claws ran straight through the target and Spike landed a little bit behind it. He turned around and saw it still in one piece, like nothing had happened at all.
"What was that?! Did you mess up?" But before Spike could say anything, they all heard a small screeching sound, the target slowly fell over in pieces. It was cut in 4 very thin lines, so clean and exact that it wasn't visible to the naked eye, but gravity had finally caught up knocking it down.
"Woah…"
"Impressive, it seems a green flame has a boost to sharpness, you writing this down Anolette?" Xancus asked out to the side of the training field. Where the dragoness from before was sitting with a book and quill.
"Yes Master Xancus." She responded politely.
"Spike, now try this one out." Xancus said as he extended his arms out. The purple dragon looked attentively as Xancus began to growl slightly, small bits of crimson flame escaping the sides of his mouth. Before he knew it his teacher busted into flames, the crimson light almost blinding. Spike placed an arm in front of him trying to shield himself from the light. By the time he came to, Xancus stood inches away, startled, Spike jumped back.
"For a crimson flame it covers the dragon in a blinding light, I could have killed you ten times over just now." Spike gulped at the thought, thank Celestia he was save from him for a week. "Now you give it a go."
Spike did as instructed. He stepped back and extended his arms out and began to excrete a small growl. Grogress was a little slow for this technique however; it took him well over a minute before some small flame began to push out of the sides of his mouth, but before he could actually do anything, he fell to the ground, exhausted. As Spike tried to regain his composure Xancus walked over him. Expecting another scolding, Spike readied himself.
"Wow, most take longer before they can get that far, you might not be so weak after all."
"Wait what? But aren't these the beginning techniques?"
"Nah, the first few were, but this one is one of the advanced ones, thought you could use the challenge to help you improve." Xancus said as he turned around and began to walk off. "Let's take a break, I've become hungry."
Spike held a very angry and annoyed look on his face. He was about to shout out to him when a hand suddenly popped in front of his face. As he looked up he saw the dragoness giving him a helping hand once more.
"Thanks, Anolette…was it?" Spike said as he used her hand to get back on his feet.
"Yes, and you're Spike right?" Despite her best attempt, she couldn't contain the giggle as she said his name. A little embarrassed, Spike scratched the back on his head.
"Yeah, dragons here have very different names."
"We sure do, but I suppose it's only natural for a foreigner to have a strange name. Is it true you lived with the Equines?" Anolette asked as both she and Spike walked over to where she was sitting earlier.
"Yes…the land is called Equestria." Spike said trying his best not to seem annoyed by how she too referred to them as equines.
"Really? That's so neat." The dragon said as she took her book and began to scribble down something. It was now that Spike was able to get a good look at her. She shared his color scheme, purple with green spikes; however, unlike his form now, she was wingless.
"So…you're a librarian?" Anolette but her book down and nodded.
"Weird isn't it? All the dragons here would rather fight, but I prefer the quiet library than the rough housing…no offence."
"Oh none taken." Spike said waving his hand in a soft gesture. "Back in Ponyville I worked as an assistant for a librarian, so I know the ropes to your type of work."
"You? You're a librarian?" Anolette's eyes opened wide as the news shocked her, she did not expect another dragon to share her interest, especially no one that was such a good fighter.
"Well, an assistant, but yeah. My friends back in Ponyville made fun of me for not being as outright 'dragon' as other dragons."
"You're friends with Equines?!" By this time Anolette was inches away from Spike's face, a certain glow in her eyes. The type of glow he had seen in Twilight's eyes when something had sparked her interest and he suddenly felt like he had gotten himself into something he shouldn't have.
"Y-Yeah…"
"That's amazing!" The dragoness said as she jumped up and spun around with her book pressed against her chest in a hug. The two dragons began to talk and the more they spoke the more excited Anolette would become with how much Spike had experienced with ponies.
"Ahem!" Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by Xancus who was leaning against a wall close by. "You know, I was gonna just let you guys finish your conversation, but I've been standing here for like...10 minutes."
"Oh…sorry Xancus, I suppose I got a little carried away." Spike said, scratching the back of his head.
"Well I hope you enjoyed your break, now back to work." Spike jumped to his feet and ran out to the middle of the field.
"Let's take it from the top; the self-combustion technique goes like this." Xancus said as he stretched his arms out and began to growl. Even though Spike had already seen it, it was no less amazing this time around, be knew what was coming and quickly tried to shield his eyes. It somehow still managed to blind Spike and he was stuck without sight for a few seconds. Again, by the time he recovered Xancus stood inches away from him.
"It's useless trying to shield your eyes. The light will reflect off every surface and hit the eye anyway, and even if you managed avoid being blinded, don't forget I'm still covered in crimson flames." Spike blinked a few times and nodded. Now it was his turn. He stepped back and extended his arms outward as he began to growl again. Xancus stood with his arms crossed as he watched Spike attempt the technique again. Another minute passed before the flames began to slowly spout. But he ended up exterting himself too much and collapsing again.
"Good, try again." Xancus said.
Spike took a little while to recover but he did as he was told. Over time, he began to comprehend how the technique was supposed to work. He was well into his fifth attempt before he could feel his energy leave him. Spike slowly looked up and saw Anolette looking at him.
"You can do it!" She shouted. That somehow seemed to give a little more confidence. As he looked at her he remembered the conversation he had earlier and about his friends. Like if a door had suddenly been opened in his mind, Spike felt like he had a revelation and his body combusted into green flames. Xancus and Anolette looked in surprise as Spike's radiant green glow began to shine over the field. And just like that, it was gone. The green flames disappeared and Xancus scoffed.
"Good try, you almost had it, now let's…" However, he was suddenly thrown off when he noticed that something was off…the flames had faded and left a scorched floor, but no Spike…
"What the…"
Spike slowly began to open his eyes, though had had been warm and cozy, he suddenly felt cold. He looked around and saw a dark dusty ceiling. He slowly sat up as he held onto his head and noticed books…lots of them.
"S-Spike?!" The purple dragon looked to his right and saw Twilight with a very shocked expression.
"What the buck?..."
"Alright, everypony try again!" Said the flight instructor as he walked back and forth on the tower from where he was overseeing the scout training. Rainbowdash, being one of the new recruits followed through with their routine. She performed the aerial maneuvers perfectly as the others in her groups struggled to maintain formation along with her.
"You there! Shape up, don't let the rookie outshine you!" The instructor screamed out to one of the pegasi whom was clearly lacking in his flying skills. After a bad run the group landed at the tower where the others were as they waited for their turn. All but the Rainbow seemed to be out of breath when they landed. The instructor gave the signal for the next group to go out as he walked close to the one that had just landed.
"You're pretty good newbie." He said as Rainbowdash looked over at him, not expecting to talk to anypony during training.
"Yeah, I am pretty good. After all, I'm gonna join the Wonderbolts one day." Rainbowdash said boastful, but that pride slightly deflated as she noticed all the other pegasi around her just stare, their eyes lingering with both jealousy and slight hatred. It was bad enough that she was making them look bad, but clearly stating that she had no intent in staying just rubbed them the wrong way.
"That's quite a goal." The instructor began. "But you do realize that if the dragons escape the Wonderbolts will have bigger problems than competitions right?" The instructor said as he circled the Rainbow maned Pegasus. "You might want to think about staying longer." Rainbowdash looked down at the wooden flooring of the tower before letting out her voice.
"I…uh, I'll get back to you on that!" She said before just blasting out of the tower and heading to the ground where she softly landed before letting out a sigh of relaxation. She took a quick glance back at the tower before sitting down and looking around. It was true she knew how important this army was, but she wasn't exactly willing to give up her own dreams and goals for it. As she looked around she noticed a worker pony whose cutiemark was the one that had been branded on to all others, seeing as how some actually did make that sacrifice only made guilt start to take her. Her moment of weakness, however, was cut short by a familiar voice.
"You alright there sugarcube?" A mare called out from behind her, her saddle full of construction supplies to help rebuild.
"Oh, hi Applejack." Rainbowdash responded as she stood, her voice trying to hide her inner conflict. "Yeah, everything's fine, you know, just got bored with practice since I can pull it all off without a cinch...heh"
Applejack tilted her head in response, seeing right through her old friend. Instead of confronting the issue, she just gave her a gentle smile and gesture her to follow her in her errand. Rainbowdash complied and followed her. The pair walked in silence for a while before Applejack decided to speak.
"So what do you think of the scouts?" She began, knowing that outward conversation about what was wrong would just get RD to shut her out, she had dealt with her enough times to know exactly how to get through to her.
"They're alright, but nothing compared to the Wonderbolts." Rainbow said, making a comparison almost out of nowhere. The orange pony couldn't help but smile as she began to understand what was going on.
"Miss training at the academy?"
"Well yeah. It was the best time of my life! Sure the scouts here are good, but you know that the real protectors of Equestria are the Wonderbolts. I mean, I'm not trying to down play the scouts here, it just that the bolts have their own duties too." Rainbow began to trail off on her own tangent as AJ just listened, letting her friend solve the problem on her own.
"I mean, Twilight once told me about how hundreds of years ago the Wonderbolts where a real military academy, but the time of peace made them switch their roles into more of a symbol for Equestria. Isn't that kinda cool? Even when there's no war going on the Wonderbolts are still a symbol of strength."
"But there IS a war going on." Applejack interrupted. "Look around, these dragons aren't exactly very peaceful."
"Well, yea...But everyone here is..." Rainbowdash's voice began to soften as a sudden realization began to hit her.
"You know, I miss my family a whole lot, and there are times when I think about just going back to the farm and be with them, but it would be unfair to the people here to just leave them when they need help the most." Applejack looked over at her blue friend and gave her a smile. "Least we can do for keeping us safe for so long is to keep them safe in their time of need, don't ya think?"
Rainbowdash looked down as she began to process what the orange pony just told her, but before she could give her a response she noticed BloomingStar come their way.
"Umm, sorry to interrupt, but I think there's something you should see." Bloom said a little shyly. The duo just looked at eachother before following her back to the castle.
"...and then I popped up here." Spike said, finishing his story about how he wound up back in the castle after being gone for so long.
"So you just combusted into flames and popped up here?"
"Yup."
Twilight just couldn't wrap her head about what her friend told her. A civilization of dragons was hard enough to believe, but one that has a working hierarchy was even more outlandish considering their...brutish reputation. Spike was currently bandaged up, having burnt himself in the process of teleporting here, which he was still a little uncertain of how it even worked.
"Careful now, you don't want to hurt yourself." The worried unicorn said as Spike began to sit up from his laying position. Even though he had made it out alright, the burns he got were likely because he still didn't fully grasp how the technique was suppose to be used. The purple dragon gestured with his hand that he was alright before speaking again.
"I'm fine Twilight. I'm not a baby anymore." He said as he tried to stand up. As he did so, Twilight couldn't help but feel sad. It was true, even though Spike's growth spurt was sudden, he wasn't the baby she had to take care of all the time, if anything, perhaps he took care of her some times. Just as he managed to find his balance, the door to the library where they were at swung open.
"Spike!" A pair of voices rang loudly as both Applejack and Rainbowdash ran in and glomped him. The purple unicorn next to him flinched as a the three of them hit the ground in a loud thud followed by a shriek of pain from the dragon.
"Where have you been little fella'? We've been worried sick!" AJ asked before being pushed aside by the blue pegasus next to her.
"Yeah! where did you disappear to?!" Neither of them got their answer because Twilight used her teleportation spell to transport them a few feet in the air not too far away from them. Another thud sounded as the purple unicorn began to speak.
"Girls! let him be, he's been through a lot." The pair that just got transported laid on top of each other rather uncomfortably as they tried to stand but failed to do so, hitting one another as they struggled.
"He and Silver were in the dragon's territory. We told you remember?" Bloom said from the doorway, where she had stood as she witnessed the rather humorous scene.
"Yeah, but where?" Rainbowdash asked as she finally got untagled and stood up, brushing herself off. "I went on a few scouting trips and we never saw any sign of them.
"That's cause the spell teleported us somewhere much deeper then anypony had ever ventured, at least that's what Silver said." Spike said as he got up with Twilight's help. "We ran for a couple of days before stumbling on some sort of pony ruins." The whole room said 'huh' in unison. "Yeah, Silver and I were pretty confused too."
The group took a little time to catch up as Spike shared his experiences with them. The entire time Bloom became notably more worried for Silver.
"So you guy's got separated 2 days ago?" The yellow unicorn asked.
"Yeah, I didn't want to keep growing, so I took a night flight and never made it back."
"Awww, don't you worry sugarcube." Applejack began. "Silver is one tough stallion, I'm sure he doesn't have a scratch on 'em." Her reassurance seemed to help slightly.
"Still, we can't just leave him in dragon territory, especially not so close to...uh, what was it called again?" Rainbow asked Spike.
"Dracopia, the city of dragons."
"Yeah, that, we can't leave him there, especially with that Xancus guy trying to pick a fight with him."
"But how ARE we suppose to rescue him? We can't exactly go there, we aren't even sure where Dracopia is anyway." Twilight expressed her concerns which were second by the entire group. They all looked down as they tried to think of a solution, but nothing really came to mind.
"I...I think I might have an idea." Bloom spoke softly, almost like she didn't want to share her thought with the group.
Bloom had began to lead the group down a series of stairs after saying she might have a way to get to where Silver was, but had remained silent since then. The quiet atmostphere was starting to get to everypony, but none really wanted to speak up. The passage way was dark and almost hidden, but Bloom had come across here so many times in her filly years she didn't even need to keep her eyes open.
"So..." Spike began, finally breaking the silence. "Where are we going?"
"...Before my parents died, they had an advisor. I knew him since I was born but after the incident I haven't gone to visit him." Bloom said hesitantly.
"So somepony has been living down here on his own?"
"Yeah, he's a little weird, but his heart is always in the right place."
"So how can this guy help us out?"
"Scholar knows everything about anything. At least, that's what my parents always said. And he's never been wrong...so I suppose they were right."
"Scholar?" Twilight asked. "That's his name?"
"Well, no. That's just what we've always called him, we never could pronounce his real name correctly so we just use 'Scholar' instead." It wasn't long after that the group reached their destination, a large wooden door that had a dim light shine from under it. Without knocking, Bloom pulled the door open and they were quickly greeted by a rather strange room. It was decorated by all sorts of strange things, masks, potions sets, old books, and rune drawings both on the floor and on the walls. It seemed a little disorganized but it had a strange familiar feeling to it.
"My my, it has been a very long time since you've come to visit. How long has it been? A year? Two years maybe?" A voice resonated from the room, but none of them could tell where it was coming from.
"...Hello Scholar, we have a question." In an instant, one of the 'decorations' moved and jumped off the pole it had been balancing on and spoke.
"A yes, that IS usually why anyone ever visits. A pity, since I always enjoy having company." The figure in front of them was clocked and wore a mask. Twilight took another glance at the way he had been balancing on the pole and connected the dots.
"You're a zebra!" This surprised everypony. Scholar laughed rather strangely before taking off the mask and cloak to reveal it's stripped body.
"Why yes I am, how ever did you know?" Scholar asked as he suddenly appeared from behind Twilight to get a better look at her similar to how Discord did way back when.
"We uh, have a zebra friend as well, Zecora."
"Oh my, Zecora is in Equestria? You MUST let us meet, it has been oh so long since I've seen her." Twilight was filled with more questions than answers now that she figured out what Scholar was, how exactly did he know Zecora?
"That's enough Scholar, we have a problem."
"Oh? That's right that's right." Scholar said as he switched his attention to Spike who was grabbing his bandaged arm. "You wish to return to Dracopia to reunite with Silver?"
"Wha? How did you know that?!" Rainbowdash asked out abruptly.
"Oh my silly little pony, I know everything about anything. Isn't that right Bloom dear?" The yellow unicorn looked down and rubbed one of her fore legs, almost afraid to say yes. "Well, never mind that, I can indeed help, but it might be a one way trip." Scholar said, leaning on Twilight who seemed to be uncomfortable with him leaning his elbow on her back as she stoop, he was heavier than he seemed. "All you have to do is use the dragon vanishing spell again, and it will take you all back to Dracopia."
"Are you sure? How do we know we won't just teleport to some other random place in dragon territory?" Applejack objected, trying to make sure things wouldn't go wrong half way through.
"How you ask? Cause Spike here as been to Dracopia due to taging along with the other dragon right? The spell that I taught the unicorns was made to bring dragons back to their home. So tell me Bloom, where is your home?" Everypony seemed bewildered by the question as Bloom suddnely reacted.
"Well here of course. Dragon's Bane has always been my home."
"Is that true?" Scholar said as he began to walk forward to face the group.
"Home is more than just a location. Take Twilight Sparkle here for example." Scholar began. "She was originally born in Canterlot were you not?"
"How did you know tha-"
"Of course you were, but where do you call home now?"
"Umm, Ponyville."
"Yes, Ponyville, but let me ask you something little unicorn, if you didn't have your friends in Ponyville, would you still call it your home?" A sudden realization sparked across Bloom's face.
"Silver is my home..." She said faintly, but it was loud enough for the group to hear. Scholar held a grin across his face as he felt accomplished. Feeling like he work was done, he walked back to his mask and robe to put them on.
"Thank you Scholar!" Bloom shouted as she ran out to make the necessary preparations. She was soon followed by the rest of the group, Spike being the last to begin to step out. Scholar had already gotten back on the pole, balancing on his head but he spoke softly before the dragon could step out.
"You too would try to think about your home my dragon friend." Spike's eyes widened as he heard him say that. It was almost like he could read his thoughts. "Your time to choose your home might be closer than you think."
The grey coated stallion opened his eye, as he sat up. He let out a soft yawn before getting up and stretching. His charcoal mane hung loosely over his missing right eye and he couldn't help but feel relaxed. Having been stranded in dragon territory was actually more of a vacation than anything else. He didn't have to get up early for morning lecture and training sessions, no need to keep his cool and calm attitude that he had to show to keep others up in spirits. He couldn't even remember the last time he was allowed to sleep in. As Silver looked around, he began to admire his finished work, the temple he and Spike had discovered was back to how its former glory...or least as far back as it possibly go with the raw materials Silver had at his disposal. It was strange, once Spike had placed up those pillars he instantly recognized the place from a sketch he had seen in one of Bloom's book.
Silver stood up straight and began to make his way out through the crack he and Spike had gone in through. It wasn't his first time out since Spike left on his little adventure to who knows where, but he was still being cautious. As Silver peeked out he began to think about that purple dragon.
"Where could he have gone to?" He asked himself before stepping out into the light. The sun was up high, so it was some time in the afternoon, that much he was certain of. He sprint from under one tree to another, his mind was set on staying out of sky view, since dragons would probably be flying over head at any time. He hadn't encountered any, but it was better to be safe than sorry. It didn't take long before he reached where he had been gathering his food since day one back when Spike was still unconscious and on his back. It was just a pear tree, not his favorite fruit, but beggers can't be choosers. Instead of kicking at the trunk like most would do, he began to climb it, that way he could pick the fruit directly without attracting attention with the sound and without leaving a giant hoof print on the tree letting others know that a pony hand been there. Strangely enough, Silver had made a plan for almost any situation imaginable. He never really expected to be stranded in dragon territory, but those sleepless nights thinking about all the 'what ifs' sure paid off it seems.
Silver scoffed to the side, spitting out some seeds he accidentally bit into when he took a bit of the pear. "And Miss Bloom said it was useless to worry about stuff like that, well good thing I did." He said to himself. As he became full with his breakfast, or rather, lunch, be was about to jump down and retreat back into the temple where he would be safe, but his ears began to twitch. He sat still on the tree branch as he listened. Voices...he was sure he was hearing voices from somewhere.
"I'm telling you Ralik, Spike is dead, you heard what they said, he just exploded!" Vince said as he laid on top of his big brother's head. The Siblings Spike had met were out looking for him.
"That's impossible! I'm telling ya, Spike is one tough little dragon." The older brother responded as he walked rather sluggishly. They must have spent all night searching out for Spike. Silver only focused on one thing from their conversation. Spike had exploded
Without hesitating, Silver looked around and began to devise a plan.
"Come ooooon Ralik, we've been searching all night."
"We can't just give up little bro, we just can't." Ralik responded as he suddenly came to a halt. "But maybe we can take a little break..." He said before finally falling down.
"Ralik, I'm hungry." Vince said as he gazed down at his brother as he stood over his forehead.
"Ya, me too bro, maybe we should head back for lun-" But Ralik's sentence was suddenly interrupted when he felt something tug as his legs. Despite his large size, he was being dragged by a rather sturdy vine that had somehow wrapped around his arm. As he reached for it with his other claw it was suddenly lassoed by another vine that had come from a nearby tree. The dragon began to shout in terror but his moth was suddenly lassoed as well. Vince was no exception, being smaller it only took a few vine to immobilize him. Some time in, both Ralik and Vince well strapped to a large boulder near a very tall tree that even Ralik would fit under. The brothers tried to cry out but they were completely vulnerable. After a few seconds Silver began to descend down on a vine slowly getting to eye level with Ralik.
"Hello Dragon. I'd like to know more about this Spike you were talking about." Silver said as his old persona began to bleed out, his voice back at a rough tone and his yellow eye staring into Ralik's soul. The large dragon gulped as he stared into his oppressors face.
"So is everything ready?" Rainbowdash asked as Twilight re-read the spell Bloom had given her for the 15th time.
"Yes, just let me make sure I've got it all correct." The purple unicorn said as continued to pace around with the book she was holding up with magic. Applejack gave a smile at her nervous friend as she placed the saddle with some provisions on her back.
"Now are you sure you are going to be alright?" The drill instructor asked Bloom as he came to see them off. He eyed Spike who had been tied up so he could pass as a prisoner.
"Yes, Armored Plate. Once we use the spell on the dragon, we'll hitch a ride, rescue Silver and use the spell again on me to get back here. We'll be back before you know it." Bloom said as she tried her best at lying, something he had little experience doing.
"Well...alright, but why bring the rookies? We have plenty of good soldiers here that might be better suited for-"
"Those soldiers are better at full out combat, these are Celestia's private group that have done their part at keep Equestria safe. Besides, a small group will attract less attention." Bloom felt a little empowered by interrupting the soldier, but she couldn't help but think perhaps he would see right through her. They stood in silence for a while longer before the drill instructor nodded and left the room. As he did Bloom sighed, finally being able to relax. The group smile at her as she turned to them and said.
"Great, now we just have to teleport in and teleport out just as fast." Rainbowdash said excited to get a glimpse of the dragon city.
"If only things turn out that easy. Sorry to break it to ya sugarcube, but things never go as planned when it comes to us." Applejack interjected. Twilight nodded as she spoke up as well.
"Right. We have to be very cautious, even if the dragon's fear us, it won't mean they won't try to attack."
"Which I still don't understand." The rainbow maned pegasus said.
"Neither do I, I just know you're like their version of the boogeyman." Spike said as he came loose from his restraints. He stretched out his wrists as he stood up, his new stature remarkably larger to his equine companions. Everypony thought the same thing, it wasn't the same Spike that once cleaned up in Ponyville's library.
"Now, is everypony ready?" Bloom said as she got closer to the group. They all nodded and each placed a hoof on her as Twilight prepared to cast the spell. Since the spell could not be cast on one's self, the only other unicorn had to do it so Spike placed a claw on both her and Bloom, making sure they could both hitch a ride along. Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow purple. Sparks began to shot out randomly as she concentrated on getting the spell right. Spike couldn't help but gulp nervously, his last experience with teleporting long distances wasn't exactly pleasant. In a flash, they all vanished from the small room, but obvious to all of them, they had a spectator.
Armor Plate had never really left, he could tell there was something fishy by how Bloom had been acting and now his suspicions were correct.
"So Miss Blooming Star...you're a dragon worshipper now?"
"I'll ask you again, where did Spike go?" Silver said with a rather aggressive voice. Vince was already in tears and Ralik wasn't far from doing the same.
"We don't know! Everyone says it was a training accident, that he just exploded!" Ralik managed to scream out. Silver didn't seem pleased with that answer.
"If you don't start giving me details I'll have to get mor-" He, however, couldn't finished his sentence. Silver was forcibly pushed down by something heavy. Silver quickly thought he was being ambushed and threw whatever was on him off. Silver didn't have much time to see what it was, but he noticed it was rather small. He jumped on it, switching the tables.
"You! What are...you..." Silver began in a loud shout, but quickly lost his momentum. Beneath him laid Bloom who looked slightly hurt by being pushed off but as soon as she saw him looking down she blushed. "Miss Bloom...What are you doing here?" Silver asked not moving an inch. A part of him wanted to think that maybe it was a trap, that it was some sort of changeling, but he knew deep down it was really her.
"I...umm..." Bloom tried to say, but she was too flustered to speak.
"Silver, why don't you get off of her before you start to interrogate the young miss?" Applejack said as she and her friends began to stand from where they had landed. Ralik noticed Spike along in the group and spoke out.
"Spike! You've got to save us!" As the purple dragon turned around he noticed his old friends from Dracopia trapped to the side of a large boulder and he quickly screamed out in shock.
"Silver, what were you doing?!" The charcoal maned stallion was helping Bloom to her feet.
"Oh, I was just interrogating them. Wait a second, you're alive? Those two said you exploded." Silver said as he glared over at the brothers for 'lying' to him.
"But we were telling the truth!" Vince said, though after taking a quick glance at his dragon companion, Silver disagreed.
"Well, I did kinda explode didn't I?" Spike said as he scratched the back of his head, sweating slightly, Twilight and Bloom both nodding as they recalled his 'abrupt' appearance. "Anyway, we came to get you back to Dragon's Bane, the place has been kind of a mess since we've been missing I've heard.
AJ nodded in agreement as she stepped closer along with the blue pegasus. "We really should get back so that we ourselves can go back home." The orange pony said. Silver looked at his friend and could feel how homesick she was, but there was something unfinished here for him.
"I wish I could just go back, but there's something I want to figure out first, and now that Miss Bloom is here, perhaps I can." Silver said as he shifted his glance at the unicorn. If you would please follow me, there's something you should see. The entire group held a rather serious along with Silver's own expression. They all nodded and began to follow suit. As they walked however, a sound came from behind them.
"Umm...what 'bout us?" Ralik said rather uncomfortably, still restraint by the vines. Spike snickered slightly before speaking.
"Opps, hold on a sec, I'll get you down in a giffy." Without a second though, the purple dragon began to run as he held his claws to his mouth. He gently spat flames onto them as he was taught and flew up to cut the vines. His green flame made it rather easy for him to cut through and the dragon brothers fell flat on their flanks. The entire group of ponies looked astonished to see Spike perform such actions.
It didn't take long before the group and pair of dragons to reach Silver's hideout, it was rather close in case he ever needed to sprint to safety. As they all entered Bloom's eyes light up, the temple sparking a certain interest that she had not felt in a very long time. Ralik and Vince had a tough time getting inside, but after some forceful pushing, they too went in, staying close to Spike.
"So...these yer equine friends?" Ralik asked in almost a whisper as the dragon's maintained a distance from the ponies.
"Yeah, Silver might be a bit intimidating, but he's a good guy."
Bloom ran from one side of the room to the other as she gasped in amazement.
"How in all of Equestria did you find such a well preserved temple?" She asked as she continued to peek around, Twilight joined it, but not quite as enthusiastically. She took recognized things from her readings here and there, but she wasn't as familiar with them as Bloom was.
"It wasn't. It took me a good while to put things back together. Spike was a big help. Once he set up those pillars over there I could make out the picture. If I remember correctly it was part of an illustration in one of your books." Silver said as he saw his unicorn friends 'geek out'.
"What's so special about this old place? It hasn't been used since the last sage's initiation." Ralik said out loud. Bloom caught ear of that and looked over.
"A sage's initiation?" She asked as she carefully got closer to the dragon. Ralik, feeling slightly more at ease came up from behind Spike, not that Spike was big enough to hide his large body, but still felt safe with him as cover.
"Ya, it's useless now that we don't have a sage anymore."
"What?" Spike exclaimed "But I met a sage back in Dracopia."
"He is old enough to be a sage, but he ain't one. A sage would get a new flame when he reached his twilight years by a previous sage, but our last authentic was killed before he could pass on an ember of his flame." Ralik said as he thought back to the stories he was told from growing up.
"Killed?" Silver asked as the story suddenly got more interesting for him.
"By who?" Rainbow joined in. Ralik began to peck at his head with his claw as he tried to recall the story.
"A few thousand years ago a Dragon reached the twilight years and was to become a sage. They both came here with a small group of guards to pass on the ember." Ralik began. "When they go here a hooded equine who would make the process happen was already at the altar, which was strange since they always arrived late"
"Wait what?!" Applejack jumped in. "You mean to tell me a pony came here make dragons sages?"
"No, not a pony like any of ya'll, these equines were always black and white and spoke in strange riddles." Everypony in the room thought the same thing, 'zebras'. "Anywho, like I was saying, it was weird cause we had only sent the messenger a few days ago and these guys would take weeks to get here. No one really cared since they weren't looking forward to spending so much time in this here temple, so they went on and both dragons stepped on their spot as the equine got on top of the altar. As the flame was being passed on, the equine revealed himself to be a unicorn like you." Ralik said as he pointed to Bloom. "And proceeded to absorb the flame for himself, draining the sage of his power. After that, the other dragons tried to fight him, but with the sage's flame, the equine was too strong for them." Ralik said as he finished his tale.
"Well now we know why dragons are afraid of ponies..." Rainbowdash whispered to her earthpony friend.
"Wow, that's horrible. Do you know who did it?"
"Our current sage was one of the guards who survived, he said the equine called himself...umm, what was it? Somber? Sombrero?... Oh Right! Sombra!"
Everpony except Silver and Bloom gasped as they heard King Sombra's name. They all recalled what horrible things he did to the crystal ponies and how traumatized they were, that even just mentionaing his name would trigger horrible flashbacks.
"Is that why he had those purple flame thingies coming outta his eyes?" Applejack asked out. Ralik nodded as he further explained.
"Ya, the sage's flame is purple." All the ponies looked at one another before realizing things suddenly got more complicated, after all, Dragon's were liable to holding grudges...for a very long time.
Everypony stood awkwardly after Ralik’s little exposition. They all thought the same thing, that it was only a matter of time before dragon’s attacked. Silver finally stepped forward to give his own input.
“So what’s the plan? We could always get a preemptive attack in, surprise them since we ponies have always been on the defensive.” The dragon brothers turned slightly pale at the thought of an all out war.
“I’m telling you, the current sage is no threat to Equestria.” Spike began. “He’s really nice and even offered to help me find my true power. If anything, it’s his son Xancus you have to worry about. He holds some sort of grudge against you Silver.”
“What? Why me?”
“I have no idea, he has some sort of vendetta against you.”
“Well maybe we could try to reach some sort of agreement.”
“What?! Let’s just trot over there and give them a lesson they won’t forget!”
“Beg your pardon? That might make things worse Rainbow…” The room erupted as everypony tried to push in their own arguments except for Bloom, who only sat quietly, thinking to herself.
“Ummm.” She tried to speak up but no own could hear her gentle voice. “Excuse me…” Vince, who had wondered away from his big brother’s side looked at the poor pony as tried to speak up. The talking died down when the room glowed bright blue, Vince having shot a blue flame fire ball into the air to get everyone’s attention. Bloom was just as surprised as the others but as Vince gazed up at her with a large grin, she gently petted him on his head before standing and speaking.
“Why don’t we just talk. If what Spike says is true and the current Sage is kind, we can try to talk things out and make a treaty of some sort.” She stood there awkwardly as she waited for a response. With a sigh, Silver was the first to speak.
“Spike, do you think we could get an audience with this Sage.” The dragons now being the center of attention.
“Uhhh.”
“Oh, no can do. No one speaks to the Sage unless the Sage speaks to them.” Ralik interjected.
“Then what do you suggest?” Twilight asked, stepping closer.
“Well, Spike was already spoken to, so he could ask him if he wants to speak to equines, he might actually be interested in that.”
“What? Me?”
“So it’s decided, we send Spike to get us an audience.” The purple dragon didn’t seem very comfortable and it was noticed by his purple unicorn friend.
“This might be us asking a lot, but please Spike, we had no idea that dragons had not just one, but two reasons to attack Equestria.” Hesitantly, he too agreed to the idea and soon the 3 dragons left the ponies at the altar. The dragon brothers were rather quiet on the way back which made the whole situation a little awkward for Spike.
“So…uh, yeah…those are my friends from Ponyville.” He began. Ralik gave a strange expression, but Vince said with a smile.
“I like the pink haired one, she’s kinda cute.”
“Vince! She’s a pony, she could kill ya in yur sleep!”
“Miss Bloom? I’d be more worried about Silver, he’d really kill you if you got too close to her.” Spike said, trying to poke fun at the situation. The kid dragon did find it funny, his older brother however, not so much.
Just like last time, Spike found himself at the mountain from before his instincts tried to kick in. He followed them back into Dracopia where he and the dragon brothers followed the lava river to where he had first entered. Making a quick landing, the purple dragon noticed cloaked figures in the shape of ponies walking from the direction of the Sage's home.
"Who are they?" The now teenage dragon asked as he stood up straight.
"Those are the Sage's private informants, they come and go as he see fit. They give me the weelies."
"That so?..." Spike said as they began to walk. It just happened that they were heading in the direction the figures were walking away from. Spike was sure he was hearing the sound of hooves hitting the ground as they passed, they must be ponies of some kind, but there's no way they'd allow ponies to just roam the dragon city like that. Minutes passed and soon Spike and company stood at the entrance of the home he had been invited to just the previous day. He raised his claw to knock at the large door, but before he could actually make contact with it, it suddenly opened on it's own. Anolette
"Spike!" The dragoness said as she hugged him. It was then that Spike noticed that he had grown again, not by much, but while before he was at about the same height. Now he stood a few inches taller than Anolette, the growth must have happened when he was resting when he first teleported to Twilight.
"We are losing this war!" Screamed out Armor Plate at the top of the the podium Silver would use to make his morning speech. "Blooming Star was seen being friendly with a dragon!" The recently demoted drill instructor screamed out, soon more and more of the citizens and soldiers come close to listen. "This a grave time indeed. We all know that 'Miss' Bloom is too weak to make her own decisions. Silver Charger must also be a traitor, we all saw it, right before he was caught in the spell with the red dragon that attacked he was grabbed by a smaller one!"
"I thought it was a pegasis scout trying to rescue him." A soldier asked from the crowd.
"We made a body count, of both those alive and deceased, everyone was accounted for. It was definitely not one of ours!"
As arguments insured, the little filly that Twilight and the others had met when they first entered the castle was massing by. Still wearing her cloak, she shook her head, unhooding herself to reveal a horn on her forehead.
"Scholar?" She asked out, no pony around to audibly hear her. In her head, however, she could hear the echo of the zebra that lived under the castle.
Yes my cute little filly?
"You won't believe what is going on up here!" She shouted out in excitement like any child would when things got interesting. "The big soldiers are saying that Miss Bloom is a gator!"
A what? Scholar asked, chuckling slightly.
"I know right? Grown up are so silly some times." Down below, Scholar continued to meditate while balancing upside down on a pole. He reached out to a nearby shelf from here he some premade powder of some sort. With a quick flinch of his wrist, the powder spread in front of the zebra and an image appeared before him.
"Blooming Star and Silver Charger are traitors!" Said Armor Plate, his image in full view from the dust that was still giving off an image in mid air. The image he was looking at was from the little filly's point of view, though still a little young to understand what the argument was about, Scholar was able to see everything she could see, and hear everything she could hear.
"Yes yes my little filly, adults are rather silly sometimes." Without wasting much time, he motioned his fore leg and made the image disappear. Scholar acrobatically jumped from his position on the pole and landed next to it, the lone staff still standing up straight without even a slight change in its balance. He walked over to a nearby counter where he opened a jar with some strange colored hair. It was violet with a hint of pink. The zebra quickly began to make a brew which he mixed with the same powder he used only ,moments ago before tossing it in front of him.
"Twilight Sparkle." He began. "We might have a problem."
Back at the altar Silver and Spike had discovered, every pony did their own thing, but all remained in silence. Bloom was still looking at the temple along with Twilight while the other three sat, a little bored. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Silver all sat in a circle, they each took a turn at playing tick-tac-toe with each other. As the score went, Applejack and Silver held 72 ties which each other while the each also held 72 wins against Rainbow.
"Gah! How do you guys keep winning?!"
"You're being too direct, you try to make the line of three as fast as you can, but the trick is making it so that your opponent has no way out." Silver said as he placed an 'X' on a lower right square against Applejack, making it another tie, and erasing the game by rubbing his hoof against the dirt.
"Yeah, yur way too easy to read sugarcube." To this the blue Pegasus gave a pout before turning the other way, which only made the farm pony chuckle and smile at how easily she was defeated.
On the other side of the temple, Bloom had a spackle in her eyes with every little thing she came across. Something that Twilight could fully understand, but wasn't able to take part in the same enthusiasm. She smiled nervously as Bloom would almost dance form one side to the other in glee.
Twilight Sparkle, we might have a problem The purple unicorn heard some pony say, but as she looked around, saw no one.
"Uh...Bloom? Did you hear anything?" Suddenly coming back to reality, the yellow unicorn came to a halt and shook her head.
"No, why?"
"It's just, I was sure I hear some pony say something..."
You sis hear some pony say something. Scholar's voice echoed in her head, a small chuckle quickly followed as Twilight's confusion grew.
"S-scholar?!" This quickly caught Bloom's attention and she came close to see what was going on with her friend. "Where are you? How are you talking to me?"
Do not be alarmed, I am simply using a spell to talk to you telepathically
"You're what? How?" Twilight asked out. Bloom, now visibly worried, come close and began to talk.
"Are you feeling alright? What's this about Scholar?"
"He's doing some weird spell that allows him to talk to me in my head." Twilight quickly responded. "I have no idea how that's even possible!"
It's nothing too strange, I simple cooked up a spell using some of your hair to allow me to see and hear what you do.
"What's he saying?"
"Something about using my hair to make the spell....How did you even get my hair?!"
Well...remember when I leaned on you earlier?
"Yeah...."
I might or might not have clipped some of your mane during that time.
"Why you!"
But enough of that, there is something I must share with you. None of you are welcomed back in Dragon's Bane, Armor Plate seems to have mistakenly understood that Bloom 'switched' sides, and is now working with the dragons to attack the city.
"What?!" Twilight's expression sunk as she looked over at Bloom who also had a worried look on her face. She relayed the information to her unicorn friend who only grew more worried.
"Oh no, this is horrible!"
Yes, I will try to do something to fix things here... Scholar said as he threw more powder into the air, showing the young filly's point of view again. She was still listening in to the 'speech' It seems not everyone is willing to believe this about Miss Bloom and Silver. Mean while, I would like all of you to stay away from Dragon's Bane. You all seem to be doing alright here in this...temple?
"Huh? I thought you knew everything about anything." Twilight said to herself. Bloom was too busy freaking out to hear the purple unicorn. Scholar noticed this and decided to answer her.
Well... He began I know everything about anything that I've looked into. This ordeal happened so fast I wasn't given the opportunity to use the potion to gather some intelligence about your situation.
"You were planning to spy on us?!"
That is such a mean spirited way of putting it, why not think of it as me being your guardian angel?
To this, Twilight only grunted before turning to face Bloom, but to her surprise, her friend was no longer in the room with her. "Bloom?
The yellow unicorn ran back to the 'entrance' Silver had made when he broke in. When she arrive, the trio were still sitting down playing games in the dirt, but the dark coated stallion quickly stood up when he saw Bloom in such an agitated state.
"What happened?" Silver asked as he made his way to her. "Are you alright? Where's Twilight?"
"Armor Plate...He's starting something really bad in Dragon's Bane." She started.
"So good to see you're alive." Casalisk said with a smile. The old dragon sage said as he hugged the Spike who was rather small in comparison. "Pray tell, what happened?"
"Well...." Spike began once he caught his breath. "The combustion technique teleported me."
"Yes...my son was rather foolish in making you perform such an advanced flame technique." Casalisk said with a hint of anger in his voice. "But now that you're here we can continue to with the green flame research."
"Actually, I have something I would like to ask of you." The purple dragon said rather hesitantly. The sage raised an eyebrow, his look was rather leering on Spike so he quickly added, "Before we begin I mean."
Pleased with what he heard, the large dragon gestured Spike to continue. The purple dragon cleared his throat before starting his request.
"It has come to my attention that the Unicorn king Sombra was responsible for the death of the previous sage." Casalisk did not like where this was going, but kept his composure and allowed him to finish. "I was the one responsible for bringing an end to his return no so long ago, and thus would like to ask you if perhaps you could not blame the umm, equine race for his actions." Spike said as he stretched the truth slightly. He knew far well that he didn't do it alone, and that Twilight did most of the work, but since the stain glass window DID make him look like the hero and it would help his argument, he rolled with it.
"Sombra came back ?" Casalisk asked rather surprised. This, of crouse caught Spike of guard.
"You didn't know? Yeah he came back like a month ago. My friends and I stopped him from wrecking havoc again....O-of course had we known about what he had done we could have told you guys first and allowed you to take back what was yours!"
The sage was very intrigued by this new piece of information. He slowly turned around and thought to himself.
"I will think about your request, for now I shall ponder on this. If you would kindly wait for Xancus to return so you may continue the research I would very much appreciate it." Spike nodded and vowed, quickly leaving the room. As the sage heard the door close behind him, he snapped his fingers to call forth a servant. "Call back the worshippers, there is something I need them to do."
Outside the castle both Ralik and Vince waited for Spike's return. When he did finally come out, the younger of the brothers jumped up in excitement.
"How did it go?" He asked as Spike stepped down the stairs.
"Better than I expected. I got him to at least consider it." This was met by a scuff from Ralik.
"If you ask me ya should just turn them in. Once you prove no use fer them they can very well just turn on ya."
"Don't think of them like that, you might have gotten off on the wrong claw, but I'm sure you'll warm up to them soon." Spike said as he played with Vince. Now that he was so much larger he could easily toss the child up and catch the wingless dragon. The older brother sighed, deciding not to start an argument for Vince's sake. The dragons save their goodbye and Spike returned inside where he would wait for Xancus to return from where ever he was. It was then that it occurred to him that maybe he should let Twilight know about what the sage said.
The purple dragon began to make his way around the castle, navigating to the best of his ability as he looked around the strange structure. The only other time he was here he didn't have the leisure to admire the architecture, but then again, there really wasn't much to admire. Like the rest of the city, the building was made of cooled lava, so the whole building was a dull brown and black shade. Sure it was molded into a very structurally sound castle, but it was rather dull compared to Celestia's castle. Still, it was rather large and decorated with some sculptures here and there. Spike stood still as he looked at once of these sculptures when a sweet voice brought him back to reality.
"Do you like it? I made that one some time ago." Anolette said form behind him.
"Uh, yeah. It's very nice." Spike responded with a light blush. "Did you make all of these?"
"Mhm, dragons aren't exactly the most art loving race, so what's here is just from me." the dragoness said with a gentle smile. Spike looked he way before a thought crossed his mind.
"Hey, do you have a parchment, quill, and ink I can use?" Surprised by the question, Anolette stared blankly before nodding. She reached into her messager bag and pulled out the items he asked for. He quickly took them and began to write a letter to Twilight. Curious by what he was writing, the dragoness walked over and watched him do what he did best.
"Wow, you have excellent penmanship."
"Years of practice." He said with a wink. Once he was finished Spike rolled up the parchment and blew his flame onto it, making it burn and disappear, a trail of glittering smoke making it's way out of the castle.
"Woah..."