Spike's Tale: The First Journey

That night Spike stayed up until just about four in the morning. he had packed his stuff away, but with all the anxiety built up inside of him he just could not calm down. So he began to pacing around his room. Spike just could not sleep, even when he laid down to rest Spike's mind just would not calm down. He kept wondering just what he would see and experience on this trip. Not to mention that this would be his first trip as the Envoy of Equestria outside the protected borders of the land.

When he finally managed to make himself go to sleep, his mind continuously conjured images of all the wondrous things he could possibly see. The great Griffin Palace, the Iridescent Mountains of The Crystal Empire to the Gemstone Sea he would cross to enter the Griffin Empire. One thing he kept seeing in his dreams repeatedly was a Volcanic Island surrounded by reefs on all but a single side, roughly in the shape of a star. The island just looked so wonderfully peaceful, during this part of his dream. He saw himself on the beach in his new clothes sporting a handsome mustache and strolling along a trail cut through the dense foliage of the island. It was as he was approaching a source of noise that sounded similar to that of a blacksmiths hammer beating upon steel. It was as he reached this part of the dream he felt an odd sensation and woke up screaming.

It was as his tail crashed into the rapidly followed by the weigh of his body that he realized he had fallen out of his bed. It was after he took a moment to check that he had not broken his tail or wings that he noticed  the sun was a few hours past dawn. Seeing how far the sun had risen he rushed to check a clock to make sure that he had not overslept. The last thing he wanted was to be late to the briefing of his first international assignment. When he found his clock it read nine twenty two in the morning. Seeing that he was not late he sighed with relief and started getting ready for his audience with the princesses. He checked his gear one last time before he left the room  to make sure he grabbed everything he might want to bring, and as a last thought he threw his mustache in the bag as well he had always been fond of it.

As the time of his appointment with the princesses neared he became  ever increasingly anxious. He kept asking himself, “Are my scales shined and cleaned enough? Is there anything stuck in my teeth?”

it was at eleven fifteen that he realized that he was going to drive himself mad with worry if he did not do something. So with that in mind he started off toward the kitchens to get a snack before his appointment. As he walked through the palace to get to the kitchens, he passed the Great Hall. While hurriedly following the smell of fresh cupcakes, he accidentally ran face first into the outstretched wings of a pony that he had never before seen in this part of the palace. It was one of Luna’s guards.

“Sorry did not see you there, was sort of lost in thought. Have a good day, bye.” He hurriedly said as he continued on his way to the kitchens. As he opened the doors to the palace kitchens that he saw a tray laid on the counter lined with nothing but ice cream filled cupcakes. Beside the pan was a note.

Dear spike,

By now you have probably worried your self into a ravenous appetite, in preparation for this i ordered these cupcakes      from Pinkie Pie as a special order for you and you only.

With Love your closest friend.

Twilight.

After reading the letter from twilight he realized just how lucky he was to have her as his friend. even with so much on her shoulders these days she still took time out to make sure that he was always taken care of and happy. He put the letter down and gingerly picked up one of the cupcakes she had made just for him. he took a bite of it and savored it letting the cold creamy goodness calm him down and soothe his anxiety.

After finishing every delectable bite of each and every oh so delicious cupcake that he looked up at the clock on the wall. The time was elven forty-five not leaving much time until his meeting with the Princesses was to begin. After checking to make sure that he was not covered in ice cream and crumbs he hurriedly left the kitchens and made his way to the throne room.By the time he reached the throne room, barely five minutes remained before his meeting was to begin.

Just as he was beginning to fret he heard “You may now enter Spike.” From the other side of the large ornate doors. Taking one last deep breath he pushed open the doors and proceeded to walk into the throne room.

In all the time he spent in here as Twilight’s aide he had never realized how intimidating it could be to stand in front of the Princesses awaiting their decree. As he waited for them to say something he could see Luna and Twilight smiling at him while Celestia did her best to maintain all the dignity of her position as she informed him of his assignment.

“You have been brought here today Spike because it is the belief of many people that you are finally ready for your first assignment in another country. We do not commonly make a dragon the Envoy of Equestria so it is of the gravest importance for you to understand the gravity of your position.” As Celestia said this she began to smile despite her best efforts, because just as she had watched Twilight grow and mature so too had she watched Spike do the same.

“You will leave today on the five o’clock train to go to the Crystal Empire. You will arrive there around six in the morning the following day. Once you arrive at the Crystal Empire you and your Guard will make your way to the palace where Cadence will have some documents for you to sign on behalf of Equestria.” Celestia sighed heavily after saying this and continued with,

“From there, you will receive the rest of your briefing from her for she has a sealed scroll waiting for you with the specifics of what exactly we need of you in your official capacity as Equestria’s Envoy to the Gryphons empire of the griffins.”

Luna looks around as if something is wrong, when finally a knock is heard on the throne room door.

“Here is your guard. He is one of the top ponies in the Lunar Guard, and has even received awards on his flying from Rainbow Dash herself. Without further ado I present Storm Blade!” and as that was being said in walked a Stallion the same color as the darkest blue  the stormy night sky could have ever produce fading to a silver grey as it reached his legs. His deep purple mane was highlighted with a lighter blue green of the same shade seen when a tornado is in the area with a diamond of the same grey as that of his legs adorning his forehead. It was as he took of his crimson sunglasses that Spike recognized him.

“Oh, Hi sorry about earlier.” Spike said embarrassedly now realizing the pony he ran into early was not only one of Princess Luna’s personal guard but now his traveling companion.

“Well for future reference it might help get around with your eyes and not your nose regardless of how good the food from the kitchen smells, ok?”

Spike scratched the back of his neck nodded his head, “yeah you’re probably right. I just can’t help it when I am nervous my stomach sort of takes over. And it doesn’t help when you can smell the cupcakes that were in there waiting.” With that said everyone in the throne room started laughing making spike once again feel a little embarrassed to be caught for his true motive of accidentally bumping into Storm Blade.

“Well it seems that since you two already seem to have already run into one another no further intro is needed. I recommend you both get some food that is not solely sweet related and then say your good byes.” With that said Celestia nodded to Luna and Twilight and led them down from the dais officially ending court in the Throne Room.

When Twilight and Luna reached Spike and Storm Blade Twilight tilted her head signaling for them to follow them out of the chamber.

"So Storm Blade is it true that you were one of the student’s Rainbow herself helped train up for Luna for her personal guard?” Twilight asked as they walked toward the dining hall.

“Yes it is, and in all my years I have never had a more demanding instructor than Commander Rainbow Dash. She always demanded the best out of us and should we have failed to deliver she would hand us over to the not so tender mercies of her predecessor Spitfire. Believe me when I tell you between the two of them I would rather deal with Spitfire when I mess up than Rainbow Dash because the Commander can come up with an obstacle course like none other. By the time you are done with it you can barely stand let alone move a single wing muscle.” Storm Blade said, shuddering with the memory of how bad those obstacle courses could be.

They continued down the hall a little Further when Storm Blade turned and asked Spike, “So how and when did you get taller and grow wings? I was under the Impression that only greed made dragons grow bigger.”

“Normally that is true, but due to the high level of magic I was regularly exposed to growing my dragon physiology was altered just enough that about the time I hit the age of twelve I had a large growth spurt bringing me to my current state.” Spike said happily walking along side Storm Blade.

Trust me the first thing we did when I witnessed his growth was to check his room for the beginnings of a treasure horde and then took him to the doctors. They said at the current time this is as large as they see him becoming. Which was a relief to us all.” Twilight said remember how the first time he grew when they lived in Ponyville he became a nasty greedy dragon.

Shaking her head as if to toss away the memory of the event she continued, “After we found out everything was normal with spike or as normal as you can ever call him, things went back to being pretty much normal.” Twilight said this while suppressing a laugh knowing that nothing is quite ever completely normal with their group of friends.

When they reached the entrance of the dining hall Luna opened the doors to allow Spike and Twilight in, but as Blade was about to pass her she stopped him.

“You are to leave your Lunar Guard armor with the steward we do not need any mishaps, such as what has occurred before. Do you understand me?” Luna said to him in a serious but quiet voice barely louder than the rustle of the night wind. Blade nodded and gave a small bow as he acknowledged what she said.

“I will not fail Princess not this time. Rest assured I will not let him come to any harm. I will make you proud of me again, I swear it!” The last part he said with conviction of a child desperate to make ammends. As if his whole being depended on this one mission, and with that said Luna stepped aside and let Storm Blade enter the dining hall.

"Just be careful and make sure you both return safely to us. we can not afford to loose either of you." Having said that Luna walked away taking a plate of food with her, so that she may dine with her sister.

For a long time after Storm Blade was never truly sure whether he had truly heard that or if it had all been a trick of his mind .

Spike sat down at the table and was almost instantaneously served with a plate of pristine rubies and emeralds to which he began to steadily work on consuming. While he ate he observed Blade Storm the pony seemed pretty confident but there was something about him that just seemed off, like the guy was worried that all the world was bearing down on his shoulders and he was determined to shoulder it alone. He sat apart from the rest of them. And ate his turnip and apple slice sandwich.

“Twilight what do you know of Storm Blade?” Spike asked quietly so as not to be overheard.

“Well beyond what was told to you when he arrived in the throne room, not much. He is one of Luna's most trusted gaurds and is almost always at her side. He has had some trouble in the past, but not much is known about the incident. Beyond that not much.”  Twilight whispered in return to Spike.

The rest of the time before they arrived at the train platform to leave for the Crystal Empire was uneventful. He picked up his stuff and double checked it one last time just for good measure. After that he just wandered around to a couple of his favorite spots. At four in the afternoon he arrived at the train station. He was a little sad he had not seen Rainbow Dash or any of the others before his departure. Letting out a heavy sigh he entered the train station.

“Surprise!!!!” Pinkie yelled from the top of her lungs all the while swinging from the railings just to land in front of him to give him a big hug. Looking around he saw most of the old gang Pinkie was there as was evident with her greeting and the decorations hung from floor to ceiling. As was Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

“Hey Spike just do me one favor” Rainbow was saying, “Make everything awesome, who knows I might be able to use it in one of my books.”

Spike hugged Rainbow and said gratefully, “I will do my best Rainbow Dash, who knows it might even be better than some of the adventures you have had.”

Applejack approached “Hey, remember to stand yer ground and follow your gut. That is unless it is rumbling for sweets. That can be a bad thing, like when you over indulged in ice cream.” Everyone having heard what Applejack said started busting out laughing.

Then there was Fluttershy, who quietly approached Spike and gave him a hug and said so quietly almost no one heard, “Be careful, we will miss you Spike.” And with that said she gave him an almost sisterly kiss on the cheek and walked away. leaving Spike glowing in the warmth of the affection given to him by all of his friends.

In the Back of the room off to himself Storm Blade watched a little envious of Spike. wishing that he too could have friends like that but ever since his failed mission five years before the others in the Lunar Guard treated him like a pariah, but maybe something would change if you completed this mission successfully. Maybe, just maybe he could have a friend again  and for just one person to be proud of him again.

By the time everything had finally quieted down it was time to get on the train bound for the Crystal Empire, and after everyone had given their final hugs he and Blade Storm boarded the train.