Of Claws and Hooves

Chapters

Prologue
Eye of the Beholder
Eyes that Betray
Behind Red Eyes

Prologue

Of Claws and Hooves
Prologue

It was early-afternoon by the time Drake woke up. Stretching his joints out, he got out of bed and headed over towards the window. Gazing over the vast expanse of trees before him, Drake could just make out the new farm, Sweet Apple Acres, which had just been built not even a month prior. He and his master had been living in these woods for nigh on thirty years, inside a tree that his master’s magic formed into a two story home. Heading down the stairs, Drake started returning the books scattered about to their proper places in the plethora of book shelves that allowed Drake’s master to continue his research. Reaching the main room, Drake noticed a letter sitting next to a breakfast his master had laid out for him. Drake reached down and read it as he ate,

Drake,

I went to the cave labs today. I feel I’m about to make a major breakthrough in my research. Once you wake up and get something in your stomach, I’d like you to join me as quickly as possible.

Waxing Crescent

‘That’s strange,’ Drake thought, ‘We haven’t used the cave labs in a while. Must be something that could explode he’s working on. This should be a fun day; I just wish I wasn’t so tired.’ With that, Drake yawned and headed over towards the basement stairs, then paused as the sun shone through the windows. ‘The passage from the basement lab is the fastest way to the caves, but it’s such a nice day out, I’m sure Waxing won’t mind if I fly over instead.’ Drake abruptly spun around and bounded for the door. Once outside, he spread his black wings, and with a great surge of strength, shot up into the clear blue skies.

After about an hour of soaring, Drake finally had arrived at the entrance of the cave. Lighting the torches that lined the cave walls, Drake headed deep underground for another hour and a half by the time he reached the door to the lab. Shoving it open, he saw his master, Waxing Crescent, fiddling with a tube that had a few buttons on the side, and a diamond glinting at one end. Clearing his throat, Drake announced his presence in the lab. Without even bothering to look, Waxing Crescent said “Sleep well eh Drake? Well now that you are here, would you go get the scroll labeled ‘Sealing Spells of the 2nd Age” from the top shelf? I would do it myself, but I want to get this last button installed before I continue.”

Drake unfurled his wings and slowly lifted himself forty feet into the air, to the top of the shelf and started digging around for the scroll requested. “Why don’t we have a ladder in here again? I couldn’t be that hard to have the Princess send us one. Or hay, I could even build us one. How hard could it be?” Drake shouted down, unrolling scrolls as he did. “Also, why didn’t they ever label their scrolls back in the 2nd Age? Make my job a lot easier.”

“The reason we don’t have a ladder is because I have such an excellent assistant. Why if it weren’t for your wings, I doubt I’d get half of my work done,” the dark silver unicorn replied, not taking his eyes off of his work. “As for the labeling, only the extremely wealthy owned scrolls back then or ponies that wrote their own scrolls. There was no need to label them. The only reason I have any that old is because Princess Celestia allowed me access to them. A perk of being a personal student of her’s I guess.” Using his magic, Waxing Crescent just managed to get everything into place on the funny little tube he was working on.

“What’s it going to do?” Drake asked as he descended with the requested scroll. Placing it down, he peered over his master’s shoulder to get a better look. Before him were a dozen hollow tubes, with only one end sealed by a diamond with a flat top, allowing the tube to stand erect on the table. On the outside where three buttons, a black triangle, a red circle, and one by the opening at the top that looked like a locking mechanism, except that it was glowing.

“That I’ll explain once I finish them. All that’s left is to construct the magical sealing lid, and then they’ll be complete. Why don’t you go downstairs and take a nap while I work? It’ll probably be another day or two before I finish them all,” Waxing Crescent stated as he started pushing his assistant towards the stairs.

“A two day nap?!” Drake exclaimed. “Have I really been sleeping that long recently?” A sense of worry was beginning to creep over him. Looking back at the deep blue eyes of the elder stallion, he knew it was true. “How much time do I have left?” Drake asked in a concerned whimper, as if he was only ten years old again.

The silver unicorn stroke his long white beard with his hoof, gazing at his assistant. Drake’s bright red eyes stood out from the rest of his black body, and could not contain the sadness that Drake felt at that moment. Waxing Crescent answered him, with a heavy heart, “I’d say about a week from today, but don’t worry, I’ll stay with you until the end. I promise. Now get downstairs and sleep, I’ll be needing you for the next part of my invention.” Drake followed his master’s wishes, and curled up in the basement and fell asleep.

Six days later, Drake woke up. Before him was a pile of gems that he’d never seen before. There were jewels of every type, emeralds as green as leaves, sapphires as blue as the ocean, and diamonds as clear as glass. All of those were overlooked by Drake, as he rested his eyes on the top of the pile. Sitting at the peak of the immense stack were hundreds of fire rubies, one of the rarest gems in the world. On top of those, were black gems that Drake had never seen before. Scratching his head, he went over and picked one up. Before he could do anything else, a voice answered the question that was buzzing through his head.

“Those would be black diamonds my boy. That pile there was sent to you by Drago, from about 45 years ago. White dragon flame works that way. That is how Starswirl the Bearded developed his future sight spells,” Waxing Crescent said from the top of the stairs, looking down at his assistant. “You have a day left, and there is much work to do. Please follow me,” he continued somberly.

Drake complied, following his master up the flight of stairs into the main lab section. Sitting on the work bench were but a dozen tubes sat six days prior, now sat almost a hundred. “Been busy I take it,” Drake sighed. “Sorry for..for…” Drake couldn’t finish that sentence. He knew deep down that it all ended tonight. Drake would never see Waxing Crescent again, and he had trouble accepting that. Looking at the pony working at the bench, Drake couldn’t help but think back to when the coat shined like polished silver, and had a golden flowing mane and tail. That had long ago turned white, and that’s when the beard came, because “a gold beard would be ridiculous” Waxing Crescent had explained. Knowing today was going to be the last time to see him was left Drake cold.

“Don’t be. We’ve both knew this day was coming, ever since Drago taught you what being a dragon assistant was all about. And my have you become a stunning example of a draconis,” Waxing Crescent said kindly. Looking at the dragon before him, Waxing Crescent couldn’t help but remember the tiny black ball of scales that hatched for him ninety years ago. Now at ninety years old, Drake’s was as tall as Princess Celestia at his shoulder, with a body thick with muscle and twice as long as it was tall. His long neck with black spikes running down the length of it, towards the tip of his tail, was longer than the princess was tall as well. “Every dragon must go through their hundred year slumber; it is how they truly grow. Just remember who you are when you awaken.” With that, Waxing Crescent walked back towards his bench.

“Now what I need you to do is breath your black flames into this end of tube. Simple enough?” Waxing Crescent explained, as he levitated a tube into the air. “Just enough to fill it.” Drake shot a burst of his black flame into the tube and watched his master seal it shut. “Excellent, now if this works properly, I’ll just have you fill them all up and we can go about making you comfortable.” Waxing then turned around, hit the red button and, while pointing the diamond towards himself, shouted “Test one, test two, test three. Does this thing work?” He then took his finger off the button, and pressed the black triangle. The latch opened up and released the black flame onto the ground, inside of which the image of Waxing shown in color saying “Test one, test two, test three. Does this thing work?” before vanishing.

“You made a recording device?” Drake asked. Out of all the things his master had made, this was probably the least spectacular.

“Indeed, and I’m thrilled that it works. Now fill up the rest please,” Waxing Crescent requested with a grin on his face. Within the hour, all the tubes were full of black flame, and Drake was almost asleep on his claws. “Let’s get you downstairs now.”

Drake managed to get his way to the basement, and crawled on top of the pile of gems. Turning his head towards Waxing Crescent, he couldn’t help but feel tears coming to his eyes. “I don’t want to sleep though. Who will I wake up to? You’ll be gone just like Twilight Sparkle died 5 years ago. I miss her as much as you do. She was like my mother,” Drake started, failing at his attempt to not cry. “And you just became a grandpa, and I haven’t gotten a chance to congratulate Shining Star on her son. And all of my friends back in Canterlot. What’ll I do without everypony?” Drake was sobbing at this point.

Waxing Crescent walked up and laid down next to the dragon that he had raised. “Princess Celestia will still be there, and you’ll be sure to make new friends. I doubt the dragon that you’ll be in charge of teaching will let you wallow in sadness. You didn’t let Drago do it once you met him now did you?” Waxing Crescent consoled Drake. “I know Twilight would have agreed with me, when I say anypony would be lucky to consider you their friend. She was the best wife I could’ve hoped for. She gave me quite a few foals, but I already had a son well before I met her. I’ll always love you Drake, never forget that.” Waxing Crescent stated, as he nuzzled his adoptive son from so many years ago, adding his own tears to Drake’s.

“I...I love you too… Daddy,” Drake managed to choke out between his sobs. He could feel himself drifting off already, but was too afraid to slip into his sleep. He spent his entire life with Waxing, helping him invent a multitude of objects that had improved everypony’s lives. All the failed experiments, that often ended in an explosion and both of them covered in soot. The day Drake grew his wings and how Waxing Crescent managed to have a Wonderbolt teach Drake how to fly. Finally, after crying himself dry, Drake drifted off to his century long slumber.

“Good night Drake, I love you,” the old unicorn sighed. Kissing Drake on top of his scaly head, he went up and collapsed the roof and walls around the staircase, sealing Drake away from any danger that may occur to him. He then turned to his work bench, gathered as many of the recording tubes as he could, and teleported to Canterlot. After a month, Waxing Crescent returned with only a dozen of the hundred recording devices, placing them on the table with a letter that had tear-stains written on it. Princess Celestia joined him for his last visit to the lab.

“I’ll make sure that he receives these Waxing, I promise you,” the Sun Goddess told him.

“Thank you Princess. Would you also do me the favor of destroying the rest of this lab? I’m too weak at this point to do much of anything,” Waxing asked. “I want no pony to find this spot and disturb Drake’s slumber.” After seeing the Princess’s nod, the old stallion teleported with her back to Canterlot for the last time, determined to finally join his lost wife.

100 years later

Spike hurried to keep up with Rarity. Spike had seen Rarity use the gem seeking spell countless times, but he never saw it drag her across the gorge like it was this time. Running as fast as his baby dragon legs could take him, he barely reached Rarity in time to stop her from crashing into a wall. “What’s going on Rarity? We’ve never been this far in the gorge before,” Spike panted out.

“I’m not sure Spike. I was focusing on finding fire rubies, for an order made by Fancy Pants, and my horn just took over,” Rarity explained. “Thankfully it hadn’t rained recently, or I would be absolutely filthy. Regardless, there seems to be a large amount of fire rubies beyond this wall, shall we investigate?”

Spike didn’t even need Rarity to ask. He was already clawing his way through the mountain, not only because Rarity requested it, but his hunger for a fire ruby was so intense that he’d rip through the entire cliff side if he had to. He wasn’t prepared for only digging for five feet, and falling down a blacken staircase. “What in the hay?” Spike muttered to himself. He was sitting in a big empty room, and that was about all he could see at that moment.

“SPIKE?” he heard Rarity shout down to him. “Are you ok Spiky?” Rarity had begun her descent using her horn as a light. “Oh my word,” Rarity could hardly understand what she saw before her. What appeared to be a destroyed workplace with nothing remaining except a stone table with a dozen dusty tubes sitting on it. “Oh, but what is this?” Rarity voiced aloud as she saw a letter. Looking at the letter, she saw Celestia’s royal seal and it being addressed to somepony named Drake.

Spike was busy using his nose to sniff out the fire rubies Rarity’s horn had detected. Spike’s trusty nose had led him to another wall that he instantly started digging out. Just like the first, this one hid another staircase that Spike wasn’t expecting. Falling down his second flight of stairs, he descended into a second darker chamber. It seemed that the ceiling sloped down, for the darkness was much closer to the ground on the other end of the room. He could also hear a slight breeze flowing through the room, and noticed it was slightly damp.

Shrugging this off, Spike found a torch and lit it with his breath. He promptly dropped it to the ground. There before him was a stack of gems that had more fire rubies than he’d ever seen before. “Rarity, I found all the fire rubies you could ever want down here!” Spike shouted to his companion as he headed to the pile.

Climbing to the top, by the low black ceiling, he stopped and picked up one of the rubies. “She’ll never miss one of these,” Spike mentioned to himself as he tossed it up in the air and caught it in his mouth. With a resounding crunch, Spike swallowed the delicious gem. Turning around to grab a second, Spike was confronted with a bright red eye, the size of a dinner plate glaring at him. He screamed louder than he had in a long time, as a black claw the size of a chair reached out and grabbed him.

Eye of the Beholder

Of Claws and Hooves
Chapter 1: The Eye of the Beholder

Rarity had not even noticed that her tiny companion had continued to venture throughout the cave. She was too busy examining these strange tubes, and wondering why a letter from the Princess would be in a locked off cave. ‘I should bring one of these to Twilight, she’d know what they are,’ Rarity thought to herself, lowering one of the strange devices into her saddle bag. Then she heard Spike call something out from deeper into the cavern.

“What was that Spike?” Rarity shouted back, as she followed the sound of the baby dragon’s voice. She couldn’t help but feel slightly spooked by the darkness that surrounded her, even with her horn producing a soft blue glow. Then she heard a scream that sent chills through her body. Galloping as fast as she could towards the sound, she found another exposed staircase, and started to rapidly descend into the darkness below.

Drake held the baby dragon is his claw. It had quickly fainted as soon as he had reached out to grab it. ‘Strange that one so young would be far from his mother,’ Drake thought to himself. That idea left him rather worried, for he was in no shape to fight an angry dragoness at after having just woken from his hundred year slumber. Drake quickly made up his mind to leave the purple child her, and use the secret pathway towards the tree lab to avoid a confrontation.

Gently placing the baby down, Drake shoved as many gems into his gullet as he could before he made his leave when he heard someone running down the stairs, screaming “Spike?!?!” Glancing towards the stairs, he could make out a soft blue glow. Then appeared a marvelous white unicorn, with a royal looking mane and tail of deep purple, staring at him with a look of fear and as she saw Drake’s hulking figure hovering over the baby dragon unconscious before him.

“What did you do to him?” Rarity yelled at the massive dragon before her. He was not quite as large as the one Princess Celestia had asked her and her friends to ask to move, but he was easily twice as tall as the Princess at his shoulder, and was about three times longer than he was tall. His slender neck stretched out and sniffed first Spike, and then turned towards Rarity.

“Is this one yours?” Drake asked his voice a low rumble that he was not used to. His lessons with Drago prepared him for this change, but knowing something and experiencing it are vastly different. “Answer me, for the longer you delay, the longer I’m delayed from seeing Celestia.”

“Spike is my very good friend, if that’s what you mean to ask,” Rarity answered in a rather defensive voice. ‘What does this dragon want to do with the Princess? I need to let Twilight know about this as fast as I can,’ Rarity thought in the back of her mind. It took all of her willpower to stand her ground right before such a terrifying dragon. “If this has anything to do with Spike eating your gems, I promise I’ll replace any that he may’ve eaten.” Rarity hoped her generosity would be enough to sedate the dragon before her.

Drake took a deep breath, realizing that this pony was not the one he had hoped, but this little ball of purple and green scales was whom his destiny would be intertwined with. “Fair enough. I do not require recompense for the gem he ate, for it’ll come around in due time. Take him a leave; there is much I must do,” Drake said as soothingly as his draconic voice would allow. He watched as the unicorn levitated Spike across the room towards herself, bringing a memory of when he was young and Waxing Crescent carried him in the same way. The dragon felt water begin to collect in his eyes at the thought of his adoptive father, but quickly cleared his mind for the task at hand.

Once Rarity had Spike on her back, she turned to run back up the stairs before the dragon at her back called to her once more. “What is your name pony?” the beast rumbled, his deep voice shaking the cave.

“I am Lady Rarity, and now if you excuse me, I really wish to get going,” Rarity answered briskly before running the rest of the way out of the cave. ‘What was I thinking answering a dragon like that? He could’ve roasted me,’ Rarity thought to herself as she prepared her teleportation spell. With a flash of light, she and Spike appeared right outside of Twilight’s library.

Drake had to laugh to himself about the unicorn’s retort. Never before had he seen a pony be so rude to a dragon his size before. He admired her tenacity. Drake found the lever behind his pile of gems, and pulled it down, revealing the passageway heading towards his old home. ‘I wonder how much it changed? And I wonder if Sweet Apple Acres is still around, what I wouldn’t give for a nice juicy apple after that long sleep,’ Drake thought to himself as he started his hour long trek underground towards his former home.

Spike awoke an hour later in his basket next to Twilight’s bed. The last thing he could remember was a massive dragon reaching out and grabbing him while he was looking for gems with… “Rarity!” Spike yelled as him jumped out from the covers. He had to get Twilight so they could go save Rarity. As Spike turned the corner, he crashed into Twilight Sparkle.

“Spike! Thank goodness you’re ok,” Twilight said as she hugged the little dragon. “Rarity brought you here as fast as she could, and we weren’t sure if the dragon did anything to you.” Twilight pushed her number one assistant away from her by his shoulders and looked over him. “You are ok right?”

“Yea Twi, just worried that Rar…” Spike didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as a huge earthquake just decided to strike. He and Twilight Sparkle dove underneath a table, waiting for the ground to stop shaking, but it only intensified. Twilight and Spike could hear a scrapping coming from outside of their home, and then bursting from the ground, a pillar of black flame shot up twenty feet into the sky.

It had taken Drake over an hour to reach the door to the tree lab, but then he noticed a problem he did not think about earlier. The door to the basement of the tree house he one lived in was big enough for him a hundred years ago, but now that his size has doubled it would be a pain to get more than his neck inside. Scanning about, Drake realized he could either turn around, or dig his way out. Deciding it’d be good to exercise his sleepy limbs, the dragon started scraping his way up through the earth. It felt good for Drake to exert his muscles, forcing the hard dirt out of his way with claws and flames.

Digging for about a half an hour, he breathed his black flames and finally saw the earth finally give way. Dragging the rest of his body out from the ground, the great black dragon stretched out and glanced around the area that had been his home, and was shocked at what he saw. Surrounding his once lonely tree were countless houses and businesses. He could see ponies of every type running about in a panic at having a dragon erupt from the ground. ‘Thank goodness I wasn’t under somepony’s house as I was digging my way out. I could’ve really hurt somepony,’ Drake thought to himself relieved. Glancing at his old home, a feeling of sadness crept over him again as his fond memories flashed behind his eyes. If anypony took a moment to look, they would see tears forming in those brilliant red eyes before he shut them tight.

‘I can mourn for my pass life later, first I must see Celestia. She’ll know where I am to go from here,’ Drake reaffirmed in his mind. ‘But I can treat myself to a couple dozen apples on my way, if that orchard is still open that is.’ With that final thought, Drake spread his mighty black wings, blotting out the sun of all those under him before taking off in a gust of wind. Once air borne, he could make out the worn sign of the orchard he was flying towards.

Spike could’ve sworn he saw tears in those red eyes before the dragon turned and flew off, but why would it be crying for looking at the library. He didn’t have much time to dwell on this, for Twilight was already barking at him to send a report to Princess Celestia immediately, as she galloped out of her house to find her friends. Spike had just sent the letter, and was heading outside to check the damage that the dragon had caused when he burped up the Princess’s response.

Dear Spike,

Please don’t show this letter to Twilight. It will only cause her panic, and that is the last thing I wish to cause anypony. I am currently away on a political matter of the utmost importance, and will be unable to do anything. Rest assured though, that dragon means no pony harm, as long as no one aggravates him. He is an old friend, and will probably head to Canterlot soon. Please write to Princess Luna and tell her to go into the bottom draw of my study’s table and read the letter there. It should help her with his arrival. Just try and keep everypony in Ponyville calm until then.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

Spike’s bewildered look as he read through the letter a couple times was quite priceless. Following the Princess’s orders though, we quickly wrote to Princess Luna and sent the letter on its merry way. Afterwards, he finally got outside to hear Rose crying out in anguish. Rushing to her side, Spike questioned her. “Rose are you okay? What happened?” Spike asked full of concern.

“My garden!! That dragon destroyed my garden!!” Rose half yelled half sobbed. Spike could see how distraught she was, and was compelled to help her out. Running back inside, Spike grabbed his coin purse and took Rose to Sugarcube Corner to get her mind off of things. When the two of them arrived, Spike noticed Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and a cowering Fluttershy.

“Has anypony seen Applejack?” Twilight asked the gathered friends. “She’s the only one we are missing, and the only one that hasn’t been filled in as to what is going on yet.” As if on cue, Applejack came bursting into the store.

“Girls I need ya help big time,” Applejack managed to get out in between her heavy breathing. “A big ol’ black dragon just showed up at the farm, and grabbed Granny Smith and flew off.” Applejack was barely holding together, worried sick about her grandmother. “What are we going to do?”

“We go save her! Come on girls,” Twilight announced. With that, all the ponies ran out of the building, dragging Fluttershy with them by her tail. Spike stared wondering why a supposedly “friendly” dragon would kidnap such a frail old pony.

Drake flew quickly over the rows of apple trees. This was the first time he was happy since he had woken up earlier that day. He always liked the Apple family, and helped them till the earth when they first arrived. Their hospitality was unmatched as well, which would cheer the saddened dragon up immensely to converse with a pony.

As his shadow swept over the orchards, he noticed two ponies working by the trees stare up at him in utter fear. One was a large red stallion, with a blond mane and tail, and a green apple as a cutie mark. The other was an orange mare, with the same blond hair as the stallion. On her flank were three bright red apples. She appeared to be slightly more muscled than the unicorn he saw earlier, but he reasoned it was the hard labor that did so. Deciding to land by the farmstead, so to properly introduce himself, he noticed a small filly with no cutie mark and an elderly green mare with her back to him.

“Now, who darn turned the wind up? Blasted pegasus ponies messing with the weather,” the old mare complained. “Apple Bloom, be a dear and get me a blanket.” The young filly, which Drake assumed was this Apple Bloom, sat deathly still, staring at Drake whom had just landed.

“I am sorry for having stirred up the wind on my landing. The last thing I would wish to do is cause discomfort to anypony,” Drake’s thunderous voice explained. “It has just been a long time since I had eaten any apples, and memories of this farm prompted me to return and feast while here.” Drake watched as the old pony turned to face him. Surprised shone in Drake’s eyes as the old mare’s face lit up.

“Sweet Celestia above, Drake is that you?” the old mare asked. “It’s me, Green Smith, though now I’m Granny Smith. You helped my family out when we were first planting trees in these here orchards. You’ve grown to be quite a sight now.”

It took Drake a moment, but he soon recognized the old mare standing before him. Over a hundred years ago, when Sweet Apple Acres first was being built, the Apple family did have a little green filly named Green Smith that he babysat a couple times. Drake flashed a toothy grin as he reached down and hoisted the elderly mare into a soft embrace, tears dancing under his eyes. “I thought everypony I knew would be long gone by the time I awoke. Never did I imagine a friend would still be alive,” Drake roared happily.

“I’m happy to see you too Drake,” Granny Smith laughed, graciously returning the hug. “Now how about we find you some good apples to munch on. Get your hide into the sky, and we’ll find you some ripe ones.” With her encouragement, Drake lifted into the air still cradling the elder pony in his claws. Seconds later Applejack and her big brother had gotten to the barn to see their grandmother flying away in the dragon’s claws.

“That monster just kidnapped Granny Smith! Big Mac, stay here with Apple Bloom, I’ll go get my friends to save
Granny,” Applejack barked, as she was already galloping away to her friends for help. She only hoped they’d be able to.

Eyes that Betray

Of Claws and Hooves
Chapter 2: Eyes That Betray

Drake had just finished digging a row of dirt up with his claws as one of the newest farm ponies approached him. “Thank ya so much Drake for helping getting the ground ready to plant our apple trees,” he said, “It would’ve taken us days to get all this ground tilled.”

Drake rolled his large shoulders. “It was no problem. Waning Crescent didn’t have any work for me to do today, and I always enjoy lending a helping claw out.” Glancing behind him, he could see little Greeny Smith running up to him and her father with a jar of rainbow colored jam on her back.

“Hiya Drake! I got the last of the Zap Apple Jam all put away, and figured you’d like a jar,” Greeny Smith chimed. She was hopping around the juvenile dragon excitedly as usual. “I just know you’re going to love it!”

Drake laughed as he picked up the little filly into a hug. “Of course I will silly filly,” Drake chuckled. He enjoyed his days off from working with his master more so than he once did since the Apple family moved in. He often grew bored since leaving Canterlot with Waning Crescent, but now with this new family around, he had more friends. They even let him watch little Greeny Smith as a foalsitter on occasion. He cherished those times the most of all. He wished they could last forever…

Drake had to shake his head of memories again as he and Granny Smith started to land. They were on a hill deep in Sweet Apple Acres that over looked most of the property. Here stood the oldest and largest of the apple trees in the entire orchard, taller than even the dragon before them. “These here trees were the first apple trees planted on Sweet Apple Acres. Even my grandkids can’t buck the apples off of these branches I attribute that to the farm help we had while planting them. Haveta be as stubborn as a dragon to get these apples,” Granny Smith joked.

With a gentle nudge from his old friend, Drake reared back and struck at the trunk of the giant trees. Soon, dozens of apples fell off the branches, and into the claws of the dragon below. Shoving a clawful into his mouth, he set down the others in front of the elderly mare next to him. Drake grinned as he ate the juicy fruit. The sweetness was greater than any gem he had eaten since he awoke and memories of dinners with the Apple family and his old master flashed before his eyes.

Granny Smith looked up to see the emotional storm raging behind the dragon’s red eyes, and a wave of sorrow swept over the old mare. She had experienced more loss in her life than most ponies ever would; she had seen some of the blackest parts of this world, but looking at Drake, she could only imagine what he left like. He lost not only his friends and family, but was thrust into a world he no longer understood. “I’m so sorry Drake, I can only imagine what it must be like for you right now,” she said, placing a hoof on the leg of the black dragon before her. “But just you remember; you aren’t alone anymore.”

Drake blinked a few times before bringing his head to look the mare in the eye. “Thank you Greeny, but I don’t have time to focus on the past. At least not yet,” Drake murmured the latter only to himself. Just then he heard a rushing of air coming towards him and Granny Smith. Before he could so much as turn his head, a cyan pegasus slammed into the side of his head, knocking him off balance. In the corner of his eyes, he could see that if he stumbled and stayed standing, he may hurt the mare next to him, so he took a dive and landed safely away from his friend.

“And stay down, if you know what’s good for you!” the new comer shouted down at him. Drake’s gaze flew up and glared at this annoyance. The streamlined pegasus had a rainbow colored mane and tail, with a cutie mark in the shape of a lightning bolt of red, blue, and yellow shooting out of a white cloud. “Now what do you want with our Princess?”

Drake could feel his blood boiling at this point, but quickly regained his calm demeanor. If he lost his temper now, half of Sweet Apple Acres would be flattened. Taking on the most civil tone he could, he started to try and explain himself. Or he would if a blast of purple magic didn’t blast him in the chest. He roared in discomfort as he was pushed further from the hill by the sheer force of the magic.

“Rainbow, why did you fly off without us? But good job on getting him away from Granny Smith,” a purple unicorn yelled. Drake saw surrounding her were four other mares. He recognized two of them, the orange and white one, but then a pink earth pony with a cotton candy mane and cream colored pegasus with light pink mane, were also with them.

“Twilight, that’s the same dragon that Spike and I discovered in the cave!” Rarity yelled. She hid from the Drake’s view, fearful that the dragon would remember her rudeness earlier.

“Now Applejack, what in tarnation are you doing?” Granny Smith yelled at her granddaughter. Granny positioned herself in between Drake and the newcomers, but Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack quickly went to move her.

“Don’t worry Granny, once I saw you get taken by this big old dragon, I ran and got Twilight Sparkle and all my friends to save you. Now get behind us,” Applejack said, as she started to push her grandmother out of harm’s way. It took both all three of the mares to move the old mare.

Only Fluttershy, who never took her eyes off the dragon’s bright red eyes noticed the pain that flashed behind them at the mention of Twilight’s name. Before she could even fathom why the name would hurt the dragon, he closed his eyes and shook his head violently. Fluttershy screamed as the dragon stood back up and shifted his gaze to the ponies below. “Um… Girls, I think we made him angry,” Fluttershy managed to stutter out.

“Well then, I will say this just once then, Mister Dragon. You leave Ponyville and our Princess alone,” Twilight shouted at the looming black beast before her.

“I shall leave this town for the time being, but I shall return soon enough. My work here is not yet done,” Drake spoke, his voice shaking the ground beneath the ponies. Snaking his head past them, he touched Granny Smith on her head and said “Farwell old friend, I will return sooner than later.” The great black dragon then spread his wings and took off, leaving a bunch of open mouth mares staring at their elder.

“Granny Smith, did you know that dragon?” Rarity managed to ask.

“Why yes, I do know him. He was a good friend of mine when I first came to Ponyville, and you best all start getting ready to apologize to him when he gets back. In the mean time though, you are going to help clean up around here for attacking that poor creature,” Granny Smith scowled at the youngsters before her. She was also worried about Drake as he continued to fly towards Canterlot. "Now follow me so I can put you to work."

Spike was pacing back and forth upstairs in the library. He hadn’t heard any news from Twilight since she left, but he had heard a mighty roar coming from over by Sweet Apple Acres. The couple of ponies that were inside the library looked up in shock hearing such a frightening sound. “Nothing to worry about everypony; I just stubbed my toe is all,” Spike shouted down from his vantage point.

Looking next to him, she saw the three letters he had burped up since this morning, One from Princess Celestia, and two from Princess Luna. The first of Luna’s simply thanked Spike for letting her know about the situation. The second of the letters though described who the dragon was, and why he was here. That letter brought forth old doubts and fears Spike had from a year ago. Back then, he joined the Great Dragon Migration but learned nothing of his origins. He had accepted this fact, and moved on with his life, but now this red eyed black dragon was going to answer everything.

Spike sighed, ‘Am I ready to learn all of that? I thought I was over all of “who am I” stuff already, but why is it now all I’m thinking about again?’ Peewee, his young phoenix friend flew over and rested his head on Spike’s shoulder. “Thanks little guy,” Spike sighed, petting the phoenix. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for any of this, but at least he wouldn’t be doing it alone.

Drake rubbed his sore chest as he flew, suppressing painful memories of his previous life as he flew. ‘That unicorn’s name was Twilight Sparkle? And her magic was stronger than anything Waning Crescent could conjure up. I wonder if they are related,’ the dragon thought. Shaking his head clear of such thoughts, he tried to regain his focus. ‘I have to find Princess Celestia and let her know I’m awake. She’ll tell me everything else I need to know.’ Drake was determined to not to fail his duty.

Flying higher than most pegasus would dare, Drake finally entered Canterlotian air space. This set off a variety of early warning systems that had been put in place since the attempted changeling invasion, and an immediate response team took off. Drake was zoning out when he felt something scratch his scales. Looking down, he saw dozens of war chariots being pulled by the royal guard, with a unicorn sitting in the back of each one.

“You are flying in restricted airspace dragon, leave the area at once or we will attack,” one unicorn shouted. The chariots surrounded Drake, giving him very little room to do much, including leave. “You have ten seconds to comply.”

Drake sighed inwardly. He truly did not want to fight anypony, but he had to see the Princess. If these guards wished to get in the way, he’d just avoid them until Celestia showed up. ‘That shouldn’t take too long,’ thought Drake, ‘I wonder if how well these pegasi can fly with those chariots?’ With that, Drake tucked his wings into his body and plummeted down towards the earth, quickly followed by the royal guard.

Spike heard Twilight enter the library after a few hours. He instant rushed down to make sure she was alright, but stopped at the top of the stairs when he saw her. She was covered in mud and sweat, her mane was in a complete wreck, and he could smell her from the stairs. Spike did the only rational thing he could think of at that moment in time, and doubled over in a fit of laughter.

“Oh laugh it up Spike,” Twilight grumbled, “you didn’t have to spend the last 2 hours working Sweet Apple Acres without magic. Granny Smith wouldn’t even let Rainbow Dash fly as we worked. I just feel bad for what Applejack had to do.”

“What happened to her?” Spike barely got out in between laughing.

“Granny Smith is making her baby sit the Cutie Mark Crusaders for the next month,” Twilight stated, slowly giggling to herself at her friend’s misfortune. “So any word from the Princess?”

Spike hesitated with his answer. Part of him really wanted to tell Twilight what he had learned about the dragon, but then he remembered how Princess Celestia had told him not to let Twilight know, and Luna had made it clear that she agreed with her sister on this matter. So Spike answered the best he could, “She said not to worry about it.”

Twilight looked at her number one assistant, knowing that he was hiding something. His emerald green eyes showed plain as day he was, but Twilight unsure how to coax it out of him or if she should. Last time he acted like this, it was right before he went on the Great Dragon Migration to discover his true self. Twilight thought back to all the other times Spike had been there for her. She walked over to her lifelong companion, and gave him a tight hug. “Ok Spike, I trust you.”

Nothing Twilight Sparkle could have said would make Spike feel any worse than he did as he hugged her back. He had just lied to his best friend and mother figure, how could he forgive himself for that? ‘It’s what the Princesses wanted me to do, I just have to keep reminding myself of that,’ Spike determined. Breaking the hug he looked at the purple unicorn in front of him. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up, and I’ll make some dinner,” Spike suggested.

Twilight giggled, “I guess I do kind of need one. Okay, I’ll make it a quick shower.” Spike waited another half an hour before he started cooking; knowing that Twilight’s definition of a quick shower was about 2 hours. Spike just hummed to himself as he started up the oven, wondering what the black dragon was doing at this point in time.

To anypony on the ground, the spectacle happening above them would be awe inspiring. A great black dragon was flying with the grace of a Wonderbolt, as the royal guard chariot division attacked it with all of their might. While the dragon was able to dodge a majority of the spears thrown at him, his sheer size prevented him from avoiding them all.

Drake scanned the sky, noticing how a few of the chariots were hot on his tail. Quickly rotating his wings in their sockets, he started a loop that allowed him to fly over top, but quickly readjusted the angle to allow him to climb vertically away from the guards. A few more spears flew towards him, thrown by chariots attempting to catch the speeding beast. Drake tucked his wings close to his body, doing a couple barrel rolls to avoid the points, and spread his out again.

‘This is getting me nowhere but every time I try and open my mouth to explain, they start blasting me with spells,’ Drake thought, ducking his head from a stray blast of magic. He reached out with his claw and knocked off a few of the spears that were imbedded in his thick scales before back flipping away from a few more chariots that were quickly approaching.
Suddenly, Drake felt a sharp pain coming from one of his wings. He allowed himself a quick glance to see a small hole in one of his wing membranes. This did not worry him to terribly much, since dragon wings healed rather quickly, but if the guards kept poking holes he’d be forced to land. ‘I can’t let this keep going, perhaps I can scare them off,’ Drake decided. Lashing out with his tail, Drake shattered the harness to one of the chariots, sending the unicorn in the back seat falling to his death.

Drake’s eyes shrank with fear for the pony that fell towards his demise. Drake quickly dove down, extending his claw to catch the unicorn. He managed to grab the unicorn and pull out of the dive with just enough room to feel the tips of the trees tickle his stomach. The unicorn had passed out on his way down, apparently accepting his fate, so Drake placed him safely down before leaping back into the sky.

While Drake had saved their falling comrade, the rest of the chariot division had lined up and all prepared to hit the dragon with everything they had all at once. The captain figured that if that didn’t stop the dragon, then nothing but one of the Princesses could. He held his hoof up to signal the attack. Once the dragon was about level, the captain threw his hoof forward and screamed, “NOW!! OPEN FIRE!!”

Drake glanced up in time to see a cloud of spears and magic blasts of energy flying towards him. The pain he felt was immense; and he could feel his blood boiling in rage as the ponies continued to pelt him. Trying with all of might to contain his building fury, Drake let out a bellowing roar; shaking the earth so many miles below him. After the assault ended, Drake simply glared at the royal guard before him, with their jaws dropped in disbelief that anything could survive that attack.

Drake no longer cared about his mission, his past, or the safety of the ponies before him. All he felt was rage aimed at those that hurt him. “You should all run now,” Drake growled menacingly, black flames flickering behind his razor sharp teeth, “I like it more when my prey runs.” With that said, Drake sped towards the closest chariot.

Princess Luna had been in the middle of dealing with her “nephew's”, Prince Blueblood, complaints of being treated like a common workpony when a mighty roar shook the entire castle. Prince Blueblood instantly collapsed into a fit of crying, Luna’s personal guard jumped into action to ensure their liege’s safety, but Luna was already rushing out of the hall, towards the military barracks. It was only a short sprint away from the main hall, and reaching the building Luna knew something was wrong.

Heading over towards Shining Armor, the captain of Canterlot security, Luna demanded to know what was happening. “A large dragon entered Canterlot airspace about an hour ago. The Chariot Division was sent to intercept and an engagement broke out. They just used all of their fire power in a single shot, but that only made the dragon angry, and now he’s ripping through their ranks like a fat filly through hay fires,” Shining Armor explained. His men stared at him in his briskness with Princess Luna, but being married to a princess himself gave him a slight allowance when dealing with Luna and Celestia.

“This dragon, is he black with red eyes?” Luna inquired, worrying about what she may have to do if she could not calm the dragon down.

“It is indeed, your Highness. I can’t send any more of my men out there, it’s too dangerous,” Shining Armor stated. “I’m calling for a full retreat, and I’ll erect the force field to protect the city, but that’s about all the Royal Guard will be able to do.”

Luna simply nodded at this. “So be it, I shall go deal with this dragon myself. Signal the retreat,” the Midnight Princess declared. “And no pony is to interfere in the coming exchange, do I make myself clear?” The blue alicorn did not need to look back to know everypony nodding their agreement. Spreading her wings, the Goddess of the Moon took flight towards the rampaging friend of her dear sister, prepared to put a stop to him with any means necessary.

Behind Red Eyes

Of Claws and Hooves
Chapter 3: Behind Red Eyes

For the few ponies on the road towards Canterlot, only one thought was crossing their minds at this moment. Discord would be proud.

The air above was in absolute chaos. A large black dragon was destroying countless chariots, sending members of the Royal Guard dropping out of the air towards the ground, only for them to use a quick spell or spread their wings to avoid any severe injuries. Many were knocked unconscious when they hit the ground, with broken bones occasionally jutting out of the guards’ skin. Those ponies that were traveling on the road quickly dragged the members on the ground underneath trees to avoid the falling wood.

Up in the air, the situation was worse. Random bolts of magic shoot from the few chariots left intact whizzed by the assaulting dragon, almost hitting the pegasi that were zipping around the beast as a distraction. “We need to get as many ponies out of the area! If we don’t somepony could ge...AHHH!” one of the pegasi attempted to shout before getting struck by the dragon’s tail. One of his friends quickly dove to catch his falling comrade, just in time to lessen the impact with the ground.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let any of you die yet. I was just going to roast you all after I claimed the sky,” Drake growled, his black fire flaring behind his teeth. With a quick swing of his claws, he smashed the last chariot out of the sky, watching its occupants plummet to the ground. ‘Now that just leaves these annoying pegasi. I’ll just show them why dragons rule the skies.’

Spreading his wings out as far as he could, Drake dashed up in the air higher than a pegasus can get and started buffeting the air. The strength of his great wings created a gale strong enough to send the pegasi left in the air spiraling down towards the ground. ‘Oops, looks like I may have over down it. They’re going to crash hard,’ Drake grimly thought. ‘I hate it when my food gets flattened though.’ Drake puffed out a cloud of smoke from his nostrils and started to descend to start cooking his meal.

But, the ponies didn’t crash on the ground like he thought they would. A sudden deep blue aura caught them and gently placed them on the ground. Before Drake could even figure what caused that, all of the ponies blinked out of existence in a flash of blinding light. The angry dragon roared in frustration and started scanning the ground for the unicorn that stole his prey. Then he heard a shout which dwarfed even his roars in volume.

“DO NOT BOTHER SEARCHING THE GROUND FOR THE PONIES. I WOULD NEVER ALLOW MY SUBJECTS TO BE MORSELS FOR SUCH A BEAST AS YOU HAVE BECOME!” the voice called out. A quick scan of the sky, Drake found a navy blue alicorn hovering almost a mile above him. Her mane and tailed appeared to be made of the night sky, and her flank was black with the silver moon as her cutie mark. The mysterious being again spoke up, “I DO NOT WISH TO QUARREL WITH YOU THOUGH, SO PLEASE LAND AND LET US SPEAK LIKE CIVILIZED CREATURES. I IMPLORE YOU”

Drake was ignoring all the words this new arrival had launched towards him, flying with all his might to meet this new challenge. As he approached he opened his maw and released a torrent of black flames, almost 300 feet in length towards the Mistress of Midnight. Luna quickly enveloped herself in a shield and was pushed back by the force of the flames. Teleporting out of the inferno, Luna reappeared on the back of the dragon and focused intently on a spell. After she hit her target, Drake visibly eased and saw the tension and angry dissipate from his body.

“There, doesn’t that feel better?” Luna asked the slowly descending dragon, still sitting on his back. “Now how about we have a little conversation?” The dragon grunted in reply as he landed, watching the alicorn hop off his back. She promptly spun about and flashed him a grin.

Now that he had calmed down and stopped viewing everypony as a target, he noticed she was wearing a black crown. Drake decided it was best to vocalize his confusion, “Who are you, and why do you have a crown? How’d you calm me down? Also, where is Princess Celestia she’s the one I need to talk to.” Laying his head down so he was closer to eye level with this new arrival, Drake noted that she was not as tall as Celestia, but still had an air of royalty around her.

“Yes, well I am Princess Luna, younger sister of Celestia. So that answers the first part of your question. The method I used to calm you down was a spell of my own invention that I use on nobles that request a court audience with me. I find it easier to deal with people when they aren’t yelling all the time, though Celestia has forbidden me from using it since my return. And as for my dear sister, Tia is currently in Fillydelphia, where she has to help prevent a riot since their hoofball team won the championship. She plans to stop by Ponyville on her way here to meet us,” Luna answered happily. “So Drake and yes I know your real name, why did you decide to attempt to munch on some of the best of the Royal Guard?” Luna asked never losing her smile, but having her voice become much more serious.

“I was completely bombarded by spells and spears, and I just lost control. Dragons are pretty emotion driven creatures, and once one takes over, very little matters. I’m really sorry about it all, and glad no pony got seriously hurt, but there wasn’t anything I could do at that point,” Drake answered sadly. He hated that part of him, the monster that appeared if he didn’t control himself. “Thank you for stopping me. I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to calm down myself.”

“Do not mention it. Tia informed me that you were a friend, it was the least I could do,” Luna replied. Just then a scroll appeared in a flash of purple magic. Taking the letter, Luna looked over the contents before continuing, “It seems that no pony was harmed worse than broken bones and a few concussions. That and the need for some therapy, it’s not every day that you face an angry dragon. So no harm no foul.” Luna stared back at Drake for a while, trying to figure out what he was thinking. She too had a demon inside her not to long ago, so she somewhat shared in his pain. She just couldn’t tell what was going on behind those red eyes though. “Is there anything else you would like to know?”

“Could you tell me what’s been going on in the past hundred years? I wasn’t expecting a town by the old tree lab, and where’s Ponyville?” Drake requested. He mind was still trying to understand everything that was going on. “Oh and when did Canterlot Airspace become something?”

Luna gleefully smiled at that request, having spent most of the last two years reading up on history to catch up on the missed thousand years. “Oh, I know exactly what you are going through there, now where shall we begin,” the Midnight Princess exclaimed, lying down on the grass in front of the black dragon to begin her long tale.

Twilight had just got out of the shower and headed down to the delightful aroma of dinner. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Twilight saw Spike just putting the plates down on the table, complete with mugs of Applejack’s cider. “You are by far the best number one assistant out there Spike!” Twilight exclaimed as she sat down, readily digging into her meal.

“So Spike, what did the Princess say about the dragon?” Twilight asked. She just recalled how Spike never did tell her what Celestia advised to do, and her being the greatest teacher ever, she always had advice. She glanced over at Spike and saw him avoiding her gaze, and squirming about like she caught him taking a ruby out of the gem jar. “Spike?”

“Well Twilight, the thing is-” a knocking at the door cut Spike off from having to lie. Thanking Celestia, Spike had found his excuse. “I’ll just go get that!” the purple dragon happily exclaimed. Bounding over towards the door, Spike yanked the handle and was shocked to see Fluttershy standing in front of him. “Hey Fluttershy, what’s up?”

“Hello Spike, is Twilight here?” she asked with a rather assertive voice.

“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked concerned. Fluttershy was never this assertive unless something really horrible or serious happened. “Is everypony ok?”

“Well, it’s not about anypony, but a dragon,” Fluttershy stated as she came inside. Twilight instantly looked towards Spike, clearly worried about him before Fluttershy continued, “Oh, not Spike. I mean that other dragon from this afternoon. Didn’t you notice how sad it got when Applejack mentioned your name? The poor thing could barely keep from crying.”

“No, I’m sorry I didn’t notice it getting sad, since I was busy making sure it didn’t eat anypony,” Twilight retorted somewhat more harshly than she wanted. Seeing Fluttershy’s demeanor lessen at the comment, she quickly apologized, but now her brain was spinning. Why would a dragon ever care about her name? “Spike, is there something you’re not telling me?” Twilight asked the young dragon as he was attempting to sneak upstairs. Using a quick levitation spell, Spike was flown right in front of the two ponies.

“Well Princess Celestia told me not to tell you. But the dragon is an old friend of the Princess’s and just apparently woke up from his 100 year sleep. But that’s all I’m allowed to say,” Spike said as quickly as possible. The look he got from Twilight didn’t bolster his confidence much.

“There’s more to it than that?” Twilight asked inquisitively. Spike squirmed against the magic that held him in place, but to no avail. “Just what else is there to know?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you Twilight, it’s not my job to do that. That’s what Princess Luna told me to say if you bugged me. Now can I go to bed?” the baby dragon inquired with a yawn. He had been sending and burping out letters all day, and it had taken a toll on him. He assumed the answer was a yes when Twilight levitated him all the way up to his bed. “Thanks Twilight, good-night!” and with that, Spike was off to sleep.

Twilight and Fluttershy stayed downstairs and spoke for another couple of hours before Fluttershy noticed the time and departed. As Twilight ascended to the top of the stairs, she could hear Spike letting out a little burp in his sleep, and just caught the glow of the green flame. Entering the room, Twilight discovered a letter addressed to her from the Princess. Quickly unrolling it, she read the brief message.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I will be heading back to Canterlot in two days’ time. I intend to stop by Ponyville to pick up you and Spike, for he is needed in the city, and I feel you should be there as well. Hope all is well, and see you soon.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

After Twilight had finished having a small panic attack from the unexpected visit by her mentor, she quickly calmed down and realized she could worry about it all day tomorrow. ‘Plus, Spike will be awake and able to help then too,’ Twilight rationalized. With her head now empty, she crawled into bed and drifted off into sleep.

Drake and Luna had been talking for over 12 hours, the dragon attempting to grasp everything that has happened in the last hundred years as Luna relished in the company of someone who didn’t want any immediate favors. Taking only a small break to allow Luna to raise the moon, they got right back into the history he missed out on during his century of slumber.

About three hours after the moon was raised, Princess Luna received a letter from her sister informing them that Celestia planned to arrive in about 2 days, with Spike and his master. “Excellent, for we have only just finished covering the first ten years after your slumber. At this rate, we’ll finish up just in time for my dear sister to arrive!” Luna exclaimed happily.

“That sure is an interesting account of how that Ponyville popped out of the ground thanks to the Apple’s zap apple jam,” Drake wondered aloud. “When I was around, the timber wolves just stayed the hay away from the farm. I lit a few of them up like a match for growling at lil Greeny Smith one time.” Drake smiled at knowing how far that little filly had come.

“Yes, Granny Smith is quite the mare. While Applejack may be the farm’s heart, and her brother Big Macintosh the strength; Granny Smith has always been the spirit,” Luna chimed in. “At least that’s how Tia described it to me.” She giggled at this, almost forgetting her own inexperience with the still strange world. “At least you don’t speak in the older dialect with the Royal Canterlot Voice like I did when I first came back.”

The black dragon laughed at this, rumbling the ground underneath him, as he could only imagine the looks on ponies faces if Luna was yelling at them. “Most have been quite a site to see Princess,” Drake said in between chuckles. “Shall we continue my history lesson?” he inquired to the once again enthusiastic Maiden of the Moon.

The next two days flew by extremely quickly, as Luna listed off and explained in vivid detail most of the major events in the last hundred years. If Drake were to be honest, most of it seemed rather boring; mostly being about new cities popping up and advancements in medicine and peace talks. But the last three years were incredibly action packed. Luna described her return as Nightmare Moon and her own defeat by the Elements of Harmony, the same group of ponies also stopping the evil Discord, and the stopping of a changeling invasion of Canterlot at a wedding.

Just as it was approaching mid-afternoon, Drake and Luna peered across the horizon and caught a glimpse of the Goddess of the Sun’s chariot approaching the two of them. A mix of nervousness, dread, excitement, and hope rushed through Drake as he graciously awaited the arrival of the Princess.

Twilight awoke the next morning yawning and stretching out her legs. Hopping off her bed, she noticed that Spike was still fast asleep, curled up in his little basket that made up his bed. She decided against waking him as she headed downstairs to make them both breakfast. After about an hour and a few kitchen fires, which reminded Twilight why she didn’t cook, breakfast was ready.

“Spike! Breakfast is ready!” Twilight yelled up to the baby dragon. After sitting back down and eating her breakfast, Twilight was starting to grow slightly concerned with why the purple dragon hadn’t made an appearance. Finishing her food, Twilight went back upstairs to see the ball of scales still in his basket. “Spike, come on, your breakfast will get cold,” Twilight informed him.

After a few minutes of no response, Twilight went over and started shoving him a bit to get him to move. After that failed, panic started to settle in Twilight’s chest. She quickly checked all of his vitals, and after ensuring they were stable, yelled as loud as she could in his face. The baby dragon didn’t even flinch. “Oh no, oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no,” was all Twilight could mutter to herself as her panic went from settling in her chest to erupting out of it. Twilight instantly ran down into her library and magically lifted every book about dragons off the shelves she could. A total of three books appeared in front of her that she ordered from Canterlot after the incident during the Great Dragon Migration.

Twilight had barely gotten through one of books when a knock at the door made her jump slightly. Not even bothering diverting her attention, Twilight magically opened the door to hear a squeal from the notoriously energetic Pinkie Pie. “Hey Twilight! So remember how we were planning a birthday party for Spike in two weeks? I just thought of the most super-duper amazingly great idea for the party!!” the party pony rambled out. “Wanna know what it is?”

“Not now Pinkie. I can’t get Spike to wake up and I’m trying to find out why,” Twilight explained curtly. She loved her friend dearly, but right now she just can’t deal with all of her crazy antics with this problem on her hooves.

“Oh no!” Pinkie exclaimed. Running up stairs, she tried to wake him up in a large variety of manners, including a few that defied physics, but to no avail. Seemingly appearing next to Twilight without her noticing, Pinkie had a great idea. “Why don’t we tie him to Rainbow Dash and have her do a Sonic Rainboom, or get Rarity to kiss him since true loves kiss is supposed to wake ponies up,” she enthusiastically explained, bouncing circles around the stressed purple unicorn.

“Ok, fine. We may as well try since those books don’t say anything more than ‘Dragons are dangerous in the wild,’” Twilight sighed in defeat. “Can you help me get him?”

After countless hours of attempting to wake Spike up, Twilight and all of her friends had arrived back in her library with a still sleeping baby dragon. They had tried almost everything they could think of, from a Sonic Rainboom, to a kiss (much to Rarity’s displeasure), a Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt at a dragon waking mark, and even being bucked by Applejack. Fluttershy didn’t even know how to wake the sleeping dragon.

Looking outside, Twilight noticed the moon starting to rise and turned to address her friends. “Thanks for trying girls. Princess Celestia is coming to pick us up tomorrow, and if she doesn’t know how to wake Spike up, I don’t know who would,” the purple unicorn sighed. She levitated Spike back into his basket and bid her friends farewell. After a restless night, Twilight peered out her window to see the rising sun, and a brilliant flash of light accompanied by a knock at the door allowed her to know her teacher was here.

“Good morning Twilight Sparkle,” the ever graceful princess said as Twilight opened the door. Allowing herself in, Celestia noticed the worried look on her student’s face. “What’s the matter Twilight? Not happy to see me?”

“Spike wouldn’t wake up yesterday, but all of his vitals were fine. We tried everything we could think of, but nothing worked. Do you think you would be able to check on him?” Twilight pleaded, tears slowly forming in her eyes.

Celestia looked at Twilight and sighed. “Spike turns twenty in a week correct?” Celestia asked, memories over a century old flooding back into her mind. Seeing Twilight give a small nod, Princess Celestia continued, “ This is a normal occurrence in dragons. He should be up by now. SPIKE! I require your assistance!”

A sudden yawn sounded from the bedroom. “I hear ya, I hear ya. Can’t a dragon get any sleep around here now a days,” Spike grumbled as he shuffled over to the stairs, his eyes still mostly closed. Glancing down the stairs, he saw Twilight and Princess Celestia standing there, but his mind was a little slow to catch up that morning. “So what can I do for you?”

Celestia had to hold back from giggling at her scaly friend’s brashness when dealing with her. Glancing over, she saw Twilight run right into Spike and crushing him into a tight hug. Celestia gave them a moment to themselves before speaking up again. “Now Spike, are you ready to go? Twilight you are coming as well, so you may want to hurry and brush your mane,” Celestia said openly giggling at this point. The two quickly got ready and followed Celestia towards the Sun Goddess’s chariot.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they were approaching their destination. Twilight turned towards the alicorn and dragon beside her and asked the question that was bugging her since they had left. “Princess, how did you know Spike was going to wake up today, but not yesterday? What’s going on?”

“Twilight, I am not at liberty to tell you those things, even if I am a princess. You don’t tell others secrets without their permission,” Celestia answered. “But you may get the answers you seek in a moment, we are just about to land.” Looking out the window, Twilight saw a hulking black dragon with blood red eyes staring back at her, with its lips curved revealing a threatening row teeth.