Chapters A Dragon’s Heart
The wind blew softly across the scales of the purple dragon. He had beads of sweat on his forehead, some rolling down the side of his face as he lay down on the grassy ground. His breathing was calming down, but he was still exhausted from the day’s walk. The sun would fall any minute now, and he had no place to take shelter in, nor a fire to last the night.
“Fire?” Spike asked himself as he stared at the sky above.
The thought of Twilight came back to his mind. He remembered her calm and inspiring words. He would no doubt continue to carry this fire, and no amount of obstacles will stop him. There was nothing he couldn’t accomplish.
Spike picked himself off the floor and climbed a nearby tree. He broke down a handful of branches and dropped them to the ground. Using his own magical fire, he caught the sticks on fire and got a small flame going. Spike climbed back up the tree just as the sun dropped off of the horizon, being replaced by the moon.
The cloudless sky gave enough light for Spike to make his way down off the tree. As he reached the bottom, his claws scraped along the bark instead of clutching it, and he landed next to the fire. Spike rubbed his head where he had hit it against the roots of the tree. In the distance he could hear a spine chilling howl that couldn’t have been more than a hundred meters away.
“Oh no,” Spike said in a soft voice.
Across the prairie on his right, silhouetted by the moonlight were the outlines of a pack of timberwolves. Spike scrambled to get off the ground and try to climb the tree again. His claws were still stinging from the fall down, but he managed to get onto a lower branch. He waited silently as he tried to think of what to do next.
Spike could hear the creaking snaps of the timberwolves as they growled closer towards the fire. They did not approach the fire, but Spike could make out shapes circling it and his tree. It felt like hours to Spike before he could no longer hear the growling, but even then he saw motion at the edge of the fire.
There was a gust of wind that threatened to throw Spike from the branch. He dug his claws deep into the wood, managing to not lose his balance. When the wind stopped there was a strangling darkness that overtook the fire, blackening his campsite and shadowing his predators. The moonlight did not shine bright enough, and Spike squeezed his eyes into slits to see any form of movement.
There was a crash beneath Spike that rocked the tree. Spike looked down in horror to see shapes bounding up to the tree and colliding with it. The tree shook even more violently as it hung to the ground as Spike’s life hung from it’s branch.
“Shoo! Get out of here!” Spike cried, trying to deter the wolves.
Spike’s words were met with low growls and a skin piercing howl, who’s proximity made Spike cover his ears. The Timberwolves struck again, this time successfully dislodging Spike from his perch. His claws were not ready, and he collided with the tree on his fall down, but managing to fall onto his feet as the Timberwolves engaged.
Spike took off running, but he could feel their presence behind him and to the side of him as he ran towards the hill ahead of him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a Timberwolf running alongside him, creeping ever so close to his neck.
Spike jumped to the side to avoid the bite directed at his neck, and rolled to the side as Timberwolves tried to pounce on him. There were too many, and there were still more than enough in position to overpower him. Spike’s eyes held back fear as the group circled him, not leaving any room for error as their prey realized the end.
“Get down!” Spike heard a voice call nearby.
From utter fear, Spike stayed standing as a spray of fire engulfed the creatures around him, as well as himself. The fear he felt turned to pain as the fires were hot to his scales and singed the area around his eyes. After a few moments of pain, Spike managed to open them to see the fallen, enflamed timberwolves lighting up the prairie around him.
Among the flames came a figure that walked through the fire as a towering demon, his eyes were red and he had horns protruding from his head. He fell from his two legged standing position and landed on four legs, about two feet taller than Spike. Spike could see that this was no normal two legged creature. He had scales and breathed fire. A dragon.
“Next time, you should duck,” The dragon said, letting out a puff of smoke from his nostrils as he inspected his work.
“Thanks,” Spike said, making sure he wasn’t horribly mangled from the flames.
There was a gust of wind that cooled Spike’s body and allowed him to take a deep breath. The fires started to go out slowly, but a few had stretched high into the sky before settling into a small fire. The other dragon sat down in front of Spike and looked over his face with the light from one of the fires lighting his view.
“Say, how come I haven’t seen you before? You new to these parts?” The dragon asked.
Before Spike could answer, he heard a flutter of wings hit the ground and a soft voice answer.
“He’s been walking for days, I’m not sure he even knows where he’s going,” A female voice said, her face hidden in the darkness.
“You’ve been following him?” The dragon asked.
“I wanted to see a good show,” The female said. Her voice was like snow, soft yet cold.
“Ha, you’re lucky kid. If I didn’t get here sooner you woulda been food for those timberwolves and entertainment for Cilia here,” The dragon said, hitting Spike in the side and laughing heartily.
It was a rumbling laughter and Spike saw bits of smoke leave his nose. Cilia was quiet while he laughed, but Spike managed to give an awkward laugh that increased in awkwardness as Cilia continued to be silent.
“C’mon Strife, let’s go,” Cilia said, cutting off his laughter as the fires died down.
The darkness was a cold grip on Spike that held him back. He wanted to walk away from these two, especially Cilia, but the darkness was too frightening to stay in. Spike could no longer see the dragon, but he saw movement and assumed the worst.
“Umm, are we the only dragons around here?” Spike asked, the fear etching its way into his voice.
“We?” Spike heard the dragon say.
“He’s a dragon, if you didn’t notice,” Cilia said.
Spike was alarmed when a ball of swirling purple and blue flames reached up to his face. Spike looked up to see Cilia’s face, also a dark blue, staring at his own. She was a dragon as well, made obvious by the blue flames slowly exhaled into her claws and the horns adorning her head in rows.
“Really? I thought he was some big lizard or something... he must be one of them hatchlings that got out. Should we take him back to his parents?” The first dragon said.
“Do what you want with him, I’m going to bed,” Cilia said, stopping her magic flames and enclosing them in darkness again.
Spike heard her flap her wings, taking off into the sky and being silhouetted by the moonlight as she headed for the forests nearby. Spike let go of the air he didn’t know he was holding. Another gust of wind blew against Spike’s face. The other dragon seemed to be thinking, but after a few more moments he spoke.
“I’ll take you to the others, but I can’t carry you. We’ll have to walk,” The dragon said.
“Okay,” Spike replied, glad that he’ll have company for a small part of this journey.
After these few days of walking, he realized how alone he felt. The friends he left in Ponyville had not left his mind, but the journey itself was too important to give up on. Now, as the two dragons walked through the forests at night, he felt like the world was a larger place. He might have left his family behind, but perhaps more friends, not newer friends, could be made on this journey.
The forest was filled with new and foreboding noises, all ready to inflict harm to the dragons. Spike, however, felt a sort of freedom as he walked into a blind journey. A warm sensation surrounded him as he walked even farther from the path that had brought him this far. The warmth was sensational, and he felt euphoric as he breathed to take in the moment.
But he couldn’t breathe.
Spike felt the warmth like a wildfire surround him as it overtook his vision, and he collapsed onto a tree. His vision and his hearing faded until the warmth faded as well. But in his heart he knew the journey would not end here. In his heart he knew, this was only the beginning.
Author's Note
I’m surprised at how much attention this story got on the first chapter. Seriously, you guys are awesome. I’m trying to not let you all down, but feel free to critize anything you feel is wrong with the story! I swear I’ll only cry for ten minutes.
Tribulations
The world was nothing but darkness, enclosing him in pure black. Spike could feel something beyond this darkness, a calling to his small heart. He tried to reach up, to grab onto what he could not see. Instead, he could not see his own claws through the pitch dark space. A cold feeling gripped his arm, and then it spread to his body. He felt it wash over his eyes, just as the darkness receded and a light blue wall covered his vision.
“What?” Spike asked in a daze, stuck in shock as a cloud rolled slowly past his vision.
“Next time you plan to pass out, I’m not carrying you,” Spike heard a familiar voice say to his right.
Spike turned his head to see the dragon from before. Strife was standing over him, and next to him was a larger green scaled creature, another dragon, that was eyeing Spike with caution.
“And next time I won’t be there to save you,” The green dragon said. His nostrils puffed out steam that warmed up Spike’s sides. It was at this moment he realized that he was freezing.
“I’m so cold,” Spike said, hugging his body as he tried to raise himself off the ground. He was shivering, and the warm breath of the two other dragons was like fire to his chilled scales.
“You’ll warm up when we get you back to your mother,” Strife said.
The green dragon turned to Strife and squinted his eyes, expanding the scar that had went across his left eye. Then, the green dragon gave a small grunt that resembled a chuckle. He eyed Strife and then Spike before finally speaking.
“This is no baby dragon,” The green dragon said in a voice that reminded Spike of Granny Smith.
“He’s not?” Strife said, looking back to Spike like he was a new species.
“Far from it, he is perhaps within the same decade as yourself, though he may not look like it,” The green dragon said.
“But Faren, he looks like a hatchling and he doesn’t have any wings,” Strife pointed out.
“Looks can be deceiving, Strife. Have you tried asking him how old he is? Or would you like to question the gender as well?” Faren said, a slight smile spreading on his face.
“Hey, tell me you’re a hatchling,” Strife said to Spike, who had warmed up enough to pay attention to their conversation.
“I’m not a… hatchling. I’ve been out of my egg for years, even decades,” Spike said, glad he’d learned vocabulary from Twilight, even if it wasn’t too advanced.
“Then, then why’d you come with me?” Strife asked, unsure of what else to ask.
“I thought you could help with my little… problem,” Spike said, looking down to his body. After having seen the scales and tails of these dragons, he was even more depressed to see the small scales, as well as some charred ones, as they reminded him of his size problem.
“Little? I’d say,” Faren said. His eyes looked down to the charred scales Spike had noticed earlier.
“You’re lucky your scales were grown enough to hold back the fire. Otherwise you woulda died the moment you passed out,” Faren said. Then, to his surprise, he saw Spike bow.
“Thank you for helping me,” Spike said, realizing that this dragon had probably saved his life.
“Thanks? I want more than thanks. You’ll need to do me a favor for this, little dragon,” Faren said. His eyes were materialistic as Faren looked him over with a new eye.
“What’s your name?” Strife asked, having finally come to an understanding of what was happening.
“Spike,”
“Alright, Spike. If you ever want me to do you a favor like this before, you’ll need to pay beforehand,” Faren said.
Faren turned away and Spike followed his gaze to a tall mountain nearby. There were holes in the mountain, as well as dragons perched atop. At the very peak a large dragon could be seen for miles. It had black scales with white horns and released grey smoke as it breathed in and out during its peaceful sleep.
“I want you to bring me a chest of gems, simple,” Faren said.
Spike could hear a tinge of sarcasm, added to the fact that he was grinning, Spike decided that this task would be harder than it seemed. It already sounded pretty bad, considering that without Rarity, Spike had no idea where gems were in the ground.
“Can he even carry a chest of gems?” Strife asked.
“No, I don’t think so. That’s why you’re going with him,” Faren decided.
“What? Do I gain anything for this?” Strife asked, dumbfounded he had been given this task.
“I’m sure the next time you break your wing I’ll ask myself the same thing,” Faren remarked. Strife looked down to the ground before nodding.
Faren launched himself into the air, sending a blast of wind around him as his wings flapped and he flew towards the mountain. He flew into one of the lower caves, just large enough for him to fly inside. It wasn’t long before he came back holding a golden chest. He dropped it in front of the pair of dragons, who eyed it like it was the heaviest thing ever. The way it hit the ground, it practically weighed as much as both of them combined.
“Don’t come back until you have the gems,” Faren said before flying back to his cave.
Spike looked down to the chest for a moment. He wondered how many gems would fit into a chest that size. Probably a full cart would do, he realized, as Faren would be expecting it to be packed with gems. Spike wondered where he could find that many gems in a short time. After a while, he noticed a pair of eyes watching him. He looked to Strife who was giving him a look that could catch him on fire.
“What?” Spike asked, uncomfortable with the burning stare.
“Look what you got me into, I should left you passed out in the forest,” Strife said.
“Weren’t you the reason I passed out? You almost killed me with your fire,” Spike said, annoyed he was being blamed for this.
“I said duck, didn’t I? Besides, he saved you, not me. Why do I have to tag along?” Strife asked himself more than Spike. Then, he lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky. “Where are we gonna find gems around here?” Strife asked the sky.
“What about Diamond Dogs? Do they have any tunnels around here?” Spike asked, wondering how easy it would be to scare the puppies if two dragons walked in.
“Why does it matter?” Strife asked. He dismissed the question as he continued to rake his brain for ideas.
“Diamond Dogs usually have loads of gems in their caves,” Spike explained.
“Really? I didn’t know that,” Strife said, getting out of his thoughts and then back in to think of where Diamond Dogs lived.
“I remember seeing a few by the river nearby. It shouldn’t be too far from here,” Strife said. He turned away from the mountain and Spike could just make out a river in the distance. It would be an hour’s walk, but at least it was a start.
“Let’s get going,” Spike said.
Strife struggled to pick up the chest, and finally settled with pushing it along. Spike helped pull but it wasn’t much of a difference, and in the end Spike walked alongside, watching their surroundings. Spike had the feeling that he was being watched, but he could only see birds eyeing the fearful dragons and small critters darting from bush to bush.
“This is where I saw a few of them,” Strife said, laying down on the grass to rest while Spike looked around for any sign of Diamond Dogs.
“Why would they be at a river?” Spike asked himself.
“To drink, duh. They’ll get thirsty too,” Strife said, taking slurps from the river.
“Diamond Dogs don’t bathe, and they have underground pools to drink from. They would only go to a river if…”
“Watch out!” Spike heard from behind him.
Spike was slammed to the ground and he could taste dirt as his teeth were enclosed around a handful of earth. There were voices behind him, but a loud ringing was blocking the sounds. Eventually, he was picked up from the ground and a cold metal container was strapped around his mouth, tied to the back of his head. His arms and legs were bound with a smooth fibrous rope.
“Two!? We got two!” Spike heard aside from the ringing as it faded away. The voices were raspy and sounded jittery.
“Let’s eat ‘em!” A voice called out from behind Spike.
“Let’s make them work!” Another called out, from farther away.
A Diamond Dog, grey coated and with long arms walked in front of Spike. He carried a cane with him, a sign that he was the leader of this pack. The leader eyed Spike with curiosity before chuckling.
“We’ve got the father and child, soon we will have mother!” The leader said to the Diamond Dogs out of Spike’s view.
There was a metal scraping sound and a muffled voice beside Spike. It was Strife, attempting to correct the dogs of their mistake. They didn’t pay him much mind, however, even as he struggled more furiously at the bindings.
“Don’t worry, mother be with you soon,” The leader said, triggering a thought in Spike’s head.
Twilight would flip out if she heard them speak, and he was both glad and disappointed that Twilight wasn’t with him here in this moment. Even as he thought this he realized that he wouldn’t get anywhere if he wished for a miracle. He’d have to make a miracle.
Spike noticed the leader turn his head towards the other diamond dogs. He made his move by thrusting forward, falling onto his face but freeing his tail long enough to slice the rope connecting his feet. He reached his claws down and cut off the bindings. Spike reached up to remove the metal muzzle that rendered his fire useless. He felt adrenaline pulsing through his veins, ready to act and make a difference.
Spike received a club to the back of the head. The adrenaline left him faster than his consciousness. He fell like a rock, lifeless and with a heavy heart as he lost consciousness. The throbbing in his head did not hurt as much as his failure did. The darkness took him under, dragging him from his problems to be thrown into a deeper problem.
From darkness, unto darkness. Spike awoke to a dim light. It was a dazzling blue light, reflected off the walls of the caves. Echoes from these walls told stories about that light. Stories of whippings and screams. Echoes that bounded off the walls to reach no listening ears, no others that cared. These stories were a perfect tragedy, told through the voice of a monotone author.
Spike could feel a hollow pain in the back of his head. It was overcome by grief as his situation overwhelmed him. What was he to do now? What could he do?
“It’s awake!” Spike heard a voice, not as echoed as the others. It sounded close.
“Bring the chains!” A voice sounded through the caves.
Spike tried to raise his head, but the metal muzzle was too heavy in his current dizzy state. He tried to look around further, but a furry paw grabbed the top of his head and pulled him up to look into the Diamond Dog’s cold and inspecting eyes.
Spike heard the metal clinging as his claws were moved around against his will and a large weight was added to his legs. The chains were tight against his scales. When they finished attaching the bindings, Spike heard another howl of pain from somewhere in these mines.
As Spike was forced to walk forward with his heavy chains, he lost his charismatic grin, replaced by a morbid scowl. Spike could feel an encircling aura around him, like a cage that he was destined to remain in. He had a feeling that the sun would not shine in his near future. The Tribulations will start soon, and Spike will see that the fire he carries will constantly flicker.
Oh, how it will flicker…
Author's Note
Chapters might get slightly longer as I find a good medium for the length. I'm letting my friend read my stories before I let them loose to the public, so sorry if they don't get immediately posted.
Thanks for Reading!
Flicker
The air was humid, heavy with the lack of ventilation and numerous bodies enclosed in the narrow pathways. Grunts and groans could be heard in all angles as the workers toiled, no respite or light at the end. This work was involuntary and unpleasant. But to Spike, there was a small reward, and a slight chance of escape.
It had been perhaps three days since Spike was first chained to the cart carrying loads of gems between digging sites and home base. At first he had struggled with the cart, requiring the assistance of a young griffin, also taken prisoner. As the days had progressed however, he had felt more and more resentment towards the dogs, helping him with his strength when he pushed.
Spike recalled that when he would help Rarity with her gems it was a lot more easy going than this. He would work to dig out the gems and pull the cart, but it was the return of gratitude that she gave him that was all he wanted. She would even give him water without his asking and commend his work, something that these dogs didn’t do.
Seeing this young griffin work for nothing all day and every day such as he used to do brought out a feeling inside of him. It was a feeling he couldn’t understand.
“Hate,” Spike heard a voice say quietly beside him.
“What?” Spike asked, turning towards the young griffin.
“I hate this place. I want to go home,” She said.
Her name was Lis, something Spike learned after she was first assigned to the cart. She had been much more cheerful when she was first brought in, and would talk quietly to Spike when there was a break. Recently, she had become mute, speaking only to inform Spike of a problem or to complain.
“We’ll get out of here, eventually,” Spike tried to assure her.
Upon first arriving, Spike had hoped that his friends would come to his rescue, as they had done many times over the years. They always had a way to know when he was in danger. Now, however, as he was staring at the sweat that fell down Lis’ face, he wondered if it was even a possibility. They had no idea he was in trouble.
“How do you know?” Lis asked, as if sensing his uncertainty.
Spike looked away, not wanting to answer her question. “I don’t,” Spike replied, biting his lip in an attempt not to look back at Lis’ face. He was sure he would find tears, and that was something he wouldn’t be able to look away from.
“Push!” Spike heard an unpleasant voice cry at them.
The Diamond Dog swung his whip to the pair, striking Spike in the arm. Lis started pushing against the cart, fearing retaliation from the cruel whip. She had difficulty getting it to budge until Spike pushed as well. The two of them got the cart rolling down the tracks, headed back to home base to be loaded off.
Spike could feel the stinging that the whip had given him. Against his scales it was minimal, but there was force behind the whip to sting. He wanted to rub it, to treat it as best as he could, but if he didn’t push they would never get the cart back. So along the rickety and lengthy railway they struggled. It took about ten minutes to push the cart back, taking longer than normal the longer the day went.
During their trip, Spike looked at where the whip struck and remembered a vague memory of Fluttershy bandaging a similar wound. She had gently cleaned and inspected the wound before wrapping the bandage around it. He remembered her worried face when he showed her, and the stern warning about being careful the next time he helped Rarity with her gems.
“The next one’s ‘ere,” The Diamond Dog at the end of their push cried out. He was in charge of the railway and ensured that it went smoothly.
Spike and Lis were given a brief rest as the cart was derailed and replaced with an empty one. Afterwards, the two of them prepared themselves to push the cart back. They were stopped however, by a deep voice.
“Stop, take with you,” The overseer said, throwing something heavy into the cart.
“Watch it!” The something said, poking her head from the cart. She was wearing a metal muzzle with tiny holes in it. It was the same that Spike had at first had to wear. They eventually took it off when he agreed to cooperate.
“She’s a batty one, watch her,” The overseer said to the Diamond Dog in charge of making sure the prisoners were behaving.
“I might look like a bat, but I’m still a dragon,” Cilia, made obvious by her looks, retorted.
“Shut it, we call you whatever,” The sightseer responded.
“Move!” The other Diamond Dog said to Spike.
After the strike Spike had received, he followed his orders and pushed the cart forward with Lis’ help. Pushing a dragon of Cilia’s size was about as difficult as pushing a cart of gems. After a minute of pushing, Spike noticed that Cilia was watching him as he pushed.
“What?” Spike asked in between grunts.
“I thought for sure you would’ve been dead by now, but I guess slavery is the same thing,” Cilia responded with an icy tone.
“You’re here too,” Spike retorted, focusing his efforts back to pushing.
“Oh, but I’m here for a much better reason. One that more suits my… talents,” Cilia responded.
When Spike and Lis had reached the area where the cave continued, Cilia was taken out of the cart and put to work with the others. Collectively they were digging into the rock to expand the cave system and put any found gems into the cart. Strife and Cilia would use their claws to scrape into the rock like sifting through sand. Their claws were so sharp that they were constantly watched by the Diamond Dogs, carrying whips and spears.
“Who is she?” Lis asked Spike while no one was listening.
“Cilia, she’s a dragon,” Spike responded.
“I knew that, but how do you know her?” Lis asked.
“I don’t,” Spike considered, wondering just what Cilia was planning.
The rest of the day went by smoothly, with three more trips of gem hauling before they were released from the day’s struggles. Strife was having short bursts of conversation with Cilia, but other than that he remained quiet. Cilia would speak to nobody else, not even Spike, and slept without a sound in her cell.
Spike and Lis were sharing the same cell, due to the lack of space from the recent ‘recruits’. When their dinner of stale bread and mushroom soup came in, Lis decided to take an early shuteye. Spike kept the worms and smaller bugs away from her share in case she changed her mind.
She snored softly, and it reminded Spike of when Twilight had once confronted him of his snoring. Twilight was being nice one day and let him sleep through his chores. She was rewarded by loud snoring around the time that Rainbow Dash had come to talk about Daring Doo. By the end of the day, Spike was covered in marker drawings and was left with a sticky note telling him to stop snoring so loud. As he watched Lis sleep, he didn’t find it annoying in the least, it actually felt comforting to see Lis smile for once.
Spike stared up at the ceiling, feeling the exhaustion of the day and the yearnings for rest drag him deeper into a need for sleep himself. His eyes had become heavy and he let them fall. Just as they were closing, he heard a whimper on the only bed in their cell.
Spike looked up to Lis’ bed, feeling a pain inside him as he remembered the small, yet meaningful, whimper he had heard. Something had to change. Perhaps he could make it through this slavery, but Spike had noticed that Lis was getting thinner, not eating, and was getting tired easily. Even in her young and small griffin state, it was concerning.
After promising to himself and Lis in his mind that he would find a way out, he laid his head down, preparing for a daring and heroic attempt at escape. He did not sleep well that night, and was pulled into an array of nightmares ranging from death to being abandoned by his friends. The final nightmare was the face of Twilight, disappointed in him, before fading from his view.
Spike was awoken by Lis, her face only illuminated by the light glow of the gems on the walls. The lanterns had been turned off for the night, and he could barely make out a tear on her cheek. Spike wanted to ask if she was okay, but she spoke first.
“It’s okay, we’ll get through this,” Lis said, attempting to reassure Spike of his nightmares.
Spike remembered her whimper, the promise he made for the both of them, and the nightmares. There was nopony to save him now, and if he was ever going to stop being a ‘baby dragon’, then he’d need to act like it.
“Yeah, we will,” Spike said, pulling her into a warm embrace. He could feel the wet spot on her neck, the area where her tears had sunk into the feathers.
When they had separated and gone back to their separate sleeping areas, Spike had Cilia on his mind. If there was a way out of here, she would be the one to go to.
The next morning, Spike and Lis were put on food duty, scooping spoonfuls of goop for the Diamond Dogs and Griffins. Apparently the Diamond Dogs enjoyed the goop as just a meal, and that the other races were just ungrateful of their hospitality.
“Hey, you in?” Spike heard a voice ask him. He looked up from the plate he was serving.
Cilia was looking at him with knowing eyes, purple and black knowing eyes that knew the question Spike would ask before he asked it.
“When?” Spike asked, already confident that this was her plan since she first arrived.
“Tomorrow, first thing,” Cilia responded, her cold voice and piercing gaze telling Spike that this was no small plan. Things were going to get rough.
“We’re in,” Spike said, just as Cilia stepped away from Spike’s reach.
The next to be served was Strife. His eye had a black mark around it, as well as both his wings. One of his scales was missing, taken to show dominance from one top of the food chain to another. Still, that did not take away his grin as Spike served him some food.
“Tomorrow,” Strife repeated quietly.
Spike nodded and served his food.
After Spike and Lis finished serving the food, they received their own portions and ate quickly. The first cart was always filled faster than the rest, and it was always the most packed. They managed to push it to the station and back with ease, but Spike could feel a tension among the Diamond Dogs. They were whispering and pointing at the prisoners, almost as if they were scheming.
“Get moving!” The guard said as he sent his whip to the pair at the cart.
Spike didn’t react fast enough before the whip hit Lis on the side. Blood leaked from the wound as she cried out in pain. Time slowed to a crawl as Spike watched Lis’ face turn to pain and then sadness. Spike felt his heartbeat in the back of his mind. It raced as the blood slowly trailed past her talon holding the wound and down the arm. Spike’s mouth opened, his eyes a blazing fire that he didn’t know he could muster.
“Stop.”
Spike couldn’t speak as the cold and demanding voice cut through the fog of the moment. The Diamond Dogs turned their attention to Cilia, who was facing Spike and squinting her eyes at him. Her eyes were like cold daggers that threatened to cut down his rage.
“Get back to work,” Cilia continued, surprising the Diamond Dogs that were about to say the same to her.
Spike was shaking, his body unwilling to comply with her words. His eyes drifted to the Diamond Dog that had struck Lis. Anger had filled his eyes, and his claws were digging into his sides. Cilia’s gaze was digging even deeper, a cruel gaze to match his own. His mouth was hot, a fire that leaked out of his mouth like saliva.
“Work!” The guard demanded, pulling his whip up for another strike.
Spike fell back in pain as he was pinned down to the ground. His body was convulsing, fire emptying from his mouth and striking the air above him. He was forced to stop moving by piercing eyes that looked down at him. Cilia was standing on him, her broken chains adding to her weight.
“I said stop,” Cilia said in a whisper.
Spike stopped struggling, his pain making itself known in every limb that Cilia held down. He took a discomforted breath but Cilia remained on top. Her eyes never left Spike’s.
“Off!” One of the Diamond Dogs ordered.
The Diamond Dog with the whip was confused. He took a look at his whip, which he was sure that he had lashed at Spike. The end of it was singed by what he presumed was fire, but he had not seen any. When he had collected his thoughts, he realized something else. Cilia had broken from her chains.
“You!” He ordered to Cilia. “Back to work!” He said, pointing to the line of workers that had stopped to witness the event.
Cilia returned to the line, this time attaching two chains to her. Supposedly this was to help keep her chained up.
“You two! Back to work!” The Diamond Dog ordered, whipping Spike as he leaned on the cart. He didn’t feel the whip on his side, his scales helping with that. However, he did feel the blood that trickled from the cuts on his limbs. The scales were cracked and some had broken off. He took a quick glance to Cilia before looking back to the cart.
Spike didn’t look at Lis, not wanting to see the griffin’s pain. Instead of bubbling the fire he held inside of him, he threw himself at the cart and pushed with his remaining rage. Lis made it look like she was helping, but Spike’s efforts were more than enough. It was during one of these rage filled pushes that Spike remembered one of the few times he had felt angry.
Rainbow Dash had used him as a weight while she flew, supposedly to help her get faster. At first it was smooth sailing, and Spike enjoyed the view and the wind on his face. During one of these weighted trips, however, she lost control of her movements and crashed into Rarity’s Boutique, scattering all of her work from the past week. Her anger was directed at the both of them, but to Spike it was like a dagger that she twisted into his heart. It didn’t help that she had to cancel their plans to finish what had been ruined.
Spike later became angry with Rainbow Dash, who replied that it was an accident, but Spike didn’t listen. He didn’t speak to her for a whole week after that, until Twilight forced them to make up and had Spike apologize for getting upset. Even during the apology he still hadn’t forgiven Rainbow Dash, but that was changed after she managed to get Rarity to go with them to a Wonderbolts show.
By the time nighttime came, Spike had exhausted every resource he had. His muscles ached from the work and pain, and his mind ached from the repression of anger. Lis was quiet, but she glanced to Spike’s wounds, as if she blamed herself for what happened. When the lights went out for them all to sleep, Spike was still awake, digging deep in his mind to remember the last time he felt this angry. He couldn’t think of anything. Spike realized something as he remembered his friend’s departing happy faces.
If you don't watch it, the fire you carry will burn.
And it will blaze.
Author's Note
Hope you liked it!
Fuel
What fuels you?
The cave was dark. Spike could hear an echoing whisper around him. Like a wisp of wind, it flew in every direction, evading his attempts to determine whose voice it was. It whispered nonsense, encouragement, and deception with each syllable it spoke. In his futile attempts to discern the meanings, he felt the cave growing steadily warmer.
“Who are you?” Spike asked the air around him.
A light in the cave illuminated the walls in a blazing glow. A being emerged from the light, bathing in the radiance. It was a dragon, purple with green spikes protruding from its back. Spike remembered it from a past dream, back when he had run rampage in Ponyville. It was so long ago, he almost couldn’t remember that he had once been so massive as to destroy the entire town. But now, he saw the reflection of himself, towering over his small stature.
“You’re me, aren’t you?” Spike asked.
The dragon’s eyes were filled with light, but Spike could feel the gaze the dragon held on him. After a few moments of silence, the dragon nodded slowly. The light in the cave dimmed down back to darkness, all except the dragon’s eyes. Spike felt uneasy in the large cave with such a large creature. Knowing it was himself did not ease his anxiety.
“A dragon does not quiver in the face of another dragon. We stand tall and proud,” The large dragon boomed in the echoing caverns.
Spike fell back from the force of the voice, and then once again by the power in the words. He could hear himself in this dragon, slightly, but it was still there. This was him, but it was a much more fearless version.
“I can feel it, you want my power, you want my wisdom. You want to be me,” The dragon said.
“I left my home and my friends so I can mature,” Spike responded. He could remember some of the things that his friends had told him that day long ago after his rampage. All of the trouble he’d caused.
“Foolish dragon, you have not truly left your friends or your home. They are still in your heart, and they are still the only obstacle you face,” The dragon said. He bent down to look Spike in the eyes.
Forget them
Those are the words that his eyes spoke. Those two words were given clear as day in this dragon’s eyes.
“Never,” Spike said, challenging this dragon’s look with his own.
“Then you are not a true dragon,” The words echoed in the caves as the dragon’s eyes darkened and faded into pitch black.
“Wake up,” Spike heard someone whisper in his ear.
Spike opened his eyes to find Lis standing over him. She was holding one of her talons to her beak, ordering him to stay silent. Behind her, on the other side of the cell bars, was a shadowy figure. There was barely enough light to see, but Spike could tell the shadow was not the same shape as a Diamond Dog.
“Get up, we have to move,” Cilia whispered, her claws slicing through the metal bars like butter. Before they fell to the floor, she grabbed them with her teeth and set them down softly.
“If you want to take her with you, she’s your responsibility,” Cilia said, noticing how Lis had backed behind Spike.
Spike gave Lis a reassuring nod before joining Cilia outside of the cells. She released Strife just as flawlessly from his own cell. They sliced off the muzzles that blocked their fire. Together, the four of them walked quietly down the cave system, Lis bringing up the rear and Cilia leading the way. Most of the guards were sleeping, unaware of the four escapees as they traveled silently. Others weren’t at their posts, taking an early nap as well.
“This way,” Cilia whispered just enough for the three of them to hear her.
Cilia and Strife ducked past one of the large openings in the rocks. Spike felt a tug on his tail and, startled, turned to see the dilemma. Lis was pointing her claw to a side passage of tunnel just to the left of them. From it, she could see the shape of an approaching figure.
Spike froze just before entering the beam of light that would have given him away. The figure was lazily moving forward and didn’t notice the darker than normal figures hiding in the clusters of rock. Spike nodded his thanks to Lis before joining Cilia and Strife on the other side.
Spike turned back to watch for any other guards that were really bad at their job, but Lis had just slipped through as well.
“Almost there,” Cilia said. Spike couldn’t help but notice that she had a disappointed tone.
The group continued around another corner and saw the minecart track was the only thing separating them from the cave entrance. At the cave entrance were two guard dogs, leaned up against the wall sound asleep.
“I’ll catch up later. There’s something I gotta do first,” Cilia said, dashing away from them and down the minecart track.
Cilia’s claws scraped against the metal and the guard dogs picked up on the noise. They rushed after her, leaving the cave entrance open.
“Is she going to be okay?” Lis asked.
“Cilia?” Strife asked, before giving her a look that explained just how okay she would be. “I feel sorry for the mutts.”
“Let’s go then,” Spike said, grateful that they could get out of the cave after so long.
The three of them rushed across the tracks, a final sprint towards freedom. When they reached the entrance, they were surprised to see two spears pointed in their direction. Diamond Dogs poked their heads out from the entrance and threatened to make them into kebabs.
“I got this,” Strife said, pushing Lis back with his claws.
Spike was going to protest, but Lis held onto his arm while Strife stepped forward to challenge the dogs. They charged with their spears, and Strife let out a breath of fire into their faces. They grabbed their heads, but the helmets protected most of their hair.
“See, these mutts don’t know who they’re dealing with,” Strife said, laughing at his easily defeated opponents.
“Who you call mutt?” A Diamond Dog asked from behind them.
Spike pulled Lis out of the way of an approaching spear. Strife sent another blast of fire to the new four dogs that came from behind. Two of them pulled up a large metal sheet and deflected Strife’s fire.
Spike was tempted to run through the open cave and reach safety, but the dogs would catch up quickly if they didn’t deal with them. Instead, he closed his eyes to picture the dragon he saw earlier. He could feel the warmth inside of him. The fire was still burning, and it would burn for as long as he wanted it to.
So long as he had the fuel to keep it going, he won’t be lost in the darkness. He won’t succumb to the dangers he’ll face. Instead, the fire he carried will fuel him. It will be his strength. It will protect those he doesn’t want to see hurt.
Spike remembered the moment Lis was struck. He remembered the times that his friends were in danger. Back then he wanted to do something, anything to help them. He was too small back then, and even now he was nowhere near the size he needed to be if he wanted to show off his strength. But this isn’t about showing off strength. It’s about being able to help those who need help.
Spike opened his eyes to the approaching Diamond Dogs. Strife was looking worried when one of them pulled out a crossbow, pointed at him. Two of them still carried the sheet of metal, and one of the others had the spear. Spike could feel the fire from inside him bubbling.
Spike shrugged off Lis’ grasp and stepped in front of Strife. He opened his mouth, releasing the green flames that were dying to escape. The Diamond Dogs raised their metal sheeting, but the flames didn’t stop. They spread out to the edges of the cave, continuing down the sides and scorching the dogs from behind. The cave became a funnel of fire as Spike continued to let out his flames.
When Spike finally stopped, there were no more screams, and the caves were a blinding light. Spike stared into the inferno he’d created until it dissipated into darkness. Inside, he was calm. Spike turned back to his friends, who were in bewilderment.
“That was awesome,” Strife said, giving him a big pat on the back.
“Cool,” Lis said, amazed at the spectacle.
“Didn’t know you had it in you,” Strife said.
“Neither did I,” Spike joked, before walking past them and into the harsh light of day. The wind hit Spike in the face like a spray of happiness.
Lis held onto Spike as the tears flowed out of her eyes. The three of them stood there, breathing in the scents of the world and bathing in the joy they felt from it.
After a few minutes to enjoy the scenery, they heard steps echoing from the cave.
Behind them, the cave was in a silent chaos. Not a word reached the surface, yet one dragon did. Cilia walked out of the chaos to the rest of the group.
“Well what are you all waiting for? Let’s get going,” Cilia said, her claws leaving red marks in the grass as she led the way into the sunrise. Spike, with the fire still in his heart, followed her. Like a light to pursue the darkness, he continued on.
You do not fuel the fire inside of you. The fire will fuel you.
Author's Note
Author’s Notes:
Mountain
The stars above twinkled in the night sky. The moon cast a transcending glow over the campsite for the three dragons and the young griffon. The members of this group were staring up at the sky, absently thinking and taking refuge by the small fire that they had lit. One of the members flinched to the side as a ruffle of leaves caught her attention.
“Who’s there?” Cilia asked, her voice a cold counter to the warm fire.
“It’s me, please no get angry!” A male voice called from the safety of the shadows.
“Did you bring it?” Cilia asked, eyeing the shadows with a predatory gaze.
“Yes, I bring it,” The voice responded, now closer.
Spike recognized the voice as the Diamond Dog that had put him on cart duty. When he came out of the shadows to the campsite he pulled a small cart filled with gems of various colors. Spike was surprised to say the least, but Cilia looked pleased. Strife did not look away from the gems, as if they would fly away when he blinked.
“Now get out of here,” Cilia hissed to the Diamond Dog.
The Diamond Dog ran away, tripping on something and falling down the incline they were camped atop. Spike could hear his screams as he fell crashing through the forested mountain. When he turned to the others, they were gathered around the cart. Lis was the first to speak.
“Why did he bring this?” Lis asked, looking to Cilia for clarification.
“I heard that you two needed some gems for Faren. I struck up a deal with the Diamond Dogs, and here you are,” Cilia responded.
“A deal? Was it the ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ kind of deal, or the ‘do what I say and you live’ kind of deal?” Strife responded, sifting through the pile of gems like it was water.
“Does it matter?” Cilia asked, lying down on the grass near the fire.
“Nope,” Strife said, hugging the pile.
“I don’t understand,” Lis said softly to Spike.
“I’ll explain,” Spike said.
(One boring recap later)
“You went through slavery… to repay a debt?” Lis asked.
“It wasn’t part of the plan, it just sorta happened,” Strife said from his position beside the cart.
“And we were just lucky that she was there to bust us out?” Lis asked.
“I’ll be calling on my favor later, but for now I’ll appreciate a thank you,” Cilia said. She was curled up and ready for sleep.
“Fate does some funny things,” Spike said, remembering how much Twilight was thanking her destiny and fate after she had become an alicorn.
After this, the group slowly shifted to rest mode. Cilia was silent at the edge of the camp, and Strife soon fell asleep. Spike was awake for a while, but he could hear Lis’ soft breathing in the corner of the camp. Since they had been sharing a cell, he had grown accustomed to the sound. He looked up to the sky, wondering if the moon was watching them.
“Luna, if you’re listening, I want you to know that I’m not gonna give up. Yeah, there’s some bigger and scarier things that’ll try to stop me, but I won’t give up. You can tell Twilight to count on that,” Spike said.
The stars glowed in response, and Spike felt that Luna was actually listening. He was glad that he had somepony watching over him. Strife wasn’t as bright as Twilight, and he felt that Cilia wasn’t the type of dragon he wanted to be friends with. Still, with Luna and Lis, he had confidence that before long he’d make progress in his goal. If he hadn’t already.
“Dragons don’t give up.”
Spike looked into the shadows, wondering where the voice came from. He caught the sight of Cilia’s glowing eyes staring at him. Spike couldn’t see the rest of her, only the eyes.
“Ever.”
Just like that, the eyes disappeared and the voice was quiet. The sounds of the sleeping forest were prominent. Spike stayed quiet, laying his head down on the rocky floor to rest. He didn’t feel like shifting to the grassier area near the fire, worried that Cilia may speak to him again. Whenever she did, he felt a chilling sensation inside of him, like she was speaking into him, and not to him.
The morning brought with it an air of serenity. There was a mist that coated the grass around them, and the air was cool and damp. The fire had survived the night, and its coals were glowing softly in the center of the camp. Spike awakened to the slight breeze on his face. His eyes flickered open, landing on yellow eyes that were focused on him.
“Hmm?” Spike asked drowsily as he raised himself off the wet ground.
“An early dragon gives less warning,” Cilia said.
Spike brushed off the grass that clinged to his scales. Lis was still sound asleep, but Strife was seated next to the gem cart. Cilia opened her wings and perched atop one of the nearby trees.
Spike stretched his legs and yawned. He looked up at the sky to the sun. It must’ve just risen, because it felt like he hadn’t slept very much at all. He looked down at his claws, feeling the ache of the work he had done in the caves. After being in them for so long, it felt relaxing to know that he was done with that labor of pushing.
“Spike, you can push the cart while we walk,” Cilia said from her perch.
Spike’s eye twitched.
“Why does Spike get to push the cart?” Strife asked.
“Well if you’d rather do it, be my guest,” Cilia responded, jumping down from the tree. “Wake up the brat and let’s go,” Cilia said, already walking down the trail they were going to take.
Spike gladly let Strife take the cart and strode over to Lis. He shook her once and she was awake instantly. Her eyes were wide open like she’d been struck, and her wings were shaking.
“Are you alright?” Spike asked.
Lis nodded her head, and her pupils went back to normal size. She stood up and looked around the camp as if to assure herself that she was really here.
“We’d better get going. I don’t know how long the walk will be,” Spike said, aware that even though she was definitely not alright, she wouldn’t admit it to him.
“Oh, okay,” Lis said, following Spike as he followed Strife out of the clearing.
The four of them walked up the mountain away from the Diamond Dog hideout. They were walking away from the fire that was still burning softly in the morning mist. It slowly turned into nothing but ash. The smoke vanished with the mist, leaving the clearing alone. The sun cast a shadow from every tree. One of these shadows stepped out from the cover of the trees and into the clearing. He vanished into the air, leaving in a wisp of smoke down the mountain.
The burdens we carry can give us our passion, or they can feel like a mountain.
Author's Note
Sorry for shorter chapters recently, I've been finding these chapters from a while ago and I looked them over, but I didn't add to much to them. The next ones should be longer, but it might also take me longer to post.
Runway
The road stretched on for miles. The clouds above rolled by in waves, leaving the group of four behind as they continued on their way. The rocky terrain was mixed in with forested clusters. On more than one occasion the cart tipped over, leaving Strife to gather up the gems and put them back in. Cilia had to remind him on multiple occasions that if he ate the gems, Faren would not be happy.
Spike found it odd that Strife was so attached to the gems. He understood that dragons enjoyed gems, but Spike never felt such an attachment as Strife had with these gems. Did that make him less of a dragon?
Spike slowed down his pace as he pondered this question. Lis slowed down with him, and Cilia noticed the hesitation. Strife continued pushing, as if nothing else mattered. Spike, while thinking, took a glance into the trees on his right. His eyes passed over a light brown opening in the trees. It would have gone unnoticed, but Lis spoke up.
“Is that sand?” Lis asked.
Cilia looked over to the sand before she squinted her eyes. “That can’t be, we’ve been traveling north,”
“But don’t dragons live in the badlands? Lis asked.
“Only a few, there’s a lot more to the north just before the frozen mountains,” Cilia responded.
“Near the Diamond Dog territory,” Spike mentioned. There was a second of silence as Cilia shook her head.
“I thought we just had to travel north…” Cilia said. She looked up to the sky as if to make sure they were in fact traveling north.
“So then, this is the sourthern desert?” Lis asked.
Cilia didn’t respond, instead she walked down the trail in thought. Strife was already far down the trail, and the three of them hurried to catch up.
The fire blazed in the middle of the new campfire. It glowed in Cilia’s face as she finished her crude drawing of a map. Spike was seated next to Lis, and Strife was sleeping with his head resting on the gem cart. Cilia looked to Spike when she spoke, but her words were directed to herself.
The diamond dogs took you into a cave here,” Cilia said, pointing to the upper left of the map. “From there, we were moved underground to a new location. If we are at the southern desert, then they took us south,” Cilia reasoned.
“They have tunnels that go that far?” Lis asked.
“Diamond Dogs have tunnels running all over, but they lead back to their territory over here in the north. They don’t want to mess with the dragons or griffins on either side, so they travel underground,” Cilia explained.
“They’re scared of dragons and griffins?” Spike asked.
“More like worried. A handful of us could take out a pack. They need to sneak up on us to take us down. I think we came out somewhere down here,” Cilia said, pointing to an area just below the southern desert, between a jungle and a mountain.
“Where were we headed again? You mentioned something about griffins?” Spike asked.
“I thought we could take her-” Cilia gestured to Lis. “-to her country before heading to the frozen mountains. Unless, there was somewhere else you wanted to go?” Cilia asked, her claw hovered over the middle of the map, but her eyes on Spike.
“No, like I said, I just wanted to see the world a little more,” Spike said, but there was a nagging suspicion he had of Cilia. Why north?
“But, I don’t want to go home. At least, not yet,” Lis said.
Cilia looked to her like she had turned away a meal.
“Why not?” Spike asked.
“There’s nothing there for me,” Lis explained. “My parents died a long time ago. I was living outside when the Diamond Dogs caught me. If I go back, I’ll only end up back in the caves. Please, let me go with you?” She asked Spike.
“Can she?” Spike asked Cilia who was looking at Lis for the first time in a while.
“Like I said, She’s your responsibility, not mine,” Cilia responded.
“Thank you,” Lis responded, although she didn’t know if Cilia actually cared.
After this, the fire burned on and Cilia jumped to the shadows of the camp. her drawing was still carved in the dirt floor, and Spike couldn’t help but stare at Ponyville, marked beneath Canterlot and glowing in the fire’s light.
“So what about you? There isn’t anywhere you wanted to go?” Lis asked.
Spike remembered that she was next to him. She had been following his gaze into the heart of Equestria, and was confused. Spike on the other hand, decided that at this point, he’d want them to know more about him, and that meant telling the truth.
“I’m not like the other dragons,” Spike started. With each word memories flooded back from his past. “I was raised in Equestria by ponies,” Spike said. He waited to see how anyone would react.
Strife was sound asleep, and even Cilia was silent in her dark corner of the camp. Lis gave a gasp at his statement. “Ponies?” She asked.
“Yes, ponies. One in particular was like an older sister to me. She cared for me, she taught me, and I felt safe,”Spike continued. “I made a lot of friends and for a long time, I was content with letting them go on their own adventures. Now, I want to go on my own,” Spike said.
“Ponies…” Lis said under her breath. “I was taught that ponies were bad,” Lis sighed.
“Only a few are bad, but they’re really nice if you get to know them…” Spike tried to explain. His voice lowered when he saw Lis’ eyes close. A tear rolled down the side of her cheek.
“My parents died because of the ponies,” Lis managed to say.
“What?” Spike asked softly.
“My parents they… they-” Lis couldn’t keep talking, and she kept her eyes closed while she lowered her head into her wings, sobbing quietly.
“No, that can’t be true,” Spike said under his breath.
“Know who you can trust, Spike, because you can’t trust everyone,” Cilia said from the darkness. Her eyes stared into his, and he could feel like there was a softness to them. Then, her eyes closed and her voice was cold.
“Especially those closest to you.”
The next day was quiet. Spike decided not to bring up the topic from last night to Lis. She wasn’t walking next to him anymore, like she saw him differently after knowing his past. Cilia told Strife to walk faster because it might rain soon, but there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Still, the four of them walked the whole day and near dusk they set up camp again.
Cilia quickly drew her map again, but this time put an ‘x’ where she thought they were. She put a ‘o’ where they were headed, and an estimate of about five days walking time before they passed the Southern Desert and into the lush forests. Right now it was obvious they were in a desert, with less rivers and much more sand.
“Tomorrow we’ll need to get to the watering hole near this city,” Cilia said.. She pointed to one of the Pony cities nearby.
Spike remembered such a southern city from a few years past. Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy traveled there to find one of the water lilies that was said to cure a strange illness. After saving the residents from a snake invasion, they showed Twilight where the watering hole was, as well as where the water lilies could be found.
Spike took a second to remember what it was like back then. He used to be so fun loving and ignorant. In a way, he still was. There are some things about you that never change. But when Spike looked to Lis, he wondered how much her past did change her. On the outside she was still a child, but in her eyes he could see that she had seen perhaps more of the world than he had.
“What?” Lis asked, making notice of his stare.
Spike stepped out of his thoughts and a question came to his mind. “Have you ever been down this far south, Lis?” Spike asked.
Lis hesitated, like she was processing the actual question behind the one asked. “No. I’ve only been in the north, where I was raised. Everywhere else is new and weird,” Lis explained.
“When we go to the watering hole, is it alright if I show Lis around the town?” Spike asked Cilia.
“No, I don’t want to,” Lis replied before Cilia could respond.
“You heard her,” Cilia answered.
Spike wanted to encourage her more, perhaps change her view on ponies, but she had already turned from the fire and sat near the edge of the light, facing the darkness around them. Spike turned to Cilia, but she too had left the light. Alone near the embers, Spike sat and watched them burn. Some days it felt lonely out here. On others he could count on Lis to keep him company.
He didn’t want to lose her. Out here, she was his only friend.
The fire danced in his vision. It circled the sky and struck the ground. A fluent but wild motion that seemed to draw him in. The darkness would try to sneak up, but the fire kept it at bay. Words were formed from the fire. They spoke stories, legends, of his journey as a dragon in pony lands. His past was represented by this flame. It was his being.
But it felt cold. Not a chilling, or frostbite that would have awoken him, but a cool sensation. When the fire drew near, it numbed his body. When the fire left him for seconds at a time, he grew warm. Deep inside, he thought something was wrong, but he couldn’t tell what.
Spike tried to draw the fire near, to find what problems there were. Instead, the fire backed away, shaping itself into a pony. The mane was fire, the tail was fire, but the body was white. It watched him as he tried to get near, backing away just as he approached. Spike was shocked to find the fire pony grow wings and fly off into the distance.
The darkness took the opportunity to surround him. The dark tentacles wrapped around him as the fire flew away. The darkness did not feel cold. Instead, it felt warm. The farther the fire left, the warmer it became.
Until he was burning.
Spike felt a sizzling pain on his body. There was no darkness anymore, it was a bright painful light.
Spike jumped away from the flames, feeling his scales charred from the heat. He rolled around on the ground to take the heat off himself. After what felt like minutes, but was actually seconds, he had removed the flames from himself. He sat in the cool night air, chilling his burnt scales. Up above he could see the moon looking down at him, as if feeling sympathy.
Around him, Spike noticed that Lis was watching from her position. On seeing that he had looked to her, she turned away without a word. Strife was still asleep, even after Spike’s cries of agony. Cilia was nowhere to be seen.
Spike inched farther away from the fire and closed his eyes, hoping that when he woke up, this would all have been a dream.
We follow our dreams like they’re a runway, but when we know how to lift off, the dreams aren’t needed.
Yet, sometimes, the runway isn’t long enough, and our dreams stay just that, a dream.
Author's Note
This one and the next one are kind of short, so sorry about that. I didn't want to merge them because I like the individual messages. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for Reading!
Singed
It’s so dark here, this place I woke up in. I don’t know where I am, or even where I’m heading. There’s a little voice in my head that tries to speak to me, but I’m too lost to hear it. It’s telling me to go somewhere, but where? I don’t even know where I am, so how am I supposed to listen. I think I’ll ignore it for now.
I tried opening my eyes, but they were already open. I look down at myself, but I can only see darkness. Where is this place, where no light can shine? Who am I, to be walking in a place like this. Who am I? I… I can’t remember anymore. I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but have I already forgotten everything? Has the darkness taken what was left of me?
Somewhere, the voice was trying to speak to me, but it was getting more and more faint. I tried to listen, I really did, but it was fading. I was not scared, I did not panic. If anything, I was feeling more relaxed than I had for a long time.
But how did I know that I was relaxing? What part of me could understand what was happening? Was it true? Had I never been this relaxed before? Around me, the darkness was watching, it’s gaze was on my steps, reaching further and further into the darkness until my very being seemed to be fused into it. My voice was gone, and my thoughts seemed to be clouded, but I could understand that this was darkness.
If I could hold onto that one thought for as long as I could, then maybe it will lead me somewhere. Perhaps if I tried, I could find a way out of this darkness. Each step was effortless, but every thought was tougher than the last. Almost as if the darkness wanted to take everything from me, until all I had left, was a vessel it could control.
But did I have a vessel? I could not see my body, or the ground below me, so how did I know that I was even alive? Was this death? The afterlife? Is this where dragons go to-
“I’m a dragon,” Cilia said, her eyes glancing around at the crackling flames.
Cilia’s sleeping area was surrounded by black flames, sucking the oxygen from the air and burning silently. She was panting, but she did not know why, and her body was shaking, even with the fire around to warm her.
“Oh good, she’s awake,” Cilia heard a voice say past the burning fire.
Lis was behind the cart, watching from a distance. Cilia could see there was fear in her eyes, as she always saw when they met eyes. However, it was different type of fear she saw this time. Cilia took her thoughts away from that, focusing on the flames around her.
“I’ve never seen black flames like that before, cool,” Strife said, from the other side of the cart.
“I’ve seen them before,” Spike said under his breath.
Cilia could hear him clearly, however, and quickly slashed the flames into nothingness. She shot a gaze at Spike, who had been watching from the edge of the flames. His eyes were on Cilia, but she could see no kindness in them. Instead, it seemed as though Spike was in thought, remembering a past event once again.
“Spike, this isn’t-,” Cilia started to say. Her voice was drowned away by the fear she saw in his eyes.
She looked down to the black flames that were flowing out of her mouth. It dissipated almost instantly, but Spike was already running from the camp. She wanted to go after him, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, she turned to Lis and Strife.
“What got into him?” Strife asked.
“Go back to bed, he’ll be fine by morning,” Cilia said, hoping that her words would change what her thoughts were saying.
Cilia laid down to rest back in the middle of the singed marks left in a spiral around her. She could hear Lis run away from the camp, over in Spike’s direction but didn’t try to stop her. In fact, she was glad that Lis had come now. Perhaps she might be the only thing that keeps the group together.
As the night stars continued twinkling, Cilia couldn’t help thinking about the flames. Her body was still cold, even with her heart of fire. Those black flames steal more than warmth, they take everything…
Spike was running. He didn’t know where he was going, but he wouldn’t stop until he got there. Each step reminded him of the dreadful memory. His legs gained strength in his fear, but his mind could only take so much. Eventually, he fell down on the sandy ground and covered his head, hoping to forget the dreadful memory.
The black flames that burned everything. He had watched it hurt his friends and those he called his family. He could hear the cries of pain from Twilight. Even if it had all turned out okay, he couldn’t stop thinking of the darkness that those flames had inside. Even Twilight’s words were coming back.
“No, Spike, I’m fine, really. We managed to stop him before it was too late—you’re the one to thank for that.”
“-The pitch black flames that do not go out until they’ve destroyed everything… only the owner can stop… pure evil…”
Were those last words Celestia’s? He couldn’t remember. It had been pushed to the back of his mind for so long now. The flames of darkness that resemble not an evil force, but an evil soul. The light of the flames do not give heat, but steal it. They can kill if not stopped, and it is a fate worse than death.
Why does Cilia have those flames?
Spike lifted himself off the ground, and turned up towards the sky. He fell onto his back to gaze up to the sky. He wished that Luna could guide him right now. If Cilia could control those flames, he never wanted to see her again. But at the same time, why was she so content to go with him? Did she have a plan? Was she going to betray him?
Spike saw a shooting star in the corner of his vision. He wasn’t feeling up to it, so he let his wish go by. For a while, he sat there, looking up at the stars.
Spike could hear the sand behind him, and he knew there was someone there. He didn’t want to turn, however, fearing that Cilia had followed him. His fears were dissolved when Lis sat down next to him.
“They’re really pretty,” Lis said, looking up at the stars with him.
“I guess,” Spike said, unsure whether or not she was talking about the flames or the stars.
“I remember learning that there’s a pony who raises up the sun, and one who raises up the moon,” Lis said in a low voice.
“That’s right,” Spike answered.
“I guess not all ponies are bad, then,” Lis said halfheartedly.
Spike didn’t answer, and instead let her continue.
“I’m sure you were friends with some good ponies, and not any bad ones, right?” Lis asked, but she didn’t sound enthusiastic.
“They were great, each and every one of them,” Spike said, remembering their faces.
“Do you think they miss you?” Lis asked.
“Yeah… I think they do,” Spike answered.
“Are you alright?” Lis asked softly.
“…”
“That’s okay, take your time. Take as long as you need,” Lis said, not once taking her eyes off of the stars.
Spike had his eyes closed but he wasn’t trying to sleep. His thoughts were still cloudy and he tried to think. Lis didn’t speak for a long time after that, and he was glad she had in fact given him so much time.
“I’m not alright… I’m going to go find a train tomorrow. I know what I have to do,” Spike said.
Spike turned to Lis, only to find her eyes had closed and she was breathing softly. Spike followed her example, and with his decision in mind, he fell asleep momentarily in peace.
We carry a map of our life with us. It’s embedded in our minds. We know that the future will be added to our map, and no matter how much we try to forget, our past will stay with us on that map.
Even if you burn out the past, the singed remnants are enough to remind you that there is something you are trying to forget.
Author's Note
Short chapter, so I posted earlier to try to make up for it. I'll work on the next chapter, but for now I hope this holds you over :D.
Thanks for Reading!
The Right Thing To Do
The sun was high in the sky, blocked only slightly by a few rolling clouds. Pegasi were slowly and methodically moving the clouds, preparing for the approaching rainfall. The wind had started to pick up speed, blowing leaves and manes around. The trees were being checked individually to ensure that they would withstand the high winds coming in the night. One tree in particular was being checked more methodically than the others. It was home to a unicorn and a dragon, protecting them from the outside world. In more ways than one.
Twilight had been checking her library, ensuring there were no drafts from the windows or holes in the wall. She didn’t expect there to be, considering there hasn’t been a problem since she’d moved in. However, she noticed something wrong with her companion. His tail hung lower than she’d seen in months. It wasn’t the first unusual thing she’d noticed recently, but it was the most prominent feature in his expression as he walked across the room.
“Spike, are you alright?” Twilight had seemed to ask almost once a week.
“Yeah Twilight, I’m fine… But when you have a minute, can I talk to you?” Spike asked, unsure of himself or his feelings.
“I always have time for you Spike, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Twilight asked, walking close enough that she could smell something peculiar. It was different from what she would normally smell in a library, and at first she couldn’t place it.
“Well, there’s been something I’ve wanted to ask for a while now,” Spike said, playing with his claws, something he would do when he was thoughtful or nervous.
“What is it Spike?” Twilight asked, hoping she could get to the root of his problems.
“Do you think… Do you think I could go on an adventure?” Spike asked, his eyes lighting with anxiety. Twilight could feel the magic in his breath, warm with the tension in his words.
“Spike, we haven’t been on one of those… in a long time,” Twilight said, her facial expression faltering. The memories were invading her head, some more unforgettable than others. Spike lowered his eyes.
How long? Twilight tried to think how long it had been since she had become princess. How long has it been since Spike helped free the Crystal Empire… since they first came to Ponyville… or even since she’d first hatched him as an egg. They’d all grown in that time, having such memorable experiences to relive. But Spike hadn’t grown.
“Spike… is this about the letter?” Twilight asked in a low voice. Her thoughts drifted to the mysterious letter that had arrived almost one month ago.
“Twilight, it’s not fair,” Spike said in a hushed voice.
Spike looked up to her, his eyes filling with tears, blocking her sight into the aged, teenager mind of the dragon before her. It was blocked by the tears, and all she could see was the young, baby dragon that had lived with her for many years. Though he had grown up with her, he had only grown a few inches.
“Spike, we never went on those… adventures because we wanted to, it was a matter of necessity.
“Necessity?” Spike asked, knowing full well what the word meant.
Twilight could understand his sorrows, know that he was sad, but she could not feel what he was feeling. Her heart ached in knowing that his loving soul was feeling this way. He didn’t deserve it.
“Twilight, I don’t want to go on my own adventure. I need to, it’s necessary,” Spike said, a hard resolve in his voice that made Twilight close her eyes in thought.
“Spike…” Twilight said, battling with her gut, telling her that it was dangerous. Beneath the soft eyes and small body, Spike was grown. More than she would let herself admit in a time like this.
“Twilight, please,” Spike said, not pleading nor crying anymore. His eyes were steady. If she were to look into them, she would see that he was truly ready for whatever challenges he would face. So she did look into them, and she smiled a soft smile.
“I don’t want you to go Spike,” Twilight said.
“But Twilight-,”
“But it’s not my choice anymore, it’s yours.”
Spike smiled, his body tensing with excitement. He hugged her, and she hugged him back. Then, Spike went upstairs to get his things. Twilight left, getting preparations for a day she would have wished would have come later, but that she was glad had finally come.
Spike finished packing his things in a small cotton bag he strapped to his back. Twilight had made it for him on one of his birthdays. He walked down the steps and was surprised to see six mares waiting for him at the bottom. Twilight was the first to speak.
“You can’t leave without saying goodbye first, Spike.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Spike said, running to the group to get a group hug from them all.
“I’m really glad you girls are here,” Spike directed to the other five mares.
“We wouldn’t want to miss sayin’ goodbye to you, Spike,” Applejack said.
“Why, I nearly dropped one of my dresses in the rush to get here,” Rarity said.
“But Spike, are you sure you want to do this? It’ll be dangerous,” Fluttershy said, voicing Twilight’s thoughts.
“I’m sure I have to do this,” Spike said, handing the letter he’d gotten the month before to Twilight, who smiled and kept it at her side.
“Spike’s a tough dragon, he ain’t no baby anymore,” Rainbow Dash said, nudging Spike and almost toppling him over with the contact.
“But he sure looks like a baby dragon,” Pinkie Pie said, walking around him and making Spike’s gaze lower.
“But he’s not, and I have complete faith that he’ll be just fine,” Twilight said, now more sure than ever that this was a good idea.
“Thanks Twilight,” Spike said, gaining back the courage Pinkie’s comment had stolen.
“Hmm, Twilight, can I have a word with you before Spike leaves?” Rarity asked, only loud enough for her to hear. The others were commenting on Spike’s choice of items that were in his bag, they hardly noticed the pair walk away.
Twilight walked to the other side of the room with Rarity and she could see there was something that was on Rarity’s mind. She imagined that because Rarity was the closest to Spike besides herself, she would have the hardest time letting him on this journey.
“Twilight, does he really have to do this? I’m sure he can handle himself, but how long will he be gone?” Rarity asked.
“I don’t know how long he’ll be gone, but he has to do this for himself and for his pride. This scroll,” Twilight showed Rarity the scroll that arrived to Spike the month before. It was written in a strange language that only Spike had been able to translate. It was a draconic language, passed down through the dragon’s blood. “Spike read it to me.”
“A dragon will live a very long time, but they can only grow bigger from feeding their own desires. He’s lived here in Ponyville for so long that he hasn’t grown very much at all. We need to let him do things on his own, and maybe then he’ll be content with staying the way he is,” Twlight said. She glanced over to Spike who was packing everything back in his bag.
“I trust you, Twilight,” Rarity said, giving her a smile that spoke volumes.
The two of them joined the others. Spike turned towards the door. Twilight rushed ahead and stood in front of him, looking into his eyes with as much courage as she could muster.
“Spike… I don’t know how long you’ll be gone, and we’re not sure if you’ll come back,” Twilight said, fighting back the tears that had long been threatening to come out.
“But Spike, you’re a good dragon, and you’ve more than exceeded my expectations. There’s a fire in our hearts that won’t die out, and you’re carrying some of that fire,” Twilight said, letting the tears flow freely from her eyes. Behind Spike, the others were also letting tears fall in streams.
“We will always be with you, no matter where you go, or which path you choose to go. We won’t forget about you,” Twilight said, clutching Spike in a grasp that he returned lovingly. The others joined in as well, creating a ball of love for the dragon.
“And I won’t forget about any of you,” Spike said after they finally let go and he was allowed to walk towards the door. He turned back and waved goodbye, to which they all waved as well. “Because I’m carrying the fire,” Spike said, backing out of the doorway and walking towards the path out of town.
Inside the library, the six mares watched Spike leave, a quiet moment that they all shared. Finally, without a word, five of the mares left. Twilight watched them leave out of the doorway, still watching where Spike had walked out. Rarity took a long look down the path when she left, but even she turned to finish her duties at home. After a few minutes, Twilight was stirred from her trance by the sound of a teleportation next to her.
“You let him go,” Celestia’s soft voice said, a tinge of sadness in it as well.
“I didn’t want to let him go, my heart wanted him to stay here,” Twilight said, her voice as soft as a mouse.
“Then why did you?” Celestia asked.
“Because it was the right thing to do.”
Author's Note
This is written for one of my best friends. I’ll call him Vidal, only because he’ll know who I’m talking about.
Define
In the distance, Spike could hear a rooster bringing forth the day. A rush of wind took him back into a relapse of both dream and memory. He could feel the air on his scales, with the scent of apples surrounding him. He could feel a soft substance underneath him that he realized to be hay. His other senses seemed foggy and inaccurate.
When Spike opened his eyes, the world was dull but the images were clear. He was in a barn that had one door cracked open, letting in the morning sun. He looked closely and found that the hay around him was also spotted with sleeping bags, seven in total. As the images twisted, he could see there were ponies sound asleep. Once again, he heard the rooster’s call.
Spike lifted himself from his hay flooring which had turned into a purple and green sleeping bag. Not fully comprehending, Spike walked to the cracked door. Along the way he glanced at the sleeping ponies, but could not pinpoint why they were familiar. Then, one cleared up and turned yellow with a pink mane. He looked to the door. In the back of his mind he could remember Fluttershy saying that she would prefer the door to be cracked, but other than that, this was not a memory he recognized.
Spike returned his attention to the other figures. He could hear their soft mumbles and the familiar sounds of their soft breaths. One by one they shone their colors and returned to his memory. He tried to remember when exactly this sleepover occurred, but something was blocking it out. Spike went to Twilight, ready to wake her up and get answers. Instead, he stood above her and could only watch. He tried to reach forward, but his mouth moved instead.
“But I’m sure I have to do this,” Spike said aloud.
Spike didn’t know where those words came from, but he suddenly turned to Rainbow Dash, as if she retorted. From her direction, he heard her voice.
“Spike’s a tough dragon, he’s no baby anymore,” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed.
“But he sure looks like a baby dragon,” Pinkie Pie’s voice rang from his right.
“But he’s not, and I have complete faith that he’ll be just fine,” Twilight responded. Her voice faded to a whisper just as she finished.
The silence was deafening, and Spike realized he once again was able to move his body of his own will. This time, however, he didn’t take a step towards Twilight. His mind must’ve been confusing this memory, mixing two together. His eyes were on the door. He remembered their words, even if he didn’t remember this memory. Spike knew that his friends would always help; would always be there when he wanted them to. This time, he’d prove to himself that he was capable of doing the same for them.
Spike headed towards the door and he felt no resistance. As if this was the deciding factor, the door creaked open, revealing the open sky and green forestry. The sound of a rooster crowing was given a face, when he saw the beady eyes of the rooster watching from his perch in the rafters. As Spike passed the opening, into the green world outside, he decided to turn around, maybe have one more look at the choice he was leaving behind.
Everything was on fire.
Black flames were spreading wildly around the hay. He could hear his friends’ screams now, as their sleeping bags were engulfed in the darkest flames. Spike wanted to run to them, to help them before it was too late. But it was already too late. He had made his choice, and the barn doors shut in front of him. He could hear the chilling laughter of a foe long ago.
Spike backed away from the barn, his legs out of his control once again. The barn was ablaze and darker than the night. As he watched it crumble to the floor, the barn morphed and twisted into a snarling black dragon With a wingspan larger than the barn, it towered above everything. Its eyes were bright purple, aimed at Spike. The creature opened its wings and flew into the air, scarring the ground beneath it in pitch black. The dragon blotted out the sun, spreading it’s darkness in mass. Everything went black as a roar split the sky in two.
Spike jolted awake, holding his head in his hands like it would fly away. He didn’t have to think too deeply now to remember when they had that sleepover. It was the morning before Twilight received her special mission. There hadn’t been any problems for weeks, so to have something as urgent as that letter, it had made him forget how peaceful their morning had been.
Even now, he didn’t think about the sun shining bright above, or the soft breeze against his face. Though the sands were hot, they did not offer discomfort, but warm sensation to attach himself to.
After that dream, Spike had to pull himself back into reality and remember his own mission. Next to him was Lis, who was still sound asleep. She was pulled into a ball, like a child. She only added to the urgency he felt right now. Spike wanted to head straight for the nearest town and get on a train back to Ponyville. He wanted to not have to worry about those black flames anymore, and that maybe they’ll be gone forever if he told the others all about what those flames could do.
Spike turned towards the town, but his eyes rested on Lis. Her feathers were shifting with the gusts of wind. Knowing full well that she would go back to Cilia were he to disappear, Spike decided to nudge her. She opened her eyes wide, only to cringe at the pain. She was still not accustomed to the blinding light of the sun. After a moment, she remembered that she was no longer a prisoner of the caves and noticed Spike standing above her.
“Spike?” She asked, trying recall the past nights events.
“Lis, do you trust Cilia?” Spike asked in a low voice.
Lis paused for a second before answering. “No, not at all.”
“Do you trust me?” Spike asked in the same tone.
“Of course,” Lis said without hesitation.
“Will you go with me to Ponyville?” Spike asked, his voice low and with hesitation.
Lis had resolution in her face, but his words stripped her of that. She tried to speak but she couldn’t think properly and it only came out as a few gasps of breath as she battled her hesitation. Spike sighed and turned away from her.
“Stay away from Cilia. Whatever you do, don’t talk to her,” Spike said, before starting off at a sprint and running deeper into the desert.
Lis called out after him, but her voice was caught by the wind that was steadily growing stronger. She decided to chase after him, but the sands were tough to run through with her talons. Still, she did not relent. She had almost caught up to him, but as she reached up to grab him, a tendril of sand and wind whipped across her face. She fell back and tried to see where he had gone, but more wind was blowing around her, picking up sand and blocking her view.
Deciding that it was no use, she turned away from him and fled away from the desert sandstorm. She trudged through the harsh winds and teeth gritting sand until she hit something wooden. Hoping that this tree could protect her, she tried to walk around for better cover. Her claws hit stone, and she realized that this wasn’t a tree.
Lis couldn’t see well, with the sand blocking her view in all directions. When she tried to further inspect the structure her talons slipped in the sand and she fell beak first into the grainy floor. She could feel the sand slashing at her back and holding her in a cocoon of brown. She was finding it harder to breathe, and soon after, the brown sand turned to black.
Spike was thrashing through the storm. At first he was worried that the trains might not be running during a storm, but then he grew more worried about arriving at the station before he suffocated. The winds picked up to tremendous speeds, and he was wishing that the weather ponies in charge of these storms would notice he was outside.
It isn’t good to hope for miracles, because even he couldn’t see a foot past his face, let alone a weather pony seeing him from the outskirts of this storm. Spike kept his eyes closed after the fourth time that he was blinded by a barrage of sand particles. The air was feeling thinner the more he stayed out here, but he also started to notice things around him.
Spike thought that he had stepped on a horseshoe, but he didn’t want to stop and check. On one occasion, he smacked into a metal structure, which he knew to be the water tower near the center of this town. If luck was on his side, he’d find a house. However, knowing that he had wandered on this town during one of their routine sandstorms meant that luck was still on vacation.
Through the drowning gusts of wind all around him, Spike thought he had heard somepony calling his name. Spike tried to call back, but his mouth was instantly coated in sand. Spike spit out what he could, but there was no way he would try that again. Instead, he turned the direction he thought was left and continued onward.
“Wow,” Strife said to himself as he overlooked the desert plains.
“What is it?” Cilia asked from her perched position on the other side of camp. She was watching for something, and her eyes darted from side to side.
“Never seen one of those kinds of storms before,” Strife said.
Cilia followed his gaze into the heart of the desert. Pillars of wind were flowing high into the sky. Like towers to heaven, they were swirling in destructive motions, blowing sand upwards and dropping in all directions. At their top was probably a weather pony, guiding the destruction, controlling it to their will. Inside of the cluster of storms was the largest, its spiraling motion was directed towards the ground, as if this were not a tower to heaven, but one to Tartarus.
“Let’s go,” Cilia said to Strife. Her wings were beating fast enough to disrupt Strife, and he found that he couldn’t keep up with her speed. One thought of the gems he left behind, and he turned around.
Cilia flew into the storm, her eyes glowing purple.
In front of us, our future is laid out. Whether we choose to walk a path familiar to us, is up to us in the now. What we decided on in the past is meaningless.
Author's Note
Sorry about the long break, I wasn't caught up with the seasons, and I heard about a dragon episode. I'm still not caught up, but I'll keep writing and deal with the errors later.
Thanks for Reading!