Banishment is Friendship

Spike examined the lime green pegasus stallion in front of him then turned to question Valkyrie, "We're not going to eat him, are we?"

Shade chuckled, "No, not yet. Breakfast could not fit through the door. Do you have a knife so I can cut it up?"

"Yeah. . ." Spike answered slowly, "I'll go get it."

"This is Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle," Lime Flyer stated as he walked around the stone table and thrones.

"Spike said she disappeared along with the other Elements of Harmony, whatever that means, and the diarchs of Equestria," Shade informed him.

"Oh!" the stallion zipped over to the ivory mare and extended his hoof, "Lime Flyer."

"Good for you," she replied coldly and walked passed him to sit on a throne with an apple on it.

"Okay, Trinity, suit yourself," Lime Flyer began to walk away but was stopped by a pull on his tail. He turned and smirked at the ivory mare.

"What did you call me?"

"Well, since you wouldn't tell me your name, I made one up for you. Since you have three horns, 'Trinity' seemed fitting," Lime Flyer explained.

Spike walked into the room with a large knife. He saw Valkyrie glaring at the newest guest.

"Dragon," she addressed him.

"Spike," he answered annoyed.

"Do you know how magic works?" she turned and saw him holding the knife.

"I think there are some books around here that could help," Spike said while rubbing his jaw.

"That is appreciated," she reached down to take the knife in her mouth when she stopped, "Since you are being so trusting of me. . . I am called Shade. Valkyrie is my mother's name."

"Aw," Lime Flyer interjected sadly, "So it's not 'Trinity'?"

"No," Shade stated and took the knife from Spike, "I'r vee vak."

Fifteen minutes later, bag after bag of meat, Shade tossed the bloody knife in the sink.

"I," Spike cleared his throat as he entered the kitchen, "don't want to sound rude, but you should probably shower after your bath in all that. . . blood. . ."

"Alright. It will give you time to cook anyways," Shade stated.

"Yeah, just follow me. The castle can be quite confusing at first."

Lime Flyer searched through the fridge and frowned. Not a single fruit or vegetable in sight, nor any oats nor grains. He sat at the empty table and rubbed the bandage on his wing. Shade had been kind enough to remove the stick, although he was a little concerned that she licked it clean. As a resident of Ponyville, he knew a lot about the Elements of Harmony and Spike. Why they disappeared along with the Princesses, he did not know. Nopony knew. Claws scraped on the marble tile and he saw Spike walking in.

"Where can I find some food?" Lime Flyer asked.

"I dunno," the adolescent dragon shrugged his shoulders, "I've been living off gems and mice."

"What did you do when they disappeared?"

Spike was adding spices and herbs to the chunk of meat Shade had cut from the manticore, "I woke up and Twilight wasn't here. So I went to find Rarity. No Rarity. I went to find Pinkie. No Pinkie. I went to find Applejack. No Applejack. I went to find Fluttershy. No Fluttershy. I sent letter after letter to the Princesses and did not get a reply. So I went to Canterlot. No. Princesses." The adolescent drake heaved a sigh and put the roast in the oven.

"What's your story?" Spike inquired as he took an empty seat across from the pegasus.

"I was looking for food and this griffon attacked me out of nowhere! She just clipped me in the air! She would have chased after me but a dragon had his sights set on her to eat," Lime Flyer motioned with his hoof how he went spiraling down into the trees, "And then I feel a stabbing pain in my wing. Lo and behold, a branch stabbed my wing."

"How long has it been since you last ate?"

"About a week," Lime Flyer chuckled weakly. "I had escaped from one of the work camps set up by the griffons. I should probably try and rescue as many of the others as I can. Hey! Do you think you and Shade could help me?"

"I can only speak for myself. I just met Shade yesterday," Spike said. "I think in order for Shade to help she would want something in return and/or want to be more prepared. She seems. . . brutish, but she is highly intelligent."

"So you are helping her with magic?"

"And with our language. She is from a different world," Spike informed Lime Flyer.

"I thought as much. Have you noticed that she doesn't have a cutie mark? I would guess she is a few years older than twenty yet still has a blank flank."

"It doesn't surprise me; she is from a different universe," Spike reinforced. "Her lack of a cutie mark may also be the reason she doesn't know any magic."

"Or there was no magic in her universe," Lime countered.

"I wonder what her world was like," mused Spike.

Two wet towels slapped the two males on their face, "You two are worse than school girls," Shade commented. She sat across the drake, "Alright, I'm ready for my first magic lesson."

"I think we should start with the language. You already seem to know how to speak it so learning how to read and write should be easy," Spike spoke aloud as he went around collecting the workbooks he gathered from the school.