Pony Fantasy X

As morning light shone over Mt. Gagazet, the party was up bright and early as they were ready to trek through the mountain, wanting to climb over before nightfall. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash told the others about the aeon Yojimbo, and how ridiculous the fayth was with its expensive payment to have him join the group. Deciding to ignore getting the cheap mercenary aeon for now, they began to hike up the freezing mountain, just a distance away from Zanarkand.

Even though Twilight had gone through a lot yesterday, she was ok to keep going, wanting to fulfill Fluttershy's wishes to go through with her pilgrimage. She may have lost her brother again, and her favorite doll her older sibling made for her, but she's able to move on now, keeping the sphere Shining Armor made for her as he clung on desperately to life to say his final farewells to his baby sister. Smarty Pants may not be around to slap some sense into the others if Twilight was annoyed, but she at least had Mog, willing to do anything it can to help the unicorn if she was ever upset.

Snow began to fall as soon as they climbed up the path into Mt. Gagazet, passing under stone archways that have been made several hundred years ago. Surprisingly, there seemed to be a lack of dragons around, none of them even flying around in the air. It wasn't a harsh blizzard, so it seemed ok for a dragon to fly around, but where did they all go to?

Answering their concerns, Elder Yiazmat flew down in front of them, blocking them access further up the mountain, along with several more dragons hiding from the rocky slopes. "Summoner Fluttershy and her guardians, you are not allowed here. Mt. Gagazet is a scared mountain of Faust. We will not allow the feet of infidels like you tainting our mountain."

"I no longer follow the teachings of Faust," Fluttershy said. "Their teachings have been warped by corruption and greed for power by the maesters of Faust, and have betrayed everypony in Spira."

"Then you will all die where you stand." Garble and Clubba stepped up from behind Yiazmat, ready to take care of the traitors.

"But you left, didn't you, Yiazmat?" That caught the dragon elder off guard. "You saw how horrible the teachings have been defied, even when you found out about Orion Guado's death. And you're protecting Mt. Gagazet from others as a dragon elder, not a maester, right?"

"Elder, don't listen to those stupid ponies!" Garble said. "Let's just kill them! They've already made a mess in Bevelle!"

Before Garble and Clubba could charge at them, Yiazmat grabbed their tails and flung them to the ground behind him. His strength showed he was deserving to be a leader of his tribe, having dazed both of the strongest of his dragons before they could do anything reckless. The elder looked down at Fluttershy, standing her ground despite his power.

"You've been branded as a traitor, all seven of you," he said. "You aren't going to flee, knowing you're surrounded by my tribe?" Fluttershy shook her head as she kept her eye contact on the white dragon's. "And you're willing to continue your pilgrimage after casting aside the temples and lose everything you have worked hard for?...What exactly are you fighting for?"

"I fight for Spira," the summoner answered. "Even if I throw the teachings away, knowing that they're nothing but lies, I want to bring the Calm to everypony and stop Sin. I may be a traitor, but that's what everypony believes the corrupted maesters. Those who truly know me know I'm not, and I wish to end everypony's pain, if only for a while."

The mountain was silent as Yiazmat took in Fluttershy's words. He left as a maester because of the corruption he clearly saw, never told about Orion's death and what had really happened. Even if he knew Star Swirl was unsent, it felt wrong for him to have to keep this secret from the world. He even questioned how he became a maester, aside from following the teachings up until the trial against Fluttershy and her guardians.

After pondering over her decision, he finally made his. "...For a frail pegasus like yourself, you have a stronger will than myself. Dragons, let them pass! We will allow only those who seek to follow the true teachings of Faust! No longer will we let those with ill intentions and disregard the teachings on our mountain!" As much as the other dragons didn't seem to trust Fluttershy's group, they obeyed their leaders orders, knowing how corrupted the teachings were as Yiazmat told them they were dropping out of Bevelle's ideals. The crowd of dragons dispersed and went about their business, showing no hostility toward them. "The sacred heights of Gagazet await your presence, Summoner Fluttershy."

"Thank you, Elder Yiazmat." Fluttershy bowed to the elder dragon as they were allowed entrance.

They continued on their way, but as they passed the other dragons, they seemed to be eyeing Spike. Rainbow Dash remembered him telling her he was cast out of his home for disrespecting his tribe. It was bad enough to be called an outcast, and along with being kicked out of his mountain home, he had his wings torn off. Before they were able to get any further on the trail, Garble and Clubba flew down and blocked their path.

"Oh great," Rainbow grumbled. "What do you two bozos want!? We're allowed through!"

"Yes. Elder Yiazmat said you ponies could pass." Garble pointed his claw at Spike. "But Spikey's not allowed."

"He's Fluttershy's guardian!" the pegasus argued.

"He's a disgrace to us dragons!" Clubba argued back. "He humiliated himself in front of all of us over ten years ago, thinking he could beat us. He failed in front of Elder Yiazmat and is considered a pathetic dragon by Mt. Gagazet's presence."

"He's lucky he was only kicked out when he climbed back up after I threw him down the mountain," Garble mocked as Spike growled as they brought back that horrible memory. "He's better off staying down with the rest of your puny pony friends back beyond the Calm Lands."

"Then I'll prove my strength," Spike said as he stepped forward. "I'll take both of you on with everything I've got."

"And I'll help!" Rainbow said, only to have Spike's spear shoved in her mouth.

"By myself." Spike walked up to the small area near the cliffside, Garble and Clubba mocking the purple dragon. He looked down the edge, remembering the exact ledge where he was tossed down a decade ago. "You two were lucky Fluttershy was kidnapped back in Luca...I'm a lot stronger than you think I am. This time, I will win."

The two dragons laughed, several other dragons standing along the mountain ridge as they watched, including Yiazmat. It was as if they knew he would be tested to prove his worth if he ever set foot back home, and Spike was going to have the entire tribe watch to see if he would fail or succeed.

"We'll see how weak you are, Spike." The three dragons prepared to fight, staring each other down.

It was bad enough to watch Spike fight two of his tribe's strongest fighters by himself, but after seeing him take down several powerful fiends on his own, even standing up to Blueblood after his transformation back in Bevelle, the mares knew he could do this. The dragons, however, didn't seem to hold Spike in high regards. They all knew he disrespected their customs and Yiazmat, and if he was able to prove himself, then they might accept him back.

After the two sides sized each other up, Garble and Clubba flew forward and were going to ram straight into Spike. The smaller dragon held up his claws and grabbed their heads as they pushed him back into the wall of the mountain. Thinking they knocked him out, Spike only smirked as he used Lancet on both of them, sapping away their strength while also mimicking some of their unique abilities. Spike took in a deep breath  and expelled a powerful torrent of water out of his mouth, sending both bullies flying back as the water on their scales turned to ice.

"Go, Spike! Kick their tails!" Rainbow cheered as the others rooted for the young dragon, Pinkie somehow wearing a cheerleader's outfit while wearing pom poms.

"Fight, Spike, fight! With all your might! Gooooooo, Spikey!" Pinkie chanted as she bounced around.

Garble and Clubba got up, shattering the ice that caught on their skin as they leered at the purple scaled dragon. "Did he really just copy your Aqua Breath?"

"Cheating little punk," Clubba grumbled. "Let's knock that twerp out."

Garble charged first and threw a punch, only for Spike to dodge it and thrust his palm into the red dragon's chest and used Lancet again, stealing another move. He then slugged Garble hard in the face and knocked him back. Clubba took in a deep breath and shot out a blast of water from his mouth at Spike. Before it could hit him, the dragon guardian clenched his fist as two magical barriers formed around him, along with the four elemental nullifying spells appeared and orbited around him. The water Nul spell disabled the aquatic breath, leaving the purple dragon unharmed.

"This fight didn't have any rules, so I'm not exactly cheating," Spike corrected the tubby brown dragon. "I'm proving to you how strong I am, and that includes using our tribe's Dragon Rages. You gonna keep complaining, or do you want to keep fighting?"

Garble growled as he stood back up. "You're only getting lucky! You're dead meet, Spike!"

The two dragons charged again and the three got into a fist fight, but Spike was clearly winning despite the handicap of two against one. Each punch they threw was easily blocked or avoided and he countered back. Even if they did strike him, they didn't do much damage with his added defensive barriers. Garble and Clubba were too focused on beating Spike up and neglecting to use their Dragon Rages to gain the upper hand, while he used them against them while easily avoiding their attacks.

Their fight seemed to last for nearly an hour, the two bullies not letting up or staying down while Spike seemed to remain unharmed as he also healed any minor injuries by using Lancet to steal their health. Yiazmat was actually impressed to see how strong Spike had gotten after watching his humiliating defeat, even the other dragons wanted to see him win. He had come a long way after being disappointed with the young dragon for his behavior back then, a memory that stayed with him for many years.

Yiazmat watched as two of the young dragons in the tribe had fought against each other as the young Spike challenged Garble. Unfortunately, for the small purple dragon, he was no match for the young red bully. He disrespected the young dragon fighter in front of the elder, insulting his skills when he barely utilized his own Dragon Rage abilities. As his punishment, Garble ripped off the small dragon's wings off his back and tossed him off the side of the toughest cliffside to climb up for his disrespect. He was surprised to see Spike actually made it back up after a couple hours, his determination far surpassing what the elder expected of him.

Spike panted heavily as the stubs that used to be his wings bled a little, but the wounds were slowly closing. "...You managed to survive and climb back up...Not many dragons could make it back up without their wings."

"I did," Spike said, ignoring the pain in his back as he squinted through the blizzard rushing in his face.

"...Yes...But this does no justify your insolence," Yiazmat coldly said. "You are hereby exiled from Mt. Gagazet. If you value your life, then I suggest you leave this instant before I finish what Garble started."

"...I understand, Elder Yiazmat." Spike walked down the trail and left the mountain, forever banned from walking among the rocks that formed Gagazet.

"So long, loser!" Garble taunted, only to receive a smack upside the head from the elder.

"Garble, still your tongue," Yiazmat scolded the young dragon. "I hope you realize you made me exile that young dragon from your constant teasing."

"W-What?" the red dragon asked, confused.

"Spike was an orphaned egg before he hatched, and I promised his parents I would look after their child as Sin attacked, where they died as the last summoner fought it in the Calm Lands." He watched as the young purple dragon disappeared down the slope. "...He has latent potential only known to his family line...Maybe in time among the ponies, he just might be able to fully master his family's ability copying technique; Lancet."

Garble scoffed as he rubbed his sore head. "Whatever...He's not special."

Spike had managed to knock Clubba out cold as the elder was lost in his thoughts, Garble badly injured as he was close to passing out while the young purple dragon was unharmed. He really had mastered Lancet to the fullest potential, where many other dragons could only learn fiend abilities by being struck by the attack and living to use their power. Spike has become a powerful dragon after a decade of exile, maybe becoming the dragon tribe's future leader. Even with all the hardships he had faced growing up, Yiazmat watching him as he was constantly teased by his other peers, he didn't let their heckling bug him as he kept his pride from diminishing his lifestyle.

"J-Just...stop avoiding me and fall down!" Garble shouted as he charged once more.

Spike leapt up high in the air, avoiding the red dragon and shot fireballs down at him. As he the bully fell, Spike used Lancet on Garble again as he fell back down, thrusting his leg forward until he struck his abdomen, making the experienced dragon wheeze in agony. Seeing he wasn't getting back up, Spike backed away, though keeping a cautious gaze on the two dragons.

"Had enough, Garble?" the purple scaled dragon asked.

"...I-I...I yield...You win," Garble said, barely able to move, let alone breathe.

The ponies cheered for Spike's victory as the other dragons were impressed at his skills. As the cheering died down, Yiazmat approached the purple dragon, Spike standing vigilantly, awaiting what the elder will say to him.

"...I am quite impressed, Spike," Yiazmat said. "After ten long years, after humiliating yourself in my presence and being cast out of Gagazet, you managed to prove yourself that you still kept that stubborn pride and have won back respect to your home. The mountain has seen your triumph and hardships, and you are allowed to walk among these lands once again."

"...Thank you, Elder Yiazmat," Spike said with a smile. "I do apologize for the trouble I have caused."

"Your victory has already detained any disrespectful actions of the past. Just promise me, as a dragon, you grow stronger and protect your summoner with all your might." Spike nodded, understanding his elder's promise he intends to keep for a lifetime. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie tackled Spike as they and the others congratulated him on his outstanding victory against the bullies that messed with him. Yiazmat turned to Fluttershy, who was pleased to know Spike would still stay by her as her guardian. "Summoner Fluttershy, continue on your pilgrimage to Zanarkand. In your honor, we will build a statue in your honor and make sure to keep any ponies from chasing after you."

"Thank you, Elder Yiazmat," Fluttershy thanked, appreciative of their understanding of their situation.

As the group was about to leave, Yiazmat stopped them for a moment. "Wait! One more thing!"

"Oh come on!" Rainbow complained. "What more is there you want to do to us!?"

He was silent for a moment, then, to the group's surprise, Yiazmat began to sing the hymn. The rest of the tribe sang along with him, their voices echoing across the mountain in a crescendo. The dragons were wishing them all luck on their journey up the dangerous mountain and safe travels as they reach Zanarkand. Even Garble and Clubba were singing, even after they were beaten by Spike.

With the dragons on their side, they headed off on their way up the mountain to reach the other side of Gagazet, where Zanarkand was only a steep climb downhill away. As they walked along the dangerous rocky pathways, reaching from ridge to ridge, no one noticed a robed stallion hiding along the mountainside near the entrance to Mt. Gagazet, a sinister grin slowly growing on their face.