Si Lupis Est

Flutershy's foot tapped impatiently as she stared at the apple farm, waiting for her two friends to come out. She saw Rainbow Dash race by, her wings outstretched as she zipped about, before skidding in front of Fluttershy, her brow quirking up as she saw the pink haired pegasus blood. Applejack walked out after, a confused look on her face, adjusting her Stetson ln her head.

"Alright, Fluttershy, you got us up this early on our off day. What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked, staring at her soft spoken friend.

"Fluttershy...you look like you been in a two day rodeo." Applejack stated, noting Fluttershy's disheveled and tired appearance. "Ya okay? Did ya need Granny's special tea?"

"Girls, I really need-"

"Ya know, if you wanted to check up on Tank, I could just bring 'im down." Rainbow leaned back a bit and stretched in a nonchalant way, interrupting poor Fluttershy.

"No, I just need-"

"Well, I've been meanin to get Winona a playdate with Tank, since Spike had such an easy time wit 'em both. Maybe Angel would like to join up."

"No, girls I really need-"

"Angel? Angel hates Tank. I swear, every time we hang out with the little guys, Angel glares at Tank hard enough to practically poke holes into his shell."

"True. That bunny sure is...somethin."

"Ya know, Spike told me when Peewee was little, he would-"

"GIRLS!" Fluttershy screamed out, her fear overriding her normal, calm, shy demeanor. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at her in surprise, Applejack taking a step back and Rainbows wings flying out in surprise. "Spike is missing!"

"Well, why didn't you say something?!" Rainbow Dash yelled out, not noticing Fluttershy's glare. The soft spoken woman suddenly grabbed Rainbows ear and tugged on it, making the rainbow haired woman squeak out in pain. "Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Well, did ya tell Twilight?"

"She was the first I told. She is getting Rarity and Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy said, letting go of Rainbow Dashes ear. She rubbed the side of her ear and gave a pout, Fluttershy continuing, "I told where Spike was last I saw him. We have to go there first, perhaps we could pick up his trail?"

"Alright, lemme grab some medical stuff from Granny Smith, then we'll go look for Spike."

The gently lapping of waves was the first thing Spikes mind registered. The next was how wet his pants felt. He slowly opened his eyes, giving a hiss as the sun assaulted them and gave him the headache of a life time, his slitted pupils constricting once the light hit them. He closed his eyes and nursed his head, giving a loud grunt, before looking around, his eyes slowly opening bit by bit as he turned his head.

His whole body ached, his shoulder gave a dull throb and his chest felt like someone had run a flame over it. He was about to stand, however, his legs gave out and he fell down hard onto the peddle covered beach below, his world going topsy turvy. He took a moment to gather his bearings, releasing an unsteady sigh, then slowly sat back up.

He looked around, rubbing his shoulder, feeling the scabs on his shoulder. He sat up a bit more, clicking his tongue, looking around, his mind in a haze.

"Man, Rainbow Dash, you throw the greatest pranks...now would be a good time to pop out." Spike said, chuckling, not believing last night actually happened. He looked around, before rubbing his shoulder again, a twinge of pain erupting out, making him hiss. "Guess I'll have to drink my stockpile of cider by myself!"

The birds chirped whilst floating in the breeze, the trees rustling a bit in the peaceful, midmorning sun, some butterflies and bees floating by, looking for flowers. "Okay, well...too hurt to be a dream, and it isn't a Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie prank. Which means...last night actually happened."

He ran bis fingers across his chest, feeling the scabbed over wounds, then licked his fangs. He was confused, raised around vegetarians, he never really considered eating any living animal.

Ignoring eggs, Spike definitely loved scrambled eggs.

However, now, he was surprised by the memory of biting the beast and drinking its blood. He found the experience rather...pleasant. In fact, he loved the taste of the beast.

This thought disturbed him, he needed to talk to Twilight. He looked around, trying to see if he could make out any land marks, or perhaps a tree type he recognized.

Having an egghead for a sister certainly helped.

He recognized nothing, though something caught his eye: claw marks on a tree. He hummed to himself and walked over, silently comparing his wounds to the tree; not an exact match, but pretty close. He dug his hands into the tree and started clambering up, his tail curling behind him as he did so. He grasped onto branch after branch, before grabbing onto one which wiggled under his strength.

He looked around, his eyes scanning the horizon, trying to spot something recognizable. He heard a howl in the distance, his head snapping that direction, and strained his ears a bit. He waited a few moments, before the creature howled again, making Spike relax.

Timberwolves. Thank Celestia.

Spike started scanning the treeline again, when he spotted the familiar mountain of his former home, Canterlot. His slitted pupils scanned the mountain, before he made his way back down, slipping a time or two, leaving some drag marks in the bark of the tree.

"Well, it looks like a long walk ahead of me. I better find some food for the journey. If I didn't leave my bag with my shirt, this would be easier."

Spike started walking towards Canterlots direction, giving a loud chuckle. "Man, Twilight is going to freak when she realizes I fought a wolf monster and walked away. I bet I'll look extra badass to some people!"

A bead of silence.

"Man, I gotta stop talking to myself."

Twilight walked along the path, giving worried glances around, her eyes scanning the treeline. She heard the howls, though such matters traveled in one ear and out the other. She was worried about her baby brother, and she wasn't the only one.

Pinkie, the normally happy and cheery pony blood, was currently scanning the ground, trying to find any trace of Spike she could. No jokes, no giggling, no singing, just determination.however, the sniffles and throat clearing may clue into why she was so quiet, a mask around her face as she peered at the ground, with cute balloons etched on it.

Rarity, as beautiful as ever, was looking around, holding a bag full of medical supplies (and, to no ones surprise, some kits to help sew some clothes), peering through the underbrush.

Twilight stopped, giving a sniffle, making both Pinkie and Rarity stop and look back at her. Rarity whispered something into Pinkie's ear, Twilights eyes welling up with tears. Pinkie nodded and continued on, Rarity walking back towards Twilight.

Rarity, without question, suddenly scooped Twilight up in a hug, tears finally coming loose from the Princess. For once in Rarity's life, she didn't care that her clothes were getting dirty, stained by her friends tears.

"It's okay, dear, just let it out." She murmured to the princess, the womans body racked with sobs as she returned the hug. "It'll be fine, we'll find Spike and we'll all get to go home and drink some tea, yes?"

They sat like that for a little while, Rarity holding onto Twilight, gently rocking her in her arms. She did nothing but just be there for Twilight. Rarity could think of nothing to say, not that she needed to, being there was enough for Twilight.

"I'm scared..." Twilight finally admitted, her voice broken and her eyes red from her. "Spike's my little brother, Rarity. If anything happened to him, I just...I wouldn't..."

"Twilight Sparkle." Rarity spoke, Twilights face shifting to her, the fashionista giving a soft smile. "Spike saved a kingdom from an eternity of darkness, and he was able to take on multiple dragon bloods to save a baby bird. He'll be fine. I'm more worried about our clothes out here than Spike."

"GUYS!" Pinkie yelled out, to the best of her ability due to her sore throat.

"Pinkie, I know you want to help find Spike, but you really should have stayed home." Rarity said as she and Twilight walked over, before stopping at a tree. "Though, uh...it is probably better that you were with us, dear."

On the tree was a blooding hand print, but definitely not human. The palm was far too large to be a humans, resembling a mixture of a hand and paw. The claw marks in the tree were massive, making Twilight hum in thought.

"Looks like a bear had some berrys. Ha, bear-ry, get i-" Pinkie Pie started, before some coughs racked through her body, finishing off with a sniffle.

"This isn't a bear." Twilight spoke, running her hand across the dried blood. "This isn't juice from berries either. This is blood. As for the paw print, can't be manticore either, it isn't lion like either. Look kind of...wolf-ish, though stretched out to resemble a hand."

"How ghastly."

"Wait...what is that?" Twilight asked, though mostly to herself. She bent down, peering at something shiny. She moved the bush out of the way, only to gasp loudly, falling to her knees. She reached in, grasping the object out. Both Pinkie and Rarity gasped, Rarity covering her mouth with her right hand as she stared.

A scale. A bloody, purple scale. It looks like it was loosened in the scuffle, and there was only one dragon blood in town with purple scales. Speaking of blood, half of the scale was caked in it, though it definitely was not Spikes. Twilight sighed in relief, no body, no bones, just some blood and claw marks.

She stood up, clutching the scale close, then smiled at her friends. "Spike put up one Tartarus of a fight with whatever tried turning him into lunch. Looks like he won, or got away."

"Oh thank Celestia."

"Wait, if Spikey won, or got away, where is he? Shouldn't he be back by now?" Pinkie asked, adjusting her mask a bit.

Twilight hummed in thought, then stood up. Perhaps Zecora would help them out. "Maybe Zecora has seen Spike. We should head to her house and talk with her."

Fluttershy stopped at the spot she had spotted Spikes shirt, clutching it in her hand. Applejack scratched behind Winona's ear, the pup giving a happy whine of approval, Rainbow Dash inspecting the blood trail, humming softly.

"Man, whatever did a number on this tree got a serious butt whoopin." Rainbow Dash spoke, seeing the torn roots and blood prints on the ground. "Spike put up a decent fight, and no bodies, so he got away."

"Winona is a pretty good tracker, right Applejack?" Fluttershy asked, making the farm girl nod.

"Pretty darn good at it too. Now, bring dat cloth over here, we'll see if Winona can pick up tha scent and track our little dragon boy."

Fluttershy walked over, her hand gripping onto the torn, bloody shirt, then gently held it out to the loyal farm dog. Winona peered at Fluttershy happily, before trotting over and sniffing the shirt. Winona started sniffing the ground, slowly following the trail, Fluttershy putting the bloody rags back into her backpack.

As Winona walked, Applejack and Fluttershy grew more uneasy. Applejack bumped Fluttershy with her elbow and pointed, seeing bloody claw prints on the trees and ground. Fluttershy grimaced, though Rainbow Dash just walked, bored out of her mind.

Of course, in Rainbow Dashes mind, she knew Spike had won the fight. No body. No bones. No ripped up limbs. No nothing. Though, that did beg the question, where was Spike?

Rainbow Dash gave a surprised noise when she bumped into Applejacks back. She made to scold her girlfriend for stopping so suddenly without a warning, only to see the sight of the path.

"Uh, Fluttershy...ya said this is where ya lost tha trail?"

"Yes, but...I didn't know it was this bad when I got here. It was dark and I..."

"Oh, Spike, dude, what the heck did you fight?"

In the afternoon sun, the full carnage that was the fight was shown. The ground had a trail of blood up it, ending to a tree, covered in bloody hand marks, the branches having dried blood covering them. In the middle of the path, a piece of fur and flesh was sitting there. The ground was covered in rough marks, clearly something big rubbed against it, and the burnt bits of grass and charred ground clearly had shown a fire had ended the fight.

The tree, covered in blood, did have the bloody print of a back caked on it, along with long claw marks, though, it seemed the trail ended there. Winona ran around, sniffing the ground, before suddenly stopping at tree. She raised onto her back legs, sniffing up the trees base, before walking over to the side of a river. She sniffed the river bank, then gave a whine, sitting there.

"Well, looks like Spike went into the river. Probably had to lose that things trail." Rainbow Dash said, walking over to the bank and peering in. "Can't see the bottom, but the current seems pretty fast. He may have rode it down stream."

Applejack whistled, Winona bolting back to her master, Applejack rubbing and scratching her head. "Who's a good little pup! You are, you are!" She baby talked the farm dog, who gave soft whines of happiness, before reaching into her pocket and grabbing a treat out, feeding it to Winona, who sat down and chomped it down.

"Sweet Celestia..." Fluttershy said as she knelt down, looking at the fur and flesh. "Looks like Spike...bit whatever was chasing him."

"Pretty dang hard too." Applejack confirmed, pulling a knife out of her bag, moving the flesh with her knife. "Winona, c'mere."

The dog wagged her tail, excited by treats or perhaps new things to track, she walked over to her master. Winona peered at the piece.of flesh, then sniffed it once. Then twice. Winona suddenly flung herself back and gave a scared whine, surprising Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, it's okay girl." Rainbow Dash tried to calm Winona down, though took a step back when a growl erupted from the poor girls throat. Her hackles raised up, making her appear larger, growling and having a stare down with the piece of fur and meat. Finally, she huffed and started to calm down, Applejack walking over to brush the raised hairs down with her hand.

"That's just the craziest thang. Never seen Winona act like before." Applejack mumbled to Fluttershy, who nodded in agreement.

"We should take her back. Rainbow Dash, can you follow the river and see if you can pick up Spikes trail?"

"Sure, but I'm tellin ya, Spike is fine. He'll come into town with some badass scars, and the chicks'll be all over him." Rainbow Dash spoke, before zipping off in a rainbow streak of light, wings flared out.

Fluttershy turned to Applejack, who gave a soft hum, "After we drop Winona off at the farm, we should get some medical supplies. I have a feeling that Spike bit off more than he could chew," Fluttershy peered at the chunk of flesh and fur, giving a disgusted look."literally, in this case."