Kung Fu Dragon

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue

Prologue

It was the greatest dream ever. There he was standing alongside his heroes, The Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy was shy in her demeanor but she always fought for what's right. Rainbow Dash was swift in flight and one awesome pony with her fighting skills. Pinkie Pie was fun-loving but she sure knew how to use a party cannon in the middle of a fight. Rarity was a beauty and had a sense of grace but when someone messes up her life, you better watch out. And finally, Applejack, she was the most dedicated of the Elements as she had a sense of justice that had to be fulfilled. To say she was awesome was an understatement as she was leader of the Elements she was much more than that.

Then there was him. Spike. A dragon among ponies, he stood ready with his heroes as they began to battle the creatures coming their way consisting of a manticore, chimera, cragadilde, timberwolf, diamond dog-

"Spike! Get up! Time for breakfast!"

Author's Note

My casting choices were fairly easy except at first thought, Pinkie was Po but the more I thought about it, Spike really was the better option, for many reasons: He's the only one of his species that lives with other species, he's a fan boy when it comes to comic book heroes (Much like Po's obsession with Kung Fu heroes), he gets self-esteem issues when being a member of the team, and those are the ones I can list at the moment. As for the rest…

Viper- Fluttershy (Kindest of the group)

Mantis-Rainbow Dash (Quick to get into the action and has a temper)

Monkey-Pinkie (Prankster and brings the fun and laughter)

Crane-Rarity (Tends to get fussy, and the TV series shows Crane having a love of wedding planning, sounds like a certain pony we know? ;)

And finally, Tigeress-Applejack. I got a lot of good reasons here, some that matches personality and some for personal preferences. Applejack and Tigeress have a lot in common, given they're both orphans and had to work hard their entire lives. They are also the strongest members of their team. It made me so happy realizing that because I am a TiPo shipper and an AppleSpike shipper, so… yeah… :twilightblush: so fair warning to all of you that I will be getting a little romantic here but not so much to get away from the story. But in the sequel… Beware.

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself, as for the rest of cast, I will explain my choices in the next chapter. Carry on.

Chapter 1

Spike woke from his slumber to find himself in his room where posters of the Elements hang on his wall. His doll-uh, action figures of them sat on the window still. He got up and picked them up one-by-one in their voices.

Using the Fluttershy doll, "Good morning, Spike!" then uses Rainbow Dash, "Bet you had an awesome dream about us!" Pinkie, "Yup! He sure did!" Rarity, "It must have been about him saving me from those dreaded Diamond Dogs! My hero!" then he had the Applejack figure face the Rarity figure, "Hey! I saw him first!"

"He's mine!"

"Mine!"

But when seeing his neighbor in the window next to him giving him a funny look he blushed and nervously chuckled as the neighbor went on.

"Spike! What in the world are you doing up there?! I told you breakfast was ready!"

Spike quickly set his dolls down and yelled out, "Coming Dad!" he raced out of the room and went down to the kitchen where his draconequus of a father was sitting at table with paper in hand with a stack of pancakes in front. Spike took his seat and apologized.

"Sorry I'm late, Dad."

"Think nothing of it, my boy." Discord used his lion paw to pat the young dragon's head. "But we have to hurry, we have to open the shop in an hour. You know how fillies and colts love buying whoopee cushions and joy buzzers. Or any little prank they buy to their amusement."

Spike ate the pancakes as he thought about the joke shop he and his father owned in Canterlot. Spike grew up in the apartment attached to the store ever since he was a baby, ponies that he would meet him on the street saw him as a baby dragon but he was older then he appeared. Looking at his father, Discord, who he knew to be the spirit of chaos and disharmony, but his dad had been able to redeem himself by owning the joke shop making it one of Canterlot's funnest places. So it was a pretty good life for them but Spike felt a deeper calling in his heart. He had no idea why he had dreams of working with Equestria's greatest heroes but he felt he belonged there with them…

At Canterlot castle, Twilight Sparkle was reading a book in the library while her friends hid from her planning a sneak attack on her. Once they came out all at once, Twilight used a teleportation spell and they ended up in a crumbled pile.

Rainbow exclaimed, "Oh, come on, Twilight! That's cheating!"

Twilight lectured, "The enemy won't play fair either. You'll have to be quicker then that when dealing with a magical opponent or else-"

A guard rushed in, "Your Highness!"

Twilight addressed him with concern, "Yes?"

He saluted, "Princess Celestia wishes to see you."

Twilight didn't need to be told twice and ran out. She made it to her teacher's suite and bowed.

"You summoned me, Princess? Is anything wrong?"

Celestia shook her head in amusement, "Oh, Twilight, must you assume something is wrong just because I want to see my favorite pupil?"

"So… nothing is wrong?" Twilight asked with a hopeful smile.

Celestia slightly frowned, "Well… I didn't say that…" seeing Twilight's smile faltering. She sighed, "I had a vision… Trixie will return."

Twilight gasped as memories of a blue coat, silver haired unicorn with glowing red eyes controlled by a powerful amulet came to her… She shouted, "But that's impossible! She's in Tartarus! No one can escape from there!"

Celestia grimly said, "Nothing is impossible…"

Twilight called for a guard telling them they had to go to Tartarus to double the guard so Trixie would not escape. Not realizing Celestia was muttering under her breath, "One meets their destiny on the road they avoid to take…"

Twilight proclaimed, "We can't let Trixie come here! She'll try to take over again!"

Celestia pointed, "Which is why I had another vision, a much happier one…" she summoned a chest with her magic and opened it up.

Twilight gasped, "The Dragon Scroll…"

"It is time."

"But who? Who will be given such limitless power? To become the Dragon Warrior?" she asked with a frazzle look.

Celestia had a tiny smirk, "I have no idea, but I look forward to finding out." she closed the chest.

Spike was sighing heavily by the cash register, business had started to slow down with only a few lingering customers in the store. He noticed his dad was in his pony disguise while talking to a customer given that ponies wouldn't come into the shop if he showed his true form.

"Boring… this is boring…" he mumbled until suddenly he spotted a guard posting something on the front door. He went to it and gasped, "Oh, my gosh! Princess Celestia is choosing the Dragon Warrior! Today!"

The customers heard him and shouted out in excitement and stampeded out of there.

Discord gestured, "If I didn't have all those party favors to sell, I would be tick off by this…" he summoned a box and gave it to Spike, "Now, go on my boy, and sell like you never sell before!"

"Aw! But I was going to watch the choosing!"

"Well, you still can, you're just selling party favors while you're at it."

"Aren't you coming?"

"I will, in a bit. Now hurry, before someone beats you to it!"

Spike ran out of the shop and went toward the castle gates but was stopped by two pegasus guards with their wings blocking his path.

"Halt!" one said, "No unauthorized merchandise in the stadium."

"Aw, come on!" Spike moaned. He could leave the merchandise outside but he didn't want to disappoint his dad either. So he would just have to find another way in…

Celestia and Twilight were about to enter the royal box seats of the Canterlot stadium with Twilight saying to her former teacher.

"This is an exciting day, isn't it, Princess?"

"Indeed, Twilight. I never thought this day would come. And just so you know my faithful student, whoever I choose will not only bring peace to Equestria, but also… to you." with that said she took her seat, leaving a very confused Princess of Friendship to ponder what her teacher meant.

A guard called out, "Let the tournament begin!" as the masses cheered in their seats.

Twilight shook out of her trance and used a spell to amplify her voice, "Citizens of Canterlot! We have waited a thousand years for this day! As we try to make Equestria as peaceful as we can with the Elements of Harmony, we still need the Dragon Warrior to give us complete harmony!"

More cheers.

"So without further ado, I give you… Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! Rarity! Fluttershy! And Applejack! The Elements of Harmony!" as she had said each name, the girls came out onto the field one by one giving their best pose.

"Now we shall have Rainbow Dash do her stunt flying tricks!"

Ponies cheered as Rainbow soaked in the praise to begin her routine. Meanwhile, Spike had heard the announcement and was desperate for a way in. He tried climbing the walls, that didn't work. He tried to throw a rope over the wall but that didn't work. It wasn't until he started making a slingshot from a nearby tree was when he started making progress.

Fluttershy had just finished conducting her bird choir when Twilight announced the last act. "And now, Applejack! Believe me, when I say you haven't seen anything yet!"

Spike grunted, "I know!" he moved the slingshot back and let it go sending him flying up.

At that moment Applejack was about to buck an apple to a target when Spike flew the side of the stadium before falling down again making Celestia sense his presence and she raised her hoof. A hush came over the crowd as they looked toward their princess.

She said to Twilight, "I sense the Dragon Warrior is among us."

She gave a smile before signaling to her friends causing them to line up.

"Citizens of Canterlot! Princess Celestia will now choose the Dragon Warrior!"

Spike heard that and panicked. "Oh, my gosh! What do I do?! What do I do?!"

Discord popped in then and stated, "Well, I suggest looking in the box." he rummaged through it before getting out a mini rocket.

"Dad?! But can't you use your powers to-" he was cut off when he found himself strap to a chair with little rockets.

"Listen, son, all morning I've been twitching and I don't understand it completely but this is your destiny!" he gestured to the stadium before snapping his fingers to lit the fuses.

"Huh?! What do you mean my destiny?!"

Discord smirked, "You shall soon see."

"But DAAAAAAAAAD!" he was lifted high into the air as the rockets made fireworks, causing the crowd to ooh.

Twilight gave a confused look as she thought, But the fireworks aren't suppose to be until after the choosing! But then she heard someone screaming and saw a small dragon falling from the sky. She quickly cast a spell to ease his fall as he landed on the ground with no more than a soft thud.

Applejack saw the dragon falling and Twilight casting her spell as the dragon landed right in front of her just as Princess Celestia was about to choose the Dragon Warrior.

Spike had his eyes covered with his claws he did not know he survived the fall. Am I dead? He thought before slowly releasing his claws and opened his eyes only to be met with another pair of eyes that was the same shade as his. Then backing away the eyes were attached to a face that shone in bright sunlight. Whoa… is she… an angel?

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and was met face-to-face with Princess Celestia herself! He gasped when he realized he was right in the middle of the choosing!

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I just wanted to see who the Dragon Warrior was!"

Celestia was beaming, "How very interesting…"

Applejack motioned, "Um, Princess? Are you pointing to me?"

"Him." the alicorn stated.

"Who?" Spike asked wanting to see firsthand of who the Dragon Warrior was.

"You." she said to him.

Spike gaped, "Me?"

Celestia announced to the entire stadium, "The universe has brought us the Dragon Warrior!"

The crowd gasped so did the Elements and Twilight but a draconequus that was watching while hiding just smirked and thought, Who would have ever thought that the Dragon Warrior would be an actual dragon… And it's my boy who is! He shed a bit of liquid pride.

Author's Note

Okay, the rest of the casting was easy but hard too. Celestia and Twilight as Oogway and Shifu were a given due to the student-teacher relationship and that their personalities to the Kung Fu characters meshed well. For Tai Lung and Mr. Ping it took some extra thought. Tai Lung's main character trait is arrogance and who better then Trixie who is just as conceited to play that part.

I know she's reformed now but I like the parallel of Tai Lung getting corrupted just as Trixie was corrupted by the Alicorn Amulet, it works on so many levels. Plus, there's those showdowns between Tai Lung and Shifu and Trixie and Twilight so that was a bonus. For Mr. Ping, it took me awhile to settle on Discord, at first I thought of Mr. Cake but it didn't seem right, I even thought of Zecora but none of these characters were eccentric enough and that's when it hit me.

Granted, Discord is not completely a pony, but at least some part of him is and he can transform into a pony whenever he wants! Keeping Spike to being the only one of his kind like Po was the only one of his kind for a very long time. Besides that just makes him feel more natural to be his surrogate father because he can relate to being alone in the world. Plus, while writing this chapter I realized how much of a hand that Mr. Ping had in Po's destiny, had he not taken in Po when he did… Wow. So I love the tidbit I wrote of Discord knowing that Spike had a greater purpose to fulfill and gave his adopted son the push he needed.

Oh, yes, the Tree of the Harmony doesn't exist in this Kung Fu Panda AU. The Elements of Harmony are more or less a stage name for the girls. Hence why it's been hard keeping peace in Equestria and why they need a Dragon Warrior.

Chapter 2

Rarity whispered to her fellow Elements, "I can't believe this is happening!" as confetti rain down and four guards had arrived with a carrier for the Dragon Warrior to sit in as the crowds cheered.

Rainbow uttered in disbelief, "I know! Did you not see how awesome I was?! How could the princess not choose me?!"

Pinkie pointed, "You know, it's kind-of funny, a dragon chosen as Dragon Warrior. Who knew that would be so literal?!"

Twilight flew down to Princess Celestia, "Princess! This must be some mistake! You were about to point to Applejack when the dragon interrupted! That was an accident!"

Celestia just smiled, "There are no accidents." then she flew off leaving the purple alicorn speechless.

Applejack was shocked that the dragon was chosen instead of her. He just came out of nowhere! But in that one moment when he looked straight into her eyes, something within her stirred, until that feeling was replaced by anger as Celestia chose him as the Dragon Warrior.

She went up to Twilight and took off her hat in shame, "Forgive us, Twilight, we have failed you."

Twilight gave a determined look, "No. If the dragon hasn't quit by morning then it is I who have failed you."

Deep within the depths of Tartarus, a cloaked figure was in chains as she was plotting her revenge. Guards surrounded her cage to make sure she did not escape.

Suddenly, a guard rushed in shouting, "We have to double the guard!"

The other guards muttered in uncertainty.

The guard stated, "By order of Princess Twilight Sparkle we have to double the guard."

"But why?" questioned a younger guard.

"She did not say only that the prisoner must not escape. Luckily, before I left I heard that the Dragon Warrior will finally be chosen."

Excitement ran through the ranks however when the prisoner heard that she was not happy, not one bit.

Spike was carried to the hallway where the stain glass windows were and was dropped off before his carriers left, closing the door behind them.

He called, "Wait! There must be some mistake! Everyone thinks I'm the Dragon Warrior!"

A voice said, "At least you're humble to admit it, I'll give you that."

He turned to see a purple alicorn giving him a stony face. He immediately bowed in respect.

"Princess Twilight!"

"At ease." she ordered. "I have a few a questions for you."

He looked up feeling uneasy.

"So… you are the legendary Dragon Warrior?"

"Um… I guess?"

"Well, I say you're not. Not until you have the Dragon Scroll in your hands."

"Then how…?"

"Do you get it? You don't. The Dragon Scroll is too powerful to be the hands of anyone less than worthy. I'm not just going to give away the secret to limitless power when we don't even know for sure if you really are the Dragon Warrior."

"But didn't Princess Celestia…"

"Yes, she chose you but given your sudden arrival it's possible that she was disrupted from choosing the real Dragon Warrior."

Spike frowned in disappointment, "Oh…"

"But we shall see if that was case. Now what is your name?"

"Spike."

"Spike? Alright, Spike, have you any experience in combat?"

He flinched, "Um… no."

Twilight raised her brow but continued on, "Have you ever faced a terrifying creature like a timberwolf or a chimera?"

"Only in my dreams." he nervously chuckled.

Twilight started getting concerned. At first when the dragon showed up and Celestia chose him, she wasn't sure she could trust him with the scroll. But now she started to see this dragon was just an innocent bystander and had no knowledge of protecting a kingdom. How could Celestia have chosen him with all his innocence? He's just going to get himself hurt! That did it, she had to make sure the dragon would quit now so he would be out of harm's way.

She gestured, "I see…" she started walking to the door, "I'll show you to your room."

He followed after her as he gawked to his surroundings of the castle. It was so big and huge. He had only seen the outside of it and it was even bigger on the inside! Twilight lead him down a hallway of open doors leading to the Elements' rooms.

Fluttershy was grooming her pets when she noticed them and gave tiny wave.

Rainbow Dash was reading a Daring Do book but when she caught a glance of Spike, she frowned and turned away.

Pinkie Pie was organizing her party supplies when she saw the dragon, giving him a bright smile and said, "Hi-ya!"

That made Spike smile since he first got here and the next sight made his heart pound and hearts floated around him. Rarity was priming herself in front of the mirror when she saw Twilight and the dragon. She slightly frowned at his obvious lovesick look toward her and gave a sigh.

Dragon Warrior or not, I can't see me getting together with him…

Twilight saw the look as well and thought, If he can get distracted by a pretty face then he definitely has no business being on a battlefield…

Finally they passed the last room where Applejack was stretching her hooves and glanced at the onlookers. She and Spike locked gazes and that strange fuzzy feeling came back.

Spike felt it too, as he placed a claw over his chest.

What is this warm bubbly sensation I'm feeling?

Twilight asked, "All right there, AJ?"

Applejack tipped her head, "Still a bit disappointed but I'll be fine. You?"

"I'm not upset as much now but I still have some concerns. I'm taking Spike to his room right now so he can settle himself in."

"Spike?"

He took that as his cue, "That's my name, don't wear it out." he slightly laughed hoping to lighten the mood.

Applejack wasn't sure if she should laugh but she gave the dragon, "A" for effort of trying to be humorous. But bitter disappointment still prevented her from getting too friendly with him.

Twilight opened the door to a large room and motioned for Spike to go in.

Spike was impressed of how this room was a lot bigger than his room in his dad's apartment. He tested out the bed and noticed how springy it was.

"We'll have dinner in two hours, please join us then and be on time. We keep a tight ship around here."

Spike gulped, "I understand."

"Good, we'll see you then." she closed the door behind her as she was met with five ponies with curious looks.

"Well? Is he the Dragon Warrior?" Rainbow asked with her arms crossed.

"I don't know. I asked him if he had any experience with combat or dealing with monstrous creatures but it turn out he's just an ordinary being."

Their eyes widen with AJ saying, "You're kidding, right?"

Twilight shook her head.

Fluttershy gasped, "He's going to get himself killed!"

Pinkie groaned, "Aw, and he seemed like a nice dragon too!"

Twilight gestured, "Not if we make sure he knows what he's getting himself into, then he'll realize he can't stay and leave, then Celestia will have to figure out who is the true Dragon Warrior is."

Applejack said, "Sounds like a plan."

The others agreed.

Spike sat on the bed as he still couldn't believe what happened today. He was actually chosen as the Dragon Warrior! It seemed so surreal given he had dreams of joining the Elements of Harmony in battle against the dark forces of Equestria. But now his dreams have been made a reality. As happy as he was a dread came over him, he had no idea how he was going to fight off a chimera, a diamond dog, a timberwolf, or any magical being that would threaten the harmony of Equestria!

Princess Twilight said he wouldn't be the Dragon Warrior until he was given the Dragon Scroll. Legend had it that it was full of unlimited power and if anyone less than worthy held it, would mean destruction upon Equestria. As intimidated was he about this new, exciting thing that has happened to him. He realized that he wanted to be worthy of the Dragon Scroll, to help save Equestria whenever it was in danger.

Dad said this was my destiny… I was chosen by Princess Celestia herself and she said I was the Dragon Warrior! I'm going to make Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony proud by proving my worth to get that scroll and become the Dragon Warrior!

Chapter 3

The hour for dinner was almost approaching, and Spike did not want to be late. He had to keep himself calm, for he almost lost it when he saw each of his heroes up close like that. He took deep breaths as he walked down to the castle dining room while being escorted by a guard. Upon entering, she saw Princess Celestia at the head of the table who in turn saw him and gave a quick smile.

Spike felt sheepish under her gaze and gave a tiny wave. The others were already sitting down and he noticed an empty spot between Applejack and Twilight. Celestia gestured for him to take it. He gulped as he carefully made his way pass the other Elements who were all looking at him. Once he sat down, Celestia addressed him.

"We were never properly introduced, I am Princess Celestia."

"But every pony knows who you are!" Spike accidently blurted out and quickly covered his mouth realizing his mistake as everyone around the table gasped.

Twilight glanced at her mentor in fear only to see Celestia was smiling!

The tall alicorn giggled, "Yes, that is very true. But I know nothing of you, Dragon Warrior, what is your name?"

"Spike. Your Majesty."

"Spike… A fitting name for a Dragon Warrior, wouldn't you say, Twilight?"

The lavender alicorn nervously chuckled, "Of course… Princess…"

If Celestia had heard the uneasiness in her former student's laugh, she did not show it and instead said to the dragon, "Won't you please tell us about yourself?"

Spike felt himself sweating by the staring eyes and took a big gulp as he stammered, "I-I live in Canterlot with my dad."

Pinkie piped up, "Ooh! There's another dragon living here?!"

Fluttershy gave out a squeak of fear at the thought of a dragon, one much bigger then Spike lived in Canterlot.

Spike quickly said, "He's not a dragon, he's a pony." He muttered, "Mostly…"

Applejack raised her brow at this and asked, "You mean… you were taken in?"

Spike ended up staring into her eyes and with that the warm bubbly sensation returned.

Why do I keep having this feeling?!

He answered Applejack's question while ignoring the feeling as much as possible, "Yes, I don't know the whole story since Dad never told me how I was taken in." While it was true that his father was part dragon some part of him just never believed he was actually Discord's son.

Fluttershy and Pinkie sadly awed while Rarity and Twilight gave a sympathetic glance and felt more concern for the dragon's safety. Rainbow's face softened a little but kept a stern expression. Applejack tried to put on a front but was failing as memories of her past kept popping up and was feeling a small connection toward the dragon…

Whoa there, Nelly! Don't get in too deep here! Remember, he has got to go or else he'll get hurt or worse!

She quickly turned away from him so she wouldn't have to face him again.

Spike decided to lighten the mood by saying, "Well, whether we're related or not doesn't matter because he's the best dad I could have even if he occasionally trolls me from time to time… I can remember him pulling a fast one on me in our joke shop at one time-"

"YOU HAVE A JOKE SHOP?!" Pinkie squealed so loudly and was bouncing up and down like a manic, "OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!"

Spike knew Pinkie Pie was the energetic one of the team but seeing her like this scared him. Everyone else around him just gave exasperated sighs or looks though it surprised him that Celestia was unfazed by this.

Twilight had to cast a spell to freeze the pink pony midair while saying, "Pinkie! Calm down!" then she lifted the spell causing the pony to fall with a thud.

"But Twilight, he helps runs a joke shop! A joke shop! Maybe he can sta-"

Rainbow had muffled her muzzle and Twilight gave a nod of gratitude for Pinkie almost gave away the plan in front of the Princess and dragon and that would have been very embarrassing to explain.

Twilight tittered to Celestia, "She just had too much caffeine today; we'll make sure she doesn't overdo it the next time."

Celestia merely nodded and summoned a butler so they can begin eating.

By halfway through dinner Spike tuned into the many conversations his heroes and the Princess were having but once Rainbow Dash mentioned to Pinkie, "Yup, I still have the scar from where the Bugbear bit me!"

Spike lit up as he proclaimed, "Bugbear?! As in the Bugbear you guys defeated in your first ever battle?!"

The girls eyed him with interest with Applejack questioning, "How'd you know about that?"

"I was there! I saw the whole thing! I was doing errands for my dad around town when I saw you outside of Canterlot! It was amazing! You were amazing!" he pointed to each of the Elements starting with Rainbow, "You like pow-pow-pow!" Dash gave a smirk as he turned to Pinkie, "You were like, 'It's party time!' And then you used the party cannon on him! That was so cool!" He looked at Rarity next with a dopey grin on his face, "Then you used your magic to blast at him! And you said, 'You uncouth brute! How dare you mess up my mane?!'"

Applejack couldn't help but laugh at that which caused Spike to turn her way and she quickly looked away again. He went back to the others and pointed to Fluttershy, "You were trying to reason with the Bugbear but when you couldn't get through you yelled at him and that actually scared him! It was so impressive!" he could see Fluttershy was blushing at his praise. Then finally he turned to Applejack who slightly looked his way as he said, "And you… you were one who managed to lasso him in and brought him to the ground… I was amazed by it all that I hoped that I could be like you guys. Brave and awesome. And now, with me chosen as the Dragon Warrior I hope for that even more, l look forward to working with all of you!"

The girls were speechless, they did not know how to reply to that given they've already made a plan to get him out before disaster happens. But the young dragon was so eager to stay that they knew it would be a difficult challenge to make him quit on his own.

Princess Celestia stated with a smile, "A very touching speech. I am sure you will do well in these next few days, Dragon Warrior."

Twilight and the Elements exchanged a brief unsure glance before resume eating dinner.

When they were dismissed from the table, Twilight went off with Celestia as the Elements went straight to their rooms. Spike was behind them with Applejack in front of him. As the others had said their good nights and shut the doors to their rooms, AJ and Spike were about to enter theirs when Applejack stopped and faced Spike.

"Listen, I have to be honest with you."

Spike gave his full attention to her.

"You don't belong here."

He gapped and thought maybe he heard her wrong but when she continued, he knew he didn't.

"It's not safe for you here. You're young and have your whole life ahead of you, we can't ask you to battle any monster that comes our way. Look, I'm not sayin' that you're not the Dragon Warrior nor am I sayin' you are. But I do care about your well-bring, given how you almost gotten yer self killed just by the way you entered into the stadium today. So, please, while you still have the chance, go…" she opened her room door and had shut it behind her as she felt her heart pounding like crazy. She had no idea why it was so hard to be brutally honest with him just now or why it hurt to have to push him away like that.

She climbed into bed and put her Stetson hat on her bedside post as she tried to get comfortable but guilt soon overwhelmed her and she knew then sleep would be impossible to come.

Spike couldn't go to sleep after what Applejack told him, thoughts swarmed his head as he realized his heroes saw him as joke and couldn't take him seriously. They were worried about him getting hurt and while there was some justification to their reasoning but if they would only give him a chance he could show them what was in his heart. He found himself ending up in the moonlit Canterlot gardens, where luck would have it he found a peach tree and started to pick the fruits after climbing up.

A wise voice called out, "I see you have found our Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom."

Spike was startled by the Princess's sudden appearance and almost fell out of the tree, "Princess Celestia! I'm so sorry! I thought it was just a regular peach tree!" he slid down the truck to face her.

"I understand, you were upset and you decided you would eat something to ease that… The question is… why are you upset?" she tilted her head down to him.

Spike felt a warm motherly gaze from the Princess as he suddenly busted into tears and ran to hug the alicorn. Celestia held the dragon and gently patted his back as he blubbered out, "Why could I think I would be anything like the Elements of Harmony?! I mean they have magic and wings! Even Pinkie can do that breaking the fourth wall thing! I got nothing like that! I'm small, helpless, and useless! Why did you choose me?" he looked up to her with tear-filled eyes.

"I didn't, Spike… the universe did…"

"Well then, why did it choose me?!"

She slightly chuckled, "The ways of the universe are strange as it is but it knows that everything has a purpose in life… Your purpose is what happened today."

He sighed, "Or maybe it was all just a big mistake and I should just quit and go back to selling pranks with my dad…" he hung his head.

Celestia lifted his chin up so he could see her smiling face, "Your destiny is uncertain and that's sometimes hard to take. You are too concerned with what was and what will be… Wait and see what happens first. All will be revealed in time…" she used her aura to pick a peach and handed it to Spike. She got up and started going while leaving the dragon to mull over her words.

While that had been going on, the Great and Powerful Trixie was planning her greatest trick ever. Escaping from Tartarus…

Chapter 4

She could feel the Amulet's power still coursing through her, even though it was no longer still on her. The Amulet's power had been so potent that it had absorbed into her magic before Celestia had tricked her to taking off the Amulet. Now… it was time to do a trick of her own…

She made loud moans and a guard tapped on her bars, shouting in annoyance, "Quiet! There are other prisoners trying to sleep!"

But she kept up with the moaning, making him ask, "Okay, what's wrong?"

Then she collapsed, ceasing her noise.

The guard called, "Hey, hey! Answer me!"

When she didn't, he opened the cage door and slowly approached her to touch her when he was met with a pair glowing red eyes and Trixie used her hoof to knock the guard out. She then got his keys as she unlocked the chains around her hooves and the clad iron cast around her horn. She was free…

It took Trixie no time to defeat the rest of the guards with her amulet-related powers and was at the entrance of Tartarus where the one guard that had deliver Twilight's message was and was putting on a brave front to face her. She chuckled.

"I'm glad Twilight sent you." She said with a mock pout, "Trixie was beginning to think she was forgotten…You fly back there and tell them, the real Dragon Warrior is coming home…"

"I will do no such thing! Instead, I will make sure you are put back where you belong!" he started to charge at her when he felt himself get strapped to a rocket and saw Trixie with her glowing red eyes and horn as she lit the fuse with an evil smirk. Then he blasted off.

The next morning, the girls lined up for breakfast but they noticed a dragon was missing among the ranks. Applejack felt the guilt all over again as she rubbed her tired eyes from the restless night she had.

At least you kept him safe, and that's more important than you getting a good night's sleep… Still, he wasn't a bad dragon to have around, in fact, I reckon' he was a pretty decent fellow, maybe if things were different… sure, I wouldn't mind hanging around him… But not now… not when things are so dangerous…
Twilight had showed up and was surprised the dragon hadn't shown up and decided to check his room, "Spike? Spike! It's time to get up-" but when she looked in, he wasn't there. "Oh… he's gone."

After the girls ate, they headed to the library to begin their training as Fluttershy said.

"I can't believe he left so soon… I wonder why…"

Pinkie jumped, "Yeah! He had been so excited to work with us!"

Rainbow Dash said with a smug look, "Guess the little guy couldn't take in my awesomeness and thought he couldn't live up to the expectations."

Rarity rolled her eyes, and said, "Well I'm glad he saw reason and got out before it was too late. He was just too adorable to be put in harm's way, he was even cute when he waddled." she gushed.

AJ thought, Yeah, he was cute wasn't it…? Her eyes widen in shock and shook her head furiously, Where in the world did that come from?!

Twilight turned to them just as they were outside the library's doors and said, "Now that the dragon is gone, we can focus on finding the true Dragon Warrior as we continue with our magical training and combat and hopefully in time, the Dragon Warrior will show up." she opened the doors and there sleeping on a pile of open books was Spike. Twilight exclaimed in surprise, "Spike?!"

"Spike?!" the girls behind her exclaimed as well when they saw him.

The dragon woke up with a jolt and several books fell on him. Fluttershy rushed to him, "Goodness! Are you alright?!"

He got up with a grunt, "Yeah, I barely felt that at all."

Applejack wanted to confront him but decided not to as she would feel awkward after what she said to him and made sure she didn't look directly at him.

Twilight used her aura to examine the books Spike had been sleeping on and read off some of the titles, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them… The Monster Book of Monsters… The Monster-pedia…" she eyed Spike curiously, "You were up all night looking up monster books?"

"And studying them!" he proudly stated.

Rarity looked at the books and said in awe, "Quite the diligent reader, aren't you?"

His eyes filled with hearts and said, "Aw, thanks… that means a lot coming from you, Rarity…"

The unicorn seemed flattered but was uncomfortable by his affections.

Rainbow spoke up, "So he read a few books, so what?"

That brought Spike out of his heart filled thoughts.

But luckily Twilight pointed out, "Studying what you're facing against is great knowledge to have. I commend Spike for learning how important it is to defeat a creature by knowing their weak spots."

Spike smiled bright at Twilight's compliment but it faltered the moment she said, "However, I am still uncertain if he should face these creatures by himself…"

The dragon declared, "Then test me! Let me use my knowledge to see if I can beat the monster!"

The Elements exchanged worried looks as Twilight faced him with a raised brow. She saw determination in the dragon's eyes and she knew he wasn't to give up on this. Finally she sighed, "Very well. We begin."

The girls gasped and wanted to protest but Twilight lift her hoof up to keep them quiet. She turned back to the dragon and stated, "But you should know that knowledge can only take you so far, I'm going to cast a spell that will create a holographic world like you're really in the creature's natural habitat and from there the monster will show up. The girls will demonstrate firsthoof of how to deal with these creatures…" then turns to the Elements, "Fluttershy would you go first please?"

The pegasus slightly nodded and stepped forward. Twilight instructed, "Spike stand next to her so I can begin the spell."

He obeyed and the alicorn's horn glowed as she asked, "Ready?"

Fluttershy nodded as Spike puffed his chest up, "I'm ready!"

The magical aura then engulfed them and the next thing Spike knew he and Fluttershy were in the middle of some dark woods. They could hear growling coming from all around them. The dragon felt a twinge of fear and tried to brace himself, but when a manticore suddenly popped out of nowhere and roared ferociously, he let out a yell!

Spike closed his eyes waiting for the beast to attack, when nothing happened he heard cooing and he opened his lids to see Fluttershy taming the fierce creature by rubbing his belly!

"Aw, whose a good boy?" she said in baby talk. The manticore purred from the touch.

"Whoa…" Spike uttered.

Fluttershy turned to him and explained, "Sometimes you just need to show kindness and the creature will leave you alone."

He asked, "Does that work with every monster and beast out there?"

"No," she sighed, "not every creature is as sweet as manticores are…"

Spike felt ashamed and said, "Guess I'm not battle ready like I thought I was… I wasn't able to face up to a cuddly manticore…"

Fluttershy assured him, "You'll get there… I was afraid all the time, actually I'm still afraid but I am willing to face any danger as long as I have my friends by my side."

"But how did you overcome your insecurities to join the Elements in the first place?" he asked.

She was about to answer when the spell ended and they were back in the library with Twilight asking him, "Are you sure you want to continue?"

Spike frowned and stated, "I'm not giving up! Bring on the next monster!"

Twilight had no choice but to comply to his wishes and signaled Pinkie next.

The party pony and Spike waited for Twilight to cast the spell and when she did, they were in some woods like the last time but he heard no growling this time. Instead a cute little round colorful bug with cute eyes came up to him.

"Aw, hey little guy."

Pinkie screeched loudly making him startled as she shouted, "Quick! Trap it before it-" too late, the bug coughed up another bug like him but it was a different color.

"Ugh! Parasprites!" Pinkie gagged then started getting out a bunch of instruments like a trombone, harmonica, accordion, and tuba.

"I don't get it, what's so bad about these guys?" he asked but his question was soon answered when the two parasprites started devouring everything around them and were multiplying at a rapid rate. He stared at Pinkie as she gathered the instruments around her body. "What are you doing?!" he fretted.

"What does it look like? I'm getting rid of the parasprites!" she began to play the instruments all at once and that soothed the parasprites as they formed a single line and bobbed up and down back into the forest.

"Wow…" Spike muttered in awe.

Pinkie told him, "Yeah, the girls thought it was silly to do this at first when parasprites invaded Ponyville a couple of years back but once they saw how effective it was and how threatening parasprites can be, Twilight added them into the training hologram."

"What made you think of these things that look silly that can fight off monsters?"

"That's actually a funny story," and she started to go on a tangent, "I was a young mare who had left her family's rock farm when I came to Canterlot and-" but she was cut off when Twilight stopped the spell and she told him, "Oops, looks like I'll have to tell you another time." she skipped away happily.

Twilight stated, "Rarity, you're next."

The prim and proper unicorn gracefully made her way to the dragon making his heart skip a beat as he stared at her with a lovesick grin. Rarity gave an indifferent expression and inwardly sighed. Once Twilight casted the spell again, they found themselves in an area that appeared like they were underground and heard a raspy voice that was high pitch.

"Excellent, more workers to find and dig up our gems!"

They turned to face three Diamond Dogs!

In no time Spike watched in amazement of how Rarity outwitted the dogs and they ended up cowering in fear of her. This made Spike crush harder on her much to the unicorn's discomfort.

Finally he said, "I don't get it."

Rarity questioned, "What don't you get?"

"How can a beautiful pony like you want to join the Elements in the first place? They need you, sure, because you're so smart but why did you willing go to them?"

"Well I was-" but she couldn't finish when Twilight brought them back.

Rainbow Dash went next and Spike and she were in a gorge of where Quarry Eels appeared and Rainbow easily outmaneuvered them as Spike watched in astonishment to the whole thing. When the pegasus had landed in front of him with a show bow he exclaimed.

"That was awesome!"

Rainbow pffted, "That was nothing. Now had I performed my sonic rainboom, now that would have been something."

"That's right! I heard about you doing it but I've never actually seen you do it!"

"If it wasn't for that sonic rainboom I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Really? How?"

She was about to answer when they were back in the library once again and it was Applejack's turn.

Both Spike and Applejack hardly glanced at each other given what happened last night when the spell was casted over them they were in a fire swamp as fire spouted out of geysers.

"Just so you know, I don't plan on quitting." he told her.

Applejack frowned, "I admire your dedication, but surely after seeing some of those other creatures with the girls you know that is this not something to be taken lightly. I tried to warn you last night…"

"If anything your warning made more determined than ever."

She face-hoofed then she shouted, "Why do you have to be so darn stubborn?! What's it going to get through your head that we're trying to protect you?!"

"Well maybe I don't need protection! If you would just give me a chance!"

She would have retorted back but she heard something coming toward them. Spike keep babbling, "Okay, sure, maybe I'm small, weak, and a bit useless… but all my life all I wanted was to do is fight side-by-side with you guys and maybe be a hero-" but he got muffled by her hooves around him.

"Hush! I hear something…"

They stood quiet for a moment and when Applejack thought it was safe to let him go, a large silhouette and six pairs of yellowing eyes appeared to them. A chimera showed themselves with the tiger head saying.

"Look sisters, we have can have dragon for an appetizer and pony for the main course…"

"Hmmm…" the snake head and goat head said.

Applejack jumped in front of Spike in a protective stance completely forgetting this wasn't real in the first place and declared, "You'll have to go through me first!" She charged toward the large beast.

Spike knew Applejack was the most battle ready of the Elements but to see it in action was beyond words. The way she handled herself when she had the snake head chase after her and to wrap around the shared body of her sisters causing them to fall, giving AJ the chance to use a big tree branch to put in the tiger head's mouth so it couldn't bite her.

Spike couldn't stop staring in wonder and once again the warm bubbly sensation returned.

Once Applejack had defeated the chimera, she went toward him. "You okay?"

He still stared as he tried to find the words, "You're- that was absolutely amazing!"

She gave him a sad look, "It may look incredible to someone on the sidelines… but when you actually do it… it's not so great…"

He slightly frowned as he took in the words. She's right, you know… after what you saw today… can you really deal with a monster as any of them did? This is what she was trying to tell you last night…
He looked up to face her and said, "Thank you…"

She raised a brow in confusion as she inquired, "For what?"

"For trying to make me see that this shouldn't be taken lightly… I know it's not some big game that you're doing to protect Equestria… But I want to do what I can to help… Maybe as the Dragon Warrior I can…"

Applejack was speechless by this dragon. It was truly mind-boggling how this small dragon that showed up all of sudden could have such a noble heart…? Then it hit her. Legend often told of the Dragon Warrior being courageous and having a righteous heart… Could it be…? She still found it hard to believe but it wasn't impossible…

Maybe Celestia was on to something after all…
When spell had been lifted, Twilight addressed them.

"Well, Spike? Do you wish to proceed with the training?" she silently prayed he wouldn't.

The dragon replied firmly, "I do."

Twilight's heart sank as she solemnly said, "Well… alright… Training begins at the same time. I shall see you then." she flapped her wings and flew out of the room.

Spike sighed and said to the girls, "She doesn't believe I can become the Dragon Warrior either, does she?"

They exchanged cringing looks and slowly nodded.

Chapter 5

That night the Elements gathered in Spike's room hoping to cheer him up but were doing a poor job as they had to admit to him that when he was chosen they didn't trust him at first until they found out about his lack of fighting experience and started worrying about his safety. They had hoped he would quit on his own upon training but they were starting to see that he was quite determined to stay and that was something they were willing to respect.

"But will Princess Twilight respect my decision?" he asked them.

They gave unsure looks as Rainbow said, "Ah, she just needs some time to get use to you and who knows, she might."

Fluttershy commented, "And she's a little frightened right now given of the possible threat that…" she wasn't sure if she should say the rest.

But Applejack said it anyway, "That Trixie will come back."

Rarity pointed, "But we're not allowed to talk about it so…"

Spike spoke up, "Guys, I know about Trixie, she used to be one of Princess Celestia's students and was able to control an Ursa Minor and-" The laughter disrupted him as he asked, "What's so funny?"

Applejack said between giggles, "Sorry, sugar cube, we're not laughing at you, we're laughing at how rumors of Trixie's controlling an Ursa Minor got messed up. You see the real story behind that all starts when Twilight and Trixie attended the same school together as fillies…" she turned serious and so did the other girls as she continued, "They did just about everything together. They were best friends but they acted like they were sisters… One day, Celestia took them under her wing and trained them of how to deal with their magic. They encouraged each other to excel as they figured one of them would be the Dragon Warrior in the future.

"So when they had grown they had to stop an Ursa Minor from destroying Ponyville and like you most ponies had thought Trixie stopped the Ursa Minor but really it was Twilight who did it…This made Trixie upset when she realized that Twilight was better than her at magic so she sought out a powerful object called the Alicorn Amulet so she can be better and then… Trixie started to enslave the townsfolk to do her bidding and when Twilight and Celestia saw how corrupted Trixie became by the amulet, Twilight tried to save her best friend but when she couldn't and it was up to Celestia to trick Trixie to give up the amulet and when she did, she was banished to Tartarus…"

Spike uttered softly, "Wow…"

Rarity nodded, "When Twilight saw all those innocents getting hurt by Trixie she didn't want to you suffer a similar fate by training to be the Dragon Warrior."

Spike held his legs to his chest, "That makes a lot of sense now…" then asked them, "So then how did you all meet her?"

Rainbow decided to take the lead.

"That my friend, all started when I had first moved to Ponyville to be on the weather team then one day I hear this cry for help coming from a well and it turn out a filly fell in there, so I quickly rescued her. Shortly after that I became a local hero and because of that a merchant came to me asking for help…"

Rainbow and the merchant sat outside the Ponyville Café as he tried to explain the situation.

"Bandits stole all my-"

"Wood?" Rainbow questioned, feeling impatiently as she wanted to get going to stop the thieves.

"Sofas and quills! And if I don't get them back…"

"You'll be… uncomfortable?"

"I'll be out of business!"

"Just as I thought. And where did these creeps run off to?" she smacked her hooves together.

"They went-"

"West!" Dash blurted out as she zipped away but came back when the merchant shouted.

"No, east!"

"What are you…?"

"Towards the-"

"Hill!" she zipped again only to force herself to return.

"No! towards the forest of-"

"Leto?"

"Everfree!"

"Everfree Forest? East? Sofas and quills! I knew it!" She was about to fly up when the merchant said.

"You'll need to be very-"

"Quick!"

"Careful! They're crafty ponies!"

"They won't know what hit them!" she flew off at top speed before the merchant could say anything else.

Spike quickly asked, "By going after the bandits did you meet the girls?"

Dash proudly stated, "Yup!"

"Cool! So what were the rest of you doing?" he inquired.

Fluttershy answered, "I was living in Cloudsdale with my family and my little brother Zephyr Breeze was boasting to some friends of his how he could face off to a cockatrice without turning to stone…"

Spike gawked, "What in the world made him say that?!"

Fluttershy sighed, "Zephyr… just didn't know when to keep quiet… and because of his boast his friends demanded to him to prove his claim and so they went off into the Everfree Forest, I followed after him because as his big sister it was my duty to protect him."

Fluttershy was scared of the forest surroundings as she called out to her brother, "Zephyr! Zephyr!"

"Fluttershy?" a voice called back.

The mare went toward the voice to find her brother and his friends. "Thank goodness, you're safe!"

Zephyr smugly replied, "Of course I'm safe, I'm Zephyr Breeze! The bravest and most handsome stallion in all of Equestria!"

"But it's dangerous to be here!"

"Exactly! As you can see we're waiting for a cockatrice to show up so I can face off to it without turning into stone!"

She sighed deeply, "Zephyr…"

Rarity pointed out, "I believe that's when we were about to cross paths, as I was in the Everfree Forest looking for gems for my new creation."

Spike asked, "Creation?"

Rarity motioned, "Quite. I was living in Ponyville as a struggling seamstress and my best dresses had always had jewels in them. So when one of my best clients brought someone with them one day I was quite determined to fill their order…"

Sapphire Shores walked into Carousal Boutique with Fancy Pants to find Rarity quickly working around the shop as the stallion admired her diligence. She spotted them and addressed them.

"Oh! Forgive me for not noticing you sooner, Sapphire Shores and… oh, my goodness! Fancy Pants!" she gasped.

The stallion chuckled, "I dare say, that's one way to make an introduction."

She blushed realizing her outburst, "I'm so terribly sorry! It's just I recognized you as an Elite from Canterlot and I couldn't help feeling so honored by you being here."

"Not as honored as I am to be here… Miss…?"

"Rarity." she smiled.

"Miss Rarity. I have need of a jeweled dress for my cousin, Fleur-de-lis."

"Why certainly! When do you need it?"

"Tomorrow evening." he stated.

"Tom-tomorrow evening?" she repeated to make sure she heard right.

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry for the short notice but I didn't hear about your amazing dresses until Sapphire Shores spoke highly of you at one of our social gatherings. And I can't think of more a perfect birthday present for my dear cousin."

"How charming of you to say…" Rarity beamed at the praise and declared, "It shall be done! I'll have it ready by tomorrow afternoon!"

"Wonderful! I'll be back tomorrow." he and Sapphire took their leave.

Rarity bit her lip in worry as she looked in her empty box of where she kept her collection of jewels in and set out to look for more. She knew of a place in the Everfree Forest that had a horde of gems and started going there.

Spike looked at Applejack, "And you? What were you doing?"

Applejack nearly blushed with him staring at her and quickly replied, "Me? Well, I was busy with my family's farm: Sweet Apple Acres. My family was having trouble with the Flim Flam brothers since they were tryin' to give us a run for our money. I tell ya, if Twilight hadn't come when she did… I'm pretty sure my family would have been bankrupt and we would have lost Sweet Apple Acres forever…"

Spike furrowed a brow, "Then… why are you here and not helping your family run the farm?"

Applejack explained, "I visit to check up on them and the farm. Because after I met the girls, I was needed here to help protect Equestria. But once that duty is done, I'll go back to what I was always meant to do."

"So how did you meet Twilight?"

"She was on business meetin' with Ponyville's mayor when she came across the farm and saw the trouble we was havin' with the brothers and stepped right in to stop them. Once the duo left, Twilight and I got to bein' good friends when we heard a scream coming from the forest." she turned to the unicorn, asking, "That was your scream wasn't it, Rarity?"

Rarity rolled her eyes, "Yes, that was my scream seeing how the bandits came out of nowhere as I was looking for gems and because of my gem finding skills they saw me as useful…"

Rarity shrieked as the bandits who were really Caballeron and his henchponies surrounded her and were about to kidnap her. While that had been happening, somewhere in other parts of the forest, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie heard the scream and-

"Wait! Wait!" Spike motioned, "How did Pinkie get in the forest in the first place?"

Pinkie giggled, "Oh, that's easy." she spoke at a fast pace, "I was in Canterlot, about to pull a prank on somepony when my Pinkie sense was acting up and Princess Celestia came out of nowhere to me and said, 'Miss Pinkie Pie, you must go to the Everfree Forest.' So I was all like, 'Okey-dokey-lokie!' and set out to the dark and scary Everfree Forest!" she gave a cheesy grin.

Spike stared at the others in bewilderment and Applejack whispered to him, "It's best you don't think about it too much…"

He just gave a slight nod and said to Rarity, "So you were saying?" his face softened with hearts floating around him, "Before I so rudely interrupted?"

Rarity merely replied, "You're forgiven, and yes, so anyway… Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were all nearby when they heard me scream…"

Fluttershy exclaimed, "Oh goodness!" and she whimpered.

Zephyr proclaimed, "It is a dear lady in distress! I shall save her!" he was about to run off when he got tackled by his big sister.

"Oh, no you don't! You are going straight home, mister!"

Zephyr pouted, "Why do you always got to be so bossy, sis?" Then when he saw the stern look she was giving off, he sighed, "Fine." he flapped his wings and flew away.

Fluttershy knew she should have followed him but some pony was in trouble and she had to go see if she could help even if she was too scared to. When suddenly, something passed her at the speed of light causing a gust of wind around and it screeched to a halt and flew back to her inquiring.

"Fluttershy? Is that you?"

"Rainbow Dash?"

The rainbow-mane mare questioned, "What you doing out here? Don't you know this is the Everfree Forest the scariest forest in all of Equestria?"

"Of course I do, Dashie! But Zephyr was out here and I had to get him to come back home!"

"And is he…?"

"He's home, I sent him back not two minutes ago."

"So I take it that was you I hear screaming?"

"No! That was somebody else! I was just going to go see how I can help!"

"You? Wow, Fluttershy, I've never seen this side of you before."

"Come on, we have to hurry!" she flapped her wings and the two old friends set out to where the scream came from. And when they did they found a campsite with brand new sofas that made Rainbow gasped.

"The bandits! They're here! Alright!"

Fluttershy saw the bandits were eating and next to them was a unicorn mare tied to a rope as she was busy casting a gem finding spell and digging up gems much to the unicorn's disgust.

"Oh… that poor girl…"

Dash whispered, "Well we're going to rescue her… Just follow my lead…" she started to crawl when a pink mare suddenly showed up right in front of her making Rainbow yelp in surprise and whispered in shock, "Who the heck are you?!"

"Oh, I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!"

Dash shushed her, "Quiet! You want them to know we're here?!"

Pinkie whispered back, "Oh, are we in stealth mode? I can be in stealth mode!" she put on a spy costume with night vision goggles.

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gawked at her sudden costume change, wondering how she did that. Dash started, "Where did you…? Never mind, I don't think I want to know. Because right now we got more pressing things like saving that filly from those thugs and getting those sofas back…"

Pinkie pointed out, "Somehow, I don't think that'll be a problem…."

"Huh?" both pegasi said when looking at what the random mare was gesturing at.

The unicorn was complaining to the point the stallions were getting fed up with her and it seemed like they were going to let her go.

Dash mentioned, "Huh, not bad. Of course she could have just used her fancy magic to use that frying pan they were using and knock them all out but annoying them to heck works too."

When Rarity was set on leaving, Caballeron pulled a fast one by gagging her up!

Fluttershy uttered, "Oh, no!"

Dash stomped her hoof, "Rats!" then stated, "Well looks like I'll have to save her after all…" she readied herself to take off when suddenly the bandits were all lassoed in by one cowpony. "Hey! I was about to save her!" Rainbow showed herself.

Applejack faced the pegasus, "Well if you hadn't just stood there before I got here, you probably would have."

Then Twilight approached the bandits, "At least you got them all. Caballeron and his henchponies have been causing quite a lot of trouble for us. So we can finally bring them to justice." she used her magic to make a bubble around the stallions.

Fluttershy helped Rarity get her gag off while Pinkie untied her. Rarity exclaimed in disgust, "Never. Will. I. Wear. A dirty rag on my face again! I swear… If some uncouth brute does that to me again, I will make them wish they were never born!"

Applejack gave out a low whistle, "Wow, this gal's got some spice here."

After a few moments of introductions, with Rarity bowing quite a few times to Twilight due to her royal status. The group started to get along and Twilight said.

"You know, it seems odd that we all met like this on the same day. And… Celestia did tell me that I should consider making new friends to help protect all of Equestria… Maybe… Just maybe…" then asked, "Would you all like to come with me to Canterlot?"

Rarity primped her mane, "Naturally we all said yes."

Rainbow interjected, "Puh-lease, you practically squealed when she mentioned Canterlot."

AJ chuckled, "Yeah, you did."

Rarity humphed but ended up smirking.

Spike was frowning in confusion and motioned, "That's it? No big battle to see how awesome each of your skills were? She just asked you to come with her?"

Applejack shrugged, "Pretty much."

Rainbow said, "Besides, we've proven how awesome we were when that Bugbear came around!"

Spike commented, "That's true."

Fluttershy mentioned, "Shortly after that, we all became the bestest of friends and made sure Equestria was protected, it was then we realized we had a connection all this time with Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom which was the reason we got our cutie marks."

Spike gawked, "Whoa! Really?!"

The girls all agreed and Spike soon learned of how the girls and Twilight got their cutie marks at the same time but what shocked him the most was the actual day it all happened. When Pinkie gave the exact day the rainbow appeared to make her smile, Spike gasped out.

"That's my birthday!"

"It is?!" they exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yeah! That was the very day I hatched!"

They gapped as AJ muttered, "I'll be… that sure is a dang coincidence…"

Pinkie shuddered, "Spooky…" The others mumbled in agreement, then once they processed this new information in their heads, Pinkie Pie declared, "Looks like our Dragon Warrior is just as connected as we are!"

Spike felt touched when he saw the others nodding their heads, it was like they were finally accepting them. By feeling so happy he playfully threw a pillow in the air that it caused Pinkie to start a pillow fight and the others joined in making their bond ever closer.

Author's Note

Whew! This took a long time to finish writing! I was trying to make their backstories be similar to that of Kung-Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five, of course you can see from the final product that only some references of the short movie got in. So hopefully you're okay with has been written. Review on what you think.

Chapter 6

Twilight was in her room looking at old photo albums mostly of her and Trixie going to school together. She sighed deeply as memories of her youth played in her head. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she thought.

Why did you have to take that stupid Alicorn Amulet and put it on?! We so were happy!

But before she could dwell on the past further, a guard with a charcoaled face burst in.

"Your Highness!" he shouted.

Twilight stood up in concern, "Yes?"

The guard bowed his head in shame and shook it, "I'm so-so-so-so sorry! We did everything we could, but Trixie overwhelmed us and now she's escaped!"

Twilight sucked in her breath and tried to look calm as she nervously informed the guard, "I see…Thank you… for telling me this…" she slowly moved sideways to get to the door with small beads of sweat running down her forehead, "and don't worry, everything's going to be alright…" she got out and closed the door behind her and starting running down the hall, yelling, "Celestia!"

Eventually she found her teacher by the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom and quickly told her the bad news. Then she began to fret.

"What are we going to do?! Trixie is on her way right now! And we'll have no way of stopping her unless we do something right now!"

Celestia looked at her former pupil with a calm expression, "But we already have done something, Twilight…"

Twilight frowned as she protested, "The dragon?! Celestia, I'm sorry to tell you this, but he is not the Dragon Warrior! He has no skills whatsoever to handle dangerous situations! He's going to get himself killed! He got chosen by accident!"

"There are no accidents…"

She sighed, "Yes, so you told me, twice…"

"Well that was no accident either."

Twilight muttered, "Thrice…"

"My dearest Twilight, are you truly sure of how the dragon came to be here? Or is it possible that you just don't see what he has to offer." she used her aura to pick a peach off the tree, "Take this fruit for example. To most it's just a soft and fuzzy delectable, but for those who have so little it is a feast."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Twilight confessed.

Celestia nodded, "That is understandable, given you rather do things your way and cannot see the big picture."

Twilight points, "But my way keeps everybody safe from harm! My girls are able to protect themselves and the ponies of Equestria! Spike… he can't do that!"

Celestia shook her head, "No, Twilight, you just need to believe… Have faith in the dragon. Let him show you his true self… Believe in him… You must promise me this…"

"Why?" the young alicorn tilted her head.

"I have just received news from my sister in Yakyakistan that I am needed to help fill out a trade agreement. And you know the yaks are very set on perfection."

Twilight nodded before she frowned, "Wait… Does that mean I have to take care of things myself here?!" she worried.

Celestia merely stated, "Yes." and started flapping her wings.

"But-but…"

The sun princess started going higher in the air as she said, "You must believe…"

Tears threaten to escape as Twilight uttered, "I… I will try…"

That satisfied the taller alicorn as she continued to fly up and teleported from Twilight's sight.

When Twilight walked down the hallway to get to the girls' rooms she was surprised to find them empty but then heard laughter coming from Spike's room and took a peek in to see them all having fun as they talked.

Pinkie then suggested, "Hey! Let's play 'Guess who I am'!"

Rainbow motioned, "Sweet! I'll go first!" she then got into position as she did her hair in the style of Rarity's and batted her eyelashes, while imitating her friend's voice. "I'm ever so generous and sweet as I tend to flirt with colts to get what I want!"

The others giggled as Rarity rolled her eyes. Spike had a concern look as he asked the unicorn, "Is that true?"

Rarity nonchalantly replied, "More or less."

Pinkie waved her hoof, "My turn! My turn!" she straighten her mane then slightly curled it as she spoke in a quiet voice, "I'm ever so shy and scared but I do tend to be bold once in a while…"

"Fluttershy." they all said except Fluttershy who said.

"Oh goodness, do I really sound like that?"

There were random agreements before Spike shout out, "I got one!" he found some parchment and rolled it into a cone and held it up to his forehead, as he spoke in authoritative tone, "I'm ever so bossy and strict as I order you around to train hard given I am a princess and an alicorn!" he chuckled with his eyes closed unaware at that point that Twilight was entering the room with a scowl on her face.

The girls saw her and held in their breath as she approached the dragon.

Spike was still laughing when he opened his eyes and it slowly went down to a nervous titter. "Um…" he gave a tiny wave, "Hi, Princess Twilight?"

Twilight still was scowling before she addressed the girls, "I have some very bad news…" she took a deep breath, "Trixie has escaped…"

They gasped.

The alicorn continued, "As of this moment she is coming for the Dragon Scroll…" she looked at Spike, "And you're the only one who can stop her…"

Spike was taken aback by this but then assumed, "Ha! And here I thought you didn't have a sense of humor, I'm going to…" he trailed off when seeing the serious expression on Twilight's face, "Wait… You're serious? But, um…" he quickly thought, "Celestia can stop her, she did it before!"

"She can't! She was called away on official royal business!" she faced the girls again, "So… our only hope is the Dragon Warrior…"

Applejack shouted, "Twilight, that's insane! You can't do that! He's not ready!"

Twilight replied, "But it is his destiny… So we must-" she turned back but saw he was not there, "Where'd he go?"

Spike was screaming his head off as he ran out of the castle and was about to go pass the gates when Twilight suddenly teleported in front of him, making him stop in his tracks.

"You can't leave!" she yelled.

"Watch me!" he ran on but soon found it futile when Twilight kept using the teleportation spell on him. He started panting and finally just stopped as he said to her, "Come on! How am I suppose to defeat Trixie when I can't even get away from you?!"

"I need you to trust in your teacher just as I have trusted in mine."

He scowled, "You're not my teacher, and I am not the Dragon Warrior…"

"But it is your destiny!"

"You never once believed in that! Ever since I got here, you've been trying to get rid of me!"

Twilight sighed, "Yes… that is true… I am not proud of how I tried to make you quit, thinking it was for your own safety… But maybe… it was not you I was trying to keep safe but rather… myself…"

Spike tilted his head.

She continued, "I worried that Trixie wasn't going to be stopped by someone who had no skills to fight, so I needed someone who could…" she told him, "But I cannot change destiny, it must be you and you alone who can stop her."

Spike gestured, "Expect there's a problem with that… How are you going to turn this," pointing to himself, "into the Dragon Warrior? Uh?"

Twilight bit her lip and went quiet.

Spike repeated, "How?"

Twilight still was silent.

"How?!" he shouted.

"I don't know!" she hollered before going quiet again and softly uttered, "I just don't know…"

Spike's eyes glossed over as he muttered, "That's what I thought…"

The alicorn and the dragon stood there in somber silence unaware an earth pony wearing a Stetson hat had been watching them from a balcony and overheard their loud exchange. She looked upset as they started heading back inside until she gave off a determined look just as she braced herself to jump onto a tree close by and slid down its trunk. She galloped past the gates before looking back as she said.

"This is what ya brought me here for…" then she ran on.

She was running pass the shops of Canterlot when she heard a sweet voice yell out.

"Applejack!"

She looked back to see Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie running behind her with Rainbow Dash flying above them. She retorted, "Don't try and stop me!"

Rarity called out, "But we're not trying to stop you, darling!"

Dash proclaimed, "We're coming with you!"

Applejack was stunned for a bit before smirking and kept on running.

Chapter 7

The next morning, Twilight was walking down the hall in gloom. When she had reached the girls' rooms, she was surprise at how none of them were out waiting for her. She quickly checked in their rooms, but soon realized they were empty. She started to worry until she found a note in Rarity's room and read it.

Twilight, I'm sorry darling, but the girls and I have agreed that we're going to stall Trixie long enough for you to train Spikey- sorry, Spike. He's certainly not like any dragon we've ever met, given he's the only dragon we have met… but that's beside the point right now. Twilight, help him become the Dragon Warrior he was meant to be, we all have faith in him. So please, have faith in him too…

Rarity

Twilight was in utter shock before she put the note away and voiced, "Oh, girls…" she knew it was too late to go after them so she had no choice but hope that they would be okay when dealing with Trixie. She then checked Spike's room only to see it was empty as well!

She began to fret as she searched the castle until she smelled something cooking in the kitchens and followed the smell to find Spike making pancakes with his fire breath!

Spike spotted her and stopped what he was doing when seeing the weird look on her face. He inquired, "What? I thought I'd make myself a last meal here at the castle, since I won't be much help when Trixie gets here."

Twilight approached him, "I wouldn't be so sure about that…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She asked, "What's the range when you breathe fire like that?"

Spike shrugged, "I don't know, maybe a few feet? I don't really use it that often."

"Hmm… then maybe we can do something about that…"

"I'm afraid I'm not following you…" he admitted with confusion.

Twilight touched his shoulder, "Spike… You are meant to be the Dragon Warrior. As in actual Dragon Warrior. You are a dragon so obviously you're going have the abilities of a dragon like breathing fire."

Spike's eyes widen getting what Twilight was trying to tell him.

She gestured, "Let us put that to good use in the training simulator."

He jumped for joy, "Yeah!"

In moments, Twilight performed her hologram spell and saw first hoof of how Spike blew fire at his opponents all the while using his smarts from the knowledge he had gain from the monster books he had read and his learning experience from watching the girls.

Twilight was completely beside herself when seeing how well Spike was doing on his own without help. She couldn't help but think.
All this time… had I just given him a chance… we would have realized his potential sooner…

Meanwhile, Spike was thinking, I can't believe I didn't think of my fire breath sooner! All this time it was the perfect defense mechanism! How dumb can you get?!

Finally, when they took a break, Twilight rewarded Spike with some gems to eat much to his gratitude.

He munched on the jewels as he mumbled out, "Thanks, teach…"

Twilight shook her head, "If Rarity were here, she would comment on your lack of table manners…"

He gulped the stones down before giving off a somber expression, "Think they're okay? I mean they're going to face off Trixie…"

"I don't want to think about that… I can only hope that their training gives them a fighting chance."

"I'm sure they do, the Elements of Harmony have never once lost a battle."

"Yet…" Twilight muttered then she looked at the dragon with a small smile, "You know, I am really impressed how you were able to use knowledge like that, how about you and I head to the library and you can help me organize some books I've been meaning to shelf?"

"Sure! Anything to keep me distracted from thinking about them battling Trixie…"

"You and me both…" they set out.

The girls had found themselves on the outskirts of Ponyville before they had spotted a unicorn with silver hair and a blue coat coming in the distance. Thanks to Twilight's description, the girls were able to recognize the pony as Trixie. Then when she got closer to them, they stood there to block her path.

The unicorn let out a chuckle, "So where's the Dragon Warrior?"

Applejack scowled, "How do you you're not lookin' at her?"

"Oh…" she laughed, "Trixie knows you're not the Dragon Warrior, none of you are! Trixie heard how he fell out the sky in a ball of fire, that he is a warrior unlike anyone has ever seen!"

Pinkie motioned, "Wellll, she's got a point there, Spike is a warrior unlike anyone's ever seen!"

The others uttered under their breath harshly, "Pinkie!"

Trixie smirked, "So that is his name… Spike. Finally, a worthy opponent for the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Rarity muttered, "My, my, what boasting…"

Applejack agreed, "All hat and no cattle alright."

Rainbow whispered, "Yeah, what a loudmouth."

Trixie however heard this and grinned deviously, "Well, well, well, it seems we have some neighsayers. Who is so ignorant as to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Applejack stepped forth, "I guess that would be me."

"Well then little hayseed, what can you do better than the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"This!" she took out her rope and started to lasso in the unicorn but at the last second, Trixie teleported behind her and used her magic to take control of the rope and had it wrap around AJ instead and she summoned an apple to put in the country mare's mouth.

Rainbow Dash flew into a charge, shouting, "Oh, you asked for it now!"

But Trixie used her magic to make Rainbow's wing bigger then her making her lose control of her flying and caused her to crash to the ground.

Fluttershy cried out, "Rainbow!" and went to help her.

Rarity meanwhile was trying to free Applejack from her bonds but as Rarity was using her magic to untie the knots the knots kept forming back.

Pinkie gnashed her teeth and shouted, "You big meanie! You let Applejack go and change Dashie back! Or I am going to use my party cannon on you! Or get a yak to smash you!" she kept on ranting.

Trixie groaned, "Ugh, that voice! So annoying!" she quickly casted a spell making a computer mouse arrow and a digital trash can to appear and when using the arrow she made Pinkie's mouth vanish into the trash can!

Pinkie muffled out shouts, no doubt demanding for her mouth to return.

Trixie sighed happily, "Peace and quiet…"

Rarity had seen what happened and yelled, "You monster! How dare you do that to Pinkie!"

"Oh… you mean something like this?" she shot her magical beam at Rarity.

Fluttershy and Rainbow gasped when seeing what Trixie had done to their friend.

"QUICK! I NEED A MIRROR!" Rarity shrieked, "I know she did something to my hair!"

Pinkie held one out and gave a sympathetic look.

Rarity gasped loudly when seeing the green seaweed-like hair and a dress that was in a terrible color scheme, that she started bawling right away.

Trixie gave a smug look, "So there you have it, Trixie is the highest level unicorn in the world!" she laughed evilly.

Fluttershy called out, "The Dragon Warrior will stop you! If not, then Twilight will!"

Trixie smirked, "Twilight may be powerful but Trixie has more power than her… And Trixie can't wait to meet the Dragon Warrior so that Trixie can defeat him! And you can tell him as such…" she used her magic to teleport them away.

Spike and Twilight had been having fun shelving the books when suddenly with a loud pop the girls landed on the library floor! The alicorn and dragon gasped.

Spike ran to them, "Guys!"

Twilight looked on in horror of how the girls that were touched by Trixie's magic were affected. But that's not possible! The Alicorn Amulet's power should have diminished while she was in Tartarus! Unless… she quickly took out a book and started flipping pages.

While Twilight was researching, Spike was helping comfort their friends from the spells Trixie casted on them and tried to get Applejack out by unknotting the ropes when that didn't work, he resorted to using his claws and to his luck the twine broke!

Applejack got the apple out her mouth and sighed in relief, "Thanks Spike." but when she looked at him, her heart started to pound like crazy and she had no idea why.

And once more when Spike looked into her eyes, the bubbling sensation returned. And there it is again! Why does that always happen whenever I'm this close to Applejack?

But he couldn't dwell on it further when Twilight shouted.

"Oh no! How could I not have caught that when we had first sent her there?!"

Applejack inquired, "What is it, sugar cube?"

Twilight magically held out her book showing a picture of the Alicorn Amulet. "According to this, the Amulet can still corrupt its wearer even if the wearer is not wearing the Amulet! If the wearer is still vengeful and thirsting for power by the time they're taking off the Amulet then it can transfer a piece of its power to them!"

Rarity exclaimed, "That explains so much!"

"Ha! I knew she wasn't all that great as she said she was!" Rainbow motioned.

Twilight said, "She still has the Amulet's power within her, and there's no known cure of how we can rid that from her. So there's only one solution on how to stop her…" she looked right at Spike and the others did as well.

They gathered in Princess Celestia's suite as Twilight started to get the box containing the Dragon Scroll.

Spike said to her, "Do you really think I'm ready?"

"You are…" Twilight smiled at him then concentrated on the box to open it and lifted the scroll up and handed it to Spike. There was a drum roll and everyone turned to see Pinkie using a drum but once she saw the glares she stopped.

Spike turned back to the scroll in his claws and took a deep breath. He slowly opened it and when it open all the way, he made a yell, making everyone around look on with concern. But then when he got a good look at the scroll he stated.

"It's blank."

"What?!" Twilight shouted.

"Here look!"

"No, I'm forbidden to look upon… Oh, give me that!" she magically took it and looked it over but she could see that Spike was telling the truth and could see nothing but a golden reflection of herself. "Blank… I don't understand… How can that be?!"

Spike sighed, "Look's like Princess Celestia made a mistake after all… She did pick me by accident…"

Twilight stated firmly, "No. Celestia knew better than anyone… She would have not picked you unless there was a reason…"

"Then what is the reason?" he asked with big eyes.

"I…" but she ended up shaking her head, "I don't know…"

Spike sighed and slumped.

Applejack looked between her longtime friend and her new friend, she felt sorry for the both of them feeling lost in this matter. Frankly, she felt lost herself, the Dragon Scroll was the only thing they had that could've stop Trixie but it turned out to be a farce this entire time. The situation was desperate and they didn't know what they were going to do next.

Suddenly Twilight spoke up, "Listen to me, all of you… I need you to evacuate Canterlot."

"What? Why?!" Rainbow pointed.

"Because, I am going to face Trixie… alone…"

"WHAT?!" they shouted though with Pinkie she muffled it.

Twilight expressed, "You heard me…"

Spike protested, "No! There's no telling what she'll do to you!"

"I have to… it's time for me to face my past no matter how much I don't want to…"

Applejack started, "Twilight, we can't let you-"

But Twilight's raised hoof made her stop as the alicorn kept speaking, "I want to thank all of you for being the best friends I could have asked for. When I first brought you here I didn't want to get in close for fear of history repeating itself but you had eased those fears in our time together and now I just want to keep you safe. I need all of you to respect that decision. As your princess, I command it."

The tears came down and the girls quickly got into a group hug with Fluttershy saying, "We love you, Twilight…"

Twilight's tears ran down as she softly said, "I love you girls too…" she spotted Spike on the side and motioned for him to join in. He did as his own tears came out and embraced the group.

Chapter 8

The five mares and Spike slowly made their way out the castle as ponies high or low class rushed about to evacuate the city. Spike held the Dragon Scroll in his claws as a farewell present from Twilight. He would never forget the time he spent with her as short as it was. He felt a certain connection to her that it made him feel guilty he was leaving her like this.

Applejack began to order the others, "Rarity, you and Fluttershy help evacuate the higher sectors of Canterlot, Dash the lower. And Pinkie, you and I will take the middle." she turned to the dragon, "Spike, you goin' back to your dad?"

Spike just sadly nodded.

"Well… I wish you the best of luck then…" she held out her hoof.

He looked at it and slowly reached out for it. Once he held it, a strange shock ran through them causing them to quickly let go.

What was that?! Both of them thought.

Applejack slowly asked, "Did you just…?"

Spike didn't know what to say and instead he stared right at her.

She flushed and moved on, "Never mind. I just must be thinkin' things under the stress."

Spike said, "Yeah! That must be it!" he nervously chuckled and started to go the other way and waved back, "Well, bye!" he ran on and didn't look back.

He made it to the joke shop and just as he was able to enter, he overheard two posh ponies scoffing at him.

"Look it's the Dragon Warrior…"

"Some Dragon Warrior, he couldn't even save us from the upcoming threat and now we're force to leave…"

Spike couldn't bear to hear anymore and went straight in the shop. He called out, "Dad? Dad? Are you here?"

Discord popped up and scooped the dragon up in his claws.

"Well, my boy, how did it go? Did you get the Dragon Scroll?!"

Spike unsteadily said, "Yeah… it's right here…" showing off the scroll.

"Ooh! Let me see! Let me see!" he sat the dragon down and held the scroll to his face and when he opened it, he had a smile on his face before it faltered. "That's it?! What a rip-off!"

Spike sighed again, "Yeah, I guess it means I wasn't the Dragon Warrior after all…"

"But that can't be right! I know that you are the Dragon Warrior!"

"Give it a rest, Dad! Or should I even call you that?! Sometimes I can't believe I'm actually your son!"

Discord stiffened and sweat ran down his brow.

Come on Discord, think… it's not time for you tell him that… just make up something in the meantime, something that will keep his mind off adoption…

He looked at the scroll again and saw his reflection in it. He moved it for Spike to look into it and said, "Now don't tell me you're not my son, I mean sure we look different from each other, but hey at least we're different together in this world full of ponies. They're all one species, but us? We are very special compared to them. I mean, we should be considered a rank higher than them."

Spike shouted, "Dad! We're just two creatures in a city of ponies!"

"Ah, but I think we're pretty special because I believe it. You see, son, to be special, you must believe you're special."

"Well, yeah, but-" he trailed off when looking at the scroll and saw his reflection. His eyes widen and slowly said, "What if… there was never any special power… what if… all this time the Dragon Warrior was just something to make yourself believe it's special… That's it! That's what I've been missing! That's what we've been missing!" he hugged his Dad's goat leg, "Thanks Dad! I never would have figured that out without you!" he ran out the door.

Discord smirks to the audience, "My work here is done, or at least until the sequel comes out."

Twilight waited at front of the gates of the castle. Above her a storm was brewing. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them to find a familiar unicorn from her childhood.

Trixie smirked, "Trixie has come home, sister…"

Twilight frowned, "This is no longer your home, and I am not your sister."

Trixie pointed, "Oh, you would say that, especially now that you're an all-powerful alicorn… And you have a new favorite, so… where is this Spike?"

"This battle is between you and me."

"Are you sure you want that?" she grinned.

"Yes, for that's how it must be…"

"Very well, a magic duel then? Just like in the old days?"

"If that's the only way I can stop you…"

They took their positions then Trixie yelled, "Draw!"

The duel commence with them displaying their power. And since they both possessed alicorn magic, they were equally tied. Trixie started feeling annoyed and yelled out.

"It figures that she liked you better than me! Why else would she have made you a princess after I was banished to Tartarus!"

"You would have been made a princess too had you kept away from the stupid amulet!"

"Oh, please! Even if I hadn't used the Amulet, she would have made you a princess regardless, you always were better at magic than me!"

"That's only because I have studied hard to learn magic! You were the one who kept slacking off!"

"You always were such an egghead!"

"Ugh! I hate that nickname! It's bad enough Rainbow Dash calls me that!"

"And that's another thing! You replaced me with non-talented ponies! I thought I would always be your BFF!"

"You were! You were my first friend, Trixie!" her voice grew soft and tears welled in her eyes, "But when you betrayed the princesses, I had no choice but to side with them… I never once thought you would have stooped so low as to use a powerful object just to take control… I didn't want to see you that way… Because I loved you too much to see what you were turning into… a monster…"

For one brief moment, Trixie seemed to show signs of remorse but then she scowled deeply and shouted out.

"A monster, huh?! Well, then… let this monster show you what she is made of!" she shot a beam and it knocked Twilight to the ground making her have scuff marks around her body. Trixie powered her horn again, and said, "Now… give me the Dragon Scroll…"

Twilight uttered, "I don't have it. The Dragon Warrior took it far away from here. You'll never see that scroll, Trixie…"

Trixie's eyes glowed red with anger and was about to strike the final blow when a voice shouted.

"Hey!"

Trixie turned to see a small dragon behind her, holding up a scroll. She inquired, "Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm the Dragon Warrior."

Trixie's jaw dropped before she started guffawing and motioned, "You are the Dragon Warrior?! But you're so tiny!" she kept on laughing.

Spike merely replied, "If I'm so tiny, why do I have the Dragon Scroll in my claw?"

Trixie stopped chuckling and went serious, "That's the Dragon Scroll?!" her eyes went red again and demanded, "Give it to me…"

Spike taunted, "You want it? Come and get it…" he ran on.

Trixie gnashed her teeth and teleported herself to in front of the dragon. But Spike managed to dodge her and her magical beams. He ran behind Canterlot's buildings and blew some of his fire. Trixie had been able to shield herself from burning.

She yelled out, "The Dragon Scroll belongs to me, give it to me!"

"You have to catch me first!" he kept on running throughout the empty city. Until finally he found himself in an empty alleyway and began climbing some crates that were there but he lost his balance and the scroll flew out of his hand.

"No!" he yelled.

Trixie found him and the scroll rolled to her. With an evil grin, she magically picked it up and exclaimed, "Finally… after all these years… the Dragon Scroll is… mine!" she open it up but once she saw what was inside, she gaped, "Wha- it's nothing!"

Spike smiled as he climbed down the crates, "It's okay, I didn't get it either at first…"

"What?" Trixie felt confused.

Spike instructed, "Take a closer look, what do you see?"

Trixie did as he said and stated, "Me. I see me."

"Exactly, but do you know what I see? I see someone who used to be a good friend to someone she really cared about… Who was a sister to the pony she loved… When I saw you fighting with Twilight, I saw two sisters who missed each other greatly. But you had let jealousy get the better of you… You need to stop comparing yourself to others and just be you… I should know… I thought I had to be like my heroes just to win a battle, but no, that is not the way, I need to be myself. And you should be too… Be proud of who you are, Trixie. Don't try to be Twilight… Be you…"

Trixie was stunned by his words and looked at the Scroll again to see her reflection. She slowly asked, "Do… do you think the Great and Powerful Trixie can be herself? And not have to more magic just to get everyone to love her?"

"Well that all depends on the choices you make… Take me for example, I could have just left town but I knew Twilight needed me and from what I heard between you two, you missed each other so much. Twilight has been alone and so have you… Twilight has the one thing you don't, and that's friends… But you can change that… Starting now…" he offered his claw.

"You… you want to be my friend…?" she asked in surprise.

"Of course." he smiled.

Trixie felt so touched, that suddenly she felt the power of the Alicorn Amulet leaving her. A wisp of red left from her horn and it faded. Then the unicorn felt tears coming down her cheek when memories of her past deeds came back to her.

"Trixie has done horrible things…"

"But you can make up for that, come on."

Once everyone came back to Canterlot, Trixie's spells on the Elements had already been reversed. When Trixie made her apologies, the girls were in complete awe of this new behavior from the unicorn that did them wrong. When looking at Spike, Applejack did the only thing she could think of. She bowed.

"Well done, Dragon Warrior."

The other girls bowed as well including a few ponies behind them, seeing how effective the Dragon Warrior's methods were.

When he and the girls got back to the castle, there was Celestia attending to Twilight, who was shocked when seeing Trixie by her friends' side. The blue unicorn ran to embrace her.

"Trixie is so sorry! Sorry that she was ever jealous of her sister! I just wanted to prove I was just as great at magic as you were! Can you ever forgive me?!"

Twilight looked over Trixie's shoulder to see Spike's smiling face. How did he do it?! How did he bring my sister back to me?! She looked at Celestia who was smiling as well. Finally, she told the unicorn, "Yes… I forgive you…" tears ran down her face, "I missed you so much!"

The girls watched the happy scene with tears in their eyes even Rainbow couldn't hold hers in. Spike watched on with pride. This was a momentous occasion for him. He managed to defeat Trixie without the use of force and brought back happiness to Twilight and peace had been kept in Equestria. Spike was indeed the Dragon Warrior but it wasn't his abilities or knowledge that helped him save the day, rather it was his heart that brought Trixie back to the light. It was a great lesson for them all, no one is more special than the rest, rather you are special in your own way and that you should always be yourself.

Epilogue

Trixie was sentence to long term community service in a village for her past actions and for breaking out of Tartarus but at least she had her sister and some new friends to write to her while she helped served a unicorn that was one of Twilight's old pupils named Starlight Glimmer and the two of them got along great! Trixie never felt happier and she had the Dragon Warrior to thank for that.

Speaking of the Dragon Warrior, Spike was now living in the Canterlot castle with his new friends, the Elements of Harmony and Twilight. They were able to keep Equestria safe from threats over the next few years, but there would come a time when they would start to go their separate ways and their friendship would be greatly tested… For this was just the beginning of the Dragon Warrior's life…

Author's Note

Sorry if this seems short and rushed, but when compared to the other two movies, this one is very low-key and doesn't have much to offer for story ideas. Besides, I got big plans for the sequel so I hope to see you all there.