MLP: Air Magic

Spike couldn't stop himself as his body moved completely on it's own. He watched as his fist raised, poised to strike whoever it was that had come to interrupt them.

'Wait! What's going on...!' Spike thought just as his fist suddenly stopped moving, ceasing its motion just before it could come into contact with someone's face.

Spike had to look up and see who it was. "Uh...Spitfire? What are you doing here?"

She didn't answer, and instead, simply started speaking. "One day, the gods took fire away from humans, to punish them for the disrespect they showed in not leaving offerings for them."

Spike was completely confused by what she was saying. 'What? Fire? Gods? What's this about?'

"Feeling pity for the humans, Prometheus, a rather clever god, stole that fire, and gave it back to the humans. He was eventually punished for his actions by being chained to a mountain and having his organs eaten away by birds until he died. He was forced to keep coming back to life over and over just to receive the same treatment every time."

Spike was completely lost at this point. 'Um...what?'

"So, my question to you, dragon boy, is can you can steal the flames, or will they eat you alive for eternity, just like those birds."

Spike rolled his eyes, lowering his fist. 'Okay, this is getting-'

"The eight roads and their eight queens. Which road will you take I wonder?"

Spike simply stared in wonder. His interest was piqued now. 'What was that about Queens?'

"Look up. I wasn't the only one to watch this battle tonight."

Spike followed the direction Spitfire's finger was pointing to see dozens-no, hundreds-of riders launching themselves off into the sky.

And in the tangle of flying bodies he saw...

"Vinyl?"

He watched as her form retreated into the clouds of the sky.

Spike's attention was brought back to the one sided conversation he was having when he heard Spitfire say, "Make me proud, kid. If you hope to succeed me as the flame king, you're gonna need to get a lot stronger."

With that, she left, leaving Spike to stare at her back as she too, leaped into the sky, fire licking at her heels.

"So, Dash. What're the eight roads and queens?" Spike asked. It had been a while since they had left the Apple Family barn, and Spike, Twilight, Aj and the rest were sitting down to eat dinner.

"I thought ya might ask that, kid. After hearing all of what Spitfire told you, I bet you're curious as to what it could all mean, huh?"

"Darn right I am. So tell me." Spike said, crossing his arms.

"Whoa there, Sugar Cube. Settle down. Don't be too eager now. I promise we'll tell ya. Just...give us a minute." AJ said, trying to calm Spike down before he started yelling.

Spike's eyes followed theirs to stare over at Twilight, who was standing up, her back turned to the group, her food seemingly all but forgotten.

"Are ya gonna tell 'im, Twi?" Aj asked her.

She looked over her shoulder, glaring at Spike before finally sighing. "Ugh...fine. I'll tell him." She turned around and sat down, grabbing her fork before looking up from her plate to stare directly at him.

"Listen closely, Spike, because this is very important."

Spike uncrossed his arms and sat down as well, picking up his own fork. "Right."

"Good. Now, just like Spitfire told you, there are eight roads, and eight queens to rule them. Despite what she said, there are actually as many queens and roads as their are riders, but these queens are...special."

"Special how exactly." Spike asked, giving her his complete undivided attention.

"These eight queens hold the top spot in something known as the Magical Network. Their powers are unlike any other magic rider's, and they are extremely skilled."

Spike eyes were wide as he listened to Twilight talk about all this. "Wow. They sound amazing."

"And they are. They're very amazing, Spike. Their connection to the Magical Network grants them them abilities far beyond most others."

"Do you know who these queens are?" Spike asked, genuinely interested now.

Rainbow stood up and grinned pointing to herself in a flamboyant and showy manner. "You're lookin' at five of 'em!"

Spike's mind was blown. Here he was standing in the presence of such skilled riders, and he never knew anything about them. He just had to know more.

"And what roads do you follow?"

"You already, know mine, Spike." Rainbow piped up.

"The...Magical Rising road, right?"

"You got it!" She gave him a thumbs up.

"I still don't see what's so magical about it." he said. "What about the rest of you? What roads do you follow?"

Apple Jack spoke up. "I follow the Magical Gaia road."

Fluttershy was next. "I follow the Magical Over Road."

Next, it was Rarity turn. Spike watched as she tossed her hair to the side and smiled. "I'm a proud follower of the Magical Ring road!"

"Oooh Ooh, my turn, my turn!" Pinkie shouted as she raised her hand to be next. "I follow the Magical Sonia Road. Or as I like to call it, the 'Celebration Road'!" She showered the whole room with streamers, to the mild annoyance of everyone present.

"Ehehe. Sorry..." Pinkie smiled nervously as she was subjected to her friends glares of disapproval.

Spike removed all the streamers from his hair and crossed his arms again, angry. "I still don't get it. Can someone explain to me what all this magical nonsense means?!"

"It's not nonsense, Spike. Trust me." Twilight said. "Each road in the Magical Network has several different... 'Levels' I guess you could call them. "

"Okay, so what are they?" Spike asked. He was running out of patience.

"Wait a minute i'm getting there. ...Each road has different levels depending on your mastery of the road. There's our roads, the Magical Series. It's basically just a more powerful version of the main road."

Spike nodded his head. Twilight continued. "Then you have the Evolution Series. This series comes about when a road literally transforms into something else. When this happens, a queen has to give up their title, and pass it down to someone else. The last two queens, Celestia and Luna, gave up their status when their roads evolved."

"What were their roads before?" Spike asked, curious.

"Celestia was the previous flame queen before Spitfire, and Luna was the previous sky queen before my dad, Night Light, became the first king of a road."Twilight answered.

"And what are their roads now?" Spike asked

"Celestia follows the Sun road, and Luna follows the Moon Road, both evolved versions of their previous roads.

"There are also unique roads and hybrid roads, but those are self explanatory." Fluttershy cut in, giggling.

"So what's the difference between a Magical Road and an Evolved Road?" Spike asked yet another question.

"We don't know. You'd have to ask Celestia yourself when you get the chance, Spike." Twilight said.

"Alright. Well, if that's all then, i'm going to bed. I'm super tired." Spike let out a yawn.

The others yawned as well, in silent agreement as they all got up.

Suddenly, Spike turned around, "Hey, wait."

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked, surprised by his voice.

"You never told me your road, Twilight." Spike said.

Twilight seemed to think about this before looking down at her feet. "I...don't have one, Spike. I...haven't found it yet. Even if I have the skills of a queen, I can't be one without a road, regardless of skill level."

Spike looked at her for a moment, seeing her expression. He went over to her and grasped her hand, smiling up at her.

"Don't worry. You'll find it one day. I'm sure of it!"

This seemed to cheer Twilight up, and she smiled and hugged Spike. "Thank you." She said. She had to hold back happy tears as she walked her way back upstairs. After a while Spike did the same, and went up to this room, laying down on his bed and smiling at the ceiling.

"All this new stuff! I can't wait to find the last member of my team!"