You have never stood this close to where you want to be
You have always waded in the shallows between me and the deep blue sea

You'd never want me to appear
You never want this to be over
You never want it to reach out to the edge of time

Death Likes me Rough

Death’s Pastime

Spike awoke with wide eyes. His slit green eyes looked from his laying position and towards the outside. Night time had come and judging by how low Luna’s moon was, it had just started. The stars were starting to shine, the sky was going from pinkish hues to indigo blues. The air took on a cooler tone, though not by much since they were still in volcanic areas.

Still, he felt aware, he felt awake and more than that, he felt… complete. He shifted, feeling the form of his beloved on top of him, with half of her body and wing dropped on him. She slept soundly and with a smile on her snout. It was a peaceful one, something he rarely saw and one that always warmed his heart.

However, he was now with energy and had a need to go out now. Carefully, he removed his mate’s wings and arms that surrounded his body. He tried desperately to be slow and careful to not wake her. As he moved her away, she murred in her sleep in some discomfort at him pulling away but remained asleep.

He slowly stood up from his pillows and away from his mate. However, he was aware of the feeling of stickiness that enveloped his body. He stunk of his dried seed and Ember’s fluids. Any other time, he wouldn’t mind being covered by it, but he felt the sudden need to clean himself. Maybe a nearby lava pit would help clean and dry his sticky situation.

From the top of the mountain, he saw the night had basked the dragon lands in moon light and darkness. Lava flows and pits however lit up the lands here and there to give a low glow in the lands.

He saw active dragons in a few spots here and there. Some were lounging in the lava pits while others were still playing their games here and there. Life and activity here, reminded him much like Manehattan. Deciding that he wanted to be presentable, he at least wanted to clean up before showing up. He opened his wings and with a single leap, he jumped down from the cave, dropping downwards alongside the side of the mountain. He had no real need to fly since there are a few active pits near Ember’s base to bathe in, so he would use those for now.

Landing near a molten magma pit, he inhaled the toxic and dark fumes of sulfur and brimstone. Something that when he first arrived here all those years ago, had found soothing and relaxing. According to Ember and other dragons, its the smell of home and its supposed to signify that all dragons crawled from the depth of lava. Birthed and created by the planet’s central core, anytime dragons are near volcanoes or lava, they immediately smell home.

His feet reached near the lava pit, feeling the hot, loosened earth and allowing his scales to touch the tip of it, feeling the density of it. To thick and it would harden in a matter of hours and he did not want to be stuck again. Too thin and he may sink too quickly below or be carried off if the pit burst through and ran off.

Feeling the right amount of molten earth as well as thick layers, he found himself sighing as he slowly moved in the pit, allowing his body to slowly sink and feeling his hissing and bubbling of his body soaking into the fiery pool. Any and all moisture sizzled and dried in an instant. Already, any secretions and fluids left on his body burned away. As he lowered himself up to his neck, he felt relaxed and happy.

Closing his eyes, he dug his tail into the earth behind him, pushing as deep as he could. If there was no solid earth below the dragons’ feet, they would dig their tails into the sides of the pit and remain near the walls, to keep them close to the surface. Something he learned from Ember.

He remained in a semi floating state, the magma bubbling and turning, that being the only sounds around him. It was peaceful, it was nice and yet… For him it unnerved him, hearing nothing but the magma around him. Years living in Ponyville, he was used to the quietness of total silence from the castle walls, or the crickets that surrounded him, along with the peaceful cool air of the night. Here, the quietness was… unique and homely.

Home… Something he thought of. In the week of being here, he had never called his place home. Not when the scents and feelings of volcanic ash filled his nostrils and caused him warmth. Not when he felt welcomed by dragons who treated him friendlier and a bit more with respect due to his status. Not when Ember took him a week ago and forced him to recover.

Home… just became this place when he made love to Ember. It became home when he felt his life return and his energy being surrounded by the activity here, renewed him. Home became here when Death herself, told him, he would be here for awhile.

Equestria would survive without him. Twilight, Starlight, his friends… they would survive without him. His mother, his aunt, his brother with Cadence and his niece, they would thrive without him. Thorax and the changelings, they too would survive. Twilight’s school and the additions of various creatures… their lessons will continue on.

He had no role to play in Equestria. He had no influence. He had no responsibilities that kept the country from falling. None of that was him.

So why did he feel okay with that? Why did the first time in his life, did he feel like his life was set and that… he would be fine if he were to stay here? Did acknowledging this place at home do this to him? Was the volcanoes, the unending streams of magma the source? Or was it something else? Something he could not explain?

Ember? That was probably his best explanation.

A nagging feeling at the back of his head told him his peace was about to end. Opening his eyes, he turned his head to the side and saw the beautiful and almost godly form of his beloved standing near him with a smile on her face.

“Enjoying yourself without me?” she asked teasingly.

He returned the smile. “I didn’t wish to wake you. You looked… lovely there.”

Ember snorted but a small blush formed on her cheeks, her tail gave a swish in admiration. “You trying to get under my tail again?”

Spike shook his head and gave a genuine response. “If I were never to get under your tail again, if only to wake up everyday in your arms, it would still be close to Elysium.”

Her face went completely red and for a moment, her heart stopped. His words made her melt, like coins and metal in a magma pit. She would never get used to the words he would say to her, mostly because a few did fly over her head but she still liked hearing of them.

Not choosing to disregard them or ruin the moment, she instead decided to join him. She lowered herself into the pit, pulling close to him and sliding into his opening arms. His tail was strong enough to support them both, so he pulled her in close and tight. The fluids from their earlier activities also sizzled and evaporated quickly. She sighed, inhaling deeply the rich brimstone from the lava and exhaled the toxic fumes that filled her lungs with hot relief.

He brought her in close, letting her head rest against his scaled chest. No words were needed to go between the two, for they had all that they needed here and now. Spike had Ember and she had him. Nothing else was needed.

For like like five minutes…

“Okay, this is nice and relaxing..” Ember sighing in boredom. “But… I want some entertainment now.” she looked up at him.

In truth, he just wanted to rest here forever with her, but he knew that she was impatient and easily bored. She didn’t have a short attention span, she just… was very active.

Nodding, he rubbed her arm in comfort. “What do you wanna do?”

She thought for a moment before she moved away and began to exit. “Lets go see how the late night mosh pits are. Its the first week of summer and the dragons are more active this week.”

He didn’t understand the entertainment of watching other dragons stomp around and throw themselves against other dragons before a brawl would start, but he did want to see some action. “Lead the way.

Both dragons flew towards the arena were hundreds of teenage dragons were at the center arena. Already they could see that many had already began to stomp around, banging their heads and shoving each other. Spike knew that if they had been introduced to heavy metal music from ponies, the mosh pits would be legendary.

They landed close to one of the ridges that served as seating views. The older dragons watched with interest as the teenagers had their fun. They gave a quick bow or just gave a knowing glance to their passing dragon lord… and his consort. Spike actually had to look behind him to see the older dragons looking at him, looks that he knew of anywhere. Choosing not to indulge in their fantasies, he shadowed close to Ember.

Ember seemed to really get into it quickly, her tail wagging like Winona receiving a treat. She began to pick her favorite dragon as the brawls began, trying to find a victor. A large grin etched into her face as her body jumped and cheered in joy. Spike liked seeing her like this, he liked seeing entertained and with a smile that would burn into his memory.

After ten minutes of fighting, a victor stood among the dragons, where a mighty roar was unleashed. Ember couldn’t sit still any longer and stood up. “Ohhh Im gonna go join them!”

Spike agreed without hesitation, because he knew she would. “Great but don’t you think there gonna go easy on you or back down since your dragon lord and all?”

Ember paused and thought for a moment before her face quickly brightened up. “Ill just wear my armor and change my scale colors again!”

“Hey… I was wondering, what did you use to change your scale colors during the Gauntlet of Fire way back when?”

Instead of answering, she flashed him a grin. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” With that, she took off in a powerful launch.

Spike grumbled a bit. “Actually… I would like to know.”

Alone now, he decided to stretch his legs a bit, he stood up from his sitting position and began to stretch himself. He stretched and twisted his body, his ligaments and wings. The drake had a good return to health but didnt mean he regained his full strength properly. Death gave him something small, it was up to him to do the rest.

Unbeknownst to him, however, his actions did have a reaction. His stretches began to catch the attention of all the dragons nearby. Large dragons were eyeing the teenage drake and slight growls of admiration began to echo around.

Spike began to slowly walk in his area, stretching and cracking his bones. For some reason, his confidence in what he was doing was really high right now. He cared not that he was showing off. Maybe the brawl was him itching for a bit of action too?

At least a few teenage dragonesses were watching from afar, as one of the most sought after males in the lands, was showing off what could be great considered great assets to the lands. And many would agree. Some even began to make their way down to him.

Spike came to the edge of the ridge, seeing a good view of many dragons down there. He stretched his wings, expanding them as far as he could, releasing any pent of tension in his joints. He let out a load groan of exasperation before inhaling deeply and finally, let loose a giant, powerful flame into the sky with a roar that wasn’t meant to signify anything. At least to him…

He let the flame die and began to turn around, only to be instantly surrounded by at least two dozen female dragonesses, all staring at him with hungry eyes. Some were trying to climb over one another to see him. From the higher ridges, he saw that a few of the adult dragons themselves had moved closer.

Judging by the looks he was receiving, it looked like his stretching had caused some unwanted attraction or in his case... their wanted attention.

Gulping, he gave a small casual wave. “Um… hello ladies?”

Ember came into view of the pit, wearing her armor, including her helmet along with a green dye she used to cover her scale color. He wings flapped hard to reach her target sooner. She just hoped Spike watched with interest as she took on other dragons.

Approaching the arena, she saw that there was still plenty of action still. However, a certain part of the ridge had a particular action piece going on. She saw a bunch of teens and adults in one area… right where she had left Spike.

“Oh Draco fuckin….” They were after Spike again! Damn… now she had to go and get her Scepter to get them to back off again. Her voice would have to be enough.

Spike realized that he was about to die… again. Now… Death said she wouldn’t see him in two years, but she also said that fate changed and… she could be wrong. He was going to die either being smothered to death by horny dragonesses or killed by snu-snu.

As if to put himself more into a difficult situation, he could see Ember above and she did not look happy. He had to think of something quick. A roar by the pits showed him that a dragon had won the rumble again, but judging by the lack of cheer, they looked crestfallen. Most of the action was around him.

Turning back to the dragonesses, he had no choice but to bail before something happens. “Um… ladies. I hope you realize that I am taken… by Dragon Lord Ember and she might be a bit… crossed if she finds you all surrounding me.”

That spurred only a few. “Oh come on,” whined one of the needy teens. “You are the most sought after drake here!”

“Yeah,” continued another. “Besides, no drake knows how to treat a dragoness like you.”

“From the rumors we’ve heard,” another added with a hint of lust in her voice. “You don’t mind getting down on a ‘ness’, right?”

Even from this height, Ember could tell that they were about to do something that will not please her. Growling, she was about to charge down right in front but saw Spike take a dive and glided over to the arena center where most of the males. Immediately, the others followed and Ember decided then and there that she should just brawl with the females. Teach them a lesson on how not to fuck with her mate. She took a steep dive to follow them.

Landing near a giant pile of hoard from the latest rumble, Spike saw that it was none other than Garble whom was on top again. Below, other teen dragons were in the area also part of the action.

Garble watched as Spike had come close, with his tail being followed by a large portion of the female teen populace that many of the males wanted. He snorted in anger as Spike pushed them away. The green and purple drake then looked towards him. “Garble!”

Did he come to shove it in his face and the others that he could get any tail he wants? This boiled the older teen dragon by a lot, quickly forsaking his current victory. “What do you want?” he growled harshly towards him. “Come to gloat?” He growled at Spike.

Spike realized what it looked like but he knew that if he was ever to get rid of the posy that followed him everywhere in the dragon lands, he would have to make himself unworthy. But he also had to be less humble about it. He had to make them follow a target… or targets in this case. Turning around, he faced the dragonesses that all surrounded him. With a clear loud voice, he spoke out to them.

“Ladies! Look, I know that you want me as your potential mate and all but, clearly you girls haven’t thought of other options, other choices.” He then looked to Garble and pointed. “Surely you want to be with some drake as great as Garble?”

Now this actually threw off Garble and confusion etched his face. Meanwhile, the dragonesses looked up to the red drake on top of the hoard. Deciding not to let them quickly lose interest, he took to hovering towards the red drake, making sure that they followed his eyes.

“I mean look at him!” He boasted, trying to make Garble grand. “This drake has been King-of-the-Hoard so many times, its a wonder he’s still single.” Garble turned to the approaching drake, giving him a confused look.

“What are you doing?” he asked him.

“Play along!” Spike winked at him before landing on the pile next to him but standing to the side and lower. “This is the drake you want to protect you, no? The dragon in which might always have the bigger pile, the most in a hoard, the one that would be willing to share?” Garble was about to deny it but a quick jab to his side, made him glare at the small drake. Spike leaned in a bit. “You want them off of me, then you play game!” He harshly whispered to him to the side. Garble blinked then looked towards the group of dragonesses. Yeah, he wanted a mate or two, but the fact that Spike was helping him, made him feel weak. Still though, it couldn’t hurt to try. Leaning down, he grabbed a fist full of gems and tossed them to the group of dragonesses. A few actually cheered and even gave a new look towards the red drake. Interest.

Spike had the train rolling, smiling towards him. Nodding, he continued. “But that’s not all. Did you know he has a sister?” A few dragonesses leaned closer to this bit of information. Even from up here, Garble saw a lot of interested eyes. Spike continued. “Yeah, he has a younger sister named Smolder whom he loves to death. He helped protect her from other dragons, play together when they were young and be the best big brother any hatchling could ask for.” He paused then sank himself a bit more into the hoard to make Garble look taller. “I think that if any of you girls wanted to know if a drake is worthy of being a good sire or father to your young, few could make it to the top the Garble here.”

Garble smiled at that. He didn’t like the idea of being a father yet, but he felt a bit happier knowing that some drake actually might think him worthy as one. Already two dragonesses of different colors stepped closer and their eyes all but betrayed their adoration for him. Spike grinned at the victory for Garble, whom looked very pleased. He then moved past him and opened his wings to glide over to the other teens, whom wanted a bit of praise as well.

Approaching Billy, an orange dragon with a huge mouth, considered a silent type, he pulled up close to the dragon as the other dragonesses moved in closer to Spike.

“Billy here, with his big mouth, is actually a silent type, and loves to listen to your woes, girls.” Billy somewhat froze at the words but remained silent, as this was true. “If you allow him a bit of your time, he might even impress you with his own mouth.” Daring to cross the line, just to please present company and get Ember from killing the dragonesses that were after him, he went a bit more mature for the audiences. “Imagine with a mouth like this though,” he pulled slightly on his large mouth, ignoring the small glare from the dragon. He pulled a bit down showing his large inner jaw along with a giant tongue. “He could surely do things with that tongue of his that perhaps no other dragon can. Things even I can’t do.” This really perked up a few dragonesses, seeing the large red tongue inside of Billy. A few just got hot from seeing his large organ.

Billy saw few dragonesses with lustful eyes and he was happy. “Stick out your tongue to show them,” Spike whispered quickly to him. Billy had no reason not too, so he did. It looked like a large red snake where it was thin in the front but thick in the back, sticking out almost five feet. Mustering some courage, he flicked at them, wiggling at the dragonesses. A few swooned at the large organ, with one or two falling over in amazement at the thoughts of what he could do to them with that tongue of his.

Spike saw a few approach the orange dragon and continued on, moving to the next drake. Ember had been watching from the side, seeing Spike work to get other drakes the attention that was directed at him. He surely had a way with words and to be giving towards others. He could have easily taken any of the dragonesses and made them his own. Instead, he made others look better than him so that the drakes could have a chance to be with some dragon instead of being alone.

Garble already had two ‘nesses’ laying by him, as he gave them both each a piece of his hoard and they both seemed to enjoy the giving drake. This was probably the happiest she has ever seen Garble.

She watched as Spike move onto the next dragon, which happened to be, Clump. Oh Draco, she doubted even Spike could ever get any dragoness to fall for the big fat turd looking dragon.

“I know what your thinking,” began Spike, as a few dragonesses didn’t like the idea of being near the large, chumby brown dragon. He looked a bit crestfallen when a few made audible disgusted noises. “Why him? Why Clump?” No responses, no remarks, which Spike preferred. “I’ll tell you why. How many of your actually hate sleeping your head on the hard floors? How many of you hate rock pillows?” Clump looked up at this and wondered where Spike was going. Spike then patted the large belly of the dragon, making a soft patting noise with his whole belly shaking. This dragon seemed more confused then ashamed at with Spike poking his belly. Spike gave him a confident smile. “What if he was your personal pillow? What if you go to sleep, lying against his soft but cushy belly? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Not to mention that he’s big enough to support at least one of you, so you could actually sleep on his belly, not on the hard floors and know that you could get a good night’s sleep.” He paused, then added. “Maybe with a few of you laying around him, he could even feed you while you rested, like if you were royalty yourselves.”

This actually promoted a few dragonesses to move in closer, staring a the pudgy dragon. The idea of not sleeping on a rock pillow or a hard floor peeked a few of their interests.

Both Ember and Clump couldn’t believe that it worked as the dragonesses surrounded the brown dragon and began to press their heads around his belly. He felt a bit of confidence grow in him, so he growled lightly and his belly vibrated, causing the ‘nesses’ to growl in delight at the idea of a vibrating pillow that was heated.

Moving on, he came to Fizzle, a pink and white dragon many confused as a sissy dragon, but Spike knew he could use it. Even Fizzle seemed doubtful, but remained hopeful. “Fizzle here actually doesn't mind a few feminine things. He is a bit shy but I think that if you really get to know him, you might be surprised to find out he can be a really caring and thoughtful dragon with your hearts in mind. Like me.” He leaned in and laid his head rest on the shoulder of the drake, promoting both males to blush a bit but Spike pushed on for him. “I know that if I was female…” he paused, licking his maw a bit before leaning in a bit more and really pushing the boundary. “Or interested in males, this is the drake I would want in my life to be caring.”

Enough said, as three dragonesses immediately reached for the white dragon, Spike pushing himself away quickly as they began to ask him, feminine things he enjoyed. Almost immediately, he began to stutter and started naming a few things. This caused the trio of dragonesses to squeal and hop on him, promoting him to fall with them on top as they began to name other things.

Spike did this for several other males in the area, trying to get more and more hooked on the others instead of himself. His final one was a bit of a dozy and she was not part of the group that had fallen for him. Maar actually looked a bit intimidating as he approached with the other dragonesses. At first Spike was hesitant, not sure what was Maar’s interest was, but she placed her fist on her hips and glared at him.

“I ain’t interested in you in any way.” she allowed a burst of smoke to leave her nostrils. “Im only into other dragonesses.”

Without missing a beat, Spike turned to the remaining dragonesses whom followed him into the end. “Ladies, if you wanted to be pleasured like no other, than whom better than another lady?” He pointed to Maar. “Only a dragoness could truly please a dragoness. She might actually be change your views and interests because she knows what you want and she know how you may like it!” Maar snorted at that with an affirmative nod. Pushing on, Spike then added. “I think that if you were to choose between me and her, I would honestly have no way to be as good at pleasing another female than a female. More so, one whom is so great, she is one of the few females to be Queen of the Hoard for a time too.” He wan’t sure if that was true or not, but this seemed to please Maar. With a grin, she stuck her tongue out and stuck to claw digits in a V shape between her tongue and wiggled it at the remaining females.

That worked all too well and the remaining females decided experiment with a stronger female. And that was it. All the dragonesses that followed him were all already paired with other dragons. He felt proud, seeing the few drakes he once called ‘bullies’ be happy with the help they received from Spike. Only one female remained and the way she was looking at him, he knew that this would only end in one way.

Approaching Ember, he gave her a tired smile at her. “Well, that takes care of the ‘nesses’ here.”

Ember had removed her helmet and gave him a pleased look. “Gotta admit, that is probably the most selfless and caring thing I have ever seen a dragon do. Not to mention that you have set your mark here in the dragon lands for sure now.” She looked at the drakes, surrounded by their females. “They will come to like you.”

He snorted. “Isn’t that the point?”

“Yes, but now you have influence. Now you have a voice and more so, you may even out roar me.”

Spike wilted at that and he actually looked apologetic to his mate.

“E-Ember… I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intentions.”

“Of course not, you dolt!” She chided with a grin. “You made a name for yourself without using my name to do it. I am Dragon Lord Ember, they have to listen to me regardless of what I say. But you, now thanks to all this, give them a reason to listen to you, to be heard, without my command. Sometimes that is more powerful than what a dragon wielding scepter could do.”

They watched from a distance as some of the teen dragons were almost immediately hitting off with a bunch of their companions. It also seemed that Spike got in a few silent ‘thanks’ from them as well. He noticed though, Ember looked a bit disappointed.

“What’s wrong,” he asked, pulling her close.

She sighed and crossed her arms.

“Glad this is over with the fucking herd of dragonesses going after you but now… I hope it doesn't mean that all these brawls are going to stop because everyone is hooking up.”

Spike shook his head. “IF there is one thing I know, teens will always be rowdy and ready for some action, no matter the species. Though it might die down a bit more thanks to this.”

Ember nodded softly. “Yeah, we need to find a way to bring a bit more flare to these things that would make everyone, including their mates into this mix.”

Spike thought about it. How did you bring in your mates or lovers into your brawls? It had to be something that would get them rowdy but also bring in the mood. What could he think of? If only dragons here could enjoy music from Equestria, then he could have shown them some good stuff to listen to. Heavy metal was a popular trend now and if he could show dragons that in Equestria…

Or bring Heavy Metal to the dragon lands.

“That’s a dumb idea.” he said outloud to himself.

“What?” she asked, looking at her mate strangely.

Spike shrugged. “I was thinking...what if I bring music here, to the Dragon Lands?”

Ember cocked her head slightly. “I don’t know if the dragons are going to listen to some silly pony music.”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, normal pony music, but over the decade, some new music has come out called ‘heavy metal’. Actually, most of the music involves thrashing and screaming, it might even give a higher boost in moral to go harder into thrash.” He paused, placing a paw under his chin, shook his head. “Um… on second thought… that might end badly. Pony mosh pits leave bruises and injury, so I can’t imagine what a dragon most pit would do.”

Looking towards his mate, there was a grin on her snout that he knew, would spell trouble. He just unveiled something he had no idea, would spell disaster to the dragon lands… and possibly to Equestria.

“I don’t want too!” He whined to her, after she half dragged, half flew him back home to get a letter ready to be sent to Twilight. “It would be very bad for the dragon lands if we brought heavy metal here!”

“Exactly!” She said, carrying him with her superior-strength-than-his-own, as she almost threw him towards her scrolls to make him write one. “If what your telling me is that this ‘heavy metal’ would make the dragons thrash harder, well that would mean things might get more interesting around here! Not to mention, imagine what it could bring to the dragons lands!”

“But that would mean dragons getting hurt… like me!” He sluggishly made his way to her empty scroll pile, trying not to be rushed. “Ponies have broken bones in these things, so imagine dragons!”

This only made Ember grin more with a sinister smile that would put Discord to shame.

“Oh! The carnage! The fact that dragons will be tossing one another! These brawls will be legendary!” She paused from all her excitement. “Though… if what you're saying is true, than it might scare or hurt these ponies…”

Spike nodded. “Right.” Though he knew that Ember didn’t want to hurt ponies, it wouldn’t stop others from doing so, especially if things got out of control. He knew that in order to get some music out and get it loud enough so that dragons could hear from all over. The pit would greatly echo the speakers and if need be, they would be crystal powered to operate without electricity, but it was a matter of getting them mobile over here and…

He immediately grabbed a blank scroll. He then moved over to the pit they had created and reached for a twig that was black at the bottom. This would have to do.

‘Hey Twilight. Hope you are okay along with everyone else. Sorry if this is late, but I need a favor asap. If possible, could you go down the street and get the DJ who lives there. Her name is Vinyl Scratch or DJ PON-3 as her stage name. Her is wife to Octavia. I'm not sure if she is there or not, her schedule is sporadic but I wanted to see if I could reach out to her and ask her if she could send her giant speakers to the Dragon Lands. I want to introduce them to the dragon lands and bring some… Equestrian influence over here.’

Along with that, I may need to get some giant crystal batteries to keep them running for awhile. No electricity out here and what not. Along with that, maybe see if she could include my records and maybe a few of Starlight’s, label ‘metal’ and ‘heavy metal’ so I could add them to the bass. Let me know as soon as you get there. Thank you.’

With that, he rolled up the scroll and with a light blow of flames, he incinerated the scroll and it blew into a green burst of flames before flying off towards Equestria.

Ember meanwhile was still impressed at Spike’s trick, despite years of seeing and receiving them herself, though she could never send them herself.

“You gotta teach me that trick one day.”

Spike nodded. “Though you're gonna need a bit of unicorn magic and a bit of patience. The spell to cast it is about six hours.”

Ember grimaced. “On second thought…

“On second thought, it would be great to have, for any emergency contact.” He affirmed her, tapping the stick on crossed shoulders. “Whether its for me, Princess Twilight or… if need be other dragons.”

Ember cocked her head to the side. “That’s… why your here? To do that?”

He shook his head and approached her. “What if I’m not? What if I am somewhere else and you need to reach Twilight or my mother?”

Ember snorted. “Your not going back to Equestria.”

He gave a small shrug. “Not yet, not until the get Neighsay and his followers.”

Ember wanted to counter, to affirm that he would never return to Equestria by himself. However Spike’s cheeks swelled a bit and turned away to let out a burping fire, poofing up the scroll with flames. The scroll dropped and quickly caught on his claws.

He opened the seal and began to read the letter.

“Ok Spike, ‘Ill head over right now, so give me a couple of minutes to get there. Though I'm glad that you want to share some Equestrian influences in the Dragon lands, I hope you are aware that ‘metal music’ over there might not be the greatest thing to involve over there.”

He looked up smugly at Ember whom rolled her eyes. He then looked back down to finish.

“As for the batteries, 'I'm gonna say it will be a hassle to get some big enough to last you for speakers like what I've seen Mrs. Melody and Ms. Scratch use for their concert. It will be pricey. But ill let you know when i'm at their home.”

He nodded to himself and waited. Ember however kept a small glint in her eyes that Spike took notice. “What?”

She crossed her arms across her chest. “You are not going back to Equestria.” She stated, a small bit of edge hit her voice. “Its bad enough that getting here nearly got you killed.”

Spike could already feel her tension but he held firm. “Yeah, I won’t return to Equestria until Neighsay and…”

“No!” she snapped sharply. “Ever! The ponies are the reason your in this mess. No need to return place where ponies hate you.”

“Im not going to let a few ponies let me rule my life in fear, Ember. Besides if those bad ponies are locked up, then what is there to fear?”

“How about when you get older?” she huffed, her tone increasing in anger. “What about when you reach twice the size, the weight, and more? What then?”

He had never seen her like this, especially when it comes down to his other family. He tried to approach her with open arms but she took a step back. “No! I won’t have it, Spike! Your too important and I won’t have more harm done to you!”

Spike couldn’t get angry at her, it wasn’t his nature. Shaking his head slowly, he spoke dryly. “I… will always have a home here. But… Equestria, my mother, Twilight, the others and everyone there; they are my family too. Ember you have to let me go back home. I love you… with all my heart but my heart is both here with you and the ponies. You have to understand that.”

The Bloodstone Scepter glowed in the corner of the room and with a lifted hand, the scepter magically flew to Ember straight into her claws. She then pointed it at him. “If I have to force you to stay, I will.”

That physically struck as he took a small step back with sadness in his eyes. What brought this one? Why the hate? Why the anger?

“Ember… I dont understand? Why are you like this? We were fine this whole week! What happened?”

She growled, still holding the Scepter. “This week! This week you did not once bring up Equestria or the stupid ponies! This week, me and you have been together as a couple and I have never felt happier because of it! You managed to get on the good side of dragons here! You have already begun to act like one. All this week, I have loved every moment that we were together, every time I woke up and you were right there!” A tone of sadness could be heard cracking through her voice. “Now that you are better and we fucked, now you want to return to Equestria!? Even after everything they did to you, you want to go back?” The Scepter shook in her claws.

Spike was having a hard time understanding her. Her anger towards his other family was undoubtedly strong but, she must’ve understood that he had a life over there too. But the fact that she had the Scepter pointed at him, as if to use against him, to listen to her commands, it broke him. It physically hurt that she was being so… much like her father.

A tear ran down his face and Ember actually looked shocked as he shed his tears. Shaking his head, he rubbed it away. “Ember, I love them. I love all of them. They are… part of my life. I know its hard to understand, but they are my family. They are not at fault for those other ponies. They do not want to hurt me and I know you may not like them but they are the reason I am the dragon that you see before you now. Without them,” he pointed outside the came entrance towards. “I would just be any other dragon like them and you wouldn’t even know I existed.”

The scepter shook more in her claw, but she still had it pointed at him. This point her own eyes began to water.

“I… I don’t want you to go back.” she said, her voice breaking. “I can’t lose you to them. I’ll make you stay...”

Spike realized this was a losing fight. This was her week, not just his. She had someone to love, someone to care for and she was afraid to lose it if he went back. His near death, after spending a lot of time with him, had spooked her and she was vulnerable with him. But she also was desperate, lost without him if he left her.

With a heavy heart, Spike pushed his chest towards the tip of the Scepter, causing Ember to blink tears in confusion. His face betrayed his sadness and pity for her but his eyes bored into her soul. With a shaky voice he spoke to her.

“Ember… I can never, ever forget the ponies. Not now, not in a thousand years when Im as big as your father. I love them. I love you too.” He sniffed. “But… I will return to them. I will return to visit them and I won’t stop. However, I can’t stop you…” He lifted a claw and pushed the Scepter directly over where his heart would be at. “If you try and stop me, you can. You… are… the… Dragon Lord… Every dragon is forced to listen to your command, even me.”

It was a bite, a sharp one. Stronger than any dragon teeth, more painful then any wound and Ember was struck hard. Her body shook, trembling with ice cold fear and shock. Had… it gone too far?

Spike still held the scepter pointed at him. “I will never step a foot in Equestria if that is what you demand. But… I don’t think I could ever trust you again.”

That was enough. Her will broke and she dropped the scepter onto the floor. It landed with a thud next to her. Her own knees shook, struggling to keep her up. Spike immediately threw himself at her and catching her before she dropped. He brought her into a tight embrace and held her as she tried hard not to sob from her flux emotions. Wrapping his arms around her, he calmed her down. He began to say he ‘forgave her’ and ‘he would stay for her’.

“They will never stop hating us.” She whimpered through his chest. “They will always want to hurt us… especially you.”

He nodded. “And I will always love my ponies more than I will hate the others.” He allowed that to sink in before continuing on. “What is it that brought this on? Please tell me Ember..."

“...I...I have never been more sure of my life with another dragon than you…” She looked up at his green eyes with her amber ones. “I… love you so much… but its more than that. I actually… dream of us, with hatchlings, with a large cluster of them.” she half sobbed, half chuckled at that. “Never… would I have ever say that to any other dragon but with you… I feel like you make me feel anything I want to and not be ashamed. I’m afraid of dragons seeing their Dragon Lord as weak, if I were to show my emotions. With you… I’m not afraid, I am not scared and I know that if I were to tell you all of this…”

“I would never, ever judge you,” he finished, with a smile on his snout. The same smile that made her fall for him every time. “I love you Ember, I truly and honestly do. I will spend every moment that I can with you. But… I need you to understand…” He grabbed her claws in his own and squeezed them. “That Equestria is my home, that the ponies are my home and that… I am a dragon, but I was raised by ponies. That will never change.”

Ember was to weak to fight it again. Not for the third time… Instead, she let out a half chuckle through her tears. “It sounds so weird when you say it like that.”

He flashed her a grin. “I am weird dragon and that’s okay. I was raised by the princess… Princesses… of Equestria. One of them is my sister, the other is my mother.” He then looked up in thought. “I am the savior of the Crystal Empire! Twice!” He emphasized by putting up to claw digits up, earning a small smile from her. “I am also friends with the changeling king…” His grin turned a bit into a teasing one. “Whom… last I checked told me that you had some feelings for.”

“I did not!” She half yelled in anger, thought a blush covered her cheeks. She tried to pull away from him but he quickly held her tight and brushed his snout against her head. Her sadness had quickly diminished a little.

“Such tiny lies,” he half whispered, musing to her, which only caused her to flush more. “He is a changeling Ember, he can feel your emotions…” He chuckled lightly, stopping as he felt the inevitable return of a letter. He quickly moved his mouth away before allowing a huge burp and flames to shoot from his mouth. It wasn’t a letter but a post it note. Spike realized why waste paper on a short response?

‘I’m here. She’s asking what exactly you need?’

Spike softly removed himself from Ember, heading back over to get a blank scroll while he pulled on his stick, licking the black tip of it before responding.

‘Hey Vinyl, sorry it's been a while. Listen, I told the Twi to get you because I need to borrow… or rather buy some bass cannons from you or your portable bass player over here in the dragon lands. Trouble is, I can’t return back to Equestria do to ‘reasons’.

No need to involve her in any of this, he thought.

‘So I need them because I figured that I get dragons introduced into some Equestrian influences. First, since they are rowdy, rash and violent, I would like to introduce them to heavy metal. Twilight’s got access to my lists, so if you can shove as much as you can into one setting, that would be great. Also… ask Starlight for her music. She’s got a hidden playset too. I’m gonna need battery crystals, huge ones that will last me for a long while, not sure how long I’m gonna be here for. Finally, I kinda want to introduce them to other things too, but its got to be a slow transition. If you need bits for everything, I've got funding Twi can access to. Tell her how much its gonna be and she’ll get it to you. If this works out, it might mean a bigger audience outside of Equestria, including hitting some creatures with your wubs!

Let me know what can be done!”

With that, he rolled up the scroll and sent it off to Twilight. He sighed and returned to Ember. At this point, she had settled down to the pillows. The night was getting late and he knew that Ember was up, but the emotional drain had her exhausted. In truth, this week was really amazing, spending time with one another despite his injury being the reason. Perhaps then… that even if he were to return to Equestria, he would do so to visit.

Dragons here needed to learn about friendship and caring for one another. There was supposed to be a small set up here to teach dragons here but it fell through. Perhaps, with the right motivation, with the right words and maybe even the guts to say that dragons could be better with it, life here would become just like Equestria.

He didn’t come back to Ember, though he stood by the edge of the cave entrance, watching the distant fire rivers and remaining dragons. Caves filled with possible mates or loved ones, perhaps in the future, families. The caves could also hold future places were dragons could learn, not just friendship, but music, art, history and more. Shops, homes, and more could one day fill these lands to grand statues.

Maybe one day, ponies and dragons could live along aside next to another and live in simple harmony.

Author's Note

So this one is also a bit rushed, so expect a few mistakes though I had cut this done from its original long chapter to this. Actually Im very excited for next chapter!
So... not to spoil to much on it but I plant to throw a lot.... of heavy metal music in there. Reading this chapter should give you an idea of what will happen!!!

Inspirational music for mosh pits will include from the best bands out there that I listend to including SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, GHOST, METALLICA AND MORE!!!!! Anyone whom wants to throw in a song or two for reference that dragons would love to listen to as a mosh pit song, give me some ideas!!

Again sorry for the lack of edit but wanted to throw this out quickly as well. But expect an update soon!