The Great Parent Rescue

Chapters

"Father" Did Know Something
All Part of the Plan
Out of the Frying Pan
A Dragon Knows
Now, It's My Turn
Spike, Unleashed
All's Well That Ends

"Father" Did Know Something

If the shrill clangor of the school bell were audibly upsetting to anyone at the School of Friendship, it would not have have been evident from the expressions of the students as they poured out of their classrooms and out into the halls. Chatter rose and fell in undulating waves, the mass of students forming into smaller groups and diverse crowds. With great haste, they headed for the exit doors, freshly imagined adventures of the weekend vividly impressed upon their brows. Had any of those who passed by the staff rooms paused to tilt an ear in their direction, a potential eavesdropper might have heard a rhythmic crumpling sound coming from behind the closed door of an office that bore the label “HEADMARE.”

“Why,” Spike pleaded between gasping breaths as he hyperventilated into a brown paper bag. “Is. This. Happening. To me?” He sat perched on the edge of a chair in front of Twilight’s desk. The bag he held was expanding and contracting in rapid succession; his free claw clenched so tightly that its purple scales were a pale lavender.

“Keep breathing, Spike,” Twilight advised, pacing back and forth behind her desk. “Just keep at it and let your breathing slow down on its own.” She paused to give Spike a wan smile when he glanced over at her, his head nodding in acceptance, before continuing her nervous pattern. The Headmare glanced out of the bay window that framed the wall behind her desk each time she passed by as her assistant gradually wrangled his breathing back under control.

“Where are they?” she wondered aloud.

When Spike was again breathing at a reasonable rate, Twilight took the bag from him with her magic and ceased her pacing. She guided him from the chair over to a small couch that sat against the wall nearest to the door. Spike hopped up onto the sofa and immediately sprawled across its purple cushions. He grabbed one of the six throw pillows that were placed across the back of the couch at precisely measured intervals and held it close to his chest. It was pearly white and embroidered with a trio of diamonds.

“Feeling a little better?” Twilight asked. “Is the headache still there? Are you feeling any nausea? Dizziness? I know a few minor medicinal spells.”

Spike buried his face into the pillow and held up a single talon. “I’m going to need a minute,” his muffled voice requested.

Twilight nodded silently. She drew in a deep breath through her nostrils, held it for precisely three seconds, and released it slowly out of her mouth. She did this twice more and then took a seat on the open cushion next to the little dragon. The clock which was hanging over the door ticked for precisely sixty seconds before she spoke again.

“This a lot to process. It would be for anyone. I didn’t believe myself, at first. It took me a full day and a half to dig up more of the details but...oh, ponyfeathers! This is...” Twilight ran through her breathing exercise again and when she finished, leaned over to Spike. Concern was etched into the corners of her eyes. “I don’t know what else to say. What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know,” Spike muttered, pulling the pillow away from his face. He sat up, still clutching it tightly, and then stood so that he was eye level with Twilight. “I mean, what am I supposed to do? Can’t a guy get one break?” He held up his index digit. “Everyone’s been extra nice to me after they found out Sludge lied to me.” He added a second talon to the count. “Starlight sat down with me and did her counselor thing, and we talked about me not knowing anything about my real parents.” A third one popped up to join the other two. “And Smolder’s even been taking me up for extra flying lessons. You know, to help clear my head and all. Not to mention that I only just got my room back in order after the mess Sludge made. Now, this happens.” He flopped back onto the cushions, releasing the pillow to fall on the floor.

Twilight was levitating the pillow up off the floor when the office door burst open. Six ponies flowed into the room, each wearing apprehensive expressions.

“What’s the situation, Twilight?” Rainbow asked immediately, flitting into the center of the room’s airspace. “Is it another map quest? An impending monster attack?” She rubbed her forehooves together. “Please tell me its a monster attack. I need a good story for my lessons next week.”

Pinkie Pie bounced in and settled between the chairs in front of Twilight’s desk. “If it were a monster attack I’m sure we’d have heard something. I bet its a map quest. Ooh! I hope they have postcards where we’re going. I love postcards!”

Twilight shook her head at the pair and then motioned towards the supine dragon on the couch.

Rarity quickly moved to sit by Spike’s side. “Spikey, whatever is the matter? You look positively exhausted.” She plucked at one of the spikes on his head which sported a slight kink to the left. “Even your spikes seem a tad frazzled.”

Twilight signaled for silence and waited until she had everyone’s attention. “Girls, there’s no easy way to say this, but I’ve recently learned that Spike’s parents are being held captive by the Scale Collectors.” There was a collective gasp from the room’s newest occupants.

“Back the cart up, sugarcube,” Applejack countered. “Didn’t that no-good fella Sludge make up all that stuff about Scale Collectors?”

Twilight nodded stiffly. “Yes, but since none of us had heard of any group with that name, I decided some additional investigation was necessary. Just to be sure that Sludge was actually lying and not just misconstruing real information.”

Starlight trotted over to Twilight’s side, her face set in a grime look of serious intent. “What did you learn?”

“Well, it turns out that Sludge wasn’t lying, at least about one part of his story.” The rest of the pony gang glanced at one another anxiously as Twilight strode over to the window behind her desk. She spared a brief look out at the school grounds, and her eyes briefly followed the dwindling shape of Smolder as the young dragon followed after her friends. “The Scale Collectors are real.”

Fluttershy’s hooves flew to her mouth. “Oh, no.”

Applejack solemnly removed her hat and gave Spike an empathetic look before asking Twilight, “How’d ya figure it out?”

Twilight turned back towards the group. “I caught up with Sludge soon after he left Ponyville. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind. When I found him, I demanded to know why he would do such a thing to Spike.” She shook her head and resumed her pacing from earlier.

“He kept saying that he wasn’t the bad guy; that he was only doing what any dragon in his situation would have done.” Twilight halted and frowned. She stamped a hoof. “I wasn’t going just to accept that, so I...um...” Her frown quickly vanished. She cast her eyes down and scuffed a hoof against the floorboards.

“I might have gotten a little bit frustrated and said that I would turn him into a chameleon, permanently, if he didn’t come clean. That’s when he said that the Scale Collectors were real. They were the ones who needed to be punished, and he was just another victim who was lucky enough to have gotten away.” Her ears flattened themselves against her head. “I thought he was still lying. I...I was just so fed up that I...cast a truth-telling spell on him.”

“A what now?” Applejack was nonplussed. “Y’all can do that?”

Starlight nodded and answered for Twilight. “It’s possible. That kind of spell is not something any unicorn would want to use because it takes away someone’s freedom to choose to be honest.”

“But I was angry and not thinking straight,” Twilight admitted.

Spike scooted himself off the couch and walked over to Twilight, shifting his tilted spike back into place. He put a comforting claw on her shoulder. “Thanks for going after him, Twilight.”

Rarity followed the dragon over and nuzzled her guilt-ridden friend. “The brigand had it coming to him, I’m sure. You did what you thought was right for a friend in need. Please continue, dear.”

“Thanks.” Twilight patted Spike on the head and did as Rarity had urged. “Even with the spell, he continued to say the Scale Collectors were real. One day, they just freed him and told him to get lost. When he asked them why, they allegedly said he was no longer a physical danger to ponies. After I let Sludge go, I sent a few discreet letters to the Princesses.” There was a flash of raspberry magic, and a thin stack of papers appeared in front of Twilight. “This is what they sent in return.” She spread out the pages for all to view.

Pinkie was immediately in the middle of the deconstructed dossiers, inspecting each page that had pictures drawn on them. Many were rough sketches that looked like they had likely been dictated from memory. “So who are these ponies?”

Clearing her throat, Twilight pulled a few notepads from out of a desk drawer. “The Scale Collectors are a group that believes all dragons are born as menaces to civilized creatures. The few reports available say that their numbers are made up of not just ponies, but of many different creatures. Including minotaurs. One report said that even the yaks have a few of their kind within the Collector’s ranks.”

Pinkie’s normally undaunted smile drooped along with her ears and tails. “Not my yak friends.”

Dropping down to the floor, Rainbow scooped up a drawing with an imposing figure outlined across the paper. A familiar, two-pronged symbol was clearly visible. “Didn’t Sludge also say something about guards from the Storm King’s army?”

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed. “Second-hoof reports say that the Scale Collectors will recruit anyone willing to join their crusade against the dragons. And, from the looks of their rosters, they’ll hire anyone who doesn’t care where their bits are coming from.”

“Crusade?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “I don’t like the sound of that.” She quickly moved to Spike’s side, placing a protective wing around him. “Do they want to hurt Spike or Smolder? What about Ember?”

Twilight rubbed her temples. “I don’t know. We have more questions than answers, and there are just too many variables to make accurate assumptions. I do know that their claims mentioned nothing about physically injuring a dragon, but some of their techniques do come dangerously close. While the hired hooves and guards are just there for the money, the most loyal of the Collectors join because they’ve lost something because of a dragon’s actions. It doesn’t seem to matter if those actions were deliberate or accidental.”

“I know some dragons are just big bullies and like to pick on innocent creatures,” Fluttershy remarked. “But those are the exceptions.” To emphasize her point, she hugged Spike closer to her.

Twilight shuffled through a few pages and produced a sheet that looked more sloppily written than the others. “Dragons have come a long way recently, but these Scale Collectors refuse to forgive or move on. And it’s not just property that’s the issue. Some claim to have lost family or friends. So, they capture every dragon they can and imprison them.”

“But why?” Spike blurted out before politely detached himself from Fluttershy’s embrace. He scratched his head. “If they’re not going to hurt us, then what do they want? Why would they take my parents?” A single note from the report, wrapped in raspberry magic, floated over to Spike. He plucked it from Twilight’s magic, read the words on the page to himself, and nearly dropped the sheet as his claws shook. “Th-they want to make us...stop being dragons. What does that even mean?”

Applejack, having returned her hat to its usual perch, narrowed her eyes. “It don’t make no sense. You can’t make a dragon not be a dragon. It’d be like tryin’ to get a jackrabbit to plow a field cause he’s been told he’s a mule.” She shook her head.” It ain’t happening.”

Starlight, having remained quiet through Twilight’s review, cleared her throat. “I think I know.” Everyone’s turned their attention to her.

“After Spike and I had our little counseling session, I decided to do a little digging of my own. While Twilight was contacting the princesses, I sent letters of my own to Sunburst and King Thorax.” She pawed at the floor and hung her head a bit. “I would have said something earlier, but I was still looking through the results when Twilight called all of us in.”

There was a flash of turquoise magic, and a thin sheaf of pages popped into existence, adding to the collected reports. “Those methods I used to break down a pony’s will and make them believe what I wanted? It looks like the Scale Collectors are doing almost the same thing. They keep their prisoners locked up and force them to act contrary to normal dragon behavior. They fill their heads with stuff about how dragons are all greedy beasts and nothing but a danger to everyone. They even withhold food unless a dragon agrees to participate in etiquette lessons and anger management classes.”

“Sunburst and Thorax found all that out?” Twilight asked, amazed, as she sifted through Starlight’s reports. “The Princess’ file didn’t include any of those points.”

Starlight chuckled in spite of the gravity of the situation. “Sunburst has a knack and a passion for obscure research, and you’d be more surprised than you’d think at what a Changeling can overhear.”

“Those poor dragons,” Fluttershy breathed as she and Rarity quietly regarded Starlight’s information.

“Well put, Fluttershy,” Rarity added. “I must say, while I feel everyone can benefit from a little extra training in the fine art of sophistication, the very notion of coercing change through forced deprivation is horribly barbaric.”

“How about we stick to the Scale Collector’s and Spike’s parents before we start planning about a charm school for dragons?” Rainbow quipped.

“Even so,” Rarity continued, leveling an accusatory hoof at the folder of papers. “If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had enough information to send even this small report to Twilight, then surely they must have known about these brigands before Sludge came along.”

“Why wouldn’t they have warned us before?” Spike pleaded.

“Because the Collectors operate outside of Equestria’s borders,” Starlight countered. “There’s nothing the princesses can personally do to stop them. And,” she added. “Most of this is based on second-hoof information, marketplace gossip, and alleged escapees. There’s very little verifiable information.”

“Which means no diplomatic solutions,” Twilight sighed. “Not if we don’t have a single official document as proof.”

“You mean there’s nothing we can do?” Pinkie worried aloud.

“Of course not!” Spike hopped up and hovered in the center of the group, his claws clutching the page Twilight had given him so hard that it had crumpled into a tight ball. “There’s nothing the Princesses of Equestria can do, but that doesn’t stop me from going after my parents.” Stunned silence followed his declaration. Rainbow Dash was the first to recover.

“Our dragon buddy’s going rogue?” She flipped around in a tight loop and stopped in a hover next to Spike. “I like it. Count me in. This’ll make a great topic for my class.”

“No,” Twilight loudly declared. “It’s too risky, walking into an unknown situation against dangerous ponies and whatever else they have with them. Not to mention that if they happen to be inside another country’s borders, any rescue attempt could turn into an international incident.”

“Really?” Spike’s voice began to waver, and his eyes trembled. “But I need to do this. I have to do this.” He spread his arms wide, as though he were imploring the whole of Equestria itself to listen. “They’re my parents! They’re my family!”

“We’re not going to let a couple of rules stop us from tracking down Spike’s parents, are we?” Rainbow asked Twilight, incredulous.

Again, Starlight stepped in. “It’s not that simple. As a Princess, Twilight is bound to the law in ways that go beyond what even we all have to obey.” She looked to the alicorn for confirmation and Twilight offered the barest of nods before turning away and looking out on the school grounds once more.

Spike glanced around at all his friends. Then he moved to Twilight’s side and landed next to her. “I know it’s going to be dangerous,” he began. “I know that if I go, and if I get into big trouble, there’s probably not going to be any help coming.” His voice grew strong again. “But I don’t care. You don’t give up on family. I won’t give up on family.”

Silence reigned again, as it had when Spike had first declared that he was going after the Scale Collectors. It continued for almost a minute with every eye locked on Twilight’s unmoving form. Then, she looked down at Spike.

“No.” Spike seemed to deflate where he stood before Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. “You don’t give up on family. We won’t give up on family. Which is why I’m going with you, regardless of what the implications might be.” Twilight turned when she felt a hoof tapping on her shoulder. She glanced over and found Applejack wearing an easy smile.

“Ahem. I think you mean we’re going, Twilight.”

Twilight blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t want to speak for everypony.”

“You need not, dear.” Rarity stood tall and postured herself proudly. “Spike is family. And, as he so eloquently put it, you do not give up on family.”

“Thank you.” Tears formed in the corner of the dragon’s eyes and he wiped at them with the back of a claw. “Thank you all so--oomph!”

Pinkie swept Spike out of the air and into a tight hug. “We are so having a parent rescue party when we get back!” She released him. “But, um, where exactly are these Collectors? Did the Princesses or Sunburst or Thorax say where we could find them?”

There was silence for a moment before a light lit up in Spike’s eyes. He rubbed his claws together, a devious smirk spreading across his face as he did so. “Leave that to me. I think I have an idea about how to find out.”

“Attaboy, Spike.” Twilight’s magic began to simultaneously pull several volumes and binders from the bookshelves that lined her office. “Girls, you and our little strategist head to the map room and start planning. I’ll catch up after I write a few letters, check on the status of some treaties and international agreements, make a checklist or two, confirm...” Twilight glanced up from the tower of references and paperwork that was accumulating on her desk to find her friends all starting at her with wry smiles. “What? I might be about to violate international law. I want to make sure we’ll be covered by as much legal precedent as possible.”

As they all began to file out, Twilight called out. “Starlight, would you please stay behind?”

Starlight nodded and waited until the rest of the group had exited. “What’s up, Twilight?”

Before she answered, Twilight moved to her desk and slid into her chair. She levitated out a quill, inkpot, and several clean scrolls of paper. “Starlight, I need you to stay behind and watch after the school.” The quill dipped once into the pot and started to scribble across the paper rapidly. “You’re the best one suited for the job.”

“Oh.” Starlight’s ears flattened, and her tail twitched. “I think I’d rather be going off on an adventure with you all instead of doing a bunch of paperwork.” Her ears perked back up, and she gave Twilight a little smile. “But thanks for the vote of confidence. I promise it won’t be like last time. Oh!” Starlight took hold of a set of writing implements with her magic and started to make notes of her own.

“I have a few ideas for stand-ins who can cover for most of everypony’s classes, but I won’t be able to take care of my counseling duties, fill in as Headmare, and teach your weeklong history class all at the same time.” She paused and tapped the stem of the quill against her chin. “Unless I made a few extra copies of myself.”

“No!” Twilight looked up from her writing and gave Starlight an apologetic look. “Sorry. What I meant was, don’t worry about my class. That’s one of the letters I’m writing.” She passed the scroll to Starlight, who took one look at the addressee and blanched. “I think I know somepony who would be a great substitute teacher while I’m away.”

All Part of the Plan

Applejack looked around pensively at their surroundings, shifting her weight from one side to the other. She, Spike, and the others had traveled south from Ponyville for almost a week before arriving at their destination. They had taken the rail line towards Appleloosa before switching tracks and continuing east to Dodge City. Once there, they then left the small town with Spike keeping out of sight while his pony friends told everyone they could find about a lone dragon that they had been spotted in the area. According to the story, this young dragon was out to make a name for himself by burning up farmland, plundering the rural landscape, and scaring foals foolish enough to wander away from their homes. From the Dodge City station, they turned south and had traveled by hoof using a barely visible road that followed a natural corridor between the wooded western border of the Hayseed swamplands and the eastern extremity of the Macintosh Hills. Finally, they followed the treeline down to the northernmost edge of the region marked on the maps as the Badlands.

Spike and Applejack stood together at the edge of those woods. To the east, the firmer ground gradually gave way to the softer loam of land that fed off decay and rot. Beyond that lay the swamps themselves, a thickening mire of fetid pools and sticky muck. Even though the actual swamplands were much further away, they could sense the sickly sweet smell of decomposition in the air. Though reliable, even the ground upon which they stood, was soft enough to almost be at the point of feeling spongy. To the south, they could see the tops of the snow-capped mountains that signaled the nearest edge of the Badlands. Twilight's research had indicated that the likeliest location to find a Scale Collector base would be among those inhospitable crags and dunes.

"I just don't know about this whole idea of yours, Spike." Applejack tugged at the suspenders of a simple pair of overalls, made of chocolate brown wool. She then ran a hoof forlornly over her hat. Not her hat, but a facsimile made from straw and twine.

Spike fanned away her concern with a casual wave of his claw. "Don't worry. We've spread enough rumors about a marauding dragon moving through this part of the countryside to attract a dozen Scale Collectors. And when they do arrive, they're going to find a menacing dragon that's just begging to be caught and taken to their secret hideout."

"Applejack is right," a bush several yards inside the treeline added. Twilight's head popped up from out of the crown of the shrubbery. "I've said it this whole trip, but I'll say it again. I'm not wholly comfortable letting you act as bait. We don't know what the Scale Collectors will do when they get here, or if they even get here."

"I think it's a great idea." Rainbow' Dash's head poked out of a nearby tree from beneath a thick layer of leaves and long strands of sky moss. "Spike, a dragon that has run amok through an innocent farmer's land, is being confronted by Applejack, the distraught farmer who's lost everything to this beast. And, oh no! She's in dire need of saving. It's a story no crazy Scale Collector could resist."

"Pardon?" Applejack quipped. "Dire need of saving?" She pointed at Spike. "From him? No offense, Spike."

"As I was saying," Rainbow continued. "The Collectors swoop in to save you, capturing Spike and gladly recruiting the obviously distraught farmer to their cause." She rubbed her hooves together. "Little do they know, hiding in the bushes and tracking their every step, is a whole posse of Equestrian heroes waiting for the signal to rain down justice and free Spike's parents from an evil lair." The branch she was hiding on shook with barely contained energy. "Haha! I love a great rescue scene."

"And free all the other dragons they've caught too," a soft, demure voice appended. It had come from an animal warren nestled between two exposed roots of Rainbow's tree.

Spike shot a thumbs up towards Fluttershy's hiding spot. "Right. We can't forget about any others that might also be prisoners."

A perfectly coiffed stand of fern fronds and wildflowers shivered, producing an equally flawless unicorn. "Can we please go over the details one more time?" Rarity asked politely.

Not far away, one side of a sizeable rock tipped upwards, and Pinkie slithered out from underneath. "Yeah. I was a little busy planning my 'We're Sorry You've Been in a Dragon Prison But Now You're Free and Be a Family Again' party."

Twilight took a couple of deep breaths. "If anypony cares, I'm still not 100% over here, but I do trust that we'll be able to keep Spike from any harm if this ends up working." A sparkling of raspberry magic appeared in the air above Spike and Applejack, and stick figure approximations of the pair began to pantomime as Twilight narrated.

"First, Spike is going to light up several piles of logs we've gathered. This should make it look like he's fighting someone or trying to burn down the woods." The cartoonish dragon figure belched green flame, setting a large bundle of sticks alight.

"And I've already asked the birds and squirrels to spread the word," the polite animal den interjected. "There will be an organized but convincing 'stampede' away from the flames."

"Excellent work, Fluttershy. Next, Spike will make a lot of noise and fly around to attract even more attention." The Spike figure whirled around in the air in slow circles, blank speech bubbles popping in and out of existence near its head.

"And to make sure the Collectors show up, Applejack jumps out to challenge me for burning down her farm," Spike continued, nodding to the farm pony.

"Yessiree," she affirmed with a tip of her straw hat. The dragon figure stopped when an orange pony figure teetered into view, its forelegs waving into the air wildly. "If they're lurking around, and all that don't get their attention, then nothing will." A trio of scowling red ponies entered into the magical scene behind the Applejack figure.

"Oh," gushed Rarity, her hooves kneading together under her chin. "I don't like this next part."

Twilight paused the magical animatic and then wiped it away with a flourish from her horn. "Any Scale Collectors that show up will most likely try to capture Spike as quickly as possible. After they do, Applejack will convince them that she wants to join their group. If anything goes wrong, then--"

Pinkie pulled an outlandishly oversized mallet made of inflated balloons from somewhere within her mane and brandished it over her head. "We pop out and lay the smack-down on them before they can say 'Oh no what an unfortunate turn of events!' Pow!" She slammed the head of the mallet upon a stone, eliciting a subdued squeak from the toy.

"Right." With a sparkle of magic, Twilight materialized a map of Equestria where the pantomimed confrontation had played out. "The rest of us will stay out of sight and follow them to their hideout." A red arrow blinked onto the map and started to meander around the Badlands area. It trailed behind itself a wobbling series of dotted lines before terminating at a red X in the center of the desert. "If Applejack can't convince them to let her join them, she'll wander off to hide, then double back to regroup with us. Once we've followed them and we're inside the hideout, we subdue the Scale Collectors. Without causing them harm. I'd rather talk this out if we can avoid a real confrontation, but we need any information they might have about where Spike's parents are being held. And finally, we release the prisoners." She looked at Spike. "Did I miss anything?"

"That was everything on the Parent Rescue checklist. Hmm." Spike glanced hopefully over towards the animal den. "Fluttershy, do think Discord will change his mind?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. The last time we spoke, he said...how did he put it? He said he'd love to help out, but that he 'critically fumbled his initiative roll.' Do you know what that means?"

"Yeah," Spike grunted. He shook his head. "It means this isn't going to be a snap. I guess that's it then."

Like wind carrying away an autumn leaf, Twilight's illusory map was dusted away with a wave of her horn. "Then let's take our places."

Spike waited until all of his friends were snug in their hiding spots with Applejack concealed just beyond the treeline. "Alright," he whispered to himself. "Here I go." He took flight and began to patrol back and forth along a perimeter that he had discreetly marked earlier with small piles of pebbles. His meandering flight path brought him close to an inconspicuous pile of dry logs, sticks, and grass.

"Rawwwwr!" he bellowed, at least as much of a bellow as his small throat could manage. "Rawwwwr! I don't like trees. In fact, I hate trees! They're...um, so weak and puny. And...flammable. Yeah!" Spike inhaled and, with a great heave, spat a long tongue of green flame into the wood pile. It immediately caught fire and sent a gradually thickening pillar of smoke curling up into the sky. He repeated this for three more collections. On cue, there was a rush of animal life away from the vicinity of the fires. Chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, and a flock of sparrows scattered, fleeing the area in a hurried but orderly procession.

"Haha!" Spike whooped. "These trees go up in flames just like that farm pony's barn, and all of those other places I've burned down. Ponies have such great treasure just waiting to be taken from them too, once I've sent them running." He paused to hover in the air and struck a pose, flexing his adolescent muscles. "I love being a mean dragon! RAWWR!"

"If I were to offer a constructive critique," Rarity whispered to her compatriots in hiding, "I'd say he's showing commendable enthusiasm. Though it is a bit overly dramatic."

"Seriously. You'd think with all those comic books Spike reads that he'd pick up on some better villain lines," Rainbow volunteered.

"With the fires and smoke, I don't think his acting will matter," the bush containing Twilight said.

"With genuine respect for this plan," Rarity continued, "it really should be me out there. I imagine that Applejack will perform well enough for somepony with no background in the theater, but I do worry about her trying to sell her story. Isn't that technically being dishonest?"

"Hey!" Rainbow whispered fiercely. "I think I hear something." Ears straining, the hidden ponies went rigid and listened. Over the noise of the crackling fires and Spike's lines, the unmistakable sound of hooves crunching on fallen twigs could be made out. "It's coming from the south. I think this is it."

"Muahahaha!" Spike laughed. He leveled a possessive claw at the swampy forest. "This is now my territory. All mine! And there's no one here to stop me." He paused, but no one appeared to challenge his declaration. "I said, there's no one here to stop me." Again, all that answered was the snap and crackle of the bonfires. Spike's shoulders sagged. "Oh, for crying out loud." He inhaled and belched a gout of fire straight up into the sky.

"Uh, now just you hold on one apple pickin' minute," a voice suddenly interrupted. Applejack, her custom clothing bearing newly fallen flecks of ash, leaped into view. She stood defiantly before Spike, but he could see her eyes darting. She wore a determined look on her freckled face that was only diminished in intensity by a subtle twitching of her head towards the south.

Spike swallowed hard and gave her the barest of nods before he went on. "You!" He spat a glob of green fire into the air between them. "Didn't I burn down your farm last week?"

"I ain't here to talk." She reared back and pummeled the air in front of her with her front hooves. "I'm here because of all those terrible things you keep saying you're going to do!"

"You're here to fight me? Ha! Don't let my size fool you. I do whatever I want, and no one has been able to stop me." Spike crossed his arms and looked down on Applejack smugly. "And it's going to take a lot more than just one little pony to take me on."

"Oh yeah?" Applejack pawed at the dirt and lowered her head.

"Yea-ouch!" Spike's body twitched, and his wings faltered for a beat. "What was that?" He looked around for the origin of whatever had caused the stinging pain but could see nothing out of place. Reaching down, he felt around the outside of his right leg. His claw grasped something hard and cylindrical. It was stuck in his scales, having pierced right through them. He pulled at the object, but it refused to come loose. Abruptly, his wings faltered and his arms drooped.

"Why...why do I...feel so...heavy." With a groan, Spike fell from the sky. He impacted the dirt with a muffled thump and bounced once before coming to a stop in a precarious sitting position.

There was a series of stifled gasps from a bush, rock, tree, and a collection of ferns and flowers.

"What in tarnation--whoa!" Applejack had started towards Spike's fallen form when another pony appeared beside her. The stranger was a goldenrod yellow earth pony mare with a close-cropped, unkempt mauve mane. Applejack noted with surprise that the stranger also wore a coat of coppery scales sewn into a backing of some kind of thick cloth. The dirty barding covered her chest, neck, barrel, and all four legs. It was secured to the mare by thick cords, from which hung several buckled pouches.

"Talkative runt," she grunted without looking at Applejack. Though the stranger's expression looked bored, her unblinking purple eyes were piercingly fixated on Spike.

"Huh," a male voice chuckled. "I think we might have used too large of a dose." From out of the sun, a blue pegasus with a coarse, soot-black mane descended and alighted next to the taciturn mare. He too wore scaled armor with small bags secured to the sides, but his version only covered his chest and legs. Dark circles sagged beneath his tired eyes, but those eyes never left Spike.

Then, an orchid pink unicorn strode in between the pair. "The rumors were about a marauding dragon." She sneered and tossed her head, clearing strands of a long blond ponytail from her blue eyes. In doing so, she exposed a gnarled, champagne scar of hairless skin that traveled down her left cheek and reached down to her shoulder. Instead of barding and bags, this pony wore a saber at her side. From the look of the scratched scabbard and worn pommel, it was not a mere decoration piece. "This one barely qualifies as fun-sized."

The yellow earth pony snorted at the joke as the pegasus moved around her and approached Applejack.

"You okay, miss?" he asked in a cordial baritone.

"Who are y' all?" Applejack demanded, backing away a few paces.

"Just a few concerned ponies out to take care of a problem," the pegasus answered quickly. Applejack looked away in time to see Spike rise unsteadily to his feet.

"Fear me," the little dragon declared at a less-than-fearsome volume. He quickly toppled over and lay back on the ground, panting with exertion. "Ugh."

"He's got spirit," the pegasus remarked with a sly grin. "I'll give him that much. Still, most can't hold up against a good dose of enfeeblement poison. Especially a dose meant for a dragon at least twice his size."

"Poison?!" Applejack exclaimed, raising the volume of her voice when she thought she heard a worried squeak and frenzied rustling come from a large bush near the treeline.

"Sure." The stallion reached into one of his bags and pulled out a bandolier of darts. Their thick, shiny needles capped with corks. A single pocket of the bandolier which was empty. "We have all kinds of tricks for taking down dragons and keeping them down."

"What are you doing out here?" the mare with the saber demanded, shifting her attention away from the incapacitated dragon. She turned enough to scrutinize Applejack through narrowed eyes, keeping the sheathed saber visible but moving the scarred portion of her neck out of view. "You're a long way from the nearest village."

Applejack cocked her straw hat to one side and cleared her throat. She pointed at Spike. "I'm not from around these here parts. And I was about to have words with that there dragon. He might be small, but there's more to him than you'd think."

"That was foolish," the mare declared, looking Applejack up and down. Her sharp gaze eased slightly. "Foolish, but brave."

"Say," Applejack whispered conspiratorially. "Are y' all those, um...whatchamacallits? Scale...Collectors? I've heard those folks go round capturing dragons and trying to make them not so...dragony no more."

"So you've heard of the Scale Collectors?" The pegasus flashed a smile at Applejack. "Yeah, that's us. We bring in dragons and see to it that they're....reeducated. That way, if they're released, they're no longer a danger to the world."

"That...sounds like a mighty big undertaking," Applejack answered carefully.

"It is," the gruff earth pony mare grumbled before turning and walking into the woods. She shuffled down a small incline and disappeared from sight.

"By the way, I'm Nimbus," the pegasus said. "Nimbus Rake. And your name is?"

"It's Applejack. Listen." She removed her hat solemnly. "I know it's sudden and all, but I'd be mighty grateful if I could tag along. I'd feel a lot better if this here dragon didn't leave my sight. If y' all are here, then I'll wager you've heard all the talk going on about him."

"Hmm. Hang on a minute." Nimbus excused himself and motioned for his unicorn accomplice to follow him a short distance away. While they conversed in hushed tones, the gruff mare reappeared. She was pulling a large cart with a sizeable cage nestled within the body. The cage was much larger than was necessary to fit Spike, but the bars, made of a carmine-colored metal, were set close together. There would be no wriggling through them in an escape attempt.

As the cage was pulled past her, Applejack found herself inching towards Spike when the voice of the unicorn jerked her attention back to the pair of Collectors.

"So you want to come along?" the mare probed. Applejack could not help but stare at the saber at the unicorn's side. "Why? If you've heard of the Scale Collectors, then you know might know a little about what we're trying to accomplish. Dragons are a blight that needs to be fixed. We're on the front lines. What do you have to say to that?"

Applejack did not answer immediately. She glanced back at the cart and cage nearing Spike, who was still unable to do anything more than feebly raise an arm or wing. She put the hat back on her head and took a deep breath.

"I don't rightly know y' all well enough to answer that, but I can tell you that I'm as worked up as a wood-starved beaver in an orchard about this whole dragon thing. I don't like what I've been hearing or what's been going on one dang bit, and I came out here to try and help set things straight. If I can do something to make all this right, I will. And that's the honest truth."

"What about a family?" Nimbus prodded. "I'm assuming you do have a family back home who are waiting for you to return."

"They'll be alright without me. My brother is strong, and my little sis is always willing to help out."

There was a heavy pause, and the two Scale Collectors gave each other a long look. Something unspoken passed between them before Nimbus nodded once.

The unicorn shrugged. "Sounds like you could work out. We can always use a set of strong hooves." Then she headed towards the cage where the other mare was securing Spike in his new prison.

Applejack released a breath she had not realized that she was holding.

Nimbus placed on wing across Applejack's back. "You can tag along, for now, and we'll introduce you to the boss. She'll decide if your up to being a Scale Collector. By the way, the surly one there currently acting as our beast of burden is Sand Briar, and our swashbuckling sister is Cutlass." He whistled at Sand Briar and Cutlass, making a circular motion around his neck and pointing at Applejack. "You can help us haul this lump of trouble until we get home. It's a few days travel to where we're going. Think you can handle that?"

"Sure thing. I'm no stranger to pulling my own weight." Within minutes, the Scale Collector team had their potential recruit yoked up to the cart and began walking in a southeasterly direction, skirting the edge of the swamplands and aiming for the northeastern side of the Badlands. Applejack managed the weight of the cart, cage, and cargo easily; falling into a steady pace behind the other three ponies. She glanced back at Spike, and he gave her a discreet thumbs-up.

The little dragon looked back to where his other friends had been hiding. He noted with relief that a rabbit, squirrel, and bird had returned from their stampede and were waving at him. Through the weakness caused by the enfeeblement poison, he managed a weak smile and thumped a claw against the metal floor of the cage.

"Mom. Dad. I know you can't hear me, and I don't know where you are, but we're going to find out. Please, hang on a little longer. We're coming to find you."

Out of the Frying Pan

Spike's stomach growled, a squealing gurgle that was mimicked by the creaking of the wheel's axles. "Are we there yet? I'm hungry." A sharp stone jutted out of the ground as though searching for an errant hoof, and caught one of the cart's wheels instead. The impact jostled the cage, interrupting any further inquiries from the dragon.

"Quiet down," Sand Briar called back from the front, where she and Cutlass were leading the small group. "You'll get your ration when we arrive."

Applejack waited until the focus was back on the trail ahead of them and then whispered over her shoulder. "You okay, Spike?"

"Peachy." Spike hugged his knees to his chest, his wings limp, and watched the scenery slowly pass. The small caravan had been traveling for two days, and the woods of the easternmost portion of the Macintosh Hills had quickly turned from full foliage into a scrubby brush. The wet smell of the swamplands having faded after the first day of travel as the air grew noticeably warmer. Up ahead was a thicket of short, spindly trees that looked more like kindling than living plants.

"You just hang in there," Applejack encouraged. "We'll have you out as soon as--" Applejack snapped her mouth shut as Nimbus Rake swooped by and landed next to her.

The pegasus tossed a dismissive glance in Spike's direction. "Not so fearsome once those muscles go soft as a pasta noodle." He turned his attention to Applejack. "You holding up okay? I haven't heard much of anything out of you since we started."

Applejack snorted. "I've been farmin' since I was a filly. All this walkin' is barely a warmup for me." She tossed her head back in Spike's direction. "Is, um... he going to be okay in that cage?"

"Don't worry about him," Nimbus nickered. "When we get home, we'll put him in an anti-magic cell. He won't be able to spit so much as a spark past the bars. Till then, the dose of enfeeblement poison he got will keep him from posing a threat."

"Poison. Anti-magic cages. Y'all sure, um, sound like you know what you're doing."

"We have to. The Scale Collectors aren't a bunch little foals who just got mad when some dragon stole their sweetroll." His demeanor darkened. "We aren't crazy either. I don't know how many times I've been walking through a market and heard someone telling stories about us that just weren't true."

"Why would they do something like calling y' all nuts?"

"Because they don't understand." The pegasus fanned his wings. "A lot of people think we're self-righteous nobodies who lost a pittance when some dragon sneezed in the wrong direction. They think we're mad with anger. Or worse, that we're some cast of evildoers that hunt dragons for sport."

"But that ain't the truth, right?"

"Right. All we're doing is for the sake of peace." He leaned in close. "Have you ever seen a real dragon migration, or one of those beasts just take what it wants, from whoever it wants?"

Applejack nodded carefully. "I sure have."

Nimbus pressed in closer, mild hope forming in his eyes. "Then you can understand what we're trying to accomplish?"

Applejack shook her head slowly. "Not really. I know that ya catch dragons and try to change them. And I get that y' all are hurting because you lost something to dragons. But I don't rightly understand your plan."

"Like I said, it's about peace." Nimbus scooped up a clod of dirt and held it up for Applejack to see. "Forget about guys like the Storm King. Those kinds of troublemakers come and go." He let the clod fall to the ground where it promptly broke into mismatched pieces upon impact.

"But, dragons?" Nimbus scanned the ground as they walked flicked a stone into the air and caught it with a wing. He held it up and appraised its rough exterior. "They've been around a long, long time." He spied another rock, this one with a smoother and more firm texture, and repeated the maneuver.

"They're not going to get any better unless someone feeds them some tough medicine." With a sharp crack, he smashed the stones together in his hooves. The second stone was unmarred, but the first had fractured into two differently shaped pieces.
"Someone has to force them to reshape how they act. Once that happens, the world will be in a much better condition."

"Says the pony going around capturing dragons and keeping them from their family and friends," Spike grumbled, loud enough for Nimbus to hear him.

"He is a talkative one," the pegasus commented.

Spike struggled to his feet, gripping the cage bars tightly. "You stole my parents. They would never have done anything to deserve that kind of treatment. And I'm going to save them. Just you wait."

Nimbus grimaced and reached into one of his saddlebags, idly playing with a case of poison darts. "Maybe we didn't give him enough, after all."

Applejack put her hoof over his, forestalling any further action. "I think he's had plenty. You keep talking about more than just ponies. Who else is working with you?"

"All sorts," Nimbus answered, putting the darts away. "We don't just work out of one location, you know? We have someplace set up in almost every part of the land outside of Equestria. Where we're going, there's us ponies and some Abyssinians. Our boss even managed to hire on a couple of Storm Guards, once their king bit the dust. Or," he chuckled. "Should I say, got smashed into dust."

"Abyssinians?" Applejack's ears perked up. She looked genuinely interested. "Those cat folk?"

"Sure. You know, you'd have to be pretty well-traveled for a farmer if you know about Abyssinians."

"You tend to meet all sorts at the markets," she answered smoothly. "When you make friends with your customers, they like to swap stories."

Nimbus was quiet for a moment and then shrugged. "I wouldn't know. We don't exactly announce ourselves when we're in public."

"So it's just y' all, some Abyssinians, and a couple of those guards? For a whole nest of captured dragons? Don't sound like much to me."

"We have more in our ranks than that, but a lot are often out hunting down leads. Plus, we don't have many dragons right now. When there aren't many that can stay behind, we don't end up doing much hunting. But when there's a rumor floating around like this one." Nimbus kicked the cart, jostling Spike off his feet. "We couldn't ignore the opportunity."

Applejack pretended to stumble and steered the cart till it was out of Nimbus' reach. "Where exactly is this place of yours?"

Nimbus grinned. "You'll see." The troupe marched into the thicket and threaded their way through. When they broke through the thinning trees, everypony halted. Laid out before them was the edge of the Badlands.

All the colors of brown mingled with rusty reds and lighter tans to create a palette that made one's eyes feel itchy and dry. Off to the west soared a range of mountains capped by dazzlingly white snow. As the altitude dropped, the snow gave way to stunted shrubs, which were then shoved aside further down by sharp boulders of slate and shale. Mesas poked into the skyline further away to the south and a dry riverbed bisected the hazy horizon.

Applejack barely had a moment to take in the sight before the Collectors started down a gravelly switchback that wound its way down to the bottom of a gorge cut into the Badlands floor. There was little room for conversation, as the width of the steeply graded trail required all of Applejack's attention. None of the others spoke, though they did glance back whenever her footing slipped and sent a small shower of pebbles and dirt over the edge. The trip down took almost an hour, but they finally reached the bottom and once again stood on flat ground. Sheer rock walls rose up on all sides. Nowhere to be seen was any discernible feature beyond the solid substrate of the gorge walls.

"This is it," Cutlass declared, stopping in front of a flat face of the striated rock.

Applejack looked about but found nothing except more rock, sand, and gravel. "I don't see anything."

"Exactly," the unicorn declared smugly. "Just follow Sand Briar." Without a word herself, Sand Briar marched forward straight into the rock face. Then, right through it. Her body melded with the stone and moved beyond it, leaving only hoofprints in the dirt.

"Whoa," Applejack breathed. She glanced about, and Nimbus jerked his head towards where Sand Briar had vanished. She swallowed down a nervous gulp and started forward. She put out one hoof when she reached the wall. It passed straight through the rock without any resistance. Then, putting one hoof in the front of the other, Applejack slowly pushed through to the other side and disappeared. Cutlass and Nimbus Rake stood outside a minute longer, scrutinizing the terrain around them, before they too passed through the illusionary rock wall.

Several silent minutes passed before Twilight's head poked out over the edge of the gorge above. "Did you see that?" she said flabbergasted. "No wonder nopony's ever been able to explore a Scale Collector base. If they're using magic of this level, we're lucky to have found them at all."

"And yet," Rarity countered, sauntering over to peer out beyond the edge, a splendidly arranged hat of dry grasses and manicured cacti perched on her head, "we have the element of surprise on our side. Oh! I knew I should have worn something brought along formidably breathtaking for a daring and dazzling rescue."

"I doubt anyone's going to be paying attention to what we're wearing," Rainbow deadpanned as she joined in looking out over the ledge.

"As I was saying," Twilight continued, her eyes glued to the illusionary wall. "With magic of this level, we're going to need to be more cautious. None of the reports I read said anything about the anti-magic cages we heard them talking about or that enfeeblement poison. If something unexpected happens in there, do your best to avoid hurting anyone. Dragons and Scale Collectors alike."

"But Twilight, you saw what those scoundrels did to poor Spike. And their plans for all dragons." Rarity shuddered. "Simply ghastly."

Fluttershy was next to creep up to the edge carefully. "Yes, but if we don't give them a chance to do better, of their own free will, then we're no better than the Scale Collectors themselves."

Twilight nodded. "Exactly. Now, follow my lead and keep your heads down. We don't know what's on the other side of that magic curtain." She started down the trail but was quickly overtaken by a bouncing pink pony.

"Let's go, you guys! We don't want to keep Spike and Applejack waiting."

Twilight blanched and slapped a hoof over Pinkie's mouth, quietly shushing any further comments. It took the five of them far less than the hour that Applejack and the Collectors had required. Once they were standing before the seemingly solid face of the rock, Twilight took the lead and motioned them forward. Crouching down, they pushed through the illusion together.

And together, walked into the scowling faces of the Scale Collectors. Twilight and her friends balked. They were completely exposed. Slumped on the ground, barely able to support her weight, was Applejack. A pair of darts protruded from just above her cutie mark. She tried to yell something to her friends, but a grating noise made a metallic clang somewhere above them and cut her off.

The top half of a large metal cage dropped from the ceiling and slammed over the top of the five would-be rescuers, narrowly missing pinning tails and wings to the floor. Clamps sprang out of the dirt and latched onto the bottom ring of the cage half, trapping the ponies inside between the two halves of a large cage. Twilight fired a blast of raspberry magic, but the bars of the cage greedily drank in the magic, dissolving the magic into a rainbow sheen that rapidly faded out along the metal. Rainbow Dash launched herself at the bars, and the cage rocked on its base, but neither the bars nor the locks budged.

A series of whistling sounds preceded yelps from each of the ponies. Sticking out from each of them was a dart. The strength in their bodies immediately flagged and, collectively, their legs and wings wobbled under their weight. Even Pinkie, usually an unflappable source of energy, sat down hard and struggled to maintain a sitting position. The enfeebled friends raised their eyes and watched as the Scale Collectors approached unhurriedly.

Cutlass, Sand Briar, and Nimbus Rake were all there, along with an unarmored gray earth pony stallion sporting a short, cream-colored mane. At the head of their group was a carnelian unicorn mare with cold, steely eyes. She, like the gray stallion, was unadorned and unarmored, but the lack of accessories allowed her mane to fall freely around her shoulders. It was a strikingly brilliant silver that reached down her chest and caught flickering torchlight like a mirrored waterfall. Even in her state of distress, Rarity could not help but give it a brief and mildly envious appraisal.

The red mare looked over her shoulder at the four ponies behind her as three lean Abyssinians joined them. "You were followed." Her voice was silky, but her words sang like spider's silk. They were soft, but stronger than iron, and held the promise of something frightful for those that lingered for too long.

Cutlass scuffed at the floor with a hoof and lowered her gaze to the ground. "Um, right. Sorry, boss." The other ponies lowered their ears and heads as well. Except for Sand Briar.

"That was a lot easier than I would have thought," Sand Briar quipped, forcing a smile to her face. Their leader whirled on her.

"Idiot!" she hissed. "We got lucky." She cuffed Briar behind an ear, who backed away rubbing the spot that was slowly darkening into a bruise. "But I guess I should have known this would happen eventually. You can't have a good thing going for long before the riff-raff start trying to come in out of the rain."

"Riff-riff?" Rarity sputtered weakly, cradling Fluttershy's trembling head. "How dare you!"

One of the Abyssinians stepped up to the red unicorn. He was the tallest of the three and was dressed in an ornate, embroidered burgundy cloak with a red felt fez, from which dangled a variety of gold, silver, and brass coins. Tufts of chestnut brown fur poked out from around his collar and the cuffs of his sleeves. Runnels of black ran across his forehead and disappeared back the nape of his neck into the garment.

"That was seven more doses than we were prepared to use this week. The extra poison will cost you an additional sack of scales," he meowed. He held out a paw towards the mare. "My associated will select them from the prime stock."

After a moment of consideration, she placed her hoof in the cat's paw, and the two shook on the agreement. "Very well. And if you can keep a good muzzle on this group for a while, you'll get far more than that in ransom profits later on."

That brought a smile to the feline's face. "It's a deal." He waved over the two Abyssinians behind him, a stocky male of sandy fur with a patch of umber on his head and a willowy female with solid khaki fur. "Scurf," he said to the male. "Start mixing up a new batch of enfeeblement potion. Seraval, I want you to have Clag and Hock open up the vault. Find me a bag of scales that sing in the torchlight."

"Yes, Purrveyor," the two said in unison before ambling off. The Purrveyor watched them go and then clasped his paws behind his back. He circled the caged ponies, eyeing each of them in turn and paused when he reached Fluttershy and Rarity. Both were leaning against each other to keep from falling over.

"Ah," he purred. "Pretty things like these two would go for quite a profit on the exchange back home." He crouched down and leaned in, leering at the pair. "There's always a market for well-mannered, attractive servants."

"Don't even think about it, furball," Rainbow growled as she tried to flap her wings. A few feeble flutters were all the pegasus could manage before she had to stop to catch her breath.

"Such spunk, even under the effects of our enfeeblement poison." The Purrveyor clapped his paws together. "Wonderful. I suspected it would work on ponies as well as dragons, but most ponies are far weaker. It's good to see that even against the stronger ones, it remains just as effective." He finished his inspection as a small hatch on the cage was unlocked, allowing Cutlass and the gray stallion to toss Applejack inside.

Even in her weakened state, Rainbow managed to crawl over to Applejack and rest a protective wing over her back. She glared daggers at their captors. "When I get out of this thing, I'm gonna--"

"Tsst," the Purrveyor interrupted. He leaned in again, the smell of old fish wafting off his breath. "Let me put it this way to you. Either you behave and follow our instructions, or there will be consequences for you and all of your friends." His eyes narrowed to a pair of slits, and his smile revealed sharp incisors.

"My two littermates and I are here for the money, and anything that keeps us from that profit has no value. That which has no value to us is trash." His voice dropped menacingly. "And trash gets thrown out to rot. Understand?" Without waiting for a reply, he straightened and marched away.

"I wouldn't mind him too much," the red mare said once the Abyssinian was out of earshot. "The Purrveyor represents a lot of the traders that are in the market for dragon scales. Their kind can get a bit high and mighty when there's money to be made."

"Who are you?" Twilight managed through the haze of the enfeeblement poison.

"I am Grout," the gray stallion proudly declared.

"Idiot," Cutlass grumbled, and she shoved Grout aside. The mare stepped forward to the cage, kicked the bars, and motioned to the silver-maned pony. "This is our leader, Ardent Bloom. Show some respect. "

Ardent Bloom stepped towards her new prisoners, a little grin on her face. "Welcome to our humble corner of the world, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"D-do I know you?"

"No," Bloom declared, closing in on the cage. "But I know you. I know all of you." She paused to meet each of their eyes. "Did you think that such a band of famous ponies could travel around spreading rumors without someone mentioning a name? The Elements of Harmony. The so-called Princess of Friendship." Bloom grit and bared her teeth at Twilight. "She who has made a dragon her closest confidante."

"I wasn't raised in Equestria," Ardent Bloom continued. "I didn't have the luxury of the Canterlot throne to protect my family or me." Her foreleg swept out to gesture at her fellow Collectors. "Every one of us can tell you, in fine detail, just how the predation of dragonkind forever changed our lives." She quirked an eyebrow. "Except for me. Me? I was born into this life. Both of my parents understood the truth about dragons long before I was born, and they made sure to open my eyes to that truth as soon as I was old enough to understand."

"Understand what?" Twilight asked, pulling herself forward till her forehead was leaning against the bars.

Bloom reared up and placed her forehooves on the cage bars, leaning forward so that she was looking down on Twilight. "That dragons are a menace," she whispered just loud enough to be heard by her new prisoners. It is a testament to your blindness, Princess, that you haven't noticed that yet." Ardent Bloom dropped back down to all four hooves and paced around the cage.

"Equestria's summit in the Crystal Empire. The Wonderbolts embarrassing attempt to suppress a dragon run amok in Ponyville. Placing the Bearers of the Elements and yourself, a Princess of Equestria, in danger innumerable times due to incompetence and selfish desire. It seems that even a dragon raised by ponies is incapable of escaping his base instincts."

"H-how," Twilight stammered. "How do you know all that?"

"What?" Bloom snickered. "You thought hatching a dragon's egg was a normal part of an aptitude test for a filly? That an unborn dragon in Canterlot was commonplace?" Bloom shook her head and then slowly turned to glare at Spike. The little dragon was sitting, wide-eyed, in his own prison as he listened.

"What? What does that mean?" Spike entreated. He grasped the bars tightly, confusion washing over his face, but Bloom's grin hardened into an icy sneer. She looked away.

"Princess, if you understood who or what you're dealing with here, I think you might be impressed. But this is not the time." Bloom raised her voice. "Clag! Hock! Bring the little runt over here so he can join his...friends."

A pair of hulking Storm Guards plodded into view and hurried towards Spike's cage. The two still wore the armor of the Storm King, and their helmets obscured their faces as they had been during the attack on Canterlot. What Spike noticed, most alarmingly, was that unlike the ones that had invaded the capital alongside Tempest Shadow, these guards were armed. Slung across their back, each one carried a long tube. On one end was a series of barbed weights and at the other end was a kind of rubbery bulb. In their hands, they each held a large cudgel.

"Wha...what are doing to the dragons you capture?" Twilight demanded, using the cage bars to prop herself up.

"We correct their behavior and punish them, if necessary. As you would a foal." Bloom pursed her lips and brought a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. "You know, I wonder just how far the famous Twilight Sparkle is willing to go if she wants to see her pet dragon and friends freed." There was a sequel of metal and a surprised yelp from behind.

Twilight's eyes darted towards the commotion, and they sparkled with hope. "Run, Spike," she encouraged in a voice that was not quite at a yelling volume.

Bloom whipped around in time to see one of the Guards holding the door of Spike's cage, now swinging freely, and the other Guard holding its hand in pain. At that moment, Spike's tail disappeared around the opposite side of a stalagmite.

"Fools," she cursed, stomping towards the broken cage. She pushed her two earth ponies towards the new prisoners. "Briar, Grout. Get that lot secured. I don't want them talking to any of the dragons."

The gray stallion, silent thus far, stomped once. "I am Grout." He and Sand Briar hooked themselves up to the cage and started dragging it away as Nimbus and Cutlass hung back with their leader.

"What about the runty dragon?" Cutlass asked.

Bloom thought for a moment before answering. "He's still here, and I don't think he'll be leaving anytime soon. But just in case, I want Nimbus guarding the entrance." She glanced back at Twilight and her friends. "We now have leverage like never before in our quest to rid the world of the threat of dragons." She raised to voice to an almost shouting level. "And if that pipsqueak of a lizard knows what's best for his friends, then he'll stay out of trouble and give himself up."

Grout and Briar drug the cage deeper into the cave, giving their newest captives the chance to take in the surroundings. It was nothing like Sludge had described in his story about the Scale Collectors. There were no floating islands chained together within a miasmic cloud. No meticulously designed, open prisons that gave the illusion that freedom was just out of reach. It was merely a cave, but also a vast one. From their moving prison, they could see three great rock pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling from which hung innumerable stalactites. Somewhere in the gloom, bats squeaked.

The central pillar stood in the heart of the cavern, and another smaller column stood close to the entrance. Water trickled down the central pillar at a steady pace from a crack in the ceiling high above. It formed a small stream that cut a channel through the limestone floor. The stream wound its way to the right and then doubled back onto itself before continuing around and disappearing down a small chute in the eastern wall. All along the walls, the ethereal bright blue and yellow flames of arcane torches flickered in a cool, humid trickle of air that circulated down from the ceiling and wound its way around the walls and natural formations. The smaller western pillar to the obscured most of a natural ramp that led up to a dim ledge. Torchlight flickered from behind the pillar, beyond the limits of their vision, but as they moved further away, a portion of the ridge came into view, and the ponies let at a collective gasp.

Dragons. There were five of them that they could see, locked in cages similar to their own. All of them of a similar size, perhaps three times that of a pony. They sat, slouching or leaning against the bars, and barely moved at all. In the dim light, their scales seemed dull or flaking off, and all of their wings drooped. A couple had bags under their eyes while the rest stared ahead at nothing through half-lidded, torpid eyes. They could not see if more lat beyond in the shadows.

The cage was drug across a simple, wooden bridge near the central column, which allowed easy access across the small stream. Another bridge to the right crossed the water as it doubled back, the simple construction leading to a spacious and furnished cavity: the Scale Collector's own quarters. There was a fence around the whole of the alcove, behind which were several sleeping areas, a small open hearth with cooking gear, many wooden chests, piles of sacks, and a writing desk topped with shelves of scrolls. Further back, along the northeastern wall, was an ironshod hardwood hatch with a thick locking mechanism set into it near the handle.

The cage eventually ground to a halt within a shallow divot near the central pillar. It was on the side opposite of the dragon cages, affording only a view of the Collector's relative comfort and the guarded exit. Twilight and her friends saw that there was yet another tall support pillar of stone even further back into the cave that obscured any view of a dark, smaller alcove that lay beyond. Briar and Grout unhooked themselves and left the group alone with Ardent Bloom, who had followed close behind in silence.

Twilight glared at Bloom through the cage bars as the silver-maned mare reached through the bars and placed a hoof under Twilight's chin. "With you and your friends, I'll be able to barter for what I need; the one thing I've sought for years but have never been able to obtain." Her eyes blazed with longing. "The Dragonlord."

"The Princesses will come for us. Equestria would never help you even if you threatened us," Twilight spat, unable to muster the strength to pull away from the other unicorn's grasp.

"The Princess of Friendship and her friends in exchange for also never having to fear dragons again? I think you underestimate your value to your subjects, as well as most pony's feelings on the dragon threat." She let go of Twilight and Bloom walked over to the two Storm Guards that were still looking at the broken cage door in the hands of the one who had unintentionally torn it off, confused. She slapped the fractured door from their grasp.

"Get looking for that dragon," she snarled. "And find me a green dragonfire message bottle. It's time to spread the good word about our latest guests."

A Dragon Knows

"Psst," a small voice hissed. "Hey, guys. Psssst."

It was Rarity who heard the sounds first and wearily pulled herself over to the cage bars and looked down through them. "Spike? Is that you?" She blinked the lethargy from her eyes. "Oh, thank goodness you're safe. How did you get away?" At the mention of Spike's name, the other ponies slowly gathered around.

"I'm okay, for now. The guard that opened the cage didn't know his own strength and tore the door off. The other one looked really surprised and when he didn't grab for me right away, I bit him. Those guys really need to wash their hands more often." He looked worriedly at the assembled faces. "Are you all okay?"

"I think so," Twilight answered for the group. She weakly tapped a hoof against one of the bars. "These cages are very much like the one I was held in onboard Tempest's airship. Magic doesn't seem to work on them, or through them. And until that weakening poison fades, I don't think we could even make much further than the cave entrance before we collapsed."

"I know the feeling." Spike shuddered. "It was almost a full day before I started feeling stronger. At least they didn't give me any more of that stuff when we got here. I had no idea the stuff they used on dragons would also work on ponies." Spike wrung his claws together and rocked back and forth on his feet. "I didn't think of something like this would happen. What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know," Twilight sighed. "If this really is the same kind of cage the Storm King and his minions used, I'm not sure if I can break out using magic alone."

"Maybe we can talk some sense into some of them?" Fluttershy asked in a plaintive, hopeful voice. The accompanying silence was enough of an answer that she shrank back down to the floor.

"Spike," Twilight began. "I need you to do me a favor. If you can keep out of sight, I need you to check on the rest of the captives. Make sure they're okay. And see if you can quietly get some of the dragons here to talk about what they've seen or heard. That might give us a clue on how to get out of this situation. We'll try to come up with a plan by the time you get back."

Spike looked down at his claws. They were trembling. He took in a deep breath, held it, and then released it out his mouth. When he looked back up at Twilight, his claws were a little more steady. "Can do." He turned to leave, but Twilight reached out and stopped him with a hoof on his shoulder.

"Spike, if it looks like you might get caught, I want you to run away." Twilight's eyes, glassy but steady, bored into Spike's eyes. "Run and find help. Don't think about anything else but getting away from here." She sniffed. "I couldn't bear the thought you getting caught. Again."

"But what about my parents? They--"

"Would want you to do the same," Applejack added. "Trust me."

"One thing at a time." Twilight released Spike's shoulder. "First, we all get free. Then we move forward. Promise me."

"Okay," he sighed. "I promise."

Carefully picking his way around the central column, Spike moved back towards the small wooden bridge that spanned the stream. He kept to the flickering shadows created by intermittently placed arcane torches. The bridge itself was far too close to the small encampment that the Collectors had established, even though it was set up as far away from the dragon cages as possible. Luckily, the stream created by the runoff from the column was neither deep nor swift. It was cold, however, and Spike bit back a yelp as his legs seized for a moment at the shock of the icy water. Moving slowly, he slid across the stream and slunk along the narrow incline cut by the flowing water, back towards the ledge the dragon prisoners were caged on.

Crawling out of the stream, he shook the water from himself and crept up the incline. There were ten cages in total. Counting the shadows that sat within, Spike saw that only half of them were occupied. He continued forward till he was between the pens, keeping low to the ground and close to anything behind which he could hide if one of the guards came too close. In each of the five occupied cages were sights that brought tears to his eyes.

They were dragons, but not dragons as Spike had come to know in his encounters with other members of his kind. These were not the aggressive, vibrant souls that he had come to know on his trips to the Dragonlands. Nor were they even the more subdued, but still bold and assertive, ones like Smolder. These were dragons that had been defeated in mind and soul. Their eyes were dull and listless. They sat in the corners of their cages like beaten animals. If any of them had once played pranks as adolescents or surfed down lava flows with reckless abandon, those days were long passed.

The first two looked at Spike with far-off gazes that went straight through him without saying a word. When Spike asked the next dragon about his health and the layout of the cavern, the prisoner told him to get lost, lest the Collectors see him colluding with an escapee. It was the final pair that gave Spike some information. The first of the two dragons explained that the Collectors fed them a mix of what they called "pony food" every other day, with the occasional gem thrown in for those that followed all instructions and progressed through mandatory behavioral retraining lessons at an acceptable rate. Between feedings, they were let out for a short time to stretch and walk around, always under the influence of an extra dose of enfeeblement potion.

Most surprising to Spike was what the second dragon told him of the vault. Inside it, the Collectors were said to have stored all the profits they made from selling shed scales as well as the growth potions they used to encourage faster shedding. Apparently, their entire operation was paid for by the sale of scales to markets outside of Equestria. It was where they also kept their store of poison darts and other equipment. Spike made sure to let the informants know that the ponies he was brought in with were there to help, but the pair would not believe him. He was about to make his way back towards his friends when the second dragon pointed towards a dim corner that curved out of view off toward the furthest end of the cave.

"There are two more back there," she whispered. "I think they've been here the longest." Spike gave his thanks and went slinking back down the incline and along the wall towards the rear of the cave.

The final cages were a pair that had been pushed a distance away from the occupied cages. They sat alone near to one another in the deep indentation behind the third, and furthest in, limestone column. There was only a single torch set into the wall between them for illumination. Each one held a single dragon. Within the cage on the left sat a male dragon with dull blue scales. A pair of stubby grey horns swept backward from above each eye ridge and ended in a blunted point. His frame was gaunt, but with a hint that once strong muscles had wasted away to a ghost of their former strength.

In the opposite cage was a lithe female dragon, her supple frame also showing signs of minor malnutrition and neglect. That did not take away from her rose pink scales and delicate green fins that cascaded down her back and tail. Their eyes, both green, stared listlessly at the floors of their cages, but something else caught Spike's eye as he crept forward. Each of them had their tail stretched out through the bars towards the other, with each tip entwined around the other.

Keeping to the deeper shadows, Spike crawled around the edge of the cavern wall into the alcove and poked his head up over the lip of the first cage's base. "Psst," he hissed. "Psst. Hey there."

"Hmm?" The male's eyes refocused, and he looked down at the small dragon that was trying to get his attention. "What?" He took a second to react and then frantically glanced around the area. "Are you crazy? Get down, kid." He waved Spike away. "How did you get free? What was all that noise and yelling?"

Disregarding the plea for caution, Spike stayed put. "It's okay. I don't think they're looking too hard for me. But listen, my friends and I are here to help. We've been looking for the Scale Collectors so we can free their prisoners. And, because my parents were captured, like you guys, back when I was still an egg. I-I was really hoping to find them or at least find a clue about where they might be."

The older dragon snorted. "If this is a prison break, I think your plan needs more work."

"Yeah," Spike admitted, scratching his head. "We hit a little snag, but we're working on a plan. I just wanted to check on everyone first." He glanced between the two older dragons. "What are your names, and why are you all the way back here? I didn't see any other dragons off by themselves."

"I'm Flint, and this is my mate, Scintilla."

"They keep us close together, but not close enough," Scintilla said. "When they caught us, they said we were going to be part of some kind of experiment, but nothing's happened since that day."

"How long ago was that?" Spike asked.

Flint made a sound like the grinding of teeth. "Years."

"I'm so sorry."

Scintilla pushed her snout through the bars and squinted in the dim light at Spike. "What friends did you bring? We heard something that sounded like another bunch of ponies, and the trap at the entrance going off. Did the Collectors lock them up too? Are they rivals or something?"

Shaking his head, Spike moved from the first cage to the second. "I'll explain all that later. Listen. I can't get you free by myself, but if I can get my friends out we can all help. They're really good in tough spots like this, but can I ask you a question before I go?" He gripped the cage bars and peered up at the female dragon, flickers of hope smoldering in his eyes. "Like I said, my friends and I came here mostly because we're trying to track down my parents. They were captured years ago. I've been in Equestria ever since." He lowered his eyes. "I...I don't even know my parent's names or what they look like." His gaze sought that of the dragon looking down at him, and he noticed something in her eyes. Some small spark that started small but quickly grew into an inner light. "My name is--"

"Spike?" Scintilla whispered breathlessly. She clasped her claws to her mouth, a squeaking gasp escaping between her talons.

Over in the other cage, Flint stood as tall as the cage height would allow. He grasped the bars and stared at the little dragon. "What did you say your name was?"

"Spike," he responded hesitantly. "That's my name." He looked at Scintilla and back to Flint quizzically. The latter was breathing rapidly through her nostrils and, to Spike, looked very much like someone on the verge of tears. "That's weird. How did you know..." His voice trailed off, and he looked more intently at the color of their scales, the colors of their spikes, and their eyes. They were green. Just like his. "Wait."

The smoldering hope he felt grew brighter and brighter as two words fought to claw their way up from his heart, but caught in his throat. Emerald eyes danced with an inner fire as that growing flame of understanding built into a great upwelling within Spike's chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Spike swallowed, wetting his throat as it tightened with emotion.

"Mom?" Glistening eyes pleaded with Scintilla, whose own emerald eyes trembled with exuberant acknowledgment. The young dragon's head swiveled towards Flint and found the older dragon quivering with barely contained energy. "Dad?"

"Son," Flint croaked. He reached through the bars, straining his arm to its limit, and brushed a claw over Spike's wing just as Scintilla reached down and stroked the spikes on the back of the young dragon's head. A spark seemed to jump between the three of them. And there, in the dimness of the cave and the bleakness of their situation was burned away by the light of a blooming, brilliant inner flame.

"Mom! Dad!" Spike cried, no longer caring to keep his voice suppressed.

"Son!" the two dragon parents exclaimed together. They were too far apart to embrace him simultaneously, but Spike ran to each of them in turn and ardently embraced them as best he could.

"Is this real?" he asked, releasing his father and rushing back to his mother. "I mean, is it really you?"

"It's really us," Scintilla gushed. "Oh, my little Spike." She held him as close as the cage would allow, clutching her son to her chest. "I've missed you so much," she wept. "I'm so sorry I lost you."

"Mom," Spike wept. "I...I thought I'd never find out who you were." He pulled away enough to wipe his nose across an elbow and look over at his father. "I thought I'd never know either of you."

"I've dreamed of this day, every day, for a very long time," Scintilla continued, crystalline tears in the corners of her eyes. "I always knew we'd find each other someday."

Spike wiped away his own tears and fought to control his breathing. "I've never seen you. Either of you. I never even knew your names or what you looked like, but..." He placed a claw against his chest, over his heart. "I know it's true. I feel it inside me."

Flint beckoned to his son and laid an arm around Spike's shoulders. "That's because a real dragon can sense family," he said proudly. "Even family that's been apart for a very, very long time. You can feel it inside of you. It's like--"

"We just belong together," Spike finished for him. "Like...there was always this little fire inside that refused to burn out, but wouldn't grow any bigger. Until now."

"Exactly!"

"This is incredible. This is amazing. This is--"

"You go that way!" a distant voice rang out. It was Cutlass. "Move around that side and we'll meet in the middle." Another call, this one indistinguishable, called back. The sounds were getting closer.

"No!" Scintilla gasped. "Spike, you have to run," she insisted. "You have to get out before they find you."

"But I-I have so many questions. How did you get captured? How long have you been here? Did you lose my egg, or was it taken from you? And there's Ardent Bloom. She looked at me like she already knew who I was the moment I got here."

"We'll answer everything if we can, but not right now," his father instructed. "We've only just found each other, and I'm not about to see you wind up like us."

"But there are other dragons here too, and my friends."

"Those ponies?" Scintilla stepped back as though Spike had just brandished a weapon against her. "Friends?" She looked to Flint for support.

"Ponies are no friends of dragonkind," Flint said harshly, releasing his son. "They're the ones who locked us up and have been filling our heads will nonsense. They've kept us apart all these years. How can you trust them?"

"But Twilight's taken care of me like I was family ever since she hatched me with her magic," he retorted, a tone of disapproval breaking through his more joyous emotions. He edged away till he was out of reach. "Her parents and brother took me into their house and gave me a place to live and grow up." He began counting off names with his talons. "Pinkie has never forgotten to throw a party for my birthday. Fluttershy has always had a kind word for me whenever I've felt down." He chuckled to himself. "It might sound weird to think that Rainbow Dash pranking me is a good thing, but she does it because we're friends. There's Applejack, who volunteered to help me with my plan to lure out the Scale Collectors. And Rarity is just..." His words trailed off with his attention as his eyes, and a little grin betrayed his feelings. "Wonderful."

Spike shook the daydreams out of his head before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Listen, I know dragons are tough and stubborn and don't back down from a fight." He pulled himself up to his full height.

"But you know what ponies are? Loyal. Compassionate. Creative. They don't abandon each other, even when their own freedom is in danger. I'm a dragon, but inside, I'm also a pony." He planted his heads on his hips. "I came here to rescue you both and that's what I'm going to do, but I'm not leaving anyone, or anypony, behind."

"Hey! What are you two up to?" Cutlass appeared from around the stone pillar that kept Flint and Scintilla's cages shielded from most of the cavern's view. She wore a disgruntled frown like a mask, her eyes shifting between annoyance and anger. More disturbing was her saber. She held it tightly in a wrapping of crimson magic, floating along at her side, rather than secure in its scabbard.

Spike immediately dropped to the ground and crawled into the shadows behind his mother's cage. The two older dragons turned to face the Scale Collector. Flint sat and crossed his arms as Scintilla shifted slightly to place herself between Cutlass' view and her son.

"It's none of your business," Flint growled. "We are--"

"Just talking," Scintilla interrupted. "You know, it's, um...our anniversary."

The male dragon's eye ridges shot up, and he snapped a surprised look over to his mate. "Anniversary?"

"It's your what?" Cutlass deadpanned.

"Well," Scintilla stalled. She let her wings droop to either side of her. "Judging by how often our dinner arrives, I figured that today is our anniversary. Or close enough."

Cutlass floated her saber up Scintilla's cage and tapped it against the bars, eliciting a prismatic ripple across the anti-magic metal. "I don't care. We brought in a runty dragon today. He managed to escape by biting one of the guards. We know he's hiding around here somewhere. Have you seen him?" Both dragons shook their heads. Cutlass' half-lidded eyes bored into Scintilla's and then shifted to Flint. Both dragons flinched but did not look away.

"If I find out you're lying," Cutlass continued, "it's going to get a lot worse for the both of you."

Flint's lips peeled back, exposing serrated fangs. "Keep threatening my mate and I'll--"

"Call out if we see something," Scintilla finished. She coughed, loudly, and cleared her throat before looking over a Flint.

He crossed his arms again and sighed deeply. "Right. What she said."

"Whatever," Cutlass grunted. "Just keep quiet unless you see the little troublemaker. If you helped out, we might even throw in a few extra gems to snack on as a reward." Cutlass twirled her saber and stalked off around the other side of the pillar, towards the other dragon cages. "Haven't you finished checking them all yet?" she yelled at someone before disappearing into the gloom.

Scintilla turned to Spike as he scuttled over to watch Cutlass leave. She reached out and gently placed her claws on his shoulders. "Spike, please. Forget us and just run. Knowing you're free would give me enough strength to withstand a lifetime of imprisonment."

"You don't have to be a hero for us," his father added, keeping a close watch on where Cutlass had gone. "You've already proven how brave you are by just coming here."

"No." Spike squirmed out of his mother's grasp. "I know Twilight and my other friends are usually the ones who figure out how to get us out of trouble, but I came up with the plan that got us in here, and I'm pretty sure it might be my fault that we got caught. So that makes this my responsibility. I'm still small, but I'm not a kid anymore. Plus, I think I have an idea on how we can get out of here."

Now, It's My Turn

After quietly waiting to make sure that neither Cutlass or anyone else was coming his way, it was a simple matter for Spike to slip out from between his parent’s pens and dart amongst the geology of the cavern to make his way back to his friends. He made sure that he was concealed within a shadow and no one was within earshot before speaking.

“Twilight,” he whispered. “I’m back.”

“Spike! Girls, keep a lookout.” Twilight lay down and angled herself so she could speak to her assistant and still keep an eye out for any guards that might pass nearby. “You made it. How are the other dragons?”

“Not bad, but not great either.” He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, his claws clenched together. “Listen, I found--”

“I anticipated as much,” Twilight interrupted, constantly glancing left and right without ever actually looking at Spike. “These Scale Collectors are a lot craftier than we imagined.”

“Yeah, but I found--”

“So, we put our heads together, mostly because it was easier than having to hold them up ourselves, and I think I have an idea of how we can gain the upper hoof. First, we need to--”

“Will you stop talking and listen to me?” Spike demanded, raising his voice. He immediately clamped his claws over his mouth and crouched in silence.

Twilight recoiled, and she tucked a foreleg up against her chest as though protecting herself from a physical blow. “Spike?” Her pupils were dilated, and she had leaned away from the outburst.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Twilight,” Spike apologized, his voice dipping back into a whisper. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, but I’ve been trying to tell you something important.”

“No. No, I’m sorry.” Twilight offered. “I was just...this plan is...” Her ears flattened against her head. “I’m scared, Spike. We’re all scared.”

“Me too. I have an idea about that, but first I have some amazing news.” Spike took a deep breath and let it out, steadying his vibrating limbs. “I found my parents.”

“You did?” Fluttershy’s voice asked weakly from the other side of the cage.

Twilight’s eyes lit up, and she reached through the bars to pull Spike into a hug as best as the bars would allow, the shock of Spike having raised his voice against her melting away. “That’s wonderful. That’s great. I can’t believe they’re actually here. Wait.” She released him. “How do you know it’s really them?” Twilight’s expression passed from ecstatic to cautious. “You’ve never seen them before, and your real parents would only have ever seen your egg. What if these dragons are trying to trick you as Sludge did?”

“A real dragon can sense family,” Spike recited proudly. “Even family that’s been away for far long, long time. They knew my name, Twilight. My mother knew my name before I said it myself. There was a spark, something inside all three of us that I didn’t feel with Sludge. I know it’s them. I know it like I know how your book shelving systems.”

“That’s a pretty bold statement,” Twilight tittered. “Still, after what Sludge did, I can’t help but be a little skeptical.” Then her look softened. “But if you say so, then I trust your judgment.”

“Thanks, Twilight. And now I need all of you to both trust me and listen to me. I have a plan to get us all out of here.”

Twilight grinned and leaned down. “I’m all ears.”

~~*~~

“Come on, Spike!”
“Get that there lock open, quick!”
“Please hurry. This damp air is murder on my mane.”

The shouting voices of Twilight Sparkle and her friends echoed off the walls of the Scale Collector’s lair. Equine, feline, and dragon heads alike all jerked towards the noise. To their credit, the caged ponies were doing their best to move about in frantic anticipation despite the lingering effects of the enfeeblement poison.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! They’re coming.”
“I simply cannot stand another moment in this dreadful dungeon.”
“Help us, Spike. You’re our only hope.”

“Get over there and grab him!” Ardent Bloom ordered from her writing desk at the rear of the Collector’s living area. The two Storm Guards, their combined efforts to reattach the broken door from earlier having ailed, dropped the piece of the cage and quickly lumbered towards the pen with the others in quick pursuit. The three Abyssinians watched from their perches within their small den but continued to tally their latest profits and discuss where the market for scales might shift to in the coming months. Nimbus, still standing watch over the entrance, looked on with keen interest.

When the assembled Collectors reached the penned ponies at a trot, Twilight flashed them a cold smile. “He’s already gone. You’ll never catch up to him.”

Ardent Bloom growled and opened her mouth to respond when another voice, the rumbling baritone of a dragon from the ledge, rose up.

“Come on, kid! Get us out of here.”

The Collectors glowered at their newest prisoners and then hurried off in the direction of the latest sighting. They failed to notice a small purple and green figure crawling across the stream in the opposite direction towards a small sitting area that was set up just outside the living area. There, upon a table cluttered with mugs and bread crumbs, sat a large bundle of brass keys.

Spike hopped up onto a chair and scooped up the bundle of keys. He grunted under the weight. “Geez.” He shouldered the packed keyring and eyed the backs of the Storm Guards as they and their master futilely searched for him among the dragon cages. “Are those guys also the janitors? Look at all these keys. How will I know which one opens which door?” Mentally tabling the concern, he quickly made his way around to his parent’s cages, noting that the search among the other dragon cages was nearing completion.

He proudly presented his prize to them. “Look! I got the keys.” Spike held them aloft for the pair to see.

“Great job,” Flint congratulated.

Scintilla was constantly scanning for any Collectors that looked like they might head in their direction. “Please hurry.”

Spike tried the first key in the lock of his mother’s cage, but it did not fit. He tried the next one, and it fit but did not turn. The third, fourth, and fifth keys also yielded similar results. “There’s too many,” he worried aloud. “I’ll never be able to try them all in time.”

“Keep moving,” Flint urged. “Try some of the other cages.”

“But, I need to--”

Scintilla reached out and stroked her son’s head. “We’re not going anywhere, Spike. Go help the others. We’ll still be here.”

A small tear formed in the corner of one of Spike’s eyes and he opened his mouth to protest, but he pulled himself together and nodded. “Right. I’ll be back soon.” He crouched low and crawled his way back to his friend’s cage. There, he waited.

“Try the next one, Spike!” he heard his father shouting. The Collectors and their guards immediately abandoned their search and hurried towards the dragon couple. Spike used the distraction to make his way up to the collection of dragon cages. There, he tried the same order of keys as he had on his mother’s lock, but no matter how many he tried, none of them worked.

“Hurry it up, kid,” the dragon inside the second cage urged.

“I’m trying.” Another failed key attempt.

“Well, try faster. It looks like they’re done with those two.” Sure enough, the Collectors, led by Cutlass, were stalking away from Spike’s parents and back towards him while Ardent Bloom moved towards Twilight and the others.

Spike grunted in frustration and hopped down from the door. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back.” He slunk off and kept moving in a counter-clockwise direction. At each cage, he tried to find the correct key, but each attempt ended in failure. He simply could not get any of the locks open quick enough. Before the search could reach the incline that led to the dragon prisoners, Spike clambered down the short vertical rise on the side closer to the cave entrance and tucked himself in-between every rock and cranny he could find on the ground. Quietly, he moved forward.

With the dragon cages behind him, Spike reached the trickling stream and slipped down into the water, wading his way under the bridge. Peeking just above the edge of the bank, he picked up a rounded stone and lobbed it into the living alcove towards the cots and chests. It struck the cave wall, creating a cracking noise as it skittered across the ground, coming to rest beneath one of the low beds.

“I heard something over there,” The Purrveyor shouted. He abandoned his tallies and lead his two fellow Abyssinians towards the sound. One after another, Spike counted the other Scale Collectors as they crossed the bridge and converged upon the disturbance. He took the opportunity to try his luck at his friend’s lock. Spike could see them trembling, but could not tell if it was due to nervousness, fright, or in response to the poison that remained in their bodies.

He was so focused on trying to get the lock open that he failed to notice a soft hoof prodding him urgently until Fluttershy’s voice reached out to him.

“Spike,” Fluttershy hissed in warning. “They’re coming back.”

“I know,” Spike grunted, flipping through the seemingly endless queue of keys and trying them in the lock as quickly as his shaking claws would allow. His ears picked up the sound of approaching hoofsteps.

“Hurry,” she squeaked.

“I know.” His claws worked furiously.

“I mean it.” Fluttershy looked up and gasped. She frantically shooed at Spike. “Run! Hide!”

“There he is!” a voice yelled. Cutlass appeared, brandishing her saber, and pointing at Spike. “The little runt’s been leading us on.”

“Yah!” Spike dropped the keyring but quickly scooped it back up. “I’m sorry!” he apologized before leaping away from the cage and running as fast as his legs would carry him.

Ardent Bloom pounded across the bridge and came skidding around the cage, stopping only to keep her balance. She pointed a quivering hoof at the fleeing dragon. “Hit him with a dart. Use the net guns. Use a feathering birdcage, I don’t care. Somepony get that dragon!”

Spike poured on what speed he had left in his legs and shouldered the keyring like a satchel. He fluttered his wings, hopped once, and lumbered into the air under the weight of the brass keys. First, he headed straight for the exit, but Nimbus rose into the air to meet him. The pegasus pulled a tube out from one of his bags, followed by a painfully familiar dart. Cutting sharply to the right, Spike veered back towards the dragon cages as a dart whished over his head, missing its target by inches. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the Abyssinians, Scurf, if he remembered correctly, aim something at him that looked like one of the tubes the Guards were also carrying.

Spike dove, making for a stalactite formation just as a burst of air from the tube fired a net in his direction. Weighted ends reached towards him like fingers, but before they could envelop him, they caught the tip of the stalactite and wrapped tightly around the limestone. Spike was nearly ensnared in the process, but the little dragon bolted and circled around the central pillar, moving further into the lair. Spike flitted around the ceiling at the cavern like a trapped fly. He chewed on his talons as he frantically looked around, starting to hyperventilate. Then he noticed the Scale Collector’s vault, the vault one of the dragon prisoners had mentioned. Its door was unguarded.

Ducking a dart thrown by Sand Briar, Spike scrambled across the floor and reached the vault entrance. Grasping the largest key on the ring, he fumbled with the weight of the keyring and nearly dropped it in the process of trying to line up the pin with the hole. Shaking claws jammed the key into the keyhole. “Please, please, please,” Spike muttered to himself as he twisted. It turned. “Yes!”

The massive vault door was balanced on four hinges so that even though it was far more significant in size and weight than Spike, he was able to pull the door open just enough to squeeze past. The sounds of the approaching Scale Collectors were growing louder by the second. Bracing himself against the inner wall, Spike heaved the door shut, threw the slide bolt over, and jumped back.

Something solidly impacted against the door but failed to do more than cause it to shiver. Then came two louder, harder impacts. The door trembled but held firm.

“That should hold them for a while. At least until I figure out what to do now that I’m stuck in here.” Spike dropped the set of keys on the floor and turned in a circle, taking in the contents of the vault. The room was broad but not very deep, no bigger than the basement of the Golden Oak Library had once been. At the far back was a pile of sacks, the open mouths of which confirmed their contents to be many different colors of dragon scales. Small wooden chests were stacked against the wall to the left. Spike walked over to one and levered open the lid. Inside were riches. Coins of gold and silver, numerous gemstones, multihued crystals, and small bits of jewelry were piled atop one another. He checked a few other chests and found them to contain roughly the same.

“Wow. Look at all this stuff. I can’t believe they’ve gathered this much.” Swallowing down an urge to snack on a few of the gems, Spike shut the chests and inspected the third wall of the vault. Arrayed on shelves that were cut into the rock were bottles and small boxes. Reaching up to retrieve a box, Spike opened it and quickly shut the case.

“Poison darts. This must be their supply of potions and stuff.” He tossed the box aside and grabbed the nearest bottle. It contained a pale amber liquid. The label on the side identified it as “Truth be Told.” He put the potion back and continued checking all the names. An abrupt, louder pounding on the vault door made him jump, and he perused at a quicker pace.

“There’s got to be something in here that I can use,” Spike said to himself. Near the end of the fourth shelf, he found a bottle of something bright purple. The label caught his eye, and he pulled it down.

“What’s this? Dragon growth?” He swirled the bottle around, and small sparks flashed within the liquid. “This must be what they use to make dragons grow larger when they want to make their scales fall off faster.” Spike shuddered. “That’s terrible. That’s horrible. That’s....” He paused and looked over at the vault door, then back down at the bottle. “Not a bad idea.” He quickly scanned the other shelves and found another bright purple potion. The little dragon took both of the bottles, and slowly approached his only way out.

“Open up!” a muffled voice shouted from outside. The door shuddered again.

Spike jumped at the clamor and fumbled with the potions in his claws. More crashing and smashing sounds followed. A faint growling mumble filtered through and then the sounds of forced entry redoubled in fervor. Spike paced from one side of the vault to the opposite, his head down in concentrated thought. He did this twice more before halting in the center of the chamber.

Glaring at the large door, Spike huffed and snorted. Whiffs of smoke leaked from his nostrils. He squared off with the doorframe and stomped over to the shuddering vault door. Spike stood before it, flinching slightly at each impact. He looked thoughtfully down at the two potions he held. His claws shaking, the glass bottles made little squealing noises as his talons tightened against their necks.

“Ever since I can remember, everyone’s always been there to look out for me.” Spike shut his eyes tight. “Twilight. The girls. Everyone. They cared for me. They protected me. And now I’ve found my real parents. Mom and Dad told me to run, tried to keep me safe without even thinking about themselves.” There came another muffled shout, and furious pounding rocked the vault door. He distinctly heard the voice of Ardent Bloom.

“Open this door, kid, or everyone you care about is going to pay for your troublemaking.”

Spike uncorked both of the growth potions. “Not this time.” Tilting his head back, Spike poured the contents of both bottles down his throat. He wiped his mouth with the back of an arm and dropped the empty flasks.

“Now, it’s my turn.”

Spike, Unleashed

"He's inside the vault," Sand Briar declared, standing before the door. It was almost five times her size. She snarled a wordless complaint as Cutlass pushed past her. The unicorn's weapon sliced through the air and buried its cutting edge half an inch into the wood. The impact made a subdued thunk, the frame of the door not even twitching. This elicited a wordless, disgruntled curse from Cutlass.

"How did he get the keys?" Cutlass turned on the Storm Guards who were lumbering over. "You idiots are supposed to be carrying them with you at all times." The two guards scratched their heads, looked at one another, and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter." Ardent Bloom joined the group gathered around the vault door. She smirked. "His little prison break failed, and now he's trapped. Either he's going to come out on his own, or he can rot in there. It doesn't matter either way. He's done."

Cutlass beat her hooves against the study door and then backed away. She motioned for the two Storm Guards. "Get that open. Break it down if you have to." Nodding, the Guards hefted their ironshod clubs and started pummeling at the hinges.

Ardent Bloom, keeping to one side to stay out of the way of the violence inflicted on the door, leaned against the stone near the keyhole and spoke into it. "It was a nice try, Spike, but I've foiled far better attempts than this one." Two tubes popped into existence and Bloom took hold of them. One was a simple scroll tied off with a piece of string. The other was a glass vial that held a dancing green flame inside. Spiraling around the tube were glyphs etched into the glass itself. A stopper was fixed snugly into the tube's mouth, a similar string of symbols scored into the stopper.

"Once I send my letter, and word gets back to Equestria that we've got their little friendship princess, we're going to change the world." She closed her eyes. "Imagine it? The power and wealth of an entire nation backing our efforts to rid the world of the scourge of dragons. You and your kind will fall in line, or you'll simply cease to be." She opened her eyes, and the two tubes vanished in a flash of magic.

Ardent Bloom waited, and when she did not hear a reply from within, she guffawed. "No comebacks? Nothing to say. After all the thought you put into this rescue attempt, I'd have imagined you'd be smart enough to avoid getting cornered so easily." She glanced over at the sound of flapping wings as Nimbus touched down nearby.

"I have to wonder, boss," Nimbus said, his wings refusing to settle against his sides fully.

Ardent Bloom sighed. "Must you do so out loud?"

Nimbus ignored the insult and continued. "Why'd he run in there if he knew we'd catch up? He's got to know there's no way out of there, except through us."

The question hung in the air until Cutlass held up a hoof, halting the guard's hammering. "Hey, did anypony else hear that?"

Ardent Bloom, Nimbus, and Sand Briar moved closer to the door. They held their ears close to the wood. Bloom's face scrunched up as she strained to listen. Her eyes widened, and she leaped away from the door as though it had burned her, rapidly backing away. "Clag! Hock! Hurry up and break that down! We have to get in there now." From within, a low, guttural rumbling began to shake the floor, and the vault door rattled on its hinges.

Sand Briar backed away. "Um, boss..."

Cutlass and Nimbus quickly followed her lead with the Storm Guards on their heels. The pegasus took to the air and hovered above his compatriots. "Did he...Oh, feathers. He must have gotten into the growth potions!"

Ardent Bloom's ears flattened, and her mane prickled as a wave of invisible energy spilled from out of the keyhole and seams in the doorframe. She swallowed a growing lump of dread. "Uh, oh."

Something crashed into the other side of the iron-reinforced door. It cracked and buckled outwards. Iron screeched as a pin from the uppermost hinge popped out, bounced off the ground, and rolled to a stop against Bloom's hoof. Again, something rammed into the vault door, and the boom of the impact echoed throughout the cavern, sending a family of bats fleeing for the exit. A tremulous, bellowing roar vibrated the wood, and the hammered metal bracings of the door shuddered as shards of limestone rattled loose from the walls and ceiling.

All the Scales Collectors flinched and shielded their faces when a tremendous crash sent wood and iron splinters flying into their midst. Purple and green flames licked outwards from fractures in the door, and everyone hastily backed away even further. Then, all fell silent.

The ponies and their hired guards stood stiffly, visibly taut with anticipation as they listened intently. The three Abyssinians, netguns still at the ready, slunk closer with Grout close behind, but kept their distance. Their whiskers quivered, and the fur on the nape of their necks stood on end. The dust kicked up by the impacts began to settle.

Then there came a great soughing from inside the vault, like the inhalation of an enraged tornado. A gust of wind kicked up and tugged at manes and hairs, except the air was not moving from the ceiling to the ground as it had been. It was towards the splintered door.

"Look out!" Bloom screamed as she and the other ponies dove away.

With a mighty, rending roar and a burst of flame that showered the area with crushed rock, burnt wood, and twisted metal, an immense claw the size of one of the Storm Guards crashed through the remnants of the vault door. Another quickly followed it, and then a great dragon rammed its head, neck, and body through and into the main cavern. It took a large portion of the threshold with him. Purple flames licked at the edges of his body as green flames dribbled from his mouth and nostrils. This dragon was not the Spike that had been chased into the vault. This Spike was a mountain of muscle and scale. A beast of fangs, talons, and fire. His head scraped against the ceiling of the cave, knocking free a shower of stalactites. After he squeezed out of the vault room, he stood on all fours as a fully-grown dragon. The lavender of his scales had deepened into a royal shade, and his rounded spikes of adolescence had toughened fans with bony speartips jutting from the tips. When he tried to unfurl his wings, their spurs quickly brushed up against the ceiling of the cave. Spike growled a gravelly thrum, like the beginning of an earthquake, and cast an intense gaze down at Scale Collectors before him.

With a deep rumble, he opened his great maw and said, "I am Spike the Dragon, of Equestria. You kidnapped my parents. Prepare to fry."

"That's my number one assistant!" Twilight called out from her cage.

"That's our friend!" the other captured ponies shouted in unison.

"That's our son!" Flint and Scintilla yelled together.

"You idiots!" Ardent Bloom yelled to nopony in particular, picking herself off the floor. "Do something!" She yelped and ducked as Spike's massive tail swung towards her and the other Scale Collectors. The other ponies dove to the ground as the Abyssinians scurried away. The two Storm Guards were not as quick as their compatriots. With a dull thud, the pair of hulking guards was knocked backward and cracked their heads against the cave wall. Groaning, they slid down to the floor and lay in an unconscious heap.

As the remaining Collectors scrambled to regroup in the chaos caused by a colossal dragon suddenly bursting out of their vault, Spike took advantage of their momentary disorder. Striding over to the cages that held his parents, he grasped the bars of enchanted metal, one set in each claw, and squeezed. The bars bent easily, and he peeled them away from their weld points, opening up an entire half of each prison. Flint and Scintilla gingerly stepped out and immediately embraced each other. Then they turned their eyes, filled with adoration and amazement, to their son.

"Help round up my friends and the other dragons," Spike commanded in a powerful voice. His claws scraped across the ground, and a thick ring of keys landed at his father's feet.

"But they're ponies?" Flint declared loudly.

"They're my friends, Dad." There was a heavy pause that passed between the two dragons, but Flint finally nodded.

"Be careful, Spike," his mother pleaded, leaning against her mate for support.

Spike grinned, showing off rows of wickedly sharp teeth. "You stay safe, Mom," he corrected. He turned slowly towards the Collectors. They had used the precious few moments to assemble near their storage area, gathering the tools and weapons of their trade. "I've got this." Then, he charged their line.

"Stay here," Flint urged his mate. He scooped up the keys and, sparing no time, shuffled across the open chamber to the cage which held Twilight and the rest of Spike's pony friends. It took a few tense moments and almost a dozen attempts, but Flint soon had the cage door open.

Twilight was the first to climb out of the cage. She accomplished it with only a few stumbles and offered the dragon a tired, but grateful smile. "Thank you."

"I'm doing this because my son asked me too," the dragon remarked impassively, stepping away towards the dragon cages up on their ledge. "He says you're his friends, but this doesn't make you and me anything."

Twilight nodded. "I understand." She pointed at the keys he held. "But If you'll let us, we can all help."

Flint stopped and looked back at the alicorn. His jaw clenched as he thought for a moment. "Fine," he relented, separating some of the keys from the ring and tossing her half of them.

Twilight caught them with her magic and divided them against her friends. Together, they stumbled over to the other cages. One by one, they helped unlock the doors and offered to assist the dragons out of their prisons. None took their offer, moving away from the ponies as soon as they were free. When all of the captives were free, dragon and pony alike, they separately assembled at a safe distance away from the spectacular sight that was playing out on the other side of the cavern.

It was apparent these particular Scale Collectors had never before dared to tangle with a mature, and very angry, dragon. Sand Briar and Cutlass were throwing every poison dart they had, but none of them were able to pierce Spike's thickened scales. Nimbus was buzzing about, trying to harass and distract the dragon from above but the low ceiling hampered his maneuverability. At the same time, Serval and Scurf loaded a wheeled ballista as The Purrveyor and Ardent Bloom worked together to aim the oversized weapon. A quick swipe of his claws and Spike swatted the pegasus away like a fly. Nimbus landed on the two unconscious Storm Guards and opted to stay there. Now out of darts, Briar and Cutlass ran to help finish loading a massive spear into the ballista as Bloom fine-tuned her aim.

Spike barreled forward, roaring as he charged. The spear locked into place. The Purrveyor leaped aside as Ardent Bloom scowled and pulled the firing mechanism. There was an audible click followed by a twang, and the spear shot forward. The Collectors whooped with praise as the projectile cut through the air, declaring a narrow victory. It flew straight and true, right at Spike's chest. Until Spike, with the spear a moment from impact, twisted his head down and caught the weapon by its shaft in his fangs. He paused to hold it up for all to see and, with a contemptuous chomp, snapped it in half. Spike spat out a haft of wood and surged forward unimpeded. The Scale Collectors scattered as Spike demolished their ballista with one single stomp of his foot. Then he swung his neck around and smashed it those trying to flee. The four Collectors sailed through the air, bounced off the cave wall, and landed next to Nimbus. Spike swung around and leveled the living accommodations, furniture, and gear with several lashes of his tail. Then, except for a few groans, the cave grew silent.

The Storm Guards lay unconscious in a heap on the ground with the rest of the Scale Collectors. Of Scurf and Seraval, the pair having made a quick escape after setting the spear in the ballista, not a hair was seen. That left The Purrveyor and five ponies to cower beneath the heel of Spike's wrath. The dazed Purrveyor, Grout, and Sand Briar huddled together with Nimbus. Cutlass crouched with her back pressed against the stone of the cave walls, saber feebly held at the ready.

Only Ardent Bloom, regaining her hooves, stood up as Spike leaned down, the heat from his maw washing over the ponies.

"You want to squash me, don't you?" she mocked. "The big, brave dragon wants to crush one little pony because he's angry, am I right?" Spike did not answer, but his lips parted in a snarl, revealing fangs that would make a timberwolf quiver in fear.

"Go right ahead." Bloom took a step towards Spike. "Come on, then. Do it. Do it and prove to everyone that I'm right about dragons." She flippantly pushed a strand of her silver mane aside and matched Spike's sneer. "Prove to us that our choice to send you to Equestria was a failed experiment from the beginning."

Spike's snarl vanished, replaced by a quiet look of shock. He took a step away from Bloom. "Experiment? What are you talking about?"

Ardent Bloom sidled up closer. "Oh, you know," she coyly mocked. "The part about your life where we took your egg from your parents and handed it over to Princess Celestia. We wanted to know if a dragon, raised by ponies, would still act like a dragon. Nature versus nurture." "When the bets were called, I came down on the side of nurture." Then her expression changed as she looked Spike up and down to one of dismay and disappointment. "I guess we all lost."

She stopped close enough to him that, had she wished, Bloom could have reached out and touched Spike. "My parents were the ones who took your egg and sent it to Canterlot."

Twilight gasped. "But that can't be true. I was told--"
"Oh, don't give me that act, Princess," Bloom interrupted. "Your precious Celestia never knew about our little test. To her, that egg was just another orphan in need of saving." She turned her attention back to Spike. "Now and then, a Collector would travel to Equestria to check on your progress. At first, we were hopeful. I was hopeful. Your progress was very promising, at first." She turned to regard Twilight and her friends. "It seemed that, under the care of ponies who raised you as one of their own, your baser dragons instincts had been suppressed, if not replaced entirely."

"Monster!" Scintilla clung to her mate as Flint grit his teeth.

"You took our son and used him? Tried to force him into being something he isn't?"

"Of course we did," Ardent Bloom shot back. "You dragons give ponies no regard when it comes to your predatory young and destructive behaviors, so why shouldn't we try to do something about it?" She swept a hoof towards her fellow ponies behind her. "Cutlass was the first mate on a simple merchant ship that was trading between ports on the eastern coast. Then a pair of teenage dragons thought it would be funny to drop fireworks they had stolen onto the deck. Explosives. On a wooden ship. With cloth sails."

"The flames crept, the harder they laughed!" Cutlass yelled. "It was hilarious to them when the whole crew had to swim for shore after our ship sank beneath our hooves. There were sharks!"

"Grout's home was nice," the earth pony stated matter-of-factly. "Was," he emphasized. "Dragon's come. Make nest. Grout's family tried to talk. Dragons smashed home. Grout's family homeless. Have to live in hole."

"You see?" Ardent Bloom asked, her eyes growing wide and her breath quickening. "Nimbus' family lost their cloud home when migrating dragons flew right through it in the middle of the night as they slept, without a single thought to the ponies inside. There were severe injuries and, like Grout, they lost everything." Her voice grew softer. "And then there's Sand Briar."

"Stop it, boss," Briar requested, a grinding noise coming from her teeth.

"She lost more than a homestead or a lifestyle."

"Shut up, Bloom."

But Ardent Bloom paid her no attention. "Dragons were out in the countryside near her home. We never learned if they were looking for a migration route or what, but they made no effort to look out for those that already lived in the area." Sand Briar had shut her eyes tightly but made no further plea for Bloom to stop. So the unicorn continued.

"There was a little filly out playing like she had so many times before. She was a careful filly. She had to be because she knew that there were plants she wasn't ever supposed to touch." The air within the cavern seemed to drop several degrees. "You can imagine what the sight of several dragons would do to a filly. She ran away as fast as she could and wasn't looking where she was going." Bloom made a point of turning to look straight at Twilight. "You're well-read, Princess. Ever heard of a plant called wild licorice? Do you know what can happen if a panicked filly runs through a patch of vines, accidentally swallowing one or two seeds?"

Twilight covered her mouth to stifle whatever she was going to say, and instead nodded gravely.

Sand Briar sank to her knees. "She was only just starting to go to school, and she loved it," she moaned, biting back a sob as Ardent Bloom walked to her side and gave the mare a tender nuzzle.

Bloom whirled toward Spike. "Do you see now? The damage your kind does simply by existing in your way?"

Spike huffed, and a gout of green flame licked at the ceiling overhead. He clawed at the cave floor, tearing shallow furrows into the stone. "Those were accidents," he declared loudly. "All of them. You...you're a criminal, Ardent Bloom. Innocent dragons kidnapped and imprisoned. Treated like scum." His tail thumped against the cave floor.

" You've all tore apart families! I've lived my whole life thinking I was an orphan. You took me from my dragon family, and then you tried to take my pony family away from me too!" He arched his neck and howled, causing those nearby to clap paws and hooves over their ears to stem the volume. Stalactites snapped from the bases and fell to the floor in a rain of rock.

"I'll smash this place!" His thick tail lashed out and pulverized one of the few intact cages. "I don't care what stories you tell me; I'll find every last place you Scale Collectors live. I'll hunt down every one of you and make sure you feel the same pain they've caused for years." Then his blazing eyes locked once more on to the form of Ardent Bloom. The mare seemed to shrink a little beneath the luminous gaze, but there was nowhere to run or hide.

"And you!" he bellowed, fangs snapping shut like a bear trap. "You, and others just like you, are the worst. Thinking that we're lesser creatures simply because our ways are different. I'll...I'll..." Spike clenched his jaws tightly, shut his eyes, and shook his head furiously, as though he were trying to dislodge something from his head. When he opened his eyes, the pupils shrank to tiny dots engulfed in green flame. Spike roared, sending tremors through the floor, and he raised a claw. The talons were fully extended, pearly white and gleaming with deadly sharpness. He swung his arm downward, and all the ponies shut their eyes, except for two.

Twilight popped into existence in a shower of raspberry magic, right in front of a still-defiant Ardent Bloom as the claw descended. "Stop! Spike!" Twilight felt the rush of air as the appendage raced towards her and she flinched away, screwing her eyes shut against the sight of the shredding talons. There was a deafening crashing sound, but there were no screams or cries. The air calmed, and the onlookers opened their eyes.

Spike's outstretched talons were buried in the rock a mere breath away from his friend. "Twilight?" he breathed incredulously. He pulled his claw back. "Get out of the way."

"No." Twilight held her wings outstretched, shielding Ardent Bloom. "This isn't right. You know it isn't."

"Right or wrong, it's doesn't matter," Spike sneered. He blew a thick stream of smoke from his nostrils. "It's fair. It's justice." He leveled an accusatory talon at Bloom. "She deserves it. All like her deserve it or worse."

Twilight took a cautious step towards Spike, and then another. "I know that you're hurt. You're angry. So am I. We all are." She pointed at the dragon prisoners who had gathered together away from the ponies. "They hurt these dragons and many others, I'm sure." Then she pointed to her friends. "And they hurt ponies, too. They did it out of bitterness. They did because they think that they're right and the rest of us are wrong." She turned and narrowed her eyes at Ardent Bloom and her entourage. "But they're the ones who are wrong." From the sidelines, Applejack and Fluttershy trotted over to join Twilight.

"Some dragons might be bad apples, but you're not one of them."

Fluttershy gazed up at Spike with wide, pleading eyes. "Don't become what they think you are."

"The noble hero is a merciful hero, Spike," Rarity added as she and Rainbow Dash took up positions next to the dragon.

"You have to stay true to your feelings, and you know what's right."

Pinkie joined in with a warming grin on her face. "A rescue party is much better when you can smile at the choices you made."

Twilight turned to Spike's parents, who had inched closer to their son but still kept a safe distance from the ponies. "Please," she pleaded to them. "Help us."

Flint and Scintilla hesitated. They looked to one another and then to the Scale Collectors, which Spike's friends were shielding. Flint's eyes darted back to his fellow prisoners, his gaze hardening when they took in the dragons' thin frames and dull eyes. He strode forward, Scintilla in tow, but when he reached the Collectors, he noticed something.

Fear. They were all afraid. Some even looked like they might feel a twinge of regret. Ardent Bloom still looked firm in her stance, but Flint could not help but feel his resolve soften at the pleading expression of Twilight and her friends.

"Spike," Flint began, turning to look up at his son. "I want to see the Collectors hurt as much as you do. I want them to pay." He ground a fist into an open claw. "I want them to feel every injury they caused us all these years." Then he held open his arms. "But not like this."

Scintilla stepped up next to her mate, "This isn't the way, son. I can see it in you. You're a brave dragon, but you have a kind heart. You're better than those who tore us apart. I don't know that I would have that strength if I were in your place. But," she added with a beaming smile, "you're a better dragon than we could ever be."

Flint put an arm around his mate. "You've shown everyone that a real dragon is strong enough to protect himself, his family, and friends. Now prove that a real dragon is also strong enough to be the better creature."

Spike gritted his teeth and snorted more smoke. He looked at his parents and friends for a long minute, and then to the remaining Collectors. "Stand up and face me," he commanded.

Grout, Nimbus, Sand Briar, and The Purrveyor detached themselves from each other. Grout shuffled forward a bit with his head hung low. "Spare Grout. Spare friends. We do anything." He looked around rapidly for support. "Right?"

Ardent Bloom lashed out. "Never!" She gestured grandly at the demolished base. "You think this was all the Scale Collectors had at our disposal? Fool." She gestured grandly. "This was just one of many holding pens for our...less important guests. There are more of us. There will always be more of us. I won't--" Furred paws appeared and clapped itself over Bloom's mouth and horn, stifling any further comment.

"Anything you want," the Abyssinian meowed.

"Yep. Anything at all," Sand Briar added.

Cutlass stood silent but nodded and put her saber back into its sheath.

"There's only one thing I want you to do." Spike leaned forward, over the heads of his parents and friends. "Run, and keep running. Don't stop until you reach the ocean. And tell every Scale Collector you see that the word is spreading about their lies and cruelty."

Twilight turned and, looking past Bloom, leveled her gaze on the other Scale Collectors. "All of us will be watching."

"Tell them to release all of their prisoners now," Spike continued. "Tell them that I am going to be watching for them myself. And if I hear one word about a dragon going missing, I might forget what it means to be the better creature." He reared back. "Now...SCRAM!"

En masse, the Scale Collectors, with Ardent Bloom struggling under the firm arm of The Purrveyor, scrambled out from under the threat of Spike and hastily made for the exit. It was then that the two Storm Guards regained their senses. They looked around and noticed the absence of backup, and the presence of a giant, seething dragon. With panicked howls, the pair dashed for the cave opening, managing to outpace their employers in their rush to escape.

A chorus of subdued whoops and cheers went up from the assembly of ponies and dragons. High-fives, hoofbumps, and celebratory flickers of weak flame went up in jubilant accord. Friends, family, and freed prisoners alike rushed to Spike, offering him congratulations and praise.

Spike grinned toothily. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead of words, an enormous belch blasted forth. Purple flames flickered out of his mouth and nostrils, flowing out and around his head. They coalesced and twisted into a spiraling ribbon of fiery magic, swirling downwards after encircling his neck. The ponies and dragons quickly stepped away from the spectacle as the magic flames wound around Spike's body, encasing it in undulating waves. Then, the flaming cocoon began to shrink. The great dragon's muscular frame and broad wings collapsed in on themselves.

Further and further, the reduction went until Spike was but a pony-sized ball of purple flames that slowly drifted to the floor. With a final flash of magic, the fires scattered in the aether and, in their place, stood Spike in his natural, fun-sized proportions. He teetered on his feet and fell over.

"Son!" Flint ran to his boy's side with Scintilla close behind. He knelt over Spike. "Are you okay?"

"I feel...a little...funny," Spike wheezed. "HicURP!" A tiny breath of purple flame escaped his lips and fled before disappearing. "Woah. That was...different."

"My boy." Scintilla scooped her son up into her arms and held him tightly. They stayed like that for some time as Flint checked on the condition of the other prisoners. The dragons did not speak to Twilight or the other ponies, but they each gave Spike their thanks before filling up a sack up gemstones as provisions and setting out on their own.

When the last of them had departed, Twilight called Spike over. "Will they be able to get back to their homes on their own?"

"Yeah. They're dragons." He flexed his muscles, which were substantially less impressive than they had been just hours ago. "We're a tough bunch."

Twilight chuckled and gave his spikes a good-natured tussle. "You certainly are."

"What about Ardent Bloom?" Pinkie wondered aloud, meandering over to the pair with the rest of the ponies. "She doesn't seem like the kind of pony to leave something unfinished."

Spike pondered for a moment. "There's enough dragons out now that can spread the word about her and the Scale Collectors. They'll keep a lookout." He looked over at the cave exit. "She's got time now to think about what she's done." He shrugged. "Maybe she'll change her mind about dragons one day."

"I certainly hope so," Fluttershy said.

Flint crossed his arms. "I don't agree with just letting them go." Then he looked down at Spike and nodded. "But I trust my boy's judgment."

Applejack tipped her hat to the two older dragons. "That's mighty big of y' all, after all that's happened."

"Now I see where Spike's good judgment comes from," Rarity complimented. "Oh!" she exclaimed as Spike wobbled on his feet. "Are you feeling alright, dear?"

The little dragon, feeling faint, reached out for support. His parents' claws were there to hold him steady. "Just really, really tired. All that growing and shrinking really takes it out of a guy." He looked up at his family. "Can we go home now, Mom and Dad?"

"We sure can, son," his mother answered tenderly. She scooped him up, set him upon her shoulders, and led the way out into the sunlight.

All's Well That Ends

A trio of dragons stood together on a grassy knoll just outside of Ponyville. The sky was clear, and the air carried on it a hint of fresh earthiness. Leaves were only just beginning to sense the coming change in the season, the tips of their green leaves taking their first steps towards an autumn wardrobe.

The dragons looked out across the town, and their eyes were immediately drawn to the gleaming prominences of the castle, where once grew a humble oaken library. A bit further beyond the library’s husk, small figures flitted around the roofs of the School of Friendship and roamed its manicured grounds.

Scintilla pointed at the crystalline castle. “You live in that?” she questioned in wonderment and blatant disbelief.

Spike, his chin up and claws at his hips, nodded once. “Sure do. I even have my own seat next to the princess.” He pretended to inspect his talons. “Yep. I guess you could say I’m like the deputy princess.”

Flint was busy flipping through a hefty tome with elaborate silver inlay across the covers and spine. He paused halfway through and held the book open for Scintilla to see the entry. It showed a likeness of a younger Spike, carved from pure crystal, standing heroically in a town square.

“And he’s a hero of this...Crystal Empire?” He gazed down at his son, the pride on his eyes warm enough to have melted the thickest of snow drifts from the north. “You’ve grown into a true dragon, Spike.”

Scintilla scooped up her son into a hug. “We couldn’t be more proud of you.”

Blushing, Spike returned the embrace and then wriggled free. “Ah, shucks. Thanks, Mom and Dad.” He turned to face the town and spread his arms wide. “There’s so much here I want to show you. It would really mean a lot to me if you would change your minds about leaving.” He lowered his arms and turned back to his parents.

“I never would have done all that stuff you’re proud of, or seen all that I have without my pony friends. Plus, Twilight’s basically my big sister.” He hoped up to hover at eye level with the two older dragons, his claws clenched in earnest sincerity. “That’s gotta count in the ‘ponies aren’t all bad’ category. Right?”

Flint winced but held his son’s pleading gaze. “I’m sure it’s a great place, and I guess I can understand your attachment to the ponies.” He sighed and looked over to Scintilla, who offered the barest of nods. “But we’re just not up for it right now. We’ve been prisoners of ponies for a long time, and there’s a lot about us that’s changed in those years.” His voice dropped in volume to just above a whisper. “Changes that have made me question whether or not I’m still a real dragon. Before getting captured, before seeing you for the first time, I’d never hugged anyone.”

“We’re not going to feel comfortable around them for a while,” Scintilla continued. She fluttered her wings and looked at them appraisingly, noting with a grimace how the muscles and membranes were stringy and gaunt. “Old wounds take time to heal.” She saw the defeat that was welling up in Spike’s eyes and hurriedly added, “But we do trust you when you say that your friends are the good kind of ponies.”

Spike lowered himself to the ground as he watched his parents shift their weight from side to side. “You know,” he started. “Most of Equestria is full of good ponies, like my friends. And there are a lot of good people outside of Equestria too. You can’t judge an entire group by the actions of just a few.” Spike saw a hint of shame creeping into his parent’s eyes and sighed. “But I get it. I might feel the same way if it had happened to me.”

The trio stood together silently, watching the lives that were playing out in Ponyville from a distance until Spike finally asked, “So, you’re going straight to the Dragonlands?”

Flint nodded. “Yes. We need to tell the Dragonlord everything about the Scale Collectors. What we heard and saw. That way, she can spread the word. Then all dragons can be better prepared.”

“Ember’s a great Dragonlord. I think you’ll like her.”

Flint’s mouth cracked into a smile and he snorted, a small jet of flame escaping from his nostrils. “I still can’t believe you’re friends with the Dragonlord, too.” He punctuated the statement with a jab to Spike’s shoulder, causing Spike to teeter to one side, who quickly recovered and returned the gesture.

“I promise that I’ll come to visit you guys as often as I can, but I have duties here in Equestria. It probably won’t be as often as I’d like.”

“We know,” his mother replied. “And we promise, one day you can take us on a tour of your...home.” Flint nodded in assent and moved to put a supportive wing around his mate.

On an impulse, Spike launched himself at his parents and wrapped his arms around them as best his arms could reach. “I love you guys.” They wrapped their arms and wings around Spike, and the little family held one another in a cocoon of familial joy.

Spike looked up to see his father blink away a drop of moisture that had collected in the corners of his eyes. “Are...are you crying, Dad?”

Flint cleared his throat loudly and sniffed. “Of course not. Real dragons don’t cry.”

“I thought dragons didn’t hug, either,” Spike added, elbowing his father.

“I hear it’s a pony thing,” Flint explained. “If we’re going to visit, I might as well get used to it.”

Spike tightened his hug, doing his utmost to pour all of his strength into the feelings that were bombarding him. “I know, Dad,” he managed before the words caught in his throat. Then the family parted. Flint and Scintilla launched themselves into the air and pirouetted to the southeast.

“Goodbye,” Scintilla called as she and Flint caught a breeze, beginning their ascent towards the thin clouds on the horizon.

“It’s not goodbye, Mom,” Spike yelled back as his parents rose higher. “It’s see you later.” Scintilla waved one last time. Then the dragon pair beat their wings and were away.

Spike stood on the knoll, alone, for a long time. He watched his parents fly away until his eyes could no longer make out their dwindling shapes. When Spike was sure there was nothing but empty skies, he sighed deeply and kicked at a small rock. He did not turn when he heard the light pattering of hooves on grass approaching from behind.

“How did it go?” Twilight asked.

“They’re not ready to be around ponies,” Spike answered. “And I don’t blame them.” A quiet moment passed before the dragon turned around and offered Twilight a noncommittal shrug. “But they promised that one day, I could show them around.”

“If I can help at all, just say the word.”

“Thanks, but not right away.” Spike looked back over his shoulder in the direction his parents had flown. “I’ve been thinking. They said they were really proud of how I’ve grown up and all the things I’ve accomplished.” Then, for the first time a long while, Spike climbed up Twilight’s shoulder and sat down in his old spot upon her back. “But all that is thanks to you.”

Though he was undoubtedly more substantial than he used to be, Twilight bore the weight without complaint. She craned her neck around to look at him. “Me?”

“Sure. You’ve been there since the day I hatched. Looking after me, taking care of me, teaching me everything I know.”

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight chuckled. She plucked him from his perch with a bit of magic and drew him into a tight embrace. “You’ve always been like a little brother to me. I only did what any big sister would do. Sometimes I’ve wondered if there wasn’t more I could have done to help you along. But in the end, the dragon that you are today is because of the steps you took for yourself.” She pulled away enough so that she could look him in the eye.

“I tried to show you the right path as best I could, but all the hard work and right choices were yours to make. I know your real family probably said it a lot already, but your adoptive family is very proud of you too.” She hugged him again, and a few warm tears wound their way down her cheeks.

“Ah geez,” Spike groaned, himself struggling to sniff back his emotions. “I’ve already had to deal with one of my families crying today.”

Twilight giggled and dried her eyes. “Come on then. I’m anxious to hear from Starlight how the substitute teachers fared while we were gone.” Together, they pushed off from the ground and flew, side by side, towards the School of Friendship.

When they arrived, the rest of their friends were waiting at the front entrance with Starlight. Twilight excused herself and followed Starlight, who quickly accelerated to nearly a trotting speed, into the school and down the hall towards Twilight’s usual lecture hall. The rest of them followed at a more leisurely pace.

Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to nudge Spike in the shoulder. “So, did your parents decide to head back to the Dragonlands after all?”

“Yeah.” The school bell rang, and the six of them dodged around a flood of students who were racing to get started on their weekend plans. “The time we got together was great, and I’m sad to see them go already, but we’ll meet up again real soon.”

Fluttershy was beaming with joy. “We’re all so happy for you.” The others heartily agreed as the tail end of the student wave trailed off. They rounded the corner outside of Twilight’s classroom, and everyone came to an abrupt halt as a familiar maroon unicorn stepped out into the hallway.

“Excuse me,” she began, but a pink rocket darted forward and nearly bowled her over with a hug.

“Fizzy! I didn’t know you were teaching while we were gone. How are you?”

Applejack tipped her hat to Fizzlepop as Pinke detached herself from the startled mare. “That was mighty kind of you, Tem--uh, Fizzlepop.”

Fizzlepop dipped her head in greetings. “Thank you.” She looked past the others in the direction which the students had run off, a little smile on her face. “The students seemed to respond well to my instruction methods. It was actually kind of fun.” She glanced over her shoulder. “But there might be a problem.”

Rarity stepped forward. “Whatever is the matter, dear?”

Fizzlepop gestured towards the classroom door, and her little smile widened. “I was just debriefing Twilight on this week’s progress and I, um, think I may have broken your Headmare.” From out in the hallway, Spike and the assembled ponies heard a strained, high-pitched voice.

“She said my history lesson syllabus was too narrow? What does that even mean? And what kind of catchphrase is ‘friendship is strategic?!’”

Author's Note

There you have it, folks. It's been 7.5 years since I wrote "Raindrops Keep Falling," the last time I attempted a story that stayed close to a show aesthetic. TGPR went through two different phases of ideas before I finally settled on its current format, and I'm relatively pleased with the result. It's very satisfying to close the short loop that I started with a few words in "The Substitute Teacher."

Thank you to everyone for your comments and the time you took out of days to give my little adventure a chance. Little by little, I'm doing my best to improve so that I can properly earn those Likes and provide a small measure of entertainment and fun to all you wonderful people. And that means a special thanks to the people that pointed out errors and oversights on my part.

If you enjoyed the ride, don’t wander off too far. There are many more adventures and tales to come.