Spike The Brony Dragon

I changed nothing for “Forever Filly.” Rarity needed to learn that her sister Sweetie Belle was growing up. Although, I never figured out how old the CMC were. I knew they were around Button and Rumble’s age, but I never knew the exact numbers.

On another note, I turned 14. I didn’t know how long it would be until I molt, but I knew it had to be sometime after the School of Friendship was established.

I was in the Golden Oaks Library with Tyke. He built yet another scale model of a flying machine made of cardboard and rubber bands. He twisted the propeller twelve times before releasing it. It flew about a good six feet before plummeting to the ground.

Tyke groaned. “I’m never going to make a good flying machine!”

“I don't know, Tyke,” I said as I bookmarked my comic book. “That one got some good air. You designed it well.”

“Design-wise it’s fine, but do you know what the real issue is?”

“Is it that you need to find or make a giant rubber band for the real deal?”

“Well that, and once the rubber band stops spinning the propeller, the entire flying machine falls down. I could try to find a way to retwist the rubber band while the flying machine is still in the air, but the design would be too impractical, and the user may not have enough time to wind the propeller up before they hit the ground!” Tyke sighed. “Maybe I should just give up on this whole flying machine idea.”

“Now you do not mean that!” I shot up. “You’re just going through a rough period. Do you think Princess Celestia gave up after failing to raise the sun on her first try? Do you think the process of the first train engine was flawless? Do you think King Garm’s kingdom had a smooth transition going underground? You’re always going to hit some bumps in the road, and you shouldn’t let them slow you down.”

“Alright. Okay. But how am I going to get a reliable source of thrust? Rubber bands are out of the question, and I said before that I’m trying to avoid pedaling the propellers or using magic.”

“Well, I’m no expert in flying machines.” I rubbed the back of my head. “Plus, I don’t think there’s any other flying machine in Equestria that operates…”

That’s when it clicked. I had no idea if it would help, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

“Hey, I know,” I said. “Have you heard of the mirror portal?”

“Well…I heard Princess Twilight talk about it a few times,” Tyke replied. “Why do you ask?”

“The creatures on the other side are very technologically advanced. They have flying machines that work without any magic, and from what I’ve heard they can make them big enough to carry a big group of ponies.”

“Okay, you’re just making that up.”

“I’m not. How about you and I visit the place? Maybe you can learn how they built their flying machines there.”

“I guess I could give it a try. I’ll have to ask Moondancer first.”

“Great. Twilight was expecting someone to come from the other side to pick up a journal, so maybe we could meet that someone.”

After getting Moondancer’s permission, Tyke followed me to the castle’s library. When we got there, the only occupant was a note resting on the table.

“Twilight,
I went to Sunset to see her world.
I’ll be back soon.

-Starlight Glimmer.”

Figures we missed Sunset. This must be when Mirror Magic occurred.

I remembered in the show, Starlight would visit Sunset Shimmer’s world, and help the human girls fight off an evil girl with an enchanted mirror (not the mirror portal). Since Starlight and the others fared on their own, I didn’t have to interfere.

As I wrote down my own note, I said, “Now Tyke, the human world that we’re about to encounter will be much different than here. We’ll even turn into humans to fit in. Therefore, I’ll tell you a few rules. First, you’ll be given a set of clothes; keep them on like they were your collar.”

Tyke nodded. “Got it.”

“Next, stay by my side. I never saw your human counterpart, but we should stay vigilant just in case. If anyone asks, you’re a foreign exchange student from the mountains.”

“Understood.”

“And finally, don’t be afraid to ask me any questions about the human world. I have plenty of experience being one of their kind.”

In more ways than one.

“Okay.”

I left my note by Starlight’s and walked to the portal.

“Just follow me,” I said. “You’re going to see a lot of colors and feel stretched around, but it’s normal.”

I entered the portal. After the magical ride, I appeared in front of Canterlot High in my human form. A few seconds later, Tyke emerged from the statue. He immediately lost his balance, but I caught him before he hit the floor.

“Woah!” Tyke shook his head. “That was weird. Thanks, kid.”

“Tyke, it’s me, Spike,” I said.

Tyke looked at me and took a step back. “Oh, sorry, Spike. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“I did say we would turn into humans when we crossed that portal.”

Tyke checked himself. He had a darker skin tone than me. His hair was messy and matched his previous fur color. Instead of his vest, he wore a navy blue puffer vest, a denim shirt, jeans, and a pair of yellow high-top sneakers. He still had his collar on.

“This is what a human looks like? Wow.” Tyke looked behind him. “My tail is gone! What happened to my tail?!”

“Humans don’t have tails, Tyke,” I replied.

“They don’t? Humans are weird.”

Had it not been the truth, I’d take offense to that.

“In any case, this school has a library filled with human history,” I said. “There’s no doubt they have something about past flying machines.”

“Alright then. Let’s go.” Tyke walked forward before wobbling. “W-whoa! What’s with these things covering my lower paws?”

“They’re shoes. Human feet are a lot more sensitive than hooves, paws, and scaled feet, so the people here wear shoes for protection. You’ll get used to them.”

We got into the school and into the library. We browsed the shelves until we found the history section.

“Here we are.” I pulled out a thick book. “‘The history of airplanes, helicopters, and other flying machines.’ This could help you.”

We got down to a table and read through the book. Tyke scribbled down a few notes. An hour passed, and Tyke had some great information from the humans.

“I never knew these humans were this advanced,” Tyke said as he skimmed through his notes.

“Goes to show how imagination makes up for a lack of wings and magic,” I said. “What information have you written down?”

“Well, the most important info is that these planes use a special engine that sets small pieces of fuel on fire. The problem is finding this fuel called ‘gas-o-lien’ in Equestria.”

“I think it's pronounced ‘gasoline’, but I get your point. I take it you can't use coal?”

“It could work, but the plane engines here use only liquid fuel, and there's no way I can fit a train engine onto a plane if I use charcoal. It would be too heavy.”

“Maybe there's a different way to make fuel. After all, I bet humans found ways to produce energy more effectively during their time.”

Tyke and I searched the library again. This time, Tyke found a book on alternate fuel sources.

“Wow, you were right, Spike,” Tyke said as he read through the book. “Look at this. Humans really did find other ways to make energy without having to use gasoline or coal, such as the sun, wind, and water. I wonder why.”

I shrugged. “Maybe humans didn’t like using resources that produced harmful remains when used, or that there wasn’t enough gas and coal for everyone.”

We returned to our study table. Tyke jotted down some renewable resources.

“Okay, I got some ideas,” Tyke read through his notes. “A solar panel may work if I put one on the plane, but it could be problematic if it gets cloudy or dark. A wind turbine won’t work either, as it would require me to fly the plane on a windy day. Not to mention the laws of thermodynamics.” Tyke turned some pages. “Having the plane run on water may sound good, but that would mean the plane either has to provide its own water source, or be kept under a waterfall. There’s also something about glowing green rods, but I don’t think Equestria has anything like that.”

“That is a problem,” I said.

“I did find a fuel that wasn’t as renewable, but it seemed better than coal.” Tyke flipped through the book. “It’s something called ‘ethan-niel’ that’s made from corn.”

“‘Ethanol,’ you mean. Yeah, I’ve heard of that.”

“And from what this book told me, ethanol isn’t just used for fuel, looks like it’s used in adult drinks and other products, so it’s a common liquid in the human world. I wonder if there’s something like that in Equestria, or if it’s possible to make it.”

“Let’s find a chemistry book to find out.”

For the third time today, we scoured the library. Sadly, unlike our previous runs, we found zilch in regards to ethanol production.

“Any luck?” I asked Tyke.

Tyke shook his head. “None. Making ethanol isn’t against the law here, is it?”

“I don’t think so. This library just doesn’t have a book about it.”

“Now what do we do?”

That’s when I noticed the computers.

“We’ll browse the internet,” I suggested.

“We’ll what the what?” Tyke questioned.

“I’ll show you.”

We went down the stairs, only to bump into Cheerilee.

“Oh? What are you children doing here in the library?” She asked. “School's out for summer.”

“We’re doing an independent summer school project together,” I lied.

“Strange, I haven’t seen you before,” Cheerilee said to Tyke. “Are you new here?”

“Yes, I’m exchanging for students,” added Tyke. “No wait…sorry, I’m a student for exchanges…er...”

“You mean foreign exchange student?” Cheerilee corrected.

“Yes, foreign exchange student. I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten used to this place’s language just yet.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll do well. Where are you from, by the way?”

“I’m from the mountains.”

“Oh, like those other three students? That makes sense. Well, good luck with your project, and don’t spend all summer on it.”

Cheerilee walked away.

“What other three students was she talking about?” Tyke asked me.

“Remember when you told me about the Orange Rhombus group?” I answered with a question. “Well, some of their human counterparts go to this school.”

“Oh, no.” Tyke slumped his shoulders.

“Don’t worry. I doubt we’ll encounter them while we’re here. Anyway, to the computer.”

Tyke and I pulled up a chair and got to a computer. I pulled up the search engine and typed for ethanol procedures.

“This is called the internet,” I said to Tyke. “You can do more than just research here. Shopping, drawing, chatting, writing, posting your opinion and praying they’ll go easy on you if they disagree...” I cleared my throat. “Just be wary of any suspicous links, ads, or sites.”

One process of ethanol caught my eye. I clicked on the link and showed it to Tyke.

“Will this work?” I asked.

Tyke read through the article. “Milling, liquifying, saccharifying, fermenting, distilling...yeah, this looks easy to make. Miss Applejack could provide some corn, and Moondancer and Princess Twilight could help me with the process. The hard part would be to make an engine that can run it.”

“You guys could try to convert one of the magic engines in Equestria to run on ethanol.”

After hours of researching the benefits, risks, and details of ethanol, Tyke had enough notes to make an entire novel. He gathered up all his notes and put them in a manila folder.

“I hope this is enough,” Tyke said as we left the school.

“Well, if you need more information, you’re always welcome back to the human world,” I said. “It’s not like there’s anything preventing you before.”

Tyke and I stepped through the mirror and returned to Equestria. Twilight was reading, as usual.

“Whew! It’s good to be a Diamond Dog again.” Tyke wiggled his paw toes. “Although I’m gonna miss wearing shoes; they kinda grew on me.”

“Oh, Spike and Tyke.” Twilight stood up. “Welcome back. I got your message, Spike. I was just about to send you a letter while you were there.”

“Trust me, it’s better if you didn’t,” I said. “The last one didn’t agree with me.”

“Okay…anyway, did either of you meet Starlight while you were there?”

“Not really, why?” asked Tyke.

“Well, from what Sunset and Starlight told me, there was a girl who had this magic mirror that transformed her into this evil creature, but they were able to stop her and free the other girls from the mirror.”

“I thought humans didn’t have magic.”

“They didn’t, initially,” I said. “But ever since Twilight and I first came there, a select few got a hold of a few magic abilities, mostly the human version of the girls and me.”

“So where is Miss Starlight now?”

Twilight replied, “She’s still in the human world. I let her stay for a few more days.” That’s when she noticed the folder Tyke was holding. “What’s all that?”

“Oh, this is all the information I got on flying machines from the human world and how to produce a special fuel to run the engines.” Tyke took out a sheet of paper and showed it to Twilight.

Twilight read through it. “Huh. I didn’t think ethanol could be used as a fuel source.”

“We have it here? Do you think you could help me make some?”

“Yeah, it should be easy to make under the right conditions. As long as you…”

“...ask Miss Applejack for the corn.”

“And I thought Spike was the only one who’d finish other ponies’ sentences.”

It was good seeing Tyke getting some motivation to continue his flying machine project. I hoped to help him with his dream, and to show him more of the human world if he wanted to.

“I just hope using information from the humans doesn’t upset the balance between their world and ours,” said Twilight.

“Don’t worry,” I chuckled. “I’m sure we’ll give them credit down the road. And if the Wright Brothers come out of the grave to sue us, we can afford a decent lawyer within our budget.”

“You guys have a budget?” Tyke tilted his head.

“Of course,” Twilight replied. “It’s how we keep track of what we spend.”

“But you’re a princess. Aren’t you super rich or something?”

“Just because I’m part of royalty does not mean I can spend a ton of bits whenever I feel like it, Tyke. Everypony has a budget, some bigger than others.”

“Even Celestia and Luna have a budget,” I said. “Somepony needs to keep track of how much cake and tea Celestia eats.”

“Very funny, Spike,” said Twilight.

“No, I’m serious on that part. Luna once told me how 10% of their expenses were due to Celestia’s snack time.”