Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

Dragon Quest!

“C'mon, Fluttershy, it'll be fun!” said Twilight. Inside Fluttershy's cottage, Twilight and Riki are watching Rainbow Dash pull Fluttershy across the floor by her tail.

“Yeah, Twilight is right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Riki added, “...I mean, I think it is? I'm still new here, and I don’t know what is a lifetime opportunity here. ”

Fluttershy digs her hooves into the floor, “There's nothing fun about dragons! Scary, yes! Fun, no!” She manages to escape from Rainbow Dash before getting caught again.

Riki leans down and whispers to Twilight, “Wait, what about Spike? Did she just forget about him? ”He then crosses his arms, “I think Spike is fun. Scary, not even if I'm drunk.” Twilight jabs Riki’s side, “Okay, not the time, but I’m telling Spike what I said.”

“Fluttershy, Riki is right. The great dragon migration is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Twilight said as she walked up to Fluttershy, “This migration happens only once in a generation!”

“Thanks, but... no thanks!” yelled Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash sighs as she tries to hold down Fluttershy, “I watched that boring butterfly migration with you, so now it's your turn to watch the dragon migration with me! You owe me!”

Riki sees Twilight’s pouty face. She really wants Fluttershy to come along. Riki pats Twilight’s head. “I got this, Twilight… Rainbow, let me handle this.” Riki gets up and picks up the squirming pony, “Fluttershy, stop moving and listen to me… okay?”

“Okay,”

“I know that you’re scared, but I think you should come,” Riki said as he gently put Fluttershy down. He pats her head, “It won’t be bad there.”

Fluttershy hides behind her hair and mumbles, “I don’t know, Riki. What if a scary dragon goes after us?”

“Fluttershy, everything will be alright, I promise,” Riki said soothingly, “I’ll be right next to you the entire time we're there. And I’ll make sure no dragon comes near you, except for Spike.”

“You really do that for me?”

Riki nods, then says, “Yeah, of course.”

“Alright, I’ll go,” Fluttershy said, moving the hair away from her eyes.

Twilight gets a big smile on her face, “Oh, this is great! Fluttershy, you won't be disappointed! And I think Pinkie, Applejack, and Louie are done digging the trench.”

“T-trench?” Fluttershy stuttered.

“Yeah, so the dragons can’t see and attack us.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“I think I made a big mistake,”

Riki picks up and places Fluttershy under his arm. He begins to head to the door, saying, “Too late. You can't back out now.”

In a field, Twilight, Riki, and the others are sitting in a trench wearing camouflage clothes. Riki looks up into the sky and asks, “So, see any dragons yet?”

Twilight pulls the binoculars away from her face and quietly says, “No, I don’t see anything. Applejack, what about you?”

“I don’t see a thing,” Applejack replied quietly.

“Why are you two whispering?” Riki asked. He then looks around at Pinkie to ask if she sees something. But she’s using the binoculars backward. “Having fun, I see?”

Pinkie looks at Riki through the backward binoculars, “Yeah, yeah! Do you want to use them?” She then hands the binoculars to Riki. “Also, I think there's something wrong with the binoculars. Everything looks weird.”

“Buck! You don't think we missed them?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That is so lame.”

“I don’t think it’s lame that we missed the dragon,” Fluttershy spoke up as she sat next to Riki and petted Louie. “Well, too bad. I guess we have to leave.”

Fluttershy is about to leave, but Twilight says, “We're just a little early, and I'm glad we are. This way, we can watch every moment of the migration.”

Riki gives Pinkie her binoculars and makes sure she's using them correctly. Riki turns to Twilight and says, “Well since we're waiting for those dragons to show up. Twilight, how's the crystal engine you and Liz have been working on?”

Twilight sets down her binoculars and says, “Great, actually. We are working on a few designs. And for the solar crystals that we need, we have to hold off on that.”

Louie stretches and says, “Where the hell is Liz, Rarity, and Spike?” He then jumps on Pinkie’s head. Pinkie then holds up the binoculars for Louie to use. “Liz wants to take pictures, so she better get here.”

“I bet Rarity is holding them up,” Applejack said.

“Oh, guys! I see them!” Louie shouted as he pointed with his paw.

“Yoo-hoo!”

They look out of the trench to see Rarity strutting like she’s on a runway. She’s wearing an outstanding dress. You can also say that her dress is loud. Following right behind Rarity are Liz and Spike. Liz is wearing camouflage with a matching backpack and face paint. Spike is pushing a tea cart. Rarity makes her down to the trench as slowly as possible. Once Rarity reaches the bottom, she twirls to show off her dress. “What do you think? Am I the toast of the trench or what?”

“You'll be toast alright, when the dragons see you parading around in that getup.” Applejack huffed as she looked up in the sky. “You stick out more than a pear in a bushel of apples.”

“I think you look nice, Rare-bear.” Riki smiled

“Nice is an understatement, Darling. I look fabulous!” Rarity flips her hair and says, “Who says camouflage has to be drab?” She then strikes a pose.

“The ones that don’t want to be attacked by dragons,” Applejack answered with a smirk.

Liz takes off her backpack, “I have to talk Rarity out of making a big entrance. She wanted to use confetti and walk on a carpet.” Liz pulled out her camera and then attached a telephoto lens to it. “Hey, Fluttershy, I’m surprised you even came.”

“Well, Riki said he’ll protect me if dragons attacked,” Fluttershy said as she nuzzled up against Riki.

“Ahoy, maties! Dragons ho!” Pinkie shouted, pointing up in the sky. Everybody quickly looks up to tens of thousands of dragons filling the air. This is the great dragon migration. They let out a collective of oohs and aahs. Well, except for Fluttershy, she just hides behind Riki. Dragons fly throughout the air, occasionally breathing fire and bumping into each other. Liz begins to take photos, “This is so good! I wish I could get a close up on one of these dragons.”

“Wow, this is amazing!” Twilight beamed, “I have to write this down!”

“Just watch Twilight.” said Riki, “Liz will have plenty of pictures and videos of the migration… so relax. Oh, Fluttershy, would you like to use the binoculars?”

“No thanks, Riki. But thanks for asking.” Fluttershy blushed.

Liz stops taking pictures and looks over at Twilight, seeing she’s not focusing on the dragon migration. Twilight is looking at Fluttershy and Riki. Liz moves next to her and asks, “Hey, is everything alright? You're not watching the migration. Is something distracting you? ”

Twilight looks at Riki and Fluttershy, then back at Liz. She quickly smiles and says, “I was just… seeing how Fluttershy is holding up. That’s all, Liz.” Twilight goes back to watch the dragons.

Riki falls and lands on his back, “Watching these dragons are making me hungry!”

Spike comes in, pushing a tea cart and wearing an apron. He hands Riki a cookie, “Here, Riki, this will hold you over. Does anypony else want one, or would you like some tea?”

“Spike, why are you wearing an apron?” Riki asked as he ate the cookie.

“What's wrong with wearing an apron? You won't be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales—”

“Shin,”

“All over your shin. That's one tough stain! ” Spike said as he gave Pinkie a cupcake.

Rainbow Dash laughs, then says, “One tough stain against one lame dragon.”

“Lame!?” Spike gasped.

“She’s kind of right,” said Applejack, “You really don’t act like a dragon.”

“Spike is the opposite of a ferocious dragon,” Louie said as he groomed himself.

“Leave him alone, Spike is unique.” Rarity spoke up. “He doesn't have to look like other dragons.”

“Or act like them,” Twilight added.

Rarity walks up to Spike and pats his head, “My little Spikey-wikey is perfect the way he is.”

Spike has a sad look. “I don't act like other dragons?” Everyone just nods their head. Spike is surprised that they think he doesn’t act like a dragon. He takes off the apron and looks at it. Dragon doesn’t wear aprons? “...I thought they did,”

“Why would you want to, Spike?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, dragons are destructive creatures,” Fluttershy said. “I'm glad you’re not like them.”

“They're right. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of.” Rarity smiled.

Spike gets a hopeful smile, “Really, what's that!?”

“The cutest widdle chubby cheeks! Ooooo!” Rarity cooed as she stretched and squashed Spike’s face.

“Cute?! Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?” asked Spike.

The little dragon begins to blush, and Rarity says, “Oh, sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red.” Everyone smiles while Spike continues to blush. Well, except for Riki. He just watched in silence and ate off the tea cart.

This was the breaking point for Spike. “Rrrgh!” He makes it out of the trench and begins to storm off. Well, it was more of a waddle off. Rarity was about to say something, but Riki stopped her.

“Whatever you're going to say is just going to make it worse,” Riki said as he dusted himself off. “As the only guy here that is not a cat, I should talk to him man to man… Human to dragon.” Riki got out of the trench and went after Spike. When he catches up with Spike, he says, “I don’t know if this helps, but you look good in that apron.”

“Thanks, Riki,” Spike sighed. He stops and then kicks a rock, “Riki, what do you think of me? Am I a dragon to you?”

Riki sits on the ground and says, “Spike, what are you getting at?”

“Riki, please answer the questions,” Spike begged.

Riki sighs, “The girls are right. You don’t act like a dragon. And it’s fine.”

“I don’t think it’s fine.” Spike then sits next to Riki, “When I think about it, It kind of makes sense now. Ponies raised me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was given to Twilight as an egg.” Spike looks up in the sky, watching the dragons fly past. “...Riki, what do I do to feel in tune with my kind?”

Riki took a moment before saying, “People from my world have the same problem as you. And the way they solve it is by getting in touch with their culture. Like talking to their people and visiting where they come from.”

“Thanks, Riki. I think I know what to do.” Spike said with a smile. “I probably need to sleep on it.”

Riki gets up and puts Spike in his hoodie, “That’s good to hear, man. We should head back. I think the dragon migration is over.” He looks up to see little to no dragons. “Plus, I need to pee.”

“Same,”

The next day in Ponyville, Riki, Liz, and Louie are walking through the town. Riki wants to pick up a few things for dinner. He feels like making mixed veggies with tofu and brown rice. Liz and Louie decided to tag along. Louie is in his giant form with bags on his back. “Riki, what’s next?” Liz asked, sitting on of Louie.

“Yeah, we just need some rice and more booze,” Riki answered.

Louie leans down and says, “Booze?”

“When we got back from the dragon migration yesterday. I drank the rest of the beer and ate from my Reese's stash.”

“Reese's stash!?” Liz said shockingly. “I never knew you had a Reese’s stash. Where is it?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Hey, guys, is that Spike with a bindle?” Louie said, pointing at the dragon. The two look over to see Spike walking like he has somewhere important to go.

“I wonder where he’s going?” Riki questioned. “C'mon, let's go talk to him.” The three make their way to the little dragon. Riki stops him and says, “Oi, Spike, what’s going on?”

“Oh, hey, guys. I’m leaving.” Spike said with a smile. This causes the three to freak out for a bit. Spike quickly stops this, “I’ll be back. I'm just going to join the dragon migration!”

“What gave you that idea?” asked Louie.

“I got the idea from Riki, from what he said yesterday. By getting in touch with my kind.” said Spike, “I thought about it last night, and this morning I decided to go.”

“Does Twilight know about this?” Liz chimed in.

“Yeah! She is very supportive of me going,” said Spike. “Twilight believes that I need to go on this quest to find myself.”

Riki claps his hands together, “I'm coming too!”

“What!?” The others yelled.

“What do you mean by going with Spike!” Liz shouted.

“Well, I’m not going alone,” said Riki. He then points at Louie, “You’re coming too.”

Louie's eyes widened. “Why me?”

“We need a ride there and back, and it will be fun!” Riki said joyfully. “Plus, cuz you can't go alone. So, Spike, can Louie and I tag along?”

Spike thinks for a bit, then says, “Yeah, you two can join. But you’re not a dragon. Would you just stand out?”

“Don’t worry about that, Spike. We just need to go back to my place to get a few things.” Riki then picks up Spike and places him in his hoodie. “Liz, I’m going to take the groceries back to the house. Will you be good for a few days?”

“Yeah, I’ll be good,” Liz said. She walks up to Louie and pets him, “Well, you guys have fun with your trip-”

“Quest.” Riki and Spike interrupted.

Liz rolls her eyes, “Whatever. I’m going to see Twilight. Have a nice quest.” Riki jumps on Louie and begins to head home. Liz waves goodbye to the three, “And Riki, try to bring back a souvenir.”

“Okay!”

I know Riki is strong, and Louie can keep up with him. I hope they don’t run into any dangerous dragons. Making my way to the treehouse, I see Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. “Hey, guys!”

“Good morning!” Twilight said. “Oh, Liz, we are going to follow Spike. He joined the dragon migration. Would you like to come?”

I shake my head, “About that. I already knew Spike was going on his quest. Riki and Louie are joining him."

“They are?”

“Yeah, and I don’t think you guys shouldn't follow Spike,” I said, crossing my arms.

“But those big, ugly, nasty dragons. What if one goes on a rampage and just gobbles Spike up?” Rarity worried. “I know Riki is tough, but he never fought a dragon before… we should go.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “The big guy can beat a dragon.”

“Riki got this handled. He and Louie will have Spike there and back safely.” Liz smiled.

“Yeah, we should let Riki do this,” said Twilight, “But if they are not back in a week. We are going to go look for them.”

“Yeah!”

“Are we going the right way?” I asked as Louie ran through the grassy plain. Watch the sun slowly begin to set. I realize that I'm a pretty lucky guy. I’m riding on a cat that’s the size of an elephant and with a dragon.

“The dragons were going in this direction,” Spike said. “Plus, it feels like we’re going the right way.”

“Also, I can smell the scent of fire,” Louie said. He begins to slow down and says, “Can we take a break.”

“Yeah, It looks like it’s about to be night.” I jump off of Louie. I check out the grassy field, nothing dangerous out there. “We can set up camp here for tonight.” Louie stops next to me and begins to shrink back to normal size. I take off my big camping backpack, “Oi, Spike, can you make a fire?”

“Can do.” Spike grabs a few twigs and leaves, putting them in a pile. He then breathes out a small flame. “All done, Riki. So, what are we eating?”

I took out a pot, a bag of rice, and a can of baked beans. “Just some beans and rice.” Putting the pot over the fire, I pour the baked beans into the pot. “Food will be done in 20 minutes.”

Louie lays down next to the fire, “This feels nice.”

“Riki, I've been meaning to ask. Why did you decide to come along?” Spike asked me as he sat next to the fire.

As I stir the pot, I say, “Well… I just want to make sure you get there and not end up in the ground.” I take a sip. Damn, I should of brought some honey. “And there is something else…”

“Something else?”

Louie perks up and says, “Oooh, Riki is going to talk about his mom!” Spike and I give the cat a look. “Riki, I have lived with you for many years. I know when you are about to talk about your mother.”

I rolled my eyes at the cat, then said, “I was like you, Spike.”

“Really?” asked Spike.

I took a deep breath and then said, “I lost my mom when I was little. Didn’t know much about her. Only stories from my dad.”

“Sorry about your mom.”

“It's fine. I’m somewhat over it.” I said as I took out some bowls. “My mom is Irish, and I wanted to know about my Irish heritage. A few years later, I got a chance to go there. My grandparents were farmers, and I have an uncle who owned the bar there.” Thinking back to that time puts a smile on my face. It has been a while since I visited my family there. “It’s good to know where you came from. I think that’s enough talk. Let's eat!”

Pouring Louie a bowl of food. Louie takes a bite, then says, “Thanks again for not feeding me cat food anymore. I mean, it's okay, but your cooking is amazing.” Louie begins to dig in.

“Thanks for the food, Riki.” Spike said, “Hey, are you going to eat?”

“Yeah, right after I set up the tent.” Opening the tent bag, I began to set it up. “...Y’know what's funny?”

“What?”

Adjusting the tent, I say, “It’s only us. Us guys!” They stared at me for a few moments before I continued. “We are three men-”

“I’m a cat,”

“And I’m a dragon… What’s a man?”

Sighing and crossing my arms, I say, “We are the only boys in the group. And we three never hung out before without the girls.”

“Really?” Spike muttered, “I could have sworn we have.”

“A few days ago, I wasn’t a chatty cat,” Louie said as he stretched. “So, yeah. We haven’t hung out like this.”

“Great! Now, what do you guys want to talk about?” I said as I fix myself some food. “Anything is on the table.”

A few seconds of silence pass. I was about to talk about Mimi, but Spike spoke up.

“...Can we talk about girls?”

I chuckle a little, “Sure, but I wouldn't say I'm a ladies' man. I'll help as best as I can.”

Spike took a moment before saying, “There is this girl I like…”

“Rarity?” I said, not looking up from my bowl.

“Yeah, Rarity-WAIT! How do you know that!?” Spike exclaimed as he jumped up.

“Yeah, just continue.”

Spike clears his throat, “Well, what do I do to make Rarity like me?”

I took a bit to think. He and Rarity, I don’t see it. Looking over at Louie, he gives me a look. He's thinking the same thing. “Well, have you thought about looking for someone else?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have Rarity tunnel vision.”

“Tunnel vision?”

“You focus too much on her. There could have been somepony else, but you couldn't have known.” I rub the back of my head, “Look, Spike, I'm not trying to be rude. Just be more observant.”

Spike nods, “Yeah, yeah. But I don’t think anypony can catch my eye like Rarity. Her beauty shines brighter than any gem I've ever seen.”

“Whatever,” I said, leaning back and staring into the sky. The stars shine bright with the moon so full. “Louie, how about you and Rarity’s cat go out?”

Louie perks out, “Opalescence?”

“Yeah,”

“No, absolutely not!”

“You two talked?” asked Spike.

“Once, she acted so upper class,” answered Louie. “Rarity needs to stop babying that cat.”

“What about you and Liz?” I asked with a smile. He responded by hissing at me. Spike and I laughed. “Now, do you want to hear the story of me and my cousins getting stuck in Rome?”

“I do!” Spike said ecstatically, “...Wait, what’s Rome?”

“A big stony city,” Louie replied as he licked his paws clean.

“Cool!”

Walking through fields and going across rivers has been fun. We managed to catch up with the dragons in a few days. Riding on top of Louie through a forest full of dark orange leaves. Brushing the leaves off my head, I feel Spike wiggling around in my hood, “Look who’s awake. How’s your nap?”

Spike lets out a yawn, “Good, how long was I out?”

“I think it’s around noon?” I said. “So, about a few hours. Oh, you slept through this raft ride with this donkey.” I need to stretch my legs. Placing Spike on Louie’s back then jumped off on the cat. “Oi, Spike, are we close?”

“Yeah, I can feel it.” Spike said, “Guys, look up there.” Louie and I look to where Spike is pointing at. It’s a tree with two red birds. “Phoenixes, you two never seen one, right?”

“Spike, I always thought they were bigger?” I asked as I watched the two birds grooming each other. I see Louie beginning to focus on the Phoenixes. I tap the cat’s head, “Oi, don’t get any ideas.”

“Hey, I'm not dumb enough to attack flaming Birds.” Louie huffed, “Even if I’m about the size of an elephant.”

“Look, we’re out of the woods!” I yelled, running ahead. Once we are out, we see volcanoes. One of the volcanoes has dragons heading to it. “Guest, we have to climb that.”

Louie gives me a double take, “We have to climb a mountain!?”

“Well, it's an inactive volcano.” Spike corrected him.

“I see smoke, so it’s probably active,” I said as I crossed my arms. “Well, I’m not a volcano expert.”

“That’s great!” Louie said sarcastically.

“Quit whining like a pussy, let's go!” I smiled.

“I am a cat,”

The three scales up the volcano. Well, it was more like Riki carrying Spike and Louie. As they make it to the top, they hide behind some rocks. Spike looks inside the volcano to see tons of dragons. All different colors, shapes, and sizes. The little dragon has the biggest smile on his face. “Now, what dragon should we hang out with?” Spike didn't get an answer. He turns around, Riki and Louie are not there. “Riki? Louie? Where are you guys?”

“Sorry, Spike. I just went to hide my backpack and get change.”

“Change for what-” Spike's words die when he sees Riki. Riki is wearing an orange dragon onesie with wings clearly taped on. “...What are you wearing?”

Riki does a few poses before saying, “It’s my disguise, so I can blend in with the other dragons. I’m wearing my Agumon onesie. I hope the taped wings help out.” Riki lets out a hearty laugh as he pulls up the hood. “Pepper Breath, haha!”

Spike sighs at Riki’s antics. “Wait, where is Louie?”

“I’m right here!” Louie sticks his head out of the onesie. “I think I should hide in here.”

“So, Spike, what are we doing?” Riki asked as he looked inside the volcano.

Spike points at some dragons, “Alright, you guys see those teenage dragons?” Riki and Louie both nod, “That’s our get-in.”

Make their way inside the volcano, carefully sliding down so they don't fall. As they make their way to the teenage dragons. They see them wrestling, laughing, and eating gems with each other. The teenage dragons finally notice them when Spike trips over a rock. Riki picks up Spike and says, “Oi! Dragons, how’s it going!?”

A red dragon as tall as Riki steps up and says, “Who are you two?”

Spike clears his throat, “Uh, hi. I'm Spike.”

“And I’m…Agumon,” Riki can feel Louie biting his back. “That’s the only thing I can think of,” Riki whispers to him. The dragons begin to surround them. Riki gets ready if he has to fight.

“Well, I’m Garble.” He said as he sized up Riki, looking into Agumon’s eyes instead of Riki’s. Garble then introduces the other dragons to Riki and Louie. “How come we haven't seen you two around before?”

Riki rubs his head, “I mostly hang out in the back when we migrate.”

“Dude, he’s one of those dragons,” Whispers a purple dragon to a white dragon.

“I think he’s the one that threw up in the lava pool.” The white dragon whispers back.

Garble picks up Spike by the tail. Riki is about to intervene, but Louie stops him by biting his neck. “Wait, don’t do anything.”

“Oh, and I live in Ponyville and–” Some laughter cut off Spike from the dragons.

Garble drops Spike, “Hahaha! Ponyville? That explains it! I knew you gave off a pony-ish vibe.” Garble slowly gets in Spike’s face. Spike backs up until his back is up against a rock. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were part pony!”

“Who, me? I'm not part pony! I'm all dragon, see? Raar!” said Spike, trying to make himself look scary. But it’s not really working.

“Or maybe you're a pony in a dragon costume,” Garble said, making the other dragons laugh. Riki sighs as he gets in between Spike and Garble. “Agumon, what are you doing?”

Riki knows Garble is the boss of this group of teenage dragons. So, if he keeps Garble calm, the others will follow. “I ran into Spike this migration. And let me tell you, he is a dragon of dragons.”

“Oh, yeah? Prove it,” said Garble.

“How do I do that?” Spike chimed in.

“By acting like one! Who's up for a little belching contest?” Garble announced, making the dragons around cheer with excitement. Each of the dragons takes turns burping up fire. The next one is better than the last. “Agumon, it’s your turn!”

Spike gives Riki a worried look. Riki pats Spike on the head, “I got this. I came prepared. Oi, Louie?”

“Yeah, what do you need?” He asked as he crawled up my back.

“There is a small bottle of rum and a lighter in my right pocket,” I whispered. “And put them in my hands.” Louie carefully grabs and places rum and a lighter in Riki’s hand. He sneakily chugs the bottle of rum. Riki spits out the rum on the lighter, blasting out a stream of flame.

From the dragon's perspective, it looks like Riki is breathing fire. But it was just a simple booze flamethrower. Dragons cheers with Riki’s performance. “Nice one, Agumon!”

“Dude, that was amazing!”

“It was nothing,” Riki said casually, making his way back to Spike. Spike taps Riki’s leg and asks him how he did that. “Just some booze and a lighter. Saw Madeline do it a bunch of times. She’s good with anything that has to do with booze.”

“You think you can beat that, Peewee?” Garble said, bumming into him.

Spike takes a few deep breathes before breathing fire. But something other than fire came out, too. A letter from Princess Celestia. Riki and Spike’s eyes widened as they watched Garble pick it up and begin to read it. Riki is surprised that Garble can even read.

“From the desk of-” Before Garble can read anymore, Riki snatches the letter and shoves it down his onesie. “Whoa, Agumon! If you’re that hungry, we have gems over there.”

“My bad.”

“Alright, let's do some tail wrestling!.” Garble yelled.

“Yeah!” The dragons roared.

Time has been flying by. After tail wrestling and the short time Spike was ‘King of the Horde!’ before Garble took it from him. I will say my time here with the dragons is pretty fun. It’s like a frat house, but everyone can breathe fire. Spike is having fun here. I would love to see him like this. Maybe we can come back here later.

“Oi, Louie?”

“Yeah, Riki?”

I look over the cliff, “Is that a pool of lava down there?”

“Yeah, yeah, it is.” Louie nods.

“...Cool,” I said. “And we have to jump down there?”

Louie moves to the top of my head. “Well, I can sit this one out.”

I watch a dragon jump off the cliff and cannonball in the lava. That looks cool and painful. Something taps my leg. Looking down, I see Spike, “Oh, you can cut in front of me.”

“Thanks,” Spike chuckled. He stops when he looks down. “Uhhh… That's a long fall we got there.”

“What's wrong, Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide!?” yelled Garble.

Spike takes a few deep breaths, trying to get in the zone. Taking a couple of steps forward, he then jumps. Louie and I watch as Spike falls, screaming his lungs out. Then…

Thwack

Spike painfully belly flops in the lava.

“Oi, Spike, you good!?” I yelled.

“...Peachy,” Spike said as he swam out the lava.

“Agumon! Jump!”

“Nah, I’m good!” I said. “You guys go ahead. I'll catch up later!” As the dragons head back, Louie hops out of the onesie. “Huh, where you going?”

“Bathroom,” Louie answered as he stretched. “I’m going to go behind those rocks.”

Swinging my arms around, waiting for my cat to go poop. I noticed something or someone. It looks like a blue dragon, and I can’t really tell what it’s doing. But I think the dragon is watching me… Oh, shit! Did the dragon see Louie?

“Hey, let me in,” Louie said as he climbed in the onesie. “Hey, Riki, you good?”

“Y-yeah, just thinking.” I look back to see the dragon is gone. “Just thinking.”

We make our way back to Spike and the others. When we get there, Spike runs up to me. “Riki, Louie, there’s something I need to tell you!”

Wow, he looks pretty excited. “What is it, Spike?”

“Well, I’ve been enjoying my time here…”

“And…?”

“...I'm not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out here forever.”

Wait, what did Spike just say? “Forever, like staying here?”

“Yeah, I feel like a dragon here. Not a pony.”

Louie pops his head out, “Spike, what are you saying!?”

“Tell everypony that I said goodbye,” Spike said somberly. “Thanks for taking me here.”

I took a deep breath, “...Spike, are you sure you want to stay?”

“Yeah,”

“Spike, Agumon! Come over here!” Garble shouted, “We have something big.”

Spike runs ahead as I stay back. Louie goes to my shoulder and says, “Riki, we need to stop him. He doesn't know what he's talking about.”

“Spike’s mind is set in stone,” I said, rubbing my head. “He is the only one that can change it.”

“Riki, we do nothing then?” Louie asked frantically.

“Nothing,” I said quietly.

Making my way to Spike and Garble. I see they are getting ready for something. “Oi, what’s going on?”

“We are taking Spike on a real dragon raid,” Garble said.

“A dragon raid?” I questioned.

“Yeah, there's a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby, and we're gonna swipe 'em!”

I look down at Spike with a concerned look, “You are going?”
“Yeah, what about you?” Spike asked.

Letting out a yawn, saying, “I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to leave.”

“You’re going to miss the raid, Agumon.”

I begin to walk away, “It's fine. You guys have Spike. He’s a dragon of dragons.”

“Riki!”

In the woods right outside on the volcano, Riki is riding on top of Louie, still in his Agumon onesie. Louie sighs, “Riki, you did nothing to stop Spike. We are just leaving him, huh!?” Riki doesn't say anything. Louie huffs and turns back to regular size.

“Really?”

“Riki, we should go get Spike.”

“He needs to make the decision on his own,” said Riki, “If I just take him, he won’t learn. I care about the little dragon, I really do.” Riki gets up and places his head on a tree.

“Learn what?”

“That it’s okay that you don't fit in with your-”

“Kind?”

“Yeah. I learned that lesson when I was young.” Riki said softly. “And I think Spike should too.”

Louie became the size of Riki, “You really didn’t want to leave Spike?”

“...When Spike said he's staying. I hope he was joking.” Riki said with a slight chuckle. “Damn, fuck the lesson. Louie, let's go get our little dragon buddy!”

Louie's ears perked up. “Good, because I can hear Spike, and it's not going good.”

“Shit!”

Spike is running through the woods with a phoenix egg. Chasing after him is Garble and the other dragons. Thankfully, with Spike's small size, he’s able to dodge the dragons by using the trees. Carefully holding the egg tight, Spike dives into a bush.

“Peewee, where are you!” Garble roared, “Let us smash that egg, or we are going to smash you!”

Spike watches some dragons go past before quietly moving out of the bushes. He stopped when something stepped on his tail. It was Garble. “Hey, buddy.”

Garble steps harder on Spike’s tail, making him squeal. “Give me the egg, Peewee.”

“No! It's just a defenseless egg like I was!” Spike shouted, spitting out some fire. “I'm not gonna let you hurt it!”

“No one says no to me.” Garble gets ready to attack Spike, but at the last second, Riki comes flying in and kicks Garble in the face. The dragon’s body slams into a tree. Garble rubs his head, “Agumon! What was that for!?”

“Oh, just helping out a friend,” Riki said, “Oi, Spike, how’s it going?”

A few tears welled up as Spike said, “I thought you left!”

“I was bullshiting, I didn’t want you to stay!” Riki replied, “But I wanted you to make your own decision. I didn’t want to drag you away. You probably hate me if I do.”

“What!?”

The two other dragons are going to attack Riki, but Louie jumps out of the onesie. Growing to full size, Louie slams his paws on the two dragons. “Cat-astrophe!” Louie then uses his two tails to wrap around them and throw the dragons into a tree.

“Did Agumon throw up a cat?” said one of the dragons before passing out.

“What’s with the egg?” Riki asked.

“They want me to smash it,” Spike said, holding it tight. “That’s crazy!”

Riki watches Garble flies into him. “Oi, Garble!” The red dragon gets ready to breathe fire, but Riki quickly chops Garble in the throat, making him choke on the fire. Riki then grabs Garble by the face and smashes his head into a tree, knocking him out. “Damn, I thought he was going to be stronger.”

“Thanks for the help, guys,” Spike said.

“C’mon, let's go return that egg.” Riki then picked up Spike and put him on his shoulder. “Now, which way?”

“That way,” Spike pointed. He took a moment, saying, “Riki, I learned something today.”

“That it’s okay to be different?”

“Yeah, I realize that who I am is not the same as what I am.”

“Oh, I like that.” Louie chimed in, “You should put that on a shirt.”

“Look, sorry for leaving you,” Riki said softly.

“It’s okay, but if you didn’t, I wouldn't realize that I like the way I am.”

Riki lets out a big laugh, “That's the only thing that matters! Who cares what people think about you! If you like the way you are, it's alright.”

“Yeah! I'm a dragon raised by ponies!” yelled Spike. “Riki, this trip was fun! We should do this again.”

“The whole camping thing?” Riki smiles and says, “Yeah, we can do that again. Oh, we should also invite Shining Armor and Big Mac.”

“Oh, Riki! I think the egg is about to hatch!” Spike shouted frantically.

“Let’s go find this egg’s parents!” Riki said, jumping on Louie’s back.

“Yeah!”