A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 76: A New Student And Growing Concerns.

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Deep in the Everfree Forest*
*Time: The next day, One-thirty in the afternoon*

Spike was sitting in one of the small chairs provided on the bridge of the Yuna and quietly observing Twilight and the rest of the girls who were conversing with Gambit below the ship and getting ready to head into the nearby tree line. All of this was all thanks to a large screen being projected right in front of the see-through dome so that everyone inside could get a good view of what was happening out there. All around him were unfamiliar pieces of technology as most of the surface area that he could make out were covered in what was either blinking buttons or glowing panels of lights and odd icons.

Around him were four ponies with the same face and clothing who were busying themselves at their own stations. Near the back and towards what he assumed was one of those computers that he heard about back in Canterlot, was the only one of the group to be wearing a set of large round glasses. As for the others, two were in chairs on either side of the front see-through dome and looking over their consoles. Every now and then they would converse with one another on either personal matters or what was happening on the ship.

The last of the crew was in the center and looking awfully bored with the way she was tapping her four fingers in a rhythm on the console as her head was lazily laying on her fist that was being propped up with one eye open. He wasn’t quite sure, but he was almost positive that he caught that one mumbling about not getting depressed the buttons she wanted. She would even make some pretend explosion sounds from under her breath, of which he found curious.

After a couple of seconds went by after seeing everybody leave into the forest as a group. Spike's attention was brought to his right as the one with the glasses stepped away from what she was doing to stand next to him and give a light cough to gain his attention. She then attempted to push her glasses firmly in place after previously getting loose from making the noise before speaking up. “I can tell that you're a little scared. Want to talk about it?” In response, Spike look towards his clawed feet before giving a silent shake of the head to indicate that he did not feel up for it.

The mare stayed where she was for a couple of seconds and said the following before turning to return to her station. “Well, that's too bad. And here I thought you'd want to see something cool~.” Hearing the word cool, cause the couple of his spines to give a subtle twitch to show that he was interested and slowly got off of his chair to follow her over. Soon, he found himself standing next to the strange mare and staring at a large monitor with a set of half circles. one of which was slightly larger and going outwards while a smaller one was rotating in the opposite direction. Below that was a rectangular bar and it was beginning to fill up slowly.

Eventually the screen went all white before fading away and revealing a strange stone area that look to be in a weird coliseum. The entire area was a perfect square with three large towers at the bottom and again at the top where the end was. The bottom ones were a bright blue, while the opposing side was red. The one next to him then began to point at a couple of icons and immediately pressing some buttons on the panel below the screen to bring up a list of what Spike assumed where characters of some sort.

Whoever or whatever they were would move their arms and legs as if either jumping or walking in place. Among these were ponies Griffin’s, Dragon’s, Minotaur’s, Buffaloes and a couple of other species that he had only heard of in either books or passing from others in the castle. There were even a few creatures and monsters thrown in the mix. Soon he was explained that it was a type of game modeled after another that would soon be showcased somewhere else and that Spike was literally looking at the prototype.

The objective was to conquer the other towers by deploying these minions and systematically conquering key points along the way. There are those that were meant to attack from a short distance or go at one another in a head-to-head fight. There were even healers and those that would cast a positive or negative effect. These depended on what their role was when deployed from the start. The more key points one captures the more units they were allowed to have deployed all at one time as the game progressed.

Eventually, he got to watch her play a match to get the basics down before a turn was offered to him. Spike was hesitant at first, but after getting a reassuring nod did the Dragon finally get around to mustering his courage to give it a try. In the beginning, the young Spike was having some difficulty with coming up with what to throw into his options before the match began. A few mistakes were made here and there and towers were lost as a result. Luckily enough, he was a fast learner and quickly got a hold of the situation and was fighting back with well-planned maneuvers and combinations of characters at his command.

A tower would be taken back and the enemy would be pushed into ambushes. His opponent's troops would be cut in half where the casters would be left undefended before being taken down from both ends. And before he knew it, Spike had completely turned it around and dominated his digitally imposed opponent and took all three of the other side's Towers in one fell Swoop after maxing out his points for available units for an all-out assault.

Right as the march came to an end upon the announcement of the victor being the player. The Changeling in disguise that was standing next to him for the whole time, now had a look of surprise as she glanced over his score which depicted all of his actions from the start and all the way till the finish. She even went so far as to remove her glasses to clean them with a piece of her clothing that was near the end of her sleeve to make sure that she was seeing correctly as the score was definitely higher than her own.

Spike himself was giving a fist pump while cheering for his victory. All the while, he was unaware that he was the center of attention as the others eventually made their way over and was watching from behind as well. The first to speak up and to draw the young Dragon’s attention happened to be the mare that was in the weapons seat thanks to a long whistle that was given off before she spoke. “Dang! And here you didn't have any experience at the game and you still kicked its ass. Didn't think you had it in you kid, but you sure came back with a vengeance. Nice work with getting your golems in place to cut off the healers from the rest of the pack.”

The young Drake was scratching the back of his head with his right arm, while also looking a little sheepish after getting the compliment. The one that was with them from the start began to add her own voice to the mix. “I dare say, you might have even gotten the top score if it wasn't for your shaky start. If I didn't know any better, then I’d think you were one of our beta testers.” Spike was beginning to blush by this point as he kicked the ground with the tip of his clawed foot as he replied.

“Um, t-thanks. Once I had an understanding of what all of my units could do on the field and their movement patterns, then it wasn't really all that hard to come up with a strategy. Getting used to the controls were also tricky. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun in a while. The moving pictures were really cool to look at and I was almost sucked into the game. Wouldn’t be too surprised if others played it nonstop for hours on end.”

The one in glasses raised an eyebrow to this and glanced over to the screen before bringing her attention back to spike as she replied. “Really now? You only got to see them use their skills only once, and you memorized it on the spot? Never seen anyone else pick up on it's so quickly. As soon as we threw our testers at it, I don’t think any of them won a match until their third or fourth try. It has a system setting where I could put it on either easy, normal or hard mode and you were playing it right at normal setting.”

From there, a small smirk was creeping on to her lips as she placed both hands onto her hips before leaning in to say the following. “Say~. You wouldn't happen to be a fan of Heroes for Hire, are you?” From behind Spike, the other three were giving themselves silent facepalms as they turned away to go back to their stations. But not until each one gave out some type of complaint that was of the following.

“Oh, not again...”

“Typical, should have seen it coming!”

“At least it's not us now. Good luck kid. You're going to need it!”

There was a short pause from Spike as he listened and watched the others go. When his attention was brought back to the one that was asking the question earlier. He could not help but to shrug his shoulders before apologetically saying, “I do play it at home, but I didn't bring any of my cards with me.” This got a triumphant smirk from her before she excitedly gave out a squeal and clapped her hands together as she spoke.

“Oh goodie! I got a couple of pre-made decks on hand. How about you wait here and I go grab them!” And without even allowing any time at all for the young dragon to come up with his own reply. The mare was already running to the now sliding open bulkhead and out of sight at such a pace one would have thought that her tail was on fire. But before the door closed again, there was an excited squeal that echoed from deeper down the hallway to indicate that she had already gone down the distance.

Spike then said the following while not taking his eyes off of the now closed door so that all the others could hear. “Uuuuh… Anyone want to fill me in on what THAT was all about?” The one on the left gave a small chuckle as she was pushing at a couple of buttons at her station. As for the next one over. She was only shaking her head slowly and raising her arms in a shrugging gesture right as the last spoke up. “I hope you really like to play that game because... well... she's not going to let you go for a couple of hours until she's satisfied. None of us wants to play with her anymore because she gets way too competitive.”

It was the second one who then spoke up as she released a grunt of annoyance. “It was all fun and games a month or so ago but... the rest of us are just sick of it and need a break. You wouldn’t believe what lengths we had to go through to get her to stop pestering to play.” Spike gave a nervous gulp as he fixed the neckline of his shirt after hearing their words and said the following from under his breath. “In the words of Gambit. What in the name of the twelve have I gotten myself into?”

As if the world was waiting for that exact question. The door suddenly opened and in came the mare that was just being spoken of. In an instant, his eyes went wide upon seeing a large box that was just small enough to fit through the door frame and there were a couple of deck size boxes stacked clear over the top which was still open. The entire thing was slightly swaying from side to side as a couple of the containers shifted around to where it nearly tumbled over in some random direction.

There was a noticeable cold sweat that ran down the side of his head as he said the following with a nervous chuckle. “Oh... now I see. Hehe-hehe... could we at least grab some snacks first?” After hearing that, the mare poked her head from one side of the box excitedly as she said, “That is a splendid idea, we can play even longer then! Here, keep an eye on these while I head down to the mess area. We’re going to need at least eighteen bottles of two-liter drinks and several pounds of snacks to hold us over! Ooh~, This is gonna be so much fun!”

She then went right up the spike and handed him the entire stack and rushed off. But just as she was doing this, Spike was overshadowed by the sheer size of everything and started to wobble on his shaky legs. As soon as she was gone again. Spike said the next bit as his voice betrayed his struggling. Why do I somehow feel déjà vu like with Blue Blood…” It did not even take a few more seconds until he fell into the chair behind himself and released a grunt from the sudden pressure of all the cards now laying on his lap.

It was at that precise moment over in Canterlot castle that Prince Blue Blood was walking down one of the hallways and suddenly began to sneeze a couple of times. Upon the third sneeze did a and gentle female’s voice drew his attention from right next to him as his mane was getting a little messed up from the sudden head jerking. “Prince Blue Blood, are you feeling unwell? May I suggest putting these discussions with a few of the nobles on hold today? That way you can get some rest.”

The prince blinked a couple of times before discreetly wiping his nose after looking around to see if anyone was watching. A small cough was given as a hint of an embarrassed blush crossed his cheeks as he turned to the one speaking and replied, while also straightening himself out. “Thank you for the concern I do appreciate it. Alas my presence is duly required. It has come to my attention that a number of the shop owners are pulling out of Canterlot in droves. Many of the owners of the buildings are complaining about the sudden influx of lost revenue due to all of the unexpected lease agreements being broken without warning.”

He then quickly added after lately coughing into his fist and turning away to one of the open windows as they went right back to walking, and the female being slightly hidden thanks to some of the shadows that were being cast on that half of the hallway. “Have you… What I mean to say is. I heard that one of the noble stallions approached you during the party.” This earned him a little giggle from the female and this made him look away a little more as his expression turned a worrisome. She then said, “I was merely getting an invitation to a herd.”

As his head was still turned away. Prince Blue Blood’s eyes shot wide open as his face fell. There was even a nervous gulp that he desperately tried to hide before she continued. “But as you no doubt expected, I turned it down the invitation. I’m far too busy after all. Oh dear, we have already arrived at the meeting room. If you shall excuse me, I will move on to my other tasks. Until then, please be careful and do be mindful of that little cold of yours. Perhaps later tonight I will have a word with the cooks and have them serve some soup along with your dinner.”

And with that. Blue blood excused her and began to take the final steps towards the closed door as his ears swiveled to listen to the female gaining distance down the hallway that they came from. As soon as he was sure that she was far enough away that she would need to turn a corner and that he was alone in that part of the corridor. Prince blue blood stopped just one step before placing his hand on the doorknobs. He then began to slump his shoulders as a very relieved sigh escaped his lips.

He then whispered, “I don’t know what I would have done if she had accepted the proposal… perhaps it would have been better if I had stayed at her side instead of making my rounds that night. After this, I should probably talk to my aunts. Surely one of them must have some valuable advice on how I should move forward. No-no-no-no-no, t-this is just too embarrassing to ask them. Maybe going to Sir Fancy Pants would be a better idea. At the very least his wife, miss Fleur de Lis may have a few pointers on how I should approach her.”

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

The Roegadyn was standing a few paces away from an oversized black and purple bug with a long bulbous tail in a stinger at the end. The creature itself was on its legs for a couple of seconds before crumpling to the ground and going completely motionless after giving a final twitch. Just as the last time they were all out this deep. Brex was staying in the group that consisted of Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie. The pink party pony was jumping in place and cheering as the other two were giving each other a fist bump as Brex was looking over their latest foe that was brought down by their hands.

This was like so many of the others, which turned out to be a dire mite. This one in particular was roughly a third of the size taller than Applejack and set at level fourteen. There were also another four more scattered about to show that an entire group was taken out at once. This time, Brex was utilizing the White Mage class and held in his right hand, was a staff made of a red colored wood that went into a curve to show a hook.

In the beginning, Brex did have to throw a couple of offensive spells here and there for some assists. However, after the first encounter, the others were doing fairly well for themselves and he was primarily keeping an eye on the battlefield while casting healing spells when needed. Which turned out to be less and less as the girls all began to develop their fighting instincts and had a good feel on what the others were capable of so that they could anticipate the next course of actions.

But this did not mean that he could take it easy with how he had to lower his stats to compensate for the others experience gain. He then communicated to Rory through the connection while keeping an eye on his surroundings and mini map for any unwanted visitors that might try to sneak up on them. This of course sparked a back-and-forth conversation between the two.

“How's it going on your side?”

“As well as I expect yours to be. Although I could do without Rarity complaining every ten seconds and Twilight over analyzing the situation when she should be acting. Fluttershy however is doing better. At least her little scares are not being as frequent as before. She only fainted once so far.”

“Every ten seconds huh? That's definitely an improvement from every five. How about we meet up again at the ship in half an hour for a rest break?”

“That would be for the best. We could even switch some of the group members around. You know, just to see how well they can adapt now that they’ve gotten a good feel for it.”

“Hmm. Good plan. I'll send Rainbow and Pinky and I'll take Twilight and Rarity in exchange. It’s really a shame that Zecora couldn’t join us this time either. I had a feeling that her tonics were going to be so popular over at the twin’s spa. Sure, that stuff keeps for a long while, but the ingredients are goanna be hard to come by if she doesn’t collect them before the seasons change.” There was a slight pause before he added, “Say Rory... What do you think about last night?”

“Hard to tell. But I think my Master made a good call. Also sending Twilight over with you might help an easing her worries if she got to see how well you can handle yourself when teaching others. Apart from a couple of lectures and going into the forest a short way, she hasn't had all that much time with you to feel comfortable with what was talked about.”

“All right then, I'll see you in thirty minutes.” And with that the conversation came to an end and Brex ushered the girls to continue on their search for creatures to slay. All the while keeping his young charges safe. As this was happening, his mind drifted to the events of last night after Spike in Twilight showed up at his house. The three were inside one of the many rooms on the first floor, which was quite spacious as tall bookshelves were lining the walls.

There was even a window with dark purple drapes closed shut so that no light could come in. The light fixtures were lit and a magical fire was ignited, which gave off a tender glow and offering some warmth to the chili air that came about the current season. This was thanks to him using a low-level Dungeons and Dragons spell which ignited the logs. Brex soon took a seat at one couch that was facing the door that they came in as the other two took the other one that was facing him and sat in silence for a few moments.

Twilight was appearing to be nervous as she attempted to slowly place a hand onto his right shoulder, but only to cause Spike to pull away with tears in his eyes after pulling his shoulder away with a quick jerk. On his part, Brex appeared to be a rock with how he just sat there watching. However, the reality was that he had a mix of emotions at what he was unfolding. Among these was anger towards the town. Self-loathing for having printed that book and bringing up all of this. Disapproving towards Twilight and of course Celestia as well for not even considering the fundamental needs of a young Dragon who was stuck in Pony culture.

Then there was what he was feeling towards Spike himself as the young Dragon lowered his head while also refusing to acknowledge Twilight who was sitting a couple of inches away on his right side. He felt guilty about putting a wedge in their relationship. Although, with the way the world was no longer an exact replica of the show, there was no telling whether or not the dangers would escalate to where he could possibly lose his life if nothing was done soon to improve his chances.

In the cartoon, most of what Spike did was ride on the back of Twilight as she was the main mode of conveyance whenever trouble struck. A lot of his struggles required him to run for the most part or for the danger to be somewhat tame at best. There was literally a small handful of times that his life was on the line. Now... now it was all different. Life and death struggles happen on a daily basis in this world.

Not to mention the prejudice with him not only being a Dragon, but of the male persuasion. If he did not have to deal with the female Dragons of his kind then he still had to worry about the ponies. Sure, in Dragon culture there happened to be fewer males just like with many of the other races. But it was not so bad. In terms of ratio there are at least three female Dragons to one male. The real problem is that in this society he is still considered weak just because of his gender.

Getting together with those outside of their species was becoming less and less uncommon as the years went by. Who's to know that when he became a little older, that there would not be some group of females that would try to take advantage of him. Sure, there was already Rarity who was widely known for taking him up on his offers for assistance. Brex actually cringed as the image of Spike being used as a pin cushion in both the figurative and literal sense crossed his mind. Yes, he was indeed taller because of the anthropomorphic way everyone was in this world. However, Brex feared for his safety as he began to speak for the first time upon them all sitting down.

“Spike. Twilight implied that you wanted to ask me something. I'm ready to listen if you're ready to talk.” The young Dragon was twiddling his thumbs as he nervously began to explain his situation. It basically ran down as the following as Spike laid it all out. How coming to Ponyville sounded great in the beginning. But it quickly evolved to what it was now after a couple of weeks past and the whole Nightmare Moon coming back blew over. As Twilight was making friends and becoming better known by the residents of the town, Spike was also going through the opposite as the residents all slowly knew of his character.

At first, the simple fact that he was a Dragon was one thing, but once his caring nature and lack of aggression became more and more apparent. The residence turned to becoming more at ease. Spike thought this was good from his point of view until it slowly changed even further. The fear and reverence turned to distrust and ignorance. What was once a happy, “Oh, it's the Dragon of Twilight.” Was now a cynical, “Oh… Look at that, it's just Twilight's little pet Dragon.” In no way was he identified as her little brother. But instead, the way they refer to him gave the impression that he was some owned creature.

Many of the store clerks would act as if nothing was wrong whenever Twilight was with him. However, whenever an errand came up and needed Spike to go in on his own then everything would just turn on its head and he would just get watched like a hawk. They would even go so far as to ask a number of inappropriate questions about why he was purchasing the items in hand and if Twilight knew that he was out on his own. There was a handful of other incidences where the shop owners would even make remarks that would insinuate that he got the coins through some less respectable means and question whether or not Twilight gave them to him or not.

He even went on to speak about the living conditions at home. How everyday he needed to keep the library spotless and cook all of Twilight's meals. Not to mention the nearly endless chore list and shopping that he needed to go out to do, while she stayed indoors and would read her books from sunup till sundown on most days. Twilight would only talk to him whenever she wanted to ask a question or give him something else to do. Even on his days off he had to take half of it to go and do a favor for his older sister.

And speaking of Spike’s days off. When he was not doing any of that. He was literally scared to leave the house due to the near constant bullying he would receive from the other kids and adults whenever Twilight or her friends were not anywhere in earshot. Aside from Big Mac, who never left the farm, along with Brex and Rory. The kid literally had no one else to talk to, or to do even anything at all with.

The young Dragon just allowed all of this out and into the open as the words flowed to show just how much he was holding onto and keeping bottled up. Twilight attempted to interject here and there to offer some explanation or some flimsy reply on her defense. But the Unicorn was stopped by Brex, who lifted a single finger and placed it over the mouth section of his mask to show that she was to remain quiet until her little brother was finished with venting his problems with any unnecessary interruptions.

By the end. He was looking almost spent as his shoulders violently shook from time to time. While also holding onto his elbows and looking down to the floor with watery eyes. Twilight herself was looking shaken up as well by what was conveyed. As her mouth slowly opened as if wanting to say something to her younger brother, to only fail miserably and close it once again. Her ears were even flattened to the sides of her head as she was getting ready to cry from where Brex sat.

However, this all turned her face to that of abstract horror as she then heard Spike say the following as he was now balling up his fists, and also keeping his face hidden from both her and Brex. “Can… Can you possibly… H-help me w-with… Gulp! S-Some training too? I can’t stand it all anymore… Take me into the woods just like you do for the others. Teach me how to be… Not what I am… Something. Anything. I’m begging you, PLEASE!”

Brex expected as much as he slowly leaned back into his chair and outstretched his arms so that his shoulders were almost hanging off of the back of the couch. But still. Even with him being ready for it. He still felt a strong shock from hearing those words from Spike’s own lips. His head lazily tilted only a small amount to his left as he asked the following to start a back and forth between him and Spike, while he continuously motioned for Twilight to stay silent in the meantime. “Training is all there is, right? Or is there more?”

“I-I... I want to become stronger, because everyone takes advantage of me. I want to show them all that I'm not some pushover that will take the abuse and roll over. I’m a person, not a pet.”

“Is that it? You want to become my student so you can, what? Beat up your bullies? Show them all just who’s boss? Take your frustration’s out on them? Be the top dog as they say? Or perhaps it’s all revenge and they will get what they did to you with a hundred times more?”

“N-No, I don't want to just go around and beat them up. I want to be taken a little more seriously. Even I know that violence and revenge is a lonely path to travel. At least… That’s what they say in a lot of the books I’ve gone and read. Besides, I already know what it's like to be bullied and I don't want to be on the other end of it. It’s not right at all to make another feel this way. Also, I'm scared. I'm scared of having to rely on Twilight all the time. I don't want to be a baby for my entire life. And it's because of that that no one listens to a thing I say.”

Spike finally raised his head to show a fire in his eyes that was not there before as he continued with him looking straight ahead. “And after reading that book, I could now see so many things that are wrong with me. I wouldn't be surprised if I still looked exactly the way I am from seven years from now. Will I still be without my wings? Or not even grow enough to look at Twilight in the eyes without straining my neck back? Will I always be a baby to all around me? What happens in the event I’m alone? I won’t be able to survive on my own.”

His voice was starting to tremble as he spoke on even more. “Also... I want to be of real help to Twilight and everyone else! I'm not so silly to believe that I'll just run out and defeat the first high level monster I come across, but I need to be able to defend myself at the very least. I couldn’t help with Nightmare Moon. I couldn’t even help at all when Rarity was captured by those Diamond Dogs! What will happen if something else was to go wrong and it ends up with me being right there? Will I be forced to just watch from the side-lines as my sister or another is taken away?”

Twilight could not hold back any longer and butted in after hearing him say so much. “S-Spike, you're still far too young! Twelve years old is not a time you should be taking up a weapon. Please, just think it over a little more.” That was when Brex decided to interject and loudly coughed into his fist to gain the other's attention before he spoke. “Twilight, this may come as a shock, but once dragons hit the age of ten, they're typically seen as adults in the Dragon Kingdom.” This started a heated debate between himself and Twilight as Spike sat to intently listen to his words.

“The simple matter that he has not grown into his wings by now is a dead giveaway that there is an issue that needs to be addressed. They should have come in around the age of seven or eight. Late bloomers get them by his age and you would be lucky for them to pop up at all after that.” Brex was not kidding. Sure, Spike got his late on the show. However, from his personal research and asking other Dragons. He was not lying. As far as he knew, the Spike of this world may not get them and he would end up wingless for his whole life.

“Oh, come on! Don't tell me you've gone and looked at that stupid book too?! I know what I’m about to say is too much, but. Whoever the author is, they're a bucking idiot! I bet they got all their info off of rumors and what they could think of from the tops of their heads. There have hardly been any books that talk about Dragons in the library, or even in Canterlot for that matter.”

“Oh, the author is an idiot, are they?” Brex leaned on to his right hand as the elbow rested on his knee before he continued in an innocent voice. By the way, who is on that tome? Must be someone you don't know to speak so much against. And here I had you figured to be the trusting type.”

“Huh? Oh, uh I don't remember! I was more preoccupied with calming Spike down to look at that closely. But wait, that's not the point. It doesn't matter who the author is. What matters is Spike being told some ridiculous theories that have no basis. You know what? Wait right here. I'll go back to the library and grab it so you can see for yourself!”

While in a huff. Twilight stood up and was about to make for the door when Brex motion for her to wait and stood up from the couch himself. With confusion stricken on both of his guests faces. Brex strolled silently over to one of the nearby bookcases that was off to the right and brought a hand to his mask to make a thinking gesture while scanning the line of books that were on display.

As this was all going on. Brex nonchalantly spoke as his fingers slowly went from left-to-right on each of the shelfs rows once starting at the top and heading down. “Were the books binding dark purple by chance, and the cover also happen to be decorated with jagged stones in the corners and what seems to be an outline of a dragon's face turned downwards?”

After getting a small, “Uh… yeah.” From Twilight. He went on. “Was it also published within the last few months?” Again, he got the same response from Twilight. Although, this time it was rather reluctant by the sounds of it. After a few more seconds, Brex made an exaggerated sound of accomplishment while pulling out the previously described book from the shelf and casually turned around to flip through the pages.

Twilight's eyes went wide as she pointed towards the item in his hands and loudly yelled in a way to show her growing anger after seeing the book that caused this whole incident, but quickly died down near the end. “That's it right there! Now you can see just how... uh... why do you have that?” Brex did not answer her back as he returned to his seat and slowly thumbed through a couple of the pages. When he stopped, there was an illustration that was hand drawn on one page while the other side had an extensive amount of writing.

The pictures depicted of an egg that would slowly progress from that of being infantile, to one of teenage years through the course of several pictures. He then started to glance over a few of the texts before loudly closing the book. He then said, “Well, it's all written right there. From the looks of it, I doubt it's all something that, as you say, came out of the writer's ass.” When Twilight heard him get to the part at the end with him saying the word ass. She immediately reached over and tried to plant both of her hands on the side of spikes head to muffle anything else from reaching the Dragon as she gave Brex a dirty scowl of disapprovement of using such language.

The young dragon batted his older sister's hands off before adopting a serious look. Spike then said, “Twilight, it may come as a surprise. But I've heard much more vulgar language than that in town.” His expression turned dark as his eyes look towards the ground before continuing in a quiet voice. “Oh I've heard a lot, that's for sure…” That got Twilight to go from shock at hearing this revelation, to that out outright fury. This was made obvious when the mare began to mumble from under her breath. These being some rather pony related vulgar words towards the town’s residents.

The purple Unicorn was clearly getting more and more upset by the moment. Eventually, it quickly turned to what Brex saw as a protective instinct by pulling Spike in for a hug right finishing with nearly having a melt-down over her brother. During this, Brex look down to the cover and saw the two letters at the bottom that said, B M. This only caused him to roll his eyes until they laid onto his bookshelf where there were quite a number in full view that had those initials on the spines.

After giving them a few minutes to collect themselves. Brex spoke up again as he slid the book on the table and over to Twilight. “Look at the author. Do you recognize it? She released Spike and used her finger to clear her now wet eyes before glancing at the book in question. Soon, she had this look of surprise as she snatched it up to bring it closer so that she was positive at what she saw. She then spoke in an uneasy tone. “Hold on... I know this author! I mean I don't know him personally, but I know of their work. It's the same person that wrote that thesis on the Multiverse. I believe I even have a couple more of their works scattered in the library.”

While still holding on to the book in her left-hand. Twilight was holding her right onto her forehead while pacing back and forth between the space of the couch and the small table. As this was going onNow going back . Brex could hear the mare rambling on. “This author wrote that book and also this one? There's even the one about the genie. Oh, and that one girl with the wicked two step sisters and step mother that got to go to the ball thanks to a fairy godmother. There was even that one where a young man is brought back from a distant memory of the past and goes on an adventure with a group of friends and a mage that could summon magical beasts to get rid of a world destroying monster.”

“I remember there being a mention of Chocobo's and flying ships that don't need balloons to stay in the air. So many stories have been published over the recent years and they're all from the same person.” Twilight froze in place as her gaze was stuck at the far wall for a couple of seconds before she turned her attention back to Brex. With an almost questioning expression. She said the following slowly. “Now that I recall... the ship in that story has a striking resemblance to the one that we all took to go into the Everfree forest... if I didn't know any better, then I'd say it came straight out of that... Even the name Yuna… It was one of the main characters.”

Brex gave a light shrug and innocently replied with, “Hmm. That sounds like a big coincidence to me. More importantly. You sound to be a fan of the author. Now what you got to ask yourself is this... do you really think that you should disregard everything in that book that you're holding as nothing but complete fiction? Sure, from what you said. This author sure loves to write out a lot of fantasy stories. However, there must have been other works that are more on the serious side.”

Twilight was obviously torn between what she firmly believed over the course of a decade and what was right in front of her. From his side. Brex knew that she must have been in the middle of listing some of his works with how she basically had the library memorized for some confirmation to what was said. But after some coaxing from Brex, the purple unicorn sat down and began to quickly skim through the contents as Spike was right next to her and glancing at the pages himself.

Over the course of the next two hours. The three of them would discuss what was written. To say that Twilight was beside herself as one question led to an answer that she did not feel comfortable with hearing, was an understatement. Eventually, she faced the reality that not only was she unaware of Spike’s predicament in regards to the town and how he was treated behind her back. But also, the fact that his dietary and physical needs were not being met.

She was almost shaking uncontrollably and outright crying as she profusely apologized to Spike by the end. She would even say things like, how she was so sorry about not paying attention and possibly stunting his growth. To Brex, Twilight was almost stuck in a loop thanks to how she would keep circling around again and saying sorry over and over again. At one point. The Roegadyn found himself rolling his eyes from behind his mask on the ninth time around.

The purple Unicorn even promised that she would immediately send a letter after getting back home to the princess about what she found out. But with Brex. He knew that such a letter would bring the princess to Ponyville and he was not having any of that. Instead, he recommended that sending the book, along with the letter about what was discovered would be good enough. Otherwise, the odds were that the town would suffer if word of Spike’s mistreatment was to get to her ears.

Twilight herself was almost turning giddy at the idea of the princess coming in to deal with the one’s that did all of this to her brother. It was not until Brex explained the aftermath. How it would not help Spike in the way she thought. If anything. It would only cause more problems further down the road. There were a few reasons, but the biggest one was of how the Drake would be viewed by the public and the possible backlash. Not to mention. Spike would be none the better. What was needed to be done, was for him to be the one to fix his own dilemma.

Afterwards, when it came to Spike’s other problem. The Roegadyn said that it would not be a bad idea to help train Spike in the use of some self-defense. Not only that, but it may be a good idea to have him come over once in a while. At the very least, this way he could have the proper nutrients in his diet once a day. This way he could start his recovery process. The plan was to start small. As to not send his body into shock. For him to suddenly have meat after not getting any for his whole life. Would be no different to a starving person who suddenly got their hands on solid food. What the Drake needed, was to ease into it.

Twilight however was not so keen on the idea of Spike taking up a weapon. But Brex insisted that he would be taking it nice and slow since he was still considered a minor and that he would not be pushed into anything too dangerous while on his watch. When it came to the whole needing to eat meat issue. The purple Unicorn was visibly dry heaving as she was beginning to turn a shade of green at the idea. At first, she was willing to let Spike eat meat at the treehouse, but after a couple of seconds. Twilight took back that statement and reluctantly agreed to having her brother to come over to his place for either lunch or dinner.

Nevertheless, she did state that she was to be present at all times whenever Spike was to take any classes from him if they were to be outside. Brex rolled his eyes at this eventually and agreed to the terms as he saw that there was no other way to get Twilight to allow such an arrangement for her brother to learn how to fight. However, it would have to wait until after the others gathered in the following morning. Brex even summoned one of his maids and requested that two extra places be made at the table so that Twilight and Spike could have dinner before heading back to the library.

But when she heard him specifically saying to make a meal for Spike that had what was called a Gobbler in it. The now turning green Twilight attempted to leave. But she was caught by Brex who had placed both of his hands onto the sides of her arms to pin them down and carried her towards the dining hall with Spike closely following behind. In a way. Twilight was no better than a small kid who was in the middle of a tantrum over not wanting a bath. Luckily enough, she quickly relented and just looked straight ahead with an unamused stare.

All the while, he was silently snickering to himself and making sure that Twilight could not see him doing so. She protested greatly. But she calmed down to a degree when he said that she needed to get over it. Especially as he was her brother and supporting his daily needs is exactly what he requires right now for some emotional support.

Now going back to the present. Spike had just won another round of the computer game while waiting on his new card buddy to return from getting the snacks. He even started to silently began to snicker to himself as he recalled the way Twilight was constantly ready to run to the bathroom whenever he took a bite out of the roasted gobbler that was on his plate the night before. In the beginning, he was not sure what to make of it as he had never once consumed any form of meat in his entire life. But oddly enough, the young dragon instantly took a liking to it.

Somewhere deep down there was this growing need to eat it as quickly as possible. Especially as the unfamiliar taste washed over his tongue and lit a strong desire that was more compelling than any he had ever experienced. The strange aroma and herbs danced in his mouth and only made him drool for the next bite. Oddly enough, Spike began to notice that he was actually fatigued and for the first time it was as though his muscles finally relaxed when compared two before the meal. No. It was not only that. It was more like his entire life if he was honest. An unyielding hunger was now being satisfied.

In a way, it was as if his body was screaming that it needed to be in his stomach and that it knew this from the very beginning. Spike was just now starting the third round of the computer game as he began to wonder about how long it might take for him to see any real results. As this was going on. He failed to realize that his hand-eye coordination was getting steadily faster as he worked the controls to react to how the game was fighting back. What was once at the beginning a slow start and progressing to that of being on par with his digital opponent. Soon, it turned more in the young Drake’s favor as he was effortlessly counter attacking at a greater rate thanks to the split-second decisions.

If one was to look even closer at his body. Then they would have noticed the way his arms were not being covered nearly as much at the end of both his sleeves and pants, as he clearly gained an inch or so in height thanks to the way they were not as baggy when compared to how his clothing would normally fit. Spike’s hoodie and jeans had this style where if he wanted, both of his hands could be covered up by simply pulling on the ends of the sleeves. But now if he were to try to do just that, then the odds were that his fingers would be exposed. Ask for the pants leg. The two or three inches of extra length was easily cut in half.

*Point of view: Third person*

The scene quickly shifts to the dense underbrush of green not too far from the Yuna. The hoof of Applejack could be seen snapping a twig while walking around a bush and the rest of her group closely following behind. What Sun could be seen through the thick foliage overhead gave them the impression that the sun was nearly two thirds in making its way across the sky. This even caused solid visible beams of light to shine as though they were bars made of pure sunlight through the dark sections of the forest and illuminating the proximity of which was hit.

Twilight was the second to come around the bend as Rarity followed immediately after, while also being extremely mindful of the foliage. The fashionista would carefully take each step and with the use of her magic, a few of the odd branches were subtly moved in such a way that it gave the impression that she herself was visibly touching the object with disgust. Once a couple of more seconds went by. The large figure of Brex came out as well and displaced a number of leaves that belong to the bush that was obstructing their view up until then.

The new team setup already came across a few encounters up to now. Unlike with the experienced Rory, who took up the front line. Twilight and Rarity required a bit of time to get used to the new party line-up and dynamics. Unfortunately for Applejack. This meant that she had to keep a closer eye on spells from her own teammates while also in the middle of keeping their opponents occupied. Thankfully enough, Brex already gave them some time to go over their strengths and weaknesses with one another so that there was far less chance of a mix up to occur while in the midst of battle.

Nearly five minutes had gone by since any of them uttered a single word after encountering one of the many creatures of the forest and on the prowl for their next target for experience. For Brex, it was almost becoming boring with the way the three mare's were no longer needing his advice as often as they did in the beginning. This meant he was standing on the sidelines and twiddling his thumbs as the group had more than enough firepower so to speak.

Although, there was just one thing that was bothering Brex and that was the frequency of the creatures appearing. Unlike in a game where you can pretty much go anywhere and find something to fight and it would just respond after several minutes go by after its defeat. Brex and the girls needed to actively go out and search in new areas constantly as their prey would run out quickly with the rate they were going. He even began to wonder if it was already time to move on to the next location that was highlighted on his world map. But he knew by doing so would put the girls in greater risk as he had originally intended for them to be a couple of levels higher before he attempted to do so.

In the end, what he really wanted was for all of them to be at level fifteen before the day was up at the very least. Brex then began to overhear as Twilight and Rarity were stopping in place. This was immediately followed with the pair finding a spot to sit. Soon the pair were even giving their hooves a massage before Rarity spoke up in a pleading tone.

“Owee~. My poor hooves are just killing me! I don't know about the rest of you, but I could desperately do with a ten-minute break. All this mud and walking on the hard ground is just doing a number on my hoofs. The only mud that I wish to touch me would have to be that of the spa twins. At the very least, they make sure that theirs is quite clean.”

Brex had this flat stare in his eyes as he looked straight ahead as this was all going on behind him. He then rolled his eyes rather dramatically as he thought the following to himself in an exhausted and almost mocking inner tone. “Mud is mud. And here I thought that she’d get over it by now. She’s even wearing those long boots so it’s not as if it’s actually touching her directly. Still, I’m glad that footwear is now becoming a regular use among adventurers. I guess I can’t really expect everyone to be a bad-ass like Gilda. Sure, she would complain every now and then, but Dang was she tough when compared to the others I trained.”

His inner voice calmed down as he reluctantly began to have an agreeing tone. “OK, fine. I suppose she’s right. They’re not used to this much, so I really need to give them a break. We have been at it a lot, especially with the multiple group encounters. It really wouldn’t do us any good to trudge along without gaining some of our stamina back. Although, wasting time is not really an option. Think I’ll just give them ten or fifteen minutes.”

Twilight quickly joined in as she said, “Yeah, we've been walking all over this place and were not getting as many as we did last week.” Applejack who was a couple of paces ahead turned around to look at the girls, then over to Brex while placing her axe on the ground to use the handle as a walking stick before replying. “They got a point there partner. I wouldn't be surprised if we already took every single Monster in the forest out by now.”

The farm’s mare turned her head to look at the forest before continuing. “Used to be we couldn't take two steps before getting ourselves in a mess of trouble. Now we could probably walk the length of Ponyville and not come across anythin’. It's just as my grandma said. You can't go and draw water from a well that’s already gone bone dry. No matter how many times you drop the bucket in.”

After hearing what the others had to say. Brex turned his hood to take in his surroundings and discover that they were already in an ideal location for arrest as he had a good line of sight for quite a distance. There were already a couple of large stones that were just big enough to be used as chairs for all of them. He then said, “Very well, a short rest sounds good here.” He then went to go sit on one of the rocks but not even a second had gone by before he brought up his right hand and began to do a swirling motion as if trying to pull the air right above his palm and into a single point.

Soon, one spark after another appeared and a floating set of multicolored embers came to life as they hovered right above his palm in a slow orbiting pattern. Each flame was barely stronger than what one would see coming from a simple lantern. Yet there was no heat being given off. They all did happen to hear the noticeable crackling of fire which would be accompanied with such a site. With a subtle flick of his fingers and wrist from Brex, all of the embers flew off in random directions as they zoomed around trees in over bushes.

Rarity then spoke up as her ears flicked in order to try and track the sounds of the flames before they disappeared off in the distance. “Pardon my rudeness, but would you mind explaining just what you did?” Brex responded to that with, “That would be a spell called Dancing Lights. Which happens to be an illumination spell with four magical flames that I can manipulate with my mind. Not very useful for fighting purposes, but are really handy when you want to light up an area. Personally, I found them to be fairly good as an early warning system when out in the woods.”

After seeing the confusion in all of their eyes, Brex continued. “This spell requires me to concentrate in order to keep it effective. I can also tell when one of them happens to go out through the connection. Now my idea is to send them just a little out from where we are and move in a semicircle. This way if there are any wild animals or monsters in the vicinity, then the flames will catch their attention and eventually get knocked out of the air and alert me to the presence. On an added note, I can also make sure that they don’t accidentally catch a fire in the woods so there’s no worry on that part.”

“I have other spells to use, but since we're only going to take a short break. Then I saw no need to go through the extra effort.” Twilight's gaze soon drifted to look at something that was poking out from just behind his back and at the edge of his shoulder. This turned out to be his star globe in its flattened state. After an arched eyebrow was seen on the Unicorns face. Brex immediately knew what was on Twilight's mind as he spoke up again. “And no. This is not a spell that the Astrologian class knows.”

A look of understanding crossed the purple Unicorns face as she began to have this wondrous look about her before she started to talk excitedly. “Is that the same as the mending spell you used at my place to help with the window?” Brex was just about to comment when his vision began to flicker. What was once the site of an intrigue Twilight with a giddy expression, was immediately replaced with a quick flicker of his vision and the mare was now holding an oversized scalpel in place of her staff and a maniacal grin that threatened to split her face as she looked at him as though he was nothing more than a toad to be dissected and studied in class.

Her lips were still moving, yet all sounds that were coming from the mare was nothing but incoherent words being muffled. Soon, an eyeball appeared from under her hat with the strange rapidly moving tendrils that sunk the tips underneath her fur. Eventually the wriggling showed that the tendrils had gone underneath the skin and this caused the fur to twitch right above it. Brex was about to react right as an echoing metallic sound resonated in his ears.

Gone was the freaky eyeball and twilight was now holding on to her staff yet again. The creepy smile that was ever present on twilight’s face was long gone. Yet at the same time, there was this odd sensation that compelled him to want to look away from her. Brex simply sat there dumbfounded from behind his mask as he found himself blinking oddly before getting brought back to reality after seeing the worried expression on all of the girls faces as he did not say anything for a while.

A hand was brought up to his mask in a reflective gesture that one would take when wanting to pinch their nose before he responded. “Sorry… I was too engrossed in maintaining the spell. What were you saying again?” Twilight then said, “Oh, I was uh, asking if this was another spell of yours that could be learned by anyone.” Brex took a moment to explain how the spell required one to have a decent level of concentration in order to keep the spell going in the first place. It was capable of being learned by those who had access to the ability of externally sending out their magic.”

Of course, he left out the whole Dungeons and Dragons part, but it was enough to placate Twilight to refrain from any more questions and the group slowly return to a somewhat awkward silence. Feeling uncomfortable at how the atmosphere turned, Brex stood up and began to walk in a random direction and called over his shoulder. “I got my flame spread out too thin. Think I'll walk out a little way so that there's not so much distance in the circle by joining them. Stay where you are and rest up. I'll be back in eight minutes.”

As he left. Rarity was about to make the motion to get up when Applejack firmly shook her head. The farm mare then said, “I know I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. Even I can tell that he wanted to be alone. Can I ask y'all a question?” After getting a nod from both of the Unicorns, Applejack then continued. “It ain't just me, but has Gambit been acting strangely since last week?” Rarity had a puzzled expression as she crossed her left leg over the other and brought a finger to her chin. Twilight leaned back so that her arms were used to help prop herself up on the stone while also slightly tilting her head in confusion.

Applejack had an exhausted expression after witnessing the other two’s reaction as she rolled her eyes and continued on with her question. “Really? Don't go tellin’ me you haven't seen it? It just happened again. Come on, it's the zoning out!” This drew a set of understanding looks from both of the Unicorns before Applejack went on as her right hand was now pulling down her face. “I can't be the only one that it's happened around. I'd say somethin’ to him and he would stand there and go silent on me for who knows how long before he snaps out of it.”

Twilight began to tap the side of her chin before she replied. “Now that you mention it, I think I did see it happen once before. It was in the middle of one of the lectures he was giving when he just suddenly stopped and seemed lost in thought. Really didn't think nothing of it and just thought that he was trying to make it more understandable.” Rarity chimed in next, but not until after giving a small hum. “I also recall a similar incident when we were in the middle of some possible designs that he was considering to make for Rory. Perhaps he's just tired and has not been getting enough sleep?”

Twilight then said as her tone became a little worried. “Maybe I could send a letter to Princess Luna.” The purple unicorn gave that a few seconds to sink in before she began to show signs of exhaustion of her own and earned an inquisitive look from the other two. When she noticed this, Twilight began to speak up again. “Speaking of not resting very much... I already talked to Fluttershy about this… I wanted to get your take on how Spike has been doing in Ponyville.”

“Have either of you noticed anything odd with the others in town whenever Spike’s around?” This earned her a pair of head shakes to show that they knew nothing before Twilight continued with a dejected sigh and began to fill them in on what happened the night before when it came to getting that one book about dragons and what transpired at Gambit's place. To say that Applejack and Rarity were taken aback was an understatement, as Rarity’s face slowly changed to that of deep red and Applejack's eyes flashed with a similar color that took over the usual green as she gripped onto the handle of her axe. This caused a few audible sounds as her Knuckles popped and all of the girls began to talk at once.

After having a few minutes to recover. Rarity then said, “My word, the poor dear! I I have not caught sight of any such deeds being done in my presence. Has my little Spiky-wikey truly been feeling this way? Such deplorable behavior. I feel shameful to even be a part of such a community. Just what gives them all the right to act out towards Spike in such a way?”

“You just took the words right out of my mouth Rarity! Those snake in the grass ponies with their heads so far up their own asses need to learn some tolerance! Really, Spike hasn't done a single thing to earn that kind of treatment! I've lived in Ponyville my entire life and this is just unacceptable! Sure, there are some hard-headed ones here and there, but this is just too much! I can’t even think of a time that Spike has ever done any wrongs to a single person to earn this sort of treatment.”

“He's my little brother and we've been living under the same roof... yet I noticed none of it. What I don’t get is that this is exactly what the Princess is trying to stop after making that declaration. To top it all off, Spike is malnourished if what was said in that book could be taken as truth. To think that he's been taken care of the wrong way all this time is just too much. Sure, we did not know a lot about dragons in the first place, but everything I did was... well... everything I did was what I learned from the princess.”

Twilight paused for a second as her shoulders began to shake as she continued. “We always had the gems and he didn't seem to be bothered with our food so it never crossed my mind that he needed meat. We just assumed it was based off of upbringing. When I told Fluttershy, she seemed a little scared but said she understood what he needed especially with already caring for the needs of other creatures that ate fish. It wasn't too much of a bother. I'm really thankful that she's not going to look at Spike any differently now that we have to switch up his diet. Especially with her fears of Dragons.”

“You got nothin’ to worry about Twilight! I sure know I won't be lookin’ at him any differently, that’s for sure. So, what if he has a slightly different diet. We already got Gilda and we've seen Rainbow eat meat on occasion. It'll just take a little getting’ used to, that's all. And I can’t see the little guy going full carnivore.”

“I fully agree with Applejack's sentiment darling. I personally would find it a little... Er... odd in the beginning. It would take some time for me to get used to the idea of Spike eating meat... Eventually. A growing young Drake does need his nutrition after all. Still, I find it unacceptable that the ponies I know could be so callous towards such a nice baby Dragon.”

“Yeah, and it really doesn't help that we exclude him way too much. I was so used to growing up without others before coming to Ponyville, that it didn't even occur to me that leaving him in the library alone was not a good idea. I even feel guilty that he doesn't even have his wings because of what’s been done.”

“Shucks Twilight. The kid’s still young. I wouldn't say it's too late to fix the problem. By the way, are you going to take Gambit up on his offer to have somethin’ made for Spike to have once a day or are you going to let him eat at the library instead?”

“Oh yes, that's right. You do run a library after all. What with a majority of Ponyville not being so accustomed to that sort of food, it might not be such a good idea to cook it there. Although, it would be such a shame that little Spiky-wikey to not be able to eat what he wanted in his own home.”

“You know what, I think I will take up Gambits offer. At least for the time being. Once I'm used to it and also install some type of spell to dampen the smell in the library, it might be for the best. I can only imagine someone coming in and then smelling Spike's food as it was in the process of being prepared.”

“Hahaha, I suppose you're right Twilight. The more squeamish ones might high-tail it out of there faster than a cat with a really long tail in a warehouse full of rocking chairs.”

“Oh but Twilight dear. Did you not say that you're raising of Spike was due to what the Princess said to you?”

“Uh yes, why?”

“It may not be my place to say and I can see it as coming office being presumptuous... It is just, Spike's condition may not be solely on your shoulders.”

“Ah, I see what Rarity's getting’ at.”

“I'm not quite sure what you two mean.”

“As far as I’m figurin'. If Princess Celestia was wrong about Spike, then who knows what else she's been mistaken on. Kinda makes one wonder on what Gambit was sayin’ when he showed up at the library and started talking about the Princess.”

“Wait-wait, no no, that can't be right! Okay sure, she made one small honest mistake. But we're talking about the princess here.” Twilight's eyes began to look a little uncertain as she started to bite the nail on her right hands index finger before mumbling the following. “I'm sure there have been some dignitaries from the Dragon lands that would come by the castle... I just thought that she asked them and this is what they said to do. But if that's not the case, then has the princess not asked for advice from any other dragons after Spike hatched?”

That was when Brex came back and approached the girls after pushing apart a couple of bushes that were in the way and spoke up. “Sounds to me that she does not like to be seen as someone without the answers to everything. If she had talked to the other Dragons about Spike, then none of this would have been a problem. Seriously, for someone who’s lived as long as she has, one would think that she would have learned that she can’t know everything.”

All of the girls jumped after hearing his entrance and Twilight immediately asked, “How… Just how much of that did you hear?” Brex gave a light shrug as he nonchalantly said, “Eh. I think around the part where your friends were saying that what's going on with Spike was not completely on your shoulders. Your voice’s carry quite a ways in here, just so you know for future reference. Really, if you are being hunted, then it would be over with quickly.”

He then gave a small snap of the fingers for his right hand before continuing. “There we go. I just dismissed my spell. Break time's over so let's get a move on. Also, this might be a good lesson for you to learn now. It doesn't matter who you are or what you are. Everyone makes mistakes and no one is infallible. This is especially true for those who have lived a long time. So blindly following another without asking any questions is not a good way to live and I suggest that you think for yourself once in a while. It also doesn't hurt to gather information from different sources to broaden your understanding.”

After saying that to Twilight and earning a small smile. They all continued with their search for more monsters for the next hour before returning back to the Yuna. Once again on the ship. Brex went over all of the girls to check on their stats. Twilight was now at level fifteen. Rarity was at sixteen. Applejack was sixteen and Rainbow became seventeen. As for Pinkie and Fluttershy, they were at sixteen and fifteen. When it came to Gilda the Griffin. She had already gained another level from solo fights on her own, which placed her at thirty-one.

It came as no surprise that Gilda was able to work on her own and took out any opponent with ease now that she had acquired a Dragoon Soul Stone. At the beginning of their outing today. Brex at first made Gilda stick with them to see how well she had adjusted to the class advancement. It didn’t take long at all before applejack and rainbow had their jaws hanging and eyes bugging out when the young Griffin was zipping through the air without the use of unfurling her wings. It was practically second nature now with the way she would launch herself from one location and the next with frightening speed.

In the end she went with wearing the similar garbs to her original ones. Along with the twin headed spear tip. She would not only jump straight at her opponent, but also use the existing terrain to her advantage to pinball and ricochet to get behind her opponent for a sneak attack before it even knew she was there. What would have taken at least a dozen strikes from the rest, only took three at most to take down a creature of level eighteen. All the while she had this big smile after doing aerial maneuvers and flips that would otherwise be risky in the midst of battle.

On another. She threw her spear with such strength and accuracy at a target at a distance. What made it remarkable was the way it would not only spear right through a few bushes on its path. But it even went cleanly through the edge of a tree that was partially in its path without slowing down in the least. This led to a big gaping section to be exposed as the spear continued on and decimated a plant type monster. Instead of simply stabbing into it and pinning it to the ground to lay dying. It instead exploded as the weapon continued even further and struck a boulder.

When everybody went to retrieve the weapon. It was found that there was a sizable crater and several long cracks running along the length of the rock that was easily the size of a mini-van. More than half of the blades for the twin tips had sunken into the stone. As for the indentation itself surrounding the tips. And it appeared as though a portion of the stone was crushed, to where applejacks reached to the deepest section at the center and found that it went past her elbow. This earned Gilda a very loud, “Landsakes” from the farm mare as she took a few steps back to admire the destruction.

When it came to Rainbow. The young Pegasus was hunched over with both of her hands hanging straight down as her eyes were glued to the center markings. And when Gilda pulled her spear free and started to walk past her. Gilda began to say to the Pegasus the following with a triumphant smirk on her beak. “You better catch up fast. Ha! At the rate things are going, I’ll be the one to be protecting my future husband.”

As for going back to the present and on board the ship. All of the girls were checking in with one another. Brex made an announcement after getting their attention while inside of the dining room on the ship as the food was being placed out by a couple of the crew members. “I'm glad to see that everyone's levels have gone up quite a bit over these last two weeks. Honestly, I expected you all to be a little higher if anything. However, this was only due to the lack of monsters in the immediate area. But don't let this discourage you as I am well aware that if the numbers had been any higher, then I would have no doubt that all of you would be much stronger.”

“Now with that being the case. Next week's destination will be at a location with far more for us to fight. I believe you all have heard of Ghastly Gorge, correct?” After getting a series of head nods Brex continued. “OK then, some of you may not know this little fact, but due to an excessive amount of magic being used at that location. The area has been known to be a hotspot for Monsters of a much higher level than what you are typically used to fighting. Not only that, the frequency of these encounters is much higher.”

“This time around we will not be splitting up. Instead, you will all be working as one large group. Furthermore, I will be requesting that Zecora join us. Rory and myself will be observers and only interfere if the situation calls for it. As for Gilda, I expect that she will be taking on her own opponents one on one to see just how far along her skills have progressed. Moreover, the Yuna will not be going in thanks to the interference. This means that we will have to go down another way for those of us that cannot fly.”

Rarity looked completely distraught after hearing this and loudly exclaimed with a look of fright on her face. “Are we truly expected to drudge ourselves all the way down into that place?! Absolutely no one goes into Ghastly Gorge. I very much doubt that there will be a suitable path for us to take down.” That was when Applejack walked right beside Rarity and began to nudge her with an elbow before speaking up in a playful voice. “Come on Rarity! And here I thought you got over getting a little dirty.”

Rarity was taken aback by this and gave an over-the-top gasp before she said, “Applejack! There is a clear difference between walking on leveled ground and having to climb down the side of a cliff to get at the very bottom of some oversized hole in the ground. I don't even want to imagine how I look by the time we get down there! I am sure I will be spending the next two days cleaning my outfit! And my hair! Oh, my poor hair will be an utter mess. It's times like These that I am envious of Rainbow and Fluttershy that they can fly as the rest of us are made to suffer.”

Rainbow started to cross her arms as she came into the conversation, along with a not so amused look on her face. “Hey! It's not exactly going to be a walk in the park for Fluttershy and me either. I've heard of that place from back in flight-school. There are these weird floating purple orbs and Lightning Elementals that float all over the place. If we're not careful, we're liable to get struck by a lot of lightning bolts. Sure, I can handle lightning as well as the next Pegasus but even I have a limit to how many I can get hit with.”

Rainbow paused for a couple of seconds before her eyes landed on her girlfriend and said the following. “And we can’t forget about Gilda. She’ll be in the most amount of danger in that spot.” The Griffin merely shrugged her shoulders while attempting to look confident. Although, Brex did notice a small twitch at the mention of lightning earlier as she spoke up. Don’t think on the same Gilda from back then. I’ll keep my eyes on the sky. As for the elementals, they will be a walk in the park.”

Fluttershy who was hearing all of this began to shrink in place as her hands were holding on to one another with clear worry has she joined the conversation with her soft voice that could just barely be heard. “R-Rainbow's right. We're both going to be grounded until we get out. Gilda then rolled her eyes as her hands were placed onto her hips before she spoke from the back of the group. “Well, this is just going to be great. Now what exactly is the plan for when we have to meet up halfway through for our rest period? Climbing up and down the hill twice is going to be difficult for some of us to handle.”

At the end of that. Gilda was pointily staring at the back of Rarity's head. Brex began to shake his own head a little bit before he lifted a finger into the air as he spoke. “That won't be a problem. There just so happens to be a bunker built at the bottom that we can use while we're not in the middle of training. Twilight and the others showed signs of confusion which led Brex to continue with his explanation after giving out an exhausted sigh.

“Let me guess. You all forgot about the bunkers too, haven't you? I'm pretty sure it was mentioned a couple of times that bunkers were built in and around settlements for both emergencies and rest stop for tired travelers. Those that are more widely used have become places where some merchants have set up shop and are dedicated mostly to those who are on the road a lot. Now as for the one we're using. It's not very frequently visited, but it is periodically checked and restocked with supplies.”

Applejack was scratching the back of her head as her other hand was lifting her hat in clear confusion as she spoke. “You may have forgotten, but I never went to one of these schools, so talk of a bunker is over my head.” Brex nodded and began to explain to Applejack. Bunkers are an underground area which is fortified with defenses where the entrance on the surface is located and goes in a little ways to prevent monsters from breaking in. Some of which are larger than others to accommodate the frequency of travelers coming and going.

Inside one would find all the basic necessities that any would need and supplies that could be used to replenish what had been spent. There are also sleeping areas and facilities that the occupants could use to bathe. Typically, there are vending machines that could give out rations to those that display one of their identification plates for the guild. This comes in handy for those that do not carry much cash on hand. Also, what is purchased is put on to a tab that could be paid off later. The bunkers entrance are even guarded by a set of combat class Golems and the entrance hall is lined with traps that become armed when no one is meant to walk through.

As Brex was finishing up with his explanation on the bunkers. He then continued with the rest of his plan. “Now, as for your concerns about going up and down into Ghastly Gorge. I think you'll be quite pleased with what I have in mind to take care of that little problem. Not only that, but it may also help with compensating with how your levels are not exactly at where I had intended them to be before bringing you all here.” Brex pause for a second before he continued. “Oh yes. We will be conducting our classes as usual. However, next weekend I expect you all to be at my place an hour early.”

All of them had no problems with agreeing to the new time schedule for the next joint class and enjoyed the rest of the ride back and sampling more of the food that was being provided by Brex. Although, this time around he did stay as there was no royal passengers that muscle their way into his class. But as they were all seating at the table. Brex got to see Spike eating some of the food that Gilda was consuming while right in front of the other girls.

At first, more than half of them showed some uneasiness upon witnessing what Spike was consuming. But after a couple of seconds the tension faded and they were acting as if it was completely normal. Which Brex took as a big relief, along with Twilight who was still trying to get used to the idea of Spike's new diet. Once everyone had their fill and Pinky could no longer do that arm stretching thing for anything else to eat, did Brex excuse himself as the empty dishes were being collected by some of the servers and went up onto the observatory deck with Rory.

After nearly ten minutes of being alone and to casually talk to one another as the scenery below quickly moved underneath the ship. Brex could hear two sets of footsteps coming up the stairway and turned to see Spike and Twilight coming up to talk. The young Dragon was twiddling his index fingers and looking a little nervous as Twilight was pinching the bridge of her muzzle. She soon lowered her hand and release a reluctant sigh before she began a back-and-forth discussion with Brex.

“I've been giving this a lot of thought. Well more than a lot actually. I stayed up all night long and only got a couple of hours of sleep after the sun started to show. Even had a chat with the other girls and it seems that it would be a good idea if Spike was to receive some help from you as well. Turns out that none of us even knew anything about what Spike was going through when our backs were turned. And I won't lie that it did not hurt when Spike said that only those of your house listen to him. But… But somewhere, deep down I just knew that it was true. Never really noticed how we all had our own thing going on and we ended up leaving Spike alone so much.”

“It’s true that I’ve seen him by himself for the most part. Fortunately enough for him, it's still not too late to correct the mistake. Also, I’m proud to hear that you recognize the problem. You might be surprised with how many out there are so stubborn to accept either the truth or to take some advice. Even when a mountain of evidence is piled in their face, they tend to fall onto their personal beliefs and disregard everything else.”

At the end of that. Rory gave a small, yet obviously fake cough through the connection. But Brex disregarded it after giving her a raised eyebrow as he continued. “Now, I'll have you know that Spike will not be going through the same as the rest of you for a while, as he is still young. Sure, Spike is a powerful species in the world. Although, it doesn’t mean that I would go so far as to toss him into a pit to fight for his life.”

“Humph! I very much hope so. I may be agreeing to all of this, yet I think it's way too early for him to go into the forest. I don’t even care if you fight the Princess and can take down who knows what. Spike is still my little brother. The moment I see that you’re going too far, I’ll take him back home.”

“Fair enough. For now, we'll work on his muscle training and endurance for a start. Some jogging here and there, weight lifting, basic self-defense classes and personal tutoring on what he might need to know if certain situations were to come up. This will be for both a fight and daily life so that he's well prepared. What do you say to all of that Spike? Still care to come over?”

The purple Dragon could only blink a few times in silence, as his eyes snapped wide open upon hearing the question being directed at himself. His attention quickly shifted between Brex and Twilight for a couple of times before it stayed onto his adopted sister as he spoke almost unsurely. “Umm... it's just that… I have more than a few obligations back at the library. There's also how you're already teaching the others. Of course, you must have other plans to do on your free time...”

Brex could see how Spike was attempting to be considerate. At the same time. Rory, who was at the edge of his vision was leaning against the railing with her back and giving a small smile towards the young Dragon. As for Twilight, the apprehension that was lingering for a while now, soon began to grow smaller as she was beginning to have a small smile of her own at how her brother was still being considerate for her sake.

Twilight then placed a hand onto Spike’s right shoulder as she was slightly standing behind him and off to his side as she spoke. “It's okay. I'm sure Gambit can come up with a reasonable schedule. All I really ask is that you make sure that you stay safe and don't skip out on doing your chores.”

Brex then came a little closer and got down to one knee so that his mask was lined up to Spike’s face and placed his hand onto his other free shoulder. He then spoke as is face turned into a gentle smile from behind his mask. “I can see you any day that you feel like you want to come over to my place. It's perfectly fine to even show up an hour or two earlier before I start teaching the other classes. Heck, some time before or even right after is fine with me.” Brex even shrugged his shoulders before continuing. “And if I'm not around, then I'm sure that someone else in the house will be able to help you out. Isn't that right Rory?”

The girl gave a quick smirk upon closing her eyes so that she was facing Spike as she replied. “You can count on it. It's just as my master said. You're more than welcome to come by whenever you feel like it.” She gave a quick chuckle before she placed a hand onto the back of her head to scratch as she continued. “Err… Although, if it happens anywhere past ten in the night, then it would be really helpful if you gave us a heads up. Odds are we might be a little busy and answering the door may take… some time.”

Brex had this flat stare from under his mask that conveyed that Rory said a little too much. Twilight was a little confused for a second or two from the comment. However, her eyes snapped open in a small blush creeped onto her face. She even went so far as to pull in her bottom lip so she could start to lightly bite on it as a small amount of sweat was building on her face from pure embarrassment.

As for Spike, all he could do was to tilt his head before saying the next part and earning the act of Twilight holding both hands over his mouth and giving out a chorus of nervous giggles. “Uh, what could you be doing in the middle of thmhmph!” Twilight then hurriedly said the next line as her eye’s shot from left-to-right. “Heh-Heh! Spike! That's something you don't need to know until you're just a little older!”

Not seeming to fully understand what was going on. Spike responded by wrenching Twilight's hands free from his mouth and looked over his shoulder to give her an annoyed look. In a comedic fashion, he said, “Aw come on Twilight, that's the excuse you say every time! When am I going to be old enough to be told anything? Why do I get the feeling that everyone knows but me?”

The purple Unicorn was shifting her gaze from left-to-right yet again as even more sweat was clearly forming on her brow to the point it was even starting to drip onto her robes. After a few more awkward chuckles escaped. She instantly said as her ears pointed straight up. “P-Perhaps it would be a good idea to… Ah… Umm, oh yes! We should take a good look at that book again! I-I’m s-sure that w-we may have missed some important facts! Come on Spike! Let’s get going!”

While still holding a flat look in his eyes as he was still on one knee, but slowly he stood back up. Brex playfully smiled as he replied to Twilight statement in an almost jovial tone. “That might be a very good idea to do Twilight. Who knows, you might even come across a few things that you may have missed when raising Spike. After all, he's still small right now, so the quicker we jump on these issues the better. Don't want to be surprised either when his puberty hits. And trust me when I say that a Dragon’s puberty is a lot worse than a Pony. Taking the proper measures during that time could very well plan out the rest of his life.”

For Brex. He knew quite well that the next major event was the releasing of Discord. And judging from how the show look. Then it could happen anywhere from the next couple of weeks to as far as half a year. Then not too long after that the episode of Spike going through his growth spur on his birthday would come up. If he could turn into such a huge Dragon and cause that much damage on a kids cartoon show. Then there is no telling what might come about in a world with violence occurring on a near daily basis.

But what Brex really knew, was that thanks to those weird glitches in the connection with Rory and paired alongside his mysterious lack of energy in the morning. A trip to the deeper parts of his mind for a solid night's sleep was now high up on his list. It was going to happen whether or not Luna paid him a visit in the middle of the night. But it was all fine with him as the fake dream of Limsa Lominsa would always come up whether he set a scenario ahead of time or not as a form of distraction.

Now, if that was not going to be enough. Then Brex would have no other course of action then to give Rory one of the most unspeakable orders that he has ever given to her. Which would happen to be the dreaded command of… Absolutely no sex tonight. And there was no way he was going to back down and give up even if Rory got down on her hands and knees and used almost every trick in the book to beg and plead for him to reconsider.

Although, Brex would have to brace himself. Especially when there were occasions that her doing just that alone would be enough to get him so excited, that he would literally lose control and jump her on the spot. So, for the time being. The sexy time before bed would need to be restricted to no more than two hours. No more late six or seven hour sessions. Of course, there was always the option of ordering her to put on the same restricting chastity belt that both of their maids wore.

*Point of view: Daddy*
*Location: The other side*

Right where the house of The Simpsons should have been standing. Was nothing more than but a deep crater that was easily seventy feet deep and nearly spanned the entire length of the boundary lines for the property itself. The edges of the hole had a couple of protruding water pipes that were still leaking a little bit of sewage with droplets falling even now and then. This was also accompanied by some hanging electrical wires that obviously ran underneath the structure before it's disappearance.

Just off to the left was another house of an identical structure and the front door with a cross hanging from it was quickly opened. This revealed the one known as Daddy. However, this time he as without his purple turtle shell. He walked right outside while arching his back to pop a few bones. He was currently facing straight ahead and as soon as he turned to his left to gaze at where the non-existent Simpson house should have been. It was instantly revealed that he had a large lump on the back of his head and an equally comically large set of band-aids right over that. This formed an X going right over the top and could easily have been seen from over a block away.

Daddy then groggily walked across the lawn and towards a section of the small fence line that had been broken apart. At the same time, he was also rubbing the back of his head and groaning loudly as he spoke. “Ghaah~. Ouch! Haven't had a headache this bad since I snuck into that one brewery in California and drank every last drop out of the main tanks overnight. Why did I think it was a good idea to take that bet from Bart? At least what I got from that was worth it...” His hands were behind his back so that both fists connected as he carefully got closer to the edge of the hole and peeked down from the rim.

He then called out loudly so that it could be heard from all the way down there. “How's the progress?” Almost instantly, what came out from down at the very bottom of the hole, was a series of small buzzing sounds and electrical zaps. This produced a large amount of lightning that shot straight up into the air and a loud boom to fill the sky to occur right afterwards. A heavy plume of black and white mixed smoke erupted in all directions as it bellowed out and covered nearly the entire block in a haze.

This caused Daddy to have a coughing fit that sounded a little more dramatic than it needed to be. Arms waved a few times to frantically push the smoke away, but to have little or no effect. He then yelled out as his hands were quickly trying to waive the smoke away even more and began a go-between himself and whoever he was just talking to inside the hole.

“Dang nabbet Jet! Can you stop smoking for one minute?! I ain't letting old age get me, and there was no way I was going to let those dinosaurs have me for a snack! Not to mention, I barely got out of there before that whole atomic bomb test went off back in World War two. Geez a man's just trying to take a sun bath out in the middle of nowhere and someone decides to drop an A-bomb on his head! Who even does that!? Uh… Wait. What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, right! My point is there is no way I'm going to let your second-hand smoke be the death of me!”

“You're the one who started to randomly yell! I was in the middle of trying to stabilize the section down here. Do you even have any idea how much goes into this? Oh, great now a bunch of the settings are all over the place! These readings make no sense to me. Hey! I can't see very much from under here, do you see anything different from where your standing?”

“Eh... what the?! Is it supposed to be a fifteen-meter-long version of one of those singing fish toys that you'd hang up on a wall?”

“A singing what?!”

It was at that moment that the fake fish that was sitting on top of a wooden plaque began to bend at the halfway point after a loud set of mechanical gears came to life. This made it so that the head was sticking straight up and it started to sing the, “Don't worry” song. While also using a Jamaican accent. Which was immediately followed with it singing, “Take me to the river.”

(Play this for what was being seen and heard by Daddy.)

“Were you... planning on turning it into that?”

Jet then responded with an obviously sarcastic tone. “Oh yes. Of course, I've always wanted one of these talking robotic fish to sing a very loud song in my ear ever since they first were invented! Just could never get my hands on one. And oh wow! This guy even has speakers that could put a rock show to shame… Now my eternal life has been fulfilled.”

“Well stop playing around, we need that table fixed.”

“And here I wanted to hear it sing the song a hundred more times... Just what do you think I've been doing for the past couple of days!”

“I don't know, making knick-knacks from the eighties?”

“Just leave me alone you old coot! Go read some more of your porn mags and stay out of my hair!”

“What hair? Besides, I would if I COULD! But they all got sent to another dimension! All the first editions and autographed versions are lost… Now fix that thing so I could get them back!”

“What about Brex? Why not just go back and get them all over again?

“Ah! Yes Yes! Him too! He-He uh, was on the top of my list... Um, right before my mags. Also, I can’t. The time-space continuum is stretched too thin with my presence already at those key locations in time. If I was to go there again then there’s a good chance that are temporal fissure will open up and cause a collapse. Those models may never have even been born and my magazines would just cease to exist.”

“Seriously, you should just get back together with Mom already if you're this bored! We all know that the whole magazine collecting only started up after that fight. How long has it been since she caught you peeking at that woman when she was bathing in that River? Hmm, I think her name was Cleo… Uh… Haha! I remember now! Her name was Cleopatra! Wow! Mother was really pissed that day.”

“Hay! How was I supposed to know that she was visiting those Egyptian god friends of her’s? That Anubis character even went so far as to bite me on the ass! Really?! I thought that I was going to need to go and get a rabies shot when I finally pried him off. Besides… Who needs that harbie?!”