Author's Note

Once again, big thanks to AstralFlare42 for his OCs Astral, Shade and Bahamut.

Episode 73: The Dragon Egg Dilemma

His friends came to visit around the time Spike had resolved to sneak out.

Spike and Phoenix were just picking the lock on their ward exit, when Diamondback opened the door, accompanied by Swift, Jack and Twilight.

“Spike?” Diamondback asked.

“What are you doing?” Twilight demanded.

“Escaping,” Phoenix said bluntly.

Spike glared at her. “Seriously?”

“I am the Element of Honesty,” Phoenix noted. “Or at least, I was.”

Spike sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, as Jackknife checked his wound.

“You sure you’re up for some adventure?” Jackknife asked. “I was never good at the medical stuff, I’m not sure if you still need…”

“I’m fine!” Spike insisted.

“At the very least, we won’t be fine if we have to stay here,” Phoenix added, glancing mournfully at Star, who still lay unconscious in her cot.

Twilight gave her fellow alicorn a sad look. “If it means anything,” she said. “Luna has been sending her sister and me regular updates. They seem to be holding against Umbra. At the very least, he won’t be able to bleed into anyone else’s dreams.”

“But we need to be doing something too,” Spike said. “If Grogar’s on the loose, then we can’t just stand by and hope everything turns out.”

“And we’re not,” Twilight assured, looking at his friends. “Princess Celestia has already asked each member of the Young Six and the Drake Six to return to their homes and gather support for when Grogar eventually comes for us.”

Jackknife rolled his shoulders. “Time to see if defeating evil clones of ourselves alongside Queen Novo got her to see reason.”

“The griffons are going to be difficult,” Swift muttered. “But with Gabby and Gallus by my side, I’m hoping we can make some progress.”

Spike and Phoenix looked to Diamondback. “And I guess you’re going to the dragons, right?”

Diamondback grimaced, but nodded. “Alongside Smolder and Astral… among other bits of company.”

Spike narrowed his eyes. He did not like how uncomfortable Diamondback looked. “Then I’ll come with you.”

Twilight winced. “Are you sure?”

“It’s like he said,” Phoenix said. “We’re going crazy just sitting here. And Ember at the very least is going to want to know what happened to her girlfriend.”

“That’s assuming she has time for it,” Diamondback replied. “My dogs have warned me that something’s happening with the dragons.”

Twilight nodded. “We believe Grogar is going to try and turn them against Equestria first.”

Spike narrowed his eyes. “All the more reason why I have to go.”

“Spike,” Twilight said firmly. “You’re not even fully cleared to go yet. If Grogar’s sent Shade or Thorn and you try to fight them again…”

“He won’t be alone,” Phoenix said, standing tall beside him. “He’ll have me and Diamondback and Smolder and Astral.”

“Astral did save his life, Princess,” Diamondback noted to Twilight. “He should be quite safe with him.”

Twilight still looked uncertain, but she sighed and hugged Spike close. “Don’t get yourself killed,” she pleaded in his ear.

Spike managed a smile. “Hey, I’m your number one assistant. No way am I gonna leave you.”

Twilight gave him a sad smile. “I wish I could’ve visited you earlier,” she admitted. “But… with Grogar…”

“You had a lot of plans to make,” Spike nodded. “I understand.” He looked to Diamondback. “So, let’s get started on them.”

Even before they reached the Dragon Lands, Spike realized they were in for a bad time.

“Why is she here?” he demanded, pointing at Dark Diamondback, who stood with two diamond dog guards, a scornful expression on her face.

“Believe me,” Diamondback muttered. “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself.”

Dark Diamondback scoffed. “Hmph. For advocates of ‘friendship’, you seem to be about as good at it as Dark Blaze was at being a team player. Need I remind you that I suffered just as much as any of you?”

“You got thrown into a wall,” Phoenix noted. “While we got buried in our own school.”

“AND I was chained up and derided as defective,” Dark Diamondback whined. “I’ve got just as much reason to want Shade flamed as anyone!”

Astral just deadpanned. “Welcome to the club.”

“Diamondback,” Spike asked. “Are you sure about this?”

Diamondback and her dark counterpart glared at each other for a while, before Diamondback glanced at her dogs, who both nodded meaningfully. Diamondback sighed. “She could prove useful,” Diamondback finally declared. “We’re taking her.”

Astral shrugged. “Well, the more the merrier.”

Spike sighed as the dark version of his friend sauntered past him, nearly swiping his nose with a flick of her tail. “I’m already regretting this,” he muttered.

“Eh, don’t let her get you down,” Smolder said. “I’m just glad we get to go back. My brother’s been having a hard time since I left; I’ve been dying for a reason to go back and check on him. He’s a really sweet guy, and the other dragons can be kinda rough.”

Spike snorted. “Did you say ‘sweet guy’ and ‘dragon’ in the same sentence?”

“Yeah,” Smolder said, “He’s kinda like you, Spike.”

“A version of Spike that survived the dragon lands,” Phoenix mused. “This should be interesting.”

However, the Dragon Lands had a few more interesting things in store for them. For as their group reached the volcanic lands, they were treated to the sight of one of the most unlikely trios imaginable: Dragon Lord Ember, Dragon King Bahamut, and Former Lord Shade Fang.

Astral and Shade briefly glared at each other before beginning to power up.

Before any fighting could break out, Ember slammed her staff against the ground. “HEY!” she boomed. “Save the fighting for when we’re not a few yards away from our eggs.”

Spike paused. “Eggs?” He looked just beyond Ember’s throne: several nests filled with dragon eggs sat shaking and twitching behind them.

“Goodness,” Dark Diamondback chortled. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you, Dragon Lord Ember.”

“WHAT?!” Ember turned bright red. “No! None of those are…” she sighed. “Watching over eggs is just part of the glamorous life of a Dragon Lord.” She sighed.

“Unfortunately, it’s also making you stir crazy,” Bahamut noted. “I can understand a little, but probably not enough.”

Ember shrugged. “Nothing I can’t handle. Though this would be so much better if Star was here; she knew how to make this job less boring.”

Spike winced. “Yeah, uh… she… she was needed in the Dream Realm. I don’t know when she’ll visit.”

Ember sighed, while Diamondback and Phoenix peered at the eggs.

“That’s odd,” Phoenix noted. “Those egg shells look so thin. Shouldn’t the dragons have hatched by now?”

Ember glared at Shade and Bahamut. “They should have. But none of them have even cracked.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Shade noted. “But I’m sure that Master Grogar can help them hatch into strong hatchlings, maybe even stronger than previous generations.” He grinned. “If you’ll let me, I can bring them to him so that his blessing can make it so.”

Astral glared at him. “How do we know that you’re not responsible for this.”

Ember sneered. “Believe me, if I could prove that, I would have this idiot out of here, preferably with his tail on fire.”

Shade scoffed, unamused. “Rude.”

“But unfortunately…” Ember grumbled as several dragons gathered near Shade. “He’s got help.”

Shade turned to his followers. “I can ensure your eggs grow strong and powerful, but you first need to follow Grogar to have it happen.”

As he lectured, Smolder’s eyes widened at the sight of one particular red dragon.

“No way…” she muttered, racing over to his side. “Garble?”

The red dragon gasped and raced over to the orange dragoness with a grin. “Smolder! How’s it scalin’ brah?” They both high-fived.

Spike blinked. “Oh, you gotta be kidding.” He walked over. “He’s your brother?”

Garble glared at Spike. “Got a problem with that, pony-boy?”

Spike snorted, though Smolder was the first to speak up. “I got a problem with you running around with that freak.” She indicated Shade, who was still arguing with Bahamut, Ember and now Astral. “What are you doing with his lot?”

Garble glanced back at the black dragon and shrugged. “I dunno; he sells a good pitch. Talks about how he got stronger working with this Grogar guy… and now with the eggs not hatching…”

“Plus, he’s gotten so weird since you left,” another dragon in Shade’s lot noted. “Hiding and moping around…”

“I have not!” Garble snapped at him.

“Have so!” the dragon barked back, though he quickly shut his trap when Phoenix bore down on him with a snarl.

“Look, this is completely ignoring the main problem,” Diamondback noted, drawing as close as she could to the nests without earning too much of a death glare from Ember. “What happened to the nests that’s keeping the eggs from hatching?”

Garble scoffed. “Well, ‘clearly’, they know that Grogar can make them more powerful.”

“Dude, don’t echo the words of a psychopath,” Smolder groaned. “That’s so weak!”

“Weak!?” Garble gagged, before a diamond dog popped out of the ground next to Diamondback.

“Oh, Shiva dear,” Diamondback greeted. “What did you find?”

“It’s more like what I didn’t find,” Shiva said, climbing out. “Wasn’t there supposed to be lava under these nests.”

Ember stood nearly ready to attack Shiva, but paused at her words. “Yeah, there’s a lake of molten lava underneath. That’s why the eggs are laid here. The heat makes them hatch.”

“Then something’s wrong,” Shiva reported, shaking herself off. “There’s no lava under there.”

“What?!” Ember peered into the hole Shiva had left. “But what happened to it?”

Spike glared at Shade. “I may have an idea.”

Phoenix kept him back, though Diamondback marched on Shade. “What did you do?” she demanded.

Shade glared at her. “Excuse me? The egg hatching spot was already cold when I got here!”

As he denied any involvement, Spike noticed Garble’s eyes widen, and he started to slink back. Narrowing his eyes, Spike turned on the red dragon.

“What’s going on?” he said. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Garble snapped. “Back off, pony-boy!”

Spike, however, got in his face. “What did you do?!”

“I said back off!” Garble barked, looking to Smolder. “Smolder…”

But even Smolder was looking suspicious. “What’s going on?” she insisted.

As Phoenix started to rise up behind the two, Garble finally caved. “Okay! A bunch of us found a spot that drained the lava into some nearby pools. It made it easier to go lava surfing and… swimming and… other… stuff.” He petered out as he noticed Ember looking at him with livid fire in her eyes.

“You mean to tell me,” Ember snapped. “That you drained the lava heating our eggs… for LAVA SURFING?!”

Garble swallowed, his red scales turning pale.

Shade spoke up. “Well, Grogar’s magic can help hatch them. I mean, just look at the purple one.” He indicated Spike’s more muscular frame. “He was hatched by a unicorn, and is actually quite strong. Just think how much stronger Grogar’s magic will make these hatchlings. Seeing as he’s way stronger.”

“Not so fast!” Spike said. “We can move the eggs down to the lava.”

“Don’t you see how fragile they are?” Ember demanded. “No way we can move them all safely.” She growled. “We have to make the heat ourselves.”

Ten minutes later, however, things were looking grim. Every dragon loyal to Ember, including Diamondback, Spike, Astral and even Bahamut, were trying to heat the eggs. But it wasn’t enough. The eggs still remained in their shells.

“See?” Shade boasted. “Not even dragon fire will help. So let’s get these eggs to Grogar so he can make them hatch and grow strong.”

To Spike’s dismay, even Dark Diamondback had gone over to his side. And several more dragons were starting to give up and join Shade.

“We need a new angle,” Diamondback said. “This isn’t working.”

As several dragons laughed at their efforts, Smolder noticed that their laugh fire burned brighter. She looked to Spike, an idea lighting up her expression.

“Gar-Gar,” she whispered, before racing back to her brother, who was standing near Shade’s crowd, but not quite with them, looking at her with conflict.

Spike followed her, doubt in his eyes. “What are you thinking, Smolder?”

“My brother’s a beat poet,” she explained. “He makes some really fantastic beats.”

“Smolder, not in public!” Garble begged. “They’ll…”

“Laugh at you?” Spike gasped. “But that’s what we need. The heat from laugh fire could save the eggs.”

“But then they’ll make fun of me forever!” Garble stammered.

“And is that really the life you want to lead?” Phoenix asked as she joined them. “Constantly hiding who you truly are? What you’re capable of?”

“Y-You don’t know what it’s like,” Garble insisted. “You already fell. Everyone already knows you’re a weakling.”

“Am I?” Phoenix asked, letting her scars shine out. “I accept what I am; what I’ve done. I’m not afraid to be who I am, no matter what you or anyone else thinks.”

Spike stood tall. “And I’m not afraid to say I am a pony-boy. I’ve been raised by ponies, and they’re honestly better parents than I could’ve asked for.”

“From where we’re standing,” Phoenix noted. “That’s real strength. Not letting fear control you to the point that you can’t even remember who you are.”

Garble gazed at Phoenix, the fear for once evident in his eyes. But not fear of her; fear of what others would think. Smolder touched his hand.

“C’mon, Gar,” she said. “You’re just as strong as they are. Prove it.”

Something more than words passed between the siblings, and Garble took a shaky breath, before turning away.

For a second, Spike feared they had lost him… but then he came back with a pair of bongo drums.

He sat himself before the dragons… and he began playing a rather swanky beat.

Realizing what he was doing, Spike quickly joined him. As did Phoenix and Smolder.

Most of the dragons burst into laughter. But Diamondback was quick to aim her laughter at the eggs. Following her lead, Ember’s supporters joined in… and the eggs hatched.

“You did it, Gar!” Smolder cheered.

One of Shade’s dragons was still laughing. “And made himself look super lame. What kind of weakling makes music like that?”

Phoenix stood tall behind Garble. “The hero of the Dragon Lands. That’s who.”

“Yeah,” Smolder agreed. “Garble saved our eggs because he was strong enough to be who he is, whether you like it or not. I grew up thinking it was okay to make fun of differences. But my friends have taught me to celebrate them!”

“And from now on,” Ember said, holding her scepter tall. “That’s exactly what we will do.” She glared at Shade. “And anyone who wants to hold onto the past… you’re free to go with this soot-faced slave.”

Shade huffed and walked off, flashing a rude gesture at our heroes as he left. “It’s not like this proves anything.”

Indeed, as Shade left, several dragons followed him. Including - Spike’s gut throbbed - Dark Diamondback.

Yet, as Spike looked to the original Diamondback, he saw a strange gleam in her eyes. She noticed Spike watching.

“Come, Spike,” Diamondback declared, “I need to check on my ‘twin’.”