Spike's Quest for Coffee

Spike gulped as he stood in front of a pathway heading into the heart of the Everfree forest. The trees stood tall and menacingly with its branches clawing the sky. Sounds of wild animals could be heard from the distance – filling his heart with fear and worry. Why am I doing this!? he screamed mentally. Then he heard a twig snapped nearby and jumped behind a tree, followed by a low growl. His eyes welled with tears, whimpering, as he tried to convince himself to continue.

   He let out a shuddering breath and quickly ran into the heart of the forest with his eyes closed. Spike had an eerie feeling like he felt he was being watched or something was following him, hunting him in the distance. As if it was playing a sick joke, enjoying its prey to squirm into submission. He began running faster and faster with his eyes still closed, his heart beating quicker and his breath getting shorter.

   Just as he was about to relax, he hit something and bounced back, falling onto the ground. He felt that whatever he hit, it was something hard, something big and for certain it has a rough surface. His mind began to reel in panic and he began fantasizing about the various monsters he might encounter. He gulped nervously, and slowly opened his eyes. Every second he took, felt like eternity, waiting for his inevitable doom. As he fully opened his eyes, a flash of lightning struck and he screamed – covering his face, in hope the being in front of him would leave.

   Spike slowly looked again and saw it was just a big hollow tree. He let out a sigh of relief and gave a nervous chuckle. “It...it's just a tree,” he panted.

   “What are you doing here?” a voice suddenly asked behind him. He jumped and quickly turned to look. He saw a familiar face, but he knew he was not with good company.

   “Gilda,” he gasped.

   “How did you know my name?” Gilda asked, stepping forward menacingly. Spike slowly backed away. “Answer me, pipsqueak!” she demanded as she pounced forward and looked at him face to beak.

   “I-I knew you from Pinkie’s welcoming party,” he stuttered, starting to panic again.

   “Ah,” she chuckled darkly. She stood tall and gave him a steely gaze, “You’re ‘her’ friend,” she said with bitterness in her mouth. “Now,” the scary griffon began, menacingly circling the harmless dragon. “Why are you here?” Gilda asked slowly and threateningly.

   “I-I-I’m heading towards the dragon’s cave in the middle of the forest,” he stammered.

   “What?” she gasped as she stared at him blankly. “Are you sure you’re not pulling a prank on me?” she asked again, glaring at the scared little dragon with angry eyes.

   “N-no!” he assured her, stammering slightly. “I’m only here for the flower,” he explained as he started to sweat nervously under the pressure.

   “Flower, huh?” she mumbled slowly, continuing to circle the dragon.

   “Y-yeah,” he replied, nodding vigorously.

   “I have my eyes on you pipsqueak,” she said through gritted teeth, swooping in front of him, peering judgingly.

   “W-why?” he asked, worried for the fact there will be a scary and possibly a dangerous griffon walking with him along the way.

   “This is my territory,” she said as she opened her arms wide. “And,” she continued, looking at him accusingly. “To make sure you are not lying,” she hissed.

   “B-b-but, I don’t want to pull a prank on you, honest,”Spike stuttered, trying to assure Gilda.

  “If I catch you doing something funny, I’ll rip your face off,” she growled.

“S-sure, no problem,” Spike nodded. With that, Gilda let out an eagle screech and flew away. The frightened little dragon let out a shuddering sigh of relief as the griffon was gone. He turned to look the rest of his journey, gulped down his fear and quickly walked to his destination.

   The journey was long and scary, the winding pathway seems it was trying to lead Spike to a dead end, the occasional growl behind the trees and the sudden movement of the branches made him even more anxious as he went deeper into the forest. Later, Spike arrived in front of the cave and quickly hid behind a large rock in front of the cave that was carved into a rocky hill in the middle of the forest. The little purple dragon stayed hidden as he listened and waited to see if the cave was empty or not. Seconds felt like minutes to him as he waited for a sign, a single sign of life inside the potential trap. After a minute of waiting, Spike concluded that the cave was empty for the moment. Spike took a deep breath, and quickly ran into the cave as Gilda stealthily followed behind him, looking around for an unwanted arrival.

   “That’s it,” Spike cheered as he ran towards a glowing gold flower in the middle of the cave. It was surrounded by mountains of gold and jewels, gleaming under the sunlight from a carved hole above. Gilda’s beak hung low in awe as she saw the large piles of gold and jewels being left behind unattended, ready to be taken. She chuckled darkly, walking towards a nearby pile.

   Spike felt the tension that he carried from the beginning was starting to disappear as he walked closer to the flower. “Just pick the flower, and the coffee will be mine,” he whispered to himself. He slowly and carefully reached the flower until he felt something. Something that he wished never happened, something that he knew it was a sign of trouble. He felt the ground shook under his feet. He heard slow and heavy footsteps came from behind.

   Gilda popped out from a pile of gold and saw something that wiped the smile off her face. She saw a fully grown dragon looking at her with its ember eyes. Its scale was red as fire and his spikes were dark as ash and sharp as a thousand griffon’s claws. Its wings stretched to the length of three chariots. She squawked and swooped next to Spike, who was evenly scared by the sight of the angry beast. She looked up and saw an escape route.

   “Don’t think that you can escape me,” the dragon growled, his nose flaring with smoke.

   “I-I wasn’t thinking of escaping at all,” she lied, laughing nervously. The red dragon changed his gaze on the little, scared purple dragon.

   “Why are you here?” the giant dragon asked as he smiled, showing many sharp teeth.

   “I-I-I just wanted to take the flower,” Spike stammered nervously as the dragon stepped closer.

   “Why do you want the flower?” he asked again, taking a step closer.

   “T-there’s,” Spike began, whispering.

  “Speak up, boy!” the giant dragon roared, causing the cave to vibrate.

“There’s a stallion who requested the flower in exchange for coffee!” Spike answered as loud as he could with his eyes closed. Then, there was a pregnant pause in the air. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the puzzled faces of the dragon and Gilda.

   “What?” the griffon yelled with disbelief in her eyes. The dragon cracked an eerie smile and let out a booming laugh.

   “You must like your coffee, hatchling,” the dragon commented, smirking.

“You don’t understand, I must have the coffee because if I don’t Equestria might be in dan-“Spike's explanation was cut as the giant raised a claw.

   “Do you know what purpose this flower serves?” the red dragon asked, leaning closer to the frightened intruders.

   “Y-Yes,” Spike nodded.

   “Well, then,” the grown dragon began as he started circling them. “If you want this flower, I might want something in return,” he demanded, grinning.

   “What if I just take it and we forget this ever happened?” Spike asked, looking at him pleadingly.

   “Then, I will burn both of you,” the dragon hissed, his nose flaring with fire.

   “W-what do you want then?” Gilda blurted nervously.

   The dragon looked at the scared griffon and smiled menacingly. “I want a necklace in return,” he answered. “But,” he continued, leaning closer. “It is a special necklace that could unlock a dragon’s full potential,” he explained.

   “W-where can I find this necklace?” Spike asked as he gulped nervously.

   “This necklace is in the possession of a tribe of buffaloes in the outskirts of Ponyville,” he answered with a wide grin on his face.

   “Why won’t you go get it yourself?” Gilda spoke up, beginning to sweat nervously.

   “A dragon like me would be most likely to be hunted if we enter Equestria without a special permission from your little princess,” the red dragon explained distastefully. “This is why I need you to bring it to me,” he concluded as he looked at Spike.

   “Only then, you would give me the flower?” Spike asked nervously as they looked eye to eye.

   “Only then.”

   “Okay, I’ll do it,” Spike agreed with uncertainty in his eyes.

   “Excellent,” the red dragon chuckled then quickly reached and hold the griffon tightly onto the ground with his claws. “But, I need something that is precious to you as compensation for intruding my cave. Like your friend here,” he explained, peering at Gilda.

   “Hey pipsqueak, help!” the Gilda yelled as she frantically struggled to free herself. She looked and saw Spike stood silently, considering his options.

   “What should I do?” Spike thought to himself. “Think, Spike, think!” he mentally screamed as he shook his head. “Aha!” he exclaimed triumphantly and quickly rummaged into his backpack as the giant dragon was obviously unamused by the whole situation. The large dragon's eyes sparkled when he saw the little dragon pulled up a beautiful sapphire gem from his backpack.

   “This is given by my friend, Rarity,” Spike explained, offering the gem to the giant dragon. “Even though this doesn’t look much to you, but it means alot to me. Keep this as compensation until I bring back the necklace,” he said, looking uncertain at the thought.

   “Very well,” the red dragon agreed, releasing the writhing griffon and took the gem into his claws. He sauntered into the back of the cave and gently put it on a high pedestal. “You will have this until you bring back the necklace,” he reminded the little one.

   “I understand,” Spike nodded as he took a last glance at his prized possession. He took a deep breath and exited the cave, with Gilda in tow.

   “Thanks, pipsqueak,” she said, landing next to Spike.

   “Whatever,” he sighed, clearly disheartened.

   “Look, I appreciate what you did for me,” Gilda started. “For that, I’ll join you in this quest... journey... whatever, you get the idea,” she said as she gave a dismissive shrug.

   “But, why?” Spike asked, looking at her quizzically.

   “I have nothing better to do anyway,” she answered, stretching her wings. “Oh,” she suddenly spoke up. “All this for coffee?” she asked, this time she was looking at him with pure disbelief in her eyes.

   “You have no idea what I got myself into,” he answered glumly.

   “Whatever,” she replied, rolling her eyes. She cracked her knuckles and looked at him. “Where we go next?”

   “We’re heading to Appleloosa,” Spike answered as he marched ahead.

“We’re going to walk there?” Gilda asked again, following the little dragon.

   “No, we’ll go by train,” he answered, chuckling to the thought of walking to Appleloosa.

   “But I don’t have any money,” she admitted.

   “I have some, and I hope it is enough,” he said as he pulled out a small bag of bits and showed it to Gilda.

   “You better,” she replied, looking at the small bag. “Oh yeah, what’s your name anyway?” she asked, looking down to the waddling dragon.

   “I’m Spike!” he answered cheerily for once.

  “Well, Spike,” Gilda began, looking into the setting sun. “This is going to be a wild ride.”