Castle Bahamut

“Up and at 'em.”

“Has it been three days already?”

“Yes. Outta the cell before we lock you in for another three.”

“Okay.”

Chapter 3: Retreat

"Okay, so I managed to discover the dungeons are utterly squash," I said as I sat down at a table.

Across from me were the girls as well as Celestia. To my left and right were Shining Armour and a guard pony I didn't know. I eyed them nervously and rubbed my shackled wrists. The girls all looked just as nervous as I did while Rarity and Twilight looked... terrible, to say the least. Neither of them looked like they slept since I was detained, and that was two days ago. Twilight had big black bags under her eyes and she seemed struggling to stay awake. Rarity's mane looks like she hasn't brushed it or even attempted to wash it since the day and she was constantly fidgeting, rubbing her hooves.

Reaching forward, I rested my claws on Rarity's hoof and her attention snapped to me. Her eyes were wide open and seemed so . . . lost and confused, moreso than I was. She didn't seem to be comforted by my gesture. Her eyes were prickled with tears and her lip puckered as she held back the urge to start bawling, something she must have done a lot of the past few days. Instead, she pulled her hooves back and looked down at them as she nervously rubbed them together. I bit my lip and glanced over to the rest. They all seemed so confused and I wasn't. I was perfectly collected.

"Spike, none o' this works f' us. We can't help you if'n you won't explain it t' us," Applejack said with a stern voice that trembled.

"I explained everything. I was at Rarity's the other night, she could vouch for me," I responded.

"C'mon, Spike, Rarity won't even talk unless she's alone with you, let alone on the stand." Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof on the table. "There has to be something more. Were you experiencing urges? Unknown urges? Maybe pent-up aggression? Oppression, exclamation?"

"That last one is a grammar tool," I stated, trying to keep my calm attitude.

"Girls, I have to ask you to silence yourselves," Celestia said, finally stepping in.

No hesitation as they all sat down, waiting the princess' orders. Celestia stepped forward, her face shadowed by the cheap spotlight shining down on me.

"Spike, Rainbow does have a point. Anything that could help you, please try and remember. Specifically, urges." She leaned forward, several inches from my face but not directly in it. "Have you felt the urge to attack others?"

"Of course not! Violence isn't the answer!" I said, shifting my whole body closer as if to peer into her eyes. "I dunno, maybe my subconscious kicks in while I'm sleeping?"

"Spike," Rarity said.

All eyes shifted to the fasionista and I looked at her with hopeful eyes. I nodded my head to let her know I heard her, but she wasn't even looking at me.

"Never mind," she said, letting her head drop.

The way her eyes diverted themselves from me, as if looking at me was horrifying, struck me hard. Celestia sighed and walked towards the corner, shaking her head.

"I don't know what to say, but I know I'm not the killer." I looked up at the girls, smiling. "You'll realize this soon. There isn't enough evidence to convict me," I said with brimming confidence. None of them returned the smile and Twilight and Rarity refused to look at me. Even though they looked distraught, I never lost the knowledge that I was innocent. Even if they stopped believing me, I couldn't. This time, I was going to remain strong for them.

[*][*][*]

This time, I got a good look at the hallways I was being yanked through. The place I thought was a staircase is just a tunnel leading straight up for several hundred feet. Artificially made, but there isn't anywhere to grab onto, the walls are made to prevent claws from digging in to climb, and there is security monitoring it. Only the smaller guards with wings could go through them. Kind of excessive, but it works.

I didn't bother looking out the window so I was a bit shocked to discover the terrible nocturnal weather waiting for me. Outside, being carried through the courtyards, thick rolling clouds resembling smog loomed ahead while thunder roared in the distance. I frowned, thinking back home to Rainbow Dash and her weather job. Surely, this weather would make even her get up in the middle of the night.

“I share your sentiment, prisoner. Even the guards dislike the weather 'round here,” the guard said as he escorted me.

“O-oh, yes, the weather... what's up with it, anyways?” I asked as he carried me into the prison.

“It's a psychological and environmental advantage. A horrible place makes anybody wanna leave, and motivates the dragon to reform. If necessary, we can use it for cover or as a distraction against an enemy or riot,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh, that's smart... I think.”

No more words were spoken and shortly after, we entered the holding area of the prison. I passed by sleeping inmates and those that decided to stay awake a bit longer. The guard didn't seem to rough with me, but last time I thought that he threw me into a wall. Sighing, I allowed him to carry me. Smart way of carrying, too. I'm like a peanut in his palm; I try to do anything and he just squishes me.

Thoughts interrupted, the cell door was swiftly opened and once more I was thrown into my quarters and slammed into the wall, this time hitting the sink, rolling off and hitting my face on the bed frame. I groaned and rolled around, holding my face.

“I apologize, normally I'd have more restraint but you are smaller than the average killer,” he said.

“I'm not a killer!” I responded quickly.

He sniffed at me, chuckled, and stood up before walking away. “Yeah, then why are you in here.” Rather than ask me, he left it as a statement to allow the message to sink in.

“Good question. Why... am I here? Maybe a draconic urge I can't control...?” I crawled onto my bed and snuggled up with my 'blanket'.

I guess a shredded potato sack could qualify as a blanket. Shrugging, I laid my head against my rock pillow and allowed myself to adjust to the scratchy texture of the sack. The ceiling was void of any stalagmites of any size. Whomever was here last had cleaned the ceiling, or maybe the guards do it. This prison can't seem to decide whether or not it's a hellhole or not.

The Warden acted nice and I was fooled, then he turned complete raging lunatic. Then he acted nice again and repeated our first encounter. The guards act ruthless at first, but the one that carried me back even apologized after hurting me. A volcano with intense heat here and there, very fitting of hell. Terrible weather above to symbolize dark clouds of Tartarus itself . . . yet the prison is clean, well-kept for dragons, and the fields are full of those red flowers. It's like a child going crazy with dark crayons, unable to decide on the colour of his colouring page.

Ponyville clearly established itself as a bright, colourful town full of friendly ponies (sometimes prejudiced) and right now, they're celebrating my imprisonment. “The murderous dragon is gone!” “To think we actually thought it was friendly!” “Just goes to show you that you can't trust a dragon.”

I crinkled my nose in my attempt to hold myself from crying again. None of this made any sense to me. The murders, the dragon, and my friends. The murders; why were they committed? What drove the beast to do them? The dragon; why? Just, why? Why kill others? And last . . . my friends. Twilight, Rarity, Celestia and the others. None of them helped me. The instant photos came out that showed a blurry purple dragon, none of them attempted to help me. No comforting, all but Twilight stopped visiting me in the dungeons where I was held, and that's the other thing. Celestia . . . she knows me. So why did she not he...

That bitch. She was saving face. The public wanted me gone. They wanted the 'dangerous beast' locked away so they could sleep well. Celestia didn't start an investigation, going with the 'evidence' presented. If she overruled the courts, Equestria would question her leadership. They'd criticize her, bring her down and demand I be taken away. She wanted to look good.

Gritting my teeth, the few tears that broke free from my tear ducts evaporated into steam as my face heated up. My eyes arched into a frown before my face scowled and I had to hold back a growl. My body started to feel weird, as if it was growing. It was just like when I started hoarding after my birthday, and I loved it. I wanted to give Celestia a reason to imprison me. Make those murder charges legitimate and really make her hurt, just as I did then..

But I couldn't. I couldn't do that, because then my friends would further think I was a monster. There wouldn't be any shred of doubt. I'd truly be a murderous dragon, and that thought  is absurd. I'm no killer. I'm not even violent. I don't think I've ever hurt someone other than an accidental burn here and there in my youth.

All of this thinking of home is hurting me worse than hearing the bad news. I rolled over and stared at the wall.

“If you want it to be easier on you, try this on: Your family abandoned you. Get used to it, and it won't hurt as much when you realize it.”

Gelid's words echoed in my mind, each word clicking in my head like a church bell dinging, vibrating through my skull. Each time, it got louder until they were all I could hear. And the more I tried to deny it, the more true it seemed. The more it felt like the only way to move on. They abandoned me, and the more I said it, the calmer I felt.

If they abandoned me, I can stop worrying about them. I could... start a new life when I leave. I could stop troubling them with my draconic problems.

I could prevent myself from hurting Rarity and Twilight.

[*][*][*]

I fell asleep at Celestia knows when, but I know I hadn't slept the full night. I was far too tired to have slept the whole night. Instead of getting up or moving, I remained stationary. The rumbling of the skies made its way through the stone prison and ended up in the holding area. But that wasn't all.

Footsteps.

Click click click.

Not large. Could be the Warden.

A cell door opened, and it sounded close. Taking a curious glance to see who would want who at this time of night, I instead found my reflexes kicking in. A large claw lunged forward at my face and using my arms that hugged my rock pillow, I pushed off the wall and slid off the bed. The dragon scratched the rock pillow and I didn't think twice as I rolled out of the cell. A quick glance back revealed the build of the dragon to be nearly twice my size and muscular enough to make Big Macintosh look like Featherweight.

Gulping, I began a dash down the rocky path leading towards a staircase. Behind me, the dragon's steps echoed through the halls. Some rumbling in the cells occurred, an obvious sign that several others woke up. Ignoring them as the intruder's steps rapidly got closer, I practically rolled up the stairs. Torches lit the walls and I simply followed them up and up and up until I came out to a bridge with an arched roof and caged walls. Nowhere to go, but it seemed to lead to more holding cells. Rain spat down on the world and I glanced through the bars quickly. Below were the giant gates at the prison's front.

Behind me, the dragon's steps weren't heard, and I gulped. I watched the archway for a sign of him before deciding he was gone. I ran towards the other side, ignoring the aching pain in my muscles that demanded I stop. I proceeded into the west side of the castle and found myself not in holding areas, but empty storage areas as well as halls that lead to guards' barracks. Nervously looking back, I found myself conflicted about where to go. I spotted a staircase at the other end of the mellow darkened hallway and ran across the cracked cobblestone floor and practically hugged the brown brick walls. Each little crease in the stone stuck out to me as my senses seemed entirely heightened. The scent of warm, fresh bread entered my snout and my stomach rumbled. The prison food isn't the best, but...

Shaking my head as a thunderclap screamed the land quiet, I began another mad dash towards the staircase and almost ran up the walls. I continued running until I found myself on a straight slope. Without questioning it, I continued running. I could be anywhere, going anywhere, and I'd be lost. Escape? What chance do I have of escaping?

Where I was going became obvious as I stepped out of the archway. Instead of a roof above me, I was in a pathway atop the castle. The only thing higher was a large tower that overlooked the whole island, obviously for the guards and messengers. Or maybe it was the Warden's penthouse, who knows.

Spotting my chance to escape regardless of my recent thought, I climbed over the jittered wall blocking me from falling and stepped onto faded crimson shingles atop the castle roof. The slope wasn't too steep, but the rain made it seem like a 70° wall. Carefully sliding towards the edge, I spotted the edge of the castle. There was a drop of about 1,200 feet directly into the ocean and at the bottom, barely visible, were multiple sharp rocks. I was not getting out this way so I proceeded to continue my scale of the castle on the shingles rather than where I'd be easily spotted.

The night and rain provided the perfect cover as I scurried on a downward slope. The drop-off slowly rounded out until I was on part of the volcano. The more the land rounded out, the more the base of the volcano seemed full of life. The Fire Lilly's at the base of the island didn't have their brilliance due to the darkness... then again, they can hardly be seen.

Shrugging it off, I came back to the front of the prison as well as the gates. There didn't seem to be an easy way to get off the prison's walls, and I've been running around for at least thirty minutes. At the base of the wall was several trees. I figured that I've got nothing to lose, so I shrugged my shoulders, let my adrenaline take over, and I did a bunny hop off the top of the wall.

It wasn't a straight wall drop as I found myself eventually sliding down the wall's gentle groove before slamming into small branches, twigs, and a bunch of leaves. I didn't even register the pain as I hit a thick branch and slid down, getting several slivers in my underbelly, and slammed face first into the trunk of the tree.

Groaning, I allowed myself to reorient for several minutes. At least another half hour passed, withstanding the urge to fall unconscious, before I found myself even able to think straight and I forced my body to slide off the branch. I bounced off every single thick branch of the tree, not caring as I was too dazed to register the pain anyways. I hit the soft grass below the tree and stumbled to my feet before leaning forward, continuing my stumble towards the docks.

After what seemed like years, I crossed the massive yard in front of the prison where the Pegasi gave me to the Dragon Guard. I stepped on the first large step and felt a tingling in my chest. Ignoring it, I broke into a full, stumbly run towards the docks. Before I could register what was going on, my chest felt like it exploded from the inside and I fell to the ground, rolling down the large, wide stairs as I did. The further I continued, the more I felt like my chest was being shredded from the inside. Looking down, my chest was glowing as the seal was almost like a blazing fire of its own. Then and there, I felt like I understood how ponies felt when caught on fire.

This was burning.

The last thing I saw before passing out were several large dragons picking me up and one familiar word: “Solitary!”

Dammit.

[*][*][*]

High above, Lockdown the young whelp scamper around the prison's rooftops. Daintily sipping from a mug of some draconic beverage, Lockdown curiously watched the scene unfold, spotting the would-be abductor running around the prison in a frenzy after Spike; climbing up the walls, jumping, yet Spike never seemed to spot him. Eventually, Spike wound up at the front of the prison and hopped off the gates. After a few minutes, just as the Warden sighed and was about to signal the guards, the purple speck, barely visible amongst the raindrops, darted out towards the front of the prison and then a red glow emitted from him.

“Son of a...” Lockdown smashed his mug against the wooden railing of the tower and walked over to a small cone attached to a pipe. Flicking the lid open on the wide end, he cleared his throat and spoke into it. “Guard Unit 24, converge on the grand steps at the castle; we have an attempted escape. The prisoner is the one whom tried to escape days ago.” Pausing, Lockdown grunted and let out a coarse sigh. “Solitary, one week.”

Slapping the small lid shut on the communication device, the Warden stood up and shook his head before slapping himself in the face. He stomped towards the railing and hopped up so he could look over. Quickly, over ten guards surrounded the red glow and brought it back towards the prison. Upon entering the gates, the glow vanished and then the guards delivered their package to solitary for the next week.

“'I expect results by the end of the week',” Lockdown said in a mocking tone. “Looks like you're screwed.”

Faint steps quickly got closer until another dragon was up in the tower with Lockdown. Wearing a cloak and being completely drenched, he threw the hood off and slumped down on one of several stone chairs situated in the tower. Crimson scales with red spines, the dragon also stood taller than Lockdown and even had a larger physical structure. He sighed and wiped the water off his face and hung his head, waiting.

“What in Shinryu's name was that?” Lockdown shouted as he stood stern, watching the other dragon.

The would-be abductor looked up with a simple “Hmm?” as a response. Lockdown smacked himself several times in the face and groaned. He waved his hand out in hectic gestures towards the front of the castle.

“THAT! What the hell was that supposed to be? I've seen better abductions from a damn Marching Band! And now, that slimy old git is going to be ringin' my neck because he won't have his damn results by the end of the week! You'll be lucky if he doesn't go straight to you, to be frank, since this was your job,” Lockdown said, pacing around. “Six weeks planning and now that the little bastard is actually here, he's causing us more trouble than a goddamned riot!”

“Sir, to be hone—”

“WHAT, HARUO? What is there to be honest about? Are you going to admit that you're not that go...” Lockdown pinched his nasion and scrunched up his snout. Letting out a deep sigh, he placed his hands on his waist and faced Haruo. “Continue.”

“I don't mean to offend, but why him? Why can't we use another drake?” Haruo asked, leaning back in the chair.

Scoffing, the Warden shook his head and leaned against the railing, crossing his legs and wrapping his tail around the bar.

“During his birth, he was hit with a massive surge of magic from Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. That magic has been dormant in his body for years. To compare the magic in him to magic in other dragons is like comparing a puppy to the Great Dragon God Bahamut in ferocity. What would normally take years will only take a few minutes with Spike since the boy clearly hasn't used it yet.”

Lockdown loosened up and looked over the prison once more, just as the rain started to let up. The overhang above shielded him perfectly and he sighed.

“Pure magic, untainted and unused by the boy... it's the purest we can get to magic without finding a crystogen jewel, or ripping it out of the Element's of Harmony. And it's not just pure, it's large. It is a well of magic, one that guarantees us the ability to cut back on time.” He spun around and walked over to Haruo. “You see? We need you.”

Snorting, Haruo shook his head. “If I didn't have my seal on, I'd be more efficient.”

“Impossible. Any flame is recorded in the logs magically, and flame not used by the guards or myself would raise immediate suspicion. They'd converge on you like locusts. They'd discover your ties. They'd discover me, and everything would be undone. Haruo, we NEED you to do whatever it takes to get Spike. I can't tell the guards to go easy on you, but I can give you as much resources as possible.”

Silence hung in the air between the two and Haruo was humming while he thought. Lockdown sat down in another chair and glanced over at his shattered mug before casting the thoughts off. Focusing on Haruo, he waited patiently.

“I've got an idea, but it's radical and potentially compromising,” Haruo quietly said.

“I don't care. Will it work?”

Haruo nodded his head. “Looking at his personality, if he doesn't fall for it, I'll really be surprised.” Just as Lockdown was about to speak, Haruo held his finger up. “But, I need you to be lenient and trust me as well as convince your leash-holder to get off my back. This will take at least four more weeks to guarantee success.”

Lockdown nodded without hesitation. “All of the flak is on you, than. The old git will give me hell for the latest incident, but after I tell him the plan, he'll be breathing down your neck. Mess up and we'll be saying 'hello' to the guillotine back home, so double-check your plan, then triple-check your double-checks. Leave no room for error.”

“I won't. Now if you excuse me, I have to return to my cell. It'll be morning soon and I want at least half an hour of sleep,” Haruo said as he stood up, stretching his back.

Lockdown nodded, not facing the young drake as he swiftly left the tower. Stuck with his thoughts, Lockdown glanced over to the shattered mug and sighed. Standing up, he quickly cleaned up the remains of the mug and dumped it off the tower. Down below, it pinged off the roof and fell into the courtyards.

“The guillotine doesn't sound so bad.”