My Little Dragon

by Metal Pony Fan

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Romance, Original Character, Spike, Rarity, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 187269

Many years ago, shortly before the birth of one Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, ruler of Equestria, found a small item in a forest. That item? An egg. Around the same time, Celestia, ruler of Draconica found something small in a forest. A pony.

Many years ago, shortly before the birth of one Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, ruler of Equestria, found a small item in a forest. That item? An egg. Around the same time, in another place, Celestia, ruler of Draconica found something small in a forest. That thing? A pony.

Art(C)me
Ponies(C)hasbro
dragons(C) ?

Published 2012-12-18 22:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-09-15 20:31:40 UTC

Power Within

“Two weeks?!” Spike stared up at his teacher in a state of near panic. “But that means I’m derelict! They’ll make me serve another year!” Spike’s ears slowly unfolded from his head as panic slowly gave way to a sobering realization. “Ice Heart planned this, didn’t he? He said he wasn’t going to let me go. I thought he was joking, but now, I see I was wrong.”

Celestia’s laugh echoed through the chamber once more, causing spike to clamp his ears back down. “That does sound like something he would do, but Ice Heart didn’t plan anything. I asked him to send you here because I have a mission for you.”

“A mission?” Spike breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that he wouldn’t end up in the military another year, but he couldn’t imagine what sort of mission would be so important that Celestia would assign it herself.

“Yes. Follow me, Spike.” Celestia turned and started walking towards the back of the chamber. She kept her pace deliberately slow, but Spike still had to trot at a relatively quick pace just to keep up. “Aside from me, who is the most powerful dragon you’ve met?”

Spike thought about that for a moment. “Are you talking about power in terms of strength, or are you speaking of magic?”

A door opened in the darkness before them. Spike followed Celestia out onto the balcony. Out of the entire castle, this was Celestia’s favorite spot. Spike walked to the edge of the balcony. Far below, rising from the floor of a great cavern, carved from the rock left behind by a long extinct volcano, stood the subterranean city of Dragartha. The city spread out above them as well, carved into the craggy stalactites clinging to the ceiling. Fires burned everywhere, leaving the air smoky, yet still breathable, even if you aren’t a dragon.

“There are many kinds of strength, Spike.” Celestia walked to the edge of the balcony and spread her wings, bright white contrasting with dark volcanic rock. At their full extension, Celestia’s wings created a wall of white that was visible from the farthest reaches of the city, a city that was now cheering, all for the mere presence of its ruler. “Just as there are many kinds of power.” Celestia folded her wings and stepped away from the balcony’s edge. “A leader’s power comes from those who look to them for guidance, but that leader must have the strength to provide that guidance. Physical ability is one sort of strength, a keen mind is another. Magical ability, depending on how it’s used can be strength or weakness. There is also a strength that is much harder to define, one that comes from within. Call it what you may, courage, force of will, an indomitable spirit, or one of a hundred other names, the fact remains that it is just as important as anything else.

Different kinds of power require different kinds of strength. A powerful fighter can rely on his physical capability, but another can be just as powerful through the use of his wits. Love is a form of power as well, one that both requires and gives the strength to put another before yourself. The bandits that roam the wastelands hold power over those that fear them. Similarly, one may gain power through trickery and deception. What is power? There is no simple way to answer that question, Spike. In truth, there is no answer at all that can truly define what power is.

Knowing all that, I will ask you again, aside from me, who is the most powerful dragon you know?”

Spike took one last look at the city below. Most of the cheering had stopped, but a few enthusiastic shouts could still be heard. Celestia managed to draw that much of a reaction from the city below, yet he couldn’t even be seen. “I guess I would have to say Ice Heart. Though, Bluescale and Commander Rotwick come close.”

Celestia nodded politely, betraying nothing of what she thought of his choices. “Those certainly are interesting choices. Please, explain them. Start with Commander Rotwick. She was severely injured in battle, how does that make her powerful?”

Spike stepped away from the balcony’s edge. “She was fighting against five other dragons. She knew she couldn’t win, but she loved her hometown enough to risk her own life. She also had the physical ability to take out two of her opponents in a direct fight and the mental ability to force the other three into a standstill until help arrived.”

Celestia lowered her head. “So, the nobility of her actions affords her the respect of others. That is one way to look at it. What about my nephew, Bluescale? Though he is a member of nobility, I doubt many would call him noble.”

“Yeah,” Spike scratched at his mane, “he is kind of a jerk sometimes. But I was part of his squad before serving with Ice Heart, I know him a little better than most dragons. He was the one who rescued Rotwick; he defeated the three remaining dragons without chipping a scale.”

There was a series of loud clicks as Celestia tapped her claws against the stone floor. “Then he makes the list through physical strength alone?”

“No.” Spike looked back at the city. He knew there were dragons there far stronger, physically, than either Bluescale or Rotwick, but he didn’t consider them powerful. “He may not show it, but Bluescale cares about what happens to Draconica. He also has a strong sense of pride. A little too much pride at times, but he sees it as a point of honor to keep the innocent out of battles and will do so even at his own expense. He also has a good deal of political sway, even if he’s a little frivolous about how he uses it.”

“I see you lean towards inner strength in your appreciation of power.” Celestia turned and started walking back into the chamber they left earlier. “I can guess why you chose Ice Heart. However, there is one other thing about power that I wanted to discuss with you, being able to see it in others.”

Spike was trotting along beside her. She was walking a little faster than before, but Spike was able to keep pace with little effort. He would have been out of breath by now before his training. “Isn’t that what we were just talking about?”

“In a sense.” They walked through the door leading from the chamber into the rest of the castle. They started down a hallway devoid of any markings. The only features were torches along the rough stone walls. “But most dragons, and ponies, if you are any indication, can recognize power and form opinions about it. I am referring to seeing it even when there is nothing yet to see. I am referring to potential.” Celestia turned a corner down a hallway much like the previous one. This one, however, had a blue carpet running its length. Spike’s heart skipped a beat as recognition set in. This was the path to the library! He practically grew up in that room, to him, it was as close to home as any place could ever hope to be. “Do you know why Ice Heart wanted you to stay in the military?”

“Huh?” Spike’s attention was more on the path ahead of him than on the conversation. Without noticing it, he had even sped up, pulling ahead of Celestia in his desire to reach the library. “Um, no. I never understood half the things he did. I mean, why he would keep me around when there are thousands of dragons to choose from?”

“Potential,” Celestia said simply.

They approached the giant wooden door that led to the library. Spike rushed ahead. He couldn’t wait anymore. Celestia was always adding books to her collection, and the thought of how many she must have added in the last two years was making his mouth water. He put his shoulder to the door and shoved it open, not waiting for Celestia to catch up before rushing in.

Celestia chuckled as she followed him in. She sat down on a large cushion in the corner, watching spike as he ran back and forth, checking bookshelf after bookshelf. “I am afraid there are no new books.”

“What?!” Spike spun around. Beneath his widened eyes, his mouth slowly fell open as he worked to form his thoughts into words. “You get new books every week! There should be hundreds of them!”

With a nonchalant wave of her head, Celestia gestured to a small cushion on a raised platform near her. “There is a reason for that. Come, sit down.”

Spike did as he was told, but the only thing going through his head was a list of possible reasons why there were no new books. The only possibility rose above the rest, and that was that she, and by extension he, had read every book in existence. That was not a comforting thought. “Looks like it’s time to start writing, huh?”

Celestia lifted a claw to her mouth and chuckled into her wrist. “I would like that very much, my student. Your experiences and analytical mind should produce a most interesting work. However, if you do decide to write a book, please consider writing a piece of fiction; it would be most interesting to see how a non-dragon mind handles the imaginary.” She gestured the claw towards the still open library door. “Returning to the matter at claw, or hoof, in your case, you have never been able to open that door before. There are even dragons in this castle who are unable to do so. That is potential. You are able to do things you once could not. You will, one day, be able to do things that you now believe impossible. Ice Heart saw that potential in you, the potential to become even more powerful than he is.”

Spike didn’t answer; he was too busy staring at the door. She was right, he never could get that door open, he had even given up on trying, but today, he didn’t even think about it. But there was no way he could become as powerful as Ice Heart. Celestia was rarely ever wrong about anything, but he just couldn’t see how he could be expected to surpass the leader of Draconica’s military.

Celestia slumped her shoulders and let out a sigh. Spike had to hold on to his cushion to keep from tilting over in the sudden gust. “By doubting yourself, you also doubt Ice Heart. He has faith in you, in your potential, don’t let him down.”

“Sorry,” Spike shifted uncomfortably, “I just don’t see how any dragon, or pony, can match up to Ice heart. You’re the only one more powerful than he is.”

“At the moment, Spike, that is true.” Celestia lashed her tail out at the door, flicking its tip against the door and slamming it shut. “This brings us to your mission, and the reason there aren’t any new books. I sent the books to somedragon, and I want you to go meet her.”

“That seems simple enough,” thought spike. At least it wouldn’t involve bandits, mudslides, or large amounts of explosive substances like most of the missions that Ice Heart gave him. “Who is this dragon anyway?”

Celestia smiled a wide toothy grin that would scare the life out of most creatures. Spike just recognized it as her getting excited about something. “She has the potential to become the most powerful dragon of her generation. She even has the potential to become as powerful as I am. Her name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Hunting High and Low(Stand My Ground)

“Twilight Sparkle, that seems like an odd name for a dragon.” Spike ignored the blasting wind in his face and adjusted the bags strapped to his sides. They were a variation on a courier’s flight bags, designed specifically to fit him. They made carrying his gear a lot more efficient, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of a name for them. “Not that Spike is any better of a name for a pony.” He let out a sigh. He needed to check the map again. “HEY! GRUMBLE!” Spike had to shout to be heard over the wind. “LAND ON THAT CLOUD OVER THERE!”

Grumble looked back at the pony riding on his back. “You got it, boss!”

Spike shook his head. He was never going to get used to that. He and grumble were on the same squad before he started serving under Ice Heart. Now, Spike outranked him. He outranked all his old friends, all his old enemies too. “At least he doesn’t call me sir.” Spike took one last look at the ground before grumble landed on the cloud. Once they came to a stop, Spike took a map out of his bag. He studied it for a moment, and then put it away.

“How’s it lookin’, boss?” Grumble was looking over the edge of the cloud, intensely focused on the forest below.

Spike knew what he was thinking about. Grumble was one of the dragons who had gone through basic training with him. The quadropedal dragon’s body was relatively flat and well-camoflauged. He could also move quietly through underbrush, making him a natural hunter. “We’re pretty close. Dragonspire should be just past this forest. Get me there, then you can spend the rest of your leave doing whatever you want.” Spike looked over at the landscape beneath them. An expansive forest spread out in all directions beneath them. The cloud was low enough that he could make out some of the larger plants growing among the trees. They were surprisingly tropical in appearance, especially those patches of blue. He tried to recall what he read about this area. “This is the everfree forest. If you go hunting, expect manticores, hydras, and timberwolves.”

“Blegh!” Grumble twisted his face into a grimace. “Can’t stand timberwolves.” He expressed his disgust by sticking his tongue out as far as it would go, which wasn’t really all that far. Spike found out the hard way that grumble had a short, sticky tongue; more like a lizard’s than the much more common forked tongue. Grumble spit him out as soon as he realized he wasn’t food, but to this day, Spike can’t spend any length of time around livestock without getting a little panicky. “Manticore’s pretty good though. Don’t know about Hydra though, you ever try it?”

“No.” Spike tapped twice on grumbles back, signaling for him to resume his flight. “Aside from fish, I can’t digest meat aswell as dragons can. Looks like you’ll just have to find out on your own.” Spike would have left it at that, but he remembered something Ice Heart said once. “I hear they’re really slimy.” Spike heard Grumble swallow loudly. “I don’t think he’ll mention hunting again.”

They reached Dragonspire a short time later. Grumble set down in an open spot near the center of town. “Here we are, boss!” He threw a claw in the air to indicate the bustling little town around them. “A town full of dragons called Dragonspire. Sort of silly if you ask me, but you gotta call it something.”

Spike hopped off grumble’s back and looked around. It was unlike any dragon settlement he had ever seen. For one thing, instead of the usual rocky landscape, there was green everywhere. The place should have been called Greenspire. Actually, there wasn’t even a spire, or a mountain, so it shouldn’t be called anything-spire. There was a mountain of in the distance, but it was too far away to count. It didn’t even look inhabited. “Looks like prime real estate though,” Spike thought, “I have some gold saved up, I wonder if it’s for sale?”

He was broken out of his thoughts by Grumble clearing his throat. “Well, you’re here. If that’s all, I’m gonna go ahead and take off.”

“All right, enjoy your leave.” Spike started to walk away, but turned around just as Grumble spread his wings to take off. “Wait. How much leave do you have saved up?” They joined up at the same time, so he’s only two weeks from getting out. Why did he wait to take leave now?

Grumble sighed and folded his wings. “I’ve got two weeks.”

Spike was surprised by the sudden change in Grumble’s tone. He sounded upset. Who gets upset over two weeks leave? Especially if you don’t have to come back? “Then you’re free and clear? I wish I’d thought of that.”

“Yeah, I wanted to give myself some time to think.” Grumble absent-mindedly picked at a loose scale on the back of his claw. “I’m trying to decide whether or not I should stay in.”

“In the military?” Spike couldn’t believe his ears. Out of all the dragons he went through basic with, Grumble was the last one he expected to go career.

“Why not?” The loose scale came off under the attention of Grumble’s claws. He held it up for a moment, looking at it in silence before tossing it. “You made Centurion. I figure, if I go air cavalry, I oughtta have a chance at Tetrarch. Might take a few years though.”

Spike’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “What about your plans? I though you wanted to open a restaurant?” Why would he give that up for an off-chance at a mid-level officer’s ranking?

“You know how much respect a cook gets in the capitol.” Grumble looked around, avoiding Spike’s gaze.

“Then go somewhere besides the capitol.” Spike noticed Grumble’s shifting eyes. There was more to this than he was letting on. “You’re worried about your colors, aren’t you?”

Grumble’s wince answered the question for him. “I just stick out too much in an underground city like that. And I figure, if I had a decent rank, I might get a little more respect out of somedragons.”

Spike shook his head. This was all about appearances? “A Purple Wing isn’t enough to command respect?”

“Pfft!” Grumble tossed his head to the side. “Not when you look like a female.”

“Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see it.” Spike cleared his throat. “What about Commander Rotwick? She is a female. If somedragon doesn’t respect you or your achievements, that’s their problem, not yours.” Spike didn’t quite get the whole dragon preoccupation with what others think, he would much rather be left alone. Still, he was pretty proud of his little pep talk, and was hoping it would cheer his friend up a little. “Why don’t you look around, find something new? Why not start here? It seems like kind of a boring town compared to Dragartha or Cloudspire, but maybe the dragons will be interesting enough to make up for that.”

“I doubt it.” Grumble rolled his eyes before scanning the town. His gaze focused on the nearest dragon, a wingless, hornless female. She was a bright pink color and about the same size and shape as grumble. “I’ll prove it,” he glanced at Spike with a confident smirk, “five small treasures says she starts talking about mining or farming.”

Spike shrugged and followed as Grumble walked over to her. “Sure, I know exactly which ones I want too.”

Grumble turned his head to look at the pony following him. ”Do you even have a hoard?” He shook his head and looked back at the dragon he was approaching. “Eh, I guess you gotta pay for stuff somehow.” He tapped the pink dragon on the shoulder. “Excuse me, miss?”

Spike barely had time to duck a barrage of flame as the pink dragon turned around and leapt into the air, breathing fire and drawing in a large gasp. She then dashed off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. “Whoa!” Spike watched the pink blur recede into the distance. “How did she breathe fire while she was breathing in?” He looked over at grumble and started laughing. The dragon didn’t duck in time, leaving his face a blackened mess.

“Well, that was interesting all right.” Grumble shook his head to clear away the ash clinging to his scales. Oddly enough, there were little specks of glitter mixed in with it. “Looks like I owe you five pieces of treasure. I’m guessing you want the golden bookmark?”

“You got it.” Spike smiled proudly. “And the three alchemical rune stamps, and that thing with the pony on it. I don’t know much about my species, and that thing could be a clue to my culture.”

“Huh.” Grumble used his claws to wipe the last of the ash from his face. “You should have let me know, I would have traded it to you. I don’t even know what it is.”

Spike cocked his head to the side. “Trade?”

“Uh, yeah?” Grumble gave his head a little shake. “You’ve been living among dragons for how long? Your entire life? You’ve never heard of trading?”

“Well, I’ve heard of it.” Spike scratched at his mane as he inspected the side of a nearby building with much more interest than it warranted. “I just thought it was rude to suggest, and something that wasn’t generally done.”

Grumble looked skyward as he shook his head. “Does all your knowledge of dragon culture come from centuries old books?”

Spike’s eyes drifted off to the side as he thought about it. “Not all of it,” he said hesitantly, “at least, I don’t think so.” He practically lived in Celestia’s library for most of his life; most of his knowledge of anything came from centuries old books.

Grumble drug his claws over his face. “You really need to get out more.”

“Hey,” Spike smiled and punched grumble in the leg, “what do you think I’ve been doing these last two years?”

Grumble frowned and rubbed at the spot where Spike punched him, more than a little surprised that it actually hurt. True, it only hurt a little, but it was still surprising. “I don’t think military training counts. I’m talking about having fun, going treasure hunting, finding a pretty female- Well, that one’s probably a little hard for you, but you get my point, Right?”

Spike blinked. “I don’t think so.”

Grumble stared at him for a moment. “Ok, I’m helping you complete your mission.” Grumble lowered his head, fixing a narrowed gaze directly at Spike. “After that I am going to force some fun down that tiny, vegetarian throat of yours.”

“Hey!” Spike put a hoof to his chest in a mocking defense to his friend’s threat. “I eat fish.”

Grumble nodded his head slowly. “Sure ya do.” He rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. “Whoa!” He suddenly lurched forward and fell hard to the side, kicking up a cloud of dust. Spike took a quick step forward, straining to see what happened. He heard heavy footsteps as Grumble clambered to his feet. “What were you thinking?! I could have flattened you!”

The dust settled, revealing a dragon staring up at a scowling Grumble. She was a little, bipedal hatchling. She was smaller than Spike, small enough to ride on his back even, but she didn’t seem scared of the much larger Grumble. If anything, she seemed happy. There was a smile plastered on her face and she was bouncing up and down a little with what seemed to be excitement or one too many sugary drinks. She was also purple, really purple; wide purple eyes, purple scales, purple horns, and spines in shades of purple. It was more purple in one place than Spike had ever seen, except in the mirror of course. The only hint of any other color was a little pink fin-ring in the shape of a star. She stood there, looking up at Grumble with her head tilting back and forth, like she expected something from him.

Grumble looked down at her, eyes wide with confusion as he pursed his lips. It was a long moment before he finally spoke. “Yes?”

“I have a hoard!” The little dragon’s voice was youthful and cheery, a perfect match for her appearance. She practically danced away after her exclamation, humming a song to herself as she went.

Spike and Grumble stared in confusion as she waltzed away. Grumble took a deep breath. “What just happened?”

Spike shook his head without moving his gaze from the purple speck receding into the distance. “I have no idea. But it looks like we need to follow her.” He started walking in the direction that the little dragon had taken.

“Huh?” Grumble’s brow knotted in confusion. By the time he started following Spike, the pony had a decent head start, leaving the dragon to speed up in order to catch him. “Why are we following a hatchling? This makes no sense.”

“We’re not following her.” As Grumble trailed along behind, he saw Spike’s head dipped to the side. “Well, not exactly. She just happens to be heading in the same direction we’re going.”

Grumble pulled alongside Spike. “And where are we going?”

“To the local tree of knowledge,” Spike kept his gaze on the path ahead of them, “the librar-“ He suddenly stopped in his tracks, one eye narrowing as he tilted his head. “What?! It’s really a tree?”

Grumble followed Spike’s gaze to the library. It was still a decent walking distance away, but it was clearly visible in the distance, a large tree with a door and windows built into the trunk. There was a big sign stuck in the ground beside the tree. On the sign, there was a picture of a single, open book. There was also a balcony hanging among the branches. He shrugged. “It’s no weirder than anything else we’ve come across in this town.”

Spike turned to Grumble, ready to protest, but the words died on his tongue before he could speak. He looked down and sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Spike looked at the tree-slash-building again. “It seems a little small though, especially for a public library. I don’t think it would fit many-“ Spike’s word trailed off as something about his surroundings changed. He wasn’t quite aware of what happened at first, but something was different from a moment ago. He sniffed the air. At first, nothing seemed out of place, but after a few seconds, he realized that he could smell smoke. Smoke was common in most dragon cities, but there hadn’t been any here since they landed, not even when that pink dragon was breathing fire. Spike broke into a run, desperately hoping it wasn’t the library that was on fire. “I guess that’s what you get when you let a dragon live in a tree.”

Grumble sped up as well, taking flight as soon as he had enough momentum. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew that Spike had good instincts. If something was wrong he would be the first to know. Spike’s instincts were proven right as a loud crash sounded from ahead. Grumble sped up, leaving his commanding officer behind. He couldn’t see anything that would have caused the sound, whatever it was must be on the other side of the library. He swooped wide around the building, giving himself a chance to see what was going on without drawing attention to himself.

He saw four dragons. One of them was the purple hatchling from a moment ago. A slightly larger white dragon stood nearby, facing the other two while the purple one tried to put out a patch of fire on the tree’s trunk. The smaller of the other two dragons was twice the size of the white one, the larger was at least twice the size of Grumble. The larger dragon took a step towards the library. In response, the white dragon used a burst of magical energy to hurl a rock at him. The rock bounced right off his red scales. Grumble may have been on leave, but he was still in the military. That meant it was his job to protect the innocent from bandits and marauders. Besides, he recognized those red scales. It was about time Fire Flash got what was coming to him.

He started an attack run, flying low to the ground. His targets were too focused on their own prey to notice his approach. He had one chance to strike before they would start to fight back, and he had to make it count. He didn’t stand a chance against Fire Flash, so he targeted the smaller one. He increased his speed as much as he could. The noise of the extra wing flaps alerted the smaller dragon to Grumble’s presence, but he didn’t have a chance to do anything but turn around before Grumble’s mouth closed around him. Fire Flash wasn’t even aware that the other dragon was just carried away, he just kept advancing on the two dragons attempting to defend the library. Grumble looped around the large tree with the squirming dragon sticking halfway out of his mouth. He flew to where Spike was still running, to inform him of the situation and receive orders.

Spike watched as Grumble approached him and made a series of claw signals. One enemy. Flying type. Fire. Spike nodded his understanding and shouted, “I’m pulling rank on this, take shield duty!” Spike stopped running. If there was an enemy, he didn’t want to run around a corner into them. Luckily, he had another means of approach, but it would take a little preparation.

Grumble flew back towards the library, once more taking a wide arc to mask his approach. He had shield duty, that meant it was his job to protect the town and its inhabitants as his superiors fought. Once he was behind Fire Flash, he dove straight for the library, working up a good spit as he flew. The white dragon saw Grumble’s approach. Her expression of surprise alerted Fire Flash to the threat behind him. He spun around and launched a fireball before he could even see the approaching Grumble.

Grumble was in no danger of getting hit by the incendiary attack. It had gone wide. However, he banked towards it and maneuvered himself so it would pass above him. As soon as it was close, he inverted and kicked his hind legs at the fireball, launching it high into the air to dissipate harmlessly among the clouds. The impact altered Grumbles flight path, he was now headed for the ground. He had anticipated that though. He twisted right before hitting the ground, throwing his front claws forward. He hit the ground running, using his wings to increase his groundspeed. He held a course straight at Fire Flash, who was raising a claw to swipe at him. As the claw came down, he leapt to the side, but continued running past him.

Once he was close enough to the library, he spit the smaller dragon at the flaming tree trunk. Grumble’s sticky saliva glued the small dragon to the spot, extinguishing the flames as well as immobilizing the dragon. He spun to face Fire Flash, positioning himself between the aggressor and his intended victims. “The name’s Grumble,” he spoke to the two dragons behind him, rather than the one he was facing, “combat and recon flight specialist, stay behind me.”

“A specialist?” Fire Flash’s voice was as irritating and arrogant as Grumble remembered, unfortunately, he had a good deal of strength to back it up. “I guess a nodragon like you never sets their sights very far, eh fourwings?” Fire Flash’s snout twisted into a wicked sneer as he broke into a laugh. “Oh, I forgot, you lost two of them. Too bad, isn’t it?” He opened and closed one claw against the ground, leaving long marks scratched into the grass and dirt below him. “How about it, Specialist, think you have what it takes to stand up to a Pentarch in the air cavalry?”

“No.” Grumble spoke in a low growl, every muscle was tense as he waited for an attack that could come at any moment. “I’m not stupid enough to imagine that I can take you on right now, but my commanding officer is on the way.”

Fire Flash lowered his head and bared his teeth. “Is that supposed to scare me?”

“It should.” Grumble allowed himself to smile. “He’s beaten you before.”

“A foolish bluff, Grumble. Nodragon has ever beaten me!” Fire Flash threw his head back and let out a roar that rattled the windows of nearby buildings. He brought his head down and, in the same movement, let loose a fireball several times more powerful than the one Grumble deflected earlier.

Grumble was about to grab the two dragons behind him and take off, but stopped when a green flash appeared in the fireball’s path. His smile turned into a smirk as the Fireball hit the sudden light. “Well, Fire Flash, you’re right about that last part.”

Through the Fire and the Flames(Peacemaker)

Fire. Spike looked around. Heat. He lifted a hoof and looked down at the writhing light and energy dancing around it. He was bathed in an inferno, searing tendrils flicked across his body and twisted all around him. They consumed his bags and their contents, but he remained unharmed. He idly remembered a time when something like a blazing inferno would have mattered to him, a time when he would have run from the flames, screaming like a hatchling. He stood where he was, calm in the center of the blaze. Through gaps in the devouring wall around him, he could see the sharp-fanged smile of the dragon that was to be his opponent. “That’s enough of this.” Spike lit his horn and tossed his head to the side, unleashing a powerful wave of kinetic energy. The flames briefly expanded before being blown out from within.

Fire Flash’s eyes went wide for a moment when he realized who was standing before him. Just as quickly, they narrowed in anger. “YOU!”

An ember drifted down and landed on Spike’s shoulder. Without looking away from his opponent, he brushed it away with a hoof. “My name is Spike, Centurion under the command of General Ice Heart, on a direct mission from princess Celestia. You are hereby ordered to stand down.”

“That’s a worse bluff than your friend’s.” Fire Flash puffed himself up and let out a short snort, issuing smoke from his nostrils. “You’ll find I am no longer so easily fooled!” He spat out another fireball.

Spike made no effort to dodge the blast, it wasn’t aimed at him. The incendiary ball hit the ground just in front of him bursting into a towering flame between the two. Spike calmly walked forward, through the inferno. “And you’ll find that I am no longer so weak.” He emerged from the other side of the flames holding a small rock aloft in front of him, green energy swirling around it as it hovered.

“Hmmph! I don’t need flames to take on a runt like you.” He reared up, spreading his wings wide. “I’m going to enjoy these five minutes!”

Spike focused his attention on the rock before him. “There will be no five minutes.” He struck the rock against another one that was sitting on the ground nearby. “Your disrespect of a superior officer is not the issue here.” He struck stone against stone over and over. “Your aggressive behavior towards innocent civilians is.” Spike examined the rock he held in his magic. The repeated strikes had chipped it down to a sharpened disc. “You have five seconds before I classify you a bandit and deal with you as such.” He looked back at his opponent. “Leave before that.”

“Big talk for a small creature.” Fire Flash took to the air, flapping his wings to gain height. “PREPARE TO-“

Spike launched his stone disc, aiming it at the base of Fire Flash’s left wing. It tore through air, scale and bone with ease. The hole it left was almost too small to see, but the damage it caused left the dragon unable to stay airborne. He crashed to the ground. Spike walked towards him. “Time’s up.”

Fire Flash lurched to his feet. His teeth were bared in a vicious snarl as he glared at Spike. He lunged forward, raising a claw to slash at the pony before him. “WHY, YOU LITTLE-“

The stone disc returned to Spike’s side, cutting through his opponent’s outstretched arm. Before the dragon could react, Spike launched the disc through one of the limbs supporting the dragon’s weight. Fire Flash collapsed against the ground, momentum dragging him forward. He opened his mouth to launch another fireball, but Spike leapt onto his snout, slamming it shut around the explosive attack. Fire Flash lifted his head and thrashed about violently, both in pain and in the hopes of dislodging his opponent. Spike managed to stay on top of the dragon’s snout, but wouldn’t be able to for long. He lit his horn, readying the necessary magic power for his final attack. There was a flash of fear in the dragon’s eyes as the unicorn lunged forward and lightly tapped his horn against the dragon’s forehead. The look of fear slowly faded as the dragon’s eyes unfocused and drifted closed

Spike jumped off the dragon’s snout just before it fell to the ground, stumbling a little as he hit the ground. He shook his head to clear the dizziness caused by his spell and turned away from the now snoring dragon. He was too busy with his fight to notice the two dragins earlier, but he saw them now. On was the purple hatchling from before, and the other- The other was a dragoness, her scales shone a bright white as pure as the snows of Northspire and her crest was a vibrant amaranthine hue. She was a quadruped, and quite small for a dragon, being about the same size as Spike. Judging by the development of her scales, she was mature and at her final adult size. Her antler like horns marked her as a magic-type, rather than a flying or earth-type. Even more striking than her physical features was her voice. When she spoke, she spoke with an elegant voice that bespoke culture and sophistication. Spike heard the bell like tones, admiring them silently even though he hadn’t been listening.

The white dragoness tapped a claw against the ground as she awaited a response. Patience wearing thin, she sighed and directed her attention to the large dragon who had introduced himself as Grumble. “Is he always like this?” She received a nod in response. With another sigh, she turned back to the odd creature named Spike. “Excuse me? I said, ‘thank you for protecting us.’ Now, would you kindly stop staring at me?”

Spike blinked and responded with a thought out, well-worded response, the sort of response a well-educated tactician could be expected to come up with on a moment’s notice. “Huh?”

Something smacked Spike in the chin. He looked down to see the little hatchling shoving a notebook at him. Her face held an expression that was too serious to be taken seriously. Her childish features turned it into more of a pout. “I need the formula to that protection spell you cast on yourself.” When he didn’t immediately respond, she prodded him with the notebook again. “And the sleeping spell.”

The white dragoness stepped in at that point, curling her tail around the hatchling and dragging her away as she continued to thrust the book in Spike’s direction. “Sorry about that,” she offered a nervous chuckle, “the poor dear gets so excitable when it comes to matters of ma-“ The dragoness stopped, eyes going a little wide. There was a scratching noise behind her. She looked back to see her young charge furiously scribbling on her hindquarters with a pencil, marring the white scales with swirls and doodles. A sharp glare put a quick end to the hatchling’s questionable artistic endeavors, leading the purple dragon to duck behind the nearby Grumble.

The much larger dragon looked down at the little lavender bundle hiding behind his leg. He would have to be careful not to step on her if he moves. He looked up to see Spike admiring the hatchling’s artwork. “Um, Boss?” Spike snapped his head up, a light reddish tint visible on his purple face. The dragoness was too busy trying to scrape the markings off to pay attention to anything else. Grumble shook his head slowly, smirking as he did so. “What should I do about the prisoners?”

“Oh, uh,“ Spike cleared his throat, “contact the local military liaison and let them deal with it.” His gaze started drifting back to the white-scaled dragin, but he caught himself and looked back at Grumble. He shook his head and cleared his throat again. “I have a mission to complete, so I’ll leave them in your capable claws.”

Grumble saluted, smirk still plastered across his face. “You got it, boss!” Making sure the hatchling was nowhere underfoot, Grumble turned and started walking away. “Oh! Before I forget,” he looked back at the dragoness, “my commanding officer lost his map in that battle. He doesn’t know the area, so he’ll need a guide. Would you be kind enough to assist him in my place?” Before pony or dragon had the chance to object, he took to the air and flew off, smiling as the wind whipped past his face. “He’ll thank me later.”

Two pairs of eyes watched Grumble as he faded into the distance. The third, purple set, was watching Spike. The hatchling offered her notebook to the unicorn one more time. “She’ll do it if you give me the formula.”

Spike looked down at her and sighed. “The Ironscale spell is a classified military secret. I can’t give you the formula.”

She jabbed him in the chest with the notebook. Her eyebrows were pulled down and together in annoyance. “That wasn’t the Ironscale spell.” She stuck her tongue out at the purple pony. “You’re just being a big, mean grumpy-scales.” With a sniffle, she stormed off towards the library door.

Spike was thoroughly confused at this point. He didn’t do anything wrong, he saved her life, and he still felt like a total heel. He lowered his head and gave it a slow shake.

“It seems that I must, once again, apologize for Twilight’s behavior.” Spike looked over at the dragoness. She stared after the hatchling, rubbing a claw against her lips for a moment before speaking again. “She gets a little, shall we say, temperamental when somedragon refuses to share knowledge.” A sad sigh escaped the dragoness’s lips. “All she knows is the library, where knowledge is freely given and received. I fear the rest of the world is not nearly as generous.”

Spike swallowed loudly. “Did you just say, Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle?” He looked back at the hatchling. She was walking at a much slower pace now, probably waiting for Spike to change his mind before she reached the library door.

The dragoness stared at Spike, eyes narrowed in suspicion as she studied the odd creature. “How did you know that?”

“My mission,” Spike told her without looking away from Twilight, “Celestia sent me here to find Twilight Sparkle.” Spike couldn’t believe his eyes. This pouty hatchling has the potential to become the most powerful of a generation? How is it possible to tell? “She’s just a hatchling,” thought Spike, then it dawned on him, “she’s a hatchling that recognized a passive spell, a hatchling that was able to differentiate that spell from another that she had only seen, and a hatchling that asked for a formula in order to learn a spell, rather than being shown or taught.” It takes years of study to learn how to use spell formulas, for a hatchling to be able to use them is unheard of. Spike chewed on his lip a little. “I’m going to regret this.” With a sigh, he grasped Twilight’s notebook in his magic. It lifted out of her claws and opened in mid-air. The pencil that was attached to the cover freed itself and began jotting down a series of shapes and symbols. When the complicated formula was completed, the book closed and lowered itself until it was within Twilight’s reach. “It’s not the protection spell. I want to see if you can learn this one first, ok?”

Twilight grabbed the notebook out of the air and clutched it tight to her chest. She gave Spike a wide smile and a nod of understanding. Her eyes were shining at the prospect of learning a new spell, and it was all she could do not to run off for her reading desk.

Spike returned the smile. It wasn’t often that he met a dragon with such an interest in books. It was a refreshing change of pace. “Now, go inside and read that, ok? I need to talk to your mo-“

“SLAM!!” Twilight had darted into the library, not caring what else was said. She only heard the words, ”go read.”

“-ther.” Spike’s ears drooped. He hadn’t been doing that to Celestia all these years, had he?

The Dragoness cleared her throat, grabbing Spike’s attention. “I’m afraid you have me mistaken for somedragon else. I may be her legal guardian at the moment, but I am not her clutch-mother. Nor am I anydragon else’s. I happen to be quite happily independent.”

“Really?” Spike noticed the odd look she was giving him before realizing what he just said. “I assumed you were related because of your types and colors.”

“Oh, of course, that’s what you meant.” She turned her head to the side and coughed into a claw. “Merely a coincidence, I assure you. Her parents are both in the middle of their hundred-year nap. They left her with her grandfather, but a few years ago, he entered the great sleep.”

Spike rolled a hoof around on the ground. “I don’t want to be rude here, but why would her parents leave her with her grandfather if he was about to take his hundred-year nap?”

The dragoness glanced at the ground. “It seems I may have misspoken. When I said great sleep, I was referring to the one from which one does not awaken.” She looked back towards the library with a soft sigh. “He didn’t find anydragon to take care of her, so, being the only other magic dragon in Dragonspire at the time, I took it upon myself to do so. My friends help out as much as they can, but it’s mostly just me and her.” She looked back at Spike, concern painted on her face as clearly as the flowers penciled on her haunch. “She’s just a hatchling, what could the princess possibly want with her?”

Spike could hear the concern in the dragoness’ voice. “Well,” Spike scratched at his mane, “I don’t really think the princess wants anything from Twilight, she just wanted me to meet her.”

The dragoness tilted her head to the side. “I must admit, that is rather confusing, but far be it from me to be the one to question the princess’ wisdom.”

Spike let out a sigh. “I’ll try to explain a little more later. First, I need to know why you were being attacked.”

She pointed at the sky. Spike looked up to see a grey dragon flying overhead and toting a large sack. “That is our local mail-carrier, Derpy Scales. Every week, for the last two years, she has brought us a box of books, books of all kinds; old, new, some of them written in foreign languages, some of them composed of nothing but pictures, some were beautiful works of art, and others were hideous masses of paper that could barely be called books. I don’t know where they came from, but Twilight didn’t care. To her, a book is a book. Recently, she took to calling the collection of books her hoard. Today, she ran all around town bragging about it.”

With a groan, Spike brought a hoof to his face. “Yeah, she mentioned it when she crossed us in the street earlier.

The dragoness nodded and extended a claw towards Spike in a friendly gesture. “I believe my manners have gotten away from me. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rarity, the local armourer and clothier. And Twilight’s guardian, of course.”

“Of course.” Spike took hold of the offered claw and looked down, breaking eye contact for a moment. It was a greeting ritual that dated back to ancient times, taking your eyes of another dragon, a signal of trust and peaceful intentions.

Rarity nodded in approval at the gesture. It was such an old tradition, she hardly expected him to know it. He certainly was full of surprises. “My, my, aren’t you the gentledra-, uh,” Rarity’s aquamarine eyes darted left and right as she struggled to find a fitting word, “ok, I give up. What are you?”

Spike shrugged and looked at his hoof. “I think I’m a pony.” He tapped a hoof against his horn. “Specifically a unicorn. I can’t be sure though, all I have to go on are partial accounts recorded in the journals of ancient adventurers.” He proceeded to recount a few of those journal entries, pointing out that well over half of them were either flat-out wrong aside from the physical description or, at best, grossly exaggerated. At least, he assumed they were. He had never been able to change forms, turn creatures into stone, or eat a dragon whole. Of course, he didn’t really eat meat, so he would never try that last one.

“I see.” Rarity put a claw to her chin and nodded solemnly. She didn’t get it. Not. At. All. She never heard of ponies before, let alone unicorns, but how would one not know he was one? All dragons knew they were dragons; it was something they were born with. These ponies must be very odd creatures. “Though, not in a completely bad way. The green crest is a little odd, but he pulls it off as well as anydragon can be expected to.” Rarity started examined Spike in detail. He was about the same size as her, if not quite as long, due to his short tail. It couldn’t even be called a tail really; it was more like a second crest. He didn’t appear to have any scales under his fur, but he was still able to hold up in a fight. Not only that, but judging by his decisive victory in that fight, he’s quite strong and confident of that fact. But, he wasn’t arrogant about it. Most dragons who would be boasting to anydragon who would listen. “And he has that wonderful scar. I wonder what the story behind it is?” Rarity let out a sigh. “Oh, if only he was a dragon. But, even if he isn’t a dragon, he may need armor or ceremonial garments, and that scar would provide a good balance for an asymmetrical design. Maybe a layered armor in the eastern style? Yes, a stack of plates hanging off his sides should complement his standard posture quite well. But what to do about that marking? Definitely an odd tattoo, especially for a military drake.” Rarity leaned far to one side so she could see his other side. “He has the same one on the other side? He must really love books if he had a stack of them tattooed on is haunches, let alone twice. And the tattoos are identical. How odd.”

Spike shifted a little under Rarity’s gaze. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the sudden attention. Given where it was directed, can you blame him? Every so often, her gaze would drift to the scar. According to what he’d read about dragins, or female dragons, showing interest in a drake’s scar was generally a positive social cue. Of course, he wasn’t exactly a drake, and he didn’t even know what a male pony was called. “Oh, if only I was a dragon, social interaction wouldn’t be so awkward.” His eyes moved back and forth like he was reading from a book as he searched his memory for a response that would fit the situation. According to most of the books he’d read, he should be boasting right now, but he didn’t really feel comfortable with that. Maybe he could just tell her about the scar? No, that would be the same as bragging, wouldn’t it?

The awkward silence was broken by the sound of the library door slamming shut. Spike and Rarity looked over to see Twilight stomping out towards them. Her eyebrows were pulled down and her lips were pulled to the side in an expression that told Spike that she was not happy with him right now. She wasn’t carrying her notebook. She stopped walking only when she was standing snout-to-snout with Spike. “I already know that one. Everydragon already knows that one.” She crossed her arms and planted her tail on the ground, pushing up with it to make herself seem taller. “I don’t like being made fun of.”

Spike pulled his head back. “Thanks, Twilight,” he muttered under his breath, “make me feel worse, why don’t you?” His mission orders were vague, specifying only that he was to visit, but somewhere in the back of his mind, Spike felt that it was implied that he should try to make a good impression. He took a step back and straightened up. He performed a light-bringing spell, the formula for which he had given to the hatchling moments ago. It was a basic spell, barely above telekinesis in terms of difficulty. It was also pretty useless during the day. “I wasn’t making fun of you, I just thought you may not have seen the formula for that spell. It’s so simple that nodragon ever seems to care enough to write it down. But, if you take the time to study it, make a slight change, and-“ Spike closed his eyes, lost in concentration. The pale glow spread across his body. With a grunt, he channeled a little more power into the spell. The grunt wasn’t necessary, as the actual effort involved was minimal, but he did it so Twilight would be able to get a sense for the spells timing. With another grunt, he shifted the magic around him. There was a flash of light bright enough to cause the two dragons to look away. When they looked back, his colors had changed from green and purple to purple and green. Another grunt and he was red and white. One more and he was pitch black, like a living shadow. He grunted one last time and his colors were back to normal. “Don’t underestimate even the simplest of spells, they all have their uses. General Ice Heart told me that.”

Poor Twilight had to pick her jaw off the ground. She never thought that about modifying the spell like that! Could it be modified in other ways? How did he choose the colors? Can this spell be used to change the color of other objects? These questions and many more were racing through her mind. She had to learn how to do that! Somehow, she had to get him to teach her. Negotiations, she had a book on that, now, all she had to do was put that to good use. She walked up to Spike and clasped her claws in front of her. “Please teach me how to do that!” Her eyes went wide. “Please, please, pleeeeeeeease? I’ll give you anything you want if you teach me how to do that!” She gave him her best hopeful smile. “Please?” She probably should have read that book on negotiations, instead of using it as a step to help her reach the shelf of Dragin Doo books.

A white tail wrapped around the hatchling’s midsection and hoisted her into the air. “There will be plenty of time for that later. For now, Twilight, we have something rather important to discuss.” Rarity looked over at spike with a question in her eyes. “At least, I think we do.”

Spike nodded. Twilight needed to know what was going on, even if he wasn’t quite sure what was going on himself.

Rarity nodded back at Spike and turned back to the purple dragon held in her tail. “Besides, somedragon hasn’t had dinner yet.”

“Sugarcube corner?” Twilight shouted happily.

“Sugarcube corner,” said Rarity with a smile, “you can tell aunt Pinkie all about how you helped protect the library.” She turned back to Spike. “Would you care to join us? These two don’t appear to be going anywhere.”

Spike looked at the two defeated dragons, one sleeping peacefully, the other struggling silently against the glue that held him. They weren’t going anywhere for a while. Grumble’s stick-spit lasts for a week unless you dissolved it with turpentine, and that sleeping spell will keep a dragon Fire Flash’s size down for at least two days. “Sure, Rarity,” he gave her a smile, “it’ll be my pleasure.”

“Wonderful!” Rarity started off at a trot. “Just follow me, darling.” Before she got very far, her young passenger started tapping on the shiny white scales on the back of her neck. Rarity craned her head to look back. “What is it, Twilight?”

Twilight avoided Rarity’s gaze, opting to look of to the side instead. She held out an item in her claw. “Sorry,” she mumbled. Rarity held out her own claw and Twilight dropped what she held into it. It was a small, pink bar eraser. “You still have pencil on you.”

“Oh, right.” Rarity gave a nervous chuckle. She levitated the eraser to the remaining marks and started removing them as discretely as possible.

Spike politely looked away, examining a small stone on the ground nearby. It was a surprisingly shiny stone. Now genuinely curious, Spike walked over to it and gave it a light kick. It didn’t move. It must have been part of a larger stone. Spike glanced back at the two dragins; they were still working at removing the stubborn graphite. He returned his attention to the stone in front of him. It might be a quartz crystal, those were always useful for channeling experimental spells. Spike took hold of it in a telekinetic field and yanked it from its resting place. Much to his surprise, it wasn’t a quartz crystal at all, but a diamond. A large one at that. Its shape wasn’t natural either. It was long and slender, coming to a sharpened point at both ends. It was smooth as well, almost like it had been polished. Diamond wasn’t particularly valuable, since it was one of the blandest-tasting gems available, but this diamond needle was unusual enough to count as a treasure. Maybe Spike could trade it to Grumble for that sand timer.

If Spike had used his magic to check just below the ground, he would have found that the diamond spindle he held was not unique at all. It was one of nearly a thousand that had been working their way towards the surface, converging on the location where dragons had been fighting. They lay still now, no longer needed. Their mistress was safe.

Shy

Sugarcube Corner was a pretty nice place. It was large enough to accommodate several decently sized dragons at the same time, but was set up so that smaller dragons wouldn’t have problems either. There were display case full of sweets and confections at various levels. Spike noticed that the higher the case, the larger the treats inside. Definitely a smart way to organize. The smaller and medium sized cases seemed to have the greatest variety of items though, from gemstone studded cupcakes to rockslide fudge bars. There were even items that spike didn’t recognize. One of those items caught his eye and he was staring at it through the glass of the display case. It appeared to be a red fruit of some kind. It was affixed to the end of a stick and dipped in what appeared to be some sort of candy coating.

He was so focused on trying to determine what the odd fruit was that he didn’t notice when Rarity tapped him on the shoulder with a knuckle. With a sigh, she tapped him again, this time with the tip of the claw. Spike jumped at the sharp and sudden poke. When he looked over at Rarity, she pointed to the now empty front counter. While Spike had been staring at the display case, the line of dragons ahead of them had disappeared. Grinning sheepishly, Spike walked over to the counter.

The dragon behind the counter looked up from the stack of delivery boxes he was tying together. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where the sweets are, um, something. I forgot what she said.”

Spike looked at the dragon in disbelief. “Grumble?! What are you doing here? You were supposed to report to the military liaison.”

“Oh, Boss!” Grumble saluted, drawing Spike’s attention to a paper hat that was several sizes too small and sitting atop the dragon’s head. “I carried out your orders. However, there were unforeseen complications.”

Spike tried to look grumble in the eyes, but his gaze kept drifting to that ridiculous hat. “What kind of complications?”

“You remember that pink dragon? The one that can breathe in and out at the same time?” Grumble started scratching at the back of his neck. “Her name is Pinkie, and she’s the local military liaison. She’s also one of the bakers here. She’s on her way to take custody of the prisoners, but she made me take over the rest of her shift.” Grumble looked around the bakery and shrugged. “It’s actually been kind of fun. I’m not used to cooking this sort of food, so it’s been an interesting challenge. So, why are you here?”

Spike gestured to the dragoness beside him. “This is Rarity, you remember her, right?” Spike didn’t wait for an answer. He gestured to the hatchling on Rarity’s back. “You remember her too, don’t you? Well, this is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.”

“No way.” Grumble leaned over the counter, inspecting the little, purple dragon with a critical eye. “She’s smaller than I expected.”

Twilight crossed her arms with a huff. “So?”

“So,” Grumble reached behind the counter and pulled out a small box, “you’re the perfect size to enjoy one of these.” Twilight’s eyes lit up as Grumble lifted the box’s lid, revealing a single cupcake. Its green frosting was dusted with cracked emerald and a slice of a green skinned fruit sat on top of it. Grumble removed the treat from the box and held it out to Twilight. Much to her dismay, Grumble pulled it away just as she reached for it. “Sorry.” Grumble looked down at Rarity. “Any allergies?”

Rarity shook her head. “None whatsoever.” She watched as Grumble gave Twilight the gem-encrusted confection. “Now, Twilight, don’t eat it all at o-“ Rarity ducked, barely dodging a splatter of green frosting as Twilight chomped down on the cupcake, devouring it whole.

Spike wasn’t so lucky. He got hit with the fruit flavored topping before he even knew it was coming. He grabbed a napkin of his own and wiped away the green frosting that landed on his face. He looked around for a waste bin or somewhere to toss his refuse, but didn’t find one. He looked over to make sure Twilight wasn’t looking at him and used a spell to quietly incinerate the napkin on the spot. He didn’t want her bugging him to be taught a spell that could be dangerous.

After making sure the air was clear of flying fosting, Rarity lifted her head and grabbed a napkin of the counter. She then wiped the traces of frosting from the sides of the hatchling’s face. “Don’t come crying to me when you have a tummy-ache later.”

“That’s future Twilight’s problem.” The hatchling looked at Grumble with hope in her eyes. “That was good, can I have another?”

Grumble let out a low laugh. “I’m glad you like it.” He patted Twilight on the head very carefully. He made a show of looking one way and then the other. He leaned in close to the hatchling. “I’ll let you in on a secret, don’t tell anybody.”

Twilight nodded. “Ok.” She liked secrets. Magic was full of secrets, and she liked magic. So, by extension, she liked secrets.

Grumble looked down at Rarity. The dragoness smiled and rolled her eyes before sitting down. Twilight had to hold on to the dragoness’ curved spines so she wouldn’t fall off. Rarity put her claws over her faintly rabbit-like ears with a flourish. “I trust this will be sufficient?”

Grumble looked back at Twilight and whispered to Twilight, “That was the first time I’ve ever made cupcakes.”

Twilight nodded solemnly, well, as solemnly as a hatchling can while thinking about cupcakes. “I bet Pinkie taught you. Probably used that song.” She put a claw to her chin. “Why did it work for you and not for me?”

“Because you turned the oven up to 3,500,” Rarity said. Her claws were still over her ears, even though it was clearly not doing anything. “You’re supposed to bake cupcakes at 350.”

Twilight paid no attention to the fact that Rarity was listening in. She was too busy thinking. “I thought ten times the temperature would mean ten times faster cooking speeds. I should have anticipated it would be on an order of magnitude instead. I wonder if there’s a direct correlation between the density of the mixture and its heat resistance?“

“So, what would you two like?” Grumble decided to take Spike and Rarity’s orders while Twilight was busy pondering the thermodynamic properties of cupcake batter.

Spike held up a hoof. “Nothing for me, I lost my saddlebag, so I don’t have any treasure markers.” He leaned over to Rarity. “Businesses in Dragonspire take treasure markers, right? I know some smaller towns are cash only.”

“Some places do, some places don’t.” Rarity pointed at a blue frosted cupcake in the case. It was dusted with amethyst and topped with a trio of blueberries. “One of those please.” She pointed at the item spike was looking at earlier. “One of those as well.” She looked back at Spike. Sugarcube corner takes markers, as does my shop. Sweet Apple Acres is cash only at the moment, but Applejack said she’s been considering the switch. Oh, but Sofa’s and Quills? Strictly cash. Don’t even go in there unless you’ve got gold on you.”

Spike’s head tilted to the side. “Sofas… and quills?” That’s a rather specific combination.

Grumble retrieved the selected items from the display case and held them out to Rarity. She lifted the cupcake in her magic. “Thank you, dear. Now, how much do I owe?”

“Uh,” Grumble looked down at the item still grasped in his claw, “Pinkie said that you’ve been through enough today, and that I should give you whatever you wanted when you came by.” Wasn’t she going to take the other treat? Grumble was holding the sticky fruit by the stick, but it was too small to hold comfortably. His claw was starting to cramp up.

“How nice of her.” Rarity walked off to a table, leaving Spike and Grumble at the counter.

Spike noticed that Grumble’s claw was starting to shake from being pinched down on the tiny stick. He lifted the candied fruit from Grumble’s grip.

“Thanks.” Grumble shook his claw before setting it back down. “So, she seems nice.”

“Hmm?” Spike was inspecting the confection he held in his magic. It was definitely a candy coated fruit, but he had never seen a fruit quite like it before.

“I’m talking about Rarity.” Grumble kept his voice low so only Spike could hear him.

Spike looked up from his examination of the treat. “How do you mean?”

Grumble gave Spike a small nudge with a folded claw. “I mean I see how you look at her.” Spike’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion, causing Grumble to smile. “You think she’s pretty.”

Spike looked over at the table where Rarity and Twilight sat. They appeared to be arguing over the cupcake. After a few moments of apparent standstill, Rarity used her magic to lift some of the amethyst off her cupcake. She crammed them together into a big lump with a little frosting and floated it over to Twilight. She took the improvised candy and stuffed it into her mouth with a big smile. “Yeah, I guess Rarity does meet most of the dragon standards for aesthetics.”

Grumble bit back a laugh. “I didn’t say anything about dragons, I said you.”

Spike looked back over his shoulder at Grumble. “And I’m a pony, not a dragon.”

Grumble leaned his head towards Spike. “And?”

“And?” Spike shook his head. “What do you mean by and?”

Grumble groaned and put a claw to his face. He lifted one claw in the air. “She’s a dragon,” he lifted the other, “you’re a pony, and?” He put both claws down. “What? You can still think she’s pretty.”

Spike looked back at Rarity. “Grumble, if you mention what I’m about to say to any living soul, I will call in a favor and have the records of your military service,” Spike made the air quotes motion with his hooves, “lost.” He turned around to face grumble over the counter. “I will then pull every string I can to make sure you become Ice Heart’s personal assistant for the next two years.” He tapped the counter on the last two words to emphasize his point. “You will be put through the depths of Tartarus under his special training, and I mean that literally. Ice Heart is insane!” Spike sat down and ran his hooves through his mane. “Certifiably crazy! He actually takes you to the Tartarus gate and flings you in.” Spike pantomimed tossing something to the side. “Then he makes you chase down Cerberus for the key. Do you know how fast that blasted, three-headed dog can run?”

“Uh,” Grumble glanced around the bakery, hoping for a customer to disrupt the conversation, “no.”

“Pretty fast, let me tell you. And the key isn’t even that big! It’s like this, little skeleton key.” Spike held up a hoof and pointed to it as if he were holding the thing. “I mean, it looks like the key to a little jewelry box for crying out loud. And then the stupid lock is like twenty gradus high. How are you supposed to get to that with those crazy monsters after you?” Spike swung his hoof up suddenly and leveled it at Grumble, causing the dragon to jump and straighten up. “And if you tell anydragon, anything, or anypony what I’m about to say, you will find out first hand. Is that understood?”

Grumble nodded stiffly.

Spike let out a sigh and let his face fall to the counter. “She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.” His voice was a little muffled, but still audible. “There were creatures in Tartarus that take on illusions of beauty in order to lure their prey, there were some that rely on their voices to draw you astray, there were even some that try to show you what you desire most. Not a single one of those illusions, voices, or desires holds a candle to her. Look at her, her scales shine brighter than even Celestia’s, she’s got a wonderful personality, and she’s even good with hatchlings! Even if I was a dragon, I wouldn’t stand a chance.” Spike sighed into the counter’s surface. Slowly, he straightened up and composed himself. “Well, no use complaining about it.”

Grumble nodded. “I guess not.” Being Ice Heart’s assistant would make him a centurion, right?

Spike started walking towards the table, but stopped after a few steps. He walked back to the counter. “Grumble, do you know what this is?” He undid an illusion from an item floating above his head. It was the diamond needle he found earlier. He lowered it until it was hovering in front of Grumble.

The dragon inspected the needle, letting out an appreciative whistle. “An earthmate’s spindle. You don’t see many of those anymore.”

“A what?” Spike looked from Grumble to the diamond object.

“An earthmate’s Spindle.” Grumble took off his tiny hat and set it on the counter before leaning towards Spike. “You know there are dragons that use magic connected to nature, like Old Flask and his tomato vines. Well, an earthmate is kind of like that, but instead of having a connection to life, nature, or anything like that, they have a connection with the earth, rocks, the very foundations of the world we live in. Dramatic, huh?”

“Yeah.” Spike cast the illusion spell on the spindle, once again hiding it from view. “So, Gray was an earthmate? He used to manipulate rocks and dirt.”

Grumble scoffed. “Yeah, manipulate, that’s it. An earthmate has a connection, sometimes, they can’t even manipulate a single stone, but the earth itself will move to protect them and those around them.”

Spike glanced back at the table. Twilight was watching intently as Rarity used a fork to eat her cupcake piece-by-piece. Rarity was doing her best to ignore her. Spike looked back at Grumble. “Hey,” he whispered, “you don’t suppose Twilight’s an earthmate?”

“It’s possible.” Grumble shrugged. “I don’t think there’s been a true earthmate for over a thousand years. There was one in my family, but she died about a millennium and a half ago. Being an earthmate would explain the princess’ interest in the little thing.”

“It certainly would. Well, enjoy the rest of your shift.” Spike started off for the table, but cast one last glance back at the dragon at the counter. “Remember what I said.”

Grumble lifted a claw to wave as he left. “I will, boss.”

Spike sat down at the table just as Rarity was finishing her cupcake. The moment he did so, Twilight started giggling. Rarity quickly shushed her and raised a napkin to her face. Both gestures were completely unnecessary. Nothing would stop Twilight’s giggles, and there wasn’t a single crumb on the dragoness’ face. Spike soon realized that Rarity wasn’t wiping her face off. She was just holding the napkin there, in front of her face, and trying to be nonchalant about it. He leaned over to her. “Are you, ok?” He whispered.

Rarity leaned away, keeping the napkin in place. “Of course I am. What makes you ask?”

Spike sat back and lifted a hoof. He made a small gesture towards his face, indicating the napkin Rarity held over her own.

She looked down at the napkin, then back at Spike. She cleared her throat and set the napkin down, folding it as she did. Her face was tinted pink. “It’s the sugar.” She fidgeted a little and looked off into the air somewhere. “I always get a little flushed when eating sweet foods.”

Spike nodded in understanding. “I get that with spicy stuff.” He started laughing. “For the Celestia, it’s salt. You should see her try to eat a bag of pretzels, it’s hilarious.”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged looks of confusion. Rarity was the first to look back at Spike and speak. “That seems a rather disrespectful way to speak of the princess.”

Twilight chimed in a moment later. “I wanna see her eat a bag of pretzels! I bet she eats a really big bag, doesn’t she?”

Rarity glared at the hatchling beside her. “I hardly think that’s an appropriate question.”

“Nah!” Spike dismissed her concerns with a wave of a hoof. “It’s fine. She special orders them from a company in Darkspire. Each pretzel is as big as I am, and Celestia can eat a clawfull at a time. They come in a canvas bag the size of a small building.”

“Wow,” Twilight said in breathless wonder, “I wonder if I’ll ever get that big?”

“You’d stand a better chance at it if you gave me less fuss about eating your vegetables.” Rarity cleared her throat and turned to face Spike. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, how, exactly, do you know the princess?”

Spike glanced off to the side. “I guess it’s the kind of the same as you and Twilight. She found me in a forest somewhere about twenty-or-so years ago.” He glanced to the other side and noticed that he was still holding the candied fruit in a magical field. “Oh!” He grabbed hold of the stick in his hoof and offered it to Rarity. “Here you go.”

“Um, no,” Rarity held up a claw, “that’s for you. I saw you looking at it.”

“Gee, thanks, Rarity.” Spike turned the treat around in his hoof, examining it from all sides. He looked up at Rarity with a smile on his face. “What is it?”

Mirror, Mirror

That was a disaster. Spike examined his reflection in the mirror. A complete and total disaster. After rinsing the last of the sticky substance off his face, he applied a spell to grow back the missing patches of fur. He had been through torture that didn’t hurt as bad as that, that caramel apple. The apple part was fine. In fact, it was amazing. It was unlike anything Spike had ever tasted. It was sweet and crunchy, but juicy and light at the same time. It had to be the perfect food. So who’s bright idea was it to cover one in sugary glue and sell it as a snack?

Spike checked his reflection one last time to make sure he had himself completely patched up before exiting the library’s bathroom. The bathroom exited to a small hallway with three doors. He had just exited one of them. The door closest to that one was open; it led to a storage closet full of cleaning supplies. Spike walked towards the third door, the one at the far end of the hall that led to the library’s main room. The main room was large, easily able to hold several dragons, provided they could fit through the door, of course. Being a library, bookshelves filled every nook and cranny. In the center of the room stood a large table built from a slab of dark grey stone. Cushions of various sizes sat on the floor around the tables edge.

The cushions caught Spike’s eye when he entered the library. One of the things Ice Heart taught him, when he wasn’t enduring some bizarre new training exercise, was how to watch for signs of other dragons, even if the dragons themselves are not present. One of those signs was the wear and tear on everyday objects. Of the dozen cushions, only six of them showed any appreciable signs of wear. Two of the cushions were worn more than the others. Spike assumed these were used by Rarity and Twilight. One was a bright red velvet with gold accents. It was about the size of his own cushion in the royal library. The other was smaller, overstuffed, and pushed right up against the velvet one. The purple fabric was patched in places and scorched in others. A line of indentions in the padding seemed to mark where a small dragon, presumably Twilight, laid back to read.

Spike pushed the thought of seat cushions out of his head as he pushed open the door to the main room. Rarity was sitting on the red velvet cushion, confirming Spike’s suspicions. A nervous smile rested on her face and her eyes darted about. Twilight was not sitting in a cushion. Instead, the hatchling was on the floor, giggling and rolling around. With a forced chuckle, Rarity snaked her tail around the young dragon’s midsection. She hoisted Twilight into the air and set her down in an upright position facing their unicorn visitor. “Good as new,” she proclaimed loudly, “what do you think, Twilight?”

“I think that was funny.” The hatchling immediately dropped to the floor and started rolling and laughing again. “I like you, Spike.”

Spike let his head droop until it was even with his shoulders. At least he made a good impression. Just once though, he would like to find a way to do that without incurring bodily harm on his part.

Rarity saw Spike’s reaction and tried to cheer him up. “It wasn’t that bad, darling.” Her resolve faltered a little. It was pretty bad, especially the screaming, but she could downplay it a little. “Twilight is just …” she picked up the hatcling as she rolled by, “easily amused.” Rarity set the hatchling down and gave her a stern, warning look before shooing her off towards the stairs that lead to her room. “I’m sure she didn’t stick it to your forehead on purpose.”

“Yeah I did.” Twilight grabbed a book off the shelf closest to the stairs. “I had to see if it stuck to fur as well as scales.” She examined the book for a moment before deciding it was the one she needed. She started up the stairs with a gleam in her eye. “I have enough data, now I can try to help Pinkie make a caramel coating that doesn’t stick so much!”

Spike rubbed the aforementioned spot with a hoof. The fur was back, good as new, but he could still feel the sting of it being pulled out. It was like some sort of phantom pain from when Grumble tried to remove the caramel apple. The fur also felt different. It was softer and smoother than the rest of his coat. Spike wondered if it was supposed to be like that, or if it was a side effect from an imperfect spell. “I have to make sure Ice Heart never learns of that particular treat’s existence.” He put his hoof down and looked off to the side, wondering if such a task was even possible. “Or at least make sure he doesn’t learn about them in the next two weeks.”

“Um, excuse me?” Rarity stepped off her cushion and towards Spike as he sat there lost in thought. She gently placed a claw against his unscarred shoulder to get his attention. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you keep saying, ‘two weeks’? Is something going to happen in two weeks?”

Spike snapped himself out of his cogitation and quickly turned to face Rarity, completely unaware that she had moved closer to him. The ends of their noses bumped together. Spike backpedaled quickly, but tried to act like nothing happened. Tried. “Oh! Um, no. I, uh, nothing’s happening!” He blushed furiously as his tongue tripped and tumbled over his words.

Rarity turned her white-scaled head to one side, glancing away. “If you say so.” She put a claw to the side of her face, scratching in what she hoped would appear to be a neutral gesture. Under her claw, unseen by spike, her face carried a tint similar to that of a ruby.

Spike shook his head when she wasn’t looking and tried to focus on something besides her. He looked at the cushions again and tried to determine what sort of dragons frequented the remaining four. “Actually, In two weeks, my military service ends.” One of the cushions was bright pink, maybe it belonged to Aunt Pinkie.

Rarity walked over to the nearest window and started fussing over the curtains. “I see, you are retiring then?” Is that dust? She flicked at the curtain with the back of a claw. Yes, it most certainly is. This place needs a thorough cleaning one of these days.

There was an orange cushion, that one was pretty much flattened. The dragon that sits there must be the largest of the bunch. “I’m not actually retiring.” The last two cushions were yellow and light blue. They showed the least amount of wear. The dragons that sit there must be light, most likely flying types. That, or they just don’t come by as often as the others. “You have to be career to retire, I’m just finishing up my mandatory service.”

“Really?” Rarity moved on to a nearby bookshelf. She levitated a small rag up to the highest shelf and rubbed it against the surface. “I may be mistaken, but I thought centurion was a rather prestigious rank.”

“Well, I don’t know about prestige,” Spike scratched at his mane, something he’d been doing a lot lately, “General Ice Heart never really was one for ceremony. He just grabbed me one day and dragged me to a meeting of all the generals. He introduced me as his personal aide and gave me the rank of centurion on the spot. Things sort of went downhill from there.”

“Yes, depths of tartarus and what-not,” Rarity mumbled, recalling the conversation she overheard at Sugarcube Corner. She pulled the rag down from the top of the bookcase and inspected it. Competely covered in dust, this place is simply filthy. “So, how does the ranking system work?”

Spike took to inspecting a large wooden statue of Starswirl the gilded that was tucked away in the corner. “The lowest rank is fighter, you receive that after completing the basic training course. One step above that is the rank of specialist.”

“Ah, yes.” Rarity ran out of things to pretend to clean, so she grabbed a magazine that was tucked in with the books and flipped it open to a random page. “Grumble introduced himself as a specialist.”

Spike nodded. That statue is quite detailed, it must have been expensive. “Specialist isn’t exactly a rank though, it’s more of a title. It’s given when a dragon demonstrates a useful or unique skill, for example, Grumble’s skill was silent flight before he lost his secondary wings, after that he became proficient in aerial combat. A dragon that doesn’t gain the title of specialist usually doesn’t make it past the rank of fighter.”

“I see.” Rarity looked down at her magazine and read the title of the article she opened to. “Ten ways to tell if he’s the Drake for you.” She folded the magazine up and shoved it back on the shelf, silently vowing to make some changes to her choice of reading material. “He certainly demonstrated those skills earlier. So, what about the higher ranks?”

Spike walked to a bookshelf on the other side of the room. “The first real rank above fighter is Pentarch, like Fire Flash. A Pentarch has five fighters under his or her command. Above that is a Tetrarch who commands two Pentarchs and their fighters for a total of twelve dragons. A centurion commands ten tetrarchs and their subordinates for a total of a hundred and thirty dragons. The last rank, General, puts one in command of between two and five centurions. A general answers directly to the princess.” Spike reached out and took hold of a random book. “Except Ice Heart, I don’t think he answers to anydragon.” Spike glanced at the book he was pulling off the shelf. He pushed it back into place as quickly as possible. “Wooing your Dragoness: A reference for boneheaded idiots.”

Rarity gave up on finding distractions and set herself down on her cushion. “So, what do you plan on doing with your… I hope you’ll forgive me if I call it retirement, but I simply cannot think of a better word for it.”

Spike wasn’t so easily deterred he reached at least another dozen books before noticing their titles. “Well, I have two years worth of reading to catch up on, then I’m going to try to find out more about my species.” After a while, Spike noticed a small brass tag attached to the front of the bookshelf. “Romantic self-help.” He cleared his throat and moved on to the next set of shelves. “After all, I can’t be the only pony in the world.” He grabbed a book with no title on its gold-leafed spine. With a deep breath, he steeled his resolve. It couldn’t be any worse than the others. He pulled it out only to be faced with a picture. An orange dragon in a hat was pulling a cart full of apples up a steep hill. The cart was larger than the dragon and some of the apples were falling out of it. The title of the book was above the picture, “The Little Farmer that Could: Written and Illustrated by B.M. Apple.” Spike let out a sigh. Who keeps the hatchling’s books next to the romance section?

Rarity glanced over at Spike, then down at the book in his hoof. “Ah, I see you’ve found one of Twilight’s favorite books.” Her eyes darted to the side as her mind started churning, forming an, “Ide~a!” She hopped out of her cushion and headed for a door tucked away between two bookshelves. “Come with me, darling. Oh, I don’t know why I didn’t realize this before.” She went through the door, leaving Spike alone in the library’s main room.

He glanced around before shrugging and putting the book back where he got it from. He then followed Rarity through the door into what appeared to be a basement. There was a set of stairs before him descending into darkness. He could see a faint purple glow ahead of him, most likely Rarity casting a light-gathering spell. He cast his own green tinted spell and followed her down the steps. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, He saw the dragoness walking along the wall, searching for something. He walked over to her and adjusted his spell. He made it a little brighter and removed the green tint.

“That is so much better.” Rarity kept searching along the wall. “Ah! There it is.” She walked over to a switch on the wall and pressed her claw against it. “You may want to close your eyes dear, it is about to get a little-“

The lights snapped on, sudden illumination burning Spike’s dilated pupil’s. “Gah! Bright!” He closed his eyes and threw a hoof over his head in a futile effort to shield them. Whatever light source now lit the room, it was far brighter than the spells he and Rarity had been using. He lifted his hoof slowly, squinting and letting his eyes adjust. When he could comfortably look around, the first thing he did was look up. Glowing spheres were embedded in the wall near the ceiling. Spike couldn’t look at it for long, it was far too bright for that. “Are those electric lights?”

Rarity glanced up at the light. “Oh, goodness no,” she gave a dismissive wave of a claw, “nothing so fancy. Simple Chlorocrysts, they store the light absorbed by the library’s leaves, though I’m sure you’ve heard of them before.”

Spike hopped up on his back hooves, placing his front hooves against the wall as he examined the light-emitting gem. “I’ve heard of them, but they’re kind of rare. Not many dragon settlements have enough plant life to install them.”

“That’s not surprising.” She stole a glance at the unicorn and thought about what he said earlier, about him finding her attractive. He certainly wasn’t bad looking himself, but the fur coat struck her as odd. An idle claw found its way to the end of her nose, listlessly rubbing where his bumped into it. His fur was a bit softer than Opal’s, and she found herself wondering if he had to take special care of it to keep it that way. Opalescence would probably be so much nicer looking if she was brushed every so often, but that silly tiger just refuses to be pampered. “Anyway,” she walked towards the middle of the room, “I was hoping you could help make some sense of this.”

“Huh?” Spike cut short his examination of the room’s lighting and turned around. He let out a horrified gasp at what he saw. His left eye started to twitch and his upper lip pulled back in disgust as he walked forward stiffly. “What happened here?”

Rarity looked at the pile of books beside her. His reaction seemed a little severe to her. Sure, it was a little messy, but none of the books were damaged. “We ran out of room upstairs. We had to start bringing the books down here.” Maybe he’s just surprised by the size of the pile? It is taller than either of them.

Spike reached a shaky hoof towards the pile. “B-but,” he swung his hoof around to indicate the surrounding walls, each of which had bookshelves carved directly into them, “why are they on the floor?”

Oceans of Regret

“CRASH!!”

“Whoops!”

Spike’s ear twitched as a sudden noise woke him from his slumber. With a groan, he rolled onto his back and stretched out. His joints popped and cracked from the strain of his long night of work, but he didn’t care. He was sleeping on a floor devoid of books. Floors should only ever have one book on them at a time, the one you’re reading.

“Where’s the salt?”

What is that hatchling up to? Spike rolled over once more, getting his hooves under him. He stood up and admired his work one last time. The library’s basement was spotless. All the books were arranged neatly on the shelves, all except for one. There was an odd picture book that wouldn’t fit anywhere, that was sitting on a coffee table off to the side. He even cleaned the rug that was hidden under Twilight’s “hoard.” It was clean in here. There was one thing left to do though, make sure it stays that way.

Spike started up the stairs towards the main section of the library. Rarity told him that Twilight liked to keep her books in a pile until she had a chance to read them, at which time she would file it away on the shelf. It was her way of keeping track of what she read. As he walked, he used his magic to pull a piece of paper off the coffee table and up the stairs behind him. This ought to do the trick.

“KSSSSHHHHH!!”

“Wuh-oh.”

A distinctly waterfall-like sound followed by a curt statement of blunder? That couldn’t possibly be a good sign. The unicorn quickened to a trot as he ascended the stairs. A quick burst of telekinetic aura and the door at the top of the stairs swung open. He accelerated once more as soon as he reached the library’s main room. “Twilight? What hap-“ he found himself staring at the ceiling, “-pened?” His eyes had just enough time to widen in realization as gravity resumed its hold on him.

“THUD!!”

Spike clenched his eyes shut and groaned loudly, both from the pain of landing and the realization that he landed in something slimy. Most likely, he just landed in whatever he slipped in. When he went to roll over and stand up, another realization hit him. Whatever he just landed in stunk like- like- I don’t know! It just reeks! Ugh! Nasty! Spike fought back his gag reflex as he got to his hooves. Once he was up, he saw what he had been laying in. A dozen obviously rotten eggs were broken against the floor, right in front of the door to the basement. That at least explains why Twilight was looking for salt.

Spike decided to check on the hatchling before getting cleaned up, though he had a pretty good idea what happened after the eggs were dropped. He was guessing the library had a kitchen tucked away somewhere. At least, he hoped it did. If it didn’t, the rotten eggs become a lot harder to explain. Though, if Twilight was looking for salt, then it would stand to reason there was a kitchen. The only problem is that Spike had no idea where to find it. He closed his eyes and listened. Birds in the branches above, a fly following the scent of rotten egg, and- Ah! There it is, a faint scratching sound coming from behind a door to the right.

Spike walked over to the door and pushed it open. Inside was a well-equipped kitchen, the counters were low by dragon standards, but that was understandable. After all, it was probably Rarity who used it the most. But even if the kitchen would seem small to most dragons, there was at least one dragon that it was still too big for. That dragon was valiantly struggling to put a half-empty sack of sugar back on the counter. On the floor behind her was a pile of, what spike assumed was the other half of the bag’s contents.

The bag slipped out of Twilight’s grasp, but was caught in a green glow before it hit the ground. The hatchling looked towards the door with a sheepish smile. “Hi, Spike. Sleep well?”

“Quite well.” Spike lifted the bag onto the counter, folding it closed as he did so. “But then, the most interesting thing happened.” He lifted the sugar off the ground and dumped it in a nearby waste bin. Then he walked over to Twilight and sat down very close to her. She threw her claws over her nose and started choking on the stench that emanated from the unicorn. “Would you care to explain?”

“Sorry.” She choked a few more times and backed away. She looked down and let her arms fall to her belly. She grabbed on claw with another, slowly rubbing one thumb against the back of the other claw. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on her claws, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. “I didn’t know if the eggs were any good, and I was on my way to ask you about it when I dropped them.”

Spike retreated to the other side of the kitchen so the hatchling could breathe easier. “What did you need the eggs for? Didn’t Rarity make breakfast?”

She nodded slowly. “And Aunt Pinkie came by and made lunch. They left a few minutes ago.”

“I see.” Spike shook his head. How did Pinkie make lunch in this small of a kitchen? For that matter, how did she even manage to fit in here? “That still doesn’t explain why you needed the eggs.”

Twilight fiddled with her claws a little longer before answering in a whisper. “I wanted to make you breakfast.”

Spike blinked. “Why?”

Her eyes flicked towards Spike for a moment before turning to look at something on the wall. She kicked a little at the kitchen floor. “I didn’t know your fur would pull out.” There was a slight pause before she spoke again. “And I shouldn’t have laughed, even if you did grow it back.” She glanced back at Spike, waiting to see his reaction.

Spike closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he started laughing. “Wait here.” He looked around the kitchen. When he located the salt, he grabbed it in his magic and left the kitchen with it.

Twilight waited in the kitchen for a few minutes, wondering if Spike was upset. He didn’t seem upset and he was laughing, but Rarity sometimes started laughing when she was nearing a deadline on an order. Spike’s laugh didn’t sound like Rarity’s crazy laugh though, so maybe that was a good sign? She suddenly felt herself being lifted into the air. Her feet scrambled to find purchase before she was set down on the counter.She looked towards the door to see that Spike had returned to the kitchen. He did not bring the rotten egg smell with him.

He trotted over to the counter with a smile. “You should be able to reach everything from there. Now let’s see if we have any more eggs.”

Last of the Wilds

Spike walked stiffly back to the library. It was the middle of the night and his shoulders were sore from helping Rarity. The main component of Rinjin’s armor was metal plates, but not just any metal, a special mithril-zanac alloy that cancelled out any weak magic directed against it. Unfortunately, that included telekinesis, meaning Spike had to hammer out the new plates by hoof. On top of that, opalescence tried to take his head off the moment he walked through the boutique’s door. Thank goodness he still had the protection spell on from when he took the hash-browns out of the oven. Spike looked ahead of him.

In the pale moonlight, he could see Rarity walking ahead of him. She was walking much faster than he was despite being nearly exhausted from magical exertion and carrying a sleeping Twilight on her back. The little hatchling had finished her book within the first hour and had tried to help by carting materials back and forth, but ended up playing with opal most of the time. Unfortunately that meant that the tiger got her claws on some of the fabric. Rarity ended up having to buy a sofa and rip all the cloth from it.

Spike let out a happy sigh. Despite all the problems, Rarity really seemed to enjoy her work. When she really got into it, she even broke into song. He was sure he would be humming that tune for the next few days. He found himself wondering if she would be singing again tomorrow, since they still had a lot of work to do on the armor.

When they reached the library, Rarity went in with Twilight. Spike didn’t follow. He walked around the side of the library, checking to make sure that Pinkie, the local military liaison, took custody of Fire Flash and the other dragon. As he rounded the corner, he noticed that Fire Flash was gone, no doubt shipped off to face whatever punishment his superiors deemed necessary. As he continued around the tree, he noticed something else, a familiar smell. Something smelled like Sugarcube Corner.

It wasn’t long before a table full of cupcakes came into view. It was placed a short distance away from the library, right in front of the dragon that was glued to the trunk. A sign that said, “free cupcakes,” hung from the table. A smaller table was placed in front of the tan and brown dragon. It was tall enough that the dragon could reach the dishes on its surface, but it held no cupcakes. All the small table held was a loaf of bread and a bowl of water.

The dragon appeared to be asleep, so Spike turned around and walked back to the library’s door. He entered the library quietly so he wouldn’t wake Twilight. He expected Rarity to be in the main room, but when he looked around, he didn’t see any sign of either dragin. Assuming she went home, he headed for the bookshelves and started looking for the craft section. There was a lot of leather work to do tomorrow, and he would be able to help better if he read up on tooling and stitching techniques. He knew the basics; stitching wheel, sewing awl, stamps, and such, but knowing the patterns and advanced techniques, even in theory, would be useful.

When he found what he was looking for, he reached a hoof for it without thinking. Pain shot through his shoulder as he stretched muscles worked stiff by repeated use of the mallet. He hissed in pain as he drew his hoof back. He moved slowly as to not cause any more stress to his pained physique. He rubbed his other hoof against the one he had overexerted and looked back at the book. He always preferred to hold the books he read, something about the feeling the paper against his hooves just felt right, but it looked like that wasn’t practical at the moment. He grabbed the book in his magic and pulled it from the shelf. He flipped through a few pages to make sure he had the right one and turned around to set it on the table. He looked back at the bookshelf and picked out three more books, setting them on the table beside the first. Satisfied that he had enough reading material, he lit one of the candles that sat near the table’s center.

He used a spell, of course, but it was one that he was quite proud of. It was a combination of a simple spark, an illusion, and the light-bringing spell, and made it look like he was breathing fire. It couldn’t do much more than light a candle, and the illusionary flames were about as menacing as gently flowing water, but he was still proud of it and it brought a smile to his face every time he used it. It was the first spell he came up with on his own, and he could even change the color of the “flame.”

Halfway up the staircase, unnoticed by the preoccupied pony, an uneasy Dragoness watched as two more wisps of flame were called forth, each lighting another candle. The first puff was sky blue in color, and the second was a pleasant purple hue. Until she saw the shift in color, she hadn’t realized that the flame was an illusion. He really was alone, isn’t he? He told her that he knew nothing of his kind, but seeing him putting effort into making his spell seem dragon-like really drove it home for her. He was alone, in a land of strangers, and trying to fit in. That was why he was making such an effort to be nice, to be accepted, even to the point of causing himself pain.

Rarity watched as Spike lifted the three lit candles and placed them a little closer to where he was reading. She couldn’t make out the words on the book’s covers, but once he opened the first book, she could make out the pictures of various leatherworking tools. Even now, he was thinking about what else he could do to make himself useful, to make himself seem wanted. Rarity sat down quietly on the steps, watching as he read. He was so focused on his reading that she doubted he would even notice if she walked past him and out the door, but she just sat there and watched, being quiet so she wouldn’t break his concentration.

Spike finished the book about leather tooling rather quickly. That didn’t surprise Rarity; it was mostly pictures after all. The next book Spike opened was on stonecutting and jewelry. Given his level of concentration when he was reading the other book, it surprised the dragoness when he suddenly jumped up and headed for the kitchen. She let her gaze linger on the candle-lit table, on the books that lay spread out on its surface, on the books he was reading for her benefit.

She started down the stairs.

Spike was in the kitchen pouring some sugar onto a small plate when the door opened. He looked up to see Rarity slowly walk in. She shut the door carefully, reinforcing Spike’s assumption that Twilight was asleep. But what is she doing here? Shouldn’t be headed home to try and get some rest for tomorrow? Spike stopped pouring the sugar and folded up the bag. He took some wooden skewers out of a drawer and wet them down in the sink. After that, he took one and rolled it in the sugar. He looked over and noticed that Rarity was watching and offered her half of the skewers. She tried to take them with her magic, but the purple glow that formed around the wooden sticks merely sputtered and flickered before dying out. She really overdid it today.

Spike motioned her over with a hoof. She walked over and sat beside him. He lifted her claw and gave her all but one of the skewers. Then he took that one skewer and rolled it in the sugar. He held it up so the dragoness could see it and set it on the counter. He then left Rarity to finish coating the skewers and started searching for something. He found a pan and started filling it with water. After that, he used his magic to dig out a piece of cheese cloth and several jars of various dried herbs. He set the pan on the stove and turned the heat up, then he started looking through the various herbs, picking out the ones he needed and returning the others to their place in the cabinet.

By the time Rarity finished sugarcoating the skewers, Spike had finished blending the herbs and wrapped them in the cheesecloth. The scent of mint, chamomile, and a dozen other herbs filled the kitchen as soon as he started steeping the herbs in the hot water. He looked over at her and saw that she had finished with the skewers, so he lifted them in his magic and floated them over to the top of the refrigerator and set them in the various jars of sugar water he prepared earlier. He then returned his attention to the pot on the stove. He lifted the bag of sugar and started to open it, but stopped and set it down. He took a jar of honey out of a nearby cabinet instead and poured some into the pan. Rarity took two cups out of a cabinet as he lifted the pan from the stove, stirring it constantly. Spike walked over and poured the tea into the two cups and set the pan on the counter. He offered her a smile as he took one of the cups, and she offered one of her own as she took other.

Rarity looked down at the amber liquid, contemplating a decision she had to make. She took a sip, letting the smooth, warming, tea wash away her indecision. She came to a realization and a decision at that moment. “So what if he’s not a dragon.”

Scars of Yesterday

Spike woke to the gentle insistence of sunlight streaming through the window. He stretched out on the cushion and got up, smacking his nose against the underside of table as he did so. It was a rude awakening, but an effective one. It’s hard to feel sleepy when your face stings. With a groan, he crawled out from under the table and stood up properly. He walked over to the nearest window and pushed the curtain aside to look outside. It was just after dawn and the sun was barely visible above the mountains in the distance, but sunlight still managed to hit him square in the face. He had a smile on his face as he whispered to the glowing orb. “You’ve got good aim, you know that?” He rubbed the last traces of sleep from his eyes and headed for the kitchen. He planned on letting the two dragons get a little more sleep, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t surprise them with breakfast.

Rarity’s nose twitched.

…

…

…

It twitched again.

Her nose twitched once more. This time, it was accompanied by the lazy fluttering of sleepy eyes drifting open. When she noticed that it was morning, her eyes snapped open and she tried to jump out of bed. Her claw caught in the blanket and she ended up tumbling to the floor with a small yelp, upending Twilight’s basket in the process.

The hatchling rolled out onto the floor. She stood up slowly, blinking and yawning as she looked around. “Oh, good morning, Rarity.” Twilight sniffed at the air. “What’s that smell?” She started walking towards the stairs even though she was still mostly asleep.

Rarity took a moment to take a few sniffs of her own. Whatever that smell is, it smells good. She quickly tidied up the small bedroom, making the bed and righting the over-turned basket. She didn’t use her magic, intending to save as much of it as she could for her work. Once she was satisfied with the room’s appearance, she started down the stairs.

Spike was just stepping out of the kitchen when Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs. The unicorn was holding a metal tray aloft, and the hatchling knew that the source of whatever smell was able to get her out of bed at this unholy hour was sitting on that pan. She also knew that, if this is even half as good as those hash-browns, Rarity’s out of a job. Now if only she could see what was on the tray.

Rarity reached the bottom of the stairs just as Spike set the tray on the table. She let out a little laugh as Twilight started jumping up and down, desperately trying to get a peek at the morning’s meal. She approached the table, examining the breakfast with interest; bacon, oatmeal and some sort of light broth, three servings of each. She took a deep breath. It smelled absolutely divine. “You’ve really outdone yourself thi-“ She looked up just in time to see Spike form a telekinetic field around Twilight. “No!” She dove over the table and tackled Spike to the floor.

One moment he had been standing, the next, he found himself looking up into a pair of sapphire-blue eyes. Rarity was breathing heavily as she looked down at him. She climbed off him and looked back and forth between pony and hatchling for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. She walked over to Twilight and was about to use her tail to lift the hatchling on to the table when a green glow surrounded the little dragon. Before Rarity could do more than let out a startled gasp, Twilight was lifted onto the table and deposited near the food. The dragoness felt a light pressure on her shoulder urging her to turn around. When she did, she found herself staring into a concerned pair of emerald eyes. “Rarity? What was that about?”

Tears started to form in her eyes as she tried to speak. She leaned towards him, touching a claw to his chest as if to convince herself that he was still there. As her head fell to a rest against him, she managed to choke out three little words. “You’re not hurt.” She sobbed even harder and Spike could feel the tears running down his fur,

Twilight walked towards her caretaker. She couldn’t remember ever having seen Rarity like this before and it was starting to scare her. “Rarity?” The hatchling was worried; she didn’t know what was wrong, and she didn’t know if there was anything she could do to help. “Spike? What’s wrong?” Maybe he would know, maybe he could help.

Rarity sniffed loudly and pulled away from the purple-furred shoulder she was crying on. She rubbed at her eyes with the back of a claw before responding. “I’m fine, Twilight, nothing’s wrong.” She turned to her charge with as much of a smile as she could muster, but it quickly fell. She took a step towards the hatchling and rubbed a claw along the smooth, purple scales of the little dragon’s crest. “I’m a terrible liar, aren’t I?” Twilight replied with a stiff nod. Rarity pulled her into a deep hug, rocking back and forth slightly. “I shouldn’t lie to you.” She released the purple hatchling and took a step back. “Something is bothering me, but please believe me when I say that it’s nothing you need to be concerned with.” She pointed at the food on the table. “Why don’t you start on breakfast; I need to speak with Spike for a moment.”

Twilight nodded and Rarity walked towards the kitchen. Before following her, Spike leaned towards the hatchling. He did his best to hide his concern, but was probably doing a pretty poor job of it. “You can have my bacon, if you want it. It tastes good, but if I eat too much of it I get a bellyache.” He patted her on the head. “Just don’t touch my oatmeal.” He gave her a small smile before heading to the kitchen.

Rarity was sitting by the sink and facing away from the door when Spike walked in. She didn’t turn around. When he closed the door, she started to speak in a somber, shaky tone. “I’m going to trust you, Spike.” She took a few deep breaths before continuing. “I need to tell you something that I have never told another, and I’m going to show you something that I had hoped to never show another soul.” She lifted a dishcloth from a stack on the counter. “Come here please.” She held the rag under the faucet and turned on the water. Spike walked over and sat next to her. She turned the water off and rung out the rag. She then set it on the counter and turned to face him.

She put a claw to his hoof and lifted it. She leaned her head down and brought the hoof to her face. No, past her face, past her ear, she pressed the hoof to her horn. Spike tried to pull his hoof back. This was a rather intimate act, and he was a little uncomfortable with- He let out a gasp and Rarity let go of his hoof. He didn’t pull it away though; he kept it in place rubbing slightly at one particular spot in the underside of her horn. “Is-“ He swallowed loudly. “Is that a chip?” A chipped horn is one of the worst injuries a dragon could receive, especially a magic dragon. Their horns are as hard as diamond, if not harder, and anything capable of causing such an injury usually causes the death of the dragon in question. “What could have-“

Rarity put a claw to his mouth, stopping his question. It was a question she was about to answer anyway. She removed the claw from his lips and used it to pick the wet rag off the counter. She started wiping it against the side of her neck, just under her damaged horn. Spike watched as something, it must have been paint, started to come off. White gave way to sickly greyish-black. She started crying again as she started wiping the rag over a larger area, revealing more of the tainted scales. She fell into Spike and dropped her claw to the ground. He put one hoof around her as she cried into his shoulder. His other hoof lifted the rag and set to work on the task she could not finish. With each brush of the cloth, more paint came away from her scales.

When at last, no paint remained, Spike understood what had happened to her. The darkened scales radiated outward from a spot near her horn, forming a diseased-looking spiderweb of tendrils that covered the whole right side of her neck. Magical feedback, something had taken her own power and turned it back on her in a twisted, distorted way that burned into her and left no hope of healing. Given her actions earlier, it wasn’t hard for Spike to guess what, or rather, who that was. “Twilight?” Rarity nodded against his chest. “How?”

“I don’t know.” Rarity straightened a little, pulling her face away from the chest of the pony holding her. “I’ve searched for an answer, but never found one. Poor dear was as scared as I was when it happened. It,” she swallowed, “it was the first time I tried to pick her up with magic, the next thing I remember, I was laying on the ground, unable to move. I could only feel two things; the burning in my neck, and Twilight curled up against me, crying and apologizing. For two days, she stayed by my side until somedragon found us.” Rarity sat up, but Spike kept his hoof on her shoulder. “She hasn’t used her magic since then, and I’m not sure she ever will. I- I’ve tried to talk to her about it, about what happened, but she can’t remember. I think she’s forced it out of her mind because she doesn’t want to remember.” Rarity took another rag from the counter and wiped at her face, doing her best to dry any remaining tears. “I wish I could do the same, but it’s difficult to forget when the reminder is etched into your body.”

Spike let his hoof slide from her shoulder to the scar on her neck, drawing a surprised gasp from the dragoness. “You shouldn’t forget, not ever. For good or bad, your scars are part of you.” He let his hoof fall away from her. He gathered up the paint-stained cloth from where it had fallen and started back towards the main room. He paused at the door. “Twilight’s going to get worried if we’re gone too long.”

Rarity nodded slowly. “You go ahead.” She put a claw to her neck. “I don’t want her to see this, not yet. All it’ll do is scare her, and I don’t want to do that.”

Spike took a deep breath. “I think she’s already scared, but I understand.” He closed his eyes and lit his horn. Rarity felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck. “It’ll last about a day. After that? That’s up to you.” He walked out the door, closing it gently behind him.

Rarity walked over to the cabinet where the pans were stored. She dug through it for the shiniest one she could find. Once she found it, she lifted it in front of her so she could see her reflection. She turned her head slowly to reveal her neck. In the oblong surface of the pan, she could make out scales, scales the same shade as fresh-fallen snow.

Twilight sat on the table, nibbling half-heartedly at a piece of bacon. Spike walked out of the kitchen a moment ago, but all he did was offer a smile before heading for the wash room. Twilight heard a door open. She looked up at the kitchen door, but that wasn’t the one. She looked over at the door to the hallway. Spike was walking towards the table. She put the bacon down and stood up. She walked over to him as he sat down next to the table.

Spike took a bowl of oatmeal and a spoon from the tray on the table. He looked up at Twilight and offered them to her. “Sit down and eat, Rarity’ll be out in a moment.” The hatchling opened her mouth to respond, but her stomach beat her to it, letting out a growl in response to the smell of the food being held in front of her. “You don’t want her to worry about you, do you?’

Twilight shook her head and took the bowl. She sat down, giving the bowl a tentative sniff once she was seated. It didn’t smell like the oatmeal she was used to, this oatmeal smelled sweet. It probably tasted really good, but she didn’t really feel like eating.

Spike held back a sigh and reached for another bowl of oatmeal. He watched Twilight as she lifted a spoonful of oatmeal to her mouth. She held it in front of her for a moment before dropping it back into the bowl. She looked over at Spike and was just about to say something when the kitchen door opened. Twilight looked over just in time to see a smiling Rarity come walking out of the kitchen with a tray in her mouth. On the tray sat three glasses.

The dragoness set the tray on the table and fixed Spike in a playful glare. “It looks like somepony forgot the orange juice.” She turned to Twilight with a mischievous smile. “We can’t let him get away with that, can we?”

Twilight looked at Spike in time to see his eyes widen in surprise. She turned back to Rarity and matched her smile. Then, she shook her head.

All the Clowns

Grumble banked around a cloud. It wasn’t in his way or anything, he just felt like it. He looped around the next cloud he came across. He slammed right into the next one, reducing it to so many falling raindrops. He flew like this for a few more minutes before getting bored and landing. Pinkie had given him the day off from the bakery, so he wanted to try to have some fun, but he was actually having more fun trying to make all the new recipes than he was goofing off around town. It didn’t hurt that the bold, drakish dragoness was completely unpredictable. She added an element of surprise to anything she was involved in, making everything a little more interesting.

Grumble looked around as he strolled through town. He had already checked out the shops, had lunch at one of the local restaurants, and stopped by town hall to arrange for a hunting permit. But now? He was bored and killing time until the evening. He found a few things he wanted to buy, but he had no treasure or markers at the moment. The restaurant was… eh, it’s kind of hard to judge that one. Grumble wanted to start his own, so he’s really picky when it came to food. On top of that, the hunting permit wouldn’t be approved until the day after tomorrow. Looks like this town really is boring after all.

“SPLAT!!” Something impacted the side of Grumble’s face. He stood there with his head tilted for a moment, realizing that it wasn’t just Pinkie that was unpredictable; it was the entire town. He started wiping away the ball of mush that was plastered to him. It wasn’t until a bit of it got in his eye that he figured out what hit him. He also started screaming.

“Scootaloo! Ya hit somethin’!” The voice came from a good distance away. “Ah told ya we shoulda pointed it in the other direction.”

“But the arrow pointed this way.” Grumble writhed on the ground in pain as two voices approached him. “Did Sweetie Belle paint it on wrong?”

“Ah dunno, maybe?” The voices were really close now. Through a haze of burning pain and blindness, Grumble did his best to assess the situation. The voices sounded young and feminine, so this was probably some sort of accident rather than a malicious attack. If it was an attack, it sure was an effective one. “Are ya ok, mister? We’re real sorry, bout hittin’ ya like that.” Ok, not an attack, but what was that stuff?

“Applebloom, do ya suppose, maybe we should’ve tried the catapult out with something besides peppers?”

“Ah dunno, maybe? But peppers are what we need ta plant next. Ah was hopin’ the plant-a-pult would give mah brother more time ta work on his next book.”

“Plant-a-pult?” Grumble struggled to get himself upright. “Peppers?” He blinked rapidly. His eyes still burned, but the blindness was starting to wear off. He could see fuzzy shapes now. Two of those shapes stood out from the rest; one was orange and purple, the other was red and yellow, both were very, very close. “What?!” Grumble continued to blink, vision clearing a little with every flicker of the eyelids.

“The Plant-a-pult!” The yellow shape moved as the accented voice of Applebloom shouted happily. “Ya mash stuff up and launch it and the seeds fall out over the field. Bam! Plantin’s done in half the time.”

The orange shape got a little closer. That one must be Scootaloo. “Dude, are you crying?”

“Crying?! Am I-“ Grumble bit down on his lip to keep from yelling at the two young dragons. “Of course I’m crying,” he ground out, “you two just splattered my face with pepper. Celestia herself would be crying right now.” The orange shape moved. Did she just shrug? “Get out of here Grumble,” he thought to himself, “just cut your losses and run before something else happens.” He backed up and turned to leave. Behind him, he could hear the two voices continue their conversation.

“Applebloom, he seems kind of upset. Should we try to cheer him up?”

“Ah guess. What’s it called when yer somedragon who makes somedragon who’s unhappy happy again?”

“I dunno, a shrink?”

“What?!” Grumble turned around. “I don’t need a shrink! I need to get this pepper out of my eyes!” His eyes had cleared a little more and he could make out the two young dragons a little better. They were following him. “Just great.”

“Ya know,” chirped Applebloom happily, “mah brother says that all the time.” Grumble could see her pretty clearly now. She had yellow scales and a red underbelly. She was a little bigger than Twilight, but lacked horns or wings. She had a red bow tied to her red spines. She walked on four legs, but her body’s shape suggested she could also walk on two. “Just, without the pepper part.”

“Hey, I know,” Scootaloo chimed in, “why don’t you head to the library and get some of those free cupcakes? That’ll make you feel better.” This one was thinner than Applebloom; wings and a slightly serpentine shape showed that she was a flying type, but her wings were a little small. Her orange scales contrasted wildly with the purple of her underbelly and furred crest. She had rabbit-like ears that could be folded back against the wind and no spines. When her wings get bigger, she’s probably going to be an amazing flyer.

Grumble didn’t say anything; he just turned and walked away, trying his best to put the unpleasant encounter out of his head. Free cupcakes at the library? What is Spike up to? Grumble’s eyes were still burning, but he could finally see well enough to make out his surroundings. He was only a short flight away from the library, but flying would probably just aggravate his eyes. With a sigh, he started walking towards the oversized tree, leaving the two dragonlings to converse among themselves.

“So, Applebloom, do you know when Sweetie Belle’s coming back from treasure hunting with her folks?”

“Ah think it’s tomorrow, but it might be the day after.”

There’s three of them? Great. Grumble kept walking, silently vowing to never have hatchlings of his own.

As he got closer to the library, a familiar smell reached his nose. Sure enough, there were cupcakes in the vicinity of the library. Not just any cupcakes though, Sugarcube Corner cupcakes. He picked up his pace. Pinkie was one of the best cooks he had ever met, if her food was being given away, it wouldn’t last long. He rounded the library to find a half empty table of cupcakes. Looks like he made it in time. He walked over to the table and examined the display. It appeared to be an honor system, so that meant he could only take one. He had to make sure it was a good one. Honor is very important to a dragon after all.

“Don’t cry,” said a voice behind him, “I know life can be unfair sometimes, but things get better.”

“What?!” Grumble turned around to see a brownish dragon looking up from where he was glued to the outside of the library. “What was it?” He asked with a smile, “lost your job? Dragoness left you? Lost your horde in a phony real estate deal? I’ve been through all of them, and trust me, things will get better. By the way, my name’s Caramel.” He tried to put a claw out for a shake, but found it stuck firmly in place. “Sorry ‘bout that, I forgot.” He forgot he was glued to a tree? The dragon took a sip of water from a bowl on the table in front of him.

“I got splattered in the face with hot peppers.” Grumble sat down facing the immobile dragon.

“Plant-a-pult?” The dragon nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Two weeks ago, it was the super express meat delivery system. That was a mess,” the brown dragon rolled his eyes, “and guess who had to clean it up.” Grumble just sat there, staring. After a few moments, the other dragon’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh, hey, you’re the guy who almost ate me, right? How long does this glue last for? ‘Cause I don’t have much vacation time saved and my boss is already pretty mad at me. If I don’t show up to work soon I’ll probably be fired again.”

Grumble shook his head. “Ok, I’m lost. Why were you attacking the library?”

The dragon’s eyes went wide. “Attacking the- No! No, that was the other guy. I smelled smoke and came to investigate. Then I got eaten.” He bobbed his head. “And spit up.” He bobbed his head again. “And glued to a tree.” He tilted his head to the side. “All in all, I suppose it could have been worse.”

“If you say so.” Grumble turned to walk away, but kept watching the dragon. “The glue wears off in about a week, but I can bring you some turpentine to dissolve it.” Grumble didn’t say he would, he just wanted to judge the drake’s reaction.

“Don’t bother,” he said with a pathetic flap of a claw, “I’m allergic, and a week stuck to a tree is better than the month of itchy scales the turpentine would bring.”

“Ah.” Grumble tapped a claw against the ground. It seemed like he was innocent, but it also seemed like it made no difference either way. “I guess I could bring you a book or something. You know, to pass the time.” Grumble glanced at the cupcake-laden table. “I could also bring you some food.”

“I’ve got a pretty slow metabolism,” the dragon said with a smile, “I’ll be fine for another month at most, but a book would be great. Um,” he looked at the sky and made small indecisive noises as his head bobbed around, “maybe something about art, or music, or sports, or… well, really, I’ll take anything.” Caramel nodded. “Oh, but don’t feel like you have to get it now. I’ll probably just sleep for a while, so tomorrow’s good, or, you know, whenever you get around to it.” Caramel nodded again.

“Uh, ok.” Grumble turned back to the cupcake table. He picked out a cupcake topped with a sprig of mint. “So, what is this job of yours?”

Spike walked back to the library with Twilight on his back. He had planned ahead this time and brought more books than she would be able to read. They would stay at the boutique, ready for the hatchling’s next visit. He and Rarity were able to work uninterrupted and there were no major mishaps or delays. Most of the armor was complete, leaving Rarity with only a few minor details left to work out.

Spike was contemplating what he should make for dinner when he felt Twilight start moving on his back. “Auntie Dash!” Spike looked back to see the hatchling waving towards the sky. “Auntie Dash! Down here!” Spike looked towards the sky. This “Dash” was obviously a flying dragon, unless Twilight was pulling a joke on him.

After a few moments of searching the sky, Spike turned his head to face the hatchling. “Twili-“

“There she is!” The little dragon pointed her claw at a spot in the distance. Spike followed the gesture until he was looking at an empty patch of sky.

“Twilight, there’s nothing there.” He was just about to continue walking when a rainbow formed in the sky, just formed, for no reason that Spike could discern. It was unlike any rainbow the unicorn had ever seen. First of all, it was a straight line; second, it was headed straight for them. Spike ducked as it passed over them. He followed its path as it started a wide loop up and around. Once the rainbow hit the top of its arc, it banked sharply downward and plummeted towards the ground. It hit the ground a short distance away from Spike and Twilight, causing a thunderous crash and a plume of dust.

A tall, lithe dragon stepped out of the dust cloud. She was just the right shade of blue to match the sky on a sunny day; scales and fur lined a crest of spectral-hued fur that ran from head to tail. A pair of smooth white horns framed either side of her face just above her long ears. She leaned down so her face was even with Twilight’s. “Yo, Twi! I see Rarity finally got you a proper pet.” She grinned at Spike, revealing a row of razor-sharp, pearly-white fangs. “Ooh.” She carefully patted Spike on the head when he didn’t flinch and looked back at Twilight. “He’s well-trained, isn’t he? So, kiddo, what’s his name?”

Spike merely rolled his eyes. If he had a treasure for every time a dragon mistook him for a common animal, he would be retired to his own private volcano by now. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. At the same time, a smile crossed his face and he glanced towards the evening sun. “Oh, Celestia, you’re rubbing off on me.” He did his best to force the smile back and started walking. He kept his face passively neutral as he started meandering around in a looping path. He stuck his nose to the ground and started sniffing around.

“Spike?” Twilight tugged on his mane, trying to get the unicorn’s attention. “What are you doing, Spike?”

Spike turned around three times and plopped down. Rainbow started laughing as Twilight struggled to hold on to his mane and stay on his back. “I guess he isn’t very well trained after all.” As the sky-colored dragon lowered her head to inspect Spike, he lifted a back hoof and started scratching at his ear. “So, your name’s Spike?” He tilted his head and gave her a blank stare as she carefully patted him on the head again. “Hello, Spike.” He closed his eyes and smiled up at her. She moved her nose in close to him, wanting to get a good look at the strange creature before her.

Spike carefully opened opened one eye just enough to peek at the approaching dragon. As soon as her nose was close enough, Spike patted it with a hoof. “Hello, Dash.”

“AAAAAUGHHH!!” She leapt back, tripping over her claws and tumbling in an effort to put distance between her and Spike. She sat on the ground for a moment, trying to catch her breath. “Whoa!” She stood up, shaking a little to dislodge any dust or debris from her coat or scales. “It talks? That’s awesome!” Recovering from her initial shock, she slowly took a step forward. “Where’d ya find that thing?”

Spike kept a straight face for as long as he could, about two seconds. Then he burst out laughing. “Of course I can talk. Um?” He pointed at her. “You missed a spot.”

The sky dragon blinked at Spike.

“Um, right there.” He pointed at the side of his face. She brushed a claw at the spot he indicated. Her eyes never strayed from his. “Little higher, almost got it,” she brushed a little higher, dislodging a clump of grass from her face, “there you go.”

“So, uh,” she tapped her claws together and glanced around, “not a pet?”

Spike shook his head. “Not a pet.”

Dash sighed, muttering a quiet, “awkward,” under her breath.

Twilight started giggling from her perch on Spike’s back. “He got you good, Rainbow Dash!”

The larger dragon let out a chuckle. “Yeah, he did, didn’t he?” She walked around Spike, sizing him up. “That means I have to get him even better.” She extended a claw towards the unicorn. “Welcome to Dragonspire, whatever you are.” Spike stepped forward with a smile and lifted his hoof to take hold of the offered claw.

“NO!” Twilight leapt from the unicorn’s back a split-second before Spike’s hoof touched the cyan claw.

Spike had enough time to register confusion at the hatchling’s sudden reaction before he realized the reason for it. The pleasant smile on Rainbow Dash’s face turned feral. He cast a hurried protection spell, but it was too late. Electricity arced from her claw to his hoof and started traveling up his leg. It fizzled out against his chest where the incomplete protection spell was forming across his body.

With a short yelp, he jumped back, keeping his hoof in the air. “What was that?!” Spike looked down at his hoof as the brightly-colored dragon rolled onto her back and started laughing. He didn’t feel any pain, as far as he could tell, the electricity hadn’t done anything. So why is she laughing? “What did you-“ Spike’s unfinished question was answered as soon as he tried to step forward. The leg that got zapped collapsed under his weight, planting the unicorn face-down in the dirt. Oh, come on,” he mumbled into the dirt before rolling over, “seriously?!”

Rainbow took a break from her rolling laughter to wipe a tear from her eye. “Oh, dude! You should have seen the look on your face!”

“Yeah? Well…” Spike got up and started hobbling over to where Twilight was furiously taking notes on a mini notebook, “you should have seen your face when I said hello.” He put aside the question of where Twilight had acquired the notebook in favor of a more practical one. “Can you make the walk back to the library?”

“Eh,” Rainbow rolled onto her side and gave one claw a dismissive wave, “give it a moment, it’ll wear off.”

“Seriously?” Grumble laughed heartily around the cupcake he was chewing on. “Oh, man!” He shook his head. “And she never found out?”

“No!” Caramel laughed. “And that’s the thing I don’t get, it was her idea in the first place.”

“That’s crazy!” Grumble licked a bit of frosting from his claws. As crazy as that pink dragoness may be, she is one fine cook. “So what happened to the-“ Grumble saw Caramel look at something off to the side. He followed the smaller dragon’s gaze to see two approaching figures. One was a dragoness he didn’t recognize. She was light blue, taller than he was, and moved with the grace of a trained athlete. The other figure was Spike, hobbling along like he had broken something. Grumble waved towards them.

Spike lifted a hoof to wave back, but the other one immediately gave out, landing his face on the ground in front of him. He struggled to his feet and started hobbling towards Grumble at a slightly increased pace. The blue dragoness tagged along beside him.

“Hey, Grumble,” Caramel pointed a claw towards the approaching figures, “that little guy’s the one that beat, what did you call him, Fire Flash?”

“Yeah.” Grumble pointed proudly at Spike. “That right there, is the only non-dragon in the draconican military. We joined up at the same time, even shared a bunker during basic training. Unfortunately, I mistook him for escaped livestock when we first met, but he got over it.” Grumble paused. “Mostly.”

Caramel let out a whistle. “He’s really a Centurion? After only two years? I never even made specialist.”

“Yeah, it’s surprising, isn’t it?” Grumble waved again, only to receive a glare from Spike who made no move to reciprocate the gesture. He could also see that it wasn’t two figures approaching, but three. The third was atop the blue dragon’s head, seated between the double sets of horns and holding on to the vibrant, furred crest. “If you get to know him, he’s even more surprising. Did you know, he’s stronger than any dragon his size? At least, any that I’ve met. And that magic of his doesn’t seem to have a type limitation like most dragons have. He’s got all sorts of spells, and I’ve seen him make up new ones on the spot.” Grumble shrugged. “Those don’t always turn out the best, but it’s still pretty neat how he comes up with different ways to use’em.”

“Hey, Grumble?” Caramel tilted his head to the side. “About that fight, what happened in between me getting eaten and getting stuck here?”

“Oh, that,” Grumble nodded, “well, you see-“

Twilight let out a yawn. She was sleepy, and just a little hungry. A smile formed on her face. Spike was going to start on dinner once they got back, so she would be able to take a nap and wake up to delicious food. That raised a question though, why was Spike doing all this? Why was he even here? She liked him, and she noticed that he and Rarity are getting along pretty well, but there was no real reason for him to be here. Maybe she should ask him about it before he starts cooking.

“Hey, kiddo?” Rainbow’s voice broke Twilight out of her train of thought. “We’re back, I’m gonna let you down now.” The hatchling grabbed tightly to the multi-colored hair around her as Rainbow lowered her head to the ground. Once it was down, she tilted her head to the side.

Twilight let go of Rainbow’s crest and slid down her long ear to the ground below. She landed on her rump with a slight bump and had to dust off, but she was otherwise untouched. She turned around as Rainbow lifted her head back to its normal height and waved up at her. “Thanks for the ride, Aunt Dash.”

“Heh, no problem, kiddo.” She flicked an opposeable claw at Spike. “I couldn’t leave ya hangin’ after I busted your other ride, what kind of Aunt would I be?”

Twilight looked over at Spike. He was still limping, but he was still able to walk on his own. He had even pulled ahead of them by a bit. She had to break into jog to catch up with him, but by the time she did, she could hear snippets of the conversation between the two dragons he was walking towards.

“It went wide-“ “didn’t even aim-“ “let it hit the town-“ “kick that fireball so high into the sky tha-“

“THAT WAS YOU?!” Twilight stiffened up. The voice had come from behind her, and she recognized it as Rainbow Dash’s. It was the voice she only used when she was really angry about something. The last time the hatchling heard this voice was because somedragon had insulted a member of the Wonderbolt Squadron of the Air Cavalry. She stood very still as Rainbow stomped past her and towards the hapless Grumble. “That fireball landed on my head in the middle of my nap!” Grumble started backing away from the angered dragoness. “Do you know what I had to go through because of that?”

Grumble backed up until he bumped into the cupcake table, dumping it over. He winced as the treats tumbled out on to the ground, but didn’t have time to worry about it before a snarling blue face filled his vision. He gulped loudly as he stared into Rainbow’s magenta eyes. “Um, no?” He could almost swear they were starting to turn red.

“Of course you don’t,” she growled, “you don’t have fur. I had to put up with Rarity’s fussing and whining for three hours while she fixed the burns in my crest.”

“Really?” Caramel craned his neck to get a good look at Rainbow’s mane. “She did a good job, you can’t even tell it was ever-“

The dragoness spun her head around to face the immobilized dragon. “You stay out of this!”

Grumble took advantage of the distraction to take a few more steps back. He moved quietly, putting his recon training to use in the riskiest manner any dragon could, to escape from an angry female. He moved to the side, carefully walking around the fallen table and treats. It was starting to look like he might get out of this with his hide intact.

“Crinkle.”

The sound came from something beneath Grumble’s hind-claw. He glanced back and lifted the claw. There, squished to the ground, was a cupcake wrapper, his cupcake wrapper. He looked up just in time to see Rainbow Dash snap her head towards him. Her eyes were narrowed slits of anger that cut Grumble to the core. He froze in place, tensing every muscle in fear. She took a slow step forward and he snapped. He launched himself forward and past her, spreading his wings and taking flight. He ran.

“Hey! Grumble! Wait!” Spike held up his front hooves to get his friends attention. Needless to say, it didn’t work, so he came up with a different plan. But different doesn’t mean smart. As Grumble flew past him, the pony grabbed onto the dragon’s tail. He screamed as he dragged along at a much faster rate than he was prepared for.

The hatchling that was standing beside him just yawned. “Did he really think that would work?” She started walking towards the library as a sky blue blur followed after Grumble and Spike at a speed few things could ever hope to match. The hatchling came to a stop at the door and opened it. “Caramel,” she called out to the drake glued to the library, “that Dragin Do book is due tomorrow, I’ll go ahead and renew it for you.” She went inside and shut the door behind her before he had a chance to respond. With a sigh, she headed off for the kitchen. “Now I’ve got to make my own dinner.”

The wind whipped past Spike’s head as he yelled at Grumble to stop. When that didn’t work, he started yelling at the dragon to at least slow down. It was about then that a rainbow colored streak shot past them. Rainbow Dash came to a stop in front of them. Grumble pulled up to arrest his forward momentum as electrical sparks started to dance across the hovering dragin’s form.

Grumble turned his climb into a half-loop and started heading in the opposite direction. It was pretty amazing to him that she was overtake him so quickly, but it was even more amazing how quickly she came to a stop. Even veteran air cavalry members would lose their lunch decelerating at that rate. He glanced back to see if she would continue chasing, but she just hovered there. For a moment, he considered slowing down, wondering if, maybe, she wasn’t as angry as he thought.

At that moment, she brought her wings together in front of her and stopped flapping. She started falling towards the ground as the electrical discharges started growing.

“Shoot!” Grumble Turned and flew for her as fast as he could. “I should have known. Nodragon can handle that sudden of a stop!” The electricity continue to grow until it formed a dancing, yellow aura around the falling form of Rainbow Dash. Grumble continued towards her. “This is gonna hurt, but I can’t let her hit the grou-“ Then he noticed something. She was falling headfirst, and she had been the entire time. There was no rotation, no flailing of limbs, nothing. She was falling perfectly. “Clever girl.” Grumble started slowing himself as the electrical aura suddenly collapsed in on her, and for a moment, the dragin glowed bright yellow. She continued her controlled descent, but started to slowly unfold her wings. Once they opened, she held them there. Grumble saw electricity arcing on each of the primary feathers, but nothing else. “What is she-“

She folded her wings and snapped them out faster than he could follow, faster than the speed of sound, creating a concussive blast of air. A loud crack split the air as the lightning formed into a defined shape, extending from each feather as if it were an extension of her wings. With a loud yell, she started flapping her wings, accelerating towards the ground. The lightning extending from the wings doubled their size, but Grumble couldn’t see any improvement in her flying. If anything, she was faster before. The yellow glow started to return as she neared the ground. She stopped flapping and held her wings out wide, letting her yell increase in volume as she got closer and closer to land. She glowed brighter and brighter as she fell. By the time it would have been too late for anydragon to pullout of the fall, she brought her wings down. That single flap brought her to a standstill. The ground beneath her was singed by the lightning trailing from her wings as she let herself land.

The glow still surrounded her as she looked up, wings spread as if she was preparing to lift off. Grumble circled, confused by the situation, but staying ready to retreat should the need arise. Rainbow folded her wings and Grumble saw a streak of lightning come down and hit her, causing an explosion of dirt and debris where she stood. When the explosion cleared, he saw no sign of her. It was then that he realized that he hadn’t seen lightning come down, he had seen her go up. He looked up to see her staring down at him.

The electric glow was gone and her wings were still folded. “Did she just jump?! She used the electricity to jump?!” He saw her take a deep breath and felt static on his scales. “No, the electricity’s still here.”

She flared her wings and let out a roar like thunder. At that moment, lightning solidified in the air around her, transforming her. Where there had once been a blue Dragin a bit larger than Grumble, there was now a terrifying image of a Dragon, one made of pure energy and large enough to give the Princess a run for her money.

Grumble screamed at a pitch that even the most talented soprano would have trouble matching and flew off at a speed he would likely never reach again.

The lighting dragon faded to nothing as the sky-blue dragin who created it slowly drifted to the ground in a fit of laughter. “Yeah! You better run!” Once on the ground, she started walking balk to the library. “That’ll teach him to mess with me.”

Still hanging on for his life, Spike saw the lightning-based image disappear from the sky even though Grumble didn’t. “Grumble!” No response. He cast a spell on himself to amplify his voice, something Celestia showed him. ”GRUMBLE!” Still nothing. The dragon didn’t even slow down. Spike groaned. Sure, he would never be as loud as Celestia, but Grumble should have at least heard that. The pony went over his options. He couldn’t stop Grumble’s wings without hurting him, they were too far up for him to just let go, and one leg was still numb, so he couldn’t climb onto grumble’s back. Spike looked forward to see where Grumble was headed. There didn’t seem to be any reason behind the direction he had chosen, but there was a large cloud directly in his path. “Perfect.”

He focused his energy on the cloud. He was going to use a simple spell, but he would have to handle it delicately. As the spell took effect, the cloud started to change color. Red started to seep from the cloud’s edges to the center, but parts of the cloud stayed white. Once the spell was complete, the cloud was a sign, a red sign with white letters that said, “Grumble! Stop!”

The dragon looked back after reading the cloud. He didn’t see any sign of angry Rainbow, but he did see Spike hanging from the end of his tail. “Hey! Are you crazy?! What are you doing?!”

Spike shot him an annoyed glance. “I oughtta ask you the same thing!”

Grumble slowed down and descended, keeping a close eye on his flight stability. He didn’t want to drop his non-dragon friend after all. “How did you end up there anyway?” Instead of landing, Grumble hovered so his tail stayed just above the ground, letting Spike get off at his own pace.

The pony was soon on his own four hooves again, well, three, his right front hoof was still pretty useless. “Well, uh- Where are we?” He started looking around, avoiding the question. “We seem to have made it a fair distance from town.”

“Yeah.” Grumble conducted a careful search of the sky above them. “But more importantly, we made it a fair distance away from that flashy, overly-violent Dragin. I mean, honestly, the fireball was Fire Flash’s fault, not mine.” He looked over at Spike. “What’s gonna happen to him anyway?”

“Well, that’s up to the town’s Military Liaison, but he’ll probably be shipped off for a court-martial and discharge.” Spike examined their surroundings. They were in a forest clearing near a river. There were small animals everywhere, and none of them seemed worried about the presence of a dragon in their midst. “Say, Grumble? Does something seem off to you?”

The dragon laughed. “What, are you getting freaked out by some squirrels? I can’t even beat you in a fight, what are they gonna do? Throw acorns at you until you-“ There was a rustling of leaves, and Grumble stopped talking.

“What is it? Do you see something?” Spike turned around. Grumble was gone. “Grumble?” Spike looked up to see if the dragon had taken to the air, but didn’t see any sign of him. “Grumble, you aren’t chasing anything down for a quick snack are you?” He started searching around, knowing full well that he wouldn’t find the dragon if he was hunting. “Grumble,” he said in a warning tone as he paced around the clearing, “you promised you were gonna help me make dinner! You better not be-“ There was another rustle of leaves and the ground opened up beneath Spike’s hooves and he found himself over a pit. “Oh, there better not be spikes at the bottom.” He had barely a second to contemplate what may be his last pun before he fell and his face hit the first stair. He had barely a second to contemplate the fact that he hit a stair before his face hit the next one. This process repeated itself several times before Spike came to rest on something surprisingly soft.

“Ugh, Spike? You there?” The voice came from just off to the pony’s left. “What happened?”

Spike pulled himself up. He had landed on some sort of furniture, almost like a cushion, but raised off the ground. It wasn’t like most dragon furniture, but it was undeniably comfortable. Now, what was it doing at the bottom of a hole, and why were there stairs? Spike hopped off the couch to the ground below. But, being below ground already, would that be the bottom of the hole?

For the bottom of a hole, it sure was nice. The ground was an even, polished hardwood floor, and the cushion-platform thing had a nice, pale-blue floral print. Judging by the size of it, the dragon that lived here was about half-way between Grumble and Rainbow Dash in size. Just beyond the blue, fabric piece furniture, Grumble was propped against the wall in a way that suggested his landing wasn’t as soft as Spike’s. In the other direction, there was a door. The size of it indicated that it was meant for the same dragon that the strange folded bed thing was for. The walls of the hole were stone, a sort of creamy marble. In conjunction with the furniture, it gave the place a rather inviting feel.

“Hey, Grumble? What is this place? Some sort of waiting room, or lobby?” Looking up, Spike saw something else on the walls. There were picture frames spaced out evenly along the walls.

Grumble pulled himself away from the wall with a groan. “I don’t know.” He stretched out his neck and rubbed at it. “It looks like it, but that would mean it’s a hospital or a business. But there wasn’t anything marking the entrance, it’s probably just somedragon’s home and they have weird taste in decorating.” Grumble looked at the door. “And that means we should probably go.”

“Yeah.” Spike wasn’t paying attention, he was looking at the picture frames. From where he stood, the glare on the glass made it hard to see what the pictures were, but he could make out glimpses of certain colors. “Hey, give me a lift, would you?”

Grumble looked at the pony. “Huh?” He followed Spike’s gaze to the frames on the wall. “Hmph. Curious?” He looked at the frame closest to him. The picture within was of a crimson red dragon with sturdy looking features standing beside a tree. “Why couldn’t I look like that? I’m so dull that I look like a Dragin.” He then realized that every Dragin he had met in this town had brighter colors than he did. With a sigh he looked at the next picture. It was of a little white rabbit sitting on something pink. Off to Grumble’s right, Spike cleared his throat. “Oh, right,” the dragon chuckled, “It does seem to be a sort of public foyer, there doesn’t seem to be any harm in looking.” He turned so his tail came to a rest in front of Spike and lowered his head so it was below the level the frames.

Using the tail as a first step, Spike climbed onto Grumble’s back, then onto the dragon’s head. He was level with the picture frames now, and since there was no glare, he was clearly able to see the pictures. Most of them were of animals, deer, rabbits, etc, but a few were of dragons, and most of those were of dragons he recognized. “Hey, Grumble, there’s a picture of Pinkie here. Think this is her place?”

“No,” the dragon responded flatly, “she lives at the bakery.”

“Really?” Spike smirked at the top of Grumble’s head. “The same bakery you’ve been spending all your free time at?”

“Yeah, Sugarcube Corner.” He tried to look up at his passenger. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing,” Spike said in a sing-song tone, then he put a hoof to his chin, “it’s just she’s a Dragin that’s the same size as you, shares the same interests, and has been spending a lot of time with you. You might want to be careful or rumors will start spreading.”

“Rumors?” Grumble fought the urge to shake his head. “What kind of rumors?”

Spike let out an exasperated sigh and leaned over to look Grumble in the eyes, well, in one eye any way. “You’re gonna make me spell it out? You like her, don’t you?”

“I don’t think any rumors like that are spreading, but if you’re worried about rumors, what about you and Rarity?” The dragon let out a short laugh. “You two have been practically inseparable these last few days, not to mention everything you told me at the bakery.” There was a gasp from the direction of the door and Grumble turned his head in time to see it finish slamming shut. He didn’t notice that Spike had tumbled off his perch, landing hard behind the floral-print cushion thing.

After a few seconds, the door opened up again and a dragon was tossed out. Grumble didn’t see what did the tossing, but the dragon bounced a little before coming to a stop. She was a little bigger than Grumble, but only a little. She had a mix of fur and scales and a furred crest, so she was most likely a flying type like Rainbow Dash. She was mostly yellow, but her crest, claws, and belly were pink. Her eyes were a light, vibrant blue, and they were very wide and fixed on Grumble.

After about two seconds of awkward silence, the yellow and pink dragon threw herself at the door. She started pounding on it and trying to force it open. “Let me in!” She wedged her shoulder against the door and pushed. “Please, Angel? I’m sorry I forgot your breakfast, but please, let me in!” She rammed her shoulder against the door a few more times. As big as she was, that door must be heavily reinforced to still be in one piece.

The dragon suddenly froze in place. She glanced over at grumble, then directed her gaze at the floor. “Oh, um, I’m sorry.” The long pink hairs of her crest fell over her face as she moved.

Grumble blinked. “What is she apologizing for?” He took a cautious step forward. “Um, Miss? Is this your home? I noticed the pictures, are you a friend of Pinkie’s?”

She tried to back up, but only bumped into the door. She mumbled something that Grumble couldn’t quite hear.

He took a cautious step forward to try and hear her better. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

She shrunk in on herself and mumbled something even quieter.

Grumble decided against getting any closer. “Didn’t quite catch that.”

She squeaked.

Grumble blinked a few times. “Well, look at the time! I think we should be going!” He turned towards the stairs. “Come on, boss, we’re obviously intruding so let’s be on our way.” Spike came out from behind the cushion thing, holding a hoof to his head from the pain of his landing. Grumble heard a loud gasp from behind him and had barely enough time to turn around before he was bowled over by a pink and yellow blur.

Spike looked up to see a bright pair of aqua eyes staring at him happily. “Oh, wow,” said the yellow dragon the eyes belonged to, “what is it? I’ve never seen a creature like this before.” The dragon’s voice was filled with excitement and wonder, and it was directed at Grumble. The pony’s ears drooped; once again, he had been mistaken for some sort of animal. “What’s it called? What does it eat? Is it a pet? Wait, it responded to vocal commands, so it must be a pet. That’s good, it’s too cute to be a food animal. You called it boss? Is that its name?” She started patting Spike on the head. “Hello, Boss. Oh, it’s so cute, I want one. And Boss is such a cute name. If I got one, I’d call it Boss too. Do they come in different colors? What about sizes? Ooh, a little one would be so cute! But then I would have to call it little boss, my little Boss. Or maybe a larger one would better? But then I guess it would be big Boss. What do you think?” She didn’t let up on the patting as she talked.

Spike groaned and put his hooves above his head to ward off the dragon’s affectionate petting. “I think you should stop doing that.”

The dragon let out a surprised gasp. “You can talk?”

Spike shook his head. “Why is everydragon so surprised by that?”

“Oh, sorry,” the yellow dragon lowered her head, “it’s just, I’ve never seen a talking pony before.” She quickly lifted her head again. “What do ponies talk about?”

Spike shrugged. “All sorts of things, what do you want to-“ Spike’s words trailed off and his eyes went wide. “Wait! How did you know I was a pony?”

“Hmm?” She looked off to one side. “I saw a picture in a book.”

“Where?!” He stepped towards the yellow dragon. “What book? What did it say? Where can I get this book?” A lead, for the first time in so long, Spike finally had a lead on information about his species.

Grumble, who had been sitting quietly off to the side, chose that moment to speak up. “If you knew he was a pony, why did you ask what he was?”

“Oh, well,” the dragon tapped her claws together, ”I thought he looked like a pony at first, but the book was about mythical creatures.” She continued tapping her claws. “And he doesn’t have giant fangs to suck blood with.”

Spike slapped a hoof to his face. “Don’t tell me, Mockmaille the Morose’s Musings on Myths and Monsters?” She nodded. “I thought so.” Spike shook his head slowly. “That book has no factual information whatsoever. The only thing it gets right are the names and pictures.”

The yellow dragon suddenly looked sad. “Aw, I wanted a Kamaitachi.”

“Well,” Spike scratched the back of his head, “they exist, but don’t believe anything that book says about them.”

She gasped and clasped her claws together. “Really, oh, now I’m even more curious. Thank you, Boss.” She glanced back at grumble, then looked at the floor before speaking in a much quieter voice. “Um, you too, Spike.”

Grumble lifted a claw to point at his pony friend. “I’m Grumble, he’s Spike.”

The dragon’s yellow face suddenly turned pink. “She never said you weren’t a dragon.”

Spike tilted his head to one side. “Who never-“

“Oh!” She suddenly slammed one claw into the other. “You’re the Spike that gra- I mean, um, I may have heard of you. I had no idea Rarity was in-“ She stopped and her face turned a deeper pink. “I mean, um, why don’t we go outside?” She forced an uneasy smile and started for the stairs.

Spike and Grumble exchanged confused glances before following her up. Once on the surface again, silence surrounded the three for while, until Spike decided to break the silence. “So, what’s your name?”

The yellow dragon brushed the strands of pink away from her face and offered the pony a smile. “I’m Fluttershy.”

Grumble rolled his eyes. “She wouldn’t even talk to me. It’s gotta be the bright colors Spike has.”

Fluttershy’s ear twitched and she looked up. She searched the sky for a moment before waving a claw in the air. Her next words sent a chill down Grumble’s spine. “Rainbow Dash! Down here!”

He didn’t wait for anything, he just took off running as fast as he could. Once again, Spike, either through a gross overestimation of his own strength, or a misfire of instinct, grabbed onto his tail. He was promptly dragged along. Unfortunately for him, Grumble wasn’t flying this time, but running through the undergrowth of the forest in attempt to avoid being sighted from the air.

Grumble’s frantic trek through the forest ended after several minutes. At one point, he had climbed into a tree and started travelling from treetop to treetop. It wasn’t hard, as most of the trees were quite large, even by dragon standards, and their canopies intertwined. The tree where Grumble came to a stop appeared to be a fruit tree of some kind; white flowers and small green spheres were scattered among the leaves.

Grumble peeked at the sky through gaps in the leaves. “looks like I lost her, but now where am I?”

“Sweet Apple Acres,” came the whispered reply.

“GYAAH!!” Grumble spun around to see Fluttershy perched on a branch beside him. “When did she-“ He lost his grip on the branch and fell to the ground below with a loud thud. He landed next to a larger dragon who was tending to the tree.

“What the hay?” The dragon saw Grumble laying upside-down and looked up to see the gap in the leaves where he had fallen through. “Ya alright Sugarcube? That was a pretty nasty fall.” The orange dragon adjusted her hat and moved a bit closer to inspect the visitor. “What were ya doin’ up there anyway?”

Fluttershy poked her head through leaves. “Oh, Applejack. I hope we’re not intruding.”

The orange dragon looked up. “Course not, Shy.” She gently prodded the prone form of Grumble, prompting a groan from the barely conscious dragon. “He a friend a’ yers? Ah thought ya were after mah brother.”

Yellow turned to bright red. “No! I mean, yes! I- I am, but um-“ Fluttershy disappeared from view. She re-appeared a moment later, holding Spike in her front claws. Her back claws were clamped down on the branches above, keeping her from ending up like Grumble. “This is Spike.”

Applejack stared at the two, blinking every so often. “Uh, Sugarcube? Ya’ll know that ain’t a dragon, right?”

Spike crossed his hooves with a slight huff. “I’d say that’s pretty obvious, so why is everydragon so hung up on that?”

The orange dragon’s green eyes went wide. “Shy, that thing just talked.” She continued to stare. “It just talked!” She lifted a claw towards the pony.

Spike batted it away with a hoof. “Really? Why is the first response always to pet me?”

Applejack’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “Wait one apple-pickin’ minute, yer that Spike! The famous Centurion!”

“Famous?” It was Spike’s turn blink and stare. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Yeah!” The orange dragon adjusted her hat. “Ah saw ya in the paper. Well, there weren’t a picture or nothing, but the article talked about this Centurion who wasn’t a dragon. Ya sure ya didn’t see it? It was in yesterday’s paper, page fifty-seven, under the farm reports.”

Spike let out a sigh. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t see it.”

Applejack chuckled nervously. “Right, Ah guess farmers are the only ones who read the farm reports.” She tapped a claw against the ground. “So, what are the three a’ ya up to up there.”

Grumble groaned out a response. “We’re hiding from a crazy dragin that wants to electrocute me.” With a loud grunt, he flipped himself over.

The orange dragon laughed as he shuffled stiffly towards the tree trunk. “Sounds like ya ran afoul a’ RD somehow. Ah wouldn’t worry ‘bout it too much, she’s prob’ly forgotten ya even exist by now.”

Fluttershy’s ear twitched and she looked up. “Either way, we’ll find out as soon as she lands.”

“WHAT?! HIDE!” Fluttershy followed Grumble’s command without hesitation, disappearing into the leaves with Spike. Grumble scrambled up the tree, following her, but paused for a moment to look at Applejack. “Please don’t tell her we’re here.”

“Ah got ya covered,” said the orange dragon with a wink. “But ya know, everydragon ticks her off at some point. Just think of it as a learnin’ experience.”

“Oh, it’s been an experience, all right,” muttered Grumble as he continued his climb into the tree, “one I’ll never forget.” He climbed up into the leaves and latched onto a vertical branch near Spike and Fluttershy. They were talking about something in hushed whispers.

Grumbles attention was focused on the ground below. Any moment now, Rainbow Dash was going to land.

He didn’t have to wait long. The rainbow-crested dragon swooped down and landed near Applejack. This time though, her landing was soft enough to not even disturb a stray leaf. “Yo, AJ?”

The orange dragon looked up quickly. “Ah ain’t seen’em.” Rainbow stared at her with her eyebrows scrunched together. Applejack just blinked. After a moment, a look of realization crossed over her face. “Aw, shoot! Ah got that wrong, Ah was s’posed ta let ya go first.”

Up in the tree, unheard by the two dragons below, two dragons and a pony slapped their claws and a hoof to their faces.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. Then she took a deep breath. “SPIKE! GRUMBLE! RARITY’S MAKING ME APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT I DID EARLIER, SO GET YOUR TAILS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”

The addressed dragon and pony exchanged nervous glances.

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy put a claw on the multi-colored dragon’s shoulder, “if you’re going to apologize, you should be nicer about it.”

Rainbow jumped, but managed to keep from voicing her surprise. She took a few breaths and turn to her friend. “Flutters, have I ever told you how creepy it is when you do that?”

“Oh,” the yellow dragon pulled her claw away and looked at the ground, “I’m sorry.”

“Well,” the multi-hued dragon scratched at her crest, “I’ve said my piece, so I’m gonna go now. If you see a dull-looking dragon or a weird, purple, pet-looking thing, let them know that Rarity and Twilight are waiting for the dinner they were promised.”

“Dinner?” Applejack tilted her head. “What kind of dinner?”

Rainbow looked over at her. “I dunno. Rarity said this Gruble’s supposed to be some sort of super-chef, and that Syke’s not half-bad either.”

“Um, Rainbow,” said Fluttershy, “it’s Grumble and Spike.”

“No,” Rainbow shook her head, “Spike’s that purple thing that was with Twilight earlier. I’m talking about Rarity’s new-“

“Rainbow,”Fluttershy interrupted her, “it’s Spike.”

“Huh,” Rainbow looked confused, “so they have the same name?”

“Um,” Fluttershy pawed at the ground, “no.”

Rainbow scratched at her ears. “But, he’s not a dragon.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I know.”

“Wow.” Rainbow shrugged. “Well, ok.”

Applejack brought a claw to her chin and started scratching. “Just how good at cookin’ are they?”

Fluttershy brought her own claw to her chin. “That’s a good question.”

Rainbow thought about it for a moment. “Well, I don’t know all the details, but Rarity did mention he made some sort of vegetable dish the other day.”

Applejack scoffed. “Ain’t nothin’ special ‘bout that. Rares and Ah cook veggies all the time.”

Fluttershy lifted a claw. “So do I.”

“Sure ya do.” Rainbow laughed. “But, Rarity said that Twilight ate it without complaining.” Applejack and Fluttershy both let out surprised gasps. Rainbow smirked. “Not only that,” Rainbow lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, causing the other two dragons to close into a huddle, “but apparently, Twilight liked it so much, that she wanted more.”

Applejack’s eyes went wide. “No way.”

Fluttershy had a similar reaction. “Twilight liked vegetables?”

Rainbow nodded. “I know, hard to believe, right? But somehow, Spike managed to pull it off.”

“Say,” said Applejack.

“You don’t suppose,” said Fluttershy.

From the tree, Spike and Grumble could only watch as the three dragins in the huddle talked among themselves. They couldn’t make out their conversation, but they seemed very interested in whatever they were talking about. Every so often, Applejack or Fluttershy would glance towards the tree. This worried Grumble a lot more than it did Spike, who was used to dragons talking about him in hushed whispers.

After a few moments, Rainbow lifted her head from the huddle. “Oh, this is gonna be good.

Author's Note

First time using the notes, yay! Sorry for the wait, and the lack of promised artwork, but a hard drive failure ate three of the paintings.

Chapter title:

All the Clowns by Edguy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd0cxIZz19Y

P.S. I'm probably going to change Grumble's design a little bit.

Turn the Page

Spike and Grumble stood in front of the library door. They knew they had to go in, but neither of them wanted to be the first to open it. After Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had their little huddle, they left with no explanation, leaving Spike and Grumble to wonder what they had planned. The two could only come up with one place where the three dragins would have headed, and that was the library.

“So,” Grumble said slowly, “think they’re all in there?”

Spike nodded. “Rarity and Twilight, for sure. The other three? Most likely.”

“Pinkie’s in there too.” Grumble sighed. “And they know we’re coming.”

Spike looked over at the dragon next to him. “What makes you say that?”

Grumble pointed towards the library, towards one of the windows. A smiling pink face stared out at them. Pinkie waved at them. Spike and Grumble waved back. She disappeared from view. “Well,” said the pony, “that’s that, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it sure is.” Grumble sighed. “Whaddya say, boss? It’s your mission.”

“You’re right.” Spike sighed. “It’s my mission.” He walked towards the door. “I have to-

“BAM!!” The library door flung open, hitting Spike in the nose and knocking him back off his hooves. He clamped his hooves to his snout and rolled about in pain as Twilight bounded out the door on all fours.

She ran towards the downed pony and leapt at him. “Spike!” She landed on his chest, knocking the air out of him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She hopped up and down happily. Knocking out every breath the pony managed to take in. “It’s the best gift ever!” She threw her arms around his neck, giving him a deep hug. “Thank you, Spike.”

Spike coughed. “Gift? What? Is it her hatch-day?”

“Twilight, dear, why don’t you let Spike up?” Twilight looked up as Rarity exited the library and made her way towards the pony and hatchling. “He looks like he’s having trouble breathing.” Inside the library, four more dragons were trying to look outside without being obvious about it.

Twilight looked down at the pony beneath her. “Spike?” He coughed in response and the hatchling scrambled off of him. “I’m sorry Spike, are you ok?”

He slowly rolled over, coughing the entire time. “Yeah, I’m good.” Once he got back to his hooves, he dusted himself off. He offered Twilight a smile and a small chuckle. “Just be careful opening the door next time, alright?”

The hatchling nodded. “Ok.” She shuffled her feet a little. “I just wanted to thank you for the gift.” Spike noticed for the first time that Twilight was holding a piece of paper in her claws. “I really like it.”

Spike scratched his mane nervously. “Uh, that’s good. Heh, heh. I wasn’t sure if you’d like it.” He looked towards the library. Four dragons were watching the exchange from inside. “Hey, Twi? Why don’t you head in and play? I need to talk to Rarity for a moment, then Grumble and I will get started on dinner.”

“Yes!” The hatchling threw one of her claws in the air and brought it down in a fist. “For a while there, I thought Rarity was going to end up cooking.”

She didn’t notice the shadow fall over her as a white figure took up a position immediately behind her. “And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?” The hatchling turned around to see Rarity standing over her. Only the bottom of her chin was visible, leaving Twilight to imagine the look of anger on her face. “Twilight?” The hatchling cringed as Rarity started to move, hoping that the white dragin wouldn’t be too angry. Rarity looked down at the hatchling. She wasn’t angry, but it turned out the alternative wasn’t any better. She was pouting. “D-don’t you like the food I make?” Rarity’s eyes were wide and tearful, and she emphasized her question with a loud, exaggerated sniffle.

It was all Spike could do to keep from laughing as Twilight started stammering. “I, uh- But, you see- Um-“ The hatchling glanced towards the library, before looking back at Rarity. “I’m sorry, mom, Applejack’s watching.”

Twilight didn’t notice that Rarity’s breath caught in her throat, or that the expression on her face had changed from one of mock sadness to genuine sorrow. The dragin cleared her throat. “Yes, well, I must concede that his culinary ability’s do exceed my own,” she ignored Twilight’s eye roll, “but, remember, he did say Grumble was even better.” She offered a weak smile. “Now, why don’t you go get cleaned up.”

“Okay!” Twilight nodded once and gave a poor imitation of Spike’s poor imitation of the draconican military salute. Then she marched off towards the library.

Spike watched as Twilight walked past him. He doubted the hatchling even realized what she said, let alone the effect it had on Rarity. He walked over to the dragoness and put a hoof on her shoulder. “You ok?”

She stared after Twilight as the hatchling marched through the open library door and started talking with the four dragons inside. Before long, one of those dragons, yellow and pink in color, gently nudged the hatchling towards the washroom. Rarity drew in a breath and released it in a shaky sigh. “I never get used to it. Every time she calls me that, it reminds me that I’m not. It also reminds me-” She kept her eyes on Twilight until the hatchling was out of sight, then she looked over at Spike. “The first day she called me that was also the day-“ She put a claw to the side of her neck, eyes misting up at the memory. “Well, you know the story.” She looked at the ground and scoffed at herself. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”

“Probably because you think he can help.” Spike and Rarity looked over at Grumble. He held one claw up in front of him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to listen in. But, I’m willing to bet I’m right. I don’t know the full story, and I’m not going to ask, but I can see the way you treat that hatchling. You dote on her like she’s your own, but there’s something else. I’ve seen it before. My grandmother had a tea set that she used to use every day. One day, she broke one of the saucers. I glued it together for her.” Spike grimaced and Grumble shot him a glare. “With real glue. After it was fixed, you couldn’t tell it had ever been broken, but the way my grandmother treated it changed. She kept the set put away except for special occasions, and when she did take it out, she worried constantly about breaking another piece of it.” Grumble looked down and sighed. “That’s what I see between you and Twilight. Something broke, got fixed, and now you’re scared of breaking it again.”

Rarity tried to blink away the tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her claw. “Well, Grumble, it seems that you are far more observant than I gave you credit for. You are exactly right. Something broke, but it was not easily fixed.” She put her claw down and glanced towards the library. “In fact, it hasn’t been, not completely, and I don’t know if I can fix it.”

He wasn’t sure if he was just complimented or insulted. “Maybe you can’t.” Rarity looked back at Grumble with a retort on her lips, but Grumble spoke before she got a chance to use it. “Not alone.” She fell silent, casting a sidelong glance at the pony beside her. Grumble pointed at the library. “You’ve got four friends in there who seem to care about you and Twilight, but I’m going to guess you don’t tell them nearly as much as you should. You tell Spike because it’s safer, because he’s going to be gone in two weeks. You tell him things that you can’t bring yourself tell your friends.” Grumble shrugged. “Now, I haven’t got the faintest idea why we’re here, what our mission is, or even where I’m sleeping tonight, but maybe the Princess sent us here to help. Well,” he pointed at Spike, “sent him anyway. I doubt she knows I exist.”

Rarity chuckled in spite of herself. “That certainly is a comforting thought, but why would she do that? Surely she has better things to devote her military to.”

Grumble scratched at his chin. “I’m not high enough on the food chain to answer that, but sending Spike isn’t really ‘devoting her military’ to something.” The dragon looked at the pony appraisingly. “Come to think of it, she pretty much raised him, so it’s more like she sent her son on a personal errand.”

Rarity laughed a little more. “But then we’d have to call him Prince Spike, wouldn’t we?”

“Ooh.” Grumble rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hadn’t thought of that.” He smirked at Spike as he started walking towards the library. “I’ll go ahead and get started on dinner, you two can ponder the motives of royalty.”

Spike gave his friend a punch on the leg as walked by. “Who are you, and what have you done to Grumble?”

The dragon stopped walking and scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve just been thinkin’ about some stuff lately.”

Spike nodded sagely. “Sounds serious… and contagious.”

Grumble flicked one digit of his claw at Spike’s side, making the pony stumble sideways. “Then I caught it from you.”

“Maybe you caught it from Pinkie?” Spike laughed and punched Grumble’s leg harder.

“Keep trying,” Grumble rubbed at his leg, “that one actually stung a little.” He continued his walk towards the library. To his surprise, he had to try his best not to favor that leg just a little. He didn’t want to admit it, but that hit had done more than sting.

Spike’s laughter stopped. “Hey, Grumble.” The dragon stopped and looked back. “Thanks.”

Grumble started walking again. “Anytime.” Spike watched him enter the library and get immediately tackled by a blur of pink as three other dragons watched.

A sudden realization hit the pony and he turned to the dragoness beside him. “How is he going to fit in the kitchen?”

Rarity smiled. “He won’t.” Spike groaned and made a start to go after his friend. She put a claw on the pony’s shoulder to stop him. “Relax, Pinkie set up a temporary kitchen in the workshop, it’s big enough for him to work comfortably.”

Spike sighed in relief. “That’s good, I thought I was gonna get stuck with all the cooking. Not that I mind cooking, but I’m guessing your friends are staying, and cooking larger portions tend to get tedious when you’re as small as, well, we are.”

She looked at the claw she rested on his shoulder, but didn’t remove it. “I whole-heartedly agree. Pinkie tends to handle the cooking when we have a get-together.” She lifted her claw from his shoulder and set it back on the ground. “So, what was it you wanted to speak with me about? Just before Twilight went inside, you said there was something.”

Spike’s face held a look of confusion for just a second. “Oh, that. I was going to ask about the gift. Is it Twilight’s hatch-day or something? And I don’t remember giving her anything.”

“It’s not her hatch-day, not for a while yet. Trust me, in this town, you will know when it’s somedragon’s hatch-day” Rarity shook her head slowly. “It’s a little ridiculous, but she said it’s going to change life as we know it.” The dragoness laughed a little. “We, meaning, me and her. She found a piece of paper on the floor, said it was yours. She also said it was some sort of organizational system.”

“Oh.” Spike smiled as he realized what it was. “I must have dropped it the other day during the mess with the eggs.” He saw confusion flash across Rarity’s features and held up a preemptive hoof. “Don’t ask. Anyway, I was going to give it to her, so I guess it could be called a gift.”

“So,” prodded Rarity, “What is it? She’s been going on and on about it, but she still hasn’t told me what it is.”

“It’s a checklist. I thought it would be good for her to have a way to keep track of the books she’s read without leaving half of them on the floor.” Spike smiled. “Glad she liked it.”

Rarity laughed. “Liked is an understatement, darling.” She smirked at the look of confusion he gave her and started walking towards the library. “You’ll see what I mean soon enough.” Spike followed her in. Three dragons and a hatchling sat at the stone table in the center. Where they sat confirmed Spike’s guesses about the cushions surrounding the table. Twilight was sitting on her cushion and scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. Next to her, Rarity sat on her cushion and watched Twilight write. On the floor on the other side of the hatchling, there was a new cushion, one made of dark purple fabric edged with green trim. Rarity smiled and waved a claw towards it. “I found some fabric and stuffing laying around the shop, what do you think?”

Before Spike could answer, Twilight was standing in front of him, holding a piece of paper against his snout. “Look! I improved on the basic principle by adding hourly time slots!” The hatchling’s voice was full of excitement. “Now it’s effective for planning out future events, not just keeping track of past ones!”

Spike moved his head back and took hold of the checklist in his hooves. “Let’s see now.” He sat down on his cushion and inspected the list, making a big show of nodding every so often and saying things like “hm,” and “ah,” and “I see.” After a few moments, Spike lowered the checklist and looked at Twilight. “Quick question. You have a check box next to each time slot, one for each hour.” Twilight nodded with a smile on her face. “You allocated 14 timeslots for sleep.” Again she nodded. “Does that mean you’re going to wake up every hour to check the box?” Twilight’s smile disappeared.

She looked off to the side and put a claw to her chin. “It seems I may need to make some adjustments. I’ll be right back.” She got up and headed for the stairs to her room.

Spike watched her go. With a sigh, he turned towards Rarity. “There was something else I wanted to talk to you about.” He glanced over at Rainbow who was chatting with Fluttershy about something. “Earlier, Twilight saw somedragon use their ability, and she took notes on it. She also asked me for spell formulas and told me she knew a spell when we first met. Her cushion is also covered in scorch marks. This doesn’t fit with what you told me about her not using magic.”

“Yes it does.” Rarity ran a claw over Twilight’s cushion, letting it linger on one of the scorch marks. “Theoretical knowledge. I think she’s convinced that she has to understand everything about magic before she’ll ever try to use it.”

“That’s understandable.” Spike nodded. “But what about the scorch marks?”

Rarity shrugged. “She’s a fire-breather.”

“What?” Spike shook his head. “A magic-type fire-breather? That’s- Well, rare would be an understatement. Aside from Celestia, I don’t think there are any.”

“Look who’s talking.” Rarity chuckled. “You appear to do both well enough.”

Rainbow Dash slammed both claws on the table. “Hold up! You can breathe fire?! Prove it, now.” Spike rolled his eyes and shot an illusory puff of green flame at the multi-hued dragon, making her duck to avoid getting her fur singed. “Sweet!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Ah ain’t impressed.”

“Looks like you’ve been found out, Spike.” Rarity giggled.

Spike looked up at the orange dragon. “You can see through illusions?”

She adjusted her hat and gave a smug grin. “Sure can, Sugarcube.”

“What?!” Rainbow looked disappointed. “Aw, you mean that was fake? Not cool, not cool at all.” She crossed her claws and looked away. “Ok,” she muttered, “maybe just a little.”

“Spike!” The pony turned to see Twilight running down the stairs. “I’ve got it!” She ran towards him, at the last second, she turned and jumped, cannonballing into her cushion. “Look, I leave the timeslots as they are, but I don’t add the checkboxes until all the timeslots are filled. That way, I can have one checkbox for each activity, no matter how long it takes. What do you think?”

It was Rarity who answered. “I think you’ve got everything figured out.” She patted the top of the hatchling’s head. “I’ve got an idea, why don’t you help Spike and Grumble with the cooking? That way, you and Spike can keep discussing checklist improvements.”

“Ok!” Twilight hopped out of her cushion and grabbed Spike by the hoof. She started walking, trying to pull the pony along, but didn’t get anywhere until Spike got up and started walking along behind her. “Spike, what do you think about adding a second checklist as a backup? If you did that, it would keep you from missing things.”

Rarity smiled as she watched them go. “Twilight,” she called after them, “be a dear and send Pinkie out, would you?” If the hatchling heard the request, she didn’t give any indication of it, she just kept leading Spike to the workshop. She must have heard though, because seconds after they went through the door, Pinkie came out of it. She then walked over and sat at the table. Rarity cleared her throat. “Now that we’re all here-“ Pinkie’s claw shot up in the air and she started bouncing up and down on her cushion. Rarity sighed. “Yes, Pinkie?”

The pink dragon put her claw down and tilted her head to one side. “When you catch somedragon staring at you, and you ask them what’s wrong , and they say that they’re just thinking about something a friend said, what does that mean?”

“Uh,” Rarity glanced around the table to see if her other friends would answer, “I have no idea. Why don’t you try talking to that dragon about it a little more?”

“Ooh.” Pinkie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re good at this.”

The other four dragons stared at her for a moment before Applejack broke the silence. “Now that that’s out a’ the way, Ah hate ta be the one that brings this up, but Spike ain’t a dragon. Now, Ah ain’t tryin’ ta be mean, and Ah ain’t sayin’ nothin’ against him personally, but Ah never knew it was possible for… Well, for somedragon to not be some dragon.”

“Um,”Fluttershy raised her claw, “but earlier, you mentioned reading that article about him.”

The orange dragon tilted her hat back so she could scratch her forehead. “Honestly, Ah thought it was some sort a’ nonsense thing. Granny Smith told me that granpappy’s Commandin’ Officer made his pet boar a Tetrarch. I thought it was somethin’ like that, you know, a mascot or somethin’.”

“No way!” Rainbow shook her head. “A military mascot’s gotta be something cool, tough, and most of all, big! Something like a TorraTerra.”

“Ooh,” Fluttershy perked her head up, “speaking of tank, I finished smoothing the edge of his shell yesterday.”

“Sweet.” Rainbow nodded. “So where is he?”

Fluttershy put a claw to her chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. “Last I saw, he was heading for the north end of the no-hunting zone. He should reach the fallen fields in two or three days.”

“Cool.” Rainbow looked around the table. “Anydragon wanna go visit?”

Rarity thought about it for a moment. “That’s a good idea, it would give the four of you a chance to get to know Spike a little better.”

Rainbow waved a claw dismissively. “I think he’s cool. Twi likes him, you like him, and he pulls a mean prank. That’s good enough for me.”

Fluttershy nodded. “He and Twilight do seem to get along pretty well. And Grandpa has nothing but good things to say about him.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Rainbow, “you told me your grandfather was career military. So, he serves with Spike? What’d he have to say?”

“Um,” Fluttershy looked up and to the side, “he said that Spike is ‘tough for something so puny.’”

Rainbow laughed. “High praise, coming from him.” Rainbow looked over at Applejack. “Alright, AJ, that just leaves you. What do you think of Rarity giving her heart to a pony?”

“Rainbow!” Rarity turned beet red and looked back at the door to the workshop. “Not so loud! And why would you even say that?”

Rainbow put a claw to her chin. “Uh, maybe because of the way you’re acting, like, right now. You like him, it’s there for everydragon to see. I thought that was why you wanted us to meet him.” She put her claw down. “Ya know, now that I think about it, that really could have gone better.”

Applejack sighed. “All a’ ya’ll are missin’ the point. Ah hate to be the one tellin’ anydragon ta bust out the mithril-foil hats, but a high-rankin’ member of the military was sent here because a’ Twilight. Ah for one, would like ta know why.”

All eyes turned to Rarity, and she fidgeted under the stare of four much larger dragons. “I, um- I don’t know.” Applejack sighed. “Well, he doesn’t know either.”

Applejack leaned towards her friend, easily towering over the smaller dragon. “And ya trust him?” Before Rarity could answer, the orange dragon put up a claw to stop her. “Before ya answer that, Ah want ya ta think about it. Do you really trust him? This ain’t just about you, it’s about Twi as well, and I’m sure ya heard that grumble fella, he’ll be gone in two weeks. Are ya just gettin’ attached cause ya think it’s safe, or do ya really trust him?”

Rarity looked down. Slowly, her claw found its way to the side of her neck. “Eleven days.” Applejack tilted her head in confusion. “He’s leaving in eleven days. He’s already been here for three.” Rarity thought about everything that happened in those three days, everything she learned about him, and everything she’d revealed about herself. She looked up at Applejack. “I trust him.”

The orange dragon nodded and leaned back. “Then Ah’ll trust you. That just leaves Pinkie Pie, who’s been awfully quiet so far.” She looked over at the last member of the group. “Well, Sugarcube? You’re the town’s military liaison, what do you think about all this?”

“Can’t say.” The pink dragon looked towards the workshop. “How long do you think it’ll be before the food’s done? Cause I’m getting rumblies in my tumblies.”

“Pinkie,” Applejack said in a stern voice, “this is serious.”

“Ooh, don’t I know it!” The pink dragon lowered her head and squared her shoulders. “If you don’t eat at regular mealtimes, it can cause all sorts of problems!”

The orange dragon groaned. “Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout this whole deal with Spike.”

Pinkie lifted her head up. “Oh, why didn’t you say so? That’s super serious too.” She nodded, making her head look like it was part of a bobble doll rather than a dragon. “It’s so serious, that it’s all super-duper classified at the highest level. And I am talking THE highest level, the top dog, the big guns, numero uno, Princess Celestia herself!” Pinkie suddenly leaned back in her cushion. “Oh, yeah! Did you know that Spike is Princess Celestia’s adopted son? I think it’s ok to trust him.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s jaws hit the floor at approximately the same time. Fluttershy just nodded. “My grandfather mentioned it.”

Rarity nodded as well. “He did say that the Princess basically raised him.”

“Yeah, but it’s all official,” said Pinkie happily, “like legally, and all that. He’s even next in line for the throne.” A quartet of surprised gasps rang out from the other dragons at the table. Pinkie then lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “But that’s pretty meaningless, I mean, come on, the Princess has been the Princess for pretty much, like, ever. You wanna know what’s even more shocking?” She looked left and right as the four dragons around her all leaned forward to hear what surprising information she would reveal. As military liaison, she had access to classified materials, confidential documents, and a wide array of rumors and gossip that just wasn’t available to the average dragon. Whatever she was about to say, they didn’t want to miss it. “I heard this from the Dragartha Division Quartermaster,” the other dragons leaned in a little more, “he even gets her a card for mother’s day, complete with a crate of chocolates.”

Four dragons let their faces fall to the table. Rainbow Dash was the first to lift her head up. “I don’t know about you girls, but I’m gonna pretend that was something earth-shattering, like Typhon is his father or something.” She started chuckling, but quickly stopped when Pinkie brought a claw to her chin. “Oh, please tell me that’s not possible.”

“Well,” the pink dragon said slowly, “according to some military reports, Typhon may not actually exist. But before Spike, none of us knew ponies existed. Except Fluttershy, and she was horribly misinformed, unless Spike can use magic to hide his giant, blood-sucking fangs.”

Applejack just shook. “Now do ya’ll see what I’m talkin’ about? Everything about this brings up more questions.”

Pinkie nodded. “It sure does. If he did have giant fangs, and he hid them with magic, wouldn’t they still get in his way whenever he tried to eat?”

The orange dragon dragged her claws down her face. Then she took a deep breath. “He doesn’t have fangs,” she said in a slow, neutral tone, “Ah would a’ seen ’em. Now, don’t ya have any questions that relate to why those two are here, or what we should do about it?”

Pinkie thought about it for a moment. “Ooh!” Her eyes went wide. “I have a question, a very important one. The answer may very well dictate how I act towards this situation, and have a profound effect on my future and the future of others.”

Applejack smiled. “Now that’s what Ah’m talkin’ about. What’s the question?”

Pinkie looked her friend in the eye and asked her question. “Do you think Grumble’s single?”

“Um,” Fluttershy looked around before continuing, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but, um, I overheard them talking, and I think he is.”

“Really! Ooh, what do I do? What do I do?” The pink dragon bounced up and down on her cushion. “Do I make the first move? Or do I wait for him to do it?”

Fluttershy blushed. “Um, I think you need to let him know that you’re interested, but not directly of course. Then wait for him to make the first move.” She hid her face a little behind her crest and added, “at least, that’s what I’m going to do. One of these days.If I ever work up the nerve.Maybe.”

Rainbow started laughing and threw a claw around Fluttershy’s shoulder. “How many times have I told you, you’re never gonna get anywhere thinking, ‘I’m gonna do this,’ or, ‘I’m gonna do that.’ You just have buckle down and do it.” Fluttershy nodded meekly. Rainbow pointed at her yellow friend with her other claw. “Now, next time you see him, I want you to fly right up to that rugged, well-built gift to dragon-kind and kiss him.” Fluttershy’s normally yellow face started to take on a pinkish hue. “I know you can do it, and I know you want to, and before you say it’s too embarrassing, think about this; If you kiss him, and you’re embarrassed, you’ll start blushing, just like you are now. Guys love that! You’ll have him right where you want him.”

“Ah give up,” Applejack sighed, “Ah just give up.”

Rarity was just about to give her opinion of Rainbow’s plan when she heard the sound of a door opening and closing. She turned around to see Twilight walking towards the table. Actually, it was more of a shamble than a walk, the hatchling was shuffling her feet, dragging her tail, and appeared to have no energy whatsoever. When she reached the table, she collapsed face first into her cushion. “That’s the last time I help Spike with the cooking.” The hatchling’s voice was muffled by the cushion in front of her face. “We peeled potatoes.”

Rarity giggled, smirking at how easily Twilight could grow tired of something. “How dreadful,” she said in mock surprise, “then what?”

“Nothing.” The hatchling rolled onto her back. “We just kept peeling and peeling until there was nothing left.”

Rarity’s smirk faded. “I, um, I don’t know what to say, darling. Is that really all you did?”

Twilight lifted one claw in the air like she was holding something. With her other claw, she made a motion like she was dragging something over whatever she held. “Over,” she repeated the motion, “and over,”she repeated the motion again, “and over.” The hatchling let her claws drop to the side. “That vegetable peeler is going to haunt my dreams.”

All five adult dragons at the table shifted awkwardly in their cushions. “Well,” said Applejack, “Ah’d say this raises a slightly different set a’ questions.”

Before she could expound on those questions, there was a flash of light in the center of the table. Once the flash faded, a large bowl sat in the center of the table. It was filled with thin golden brown wafers of something. A door opened and two voices rang out in unison. “Food is served!” Six heads turned towards the workshop door. Spike walked out with four trays floating in the air around him, two small ones and two large ones. Shortly afterwards, Grumble came walking out with four large trays balanced on his back. All the trays were covered. The two walked towards the table. Spike set his trays on the table, small ones in front of Rarity, Twilight, and a large one went in front of Fluttershy and his own seat. Spike then used his magic to lift the trays off Grumble’s back. He set those down in front of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie. With a smirk, he set the last tray in front Pinkie as well.

Grumble leaned over to spike. “Um, that one was mine.”

Pinkie blinked, staring at the additional tray. This was her chance! “Oh, sorry, Grumble. Here you go!” She slid the tray over to the empty space right next to her.

“Uh, thanks.” He gave a nervous chuckle and leaned over to Spike. Through his smile he whispered, “you planned this, didn’t you?”

Spike smiled and whispered back, “you’re welcome.”

A green glow formed around Grumble. “Oh, don’t you da-“ The dragon didn’t get to finish his words before he was yanked into the air, moved to the other side of the table, and deposited in the cushion next to Pinkie.

The pink dragon promptly gave him a hug. “Thanks for making dinner, Grumble, it smells really good!” She then leaned towards Fluttershy. “Do you think that’s good enough?”

Grumble glanced back and forth between the two dragons. “Was what good enough for what?”

Pinkie gasped and shook her head quickly. “Nothing!” She leaned forward, bumping her nose against the lid of her tray, then she took a big sniff. “This smells really good,” she said hurriedly, “what is it?”

“Allow me.” Spike sat down on his cushion and pointed to the bowl in the center of the table. It was easily three times his size. “As an appetizer, we have potato chips. Dig in, we made plenty.”

Twilight groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

Rarity leaned over the hatchling towards Spike. “However did you manage to make so many in such a short time?”

He reached up and tapped his horn. “Magic helps.” He returned his attention to the table. “For Twilight,” he lifted the cover from her tray, revealing two toasted discs with a swirl pattern, an apple, and some cut up broccoli, “we have grilled cheese swirls. For Rarity,” he lifted her tray’s cover, revealing a mix of meat and vegetables in a dark brown sauce, “beef and broccoli.” Spike then continued around the table, starting to his left. “For Grumble and Pinke, he have grilled corn and manticore steaks.” He lifted the covers from their trays, revealing a pile of corn and a steak that weighed about as much as the pony did. “For Applejack and Rainbow Dash, ranch-flavored mini-burgers.” Two more tray covers lifted, each revealing five hamburgers loaded with vegetables. Each burger was the same size as the steaks Grumble and Pinkie had. “Fluttershy’s dish was a challenge, because we ran out of manticore.” He lifted the cover from her tray, revealing a plate of breaded, fried-

“Namazu river monster!” The yellow dragon clapped her claws together. “It’s my favorite! How’d you know?” She picked up a piece and popped it in her mouth, chewing delicately. Her eyes went wide as she swallowed. “It’s fresh. How? Did you get it nearby? I didn’t feel any tremors.”

Spike tapped his horn again. “Magic helps.”

Grumble rolled his eyes and muttered, “so does that permanent hunting license.”

Spike ignored him and kept talking. “I saw a picture on your wall of you holding one. I teleported out to the river and found the smallest one I could. I used magic to pull it out of the river and and keep it off the ground.”

Fluttershy nodded. “You must have done it quickly if you managed to avoid the tremors. Do you hunt often?”

“No.” The pony pointed at Grumble. “He told me the trick to catching them.”

“Oh, um,” Fluttershy looked over at the brown dragon, “are you the one who applied for a hunting license? Sorry, but I haven’t had a chance to look at the application yet.”

“That’s ok,” said Grumble,”I wasn’t expe-“

“I know,” Pinkie cut him off, “Why don’t you do it now? It’s just a few questions, right?”

“Pinkie,” The yellow dragon said in a warning tone, “not now.”

“But-“ Before Pinkie could continue, Fluttershy lifted a claw and pointed towards Twilight. The hatchling was sniffing at her grilled cheese, slightly unsure about its odd shape. “Oh, right,” Pinkie ducked her head and smiled sheepishly, “sorry.”

Rarity let out a sigh. “Thank you, Fluttershy.” She looked over at Spike with a smile. “That just leaves you. Care to explain why your plate is larger than you are?”

“Actually,” Spike scratched the back of his neck, “I’m full. I kept tasting everything to make sure it was coming out right.”

Rarity blinked at him. “Then why do you have the largest plate?”

The pony pushed the tray towards the center of the table. “I wanted to see if anydragon would comment on it. It’s actually something Pinkie provided for de-“ Spike was interrupted by a familiar smell, the smell of smoke. He turned to look towards the workshop. “Grumble did you turn everything off?”

Grumble followed the pony’s gaze. “Sure did, why?”

Spike got up and headed for the workshop. “It smells like something’s burning.” Behind him, all seven dragons started sniffing the air. Spike entered the workshop. Nothing seemed out of place, portable cooking equipment was arranged neatly and everything was off. The room was well ventilated, and unlike the rest of the library, the floors and walls were made of stone; even if something caught on fire, it wouldn’t spread. That confused Spike even more, he could still smell smoke. It wasn’t the smell of burning food, no this was the smell of fire, the smell of burning wood and ash. But where is it coming from?

“Boss!” Grumble’s voice jerked Spike out of his thoughts. “We’ve got a problem!” Spike ran back into the main room of the library. It was empty, but the door was open. Spike ran outside. He saw all seven of the dragons from the library and several others staring off into the distance. Spike followed their gazes. There was smoke flowing from the nearby mountain.

“Everydragon? May I have your attention please?” One dragon was not looking at the mountain. Instead, she was looking at the dragons that were looking at the mountain. She was a light tan, smaller than Grumble, but still quite a bit larger than either Spike or Rarity. Around her neck, she wore a ribbon much like the ones favored by nobles and members of government in Dragartha. “Excuse me? Everydragon? This is the mayor speaking!” Also, for a dragon, her voice was unnaturally quiet.

If she was the mayor, and she wasn’t worried, there was probably a reason. And being the mayor explained why her voice was so quiet. Spike walked over to her. “Excuse me? I don’t mean to pry, but do you take Laryngocrysts?”

She nodded. “M-hmm. I take them to soothe my throat after talking all day, but I think I got a bad batch.” She looked down at Spike and her eyes snapped wide open. “A really bad batch.” She closed her eyes and took three slow breaths. She opened her eyes slowly.” You’re still there. I wonder if I can get a refund.”

“Ma’am,” he saluted, “my name is Spike, I am a Centurion in the military, here on orders from Princess Celestia. I am going to dispel the magic of the laryngocrysts now, please resist the urge to clear your throat.” She nodded and he generated a magical field around her. He tuned it to what should have been the trace magic of the laryngocrysts. “Ma’am, please don’t answer right now, but how many of those things do you take in a day?” He slowly started to shift his magical field until it was a hundred-and-eighty degrees out of phase with the laryngocrysts.”You shouldn’t rely on those, ma’am. If your voice is sore after talking, there’s probably a problem with the way you talk. I would recommend singing lessons, and deep breathing exercises. Also, if possible, try to increase the humidity in your home or anywhere else you spend a lot of time, a few potted plants should do the trick.”

In theory, flipping the phase of two identical magical energies should cancel them both out, much like sound. But magic is additive, and reaching a perfect phasing creates a relatively harmless pure magic that the dragon body can easily absorb. There is, however, one side effect. “Hic!” The mayor stared at Spike for a moment. “Hic!” Then she turned back to the crowd. “Everydragon! Hic! I have, hic, an announcement! I, hic, Mayor Marble, have been under a great deal of stress lately. Hic! So, I’m going to take a short vacation.”

Spike stared at her, confused by what she was saying, but happy that her voice was back to normal. “Excuse me, Ma’am? Regarding the smoke coming from that mountain, do you-“

The mayor pointed her claw at Spike. “Shut up, you. I don’t need everydragon thinking I’m crazy.”

Spike shook his head. “Ma’am, why would they-“

“Excuse me?” She ignored Spike and addressed the crowd. “How many of you see something small and purple beside me?” Every dragon in the crowd raised a claw. The mayor nodded and closed her eyes. She turned towards Spike with a confident smile. “See? You’re-“ Her eyes flew open and she looked back at the crowd. “Real?”

Spike tapped her on the leg with his hoof. “Ma’am, do you have any information on the smoking mountain? This is important.”

“Uh, yes.” She took a moment to compose herself. She was about to clear her throat, but caught herself. “Everydragon, regarding the lonely mountain, somedragon bought it yesterday and will be moving in for their nap. They have already spoken to me about air quality concerns and it gives me great pleasure to announce that a filtration system will be installed in four day’s time. I trust everydragon can put up with a little smoke for that amount of time, right?” Instead of directly answering, the crowd just started to disperse. The mayor looked down at Spike. “I assume that answers your question? Hic!”

Spike saluted again. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” He turned and walked over to Grumble, leaving the mayor alone to question her sanity.

The brown dragon was watching the rest of the town go back about its business. “Everydragon seems satisfied with that explanation, what about you?”

Spike kept his eyes on the mountain in the distance. “What do you think?”

Grumble looked at the mountain. “Are you planning to investigate?”

Spike glanced over at Grumble. “Tell me that smoke is coming from somedragon snoring.”

Grumble shook his head. “Can’t do that, boss. It doesn’t smell right.”

Spike nodded. “If it’s a bandit’s signal fire, it’s a good one. I’m going to head up there. Grumble, have Pinkie call in reinforcements, but have her do it quietly.”

“You got it,” the dragon turned to head for the library, “you want anydragon specific?”

Spike put a hoof to his chin. “Yeah, Screwy and her team. This town doesn’t have much in terms of fortifications, so if anything happens, I want to have a good show of force ready.”

“Show of force?” Grumble laughed. "Since when did Screwy get demoted?”

“I know, it's probably overkill, but she’ll jump at the request if my name’s on it.” Spike turned and started walking back to the library alongside Grumble. “She’s after my job, after all.”

As Spike and Grumble approached the library, the door flew open and Pinkie jumped out. She stomped her claws and turned around in circles. “Whoo-hoo! Camping trip!” She plopped down and scratched at her chin. “I’ve gotta pack, make sure the Cakes know I’ll be gone, and make sure the mayor forwards all military correspondence to Thunderlane. Why is he called Thunderlane anyway? He can’t control lightning or create thunder.” She looked up and saw Grumble. “Hey! Grumble!” She hopped over to him, completely ignoring Spike. “Do you have any camping gear?”

The brown dragon blinked. “Uh, no. Why?”

“Hmm.” Pinkie chewed on her lip. Suddenly, she stomped one claw. “I know! You can borrow some of mine! It’s the least I can do after you made that wonderful meal. Oh, and I ate yours too.” She lowered her head and pawed at the ground. “Sorry.” She immediately lifted her head. “I know! You can come to Sugarcube corner and I can make something there! Come on!” She grabbed the brown drake by the tail and started hopping away.

“Uh, ok,” said Grumble as Pinkie dragged him along, “not quite sure what’s going on here, but, ok.”

As Spike watched his friend leave, Rarity walked out of the library. “So,” he said to her, “what was that all about?”

Rarity looked at the mountain in the distance. “It seems that Pinkie knows the dragon that bought the mountain, so the entire group’s going to go visit. It’s perfect timing really, because we were all going to go visit tank soon anyway.”

“Really?” Spike scratched at his mane. If Pinkie knows the dragon that bought the mountain, and they’re really just getting ready for their nap, that’s good, but there’s still the question of why the smoke doesn’t smell right. “I don’t like it, at least let me head up first, it could be dan-“

“Whoa nelly! Look at the time, Ah gotta git Applebloom home!” Applejack came running out the door. The ground shook under spike’s hooves as the large dragon ran by.

“I guess I’ll head out too.” Rainbow exited the library in a much slower manner. She looked up at the sky and yawned. “Maybe I’ll take a nap or something.” She shifted her wings as she searched the skies for a suitable cloud, releasing small sparks of static electricity. “See ya, Rares.” She took off quickly, creating a gust of wind that kicked up a cloud of dust and nearly knocked Spike and Rarity to the ground.

Fluttershy poked her head out the door. “Um, if nodragon minds, I’m gonna stay here a little longer, there are still a few potato chips left.”

Spike dusted himself off. “You know what? Nevermind, this’ll be fun.”

Author's Note

Chapter Title

Turn the Page - Blind Guardian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4XDeGreIJ4

Like all the others, there is a reason for this title. Starting next chapter, My Little Dragon is going to start moving forward in a big way. The Slice-of-Life tag will be replaced by the Adventure tag, and certain things will be explained while others become deeper mysteries. The day-to-day life and relationships of the dragons(and pony) of Dragonspire will still play a major role in the story, but I can't have both tags. Just wanted to let everyone know so you aren't surprised(by the changes, I want you to be surprised bythe story).

A Perfect Day

In a tree in a town, there lived ( at least temporarily) a pony. Not a nasty, dirty, wild tree, filled with families of birds and oozy sap, nor yet a dry, bare, dusty tree with no leaves on it to sit under and enjoy: it was a library tree, and that means comfort.

It had a not at all perfectly round door completely unlike a porthole, painted a color that wasn’t green, with a shiny yellow brass knob nowhere near the exact middle. The door opened onto a box-shaped room like a cave: a very comfortable cave without smoke, with wooden walls, and floors wooden and polished, provided with sewn cushions, and lots and lots of shelves for books and scrolls – the pony was fond of reading. The cavern went on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the center of the tree – The Tree, as all the dragons for many miles round called it – and many little(and not so little)doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. Lots of going upstairs for the pony: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries(not as many of these as you would expect), bookshelves(there were whole rooms devoted to books), kitchens(one of which was temporary), dining-rooms, all were on the three different floors, and indeed not on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left or right-hoof side(going in, as long as you stayed near the outside wall), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set possibly round windows looking over the town, and the meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.

This pony was a very well-to-do pony, and his name was Spike.

He woke up near dawn as was usual for him, having grown up in close proximity to the magic that raised the sun each morning gave him a good sense of when one should be awake. Unlike the day before, when the sunlight hit his face through a poorly curtained window, the pony found himself in a dark room. The nearby window was well and heavily curtained, preventing the faintest trace of sunlight from gaining entry. But Spike could feel the light, just outside, awaiting its chance to shine on those who were waking.

He stretched out on the bed. It was a lazy stretch, the stretch of one who feels no need to make a fuss at such an early time. The bed provided no motivation to exit, for it was quite comfortable. Rarity, its regular occupant, had gone to spend the night at home for the first time in a while, leaving Spike to care for the library and its contents. That included the luxurious bed on which he now rested.

The pony’s idle mind drifted towards thoughts of white and purple scales. Rarity was far different from any other dragin he had met before. Of course, the only ones he had ever met were members of the military, so he couldn’t be sure how much that observation meant. Still, she was by far the prettiest dragin he had ever met, and definitely one of the nicest. A soft sigh escaped his lips. “I like her. What should I do?” He wondered for a moment whether or not he should be worried – it was not usually a good sign when one began talking to themselves. But there was no one else to talk to at the moment, and even if there was, would it be a good idea to share his thoughts?

There were several dragons he would, and in fact did, trust with his life. Grumble was one of them, and he was nearby. He had been a good friend since the first day of military training, after figuring out that the pony wasn’t a wayward snack, but would he be the best dragon to talk to? Drakes tend to have a certain attitude towards friends who were romantically involved – a sort of unnecessary helpfulness. He could talk to Ice Heart. As infuriating as the old general could be sometimes, he- wait, no, telling Ice Heart would be a disaster. He could talk to one of the other Centurions. Discord usually has good insight into situations, despite his unusual outlook on life. Shining Scale mentioned having a romantic interest, he would probably have good advice too. Talking to Bluescale would probably be a mistake on the level of, well, the pony couldn’t think of anything, but something bad certainly. There was also Screwball, or Screwy as she liked to be called. Screwball was one of the few dragins Spike knew before coming to Dragonspire, so she should have a good perspective. But the last time he had seen her, she scolded him for being too emotional- he had asked if everyone was ok at the end of a week-long hike through the badlands.

There was one other dragon he could talk to, one he could talk to about anything. But could he really talk to the Princess about this? How would that end? How does it usually end when one discusses one’s love life with their mother? Spike couldn’t imagine it would go well. Rather, he could imagine it going too well.

Spike forced himself from the soft warmth of the bed. He wasn’t going to get anywhere thinking about who he should ask for advice. Besides, it doesn’t matter what anydragon else thinks about romance, if their advice doesn’t match up with what Rarity thinks on the subject, it’s useless. Not to mention, he still didn’t know exactly what being romantically involved, well, involved – there were very few books on dating in the royal library, and those were centuries out of date, as Grumble had pointed out. He stretched out before walking over to the window. He also didn’t know if Rarity would be receptive to advances from a pony. Or should that be the pony? And even if she would be, how could he find out? He knew almost nothing about his kind, so she would know even less. He didn’t even know what his lifespan was compared to a dragon’s, should he even risk becoming attached to someone who might outlive him? Or whom he might outlive? He pushed those unpleasant thoughts out of his head and opened the curtain, taking in the sunlight and preparing himself for the day ahead.

Rarity wasn’t the only the dragon he had to consider. As the sunlight filled the room, he could see the basket poking out at the foot of the bed. He had to think about Twilight as well. He had shown up, out of the blue, and inserted himself into their lives for reasons unknown, even to him. Anything he did would affect both of them. He had to wonder, did he even have the right to intrude on their lives any further than he already had? He shouldn’t even be here, at the library; he should be at a hotel, or the local barracks, or even on a cot at the mayor’s office.

He sighed as he started making the bed. It had only been four days, but for some reason, he felt at home here, as much as he had back in the capitol. This only confused him further. He didn’t feel like he was intruding, if anything, he felt like he was supposed to be here, but was that just him being selfish? Once the bed was made, he started heading downstairs, leaving Twilight to sleep in a little longer. He really should find somewhere else to stay, but he didn’t want to, and neither Twilight nor Rarity seemed to mind. But if he was going to stay, he was going to make himself useful. He could start by having breakfast ready by the time Rarity came over to get Twilight ready for the-

“CAMPING TRIP!!” The shout from the top of the stairs was quickly accompanied by a weight on the back of Spike’s neck. It wasn’t much weight, but since the pony was walking down a flight of stairs, it was just enough to knock him off balance. He tumbled down the stairs, bouncing off a wall before coming to rest on the floor of the library’s main room. He stood up quickly and turned around, expecting to see a certain hatchling at the top of the stairs tossing camping supplies down. “Ugh, Spike?” The voice came from just above and behind him. “Slow down.”

The pony looked back to see Twilight hanging on to the end of his mane. “Good morning to you too.” Spike used his magic to lift Twilight off his back and set her on the floor. “You need to be more careful. What would have happened if I landed on top of you? Or if somedragon had been coming up the stairs?”

Twilight tottered on her feet, apparently dizzy from tumbling down the stairs, but puffed out her chest and pointed to herself. “I’m tougher than I look.”

“Oh, good.” Spike patted her on the head. “Next time Grumble and I make dinner for everydragon, we’ll send you out after the river monster.”

The hatchling’s eyes went wide and she stared at Spike. After a moment or two, she started tapping her claws together. “Maybe not that tough.”

Spike laughed and laid down on the floor so he was at eye-level with the hatchling. “Ok. Then how about this,” the pony tapped a hoof against his chest, “I’ll take care of the monsters and cooking, and you,” he put his hoof on her shoulder, “can tell me what you want for breakfast. How’s that?”

“Yes!” Twilight hugged Spike by the neck. “Thank you, thank you! I want bacon, some of that sweet oatmeal you made, um, hashbrowns! Got to have hashbrowns! And, um,” she let go of Spike quickly, “good morning, Rarity.”

Spike was too busy trying to remember how much food was left in the kitchen to process the hatchling’s words. It was only when the dragoness said, “Good morning, Twilight, and you too, Spike,” that he got up and turned around. “Well?” Rarity looked back and forth between the pony and the hatchling. “Don’t I get a good morning hug?”

Spike nearly choked on his own breath. “Is she serious? Does she really want a-” He was just about to step forward when Twilight ran over to Rarity. The dragoness leaned down and the hatchling hopped up to hug her around the neck. “Right. That’s what she meant.” He made a mental note to not get his hopes up next time. “You’re just in time, I was about to start breakfast.”

Rarity smiled at him. “I had a feeling you would be, that’s why I’m here so early, to stop you.”

Twilight gasped. “Why?”

“Because, “ Rarity grabbed the hatchling with her tail and deposited the hatchling on Spike’s back, “Pinkie has a surprise waiting for us. Now, who’s ready to go camping?”

“Fer the last time! Ah don’t see ‘em!” The camping trip hadn’t even started, and Applejack was already starting to lose her patience with a certain pink dragon that was currently bouncing in circles around her claws. Rainbow and Fluttershy were both waiting patiently, one on a cloud high above, the other on a checkered blanket nearby. The orange dragon looked around for a way to distract the hyper bundle of scales from asking the same question every twelve seconds. She found it in the form of a brown dragon lazing about under a nearby tree. “Grumble, can’t ya stop her?”

“Huh?” Grumble opened one eye and looked up at the large orange dragon. “What makes you think I can do anything?”

“Eh,” Applejack glanced around, looking for a way to dodge the question. “Can’t ya just try?” The orange dragon swatted the pink one towards the tree.

Pinkie curled into a ball as she flew through the air. She bounced off the tree and rolled around the ground, coming to a stop near Grumble. “That was fun,” said the pink ball, “but it’s a good thing I gave Fluttershy the food, that would have smooshed everything!”

The brown dragon glanced over at the yellow dragon and the large basket next to her. “Speaking of Fluttershy, is she okay? She keeps looking around, and she seems nervous.”

“She’s looking for somedragon.” Pinkie unrolled from her ball, and found herself on her back. She tried to right herself, but her relatively flat shape worked against her. “Um, a little help, please?”

“I, uh-“ Grumble blushed and averted his gaze. “Only if you agree to stop bugging Applejack.”

“Aw,” Pinkie whined, but seemed to pay no mind to the fact that she was in a rather compromising position. “But Dashie’s asleep, that means AJ’s the only dragon tall enough to see them coming, unless you want to fly up and keep watch for them.”

Grumble glanced back quickly to see if Pinkie had righted herself, but she hadn’t and he looked away just as quickly. “If it’s that hard for you to just sit and wait, I’ll do it.”

“Yay! Thank you!” She reached her claws out to hug the brown drake, but she couldn’t reach him. “Um, could you flip me over first?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Moving quickly, Grumble stepped towards Pinkie and shoved his nose under her shoulder. He then lifted, giving the pink dragon enough of a boost to roll over onto her claws. ”There you go.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Pinkie hugged the brown drake and then hopped in a circle around him, reveling in her newly regained mobility. After one full lap, she stopped in front of Grumble and stared at him. He stared back. Each dragon blinked every so often. After a few moments, Pinkie leaned forward. “Well?”

“Well?” The drake’s thoughts were firmly centered on just how blue the pink dragon’s eyes were, not to mention how close. Pinkie reached out with a claw and flicked at Grumble’s wings, smiling the entire time. He looked back at his wings and gave them a little flap. “What? Is something wrong with my wings?”

The pink dragon let out a loud sigh. She then turned towards Applejack and took a deep breath. “Are they here yet?”

“One job, Grumble,” the orange dragon groaned, “you had one job.”

Dragonspire – it’s a quiet town, nothing out of the ordinary ever happens there; no adventures, no monsters, nothing, but all that changed a few days ago. Twilight stared up at slow moving clouds as she traveled through town on the back of one of those changes. Spike, it’s a perfectly fine, perfectly dragon name, but it’s terribly inconsistent, both literally and figuratively, with the creature it’s applied to. The soft pelt beneath the hatchling, threatening to lull her into a state of sleep with each hoofstep, was proof of literal. As for the figurative, the hatchling wasn’t one to appreciate the subtleties and complexities of social interactions, but he was funny, he seemed to get along with everydragon, and he could cook a lot better than Rarity. There was something else though, something Twilight couldn’t quite place. He was like Rarity, and like the others, her “aunts.”

She rolled over onto her side, staring at the green and purple fur hanging at the corner of her vision. His back was the perfect size for her to lay on comfortably. She usually rode on Rarity’s back, but Spike’s was much more comfortable. He couldn’t replace the dragoness in the hatchling’s eyes, but he wasn’t trying to. Rarity was walking beside him, and Twilight watched the two chat back and forth. It felt right, like everything was fitting together like it was supposed to. It was something out of a memory for the hatchling, a memory so old that she couldn’t place it at first, but when Rarity glanced back at her, a different face took its place for a moment. For a moment, white became light grey, and purple was mixed with stripes of white. That face turned to the one next to it, but it wasn’t Spike. It was another dragon, one with deep blue scales and a midnight blue crest.

Twilight buried her face into Spike’s mane, hiding the tears forming in her eyes. “Why? Why did I have to remember that?” Of all the things she wanted to forget, that was-

“We’re so sorry.” Those words hit Twilight like a shot. That was the last thing they said, the last thing they ever said to her. “We didn’t mean to wake you, were you enjoying your nap?” A claw descended onto the hatchling’s back. It was a soft touch, soft and warm. “We’ll keep it down.”

The hatchling didn’t look up, if she lifted her head, her tears would show. If she lifted her head, she would see those faces again, the faces of her parents. She simply nodded her head, keeping it buried against the green fur of Spike’s mane. She listened intently as the two started whispering back and forth, ignoring the words and just listening to the sound of their voices. Her parents were gone, but now, she had Rarity. And now, she also had Spike, and she didn’t want to see him go. Twilight sat up quickly. She couldn’t do anything about her parents falling to sleep, but she had a family now. All she had to do was make sure Spike would stay. But how?

The pony noticed the sudden shift in the weight on his back. “Twilight?” He looked back to see a pair of puffy, crying hatchling eyes. “Uh,” Spike stopped walking and blinked a few times, “are you ok?” Rarity didn’t notice the pony’s sudden stop and kept walking. The pony was instantly worried. “Why is she crying? Was it something I did? Something I said?”

The hatchling stared at Spike with a look of determination on her face. He was going to stay, and she knew exactly how she was going to make that happen. She pointed a claw straight at his face. “You said you liked somedragon. Who is it?”

“Eh?” A drop of sweat trickled down Spike’s forehead. “Y-you heard that? I thought you were asleep.”

“I heard it,” Twilight’s gaze didn’t waver, neither did her claw, “and I’m going to help you.”

“Huh?” The pony stared at the hatchling in confusion. “Help me how?” Spike winced. That wasn’t what he meant to say. “I mean, um, what are you talking about?”

“You said you liked somedragon, and I-“ Twilight’s gaze drifted downward as she started thinking. She wanted to make sure Spike stayed, but what, exactly, would accomplish that? She wanted something that would make him stay for a long time. Her eyes snapped up as she came up with an idea. At the same time, she shoved her claw towards Spike, pressing it against the end of the pony’s nose. “I’m gonna help you marry that dragon!” To Twilight’s young and sometimes over-analytical mind, it was the perfect plan; if he got married, he would have to settle down, and there’s no better place to settle down than Dragonspire.

“What?!” Spike’s face turned bright red and he turned away quickly. “Why are you saying things like that all of a sudden?”

“Things like what?” The pony jumped at the sound of Rarity’s voice behind him, and quickly spun to face the dragoness. “Is Twilight cooking up some sort of scheme?” She put a claw to her chin and hummed softly to herself. “Has she been hanging around my sister’s little friends?” She laughed a little to herself and looked off into the distance. “Of course she hasn’t,” Rarity sighed, recalling some past event, “the library’s still in one piece.”

Twilight hopped to her feet atop Spike’s back, before hopping up onto his head. She then jumped off his head, landing at Rarity’s feet. “I’m gonna help Spike get-“ The rest of the hatchling’s exclamation was cut off when Spike grabbed her and shoved a hoof into her mouth.

“Why aren’t we walking?” Spike chuckled nervously. “The longer we stand around talking, the longer it’ll take to get where we’re going. Let’s not keep everydragon waiting.”

The dragoness watched in confusion as the pony lifted the hatchling into the air and deposited her on his back. Rarity stepped in front of Spike just as he was about to trot off. “Help get what?” The pony backpedaled, and the dragoness advanced. “Spike? Twilight?” She tried to look at the hatchling, but every time she moved, Spike moved to block her view. “What’s going on, dears?”

Spike glanced left and right quickly, looking for a way out of the current situation, but it looked like he was trapped. The pony had to think quickly. He had an idea, but whether or not it would work was dependent on Twilight’s reaction. There were too many variables, but it was beginning to look like there was no other choice. He gulped loudly. “Twilight’s going to help me get, um, data! On… um, plants, with, uh-” Spike was starting to worry; Rarity didn’t look like she buying the excuse, and Twilight wasn’t reacting at all. The pony glanced back at the hatchling. He had to get her to react, but how? Then it hit him. He looked towards Rarity with a smile on his face. “Twilight’s going to help me get data on various plants with magical properties.”

“Yes!” Twilight nearly fell off Spike’s back in her enthusiasm. “Magical research!”

Rarity’s eyes went wide. “Oh my! I nearly forgot!” Rarity looked around, taking stock of the current location. “Spike,” she pointed an alabaster claw off towards the distance, ”please keep heading in that direction until you reach a fence with apple trees beyond it. There should be a creek nearby, follow it upstream until you reach a gate. Follow the path beyond the gate, everydragon should be waiting there. Tell them I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She quickly ran off towards town.

Spike breathed a sigh of relief as the dragoness disappeared from sight. But, his respite was short-lived, as the hatchling on his back quickly smacked him in the back of the head. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Why don’t you want Rarity to know that you like somedragon? She could have given us all sorts of advice to help- Whoa!“ She let out a short yelp as she was yanked into the air and gently set on the ground.

With a soft sigh, Spike folded his hooves beneath him, lowering himself so he could face the hatchling at eye level. “Twi? Why are you doing this?” Twilight tapped her claws together and looked away, remaining silent. “Twi, look at me.” The hatchling looked at Spike and the pony gave a small smile. “Thank you for trying to help, but I think this is something I need to figure out on my own. Do you think you can hold off for a little while?”

The hatchling looked at the ground as she thought about it. If he didn’t want help, then she would leave it alone, but that would make it impossible to keep track of things. She kicked at the ground. “Ok, I can hold back,” she looked up at Spike, “but you have to tell me who it is.”

“You’re right,” Spike sat up with a sigh, “I do have to tell you, you deserve that much at least.” He glanced towards town. “It’s Rarity.”

Author's Note

Ok, so this chapter was originally over 13k words unfinished, but I decided to split it up into four or five chapters. Special thanks to Cold Spike and Imaginary Valued for proofreading.

Chapter Title:

A Perfect Day by Freedom Call

La Isla Bonita

Rarity dipped the tip of her claw into the cool, running water of the river. It was perfect, it always was. The river was fed by springs close to the mountain. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of summer, or the middle of winter, it was always the same temperature. It was also perfectly clear, like liquid glass running along the rocky terrain. This was the widest part of the river, and if it wasn’t for the ever-present current, it would be possible to mistake it for a small lake. After a few seconds, a school of minnow surrounded her claw, investigating the shiny, purple intruder to their watery realm. Farther from the shore, large shadows danced under the water’s surface.

Behind the dragoness, Twilight bounced on her heels in anticipation, clutching her bundle and tin can in quivering claws. “Here?” She kept her voice at a whisper, not wanting to disturb anything.

The dragoness slowly lifted her claw from the water. With nothing to hold their attention, the minnow swam off in search of other entertainment. Rarity looked back at the hatchling with a smile on her face. “Here.”

Twilight set the items she carried down a short distance from the water’s edge, right next to the basket Rarity brought with her. Ignoring the tin, she set about unfolding the canvas bundle. There were two items inside, a long tube and small box. She opened the box first, inside were an assortment of globes and hooks in various colors. Tiny clips and chips of gemstones were organized in small canisters along the edges of the box. The hatchling picked out a bright green globe and held it up, examining it in the light. It almost looked like it was made of glass, clear and shiny, reflecting sunlight like that was its only purpose.

Rarity walked over to the hatchling and sat down next to her. “Are you sure that’s the best choice? It may not have enough contrast.”

Twilight glanced up at Rarity before returning her attention to the globe. “You’re right.” She put it back in the box and reached for a solid red globe, but stopped before picking it up. “Opaque colors are no good, they’ll see it and spook.” She examined the box’s contents carefully before picking out another globe. She held it up. It was a dull orange, made of the same material as the green globe, but not quite as glossy.

Rarity looked at it and nodded. “Excellent choice. As for the hook,” the dragoness reached into the box and removed a paper sleeve, “I ordered this after what happened last time.” She tilted the sleeve, dropping the item within into her outstretched claw. She lowered her claw so Twilight could see it, a large, red fish hook. It was polished to a shine and held no sign of ever being used. “A twelve-oh circle hook with a welded eyelet. Let’s see those river kings get away from us now.”

Twilight’s eyes held a gleam of determination as she studied the fish hook. “Not a chance.” The hatchling returned the globe and turned her attention to the cylinder. She picked it up and pulled on one of the ends which popped off with ease. She tilted the tube and three long, thin rods slid out, the pieces to a sturdy, little fishing pole. Twilight fit each piece together and locked them together with a twist of the wrist. She picked up the poles case and tilted it again. This time, she shook it until something else fell out, a small, barrel-type bait-casting reel loaded with a spool of thin, braided wire. She seated the reel and secured it in place with a single, well-practiced motion. She then ran the wire from the reel through the ferrules of the rod. She set the fishing pole down and took hold of the wire sticking out from its tip, then she pulled it over to the box and sat down.

Keeping hold of the wire with one claw, she dug around in the box until she found a pair of pliers under the various globes. The hatchling set those down next to her before reaching back into the box. She picked up a canister and gave it a little shake, putting it back when the rattle didn’t match what she wanted. She repeated this process for several more canisters until she finally found the one she wanted. She opened the canister and peered inside, confirming one last time that she had the right canister. It was filled with little metal crimp tubes, exactly what she was looking for. She set the canister down without closing it. Twilight then took one of the crimps and slid it onto the wire. Next, she picked up the orange globe she picked out earlier and located a small loop on its surface. She ran the wire through that loop. Holding the crimp in one claw, the hatchling grabbed the very end of the wire in the other and stretched her arms as wide as they would go. She shifted her grip on the crimp and repeated the motion twice, each time grabbing more and more wire. She then ran the excess wire through the crimp. She picked up the pliers and lifted them to the crimp. She hesitated though. The hatchling looked over her shoulder at Rarity. “Is that enough?”

The dragoness nodded. “It’s perfect, darling.”

With a smile, Twilight turned back to her work. She closed the pliers around the crimp, flattening it and securing the globe in place. She then took two more crimps out of the canister and slid them onto the end of the wire.

“Oh?” Rarity held out the hook so Twilight could take it. “What was that all about?”

Twilight took the hook and slid it onto the wire. “Backup,” she said confidently, ”take no chances, need no excuses.” She looped the rest of the wire through and secured the first crimp close to the hook. She used the length of the pliers as a guide and secured the second crimp farther up the wire. She put the pliers back in the box and looked up at Rarity. “This spreads out the stress so they can’t break at the same time.” She looked back at her fishing rig and noticed that there was some excess wire sticking out of the last crimp. She quickly leaned forward and bit it off. She then spit it out into the box.

Rarity winced. “You’ve been spending too much time with my father.”

Twilight shrugged. “He knows a lot about fishing.” She closed the canister of crimps and put them back in the box. Holding onto the hook, she got up and walked over to the tin can and gave it a good shake. The rattle of broken gemstones answered her. She popped the lid off the can and set it down. Rarity coughed and turned away as the hatchling reached into the tin can and retrieved a shiny, blue, wriggling glome-worm. She hooked it and put the lid back on the can. “Done!” Rarity looked back, but tried to avoid looking at the squirming blue mass at the end of the hook. Twilight set the hook down and lifted the fishing pole. She leaned back in preparation for a cast, but stumbled under the weight of a fishing pole that was much taller than she was. After catching her balance, the hatchling held the pole out towards Rarity. “You’re gonna have to do it.”

“Eww.” Rarity gingerly reached out and took the pole, still trying to avoid looking at the bait. Once it was in her claws, she hit a lever on the reel and gave the pole a smooth flick, casting the globe and bait into the center of the river. She immediately gave the pole back to Twilight. “You either need to get bigger, or you need to start using artificial bait.”

Twilight sat down with a huff. “But river kings just don’t bite on fake bait.”

“There are plenty of other things you could catch.” Rarity organized the box and packed it away before sitting next to the hatchling. “I don’t see why it always has to be river king.”

Twilight tapped her feet. “‘Cause it’s the only thing I can catch that’ll feed everydragon. I’m not big enough to hunt, or to fish for anything really big, but I can catch river kings at least.”

Rarity put a claw around the hatchling’s shoulders. “You know, you don’t have to feed everydragon. Look at me, I’m no good at hunting. I can’t even put one of those repulsive, little glome-worms on a hook.”

Twilight looked up at her. “But you can make things that can help everydragon like harnesses, packs, and armor. All I can do is keep track of books that nodragon wants to read.”

Rarity looked down at the hatchling. “Lots of dragons come to the library for books.”

“Yeah, for the same five books.” The hatchling pouted. “A few dragons just keep coming for the same book over and over, I may as well just give them the books. And I’m pretty sure Caramel only stops by so often ‘cause he lives next door and leads the dullest life anydragon can.”

Rarity giggled. “Now, now, Twilight, just because he’s not the most interesting dragon around, it doesn’t mean that-“

“Rarity,” the hatchling said evenly, “he writes Dragin Do fanfiction.”

The dragoness shrugged. “Everydragon needs a hobby.”

Twilight sighed. “He writes it for the Claw Flandrake version, not Garrison Cloud.”

“Oh my.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, that’s his business. I’m more interested in why you’re so worried about being useful all of a sudden. You’re a hatchling, it’s your job to not be useful. You’re supposed to play and have fun and get into trouble.” Rarity tilted her head to the side as she ran over her words a second time. “But not too much trouble.”

“But I feel like I should be doing something to help out.” Twilight looked up at the tip of the fishing pole, idly wondering if she should have picked a different color glome-worm. “You’re always taking care of me, and I don’t think you should have to.”

The dragoness let a soft sigh and pulled the hatchling closer to her. “I don’t have to, I want to. Why is this bothering you all of a sudden?”

Twilight looked down at the claw resting on her shoulder. “Rarity, what would you do without me? What would you be doing if you didn’t have to take care of me? ”

“Oh, who knows?” The dragoness put a claw to her chin. “I’d probably be off somewhere wallowing in pity, or self-doubt, or whatever it is that dragons are supposed to wallow in.” Rarity chuckled as Twilight rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you, and I don’t think I want to. Why? What do you think I would be doing?”

The hatchling sighed sadly. “Magnum called me his favorite grand-kid, so I guess you’d have your own family, a real one.”

Rarity grabbed the fishing pole out of the hatchling’s claws and set it on the ground. She then turned Twilight around by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Don’t say that, don’t you ever say that. You and I are family, as real as anything deemed by blood. I don’t need anything else to be happy.”

Twilight looked down at the claws on her shoulders. “But, don’t you ever want anything more than that?”

Rarity shook her head slowly. “I would be lying if I said I never thought about starting a family, but I already told you, I don’t need that to be happy.” She pulled the hatchling to her chest in a tight hug. “Nodragon could ever replace you. And if I ever let another into my life, they better be ok with that.” The dragoness chewed on her lip for a moment before continuing. “And, I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about that.” She let go of Twilight and took a deep breath. “I think I’ve found the one.”

Twilight looked up in shock, taking a step back as realizing for the first time that she had miscalculated. She knew that Rarity put her own needs after the hatchling’s, and that had always bothered her, but she had never expected her to already be attached to somedragon. How long? The hatchling sat down heavily. How long had Rarity kept this hidden? How long had she been denying her feelings and desires for the sake of a hatchling that isn’t even her own? And what about Spike? Twilight thought she would be able to get him and Rarity together, but if she already had somedragon, then he didn’t have a chance. He never had a chance. All Twilight wanted was for everydragon to be happy, but it looked like that wasn’t possible. Whatever happened, at least one heart would end up broken. She looked up at the dragoness with tear-filled eyes. “Rarity, I’m sorry. I was about to do something selfish.”

The dragoness stared in shock at the crying hatchling, wondering what she had done to make her so upset. “Twilight, what’s wrong? What are you talking about?”

“I should have known it was too perfect. It was like something out of a storybook, and I wanted it to be true, but things don’t work that way in real life.” The hatchling stood up and walked over to her guardian, leaning her head against the larger dragon’s chest and prompting another solemn embrace. “I’m happy for you, Rarity.” Twilight tried to rub the tears from her eyes, but when that didn’t work, she settled on closing them and letting the tears flow. “H-how long?”

“Not very long, I’m afraid.” The dragoness gently stroked her claw along the hatchling’s spines. “I should have told you about it earlier, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react. Not to mention the fact that it’s only been a few days, and I don’t know how he feels yet.”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. “A few days?” She pushed herself away from Rarity far enough to look up at her. “Who is it?”

“Well, dear, you see,” the dragoness scratched at the back of her neck, “it’s Spike.”

Author's Note

Special thanks again to Cold_Spike and Imaginary_Valued for proofreading.

Chapter Title

La Isla Bonita by Twilight Guardians

Contest Update! Edit - Contest over!

The Cadence of Her Last Breath

Spike and Grumble stared at the sign in front of them, carefully reading each line of text.

“In a land of magic, myths, and monsters, one must be ready at all times to face their fears and confront that which fate holds in store for them. The cycles of life that sustain us all cannot be escaped, and respect for the nature of those cycles will be observed at all times within this hunting area.

This area falls under the “protected zone: level two” classification under section 2, paragraph b of the Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Resource Regulations. For more information, please contact your local mayor’s office for the full, five-page copy of Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Resource Regulations. Important guidelines are as follows;

1 – No more than three dragons per hunting party, and only one dragon per hunting party is required to have a hunting license, and licenses may be obtained from any local mayor’s office. Hatchlings and juveniles are not counted towards this total, but the number of hatchlings is not allowed to exceed the number of adults. Hatchlings and Juveniles are not allowed to track or strike at prey unless under the full and constant supervision of an adult who can guarantee their safety at all times.

2 – For the preservation of this hunting area for future hunters, dragons exceeding size class three are not allowed. If this includes you, please contact the local mayor’s office for information on alternative hunting sites or information on exceptions. Also, abilities that could cause excess damage to the forest (for example: fire, acid, or soil manipulation) are to be used sparingly, if at all. A good guide is ask yourself if an ability would leave evidence of its use, if so, try to avoid it.

3 – Blades are allowed, but are not to exceed three times the length of the longest digit of the foreclaw. For a hunting party, the dragon with the longest digit will be used as the guide for the rest of the party.

4 – Trophy hunting is strictly prohibited in this area. Killing an animal for any reason other than food, population control, or self-defense will result in fines and possible loss of the hunter’s license.

5 – Be careful. This region is home to many dangerous creatures. Some are large and quite strong, others hunt in groups, there are also others that have magical powers or other attributes that make them quite dangerous. Contact the local mayor’s office for a full listing.

Life and death are a part of nature that cannot be escaped. By confronting that, we do not move away from nature, but closer to it. As dragons, we face nature on its terms and will either emerge victorious, or join the cycle. Hunt well, live well, die well.

Fluttershy, Guardian of the Forest”

Grumble let out a low whistle. “I guess that girl’s tougher than she looks.”

“Yeah.” Spike looked to the left and right of the sign. A blue rope-fence stretched out into the forest, marking what he assumed was the perimeter of the hunting area. “When she talked about going over the paperwork for your license, I thought she was an assistant to the mayor or something.”

“Now that we know better, let’s get going,” Grumble stepped over the fence carefully and looked back at Spike, “Unless you exceed size class 3.”

Spike sighed as he followed Grumble, easily walking under the rope with his head held high. “Funny.”

Grumble laughed as the two started walking into the depths of the hunting area, keeping an eye out for tracks or any other evidence of animal activity. “What about the blade thing? You don’t have claws, so if you went hunting on your own, would not be able to bring a knife?”

“I don’t really need one.” Spike kept an eye on his surroundings, looking for any sign of movement. “I don’t hunt all that often, and when I do, it’s usually for somedragon else and I just bring my catch out whole.” His ear twitched at the sound of a breaking twig off to the right and he spun his head to look in that direction. All he saw was a squirrel pulling acorns off a tree. “I wrote a letter to the regulations committee, asking about it, and they added a bit to the end of the blade rule stating that, if you don’t have claws, you can have a blade that does not exceed twice the length of your tail.” Grumble stopped walking, letting Spike get ahead of him. Spike looked back and noticed that Grumble was staring at his butt. “What?” Spike looked bent his neck to see, turning in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. “Is there something on me.”

“No, but dude,” Grumble shook his head and started walking again, “you’ve got a weird tail.”

Spike watched Grumble walk away for a moment before glancing back and flicking his tail. “Huh, I guess I do.” Spike ran after Grumble to catch up with him. “So, what are we gonna do?”

Grumble glanced over at Spike. “Sorry, boss, I think you’re stuck with it.”

It took Spike a moment to process the dragon’s statements, but once he did, he stopped walking and slapped a hoof to his face. “Not about my tail, about the hunting!”

Grumble stopped walking and turned to face the pony. “What do you mean?”

“How do dragons hunt?” Spike sat down and looked around. He then threw his hooves out, gesturing at the space around them. “Aren’t we supposed to be doing something right now?”

Grumble tilted his head to the side in confusion. “I’m not following. You’re probably the most successful hunter I know; you’ve never come back from a hunt empty, uh, hoofed? Hooved? Um, why are you asking me what to do?”

“Honestly, I don’t really know how to hunt.” Spike scratched the back of his neck. “I just sort of wander around aimlessly until something tries to eat me.”

Grumble stared at him for a moment before turning and walking away. “Cheater.”

“Hey wait,” Spike ran after him, “tell me what to do!”

“Hunt!” Grumble kept walking. “You’re supposed to search for prey, or for a place the prey may show up at.”

“Search?” Spike broke out into a smile. “I can do that.”

“Huh?” Grumble looked back again. Spike was standing still, eyes closed and horn glowing. After a few seconds, he nodded his head a few times, sending out a pulsing ring of magical energy out with each dip of his head. The rings faded away as they spread away from the pony. Grumble groaned. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you? You’re completely missing the point of-“

Spike’s eyes snapped open and he put his hoof up. “Shut up.” Grumble stopped for a moment, but quickly opened his mouth to speak again. “I said shut up.” Spike turned his head to look one way, then another. He kept looking back and forth. “Grumble?”

Something was wrong, the dragon could tell by the look in the pony’s eyes, he was getting ready for a fight. “Yeah, boss?” Grumble looked around, ready for an attack.

“Go find the others, make sure they’re safe.” Spike pointed back towards the campsite and a bit to the south. “There’s something in that direction that’s big, strong, and not a dragon.”

Grumble looked in the direction indicated. “The fishing hole!”

“I’m counting on you Grumble, don’t let me down.” Spike started heading towards the campsite, but a bit north.

“Wait,” Grumble started after him, “where are you going?”

Spike stopped and looked back. “There’s something even stronger here, and it’s headed for the campsite.” He turned back and broke into a run, leaving Grumble alone in the forest.

“Good luck, boss.” Grumble turned and started running towards the fishing hole, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary and ready to take flight as soon as the forest’s canopy allowed it.

Spike’s ear twitched at every noise, no matter how slight. The energy he had been following disappeared a few moments ago, but he should be close to whatever it was he was looking for. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary, and that worried the pony a lot more than anything else could have. Given his size, Spike should have the advantage of stealth over any other creature in the forest, but if the thing he was tracking was truly a wild beast, it should be massive. At least, that’s what the level of magical power indicated. But the magical power wasn’t like anything he had ever felt before, it was strong certainly, but the pony couldn’t quite tell how strong. The creature he sent Grumble after was just as strange, but he could feel a definite amount of energy evenly distributed through a defined body, in other words, he knew Grumble could handle it. This thing he was tracking was different, it’s power was odd, amorphous, flowing and trailing. It was more like dragon magic than a wild creature, but it was still different. The worst part was, Spike couldn’t tell which was stronger, his power, or the creature’s.

Spike stopped dead in his tracks as he heard another sound. This sound was different, and it was close. The pony controlled his breathing and snuck towards the sound. It was a series of groans and cracks, similar to the sounds made when you wake up on a cold day. With the sound came a slight surge of power, but it felt different, almost familiar. If anything, it reminded Spike of his own magic.

There was nothing for the pony to do but continue tracking. Up until the thing’s magical power disappeared, it had been travelling almost straight towards the campsite. He couldn’t let it get there. He realized just how important it was to stop the creature as he rounded a tree nearby. He found himself staring into a pair of bright green eyes. Green eyes on a purple-furred pony with a green mane, green tail, horn and a stack of books on either flank. He was staring at himself.

“No! Rarity, don’t!” Twilight backed away from the dragoness as she advanced.

“I’m sorry, dear, you brought this on yourself.” Rarity wrapped her tail around the hatchling and pulled her close. Rarity lifted a claw towards the younger dragon’s cheek. In this claw, she held a napkin. “Honestly, I don’t know how you manage to be such a messy eater.” Twilight groaned and gave an apathetic struggle as Rarity wiped traces of food from her face. “Maybe, one of these days, I’ll learn to stop packing peanut butter - brown sugar and peanut butter - fluff.”

“No!” Twilight squirmed as Rarity adjusted to scrub at a particularly stubborn patch of fluff on the hatchling’s cheek. “They’re good!”

The dragoness released her prisoner once the cleaning was completed. “If that’s true, then why do you insist on treating peanut butter as a fashion accessory?” Twilight didn’t answer, she just sat down near her fishing pole. Rarity giggled and sat down next her. “I shouldn’t tease you so much.”

Twilight glanced over. “Maybe I should tease you more?”

Rarity put a claw to her chest and gasped in mock surprise. “You wouldn’t dare!” Twilight fought back a smile as best she could, but Rarity noticed and put a claw around her shoulder. “I did give you plenty to tease me about when I told you I had a crush on Spike.”

“I won’t tease you about that,” Twilight looked down and tapped her claws together, “not ever.”

The dragoness sighed softly as she watched the hatchling pick up the fishing pole and give the line a few tugs. “Thank you, dear, but I have to ask, why?”

The tip of the fishing pole bobbed up and down as Twilight laughed. “I’m just glad it’s Spike.”

Rarity laughed softly as the hatchling leaned into her side. “You’ve taken quite a liking to him, haven’t you?”

Twilight looked up. “So have you.”

Rarity rubbed her claw against the top of the hatchling’s head. “I think that counts as teasing.”

The hatchling leaned in tighter against her guardian. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Rarity laughed, “I’m sure you didn’t mean it.” The hatchling didn’t answer, she just pressed up harder against Rarity’s side. It was starting to hurt. “Twilight?” The dragoness put her claws on the hatchling’s shoulders and pried her away. She was shivering. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”

“It’s cold.” The hatchling looked up with a sad look in her eyes and crossed her arms, rubbing them together with slow jerking movements. “Why is it so cold?”

Rarity let go of Twilight and grabbed the canvas they were using as a picnic blanket. She wrapped it around the hatchling like a shawl and placed the back of a claw against her forehead. After a few seconds, she removed her claw and bundled the hatchling up a little tighter. “Are you sick? Is there anything else wrong?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide and her claw shot out, pointing at something behind Rarity. “What is that?!”

The dragoness spun around, keeping herself between the hatchling and whatever she was pointing at. She looked around but didn’t see anything. “Twilight? What is it, I don’t see-“ She stopped as faint red glow appeared within the forest. Trees started creaking as the glow approached the river. A series of new noises joined the trees after a few moments, randomly alternating dull thuds and sharp cracks, like an ax hitting wood. Rarity unwrapped Twilight from the canvas, keeping an eye on the forest the entire time. “Stay behind me, but be ready to run.”

Twilight nodded silently and held her claws together as the sounds grew louder, coming closer. The red glow grew more defined as well, until a red ring of light drifted out from among the trees. As it moved, the trees to either side were inflicted with large gashes, as if some invisible claw were striking at them.

Rarity backed up as black mist started to swirl within the ring. She kept Twilight hidden behind her. “Don’t worry, darling,” she whispered, “I have the advantage in this terrain.” The mist formed into a solid disc of black. Yellow mist started swirling around the outside of the red ring, and beyond that, sickly, greenish-grey smoke started to swirl. “It’s nothing more than an overgrown chameleon.” Rarity’s words were meant to reassure herself just as much as they were meant to reassure Twilight.

The creature in front of them slowly materialized, and Rarity saw that it was anything but an overgrown chameleon. It stood as large as Applejack on six gangly, limbs. Each limb ended in a knife-like claw that left furrows in the dirt as it walked. At the end of the creature’s neck, its single yellow-and-red eye filled most of its head, the rest was an open mouth filled with needle like teeth. The creature’s tongue, the same sickly-grey shade as its skin and too large for its mouth, hung out and dripped with rancid spittle.

“It’s too big,” Twilight’s voice shook with fear as she grabbed the end of Rarity’s tail, “what are we going to do?”

“It’s ok, dear.” Rarity’s voice was strangely calm as she reached back and pulled her tail out of the hatchling’s grip. The dragoness immediately rushed forward, charging at the creature.

“NO!” Twilight could only watch as Rarity closed the distance between her and the monster.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re big!” The dragoness dodged as the creature swung its forelimbs at her, she then dove underneath the creature’s body. She lifted her claw up high, reaching towards the underside of the monster towering above her. “Cause then you can reach their belly!” With a yell fueled purely by adrenaline, she slammed her claw down to the ground. Nothing happened.

The dragoness had enough time to blink in surprise before the creature kicked her back in the direction she came from. She cried out in pain as she bounced along the rocky terrain, coming to a stop just short of the hatchling she was fighting to protect. Rarity looked up just as Twilight started moving towards her. Rarity threw her claw up in front of her, causing the hatchling to stop. The dragoness pulled herself up and immediately spun around. The earth moved with her, large chunks of the surrounding rock breaking free from their foundations and launching towards the creature. They fell to the ground harmlessly before even coming close to the creature.

Rarity backed away, fear coursing through her veins as the monster started moving forward. She did the only thing she could think to do. She brought both claws down to the ground with a loud yell, and a wall of stone lifted into place between them and the monster. She then ran towards the river, grabbing Twilight’s spines in her mouth as she ran. Holding tightly to the hatchling, Rarity waded out as far as she could while still holding Twilight above water. The dragoness started crying as she pulled the hatchling into a tight hug. “Twilight, whatever happens, I want you to close your eyes, and keep them shut. Promise me, please.”

“Why?” Twilight fought against the grip to look up at Rarity’s face. “What are you going to do?”

“Promise me.” Behind them, the creature battered away at the wall of stone. Rarity knew the weak sandstone defense wouldn’t hold long. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“No!” Twilight threw her claws over her ear-fins. “Don’t say that! That’s what they said! I don’t want you to say that!” The hatchling buried her face against Rarity’s chest and cried. “Please don’t leave me.”

There was a large crash as the creature broke through the sandstone barrier and started running towards them. Rarity leaned down and kissed Twilight on the top of the head. “I love you.”

Twilight looked up just as Rarity’s horns started to glow. “No,” she said weakly, “don’t do that. You’ll get hurt again.”

Rarity just smiled through the tears as she formed her magic around the hatchling and flung her across the river. The feedback was almost instantaneous as the dragoness’ power twisted back in on itself. It struck her like a bolt of lightning, knocking her back towards shore. She landed face down in the shallows with half her face above the water. She could feel the twisted energy dance across her skin, numbing her and threating to steal her consciousness, but she fought it. Twilight was safe, so all she had to do was make it into the river. She reached a claw out in front of her and started dragging herself towards deeper water. There was a chance she could survive the river monsters, and she had to take it. That was the only chance she had.

Across the river, Twilight could only watch as the beast caught up to Rarity and brought its claw down.

Author's Note

Chapter Title

The Cadence of Her Last Breath by Nightwish

Proofreaders fell asleep hours ago. Contest is over, no winners.

Breed From the Land Unknown

Rarity hung limp as she skipped across the rock and water of the shallows. She was too weak to fight back, and barely able to even move. She came to rest on her back amidst several large rocks. Why? With a grunt of pain, she rolled over and resumed her slow crawl towards the river. Last time she used magic on Twilight, she was out of commission for days afterward, so why could she still move? The monster ran after her and slashed at her again, sending her sprawling. Every nerve in her body screamed in agony as she tried, again and again, to crawl towards the relative safety of the deep.

Across the river, safe on the other shore, Twilight could only stare on in horror as her guardian and caretaker, the dragon who may as well be her mother, was mercilessly thrown about. Every time she tried to escape, the monster caught up with her. But Rarity didn’t stop; she refused to give up. As long as she could see the hatchling on the other side, she was going to fight through the pain and keep trying to escape. The creature slashed at her again, but instead of being tossed away, Rarity was pinned between the creature’s claw and a boulder.

Blood trickled from her mouth as the thing held her there. Probably reacting to the smell of blood, the creature let out a grating, terrible screech and dropped her. Rarity landed face down in the river. The water was deep enough to envelop her fully, but not deep enough to carry her away. Is this it? She held her breath, but she couldn’t move to bring her head out of the water. So close to escape, about to be eaten by some monster, and she was going to drown? Sharp pain shot through her tail, and she realized the creature had other plans for her.

She was violently pulled from the water by her tail. The creature had her in its mouth. It shook her back and forth before tossing her away from the river. As Rarity hit the ground, she knew this was it, the creature had gotten a taste of blood and she couldn’t fight back. Her vision blurred as it started moving towards her. She heard a loud crack and looked up, intent on facing her fate head on. The creature stood above her, staring and unmoving, yellow liquid dripping from its chin.

No. Rarity blinked, vision slowly clearing as the creature stood above her. The yellow liquid was dripping from the top of its head, now skewed the wrong way on its gangly neck. The creature swayed for a moment before collapsing to the side. Rarity could see the yellow liquid dripping from marks on the creature’s neck to its head, which was now twisted the wrong way. All the tension left the dragoness’ body and she slumped to the ground. It was dead. She survived. Rarity’s eyes drifted closed as her consciousness escaped her.

She was alive. She was still alive! Tears ran down Twilight’s face as she watched from across the river. Grumble stood near the creature’s body, breathing heavily as yellow blood dripped from his mouth and claws. He spit the blood out at the ground and wiped as much of it off his face as he could. Then he started looking around. Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he helping Rarity? Grumble grew more and more frantic in his search with every passing moment. Suddenly he stopped and ran back to the creature’s body. He rolled it over, exposing its belly and lifted his claw.

It was then that Twilight realized what he was doing. He was looking for her. “Grumble!” The hatchling waved her arms to get his attention as she shouted. “Over here!”

The drake’s head snapped up at the sound. He saw the hatchling almost immediately and started running towards the river. Just before he hit the water, he leapt over it, flapping his wings mid-jump to help himself make it to the other side. Twilight ran up to him the moment he landed.

Grumble lowered his head as she approached. “Are you ok?” Then he noticed something. “You’re bleeding.”

Twilight rubbed at the blood on her cheek, wincing at the pain. “It’s just a scrape. Is Rarity ok?”

“I don’t know. Get on, and I’ll bring you over.” Grumble pressed his head against the ground to make it easier for the hatchling to clamber up onto the end of his nose. “But listen to me, kid, she’s pretty beat up, so don’t touch her or try to move her.” Twilight nodded her understanding and he started running towards the river. “Hold on!” The hatchling grabbed the brown drake’s horn as he leapt across the river. Once across, Grumble lowered his head again, letting the hatchling jump off. “Remember, don’t-“ The sound of falling trees interrupted him. “Shoot!” He jumped between the two smaller dragons and whatever was approaching. Did Spike fail? Did the creature he was tracking defeat him? Grumble gulped loudly. If Spike was beaten, he didn’t stand a chance.

Twilight trembled as she stood next to Rarity. “It’s another one of those things, isn’t it?!” She crouched as close to her guardian as she could without touching her. “How many are there?!”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think this is the same thing.” Grumble glanced back at the hatchling and her injured keeper as the disturbance came closer. “We may have to risk moving her. Get ready.” The crashing of trees and broken limbs reached a peak and the brown drake prepared to grab the small dragons and retreat, but first he had to make sure whatever was coming towards him couldn’t take to the air after them. If it could, he would just have to fight it. Several trees came crashing into the clearing followed by a large creature, a large, orange creature wearing a hat. “Applejack?”

The large dragon looked at Grumble for a moment before looking back in the direction she came from. A wide path was torn through the forest, trees were uprooted and tossed aside, and smaller plants were smashed down from the dragon’s steps. “Found ‘em!”

“All of them?!” The voice was distant, but Grumble recognized it instantly as Pinkie’s. “Are you sure it’s all of them?” It was getting closer, she must have been following along.

“Ah, uh-“ Applejack looked back at the drake, then at the two behind him. “Spike ain’t here, and Rare’s hurt!” The orange dragon moved towards the injured dragoness, looking her over carefully. “Grumble, Ah need ya ta find Fluttershy, she and Rainbow are searching the huntin’ grounds from above.”

“You split up?!” The drake groaned. This wasn’t good, Spike was still after the other creature. “I’ll go get them. If it’s safe to move Rarity, return to camp and stay together, if not, stay here.” Grumble looked back at the ugly grey carcass nearby. “And if you can, bring that thing along with you.” Applejack nodded her understanding and Grumble took to the sky to search for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. As he flew over the forest, he saw the path the orange dragon had created. Trees were strewn about, left and right, and one solitary pink speck charged down the middle of it, towards the river, at top speed.

Grumble headed straight for the skies over the hunting grounds. He climbed as high as possible as he flew to make his search easier; The pink and multi-hued crests of the two dragins he was searching for would be easier to spot among the green of the forest than their light body and wing colors against the sky.

“Dude!” Grumble quickly looked up as he heard Rainbow’s voice above him. As high up as he was, she was still above him? Weren’t they searching for Spike?

“Hey!” He couldn’t see her against the blue of the sky, but he should have been able to at least make out Fluttershy. “Where are you?”

“Right here!” The sky-colored dragin turned a barrel roll, exposing the much brighter colors of her crest. She then flew down to Grumble’s level. “What are you doing here? Where’s Spike? Pinkie said something big’s going down.” She waved to a nearby cloud and a pair of aquamarine eyes blinked from within. Shortly afterwards, Fluttershy’s pink and yellow form emerged and flew over to the other two dragons. “I was about to set up a signal flare, you’re lucky I saw you. What’s going on?”

Grumble turned and started flying towards the fishing hole. “Rarity’s hurt. Applejack sent me to find Fluttershy.” Both dragins followed him without question. “She was attacked by some sort of monster.”

Fluttershy let out a sudden gasp. “What about Twilight?! They were together! Is she— “

“She’s ok,” Grumble said, “as far as I could tell, Rarity helped her escape across the river.”

Fluttershy gasped and brought her claws to her mouth. “Oh my.”

“That’s not good.” Rainbow pulled ahead and up into a wide loop.

“What is she— “ Grumble’s question was interrupted by something wrapping around his neck. He looked back to see what it was but saw only pink. “Fluttershy? What are you—“

“I’m sorry! I hope you’re not offended, but, um, well, you see, uh, we have to hurry, and, um,” she looked up with a blush planted firmly on her face, “just hold on.” She scrunched her eyes shut and gripped the drake even harder.

“What are you-“ Grumble grunted in pain as something slammed into his back. He also found himself rapidly accelerating. He suddenly understood what Fluttershy meant. The acceleration didn’t let up, they just kept going faster and faster. It quickly got to the point where he had to close his eyes against the onslaught of wind. “Rainbow?! What are you doing?!”

“We- we’ve gotta hurry!” The drake could barely hear her over the sound of rushing wind, but her voice sounded worried. “If she used magic to help Twilight, she’s gonna be in bad shape! Last time, something happened. I don’t know what it was, but I found the two of them laying out in an open field, and Rarity was nearly dead. She… She told me that the kid caused it somehow."

“Twilight?” Grumble would have blinked in surprise, but he couldn’t open his eyes. “How could-“

“We’re here!” Rainbow let go of the drake and dove towards the ground. Grumble was halfway there before he realized that he was no longer being pushed or held on to. “Fly, you idiot! If you get hurt, I’m not letting Fluttershy help you ‘til Rarity’s healed!”

He spread his wings and entered a glide, mumbling about how he didn’t need to be convinced not to hurt himself. “A little warning would have been nice!” When he landed, Fluttershy was already by Rarity’s side, with a worried Twilight beside her. Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash stood off to the side as Fluttershy tended to their injured friend. Grumble joined them and watched as the yellow dragon leaned down, carefully laying one long, fur-covered ear over the smaller dragoness.

After a few moments, Fluttershy lifted her head with a soft sigh. “There aren’t any life-threatening injuries, but I can’t treat the, um...” She glanced down at Twilight. “She needs time to recover, but it’s safe to move her. We should take them both back to camp.” The yellow dragon waved Applejack over and scooped Rarity up in her claws. She spread her wings and flew up to the larger dragon’s back, taking great care to make the trip as smooth as possible for her injured passenger. Taking her lead, Grumble walked over to the hatchling, who wasted no time climbing onto his head. He then flew up and landed on Applejack’s back. Rainbow followed suit, depositing Pinkie atop the orange dragon before returning to the ground to drag the ugly grey carcass back to camp.

Applejack let out a long, weary sigh and glanced back at the dragons she carried. “Pinkie, ya sure were right when ya said somethin’ big was goin’ down.” She started walking back towards camp, keeping her pace deliberately slow and even.

The pink dragon laid down and rested her chin on her claws. “Yeah,” she whispered to herself, “but I can’t tell if it’s over.” She looked over at Grumble, then shot up straight. “Spike! Where’s Spike?!”

“Ah’d like ta know that too.” Applejack glanced back at Rainbow. The colorful dragin was barely able to keep up while dragging the larger creature. “Not that Ah’m complainin’ or nothin’, but Ah thought the two a’ ya went huntin’. How’d ya manage to end up back here?”

The brown drake looked up at her and shrugged. “Spike sent me here. Somehow, he was able to sense that monster."

“Then why,” Rainbow grunted as she pulled the monster over a fallen tree, “wasn’t,” she let out another grunt as one of the creature’s limbs caught on the tree’s roots, “he with you?”

Grumbled sighed heavily. “Because there’s another monster.”

“What?!” Applejack stopped walking and turned to look at him. “Ya mean there’s two a’ those things?”

“No.” Grumble glanced down at Rarity and Twilight as Fluttershy cradled them both in her soft, feathered wings. “If there were, Spike would have come after this one. Whatever he’s going after is stronger, and headed for us, that’s why we’re sticking together.”

“What?!” Rainbow let go of the monster and turned to look up at the drake. “And you didn’t think this was important enough to mention earlier?” She gestured towards the thing she was dragging. “This thing’s bigger than I am! It’s almost as big as Applejack!” Applejack didn’t stop and Rainbow had to drag the beast along quickly in order to catch up. “What’s he thinking going after something bigger on his own? He’s gonna end up monster chow.”

“He’s stronger than he looks.” Fluttershy gasped in surprise as the white dragoness she held spoke. Rarity immediately burst into a fit of coughing. “Where’s Twilight?” Fluttershy set her down gently, but kept her wings around the smaller dragon to keep her from sliding off Applejack’s back. Rarity tried to stand up, but her legs were too weak to support her weight, so she gave up and just laid down. “Is Twilight ok?”

“I’m ok.” The hatchling poked her head through the yellow curtain of feathers surrounding the dragoness. Her jaw was set and she had her claws clenched into fists. “You’re the one who got hurt.” She walked up to Rarity, but didn’t touch her. Tears welled in her violet eyes and she did her best to hold them back. “I- I-“ Twilight closed her eyes, unable to face her injured guardian. “You shouldn’t have tried to protect me, you should have run away, you should have-”

The dragoness put a claw to the hatchling’s lips, silencing her guilt-laden muttering. “I did exactly what I should have done.” Twilight slowly opened her eyes, expecting to see pain on the older dragon’s face. She would have understood that; she would have even been able to understand it if the dragoness was angry or upset, but she didn’t see any of that. All she saw on Rarity’s face was a smile. “And I would do it again.” Twilight’s tears started flowing freely as she threw herself against the larger dragon’s chest. Rarity held on to her and let the hatchling cry. It was only a few moments before Twilight was fast asleep. “Don’t ask me why, but I would.” Rarity sat there, with the sleeping hatchling, looking up as a shadow crossed over them. A wide, rectangular cloth stretched out above them, secured between several treetops, making a shelter large enough for several dragons.

“Um, Rarity,” Fluttershy tapped the dragoness on the shoulder, “we’re back at camp. I’ll carry you down, if you’re feeling up to it.”

“Thank you, dear,” Rarity wrapped her claws around Twilight, holding her close, “that would be most appreciated.”

She couldn’t fly with the cloth overhead, so the yellow dragon scooped the two smaller dragons up in her claws and shuffled down Applejack’s tail. She set them down near a small campfire. Rarity immediately tried to stand up, and Fluttershy had to hold out a claw to steady her. “You really should rest.”

“I will.” Rarity tried to take a step but stumbled. She straightened up and tried again. Again, she stumbled. She laid down heavily and looked up at her yellow friend. “I’m worried.”

“I know.” Fluttershy walked over to a pile of supplies and dug out a pair of blankets. “We all are. But, Grumble’s keeping watch, and nothing’s going to get the better of us if we’re all together and waiting for it.” The yellow dragon draped one of the blankets over Twilight before offering the other one to Rarity. “Besides, you said Spike’s stronger than he looks. I doubt those scars of his are just for show. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

The white dragoness took the folded blanket with her claw. “Fluttershy, dear, I know you’re trying to cheer me up, but don’t lie to me. You’re the only one of the girls who knows, so tell me the truth. What do you really think?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know what to think. I thought I knew every type of creature that lived in this area, but I’ve never even heard of anything like that thing that attacked you.” She looked back towards the trail they had taken to camp, and the brightly colored dragon trying to drag a big, grey monster along it. “And it seems Rainbow Dash is having some trouble with it.”

Rarity sighed and started unfolding her blanket. “Why don’t you go help her? I’ll just stay here and do my best to relax, and not let my imagination get the better of me.”

Fluttershy started walking towards Rainbow dash, but quickly stopped and turned around. “If there is another monster out there, and it’s stronger than the thing that attacked and beat you, then it is something very powerful indeed. But think about it for a moment, Spike knew how strong it was and still went after it.” The yellow dragon turned around and hurried towards the struggling Rainbow Dash.

Rarity looked down at her blanket and dropped it to the ground. There was no way she was going to be able to relax until Spike came back. And not just out of worry for him. If he was searching for the other monster, there was a chance it could make it to the camp before he found it. “I just hope-“ Something caught her eye, off in the forest, a purple shape emerging from between the trees. She walked towards it with slow, stumbling steps. As it stepped out of the forest, she could see it clearly. “Spike!” He was facing away from them, but it was clearly him. She forced herself to go faster. “Spike! Over here!”

The other dragons in the camp looked over at the sound of the dragoness’ shouts. When they noticed the purple pony, they all sighed in relief and started to walk towards him. All but one. Applejack stared at the pony in horror. “Rares! Get back!”

“What?” The dragoness glanced back.

“Get back.” The orange dragon gulped loudly. “That ain’t Spike.”

Rarity stepped back as the pony started to turn around. As soon as its back was towards the forest, a purple blur shot forth and slammed into the pony. They went tumbling, and when they came to a stop, Spike was on his back, but he was also holding himself down. The Spike on top held the other Spike down with one hoof and slammed the other into his opponent’s face over and over. Green blood splattered the ground as the pinned Spike struggled to ward off the vicious blows from his counterpart. Rarity and the other dragons could only watch. They couldn’t tell which one was the real Spike, and the only one that could was too large to do anything without causing serious injury to both ponies.

The Spike that was pinned suddenly stopped trying to defend himself and tucked his head, pointing his horn towards the other Spike’s chest. A green blast of light erupted from his horn, sending the other Spike flying back. He hit the ground and rolled. He came to rest standing on his hooves and charged towards the other him. He dodged two more bursts of energy as he closed in on his opponent . When he was close enough to the other him, he slashed at him with his horn. The other Spike dodged, unleashing another burst of energy at the same time. A green glow enveloped the attacking Spike, and he staggered back, clutching at his head. His eyes shifted, going in and out of focus, their color, normally a vibrant emerald green changed to a paler shade. His expression faded, leaving his face with a blank, forward stare.

The other Spike started laughing as he walked forward, stopping right in front of the other, now still, Spike. He lifted a hoof and patted it against the side of the other Spike’s face, grinning the entire time. The unmoving Spike’s eyes drifted closed, then his head started to droop forward. Suddenly, he shook his head and snapped his eyes up to look at the other Spike. His eyes were back to their normal hue, and his blank expression was replaced by one of unbridled anger. Before the other Spike could react, he smacked the hoof away from his face and followed up with a hard right hook. The other Spike reeled from the hit, but immediately lit his horn for another attack. He spun to launch his spell, but the other Spike was faster. He lit his horn and flicked his head in one fluid movement, unleashing a shimmering ribbon of light that shot straight past the other Spike. For a moment, nothing happened. The two Spikes just sat there, staring at each other.

Then, the glow around the other Spike’s horn faded. A thin line of green appeared on his right side, stretching from his neck, down his shoulder, and all the way to the mark on his flank. He started coughing, green blood splattering the ground in front of him. He looked up, eyes focused on his double, and even as his vital fluids trickled from the corners of his mouth and from the wound on his side, he walked forward. With each staggered step, his breathing grew more and more labored.

The uninjured Spike just watched as his duplicate walked up to him. The injured Spike started coughing again, doubling over from the pain of his injuries. He straightened and spit in his double’s face before falling to the dirt at his hooves. A green glow spread over the injured Spike’s body and slowly faded.

The still standing Spike wiped the sanguine spittle from his face and turned around. He saw seven dragons, six staring at him in shock, and one wrapped in a blanket, fast asleep. He looked at the closest dragon, dirty, white scales standing out from the rest. “Rarity,” he took a step towards her, “are you ok?” The dragoness let out a loud gasp and stepped back. “Rarity?” He moved to take another step, but the look of fear on her face made him stop and pull his hoof back. “It... it’s me.”

“I- I-“ The dragoness slowly shook her head and took another step back.

“It’s me.” Spike brought his foreleg up to mouth and bit down. With a sharp grunt, he jerked his head, tearing away fur and skin, and leaving a bloody wound. He held up his leg. “See?” He gestured to the red liquid dripping from the injured limb. “It’s me. I- I-“ He sat down heavily as he realized something. “You don’t trust me. You can’t. You’ve never seen me bleed.” He held up his bleeding hoof, staring at it blankly before closing his eyes. “So this means nothing to you.”

He felt something on his shoulder and opened his eyes to see Rarity sitting in front of him. “It means a lot more than you think.” She smiled at him as Spike brought his uninjured hoof up to her cheek and brushed some of the dirt from her scales. “Besides, Applejack or Grumble would have stopped me if it wasn’t you.”

Spike tilted his head to the side. “Applejack?”

Rarity nodded. “She saw through the illusion and stopped me when your doppleganger came out of the forest earlier.”

Spike looked down at his injured leg, then at the large orange dragon. “Why didn’t you stop me?!”

“Well,” Applejack adjusted her hat nervously, “ya didn’t exactly gimme time ta, Sugarcube.”

“She’s right.” Rarity glanced at Spike’s leg. “You jumped to a rather drastic course of action rather quickly.”

“You were afraid of me, I didn’t want you to be. I-” He glanced around the clearing, at the dragons watching them, and the one sleeping. “Rarity, I need to talk to you,” he glanced around again, focusing on surroundings this time, “can we go over there?” He pointed to the pathway through the forest Applejack created earlier.

Rarity looked over, then looked back. “But what about your leg?”

Spike stood up. “It’ll be fine.” He turned and started for the fallen trees. After a few steps, he stopped, but didn’t look back. “Please? It’s important.” He didn’t wait for an answer, he just resumed his walk.

Rarity watched him walk all the way to the fallen trees and sit beside one. He was favoring his injured leg, but trying not to show it. She got up and followed him over, sitting next to him and looking out over the trail. The trail Applejack created led downhill, all the way to the river, the place that nearly tore her from this life and the friends she held dear. That river now reflected the golden light of the setting sun, a fitting metaphor, the dragoness supposed, but she would be here to see the sun rise in the morning. “What did you want to-“

“I’m sorry.” The sudden apology caught the dragoness off guard, and she looked over at the pony. He was staring at the ground by his hooves. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have-“

Rarity put a claw under his chin and lifted his face to the rapidly reddening sky. “It’s a beautiful sky, isn’t it?”

“Rarity,” Spike pulled his head away from her claw and looked away from her, “I-“

The dragoness grabbed his chin and pulled him face to face with her. “For good or bad, your scars are part of you.” Rarity moved her claw away from the pony’s chin and let it come to rest against the slash mark on his shoulder. “Life brings scars,” she rested her other claw against the side of her neck, “I know this as well as anydragon, but not all of them can be seen. Regret can be a scar as real as any other.” Rarity turned her head to face the sunset. “But I am right here, watching the sunset with you, and Twilight is asleep, safe under the watch of Grumble and the girls.” She looked back at Spike. “We’re safe. Are you trying to tell me you regret that?”

Spike wrapped his hooves around the claw on his shoulder. “No, Rarity, of course not, but if I-“

“If you what?” Rarity wrapped her free claw around Spike’s hooves. “If you had come after us? If you had slowed Grumble down? Even by a few seconds? But what if you didn’t slow him down? What if you had gotten there sooner, and beaten that monster that attacked us? What about that thing that disguised itself as you? What if I had run into that because you let it go to save us? What if I ran into that, and it was disguised as you, or even Twilight?” She slowly lowered her claws, pulling them away from Spike’s hooves. “It’s over, it’s done, and I won’t listen to any apologies you have to give. So, I hope you pulled me over here to talk about something else, otherwise, we can just sit here and watch the sunset.”

“Actually I-“ Spike looked over at her, the sunset reflecting off her scales gave her a pink tint. “No, you know what, it’s not that important right now.” She was safe, so was everydragon else, and he would use all of his strength to keep it that way. For now, he could relax and watch the sunset. He turned to face the last moments of daylight. After a few moments, he felt a weight push against his shoulder. Rarity was leaning up against him as the sun slipped below the horizon. Spike watched her as she watched the sky go from pink to purple. He put a hoof around her shoulder as purple started to give way to the dark blur of a moonlit night. “I’ll be sure to tell you someday.”

The dragoness looked up at the pony beside her. His fur was warm against her side, warmer than scales could ever hope to be, and softer than all but the finest of fabrics. “Tell me what?”

“Uh, well, you see, I-“ Spike looked down at the dragoness beside him. Her eyes shone brightly in the moonlight, and after a few seconds staring into them, Spike looked away. “I wanted to say that I, um,“ he glanced back at her, noticing the way her scales caught the moonlight, giving her a faint, ethereal glow, “that you, uh-“ Spike swallowed hard and straightened up. “I, um-“ He could do this, he had to do this. He slammed his eyes shut. Why was this so hard to say? He faced down so many monsters and dragons in the last two years that he lost count, but he couldn’t just say a few simple little words.

He knew why; he was afraid, afraid of the consequences. Every time he had ever fought, the consequences were simple; win and live, or lose and die. But now? What he was about to say would change things, one way or another, good or bad. But there was a third option, do nothing, and keep things as they are. But is that enough? Barring recent events, things now weren’t bad, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the thought of keeping silent didn’t sit well with Spike. How would it feel to sit back and watch, knowing that things could be different? If things go wrong, he might regret it, but it would be worse to regret having the chance and not taking it.

Rarity waited for the pony to open his eyes, for him to say whatever it was he was about to say. She held out hope that his words would mirror the ones she wanted to say, that he would express the feelings she couldn’t bring herself to. “Spike?” What was he going to say? Did he feel the same? Or was she just getting her hopes up for nothing? She overheard him talking about her once or twice before, but everything he said could be attributed to a passing attraction. At least, it could if he was a dragon. But he wasn’t, and she didn’t know if that made a difference. She decided that it didn’t make a difference to her, but it brought up the question of how different a pony and dragon could be. She wanted to know, she wanted to find out, but she didn’t want to push him. She turned to walk away. “You don’t have to tell me now, but please-.”

“No, I have to say this.” The dragoness stopped and looked back, waiting for either heartbreak or elation. “Rarity,” Spike opened his eyes, “I-“ His breath caught as he saw the back of the dragoness for the first time since the attack. “Y-your tail,” the words came out as barely more than a whisper, “what happened?”

The dragoness looked back at the torn flesh of her tail. She knew her tail was damaged, but she wasn’t prepared for what she saw. The creature’s teeth pierced right through her scales, and the weight of being thrown shredded any chance for recovery. “I can’t even feel it anymore.” It hurt earlier, but when the pain went away, she thought it was a good sign. Now, she realized it was the opposite. She tried to move her tail, to twitch it, to do anything that would tell her she would be able to keep her tail, but there was nothing, no movement, and no feeling. It barely even looked like her tail anymore, and if it wasn’t attached, she wouldn’t have been able to recognize it as such. The dragoness started to hyperventilate at the thought of losing her tail. “H-how am I supposed to-“ Her words trailed off as she realized how important her tail was to her, it was her replacement for magic around Twilight, and without it she wouldn’t be able to pick the hatchling up and carry her. “I won’t even be able to-“ Her words were interrupted by a pair of hooves wrapping around her.

Spike held on to the dragoness for a moment, waiting for her breathing to return to normal. “I know, you said you won’t listen to an apology, so I’ll give you a promise.” Spike moved back so he could look her in the eyes, but kept hold of her. “Next time, I’m coming after you first.”

Rarity put a claw on the hooves holding her. “I’ll hold you to that.” She looked down at his hooves, the bite on his leg had stopped bleeding, but it still served as a reminder. He was willing to go that far, to inflict pain on himself for her sake. She looked back up, letting her eyes meet his. “Spike? Will you- Will you take care of my tail?” The pony’s eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth to protest, but she put a claw to his lips to stop him. “Don’t. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I trust you. Please don’t say no.”

Spike stared at her, unable to understand the expression in her eyes. There was no anger, no fear, no blame, nothing that would be understandable in this situation. He felt responsible for her getting hurt in the first place, and she still trusted him? The longer he stared into those eyes, the more he realized, he couldn’t refuse. He didn’t have the right to say no. Spike closed his eyes, forcing out a single tear, and nodded. He opened his eyes and slowly leaned forward. Rarity’s eyes went wide as Spike nudged her claw away from his lips. “Rarity,” he tapped his horn against her forehead, and caught her as she fell limp against him, “I’m sorry, I know you won’t listen, but I truly am sorry.”

Author's Note

Chapter Title

Breed From the Land Unknown - Celesty

Not their best work(in my opinion, yours may differ), but the perfect title.

Sorry about the wait, but this chapter held several interesting challenges, especially the fight between Spike and "Spike". I ended up splitting the chapter in two so I could post this. Add home repairs, school finals, and my new job, and that explains why I take so long to update.

Special thanks to the proof-readers;

Cold-Spike
Imaginary Valued
Darian Stephens
Quantum Shift

Spectres

Applejack kicked at the gray lump in front of her. “So, just ta be sure, this thing’s dead, right? One hundred percent, sure as sunshine, dead?” For all the orange dragon’s hulking mass, she only stood slightly larger than the remains of the first creature. She looked over at the smaller, Spike-shaped creature. “And what about that one? Fer that matter, what are these things?” Nearby, Fluttershy checked the fake pony’s neck for any sign of a pulse. Until they were sure it was dead, they weren’t going to take any chances. “Hey, pony-boy, you got any idea what this big thing is?”

Spike sighed softly as he finished tying a rope around Rarity’s tail. “It’s nothing.” Five dragons watched in concern as Spike pulled a pot of boiling water from a nearby fire. From the water, he pulled a large cooking knife. He checked the tourniquet one last time, and made sure that the bandages were nearby and ready. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.” He brought the knife down in one quick motion, severing the damaged portion of her tail. The sleeping spell kept the dragoness from feeling anything, but that didn’t make Spike feel any better about what he just did. He quickly set about bandaging what was left of her tail, making sure that the bandages were tight enough to control any bleeding, but not too tight to interfere if the tail started to grow back. He could only hope it would, because his knowledge of medical magic was limited to basic first aid, and the creature’s teeth damaged her tail far beyond that.

“How can you say that?” Rainbow Dash stepped forward, tears streaming down her face. Spike didn’t look back until he was done securing the bandages and removing the tourniquet. “That thing nearly killed her.” The blue dragon’s voice was little more than a harsh whisper. Without warning, Rainbow’s claw shot forward, grabbing the pony and lifting him into the air. “YOU SAID YOU LOVED HER!” She held him directly in front of her face, claw shaking as she fought the urge to close her grip on the smaller creature. “How can you see her laying there like that, and call it nothing?! Don’t you feel anything?!”

Spike glared at her. There was no fear in his eyes, only anger and tears. “I JUST CUT OFF HER TAIL! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?!” He didn’t squirm against the dragon’s grasp, or make any attempt to escape, he just stared at her, unflinching, unmoving. “I said it was nothing, because that’s what it is.”

There was movement behind Rainbow as Applejack stepped forward and placed a claw on the smaller dragon’s back. “Calm down, Sugarcube.” Rainbow looked back and up, but didn’t release Spike. “We’re all upset, but she’s alive, and that’s what counts. Ah think ya oughtta let him explain himself.” Rainbow clenched her jaw as she looked back at the pony in her claw. “Put him down, Rainbow.”

The brightly colored dragon dropped Spike immediately and stepped back. “Y-you’re right.” Rainbow closed her eyes and sniffed loudly. “I- I’m sorry, I don’t what I was thinking. You didn’t do anything, and you had to fight off that other creature.” She walked over to the edge of camp and paced along the treeline. “I- I shouldn’t have done that.”

Spike turned back towards Rarity to gather up the medial supplies. The moment he took a step, he felt something warm and soft squish against the bottom of his hoof. He didn’t look down. He didn’t need to; he already knew what it was, that there was only one thing it could be. His gut twisted and he fought back the urge to heave. He ran for the edge of the campsite, but only made it halfway before his stomach caught up with him. With loud retching noises, the pony purged the contents of his stomach. The day’s lack of food left him with little to expel beyond bile, but he didn’t let that stop him. After getting his stomach back under control, Spike looked away from the ground in front of him and took several deep breaths to calm himself. “The original name for these creatures is unpronounceable, but it translates to ‘nothing.’” He walked over to Rarity and sat down near her. With a flick of his head, he used his magic to toss the severed portion of her tail into the fire. Then he took the medical kit and started treating his own injuries.

Fluttershy stepped away from the creature’s corpse and walked over towards Spike. With almost supernatural grace for her size, she took the medical supplies from Spike and gently nudged him to lay down next to Rarity. “As far as I can tell, the large creature is dead. There’s no pulse or autonomic responses, but I’ve never seen anything like this, and I don’t know what I’m dealing with.” She glanced back at Rainbow Dash as the colorful dragin stomped over to a nearby tree and swiped at it with a claw, tearing away half of its trunk in frustration. “Please don’t blame her,” she looked back at Spike, “her friends are important to her. Well, all of us are important to each other, but Rainbow Dash is a little different. She came to Dragonspire from a place called Casull when she was pretty young. I don’t know how old she was, but I think we’re about the same age. The first thing she did was pick fights with everydragon she could. She only stopped after she fought with Rarity.”

“Why?” Spike hissed in pain as Fluttershy tightened a bandage around his injured leg. “Why did she stop? And why was she attacking everydragon in the first place?”

The yellow dragon shook her head. “I don’t know. I only know that it ended after the two of them fought, and Rainbow apologized to everydragon and promised to make it up to them.” Fluttershy looked at Twilight to make sure she was still asleep and leaned closer to Spike. Then she spoke in a whisper, “do you know about Rarity and Twilight’s magic?”

Spike nodded. “For some reason, they’re incompatible. Rarity told me about it, and she showed me the scar.”

“She did?” The yellow dragon glanced at her sleeping friend. “She never shows that scar to anydragon. Applejack and Pinkie only know she has it, and Rainbow and I are the only ones who’ve seen it. Rainbow’s the one who found her.” Fluttershy dipped a cloth in the hot water and started wiping away the blood stains on Spike’s coat, keeping an eye out for additional injuries. “Since then, she’s been a bit overprotective of us, Rarity especially, and you’re taking a little bit of that away from her.” Once she was done with the cloth, she dug a bottle of alcohol and poured some over another cloth. “I think she just needs some time, you should probably talk to her later. In the meantime, I was wondering, how do you know about that creature?”

“I’ve read descriptions of these things in the royal archives.” Spike gasped in pain as the yellow dragon started disinfecting the various cuts he endured during his fight with his doppelganger, but gritted his teeth and continued his explanation. “In some of the surviving journals from the banishment, soldiers wrote of creatures in the employ of Jorgmungandr; fierce unnatural beasts, all gristle and sharp ends, untouchable by even the strongest magics. They existed, but they didn’t. If you ate one, you would go hungry, if you set it alight, not even ash would remain. They were known as ‘Nothing.’” Spike shook his head slowly. “Up until today, I thought they were merely legend, and that’s coming from a pony.”

Fluttershy finished disinfecting the wounds and moved on to bandaging them. “If those things exist, and they’re in the forest, then Dragonspire could be in danger. How did the soldiers fight them if magic didn’t work?”

Grumble looked down from his vantage point atop a nearby tree. “Hey,” he called down, “I took one out, remember? They can be killed just like anything.”

Spike sighed and looked up at Fluttershy. “Despite his lack of tact, Grumble’s right. Despite their size and magical properties, they are still just wild animals. But from the descriptions I’ve read, they go after magic-type dragons, who aren’t usually as big as earth-types, and don’t have the mobility of a flying-type. To combat this, the Pentarch squad structure was created. The Pentarch was allowed to pick five dragons for his squad, but the squad had to contain two of each dragon type. Magic-types and smaller dragons were also given specially designed weapons that operated on mechanical and chemical principals. Training with these weapons is still a military requirement, but their usefulness is rather limited.”

“Yeah,” called out Grumble again, “not to mention, they’re freakin’ loud as all get out!”

“Yes, thanks for that, Grumble.” Spike rubbed a hoof against his head. “Also, they can be difficult to use, depending on body type. I was barely able to operate one without the use of magic, but I was able to create a series of spells that mimicked them. According to what I read about these creatures, I assume there is a radius around them, in which, magic will not work. If this is true, then my spells would have been effective. But I could sense that creature by its magic, and I can’t sense anymore. Dragonspire should be safe, but I’m going to try a wide-range magical search from the top of the mountain to be safe. And, as a backup, I’ll also request that a supply of weapons and a qualified trainer is made available to-”

A large, dragon-sized, pink ball fell out of a nearby tree and bounced along until it came to rest against Applejack’s tail. “Done, and done!” Pinkie’s voice was muffled, but still audible. “I’ve got plenty of ‘em, and I’m totally certified with the military and DCA.” Pinkie unfolded slowly and found herself standing right side up. She immediately started hopping up and down with a smile on her face. “Yes! Ha-ha I got it right!” She stopped hopping just as quickly as she started, and turned to face Spike. “I’ll do whatever I can to protect my friends,” her smile was still there, but her voice held a serious tone that Spike didn’t expect from the pink dragon, “and make sure they can always smile.”

“Yeah,” Spike started laughing, “I like that.” Spike sighed. The situation hadn’t changed, but it felt different now that he wasn’t focused on what already happened. Pinkie wasn’t dwelling on the past, but looking at what needed to be done. Spike forced himself to his hooves. The only thing that was important right now was that they were all alive, and they were going to stay that way. “All right! Listen up, everydragon, I need your help. Rarity and Twilight need your help, and Dragonspire needs your help.” Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all lined up in front of him. Grumble remained at watch from the treetops. “Rainbow Dash, at first light, I need you to make your best time to Dragonspire and tell the mayor what’s going on. We can’t distribute the weapons until we get Pinkie back, so a warning will have to do.”

Rainbow scoffed. “I’ll just carry her. I can do it now, it’ll take about ten minutes.”

“Of course you can.” Spike shook his head. “I don’t think there are any more of these monsters , but if there are, they could go after the two of you. You won’t be able to land under any circumstances, and you have to be ready for one or more following you to town.”

“Got it! Ready, Pinks?” Rainbow moved away from the tent-like shelter, spread her wings, and started stretching. “I’m gonna go all out, so you better hold on.”

Pinkie gave the colorful dragon a salute. “Roger!”

“Huh?” Rainbow’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Who’s Roger?”

“Nevermind that.” The pink dragon ran towards Rainbow and jumped on her back, wrapping her claws around the larger dragon’s neck for stability. “Onward!”

“Gack!” Rainbow grabbed at the claws around her neck. “Pinkie! Choking me!”

“Oh!” Pinkie loosened her grip quickly. “Sorry.”

Rainbow coughed and cleared her throat. “No problem.” Rainbow cleared her throat again and started hopping in place, figuring out her passenger’s weight before taking off. After two hops, she stopped and looked back at the smaller dragon. “Pinkie, what have you been eating? You’re like, twenty percent heavier.”

“Um, well-“ The pink dragon blushed, and responded quietly, “Grumble’s cooking is really good.”

Rainbow blinked. “Grumble’s cooking? He’s been cooking for you?”

“Not like that!” Pinkie blushed even harder. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake are letting him stay in the spare room at Sugarcube Corner, and he’s been cooking in return.”

“Uh-huh.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You mean that spare room with the two couches, don’t you?” Pinkie looked away quickly, but didn’t answer. “The one you live in?” The pink dragon remained silent, effectively answering Rainbow’s question. The larger dragon sighed and spread her wings. “Hold on, I’m about to take off.” She leapt into the air and started flapping, with her large wingspan providing more than enough lift to keep the two airborne. Once she was above the treetops, she could see Grumble sitting at the top of a tall pine, keeping watch on the clearing below. He waved to Pinkie when he saw the two dragins. Rainbow snorted in annoyance and started heading towards Dragonspire. “That’s three of my friends in a week! What am I doing wrong?”

In the clearing, Spike started to sway on his hooves. “Ok, I think I’m going into adrenaline withdrawal.” His hind legs gave out, and his rump hit the ground with a dull thud. “Ow, ok,” he rubbed at his face, “in the morning, I’ll release the sleep spell on Rarity, and we’ll see if she’s up to traveling back. If not, we stay here until she is. Once everydragon’s back in town, I’ll head to the mountain and conduct a long-range sweep spell. With it, I should be able to detect any remaining creatures.”

“Speakin’ a’ which,” Applejack lifted the brim of her hat to scratch her forehead, “what’s that little critter s’posed ta be? Ah ain’t ever heard a’ nothin’ that can make itself look like somethin’ else.” She tilted her head to the side for a moment, looking off into space. “Unlessin’ ya count those chamelens mah brother bought fer Applebloom’s hatch-day a few years back. Durn critters’re still runnin’ wild ‘round the farmhouse.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Not to mention the fact that Grumble said it was stronger than the, um, Nothing.”

“In terms of magic, it was.” Spike looked over at his fallen duplicate. “Its magic reminded me of the monsters I fought in Tartarus, with a little of my own magic thrown in for good measure. But more than that, it wasn’t a monster, or a wild beast. It was an intelligent, thinking opponent.”

Applejack scratched her head again. “But, it’s dead, right? We don’t have ta worry none ‘bout it tryin’ ta replace ya in yer sleep?”

Spike looked up at her. “I thought you could see through its illusion?”

“Ah can, Ah mean, Ah could, but right there near the end, it did somethin’.” Applejack shrugged. “Don’t ask me what, but now, Ah can’t tell the two a’ ya apart.” She glanced back at the creature. “Ya know, aside from the bein’ dead, and the layer a’ crusty ol’ green goo it’s coatin’ its sides.”

“It sealed itself.” Spike looked down at his hooves. “After my last attack, I think it knew it was dying. After it spit in my face, it used the last of its strength to physically change its form.” Spike sighed sadly. “An act of pride; even if it dies, the transformation will remain, the last act of a fighter who refused to acknowledge defeat.” Spike rested his head on his hoof. “What was it? What did it want? Why didn’t it just try to communicate?” He let out a loud groan. “Now we’ll never know.”

“Um,” Fluttershy tapped her claws together, “what if it doesn’t die? Is transformation still permanent?”

“I have no idea.” Spike took a moment to run through some magical formulas in his head. He could use some illusionary spells, but transformative spells were hard for him. Changing things into something else was Discord’s area of expertise. Screwball was pretty good at that too. Like father, like daughter, Spike guessed, but she preferred claws-on solutions over magic. “I guess it would depend on whether or not it knew how to undo the spell. Why do you ask?”

“Um,” Fluttershy glanced back at the fallen creature, “because, I think it’s recovering.”

“What?” Spike got up, wincing as pain shot through his injured leg. He hobbled over to his doppelganger. “Are you sure?” He leaned down, placing his ear to the creature’s chest. It was still breathing! The fake pony’s shallow, rattling breaths were barely audible, but it was undeniably alive. “Get the medical kit!” Spike scanned the creature with his magic, trying to determine the extent of its injuries and how to treat them.

Fluttershy brought the medical kit over to Spike and set it down next to him. She opened it up and checked the contents. “What should I do? I don’t know its basic morphology, so I don’t even know where to begin.” The pony didn’t answer. Fluttershy looked over at him. It was a little odd to see him standing over his own body, but what caught the yellow dragon’s eye was his expression. He was squinting at the creature, both eyebrows pulled together and lips slowly moving as he mouthed silent words. “Um, Spike? Is something wrong?”

“What the- How is this even possible?” Every second he spent scanning the creature only added to his confusion. Its internal structure was almost exactly the same as his, one heart, one stomach, two lungs, and pretty much everything else in its proper place. It was missing the Lacobus, a magic-sensing organ found in magic-type dragons. Spike had one too, so he assumed it was common to anything that used magic, but this thing didn’t have one. It also seemed that this creature was actually female, but Spike was more worried about the creature’s heart and lungs at the moment. The pony’s last attack cut through the heart and right lung, leaving both organs in two pieces, but they were repairing themselves, each half joining with its match to become whole again. The cut was clean, and the organs stayed in place, but this level of healing shouldn’t have been possible. As Spike watched through his magic, the heart finished sealing itself together and started beating. Somehow, this thing not only survived without its heart, but was able to recover. Spike looked over at Fluttershy. The yellow dragon was waiting with the medical kit, ready for instructions. “Put it away,” Spike looked back at his double and shook his head, “anything we do would just interfere.”

“Whatdya mean?” Applejack leaned down, trying to get a good look at the creature around the pony and smaller dragon. “Ya ain’t gonna help it? What’s goin’ on?”

“It’s recovering on its own.” Spike got up and walked over to a fallen tree. Using the same spell he used against the creature, he cut off a piece of the trunk. He used the spell three more times to cut a pair of planks from the center of the log. Both planks were a bit longer than he was and about as wide as he was tall. He walked back towards the creature with both planks in tow. “We can use these as stretchers. I’m heading for the mountain in the morning, and I’m not letting this thing out of my sight. When Rainbow Dash gets back, have her take Rarity and Twilight back to town. The sleeping spell will wear off in four or five days, but I’ll be back long before that, and I’ll undo the spell.”

Applejack looked over where the white dragoness and purple hatchling lay sleeping. “Ah think we should wait ‘til mornin’ and ask her.” She looked back at Spike. “Aside from mah brother and Rainbow, me and Shy here are the two strongest dragons in Dragonspire. Not to mention, ya ain’t exactly a pushover yerself. We can keep’em safe.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I agree.” The yellow dragon quickly blushed and looked down at her claws. “But,” she said softly, “I’m not really that strong. I’m sure there are plenty of stronger dragons in town.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ignore her, she’s just too modest for her own good. I bet she could lick me in a scrap without givin’ half a crack at it.”

Spike stared up at the orange dragon and tilted his head to the side. “What?”

Applejack nodded. “Hard ta believe, Ah know, but it’s true.”

Spike shook his head. “Not what I meant, but I’ll take your word for it.” He sighed and looked around the campsite. “Ok, we’ll wait for morning, but I want two pairs of eyes on that thing at all times.” Spike looked up towards the treetops. “Grumble?!”

“Over here, boss!” The brown drake waved from a tree in the opposite direction from where the pony was looking.

Spike looked over, scanning the trees until he saw his friend. “You up for keeping watch?”

“Sure.” The drake climbed down the tree, stopping about halfway and perching on a sturdy branch. “You need rest, so I’ll stay up. That way, Applejack and Fluttershy can take shifts, and you can recover.”

“Thanks, Grumble.” Spike looked at the two dragins near him. “Is that ok with you two?”

Applejack tilted her hat back. “Sure thing, Sugarcube.”

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded slightly. Then, she glanced over at Applejack. “Do you want the first shift, or should I take it?”

“Ah’ll take it.” Applejack stretched her neck and laid down, looming over the recovering creature. “If this thing so much as twitches, Ah’ll give a holler.”

“Thanks, AJ.” Spike looked over at Fluttershy. “Before you go to sleep, are there any more cloths? Maybe a towel, or something?”

“Um,” The yellow dragon scratched the back of her neck as she ran through a mental list of supplies. “Rarity usually keeps a bath set for Twilight, in case she gets messy. There should be a towel, soap, and a few other things.” She walked over to the camping supplies and started looking around. “I think it’s in a blue bag.” After a little digging, she found the bag and held it out to Spike. “Here it is.”

“Thank you.” The pony walked over and took the bag in his mouth. When he did, he noticed that the yellow dragon was looking up at the sky. “Fut is it?” Spike looked up. “Foo you fee fumfthin?” Then he noticed a rapidly approaching light blue shape. “Vhoa, fat vus fast.” Rainbow landed nearby and walked towards the campsite, rather than try to land near or under the tent. Around her neck, there was a package tied with ropes. “Vut did uh mayor fay?”

Rainbow snickered at the pony. “Dude, didn’t the princess ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?” Spike raised an eyebrow at the brightly colored dragon. Then, he turned around and walked over to Rarity. He set down the bag and levitated the pot of water over to him. Rainbow rolled her eyes, walked over, and sat next to him. “Fine, excuse me for having a sense of humor.” She pulled the package free from her neck and tossed it over with the supplies. Fluttershy and Applejack exchanged glances, but remained silent as Rainbow sat awkwardly next to Spike. The colorful dragon glanced around the campsite as the pony opened the bag and dug out a towel. After a few moments, she started tapping her claws. “Look, I’m sorry, ok? I didn’t mean to insult the princess back there.”

“What do you mean?” Spike’s tone was quiet and even as he dipped the towel in the pot of water and started to wring it out. To Rainbow, his voice sounded sad, and more than a little tired. “She never taught me not to speak with my mouth full, and even if she did, you wouldn’t know.” He lifted the towel to the side of Rarity’s neck and started scrubbing.

Rainbow let out a surprised gasp when she realized what he was doing. “How did you know? Did she tell you?”

“Yes.” Spike sighed as white paint started to wipe off her scales. “The other day, she showed me the scar, and told me what happened. From what Grumble told me, something similar happened today. I figured it would be best to make sure there wasn’t too much additional damage.”

Rainbow watched as Spike wiped away the last traces of paint and dried off any left-over water. “You care about her, don’t you?”

Spike glanced up from his work for the first time. “So do you. Is that why you dislike me?”

“It’s not like that, dude.” Rainbow rubbed at her face with a claw. “I don’t dislike you. It’s more, like… I don’t know you enough to trust you. But, she trusts you, so I’m trying to let that be enough for me too.”

Spike wrung out the cloth over the pot. “I’m guessing it’s not.”

The colorful dragon shook her head. “Nowhere near it.” She watched as Spike held the towel stretched out over one of the nearby fires, drying it out. “You getting upset about my tasteless joke actually did more for your case than Rarity could.”

Once the towel was dry, Spike folded it up and put it back in the bag. “I’ll just pretend I understand what you meant by that.”

Rainbow grabbed the bag from Spike and tossed it towards the other supplies. She then dropped her head to the ground, flipping the pony onto the end of her snout, then tossing him onto her back. “Hold on.” She ran out from under the tent and took off, flying straight up. The three dragons keeping watch saw them go, but didn’t follow. Spike adjusted his breathing to try to adapt to the sudden change in altitude, but still ended up feeling a little light-headed. After a few seconds of vertical climb, Rainbow straightened out and landed on a nearby cloud. Spike immediately hopped off her back. He barely managed to hang on to her crest by his teeth, since he didn’t have claws, and he didn’t want to risk her flying off again. Once he was safely on the cloud, he turned around to face her. Before he could demand an explanation though, she flopped over onto her back, staring up at the night sky. “The moon looks beautiful from up here, doesn’t it?”

“Huh?” Spike glanced up at the shining lunar body, wondering if the dragon was going somewhere with this. “I guess so.” Then, the pony looked down. The clouds around them caught the moonlight, glowing pale blue against the dark sky. It was so different from seeing the clouds from below, or during the day. Spike looked down at the cloud he stood on. It glowed in moonlight just like the others. He scooped up a little bit of the cloud in his hoof, watching as the twisting tendrils of water vapor wrapped around his hoof before fading into nothing.

“On nights like this, I can’t help but think.” Rainbow stretched out a claw towards the moon, as if she wanted to touch it. “We have a princess of the sun, so why isn’t there one for the moon? If anything, the moon is more deserving of one. It’s beautiful, but not as harsh as the sun. The sun is all, ‘I’m here, so I’m gonna make sure you know it!’ But, the moon is just, ‘whatever.’ It doesn’t need to be noticed, it’s there, and it knows, and that’s enough.” Rainbow let her claw drop. “You can also look at it without going blind.”

Spike found himself staring up despite himself. With a sigh, he laid down on his back and decided to indulge the colorful dragon’s odd line of conversation. “According to legend, there was a princess of the moon.”

“Really?” Rainbow rolled onto her side and looked down at the pony. “What was she like?”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t know. There were legends, and I’m sure Celestia could have told me more about them than was ever written down, but I never asked her about it.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Why not?!”

Spike scratched at his forehead. “Because she wouldn’t smile.”

Rainbow rolled back onto her back. “Now it’s my turn to pretend I understand.”

Spike sighed. “I was really young at the time, probably only a bit older than Twilight is now, and every night, I would bug her for a bedtime story. I would give her a book and she would read it with a big smile on her face. She even did funny voices for the characters.” He smiled up at the sky as he remembered, but the smile soon faded and he looked down at his hooves. “One day, I brought her a book, and she smiled at me when I gave it to her, just like she did every night. But, once she picked it up and looked at it, her smile disappeared. She told me she would read it, but that she had something to take care of first. She left, and it looked to me like she was about to cry.” Spike shook his head slowly. “When she came back, I was in bed, pretending to be asleep, and she whispered something about not being ready for me to find out. She slept next to my bed that night, with her tail laying over me.”

Rainbow looked over at him. “What was the book about?”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t know. The title was ‘The Destroyer’s Seal’, but when I tried to find it the next day, it was gone. I never asked her what it was about, and I never asked her for another bedtime story.” Spike rolled over until he was laying on his hooves. “I actually found a copy of the book a few months back. It’s been sitting in a chest in storage since then. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to read it, but-“

“But, you don’t want to see her like that again.” Rainbow rolled over and sat up. “To you, her feelings are something worth protecting.” She looked at the sky once more before looking at Spike. “You know what it’s like to fight for something, to fight to protect others. Do you know what it’s like to fight? To just fight, for no reason, no purpose other than your own anger and vanity?”

Spike shook his head. “I can’t say that I do.”

Rainbow looked up at the moon, spread her wings, and run a claw along her left side. “Then you’re lucky.” Spike moved closer to the dragon, looking at the spot where her claw rested. He could make out the faint line of a large scar under her fur. “It’s addicting. It makes you feel powerful, like you matter, especially when you win. Even if you lose, as long as you survive, you can always tell yourself that you’ll win next time.” Rainbow looked down at Spike. “You can see it, right? I got this scar from my first fight. The other guy was some big, ugly bandit, about three times my size. I was a bit younger than Twilight, not even able to fly, but I beat that miserable little thief.” She folded her wings and held out one of her claws, the last digit didn’t sit even with the rest. “Got this smashed the next day by some of his buddies. I’ve been fighting ever since.” She flexed her claw, and a painful sounding pop issued from the deformed claw. She set her claw down and sighed. “I grew up in the right place for it.”

“Casull?” Spike kicked himself mentally for his slip. He didn’t mean to reveal what he knew, and he could only hope the brightly colored dragon didn’t ask how he knew.

To the pony’s surprise, she laughed quietly. “Did Fluttershy tell you? She’s the only one who knows where I’m from.” Spike opened his mouth to speak, but Rainbow stopped him with a wave of her claw. “Don’t worry about it. Did she tell you about what I did when I first came to Dragonspire?”

Spike scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, she also told me that you stopped after fighting Rarity, and that nodragon really knows why.”

Rainbow put a claw to her chin. “How much do you know about Casull?”

“Sorry,” Spike shook his head, “I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Not surprising.” Rainbow nodded. “It’s a small town, ancient by most standards, and located far beyond Draconica’s official borders. It’s a miserable wasteland, and I’m glad to be rid of it. The only reason I stayed, was because there was somedragon there that I couldn’t leave behind. At first, he was just one in a long list of dragons I wanted to fight, but as time went on, things became more and more complex.” Spike noticed that her voice was starting to waver. “He left a few years ago, and I don’t know where he went. He never even told me he was going to leave.” A single tear fell from her eyes, catching the moonlight as it fell to the cloud and was quickly absorbed. “That day, I just picked a direction and started flying.”

Rainbow sat silently for a moment before continuing. “After about a week of flying, I ended up in Dragonspire, and started picking fights. After the third or fourth fight, I came across a dragon fishing near a lake. She was alone, and she had a large stringer of fish with her. I was hungry, so I took it from her, and she chased me. I could’ve outrun her, but I was looking forward to another fight. I toyed with her, letting her catch up then leaving her behind, basically running her to exhaustion. When she finally caught up to me, I laughed at her. She was out of breath and barely standing. I attacked her, expecting an easy win, but she beat me in ten seconds flat; her magic was just crazy powerful.” Rainbow rubbed at her neck. “I was halfway buried under a pile of rocks when she was through with me. I watched her go over to the stringer of fish and-“ She shook her head. “I don’t know how, but this little purple hatchling was caught on one of the ropes. I didn’t even notice.” Several more tears fell to the cloud below. “At that moment, I realized… I had become that rotten thief I fought all those years ago.”

Rainbow slumped down, burying her face in her claws. “She freed the hatchling from the ropes and held on to it while it cried itself to sleep. Then, she set it on her back and started to walk away.” Rainbow lifted her head and looked down at her claws. “Before she left, she moved the rocks, not all of them, but enough of them that I would be able to free myself after a while. After that, she left. She didn’t even bother to take the fish back with her. She didn’t even care about them, all she cared about was saving Twilight.” Rainbow tried to wipe away the tears running down her face. “I wanted to be like her. She was strong, stronger than I could ever hope to be, and not just because of her magic, but because she had something worth fighting for.” She took several deep breaths to calm herself before looking back at Spike. “When I look at the two of them, I see the family I never had, and seeing Rarity hurt just kind of got to me. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Spike walked over to the edge of the cloud and looked down at the campsite below. “Fluttershy told me that you were the one who found Rarity and Twilight after the first-“ Spike shook his head and scratched at his mane. “I don’t know what to call it, accident?” Spike sighed. “Knowing that, and having heard your story, I can sort of see why you did what you did."

“Good.” Rainbow sniffed and wiped at her eyes one last time. She then stood up and walked over to Spike. “I’m not going to bother asking for forgiveness, but I want you to understand what my friends mean to me, and what I’ll do to protect them.” She lowered her head and gave it a small bob, gesturing for him to get on. “If you’re gonna stick around, then that’ll include you. On one condition.”

Spike climbed on and walked back towards her crest. “Name it.”

Rainbow leapt from the cloud, barely giving her passenger enough time to take hold of her crest. “Take care of Rarity. She gives everything she has to take care of others, it’s about time someone did the same for her.” The trip back to camp was about as sudden and jarring to Spike as the trip up had been, and he was glad when it was over. As soon as he was off Rainbow’s back, she flew back up into the sky, most likely to hide the fact that she was crying from her friends.

Spike sighed as he watched the blue speck disappear among the clouds. He could certainly relate to being alone; the concept of friends wasn’t new to him, but he had very few over the course of his life. When he was young, castle workers treated him as part of their job. After joining the military, he was mostly avoided as an oddity. He had a decent relationship with some of the higher ranking military members, the generals and some of the other centurions, but that was mostly a professional, working relationship. Up until he came to Dragonspire, Grumble was probably the only real friend he had, and that was only in the last two years. He shook his head slowly and started walking over to the camping supplies. It was interesting to him that Rainbow came to Dragonspire and met her first friends around the same time-

Spike stopped in his tracks. He just passed Rarity on his way to the camping supplies. He turned around to double check. Rarity was laying there, sleeping, just like she was earlier. One problem though, he only saw Rarity, Twilight was nowhere to be seen. Spike’s heartbeat shot through the roof as he came close to screaming in panic. His head turned frantically, searching for any sign of the little, purple hatchling. “Calm down, calm down!” Spike smacked a hoof against his head. “Panic isn’t going to help anything. Think!” He needed to find Twilight. Locator spell! The same thing he used while hunting earlier! Normally, it didn’t pick up dragons, because their magic was different from wild creatures, but with a little modification, the spell could work. He cast the spell, sending out a ring of magical energy that would react to a dragon’s magical presence. It would follow the ground until it reached something, or until its energy spread too thin to hold together. The signal responded to several magic presences in quick succession; one directly in front of him, that was Rarity, one off to the right, that would be Applejack, who was keeping an eye on the creature. There was another off to the left, but when he looked over, he saw that it was just Fluttershy, sleeping on a makeshift bed of broken tree limbs. Grumble and Rainbow wouldn’t show up, because they weren’t on the ground, but why wasn’t there a signal for Twilight?

Spike sent out another spell, centering on the magical frequencies of wild creatures. It returned two signals; one near Applejack, that one belonged to his doppelganger, and a faint afterimage of the dead creature that attacked Rarity. It was normal for a magical signature to persist, even after death, but why wasn’t he able to detect Twilight? In desperation, he poured as much magic as he could into his horn, preparing to launch the spell again. This time, he would use a spherical spell pattern to search upwards as well, and he would search on his own frequency range. He had never done this before, mostly because it wasn’t usually necessary. Dragon magic was usually constrained to a specific set of wavelengths, determined by their abilities, but Spike’s magic, and that of a few dragons, namely Celestia and two of the generals, covered a much wider range. This spell would take a lot of power, and be much slower than the others, but it would find every living creature, and expand for as long as Spike could power it.

He launched the spell as soon as he gathered enough energy for the initial burst. It immediately returned two signatures, a fly on his back, and a beetle near his hooves. He ignored them. A second later, it returned another signature, a moth flying towards the fire. He ignored. A second later, the spell reached Rarity. Spike’s concentration almost broke. He sensed her energy the first time he cast his spell, but he realized now, that he only saw a fraction of it. What he saw now was different, it was soothing, for some reason. It felt right, like something he should know. He almost missed it when the spell reached Fluttershy, there was more to her magic as well, but it was familiar in a different way, sort of like seeing someone who reminds you of someone else. The spell then reached Applejack. Her magic was strong, but simple, plainly visible for all to see. The duplicate was next, her magic felt odd to Spike, it felt like… feelings? Anger and fear, mixed with sorrow and confusion. The next presence, Spike wasn’t able to identify, it was small and frail, like a thin shell, but Spike could sense something else within. He pushed a little more power into his spell, and focused it towards the shell-like presence. As his own magic pressed against it, it started to bend and give, almost like a bubble. Just when it seemed like the bubble was about to burst, Spike’s magic slipped right through and he screamed.

Heat exploded in his mind, burning away all sensation but pain. It was pushing him, pushing him back, but at the same time, it was pulling him, threatening to tear him apart. No, it wasn’t pushing, it was just pulling, pulling in multiple directions, towards countless places at once. It was wrong, it was unbalanced, it was two forces that must coexist, but are never meant to meet. Spike struggled against the forces pulling him, pouring his energy into fighting, but what was he supposed to fight? He was being pulled in so many directions. Balance. Spike didn’t know why, but that one word was the only thing that cut through the pain. Balance. Balance what? How are you supposed to balance being pulled in a million directions? Spike suddenly realized that he couldn’t, and that he shouldn’t even try to. He turned his magic inward, letting the forces around him pull as they may, but forcing himself together, forcing himself to be strong enough to withstand it.

Spike opened his eyes. He didn’t realize he had ever closed them, but it seemed that he did. The pony stared up at the night sky. Something was wrong. He was at the campsite before, under a tent. Spike looked around. There was nothing, nothing but the night sky. Beneath him, dark, barren rock stretched as far as the eye could see. Spike started walking. He didn’t know why, or where he was going, but he had the sense he was going to get there far sooner than he should.

“Balance.”

Spike spun at the sound of the voice, trying to see where it came from.

“Everything’s out of balance.”

Spike sat down. The voice was coming from everywhere. He looked up at the night sky, noticing something about it for the first time. “It is out of balance.” The sky wasn’t a night sky at all. There was no moon, and somehow, Spike could tell that there was no sun. All that existed were the stars above and earth below.

“How are we going to fix it?”

“Why are we the ones who have to fix it?” Spike’s response worried him for a moment, mostly because he responded at all; he was having a conversation without knowing why.

“Because it was broken for our sake, and those who did it are suffering.”

Spike looked to his right. There was no reason he should have, since the voice was coming from all around, but he just felt like he needed to. He saw Twilight there, standing on what looked like a small star and staring up. She looked over at him. “Spike?”

“Huh?” Spike blinked. Twilight was standing near the campfire with a notebook in her claws. She was looking up at him, but kept glancing down. Spike looked down at his hooves. They were glowing with magic and that glow was seeping into the rock below, spreading tendrils of green magic across the landscape. Slowly, the glow faded, and the tendrils slowly danced off into the distance. It may have been his imagination, but for a moment, Spike thought he saw a few tendrils of purple mixed in. He shook his head. All the pain was gone, so was the landscape he was traveling earlier. He was back under the tent, in almost the exact same spot where he cast his locator spell. He looked around. Except for Twilight, nodragon seemed to be reacting to the multiple locator spells, or to the odd green tendrils that were fading off into the distance.

The hatchling touched Spike’s leg, standing close to him as she watched the green light disappear into the distance. “What type of spell is that?”

Spike looked down at the hatchling. She was clutching her notebook to her chest, and kept glancing up at him. She looked nervous, and Spike put a hoof around her shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “I don’t know, Twilight, I really don’t know.”

Twilight moved away from Spike so she could look up at him. “Why not? Didn’t you cast it?”

The pony laid down so he was at eye level with the hatchling. Was that her voice earlier? “I was looking for something, but I found something else. I’m not sure what happened after that.” Twilight quietly sat down next to him, and Spike nudged her notebook with his hoof. “What about you? What are you doing with that?”

Twilight looked down at it and removed the pencil from its spine. “I was finishing up a letter.”

“A letter?” Spike rested his head on his hooves as the hatchling opened her notebook. She didn’t seem to know what was going on, so she probably didn’t see any of that earlier. “Who to?”

“My parents.” Twilight flipped through the notebook before tearing out one of the pages. “I know I can’t send them, but it still makes me feel better to write a letter to them every so often, like when something important happens.”

Spike watched as she folded the page in half a few times. She stared at it for a moment, and Spike wondered what she was going to do. He saw her take a deep breath, and hold it for a moment, but she let it out slowly. She took another breath, and held it like the first one, but she shook her head and let it out slowly. After the third breath, the hatchling was nearly in tears, and Spike realized what she was trying to do. He lifted his head and put a hoof on the hatchling’s shoulder. “How about I write a letter too, would that be ok?”

Twilight nodded and handed him her pencil and the open notebook. Spike took both items in his magic and set the notebook on the ground in front of him. By the firelight, he could see the impression of writing on the page. He could only assume it was from the page Twilight tore out. He glanced over at the hatchling as she leaned up against his side. Something was making her very sad, and he wanted to know what. His horn was already lit, so he wouldn’t draw any extra attention if he used another spell. Using his magic, he grabbed some ash from the fire. He spread it in the air to cool it off and make it look like normal smoke. Being careful to use very small amounts of magic, he guided the ash over to him and spread it across the page. The dust filled the impressions, letting Spike make out the words.

“Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m sorry, but this is going to be the last letter I send. I know you’re going to wake up someday, and I can’t wait to see you again, but until then, I have to move forward. I can’t hang on to you if you aren’t going to be there.

Something bad happened today, and Rarity got hurt. She was trying to protect me. Since Grandpa died, she’s been taking good care of me, but I’ve already told you that. She’s like you mom, but sometimes, I can’t even remember you, or dad. I’m sorry, but Rarity’s my mom now.

Goodbye,

Twilight Welkin Sparkle

P.S. I told you about Spike, right? I think he would make a good dad.”

Spike blushed furiously as he read that last part, and he suddenly found himself hoping his hunch was wrong. He sighed heavily, blowing the ash off the page before starting to write his own letter.

“Hey mom,

How long has it been since I called you that? I know it’s been at least two years, but I think it’s closer to three. We didn’t exactly get to spend much time together that last year.

I’ve met Twilight, but I’m guessing you already know that. And if you receive this letter, then I know how you found out about her. It probably wasn’t very nice of me, but I read the letter she wrote. The ‘bad’ thing she referenced was an attack by a creature called a ‘Nothing.’ I’ve read about them in some of the old journals in the library. It injured a dragon named Rarity, but may also have saved her life. I will explain in more detail next time we meet. I was also attacked by a creature that was able to assume my form. The ‘Nothing’ is dead, but the other thing isn’t. It is, however, badly wounded.

Something else happened as well, something I’m not quite sure how to explain. The best I can do is ask you a question. Does the phrase, ‘Everything is out of balance,’ mean anything to you? I don’t know why, but I get the feeling it does.

I also need to ask you another question. There’s a sun, why is there no moon? I’ve been keeping a secret from you, just like you’ve been keeping one from me. There’s a blue key hanging from that old mobile in my room. Take it, and go to Sylock’s Self-Store, on Magma and Vine. In locker number 459, there’s a blue chest and a red one. Unlock the blue chest, then open the red one. I want you to know, I haven’t read it, and it’ll be up to you if I do or not.

Love you,

Spike

P.S. Thank you for sending me here. I’ve made some friends, and had a lot of fun. One of these days, I hope to introduce them to you, especially Twilight, I think you’ll like her. Just remember, she’s a hatchling, and may be jumping to conclusions about certain things.”

With his magic, Spike ripped the page out of the notebook and folded it up. “Here you go.” He floated the letter over to Twilight. She took it and held it up with hers. She hesitated, lowering her claw as she glanced over at Spike. He smiled and nudged her claw up with a hoof. “Go ahead. And no peeking.” The hatchling managed a small smile, though she still seemed a little sad. She held the letters up and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and released it with a small burst of purple flame. The letters burst into flames and Twilight let go of them. They burned to nothing before they hit the ground. Spike didn’t watch that though, he kept his eyes on the smoke. It was traveling against the wind. Spike sighed as he watched the puff of smoke shrink into the distance. There was no telling what Celestia was going to do next, but he knew there would be a reason for it, just like there had to be a reason he was here in the first place. “Now,” he looked over at Twilight, “why don’t you get some-“ He shook his head and laughed quietly. The hatchling was already asleep, curled up against his side. “Good night, then.” He tossed his tail over her and laid his head down on his hooves, not sure if he would be able to sleep after everything that happened.

The palace gardens were quiet as Celestia read the second piece of paper. The only sound was that of the nearby fountain. She wished she was reading it wrong, but the carefully cultivated luminescent mosses and fungi provided plenty of light. “The earth and stars, so young and frail, save sun and moon from ether’s veil.” She sighed softly. “I thought I would have more time.” She incinerated the second piece of paper with a burst of magical energy, reducing it to dust. She left the first piece in the pages of the book she had been reading and left the gardens.

The door to the garden caves opened into the same hallway as the audience chamber, and at any time, there was likely to be somedragon waiting for an audience, either for something official, or just wanting to meet the princess. Right now, thankfully, the only dragon in sight was one of the palace staff, a small, pudgy, pink dragin. Unfortunately, that dragon started waving at Celestia the moment she saw her. “Princess!” The little dragon yelled in a squeaky voice and started running towards Celestia. “Thank goodness you’re here!”

“What is it, Flame Song?” Celestia didn’t stop when the smaller dragon caught up to her, forcing the dragon to turn around and start running alongside her. “It better be important, I’m not really in the mood for trivialities.”

“Oh, well,” The little dragon sped up, pulling ahead so she could stop and speak without being left behind, “your 1 o’clock appointments have arrived, and they’re waiting in the throne room.”

Celestia shook her head, but kept walking. “I thought I told you to bring them to the banquet hall.”

“I’m sorry, but,” the little dragon was starting to pant from the effort of keeping up with the much larger princess, “lord Greyscale insisted on meeting in the throne room.”

“Pfft.” Celestia stopped and looked down at Flame Song. “The last dragon lord died before I took the throne. You don’t take orders from that little poser, and next time you hear him use that title, I want you to slap him, or find somedragon larger to do it for you.” Celestia turned and started walking again.

The smaller pink dragon didn’t follow her, she was too worn out from running. “But what do I tell your guests?”

“Tell them I’m busy, and that they’re welcome to wait, or comeback later.” Celestia kept walking, heading for the palace exit. “And tell Greyscale, any dragon caught following me will be lucky to survive.”

Author's Note

Chapter Title

Spectres - Avantasia

This new album is great! You can expect more titles from it in the future.

Special thanks to the proof-readers;

Cold-Spike

Imaginary Valued

Darian Stephens

Quantum Shift

Take My Hand

A light buzzing sound was the first thing Rarity heard, and it was accompanied by a gentle warmth. It was an odd warmth. She couldn’t quite tell where it was coming from, but it was still pleasant, sort of like being wrapped in a weightless blanket. The buzzing wasn’t all that unpleasant either. It wasn’t a harsh buzz, like that of a cicada, but softer, like the beat of a hummingbird’s wings. All in all, it was a rather pleasant combination to wake up to. Wake up to? The dragoness gasped and opened her eyes. She saw a pair of green hooves in front of her, and looked up.

Spike looked down at her and managed a weak smile. “How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?” His voice sounded weak and timid, laced with worry.

“Spike?” Rarity slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, accepting a helping hoof when Spike offered it. “What happened? I don’t remember going to sleep. All I remember is…” She saw him look away, saw the guilt and remorse on his face. All she could remember was talking to him last night, and the moment he leaned towards her. “You-“

He scratched at his mane, refusing to look at her. “I… I shouldn’t have, but I thought it would be easier for you this way.”

She nodded slowly. Even though she knew what he was referring to, hearing it like that made her stomach twist. Her tail was gone. She couldn’t feel it, and she had been asleep when she lost it. “Then,” she couldn’t bring herself to look back, “it- it’s-“

Gaze still averted, Spike cringed. “It’s gone, yes.” That was it, two words. It’s gone. Simple words, short and to the point, but filled with consequences and repercussions that would follow the dragoness for the rest of her life. He was still holding out hope that her tail would grow back, but he knew that, even if it did, it would never be the same. The fine motor control she had displayed so many times over the last few days would be gone, and its strength would be less than half of what it was before.

Rarity closed her eyes and lifted her head. “Well, then.” There was a slight pause, and the dragoness’ voice wavered slightly. “There’s nothing else to be done for it, is there?” Her voice was a bit louder than usual, not so loud that she was yelling, but more like she was trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Spike looked at her and saw that tears were leaking from the corners of her eyes. “Rarity, I-“

She spun around quickly, and started walking towards the pile of camping supplies. “Be a dear and wake Twilight for me, won’t you?” She stood near the supplies with her back to Spike and wiped at her face. “I would like to get us both cleaned up before we continue our trip.”

“Mom?” Rarity winced at the sound of Twilight’s voice, but started digging through the camping supplies without looking back. “Are you ok?”

“Ah, Twilight, I didn’t realize you were already up.” She pulled a blue bag that Spike recognized from the pile. “Spike will carry you today; I’m not quite feeling up to it.” She tossed the bag over her back and turned around. She kept her face lowered and walked past Spike and Twilight. The hatchling was sitting on a blanket close to where she had been sleeping, and Rarity could only hope that Spike hadn’t let her see anything last night. She walked towards the newly cleared path to the river, only pausing when she noticed that Spike and Twilight weren’t following her. “Now is no time to dilly-dally, we’ll all feel much better after freshening up for the morning. Then, we can continue on towards the mountain.”

Spike moved towards the dragoness. He kept his head and voice low. “Rarity?” He walked up alongside her, trying to get a good look at her face, but she took a few steps forward before he could. “We’re heading back to town, if you’re up to traveling.”

“Nonsense.” The dragoness shifted the bag on her back. “We have to go meet Pinkie’s friends at the mountain, and I simply must look presentable. So must Twilight, I am her caretaker after all, and I shan’t have her looking out of sorts in front of guests.”

Spike shook his head in confusion. “Guests? What are you talking about?” Spike looked back towards the other dragons in the camp. Applejack was still asleep, recovering from taking her watch, Fluttershy was measuring his doppelganger and taking notes, and Grumble was pacing back and forth behind her. He was a little wobbly on his claws, and obviously fighting to stay awake. The only dragon paying any attention to them was Rainbow Dash. When she noticed that Spike was looking at her, she motioned him towards the dragoness with her head. He sighed and tried to walk next to Rarity again, but she took another few steps. “And, are you sure you want to go back to the river? Wouldn’t it be better to just head back?”

“Whatever do you mean? I’m just fine, and it’s simply vital that Twilight, as the town librarian make a good impression on any visitors to our fair town.” She started walking again. “Besides, I just don’t feel right without washing up in the morning.” She paused for just a moment. “Come along, dears, a good scrubbing will help clear our scales and worries.”

Spike watched her walk off towards river. “Rarity…”

“Dude.” Spike looked back to find Rainbow Dash. Somehow, she had moved behind him without him noticing. “Go after her.”

Spike sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, ‘cause I wasn’t just about to do that on my own.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as Spike walked over to Twilight.

The hatchling was staring off after Rarity as she walked away, but looked up at Spike as he approached. “Is she ok?”

The pony laid down in front of Twilight so the hatchling could climb up onto his back. “She will be. Maybe not now, but we just need to be there for her, ok?”

Twilight nodded slowly before climbing up. “Spike? What’s it like?”

The pony stood up carefully, making sure his passenger kept her balance. “What is what like?” He started walking after Rarity, towards the forest path.

Twilight fiddled with her claws for a moment. “Losing something.”

Spike ignored the fact that Twilight’s nervous claw movements were pulling hairs out of his mane. “This is about her tail, isn’t it?” She didn’t answer. “You’ll have to ask Rarity about it, but I think you should probably wait a bit.” Again, Twilight didn’t answer.

Ahead of Spike, Rarity waited on the trail. She glanced over as he walked up to her. “Come along, dears.” She started off towards the river, walking slow enough for Spike to keep up. He walked alongside her, but kept quiet. If she wanted to talk, he would let her do it in her own time. As they walked in silence, the dragoness would glance back from time to time, looking at the hatchling on the pony’s back. After a few moments, she let out a soft sigh. “It’ll be so nice when my tail grows back, won’t it?”

Spike blinked and looked over at her. “What do you mean?”

Rarity nodded her head towards Twilight. “I should be carrying her, but until my tail heals, I can’t pick her up. Not to mention it’s hard for Twi to climb onto my back on her own; I don’t have fur like you or Rainbow. Fluttershy has fur, too, of course, but she thinks Twilight should spend more time walking around on her own. I would agree with her, but with all my friends being so much larger, it simply isn’t feasible. Sometimes, I am barely able to keep up myself.”

Spike chuckled nervously. “Yeah, it can be tough being small.” He let out a quiet groan. She was talking at least, and not avoiding eye contact, but she still seemed distant. “So,” he glanced down and tried to convince himself not to ask his next question, “does regeneration run in your family?” He watched her carefully, hoping to gauge her response. “I mean, since there was no autotomy, I just assumed that, well…” She didn’t respond, but she did stiffen a little. Spike gulped. This didn’t look good. “Of course, I could be wrong, it’s just-“

“Tails grow back, deary, it’s simply what they do, isn’t it?” Rarity kept walking along, but Spike stopped. “Just think, a few more weeks, and it’ll be good as new.”

“But…” Spike sighed and shook his head. She was avoiding it, ignoring the possibility that it might not grow back, and ignoring the fact that, even if it did, it wouldn’t be the same. She didn’t mention regeneration running in the family, so that led Spike to believe that it didn’t. If that was true, the possibility that her tail would grow back dropped dramatically. He started walking again, moving a little faster so he could catch up to her. “Rarity, what if it doesn’t grow back?”

“Nonsense.” The dragoness looked over at Spike, then at the hatchling on his back. “Twilight, be a dear and tell him to stop worrying so much.” She returned her gaze to the path ahead of them and their nearing destination. “Look at that, we’re almost at the river. Isn’t this new trail convenient?”

Spike glanced back at Twilight. “Yeah, it sure is.” The hatchling didn’t say anything. She looked worried, but she also looked confused. Spike let out a long sigh. He could certainly relate. “Rarity, I just think you need to be prepared for the possibility that your tail won’t grow back. It might, and that would be great, but even then, you might need to find different ways to do things.”

“Here we are!” Rarity dashed the rest of the short distance to the river. She found a shallow pool of clear water and set her bag down next to it. “Spike? Would you bring Twilight over here, please?”

Spike walked over to her. “Are you even listening to me? You seriously have to consider all the-”

Rarity slammed her claw down on the bag, making Spike and Twilight jump. She looked over at Spike. “I have considered it!” She looked at the bag under her claw and pulled it open. “I know it might not grow back, but I choose not to dwell on that. I am perfectly fine, so if you would kindly drop it, I would be most appreciative!” She started to rummage through the bag, removing various soaps and scale brushes from it. “Why is this so messy?” She removed a bundled up towel from the bag. “I could have sworn I packed this neater.” The dragoness turned the towel over in her claws, and several small, white flakes fell from it. “What is this?” She rubbed at the towel, dislodging more of the flakes. “Is this paint?” She took a sharp breath. “No…” She slowly looked over at Spike. “Please tell me you didn’t.” She moved closer to the water and looked into it. In her reflection, she could see the dark grey and black scarring along the side of her neck.

“I didn’t have a choice.” Spike lifted Twilight off his back with his magic and set her down a little bit off to the side. “I had to make sure there wasn’t any additional damage.” He walked towards Rarity. “I was going to use the illusion on it, but I-“

The dragoness slapped at the surface of the water, distorting her reflection and splashing the approaching pony with cold water. “I trusted you.” She turned away from Spike, kicking over the bag. The pony wiped at his face with his hoof, trying to wick away some of the water. He then lifted the discarded towel in his magic, but Rarity snatched it out of the air. She then threw it at him. It wrapped around his head, and Rarity stomped off. “You know why I kept it hidden!”

Spike pulled the towel away from his face and tossed it aside. “Yes, I do.” He started walking after the angry dragoness. “You didn’t want to scare Twilight.” Rarity swiped at another pool of water as she passed it, trying to splash Spike, but he stepped to the side and the water landed against nothing but rock. The dragoness glared at him, and he glared right back. “You don’t think this is scaring her? She’s worried about you!” Rarity slapped at the water again, but Spike summoned a force field and the water splashed off of it, soaking Rarity.

She grabbed the nearest thing she could get her claws on, a small rock, and threw it at him. He dodged to the side, letting it go right past him. She picked up a second one and threw it. Spike side-stepped again. She threw another rock at him, but instead of avoiding it, the pony swatted it out of the air, crushing it beneath his hoof. Rarity picked up a fourth rock, and Spike flicked his hoof forward, launching the crushed remains of last rock at her. She flinched, holding up her other claw to shield herself, and Spike rushed forward. Before she could react, he knocked the rock from her claw.

He stood snout to snout with her, staring her right in the eyes. “Stop this!” In response, she slammed her claw to the ground. Spike jerked his head to the side just as a sharp splinter of stone launched from beneath them. It grazed his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood. Rarity jumped back, crouching into a fight stance. Spike grabbed the stone splinter in his magic and flicked his head forward. It launched through the air and straight past Rarity, faster than she could react to. It shot through a tree behind her, making it explode in a shower of splinters. Spike took one step towards her as she glanced back in surprise. “If you’re gonna play around, know what you’re playing with.”

She spun back to face him. “Look who’s talking!” She charged at him, long splinters of stone pulling themselves from the landscape and joining her attack. “Don’t underestimate me!” The stone swirled around Spike, forming a curved prison and cutting off any chance of escape.

Spike stood calmly as the dragoness rushed towards him. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Earthmate.” When she was close enough, Rarity slashed at Spike. He didn’t move, didn’t dodge, and her claw sliced towards his face. When it connected, Spike rippled and disappeared. Her claw slashed through open air, and the force of her intended blow threw her off balance. As she fell forward, she tried to use her tail as a counter-weight, forgetting for a moment that she had lost it. When she realized that it wasn’t working, she glanced back. At that moment, she felt herself hit something. She was lifted up and back, then slammed down to the stone and water below, and held down by the neck. The air above her shimmered, and Spike appeared again, hoof at her neck, holding her down. “But, let me give you the same advice.”

Rarity slammed her claw against the ground again, and the stone prison broke into shards and launched itself at Spike. He pulled his hoof away from Rarity’s neck and used his magic to pull her up and into the air, placing her between him and the shards. She had just enough time to see the attack, her own attack, coming towards her before the stone shards hit a force field and shattered into dust. At that moment, a shaky, high-pitched scream filled the air. “Stop it!” Spike and Rarity looked over to where Twilight stood. Tears streamed from her face as she watched them. “Stop it,” the hatchling whispered as she fell to her knees, “stop it. You told me you liked each other! Liars!” Spike released Rarity from his magic, dropping her to the ground below. “You’re both just stupid! I thought you loved each other! Why are you fighting?!” Spike and Rarity exchanged guilty glances before looking at the ground. “Why?”

Spike took a tentative step towards the hatchling. “Twi…” What could he say? He probably just scared her as badly as the Nothing had, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she hated him. After what just happened, he wouldn’t be surprised if Rarity hated him too. “I’m sorry if we scared you, but-“

“I don’t care!” Twilight got up, ran forward, and kicked Spike in the leg, just above the hoof, right where the shin would be on a dragon. “Stupidhead!”

Spike rubbed his leg with a hoof. Then he muttered under his breath, “I probably deserved that.”

Twilight kicked him again. “You deserved that one too!” She crossed her claws in front of her chest and spun around, sticking her snout in the air with a loud, “Hmph!” The hatchling then marched away, stopping once to pick up the forgotten towel. “I’m going to take my bath now, and I don’t want to talk to either of you until you’re ready to talk to each other like reasonable dragons.”

Spike looked back and forth between Rarity and Twilight. “Reasonable?” He pointed a hoof at Rarity. “She started it!”

Twilight just clapped her claws over her ear-fins. “La-la-la-la-la, not listening!”

Spike groaned. “Twilight-“

Twilight turned around, ran back towards Spike, and kicked him in the shin. “I said, I’m not listening!”

Spike rubbed at his leg again. “Stop doing that!”

Twilight kicked him again. “No!” She stomped off again, leaving the pony to his pain.

Spike watched the hatchling storm off for a moment before looking down at his leg. He could almost swear he could see a bump growing in front of his eyes. He heard a scratching noise behind him and looked back. Rarity was struggling to get back to her claws. “I really messed up this time,” he whispered to himself.

The dragoness gave up on standing and let herself fall to the ground. “No, dear,” she rolled onto her back, “we messed up.” She let out a small groan. What was she thinking, trying to pick a fight before recovering from the last one? What was she thinking, picking a fight at all? Let alone in front of Twilight? Let alone with Spike? Attacking the one you like probably isn’t the best way to make them like you back. That was what she wanted, right? For him to like her? Then, why would she try to fight him? Not that it was much of a fight, she pretty much got her tail handed to her with each attack. Not that she had a tail at the moment, or ever would again; nodragon in her family had ever exhibited the traits of autotomy or regeneration, so the chances of her being the first were next to nothing. It was a funny thing, losing a tail. There was no pain, no feeling at all, just a gnawing sensation that there was supposed to be something there, and that feeling just wouldn’t go away. Rarity shifted onto her side. It was a little less noticeable when she was preoccupied, like she was during the fight, but the moment the distractions were gone, the feeling of loss returned in full.

It was driving her mad, this constant, persistent, unshakeable feeling that something was missing. She knew it was missing, she knew it better than anydragon else, so why couldn’t it just go away? Why did it have to be like this?

A shadow passed over the dragoness as she laid on the ground. “Rarity, are you ok?”

The dragoness rolled over to her other side to avoid looking at the pony. “Leave me alone!” She couldn’t look at him right now, how could she? And why was he asking about her? She had attacked him, and she hadn’t been holding back. If he hadn’t been as strong as he was, he would have been hurt, maybe even killed. He had no business worrying about her. The shadow crossed over her once more.

“Rarity?” Something nudged her shoulder, probably Spike’s hoof, and she curled into a ball. “I understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now, but please know that I never wanted to go against your wishes. I had to wash the paint off so I could check for any more damage. I know it’s not much consolation right now, but there wasn’t any. It seems that the Nothing’s influence dissipated the feedback before it could cause any permanent damage.” There was a short pause before he continued. “That’s the name of the thing that attacked you, Nothing.” There was another pause, slightly longer this time. “They, um, they used to be used as weapons thousands of years ago, and, uh, everydragon thought they were extinct. Well, not everydragon, a lot of ’em didn’t think they existed in the first place.” There was another long pause followed by a sigh. “You probably hate me right now, don’t you?” Rarity didn’t answer him. She wanted to, she wanted to scream that it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She couldn’t bring herself to show weakness in front of him. She was a dragon, and dragons remained strong at all times. She let the silence drag on. “I’ll get you and Twilight back to Dragonspire safely. After that,” there was a series of soft hoofsteps as Spike started walking away, “I’ll head back to Dragartha to make my report. You won’t have to see me again.”

“No!” Rarity reached out, grabbing for the sound of his hooves. Her claw closed around several of the strands of the green tail that trailed along the ground behind him. “I… I don’t want you to leave.”

The pony turned around, looking at the claw wrapped around his tail. “How can you say that after what I just did? I shouldn’t have-”

“Stop.” Rarity’s grip on Spike’s tail tightened. “Just stop.” She shook her head slowly and laid her head against the ground. “I attacked you. How can you not be angry at me?”

Spike sighed and sat down in front of her. “I am.” The dragoness looked up at him, unsure that she heard him correctly. He held out a hoof to help her up. “But, I’m still worried about you.” Rarity made no move to take the offered hoof, and Spike pulled it back slightly. “And, I’m also mad at myself, madder than I am at you. I could have just thrown up a shield and sat there while you worked out your frustration, but I didn’t. I fought back, even though you were already hurt.” Rarity tried to stand up, but her own weight proved too much for her and she ended up falling back to the ground. Spike offered his hoof again. “Please, let me help you.”

Rarity looked at his hoof, and then up at him. “On one condition,” she took hold of his hoof, “you don’t apologize to me for anything you did. This whole thing is-“

“Fine!” Spike pulled his hoof away from the dragoness’ grip and crossed his forelegs in front of his chest. He glared down at Rarity for a moment before pointing a hoof at her. “Be like that. Just for being unreasonable,” he clicked his other hoof against the ground twice, “I have two conditions. The first one is that the next words out of your mouth are not, ‘my fault,’ because this clearly isn’t. The second one is that you don’t apologize to me either. I’m not saying we should sweep this whole affair deeper into the cave and pretend it never happened, but I think we can learn from this and, without trying to assign blame, agree that we won’t let something like this happen again.” He put his hoof down and slowly held the other out to her. “If you accept these conditions, then take my hoof, and let me help you.”

Rarity chuckled before catching herself. She looked up at him for a moment before looking away. “I don’t get it.” She glanced back and reached out for the offered hoof. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I don’t know,” Spike pulled her up to a sitting position, “why were you so nice to me? I just showed up out of nowhere, and you took me in.” He hooked a hoof around her body to stabilize her. “But more than that, you didn’t care. You didn’t care that I was different, that I wasn’t a dragon. You accepted me as I was, and that meant a lot to me, more than you could ever know.” He let Rarity lean against him while she tried to get enough strength back to stand on her own. “Are you going to be able to make the walk back to camp?”

“Maybe.” She stepped away from Spike and almost immediately started falling. The pony’s eyes went wide and he lunged forward. He caught her just before she hit the ground, and she looked up at him with a sheepish smile. “Then again, maybe not.”

Spike sighed as he helped her back to a sitting position. “I’ll get you back, don’t worry.” He looked towards the trail, then back at Rarity. “It doesn’t look like too much of a hike; I can carry the both you if I have to.”

“I’ll be fine in a moment.” The dragoness glanced at the trail as she let the pony support her. ”Spike,” she paused for a moment and leaned her head against his chest, “I don’t care. I don’t care that you aren’t a dragon.” She pushed herself away from his chest so she could look him in the eyes. “Spike, I...” Her words trailed off as she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over, as did Spike.

Twilight was standing there, staring at them with her claws crossed in front of her chest and a determined glare on her face. She snapped out one claw to point at them. “Now! Kiss and make up!”

“What?!” Spike and Rarity exchanged nervous glances as their faces turned bright red. Then they looked down at the hooves and claws that were touching the other. They snapped their respective limbs away from each other, carefully avoiding eye contact. They then glanced back at each other for just a moment, quickly turning away with a deepening blush.

Twilight just held her claw in the air, continuing to point. “If you just get it over with, everydragon will be a lot happier, and maybe I can get some peace and quiet out of this trip.” She closed her eyes, crossed her claws in front of her, and turned her back to her two embarrassed companions. This was her chance! If she could get them together now, Spike wouldn’t want to leave, and Rarity wouldn’t have to be lonely anymore. It was the perfect plan, and to top it all off, they already finished fighting, so they probably won’t fight again. After all, Aunt Rainbow only fought with Rarity once, and they’ve been friends since. “You both told me you like the other, so I’m just doing you a favor.” The hatchling carefully tried to sneak a peek over her shoulder without the pony or dragoness noticing. “And, making sure neither of you chicken out.”

Spike’s ears perked up and he looked over at Rarity. “You told her that you…” His words trailed off as he thought about the implications of what Twilight said. He now had confirmation that his feelings would not only not be rejected, but that they were, in fact, shared. This raised new questions for the pony, questions that Spike couldn’t even guess the answer to. The first of which being whether or not she still felt the same way after their little spat.

The dragoness stiffened. She nodded slowly without looking over at him. “Apparently, so did you.”

“Eh?” Spike turned away quickly and scratched at the back of his neck. “Heh, I guess I did.” His scratching slowed to a stop and he glanced back over at the blushing dragoness. “So, um-“

“No!” She shook her head, gesturing madly with her claws. “We are not doing that!”

Spike’s head tilted to the side as he blinked at the dragoness. “What?”

“Aw!” Twilight turned around, claws falling to her side in disappointment. “Why not?”

Rarity took a wobbly step towards the hatchling, trying her best to look intimidating despite the dripping wet crest that planted itself in her face the moment she moved. “Because, we’re not! Now, that’s the end of it!”

Spike looked backed and forth between the two dragons, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Um, what’s going on here?”

Twilight crossed her claws. “I don’t think it is! I’m sorry,” she pointed at Spike, “but I have to take his side on this.” The hatchling offered a slight shrug. “What’s the big deal? I thought you wanted to?”

The dragoness gasped and brought a claw to her chest. “Why, I never-“ She glared at the nearby pony. “Well, I hope you’re happy with yourself.”

“Wait. What?” Spike kept glancing back and forth between Rarity and Twilight. “What did I do? I was just going to suggest we head back soon.”

Twilight jumped between Spike and Rarity. She faced the dragoness with her claws up in front of her, trying to block the much larger pony from Rarity’s view. “No, he wasn’t!” She turned around and reached up, grabbing Spike by the ears. She pulled his head down, even with her. “No, you weren’t!” She glanced back at Rarity with a sheepish smile. “Excuse us a minute.” The hatchling walked away from Rarity, dragging Spike along by the ears. Once the pony was facing away from the dragoness, Twilight glanced back at Rarity again. The hatchling held up a claw, extending one digit. “One minute.” She turned back to Spike and started whispering, “What are you doing? This is your big chance! All you’ve got to do is-“

With a loud sigh, Rarity walked forward, grabbing Twilight by the ear fin as she passed. “We’re heading back to camp.” The startled hatchling let go of Spike, and Rarity started heading towards the trail, walking with difficulty on three legs and tugging a resisting hatchling behind her. “Spike, grab our stuff.”

“Ow! Stop! You’ll pull out my earring!” The hatchling reached back towards Spike as she was pulled along. “Why are you just standing there? You’re letting her get away! Ow!”

Rarity didn’t stop, she just kept walking. “It’s a clip-on, I should know, I made it for you.”

The hatchling brought a claw to her ear-fin. “It still hurts!” Rarity stopped for a moment and let go. She started walking again, and Twilight walked slowly behind her, pouting and rubbing at her ear-fin.

Spike laughed nervously as he watched them walk away. It seemed like things were a little closer to normal, even if the outcome was at Twilight’s expense. He gathered the scattered bath supplies in his magic and stuffed them all back into the bag, except for the towel. It must have landed in the water at some point, because it was now thoroughly soaked. With a sigh, he set the bag on his back and started off after Rarity and Twilight, wringing out the towel in his magic as he walked. He looked forward to see how far ahead of him the two dragons had gotten, and almost immediately felt something tugging against his magic. He looked back. In his moment of distraction, he had gotten the towel stuck among the limbs of a fallen tree.

With a loud groan, he walked back to it and started to untangle it by hoof. He couldn’t just pull on it without risking damage to the towel. Once the towel was free of the tangled branches, he turned to resume his course towards camp. “Wait a minute.” He turned back to face the tree before taking a single step. He looked at the towel he held. After a few seconds, he tossed it over his back and started breaking limbs off the fallen tree with his magic. He made a small pile of them beside him. He then started testing the strength of each one with his hooves. If one snapped, he tossed it, if it didn’t, he set it down next to him. He repeated the process until he had a bunch of strong branches piled beside him. He then picked up the pile in his magic and started heading back to camp, breaking into a run in and easily catching up with Twilight and Rarity.

The hatchling looked back as she heard the approaching hoofbeats. The cloud of sticks surrounding Spike confused her for a moment, but she thought about what he said when they first met, about not underestimating stuff, and decided that there must be a reason for it, even if she couldn’t see it at the moment.

Rarity looked back as well, eyes widening as she saw the pony’s wooden entourage. She stopped in her tracks as the he approached. “Picking up souvenirs, are we?” Twilight came to a stop alongside the older dragon.

Spike let out a sigh as he walked up to the two dragons. “Not quite.” The pony dropped the sticks into a rough pile and started picking through it. He picked out the smallest of the sticks and held it in his hoof. “Last night, I, uh…” He glanced back and forth between Twilight and Rarity. “You know what? You’ll think I’m crazy, so just imagine fire and water, ok?” He drew a line in the ground with his hoof. He pointed a hoof at one end of the line. “If fire is here,” he moved his hoof to the other end, “then water is here.” He glanced up at the two dragons, noticing that they were both staring at him like they already thought he was crazy. He held up one hoof in a defensive gesture. “Just go with it for a moment.”

The hatchling and dragoness exchanged glances, but kept silent. When they looked back at him, Rarity rolled her claw in the air, motioning for the pony to continue his explanation, as odd as it may be.

Spike scratched at his mane. “Thanks, I guess.” He cleared his throat and gestured at the line again. “They’re complete opposites; fire can boil water, or water can put fire out, but they can’t coexist.”

Twilight looked over at Rarity, eyes resting on the spiderweb scar on the side of her neck. She looked down at the ground before speaking. “You’re saying my magic is destructive, like fire.”

Rarity shot an angry glare at Spike. His mouth fell open and he gaped at her for a moment. “N-no!” That was not the point he was trying to make, and now he had to recover the conversation. “Um, Twilight,” he leaned down, looking the hatchling in the eyes, “fire can be destructive at times, but we use it to cook food, shape metal, heat our caves, and even provide light to read by.” He glanced back at Rarity. She was still glaring at him. “It’s not all bad.”

The hatchling looked up slowly. “But-“

Spike gently placed his hoof on the top of her head. “Water can be destructive as well; it can cause floods, or make things rot, or it can wear things away over time. The point is, that your magic isn’t bad, neither is Rarity’s, they just don’t get along.” He turned around. Now standing in between the two dragons, he pointed to the line on the ground. “Now, consider air.” He drew a small line intersecting the other in the middle. “It can coexist with both fire and water, and even contain a little bit of each in the form of smoke or water vapor.”

Rarity nodded and rolled her eyes. “So, you’re the only one whose magic isn’t destructive?”

Spike looked up as his ears and eyebrows drooped. “Fine,” he deadpanned. He pointed at Twilight. “Her magic is space.” He pointed at Rarity. “Yours is rock.” He pointed at himself. “Mine is some sort of space-rock, does that make sense?”

Rarity just stared at him. Twilight leaned forward to look around Spike at the stunned dragoness. “I told you I needed a new telescope.”

Rarity shook her head in confusion. “I’m sorry, Spike, but what do you mean by that?” She then looked down at Twilight. “You don’t need a magically charged stabilizer crystal in a telescope when you have a tripod.” Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but the dragoness cut her off. “And, I know you aren’t going to bring up portability, because we had a discussion about that the last time I got you a claw-held telescope and you almost got stepped on for not paying attention.” Rarity looked back at Spike. “Please, do go on,” she smiled and nodded, “you lost me at space-rock.”

Spike stared at her for a moment, trying to determine if that was sarcasm or not, and wishing he had a bit more social experience. “Um, you’re mocking me, aren’t you?”

“Just a little.” Rarity held up her claw, holding her first and opposable digits together. “But you have to admit, what you just said makes no sense.”

Spike sighed. “I know, but that’s the thing, I’m trying to explain something that I really don’t understand.”

Twilight tapped the pony on the leg, making him look down. “You’re talking about elemental classification, right? Rarity’s earth magic could be called rock magic.”

Rarity nodded slowly. “I see, that makes a little more sense. You’re saying that Twilight’s elemental classification is similar to space, like void or darkess?”

Spike put a hoof to his chin. “I guess you could put it like that, and those are pretty rare classifications, but I think Twilight’s is a little different.” He looked down at the hatchling next to him. If only he could get her to actually use her magic, everything would be so much clearer, but she was most likely still afraid to use it. “Also, up until now, I didn’t think my magic had an elemental classification. Yesterday, I realized that I do have a classification, and it’s something in between the two of you.” He picked up the nearby pile of sticks in his magic and brought them over to where he sat. “That’s why I have these sticks. I’m going to try bridging your magic energies to find out why they react so violently.”

Twilight nervously rubbed her claws together. “But, I can’t use my magic. What if it goes out of control and-“

Spike put his hoof on her shoulder. “You don’t have to do anything.” He sighed quietly. At least he knew for sure that the hatchling was still uneasy about her own power. “All you have to do is hold one end of a stick while Rarity holds the end of another stick. I’ll hold the other ends.” The pony picked out two of the sticks and held them in his hooves. He started pouring magic into them, charging them so he could calibrate them and begin the scanning cycle. “This is a type of scanning spell. Most scanning spells involve bouncing waves of magic off of things, kind of like some subterranean dragons’ natural sonar capabilities, but this scan involves charging an object with known magic and using that to compare some other magic. To start, I have to calibrate the sticks so they don’t throw off the spell. To do this, I’ll make sure nothing is touching the sticks, and then I’ll cycle magic through them really quickly. After that, somedragon touches the charged objects. Their magic then contaminates the pure, known charge, and can then be analyzed and compared to the known charge, or to a second source of magic. It’s really slow and troublesome compared to most other scanning spells, but it has one major advantage, the amount of magic being examined can be controlled. This makes it a really useful spell for comparing things, especially when there is a gap between the power levels of the things you want to measure, like you and Rarity. See?” Spike smiled as Twilight nodded. He glossed over two things during his explanation. The first thing he skipped was the fact that the power gap between the two dragons was huge. Rarity was pretty strong, about at the tetrarch level, but Twilight’s magic, as far as he could tell, was nearly at the centurion level. The other thing he skipped was the name of the spell, the poor dragon’s paternity test.

“Um,” Rarity raised her claw, “I believe I got most of that, but why did you bring so many sticks if you only need two?”

Spike glanced at the pile. “Well, depending on how well this works, I’m going to build something for the two of you.”

“Uh-huh.” Rarity nodded slowly. “Out of sticks?”

Spike nodded back at a much faster pace. “Yep.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, ”You said it wrong.”

As Rarity watched, the sticks that Spike held started to glow. Green energy started swirling on the surface of the wood, flowing towards the pony’s hooves. She reached a claw out towards the end of the closest stick. “So, all we have to do is-“

“No! Don’t touch it!” Spike’s eyes went wide as the dragoness’ claw touched the end of the stick. The swirling energies turned vibrant purple as Rarity’s ambient magic poured into the stick. The pony cut off the flow of magic and slammed his eyes shut. He hadn’t finished the calibration, and there was no telling how much magic he just absorbed, and all he could do now was wait for the migraine that would occur once the magic reached his alembic nerves. After few seconds, he realized that nothing was happening. There was no migraine, no overload to his sensory system. He slowly opened his eyes, and saw Rarity staring at him. “Sorry, I thought that…” She kept staring at him, without moving, with absolutely no change in her expression. “Rarity? Are you ok?”

“Spike!” A shout from the hatchling beside him drew his attention, and he glanced over. “The stick!”

His eyes snapped down. He and Rarity were still holding on to the ends of the stick. Even worse, the stick was still glowing. But, now, the stick was a mix of purple and green, both colors swirling and flowing in opposite directions, purple towards him, and green towards her. “Shoot!” He had cut off the flow of his magic, but he wasn’t able to do anything about the magic already in the stick, and she was absorbing it somehow. And, for some reason, he was still absorbing her magic. He tried to pull the stick away from her, but her claw held fast to the end. Seeing that she wouldn’t let go, he tried to drop his end of the stick, only to find it stuck to his hoof. He tried to dislodge it, but couldn’t.

Twilight took a step towards Rarity. “Spike, What’s going o-“

“Get back!” Spike yelled at her without looking up. “Get back, right now!”

The hatchling shrunk back. “Spike?” He sounded angry, angrier than she had ever heard him before. And why wasn’t Rarity moving? “Spike?” He said the spell was safe. “Spike?!”

The pony kept trying to pull the stick away from him. He tried to shake it off, he pried at it with his other hoof, and he even tried biting at it. He screamed in frustration. Nothing he did worked, so he braced his end of the stick against the ground and started pounding away at it with his free hoof. With each strike, Spike grew more and more worried. He should have been able to break the stick easily, but it held up to every blow. His worry turned to fear. Magical energy, both his and Rarity’s, was still flowing through the stick. He could feel more of his energy being pulled away, and started to feel dizzy. “Twilight,” his voice cracked, and he tried to hold back tears, “I need you to listen to me.” He didn’t know what would happen if this displacement of magic continued, and that terrified him. “I need you to promise me that, whatever happens, you won’t touch us. Understand?” He looked over at Twilight, but his vision had started to blur, and he couldn’t see her very well. “No matter what! You can’t touch either of us! Promise me!” Twilight nodded, but Spike’s vision had blurred so much that he couldn’t see it. “Promise me, please.”

The hatchling took another step back. “I- I promise.” She kept walking back. Something was wrong, and there was nothing she could do to help. She didn’t even know what was happening, all she could do was stand by and watch, powerless to protect those she cared about. “I promise.” She fell back to a sitting position and buried her face in her claws. Spike was trying to protect her, just like Rarity did at the river. Why? Why was she always the one being protected? Why did bad things keep happening around her? “Save her, Spike. Save mom.”

“I will,” the pony whispered to himself. His vision wasn’t the only thing blurring, his mind started feeling fuzzy too. He looked at Rarity. All he could see was a blur of white and violet, but he knew it was her, and that she was probably still staring, unaware of what’s going on around her. What was she going through? What was she feeling as her magic drained into him and his poured into her? And, what would happen if her energy was to run out? It was possible to overuse magic energy and collapse in exhaustion, but as far as Spike knew, there had never been a case where energy was forcibly removed. He couldn’t be sure it would stop, and he couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t kill her in the process. This whole thing was his fault, and he would make it right. He held his hoof away from him and started concentrating magic in his horn. He did his best to focus through the fog. He would have one shot at this, and the more concentrated the spell, the cleaner the cut. The cleaner the cut, the better the chances of reattaching his leg, but it probably didn’t matter. He would probably bleed to death long before help reached them. “I love you,” he whispered to Rarity. He glanced over in Twilight’s direction, barely able to make out her blurry purple form. Again, he whispered, “I love you both. I’ve had a lot of fun these last few days, and you let me feel what it’s like to have a family.” He turned away, making sure there was nothing in the path of his spell besides his own leg. “I’m sorry it couldn’t last longer.” With a loud yell, he flicked his head and released the spell. At that moment, all the energy he charged was ripped away from him. There was no spell, no cutting ribbon of air, no blood, and no detached limbs. His spell had failed. He was still connected to Rarity, and all he managed to do was send a powerful surge of magic over the link, doing who knows how much damage to the dragon he was trying to save and draining his own energy that much faster.

Spike racked his mind for options. He couldn’t use his magic, he couldn’t break the stick, and he had no way to remove the stick from his hoof. Then he realized that there was one more option, one last thing he could try to stop what was happening. He didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice now. His hoof was too strong to break or cut or anything, but scales were weaker, and they would grow back. He braced Rarity with his free hoof and twisted his body, pulling the stick away from her as quickly and with as much force as he could. The stick pulled away from Rarity’s claw, ripping the scales from her palm along with it. The glow faded as the link between Spike and Rarity broke, and the stick, no longer magically bound to Spike’s hoof, went flying off into the forest.

“Spike?” Rarity blinked at the pony and looked down at her claw. She could see blood, but couldn’t feel any pain. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” the pony smiled at her with tears in his eyes, “but I’m just happy you’re ok.” Spike’s vision was starting to clear, and he saw that his hoof was still resting on the dragoness’ chest. Green lines and purple swirls danced from hoof to scales, and vice versa.

Twilight looked up when she heard Rarity’s voice. She saw them standing there, saw Spike smiling, and stood up. They were both safe. It was over. She started walking towards them. “Mom! You’re ok!” The hatchling picked up her pace as she got closer. “You’re both ok!”

Twilight saw the smile on Spike’s face faded as the dragoness turned towards her. Then she saw the Rarity collapse mid-turn. Spike tried to catch her. “Twilight, go get-“ His eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, still holding the dragoness.

Author's Note

IMPORTANT!!!

There was a typo in the previous chapter. When Rainbow Dash mentioned the dragon that left "two years ago", that was supposed to be "a few years ago." Two years is Twilight's age at the time of the fight with Rarity, and I mixed up some of the text. This is important to the story, as you will soon see.

Not as important!!

The First side story, "My Little Dragon: Even Villains have a Story," or "Friendship is Metal: It's Nice to be Nice,"(vote in the comments) has gone through proofreading, and will be posted soon. I will make a blog post when I submit it, and another when(and if) it gets approved.

Even less important!

I started a tumbler. There are multiple blogs, including;

a journal series for Twilight - http://twilightnotebook.tumblr.com/ -This will be a companion to the story, and will contain entries in Twiligh'ts journal that take place during and between chapters.

Ask Grumble("ask a dragon") - http://askgrumble.tumblr.com/ - Ask a question, and that dragon, or other character may answer it. I will try to do a quick piece of art for each one, just like any "ask an oc" blog. I need to draw more often for school, andthought this might be a good exercise.

And Draconica Daily - http://www.tumblr.com/blog/draconicadaily - I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this one.

Chapter Title

Take My Hand, by Simple Plan

This song is not power metal, I know, but I felt it fit the feel of the chapter.

Sleep

The image of snow came to mind; pure, colorless, untouched by the world around it. What Spike saw before him embodied all of that, but it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. White scales, untouched, unscarred by the trials that life can bring. Purple crest, perfectly clean, showing no sign of its earlier disarray. Long tail, flowing gracefully, showing no regard for the events of the past. The dragon before him couldn’t be real, couldn’t be who she appeared to be.

“The time is fast approaching.” It even sounded like her, but there was no way it could really be her. “You must prepare.”

“Who are you?” Spike stole a glance at the surrounding area, being careful not to take his eyes off the dragon for very long. Barren, rocky landscape stretched as far as the eye could see, crags, valleys, and all sorts of mountains spread into the distance. This was the place he saw after scanning Twilight’s magic. “Or, should I say, what are you? You aren’t like that creature that copied me, and I’ve been here before. What is this place?” It was different this time. Last time he had been here, a star filled sky, devoid of sun or moon, had stretched over the landscape, but now, a featureless, blue sky sat above. This obviously wasn’t real, was it a place made of magic? If so, was the dragon before him a magical construct as well?

“How odd.” The dragon slowly tilted her head towards the sky. “The sun is absent, yet you carry her light with you. Your father was right, you are most unusual.”

Spike’s eyes went wide. “My father? What are you talking about?” He looked down at his hooves. They were the most obvious difference between him and the average dragon. There were plenty of dragons that had fur, crests, or ears like his, but no dragon he had ever heard of had hooves. “Are you saying I have a family? That somewhere in this world, there are others like me? Other ponies?”

The dragon looked back at Spike. “There are not.”

“Don’t give me that!” Spike mentally kicked himself. What was he doing, getting caught up in false hope offered by a figment of magic? He scoffed at the dragon. “Are you telling me they’re all dead? Or maybe, you mean to tell me I’m the son of dragons?” Years of reading magical texts taught Spike that there was a lot of mystery and vague wording involved with matters of magic, but he didn’t have the patience for that right now. “Where is the dragon whose form you’ve taken? Where is Rarity?”

“I am Rarity, as is this place is, as am I.” The dragon tilted her head. “I am Rarity as she first appeared to you. She is here, with us.”

“I don’t have time for this!” Spike turned around and started walking away. He glanced back. “I’ll find her myself if I have to!” When he looked ahead of him, he found a copy of himself standing in his way. “Oh, not again.”

His copy walked forward. “That is not possible.” It sat down in front of him. “You do not need to worry.”

The pony looked back and forth between the two copies. ”What’s not possible? I didn’t say anything.”

The copy of Rarity moved closer to Spike. “You fear that our exchange of magic has somehow caused harm.”

“We never-“ Spike bit his lip. This thing was referring to itself as if it was Rarity. Even worse, the copy of him was in his head. He was just worrying about whether or not Rarity was all right, and his duplicate knew it. “Get out of my head,” he growled, “or I’ll-“

A heavy step fell nearby and Spike turned to face it. Another dragon stood there. It was a mottled brown color with a flat body shape, similar to Grumble’s. “That is not possible.” It sounded female.

The ground shook as another step sounded behind him. “You cannot harm those who stand beside you.” Spike turned around. Another dragon stood there. This one was a glossy green color. Rows of golden-yellow scales ran from her snout to her tail, and she towered over him. She was easily the largest dragon he had ever seen, aside from Celestia. She smiled down at him. “Though, your desire to protect those close to you is admirable.” Seeing her smile, warm and confident, made Spike realize that none of the others had shown any trace of emotion. Why was this one different? She lowered her head, as if she was trying to get a better look at him. “Even though my powers have passed to another, I am honored to meet you. Though, perhaps it is best that I was one of those who waited.” The dragon giggled as she straightened up. “You are much smaller than I expected.”

Spike stared up at her, unsure what to think of this new dragon. At the very least, she seemed real, at least more so than the others. “You’re different from the rest.”

The green dragoness gestured out to the surrounding landscape. “All of us have waited for this day, but I suppose I am different in some ways.”

“All of you?” Spike looked around. Where there had once been nothing but rocky ground, dragons of all shapes and sizes dotted the landscape. They were all different shapes, sizes, colors, and types, but they all appeared to be female. He recognized a few of them from historical texts, but there was one dragon in particular stood out from the others. “Rarity!” She was too far away to hear him, so Spike ran towards her as quickly as he could.

“It seems I was wrong, it seems there is one here who did not have to wait.” The green dragoness looked down at her claw, flexing it as a sad smile spread across her face. “Interesting that I speak and appear as I was back then,” she sighed and looked back at Spike as he continued his run across the landscape, “should we ever meet again, I doubt you would recognize me.”

“Rarity!” As Spike approached the white dragoness, he saw her staring at all the dragons around her. Her crest was matted and dirty, her scar blackened the side of her neck, and bandages wrapped around what was left of her tail, but it was her, it had to be. “Rarity!”

The dragoness turned when she heard the voice. “Spike?” She saw him running towards her and started running to meet him half-way. “Spike!”

“Rarity!” When they met, Spike threw his hooves around her and reared up on his hind-legs, using their momentum to spin around once before setting her back down. “I was so worried. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?” His hoof went to her horn, checking the chip to make sure it hadn’t grown. At the same time, he examined the scar on her neck, making sure the spiderweb pattern hadn’t spread. “Something went wrong with the-“

Rarity’s eyes went wide and she shoved Spike away from her. “What do you think you’re doing?!” The scales of her face tinted pink as she brought her claws to her cheeks. “Doing something like that in public is- is- I don’t know what it is!”

“It is to be expected.” Rarity spun around at the sound of a voice behind her. What she found was a mirror image of herself from the past. The dragoness’ copy lifted a claw to the original’s neck, running it gently over the scar and to the chipped horn. “It is only natural to admire the beauty of a life lived well.”

The real Rarity leaned away from her duplicate, pulling her neck and horn out of its reach. “Spike? What’s going on? Where are we? Who are all these dragons? And why is there- ” The copy leaned forward and planted a kiss in the center of Rarity’s scar, causing the dragoness to shriek and leap back. Her claw went to the side of her neck as she cringed. “What was that?!”

The duplicate Rarity looked out at the dragons in the surrounding area. “The blessing of all who have gone before you.” She looked back at the real Rarity. “I would have more to give, but it has already been given to you.”

“Spike?” Rarity glanced over at the pony. “Who is this? And, what is she talking about? I haven’t been given anything.”

“You have.” The dragoness’ copy took a step closer to the original, making the real Rarity duck behind Spike. “And you have given as well, even more than you realize.”

Spike shook his head, rubbing his hoof over his eyes. “What are you even talking about?” He pointed at the copy of Rarity. “You have been talking since I got here, and you haven’t explained anything! Time, my father, a place that ‘is,’ and now you start kissing dragons? None of it makes sense! and if you aren’t going explain it, I would rather leave, and let-”

“Very well.” The copy of Rarity moved towards Spike. “You may go.”

“Really?” The pony glanced over at the real dragoness before looking back at her duplicate. “We’re going back?”

The fake sat down directly in front of him. “Yes. You will return to the place you feel you have left. She will follow.” The doppelganger brought her claw up to the scar on Spike’s shoulder. “Spike, the name you now carry is one you will etch on the future, but you will not do it alone.” She moved her claw up to his face. “I will be there, as will the one whose acceptance you seek.” She moved her other claw up to the other side of his face. “I give you my blessing, but hers, you must earn.”

“Rarity,” Spike looked over at the dragoness with a smile, “we’re going back!”

“Wait a minute,” Rarity tilted her head to the side in confusion, “I still have some questions, and Spike, you can’t tell me that you don’t.“

“Of course, I do,” the pony looked over with the fake Rarity’s claws still holding on to his face, “but I don’t think they’ll be answered if-“

The duplicate of Rarity turned Spike’s head to face her. “I will answer.” She leaned forwards, bringing her lips to his. Spike’s eyes flew wide open and he tried to jerk his head away, only to have his head held in place.

“Dad! He’s convulsing!” Fluttershy grabbed Spike and held him down. He was flailing his hooves around , smacking them into anything nearby, and threatening to knock himself from his place atop Applejack’s back.”Dad!” Fluttershy was careful not to injure the pony as she held him down, making sure he couldn’t hurt himself. “Applejack! Let us off!”

The large dragon carrying Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity, came to a stop. Behind her, the two dragons that had been following her stopped as well. One of the dragons, Rainbow Dash, was carrying Twilight on her head, and a pack on her back. The other dragon, tall and lithe, came running up to Applejack. “’Ay-ay! Wait!” The golden-brown drake spoke with a light accent, and stood nearly as tall as the orange apple farmer, but moved on his hind-legs, and was only a fraction of her weight. He had a large leather bag draped over his shoulder, and was digging through it as he ran. He pulled a pair of crystals out the bag. They were a pale blue-green color and rectangular in shape, similar to fluorite crystals, but they pulsed with a faint pink light where they came into contact with his claws. “Don’t move the poor Digger! Just keep him from hurting himself!” When he reached Applejack’s side, he touched the crystals to the flailing pony. One crystal to his horn, the other to his chest, over his heart. Both crystals flared up with a bright green light, pulsing rapidly. “His heart rate’s up, but there’s no change in power flow. It’s a fair bit too steady to be a seizure.”

Fluttershy shifted her claws, trying to get a better grip on spike as he kicked and waved his legs about. “But, if it’s not a seizure, then-“

“I’d give a right, good bet that it’s related to the HPS link! Whatever he’s experiencing, he’s havin’ a rough time fighting it. ” He put a claw on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I’ll take over here, you keep an eye on that friend of yours, Rarity. I can’t imagine what sort of terrible event they’re going through, but it may start to affect her as well.” Fluttershy nodded and moved her claws away from Spike.

The drake moved to hold the pony down in her place, but Spike suddenly gasped and shot upright. “Whaah! It’s not what it looks like!” He just sat there after that, panting heavily.

Applejack looked back at her passengers, briefly exchanging glances with Fluttershy. “What’s not, Sugarcube?”

“Huh?” Spike looked around, dazed, slowly realizing his situation. “I’m back?” Rarity was sleeping nearby, and both of them were sitting on a large piece of canvas. Ropes held it down to Applejack’s back, forming a makeshift saddle. Bundled canvas formed a small fence around the outside edge of the saddle, most likely to prevent either of them from sliding off. Fluttershy was sitting near Rarity, carefully checking her over, and another dragon that he didn’t recognize was staring down at him with a smile on his face. “What happened?” Spike resisted the reflexive urge to cast his protective spell. He rarely ever had a good first encounter with new dragons. Even Grumble, who he now considered his best friend, nearly killed him when they first met.

The large, orange dragin let out sigh of relief, causing a gust that blew Spike’s mane into his face. “The two a’ ya near’s about scared the scales off the rest of us, that’s what happened.” As Spike pulled his mane out of his face to look over at her, she adjusted her hat with one claw, carefully maintaining her balance on the other three. “Now, what did ya mean by, it ain’t what it looks like?”

The pony’s face immediately turned red. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He looked around, taking stock of his surroundings and trying to think of a way to change the subject. “Has Rarity woken up yet?” He already knew the answer, but he still asked as a stalling measure.

Fluttershy shook her head. “She’s still unconscious, but she hasn’t had any violent fits.”

“Fits?” Spike pulled himself to his hooves. Once he was standing, he swayed a bit. His hoof went to his head in an effort to stave off his light-headedness. “Wha-what do you mean?”

“Hold on there, Digger.” The golden-brown drake put a claw to Spike’s side, steadying him and easing him back to a sitting position. “Everything’s alright, just calm down. You were in a state known as Hyper-Pardoxical Link, or HPL. It’s a dream-like state, fueled by the connected magics of two dragons.” Once he was sure that Spike wouldn’t try to get up again, the drake removed his claw and looked over at Fluttershy. “Possum? Has there been any change with the other patient?”

“No,” the yellow dragin sighed softly, “her eye was twitching a moment ago, but she didn’t wake up.”

Spike brought his hoof to his face, leaning his head into it. “She still had questions,” he muttered to himself, “I should have known.” Spike looked up at Fluttershy. “She’ll be ok, let her wake up on her own.” He turned to face the drake. “I don’t know who you are, but thank you for helping us.”

“No thanks needed, Digger!” The drake gestured towards Fluttershy. “Any friend of Possum’s is a friend of mine.”

Spike blinked at him. “Who are you?”

“Oh, right.” The drake chuckled nervously. “Never got ‘round to the introductions.” He stuffed the two crystals back in his bag. “I am a bard by name, but a healer by trade. Bard, son of Ice Heart, mate to Kin, and father of Fluttershy.”

“Son? Father of…” Spike turned his head slowly towards Fluttershy. A forced, hollow laugh made its way from the pony’s throat. “You’re Ice Heart’s grand-daughter, the Shimmering Destroyer.”

“Oh my.” Fluttershy ducked her head and lifted her claws to hide her face. She peeked out at her father from between her claws. “Is Grandpa still telling that story about me?”

The drake laughed and leaned over to pat his daughter on the back. “Only ‘cause he loves ya, Possum. A drake’s got a right to be proud of his family.” Bard winked at Spike. “That aside, it’s a great tale, a real ripper.”

The yellow dragin buried her face as deeply in her claws as she could. “I hate that story,” she said in a muffled voice, “it makes me out to be some sort of monster.”

“Aw, Possum,” Bard rubbed Fluttershy’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug, “nodragon thinks you’re a monster.” He nodded his head to the side. “Except maybe that gang a’ yobbo poachers ya ran outta town.”

Fluttershy groaned loudly as she pulled away from the hug. “Dad.”

Applejack started laughing. “Aw, c’mon, Sugarcube, mah brother told me ‘bout what ya did.” The farmer tipped her hat to her yellow friend. “Ya oughtta take more credit for yer ‘complishments.”

“But Mac was-“ Fluttershy stopped and blushed. She then slowly glanced over at her father. “Um, nothing.”

“Hmm?” Bard lifted an eyebrow as he looked down at his daughter. He softly touched the back of his claw to her forehead and started nodding slowly. “Hmm, increase in temperature, distinct change in facial coloration, and increased heartbeat.” He laughed and started patting her on the head. “You’ve got a bloke in your life.” His laughter stopped suddenly. “Should I be worried, Possum?”

Applejack started snickering. “Ah don’t reckon ya got nothin’ to be worried ‘bout.” The farmer looked at Fluttershy out of the corner of her eye. “She ain’t hardly said two words to ‘im in near as many years.”

Fluttershy tried her best to shrink into nothing as her father’s eyes lit up like a hatchling getting hatch-day gifts. “Ah, then, you know the bugger?”

Applejack merely shrugged. “Ah oughtta know mah own brother.”

“Oh, I see.” Bard started nodding again. “I suppose he would be a farmer, same as you? Strong silent-type? That makes a lot of sense.”

Fluttershy started protesting, insisting that there was no truth to her father’s theories, and trying in vain to steer the conversation in a new direction. While the three larger dragons discussed Fluttershy’s love life, or lack thereof, Spike got up and walked over to Rarity. He sat down next to her as she slept, wondering what sort of conversation she was having with her copy, and wondering if her questions were being answered. “Why did I have to be so impatient?” There was a small jolt as Applejack started walking again. Spike lost his balance, but caught himself quickly. He then noticed something out of the corner of his eye. There was another makeshift saddle on Applejack’s back. He missed it earlier, but now, he could see it, and the passenger within. It was his doppelganger, the one he fought the day before.

It was tied to a slab of wood, and a string of crystals was tied around its horn. All evidence of yesterday’s fight was gone; the injuries were healed, and the dried crust of green blood had long been washed away. There was, however, one new marking, a large, white ‘X’ on the back of its neck and head. The mark must have been made out of the paint Rarity used to hide the scar on her neck, and it was placed so that the doppelganger wouldn’t be able to see it, no matter how much it turned its head. Spike noticed something else about the copy as it laid there. Its eyes were open.

The fake pony was staring off into the distance. Spike got up and walked over to it, being careful to stay out of its line of sight. As he climbed over the bundled canvas separating the two improvised saddles, his hoof caught on one of the ropes. Spike looked down as the rope drew taut, compressing the stiff cloth it bound with a loud rustle. The duplicate Spike’s ear twitched at the sound, and its head turned to face the sound immediately. Spike looked up, and their eyes met for just a moment before the copy turned away, but in that moment the real pony saw something he did not expect. He saw tears.

Spike freed his hoof from the ropes and finished climbing over the cloth barrier. “Are you crying?” He walked over to the copy, but didn’t sit down.

“No.” The doppelganger’s voice was the same as Spike’s, but with a grating, metallic overtone. “Why would I be crying?”

Spike slowly walked in a circle around his doppelganger. “You lie far too easily.” The copy turned its head away every time Spike came into view. “Besides, I should be the one to ask that question.”

The fake pony’s upper lip pulled back in a snarl as it turned its head to face Spike. “What do you want?” The metallic quality of its voice was less of an overtone now, and more of a low growl.

Spike continued circling. “I want to know why you attacked me.”

“Is that all?” The copy scoffed. “A guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta-“

“Don’t even bother finishing that.” Spike sat down a fair distance from his copy. “That’s lie number two, care to try for a third?”

The duplicate lifted its head and gave Spike a look that was half smile, and half sneer. “Yes, please.”

Spike sighed. He knew he was only going to get lies, but if he could get this creature talking long enough, something might slip. “Who are you?”

The copy rolled its eyes. “Unimaginative and predictable.” Spike’s ears perked forward as his duplicate started laughing. He didn’t really get an answer, but he didn’t get a lie either. “That is the one question I get asked without fail, only, it’s usually a bit different.” The copy looked right at Spike, straight into his eyes. “It usually goes, ‘what are you?’” Spike met the copy’s gaze, and held it without flinching or looking away. After a few moments, the copy smirked and broke eye contact. “Most find it unnerving to look themselves in the eye; you are either quite brave, or incredibly foolish.”

It was Spike’s turn to roll his eyes. “Maybe a bit of both. Are you going to answer my question?”

“No.” The copy lowered its head and closed its eyes. “As meaningless as names can be, I do not wish to part with mine. Instead, you should ask me ‘what’ I am.” It peeked at Spike through one eye. “Trust me, the answer is far more interesting.”

Spike chewed his lip as the fake closed its eye and made a show of trying to get comfortable despite the ropes. “Fine.” This creature was obviously used to manipulating others. Even though it was the one tied up, it managed to take control of the conversation. “I’ll bite.” He stood up and walked little closer to his copy. “What are you?”

The fake opened its eyes and looked up at Spike. “A nightmare,” it said softly, “something from the darkest corners of fear and hate whose only purpose is to take from others that which might be used against me.” A smile spread slowly across its face. “Scared yet?”

“Meh.” Spike shrugged. “I’ve fought worse and won.” Spike turned and started walking away. He wasn’t going to get anything out of the duplicate, and he wasn’t about to waste his time. “And, now that I know about your abilities, I won’t be pushed so far in battle.”

“Hah? Is that what you believe?” A quiet laugh escaped the copy. “Let me give you some advice, pony. I was weakened when you fought me.” Spike looked back over his shoulder. The look on his duplicate’s face was one he had seen many times; wide, crazed eyes, flared nostrils, and a toothy smile that held no joy, the look of someone with nothing to lose, and nothing to look forward to but the chance to go out in a blaze of glory. “You should kill me while you have the chance. Should I become free, I’ll defeat you, and all you hold dear will come to me.” Spike sighed and shook his head. “And don’t think this mark will be enough to stop me. What is it? An ‘X’? The evil eye? Some ancient word for demon? I don’t even have to see it to know it’s there. I’ve been through this situation enough times, and let me tell you something.” The copy strained against the ropes to lift its head as high as it could. “No matter how hard they tried, I’m still alive.”

Spike started walking away again. “If you lament that fact, I could kill you.” He glanced back at his doppelganger. “And if it becomes necessary, I will.” The pony climbed over the cloth boundary of the copy’s saddle back into the one that held Rarity. He sat next to the sleeping dragoness and tried to put the conversation with his duplicate out of his mind. The other dragons didn’t even seem to notice what had happened, but that didn’t surprise Spike all that much. After all, as large as they are, it’s easy to overlook little things.

The pony sat there for a while, watching over Rarity and listening to the continuing conversation between the larger dragons. Several of the things that his doppelganger had said unnerved him. The threat at the end wasn’t that big of a deal, it was actually pretty redundant. It was only a logical progression of events that a duplicate would take what belonged to the original after defeating him. No, it was what the doppelganger said before that, or rather, what it made him say. Who are you? That was what he had wanted to ask. That fake was obviously an intelligent creature, and actually talking to it only served as proof of that. But it talked like it hated itself. And then there was the other question. What are you? It was a question Spike had heard his entire life. Every time he met a new dragon, they would ask that, even Rarity had asked him that question. Spike lifted one of his hooves and looked at it. “What am I?” He was a pony, but what did that mean? His entire life, he had been raised as a dragon, but he wasn’t one. He was forced to be something he wasn’t, and didn’t know how to be anything else.

Spike laid down next to Rarity. He was tired, and he couldn’t help but wonder how things could have gone differently for him. What if he hadn’t been found by Celestia? If some other dragon found him, would he have even survived? That’s not even considering what wild creatures would have done to him if he was never found. And what if he had survived? At the moment, he was pretty strong, even by dragon standards. If he had survived in the wild, would he have been a feared wild creature? A local legend? A bedtime scare story used to keep rowdy hatchlings in line? The ponies of legend were depicted as terrible, bloodthirsty monsters. Was there truth to those legends? How close had he been to ending up like his doppelganger, a near-feral prisoner, unable to think of anything but hatred and revenge? Spike rested his head on his hooves and tried to clear his thoughts. It was always funny to him how being tired made it easier to see things in the worst possible way.

It had been two hours since Spike woke up, and Rarity was still sleeping. His copy was quiet, but still there. He checked on it every twenty minutes or so, hoping it would speak some more, but it always stayed silent. He was hoping it would at least try to taunt him some more, if only to stave of the exhaustion that was creeping up on the pony. He had so far fought the urge to fall asleep, but with every passing moment, it was getting harder and harder for him to keep his eyes open.

To pass the time, Spike was paying attention to everything going on around them, trying to pick apart every meaningful or meaningless detail to give his mind something to focus on. Bard, Fluttershy, and Applejack were still talking among themselves, though the discussion had long ago turned to old stories, and Rainbow had joined them about an hour ago. Twilight was riding on top of Rainbow’s head. Spike waved to her when he saw her, but she was asleep, only staying on Rainbow’s head through the larger dragon’s innate sense of balance. At the moment, Bard was weaving a tale, claws gesturing wildly as he told Applejack and Rainbow all about how he met Kin, Fluttershy’s mother. Apparently, it involved a bow, an arrow, and fair amount of clumsiness on his part.

The tall drake laughed as he neared the end of his story. “I was right near on the spot by that point, and I’d bet ya a fair deal that her parents would have made a snack outta me if it weren’t for what Kin did next.”

Rainbow turned her head as quickly as she could without dropping Twilight. “What happened?” Applejack started snickering at her friend’s enthusiasm, making the brightly colored dragin glare at her. “What?” Rainbow snorted. “I’m curious, that’s all.”

“Sure ya are, ya big softie.” The orange dragon rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Well, go on, Bard. Keep on tellin’ yer tale.”

“Oh?” The tall drake’s eybrows lifted slightly. “So, my story is that interesting, is it? Perhaps I missed my calling?” He broke into a fresh bout of laughter before hunching his back, ducking his head, and squaring his shoulders. “There I was, surrounded, with no place to run. Even my own father had turned on me. Then, just as it seemed like all hope was lost…” He jumped in place. “Wham! Something pounced on my back. Right near scared the life outta me! But, then,” he brought both claws to his neck, “something slipped straight over my noggin, and tightened ‘round my neck. The next thing I heard was Kin’s voice, shouting, ‘If you’ve got a problem with him, you’ve got a problem with me!’ I didn’t realize it at the time, but that thing ‘round my neck was Kin’s token, her favorite crest-ribbon with one of her scales tied to it.”

“Whoa!” Rainbow stared at the drake in disbelief. “Seriously?” The brightly-colored dragon exchanged glances with her agrarian friend. “Doesn’t that seem a little…” She looked back at Bard and shrugged. “I don’t know, fast?”

“Ah hear ya,” Applejack bobbed her head slightly, “if Rainbow here calls somethin’ fast, it don’t get much faster.”

Spike lifted his head and looked over at the drake as well. He had been listening in, but hadn’t been paying close enough attention, and realized that he had missed some critical piece of information. What was fast? And, what was a token? Bard described it, but it seemed like there was more behind it than a simple gift. Fluttershy was nearby, he could ask her. She didn’t seem to be getting all that involved in the conversation. Actually, it didn’t seem like she wanted to be involved in the conversation at all. The pony resigned himself to asking later when Bard suddenly broke into laughter and started speaking again. “Sometimes, it’s the results that count. She probably saved my life that day, and that was right near fifty years ago. Not to mention, those were some awful pleasant years, happy ones too.” The drake threw one claw around Fluttershy’s shoulder and pulled her close to him. “Well, I think that’s enough about me and your mum, eh, Possum? When’s your wedding to this Farmer fella I keep hearing ‘bout? He seems like a right nice bloke.”

Spike blinked as Fluttershy went limp and nearly fell backwards. “Wedding?” That was a sudden change of subject, even for a dragon as active as Fluttershy’s father seemed to be. The pony stood up as Bard gently lowered Fluttershy to Applejack’s back. He was about to go ask Rainbow Dash or Applejack what was going on when a noise beside him caught his attention. Rarity had suddenly gasped, and was now staring up at the sky. Spike smiled as he turned to talk to the dragoness. “You’re awa-“

“Wedding?” Rarity sat up quickly, not noticing the pony standing over her, or the impact of his face against her horns. “What wedding?”

Spike clutched at his face and fell backwards as the dragoness looked around, orienting herself to her new location. The pony pulled himself to his hooves, and sat down in front of Rarity. “I’m glad you’re ok. How are you feeling?” The dragoness didn’t answer, she just lifted one of her claws in the air. “Um,” Spike squinted in confusion, “ok, what are you-“ She slapped him across the face, snapping his head to the side with a loud crack. The pony clasped his hooves to his face for a second time, regretting his decision to not cast his protective spell. “What was that for?!”

Rarity turned around and stuck her snout in the air with a gentle huff. “You know very well what that was for.”

“What?” Spike rubbed at his cheek. It stung where she slapped him, but at least she didn’t use her claws. “Look, if this is about what happened between me and that other Rarity, I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter. I didn’t even know what was going on until it was too late!”

“Well, if you would have just-“ Rarity looked back and stopped mid-sentence, expression changing from one of anger to one of concern. “You- You’re bleeding. I- I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

“Huh?” Spike looked down, checking himself for injuries. A drop of blood fell to the cloth beneath his hooves, making him realize that the injury was at the end of his snout, where he couldn’t see it. He wiped his hoof across his nose and looked at it, seeing the tell-tale red streaks of a nosebleed. “Yeah, that happens sometimes. It wasn’t you, I smacked my nose on something. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Rarity moved closer to Spike, and rested her claw on the side of his snout. She looked for something to wipe the blood away with, but couldn’t find anything. She settled for using her left claw to clean away the blood before wiping it on the cloth below them. She didn’t know why, but her right claw was heavily bandaged. “I still shouldn’t have-“

Spike caught her claw with his hoof. “I-“ He looked down at her claw. “I’m sorry.” He looked back up at her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s not fair to you that I dragged you into it.”

The dragoness wrapped her other claw around his hoof. “Spike, I-“ Her words trailed off as she blinked and looked up, past the pony she was talking to.

“Rarity?” Spike’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “What are you-“ Spike turned his head, looking over his shoulder to see what the dragoness was looking at. He saw three very large dragons watching the two of them very closely. He stared at them for a moment, slightly annoyed at how quietly such large creatures could move when they wanted to. He hadn’t even noticed that they stopped. “Can I help you with something?”

Two of the dragons, Applejack and Bard shook their heads. Rainbow just said, “What other Rarity?”

Rarity started coughing, and Spike looked over at her. The dragoness was trying to motion to him not to tell them by giving her head short, jerky shakes. The pony rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to be told not to share that particular piece of information. “What happened was a little weird, and I don’t quite understand it, but suffice it to say, a lot happened, and there were copies of the each of us, as well as several other dragons.” Spike finished with a little nod. He was pretty happy with his explanation; it was detailed enough that there shouldn’t be any additional questions, and vague enough that Rarity wouldn’t have cause to kill him later. Rainbow leaned forward, and Spike started to second guess himself. She examined him closely, making the pony sweat. “Is there a problem?”

Rainbow responded with a loud snort that blew the pony’s mane back. Spike chuckled nervously as the brightly-colored dragin leaned back. “Yeah, why’d she slap you?”

“Well, uh…” Spike swallowed dryly. There had to be away out of this. He glanced over at Rarity, who was still shaking her head at him. “You see,” he looked back at Rainbow, “um, that’s a private matter between the two of us. And, uh, if Rarity wishes to tell you at a later time, she will, but until then, I will respect her privacy.” The pony winced as soon as the words left his mouth. That sounded a lot less shady in his head. He glanced back at Rarity, whose face was turning a lovely shade of salmon as she hid it behind a claw. He then looked back at Rainbow and scratched at his mane. “So, did Twilight wake up yet?”

“No.” Rainbow reached a claw up to her head and scooped the purple hatchling out of her crest. She then set the hatchling down in front of Spike without waking her up.

“Ah.” Spike tapped his hooves together. “You know, you’re surprisingly good with hatchlings.”

Rainbow raised one eyebrow. “Surprisingly?”

“Yeah.” Spike chuckled. The subject was finally changed. “The way you basically attacked Grumble the other day, combined with the way you act the rest of the time, I would have assumed-“

Rarity put a claw on the pony’s shoulder, stopping him. “Spike,” she whispered, “she’s the only one of my friends who has a hatchling of her own.” She then yawned.

“Ah. Open mouth. Insert hoof." Spike looked up at Rainbow and forced a smile. “Sorry.”

“Whatever.” The large dragin turned around and started walking away. “I’ll beat it out of you later, look forward to it.” With that, she spread her wings and took off into the sky.

Spike gulped loudly as she flew away. “Ok,” he said weakly, “I’ll try.” He turned to Rarity. "In my defense, there was no way I could have known that."

Applejack laughed loudly. “That’s Rainbow fer ya. There’s three ways ta make her real mad. One is ta mess with her crest, one is ta mess with her friends, and the last one is ta mess with her pride as a mother.”

“Yes.” Rarity laid down next to Twilight, careful not to wake the young dragon. “You and Grumble have managed to do all three since meeting her, at least in her eyes.” She laid her head down on her claws. “It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

“Now wait just an apple-pickin’ minute!” Applejack craned her neck to get a better look at the smaller dragoness. “Are ya goin’ back to sleep? Ya just woke up!”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Rarity snapped back. She let out a large yawn. “And be quiet, Twilight’s trying to sleep.” The dragoness settled her head down. “And, so am I.”

Applejack was about to protest further when Bard stepped in. “Let them be. Unless I’m wrong, which is rare, even Spike is dying for a little nap right about now. Ain’t that right right, Digger?”

“Huh?” Spike swayed on his hooves as he watched Rarity snuggle her head into her claws, getting comfortable enough to go to sleep. He shook his head and slapped both hooves to his face, hissing in pain when he realized his face was still in pain from Rarity’s strike. “What was that?”

Bard chuckled and shook his head. “I asked if you were tired, but you answered that question well enough, Digger.”

“Yeah?” Spike rolled his shoulders and stretched as he tried to suppress a yawn. “I don’t know why, but I’m exhausted. Does this have something to do with the link you mentioned?”

“It sure does, Digger.” Bard reached into his bag and started digging around in it. “That’s odd, I thought I had a book or some charts in here.” He gave up searching after a few moments. “Anyway, you and the little beauty over there were in a state called a Hyper-Paradoxical Link. During regular sleep, there is a period called a paradoxical state. It’s called that because, even though you’re resting, the mind is highly active, almost as active as when you’re awake. During this stage, dreams occur.” The drake held back a chuckle as Spike started to nod off. “A hyper-paradoxical state is when the resting mind becomes as active, or in rare cases, more active, than a waking mind. You two were basically awake, and interacting with each other in a world only you two could see. However, one of the side effects is that, instead of resting, your mind and body feel like they’ve gone ten rounds in the pot.”

Spike jolted upright with a start. “Got it! Dreamworld. Just the two of us. Old guy’s gonna throw me in the pot.” He blinked once, and almost didn’t get his eyes open again. “Wow, I wasn’t this tired a few minutes ago.”

Bard didn’t bother holding back his laughter. “Well, you’re part right, it’s a lot more complicated than a simple dream, Digger. The involvement of magic brings a whole lot of variables into play. Consider, if one dragon’s magic involved, for explantion’s sake, let’s say, animal communication. In that case, there could be animal communication involved for both dragons.”

Spike rubbed his face. “So, our magical attributes are expressed in the link, in some form or another, allowing both of us to experience or interact with each other’s traits?”

“Hmm.” The drake rested the index digit of his claw against his lower lip. “I suppose that’s close enough, Digger. I’ll explain more after you’ve rested. For now, just kick back, and know that you’re headed for safety.”

“Back to town?” Spike yawned loudly. He wanted to know more about the link, but as tired as he was, he wasn’t sure he would remember anything he was told. He sighed loudly. Any explanations would have to wait. “Wake me when we get there.” He let his front legs slide out from under him until he was sprawled out on his belly. He yawned once more and turned his head to look at Applejack and Bard as they turned away and started walking. “Goodnight, then. Or, good day. Or, well, whatever.” Something tapped at his side before he could lay his head down. He looked over to see Rarity poking at him with one outstretched claw, and looking up at the other dragons, making sure they weren’t looking or listening.

She looked over at the empty space beside her, letting her head rest on her outstretched limb. She whispered to Spike, “There’s, um, there’s room next to me, if you want to lay there instead.”

The pony’s mouth worked wordlessly as he tried to respond. “I, uh, y- yes, I-” He tried to stand, but his wobbly legs only got him halfway up before he fell flat. “I’m too tired to stand.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” The dragoness’ eyes started to drift closed. “Oh,well.”

With a grunt, Spike start to shimmy forward, crawling forward in a manner that could be called anything but dignified. “Wiggle march, go. Avoid detection, and keep a low profile for long range battles.” He crawled around until he was lying next to Rarity. “Look, I made it.”

The dragoness giggled as she leaned against his side. “You are quite… unusual, darling.”

Spike folded his hooves and rested his head on them, stealing a glance at Rarity before closing his eyes. “Even for a pony?”

The dragoness moved her head over, resting it against the pony’s shoulder. “Especially for a pony, I would suspect.”

Spike smiled and peeked over at the dragin beside him. Even as she was leaning against him, she held Twilight close on her other side. The hatchling was curled up around what appeared to be a leather-bound book. It was funny to Spike, he was actually larger than the two dragins next to him, if only by a little. It felt nice, in a weird sort of way. It wasn’t just that he liked not being the smallest, but it felt like he was supposed to be there, like he had a purpose. He was bigger, so he had to protect them. Spike wondered if Celestia had felt the same way when he used to fall asleep curled up around the end of her tail. “Hey, Rarity?”

With a quiet groan, the dragoness rubbed her head against the fur of the pony’s shoulder. “Yes, Spike?”

Spike smiled as he closed his eyes again. “What’s a token?”

The dragoness suddenly stopped moving her head. “It could be a lot of things, why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” Spike yawned, “I heard Bard telling a story about one, but I think I missed some of it.”

“Is that so?” There was no response, and Rarity turned her head a little to look over at Spike. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow and even. He was asleep. “You’ll know it when you get one.” The dragoness rested her head against the sleeping pony. “Who knows? You might just receive mine one of these days.”

Applejack and Bard walked in silence for a while, following the stone path through the forest as Rainbow flew above them. After about an hour, Applejack broke the silence with a loud sigh. “Why’d ya lie to him?”

“Hmm?” Bard looked over at the farmer. “When did I lie?”

The orange dragon looked over at the drake and snorted. “Ya told him we were headed back ta town.”

“Ah, that.” The healer shrugged and looked away from the large dragin, back at the path they traveled. “Well, I didn’t lie. I never said we were headed back to Dragonspire, I just didn’t correct him when he jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

“Ya may not have lied,” Applejack turned her head away, “but ya weren’t honest, and Ah don’t like it.”

The drake laughed, and Applejack stopped walking. “I can see why my daughter considers you a friend, but don’t worry.” Bard looked back at the farmer. “I said we were headed for safety, and that much is true.”

Author's Note

Chapter title - Sleep by Poets of the Fall

Heart of Ice

“No, not like that.” Spike’s ear twitched. That was Twilight’s voice. She woke up? “That’s terrible, his ears don’t look like that.”

“How about this then?” That was Rarity’s voice. She must have woken up too. He was the only one still asleep. Not that he was still asleep, he just hadn’t opened his eyes yet. Whose ears are they talking about?

“That’s even worse, now he looks like a rabbit.” Spike’s ear twitched again. They weren’t talking about him, were they?

“Then how about… this!” They had to be talking about him, the only other males around were Grumble and Bard, and neither of them had ears. Well, at least not the type of ears that could be construed as rabbit-like.

“That’s perfect, mom! He’s going to love it!” Twilight really was serious when she wrote that letter.

Without getting up, or moving, Spike yawned and opened his eyes. He looked over at Rarity and Twilight. “Good morning, you two, what’d I miss?” The two dragins looked up from the notebook they held between them. Spike recognized it as the same leather-bound book Twilight was clutching in her sleep. Odd, it seemed like Rarity was the one writing in it, judging by the pen she held in her claw. It was an actual pen too, not a quill or a fountain pen, but one of those expensive ball point or felt-tipped ones that are popular among the business-dragons of the capitol.

Twilight ran forward. “Spike!” The pony didn’t have time to react before the purple blur of scales rammed into the side of his head. The hatchling’s arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug. “I was waiting for you to wake up! I’m so glad you’re ok, I was so worried, don’t do that again, I don’t want you to get hurt, you have to-“

Spike propped himself up on one hoof, and cut her off by wrapping his other hoof around her, returning her hug. “Calm down, Twi, I’m not hurt.” He loosened his grip on the hatchling and looked down at her. “And, you’re starting to sound like Pinkie.” Spike pulled her back into the hug before she could respond. “I’m just kidding, you know that, right?” He let go of the hatchling and watched her as she walked back to Rarity. She really was worried about him, wasn’t she? The pony had half expected her to hate him. After all, he was either directly or indirectly responsible for every bad thing that happened to her over the last few days.

Twilight took the book from Rarity and walked back to Spike. She held it out to the pony. “This is for you. Not the whole book, just the drawing.”

Spike took the book and opened it. The first page was a journal entry. He read it quickly, while pretending to flip through the rest of the pages. It wasn’t a very long entry, but it gave him some insight into the hatchling, and how she felt. She was worried about being powerless, something the pony could relate to. Living among dragons was a difficult task for the weak. Spike wasn’t exactly weak anymore, but it was still difficult for him. With a sigh he turned to the next page.

Twilight peeked over the spine of the book at the blushing pony. “So? Do you like it? Rarity drew it.”

“She did, huh?” Spike looked up at the dragoness. She was looking at something off in the distance, but Spike guessed she was listening in. She had managed to clean up a little. Her crest was brushed - not as flamboyantly as it had been when they first met, but enough to be considered neat - and the scar on her neck was once again painted over. Fresh bandages were wrapped around the remains of her tail. “It’s very nice, thank her for me.”

The dragoness walked over and sat behind Twilight. She gently lifted the book from Spike’s hooves and closed it. “Is there a reason why you don’t want to thank me personally?” She looked down at the book and giggled. “Perhaps something to do with what you just said?” She handed the book to Twilight. She put a claw on the hatchling’s shoulder and leaned down. “Twilight, could you wave down Bard and ask him how much longer we’ll be walking?”

“Aw, mom. “ The little dragin looked up at her guardian with a loud sigh. “Why do I have to do it? I wanted to talk to Spike.”

Rarity smiled at the hatchling. She brought her other claw to Twilight’s other shoulder. “You’re not the only one.” The dragoness gave the hatchling a little push away from Spike. “Now, go on. You can have him all to yourself in a moment, ok?”

“Fine,” the hatchling grumbled. With a small pout, she turned away and started walking towards the edge of the saddle they were in.

Rarity sighed happily as she watched the hatchling waddle away, and Spike studied her expression carefully. After a moment,he let out a sigh of his own, and shook his head slowly, pleasantly puzzled by what he noticed. He smiled at the dragoness. “You didn’t flinch.”

The dragoness blinked. She hadn’t thought about it, but he was right. “She used to only call me that by mistake. Every so often, it would just slip out, but lately, it seems like…” She sighed as she watched Twilight wave and shout to catch the attention of the large drake walking nearby. “I don’t know what it seems like.”

Spike nodded. He knew, but that was only because he read Twilight’s letter. The pony moved a little closer to the dragoness and put a hoof on her shoulder. “It seems like Rainbow’s not the only one with a hatchling of her own.” The dragoness brought a claw to her mouth to help muffle her laughter. Spike just smiled and rubbed her shoulder slightly, wishing she hadn’t tried to quiet it. After the events of the last twenty-four hours, sounds of happiness were a welcome change. There was just one thing bothering the pony. “Hey, Rarity? What did you mean by, ‘what I just said?’”

“Oh, that,” the dragoness brought her claw to the hoof on her shoulder, “you know.” She looked away, cheeks tinting rose. She turned back to spike and rested her claw against his chest. “It was really sweet, and definitely not the sort of thing one would expect to hear from a drake.”

Spike started stammering as Rarity leaned into him, resting her head against his neck and making him hold her in his hooves to maintain his balance. “Well, I, um, I’m not a drake, I guess, so, um, what’s going on?” His heart raced, and for a moment, the pony wondered if he was still asleep, and this was all just a pleasant dream. The dragoness was being so affectionate that he couldn’t think of any other explanation.

Rarity snuggled her head into the crook of the pony’s neck, rubbing her hastily brushed crest along the underside of his chin. “I should be asking you that, shouldn’t I? You were oh so bold earlier.”

Spike started sweating. “Bold? Earlier?” He tried to swallow, but his mouth had dried out. “W-what do you mean?”

“Spike?” Rarity wrapped her claws around one of his hooves. “What are we going to do now that we have the link? I mean, I suppose we have to live with it, not that I’m complaining, but how long do you think it will last?”

Spike sat there, holding the dragoness. What was she doing? Why was she acting like this? She mentioned the link, but that was gone. “Um, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He felt the dragoness tense up. “The link’s gone, so I’m a little confused.” The dragoness squeaked, and Spike figured out what happened. Something had happened that made her think that the link was still active. She was still awake when he laid down, so she must have heard Bard’s explanation about the link being a dream-like state, and that was just before falling asleep. “D-did you have a dream? A-about me?” Spike wasn’t quite sure what to think of that. He was happy, for sure, but he was also confused, and just a little curious. “What did I say?”

“Nothing!” Rarity shoved herself away from Spike, knocking both of them over in opposite directions. She picked herself up and backed away from Spike, wildly waving one of her claws in front of her. “You didn’t say anything!” She spun in place, sitting down with her back turned to the pony. She grabbed her crest with both claws, pulling down on it in frustration and embarrassment. “I can’t believe I did that,” she whispered to herself, “what was I thinking?”

Spike pulled himself up and watched the dragoness fret. He was hesitant to say anything. He didn’t know if trying to talk to her would help or make her embarrassment worse. He did know that if he had done what Rarity just did, he would probably want to go bury himself in a cave somewhere beyond the farthest reaches of society. He thought about it a little more before changing his mind. There was no probably about it, he would definitely want bury himself in a hole beyond the farthest reaches of society. He walked over to Rarity and sat behind her, thinking about what to say, if anything. Well, Spike learned at least one thing about her during their awkward exchange. She apparently liked bold. He took a deep breath and puffed up his chest. If she wanted bold, she was going to get bold. “Hey, um, I may not have said anything earlier, but, could I say something now?” The pony immediately slapped a hoof to his face. That wasn’t bold at all.

Rarity loosened her hold on the messy hairs of her crest. ”I-I suppose.” She glanced back at Spike. What was she worrying about? This was Spike, if anydragon would understand her current situation, it was him. After all, he went through the link, he would be sympathetic to her misunderstanding. Rarity quickly looked away. That was the problem though, it was a misunderstanding. She had let hopes and fantasy overcome her sense and better judgement. Wait. She felt heat rise into her cheeks. How many times had she read that exact line in romance novels?

The dragoness didn’t have time to think about it before she felt something wrap around her, something soft, fuzzy, and warm. Something rested on top of her head, and she tried to look up. She found herself looking up at Spike’s chin. He was holding her in a tight hug and smiling down at her. “Good morning, Rarity. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

The dragoness swallowed before answering. “I-I suppose.” What was he doing?

Spike gently released the hug and moved his head. He brought a hoof to the dragoness’ head and ran it along her crest, doing his best to smooth it out. “You know, the day isn’t the only thing that’s beautiful.”

The dragoness stared at the pony. He said that. He just said that. There was no mistaking it, this wasn’t a link, or a dream, or some magic whatchamacallit. He actually said it. “Spike…”

The pony scratched at his mane and chuckled nervously. “Sorry, how cheesy was that?”

Rarity stared at him a little longer before a small smile started forming on her face. “It was just cheesy enough. Thank you, Spike.” She sat there, looking at the pony for a moment longer before sighing lightly. “Spike, I need to talk to you.”

The pony blinked and tilted his head a bit. “Um, ok, go ahead.”

Rarity shook her head slowly. “No, not now, not here. This is important, and just between us.” The dragoness chewed on her lip for a little before continuing. “It’s about the link, the real one, not my, um, little mix-up.”

Spike straightened up, faint traces of a smile disappearing as his expression became serious. “Then, the link was still active after I woke up?”

“Yes.” Though it still made the dragoness blush to think about how he had woken up, she tried to put it out of her mind. She looked up at the pony. “There are a few things you need to know, but I would prefer to keep them between us.”

Nearby, a little purple hatchling was watching Spike and Rarity from a bundle of stiff tent fabric, carefully trying to guage their reactions to each other. Twilight reacted to everything, ranging from a fist pump when Spike delivered his line about beauty, to face-palming when he didn’t try to follow it up with a kiss. He missed a perfect opportunity there. She sighed as she freed herself from her hiding place. It looked like they were done with any sort of lovey-dovey talk and stuff, so it would be fine to interrupt them for a moment. She walked forward, and both the pony and dragin looked over at her as she approached. Twilight cleared her throat. “Bard says, ‘One way ‘r another, we’re through walkin’, Starshine.’” When she finished talking, she cleared her throat again. Spike was surprised by how the hatchling managed to chew through her words, matching the tall drake’s accent perfectly, but he didn’t quite understand most of it. Twilight seemed to pick up on that, and quickly added, “don’t ask me what he meant by that, but that’s what he said.”

“Huh?” Spike looked up from the hatchling and looked for the tall drake that had been walking alongside Applejack. Bard was standing a short distance in front of the farmer and digging around in his bag. After a few seconds, he pulled something out. Spike couldn’t see what it was, but he saw the drake smile when he looked at it.

Bard looked back at Applejack’s passengers and smiled. “I don’t suppose one of you lot’s a fire breather?”

Twilight’s claw shot up as fast as anything Rainbow could pull off. “I am!”

Spike’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Wait, what do you need a fire-breather for?”

Bard held something out to Twilight. “Here you go, Starshine, light this for me, would ya?”

Spike got a better look at the object the drake held. It was a cone, made of paper with blue stripes. A short black string stuck out from the point, a fuse. Spike’s eyes went wide as Twilight took a deep breath. He lunged forward. “No! Don’t!” He stuck his hoof between Twilight and the cone just as she released a puff of green flame. He stared at the cone, at the fuse sticking out of its point. It wasn’t lit. Spike let out a sigh of relief.

Bard started laughing. “You are one tough lug, Digger, I’ll give you that.” With his free claw, the drake grabbed Spike’s hoof, the one he used to block Twilight’s Flame, the one that was currently on fire.

“Aaah!” Spike tried to shake his hoof free from Bard’s grip, but the drake was far too strong for that. He then tried to blow out the flames, but he just couldn’t get enough air moving. Air? That’s it! Spike lit his horn, he had an idea, but would he be able to pull it off in time?

The answer came in less than a second, as Bard touched the end of the cone’s fuse to Spike’s flaming hoof. Sparks started jumping from the string as it started its slow burn towards the paper cone. The drake then blew out the flame’s on Spike’s leg like a hatchday candle. Bard nodded to the pony. “Thank ye kindly.” He then released the former candle and held the cone high in the air. The drake covered one ear with a claw as he pointed the base of the cone at the clouds.

Spike quickly checked his hoof for damage. The hoof itself was a little blackened, but his skin was ok, and his fur was barely even singed. He was lucky, but that ended now. The pony looked up at the drake, and the cone he held. “Please don’t be yellow.”

The fuse continued its slow burn, sparks inching their way towards the cone. When it reached the paper, the blue stripes on the paper started burning, releasing a crackling sound. The top of the cone exploded almost immediately, launching an amber-colored fireball of sparks high into the sky.

Spike groaned. “Of course it’s yellow.” Spike glanced over at Rarity and waved her over. She walked over without question, and Spike threw a hoof around her. He then threw a hoof around Twilight and pulled them both close to him. “Hold on, it’s gonna get rough.”

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, reality twisted in on itself. Colors burned, ringing in her ears and leaving an acidic smell on her tongue. Light flooded the space around her as she watched from nearby, and just when it seemed like it was getting to be too much…

When Spike popped back into existence, he was upside down. He was also a decent distance above the ground. He looked “up,” and managed to yell out three words before gravity claimed him. “Of course not!” The pony hit the rock below with a loud thud. He laid there for a moment, groaning in pain before rolling over and standing up.

The terrain was different, but that was to be expected. It was rocky, the same sort of stone that made up the trail they had been following, but the vegetation was much more sparse. A quick glance to either side told the pony why. To one side, beyond a wide plateau scattered with trees, a gentle slope led down to an expanse of trees with plains and more trees beyond it. A small town sat just beyond the first expanse of forest, most likely Dragonspire. To the other side, there was a large cave leading into the side of a mountain top. There were no dragons in sight.

Spike sighed and brushed his mane back with a hoof. “I guess I’m the first one he-“ A shadow suddenly appeared over the pony and the surrounding area. He looked up. “Applejack?!” He screamed as the large dragon started falling. He threw as much power as he could into his telekinesis and caught her. She slowed down, but didn’t stop. He threw himself on his back as he kept pushing with his magic, eventually bringing the farmer to a stop less than a hoof’s width from his snout. He gritted his teeth as he did his best to keep her up, and himself un-pancaked, grunting under the effort. “Aw, jeez, you’re heavy.”

“No duh!” The dragin looked around, wiggling around in Spike’s telekinetic grip to move her head. “What’s goin’ on? Why am Ah upside-down? Why is-“

“Stop moving!” The pony shouted at the farmer as she fell a little more, coming a bit closer to the pony. Applejack followed the command, falling silent as she ceased her struggles. Spike breathed heavily as he tried to push more power into levitating the dragin away from him, but it was useless. He couldn’t do any more than hold her in place. He checked around him to make sure there was no one else under the farmer’s shadow. “Applejack, will you be ok if you fall on your back?”

“Ah’m a dragon, ain’t Ah?” She yelled. “Who do ya think yer talkin’ to?”

“Right, sorry.” Spike braced all four hooves against Applejack’s back. He slowly started diverting power away from his telekinesis. He growled and pushed up as the farmer’s weight started to return. His growl turned into a yell as he continued weakening his spell. Once he had enough power separated from his telekinesis, he cast his protection spell. Hopefully, if anything went wrong, that spell would be enough to keep him alive. As soon as he was done casting his protective spell, he poured everything he had into lifting Applejack. He poured every last bit of his magic into the telekinesis, and at the same time, he pushed with his legs, forcing the magically-negated mass of the large dragon away from him. At that moment, his magic gave out, but the dragon was far enough away. He rolled over and bent his hind-legs beneath him in one smooth movement. He then launched himself forward and out from under the dragin as she fell to the ground. Spike hit the ground less than a second before the dragin, rolling with his momentum as a shockwave of dust assaulted him.

He coughed as he pulled himself to his hooves. There was a quiet popping noise, and Rarity appeared next to him, right-side-up, and just high enough off the ground to have to land. The pony looked around, searching the dust cloud for any trace of the rest of their party. Fluttershy appeared in mid-air, still unconscious, but Bard appeared underneath her almost immediately and plucked her from the sky before landing gently on the mountainside. Rainbow Dash appeared next. She was quite far away from the mountain compared to the rest, but she was flying toward it, and still had her inertia carrying her forward at high speeds. She had enough time to look up and curse the mountain before colliding with it face first. There was a quiet popping noise behind Spike and he turned around.

Twilight was there, laying on her belly and groaning. “That was a mass teleportation spell, wasn’t it?”

A shadow appeared in the dust cloud behind the hatchling. “Oh? Quite perceptive for one so young.” It was a drake’s voice, gravelly and severe. “You must be the hatchling, Twilight Sparkle.” The shadow moved forward, becoming larger as it approached the hatchling.

Spike took a step toward the shadow, snarling at it. “What are you doing here?”

The shadowy figure started laughing as it continued to grow near. “You handled yourself well, Spike. It seems your magic and strength continue to improve with every passing day.” The being behind the shadow came to a stop just far enough back to remain obscured by the dust cloud. The shadow he cast dwarfed all of them, even Applejack.

“Oh, cut it out.” Spike pointed a hoof at the base of the shadow. “If you were watching, you could have helped me. I almost got flattened!”

“I would have stepped in before you were injured too badly.” The dragon stepped forward, out of the dust cloud, and pointed a claw at Spike. “Let’s see how much you’ve improved since we last met!” He stood on two legs, much like Bard, and shifted into a fighting stance with practiced ease. He was much stockier than Bard though, stout and muscular where the other drake was tall and thin. His scales gleamed in the light that filtered through the dust. They were as grey as stone in the dead of winter. His upswept, multi-pointed horns were light blue, cold-looking, reminiscent of winter ice carved into the form of an angel’s wings. A single row of short, conical spines ran down his forehead. They matched his horns in color and ended between his eyes, or rather, between his eye and where the other should be. An eye-patch covered a large part of the right side of his face. Even the eye he had was far from normal; where there should have been white, there was frost-blue, and in the midst of that, his iris glowed red. Around his neck was a white scarf with stripes of red, with the ends trailing off into the wind behind him. At the end of his squared-off snout, his raised nostrils contracted and dilated in rhythm with his breathing. Two great fangs, wickedly curved and matching the icy color of his horns, jutted from his mouth, reaching as far as his chin.

Spike sighed and lifted his hoof half-heartedly. “I’ll pass.”

Twilight stared at this new dragon for a moment, transfixed by the figure before her. She then started laughing. She fell backwards and started rolling on the ground, clutching at her belly as her laughter filled the mountaintop.

The grey dragon took a step towards the hatchling. “What’s your problem, brat?”

Twilight looked at the dragon, laughter pausing for the slightest moment. She stood up, and cheerfully walked over to the dragon. She placed a claw on top of her head. She then placed a claw on the grey dragon’s head. “I’m taller than you!”

He slapped her claw away. “No, you’re not.” He reached up with one of his own claws, resting it on the tip of one of his horns. “See?”

Twilight crossed her arms in front of her and smirked. “Horns don’t count.”

The grey dragon crossed his arms in front of him as well. “You’re just jealous because I’m taller than you.”

The hatchling turned her nose up at him. “Well, I’m only nine years old, so I have plenty of time to grow. How old are you?”

“Hmph!” The drake stuck his snout in the air. “I happen to be one thousand, four hundred and ninety-two years old.” He poked Twilight in the chest and leaned forward, looking the hatchling in the face with his good eye. “And, I thought the same thing when I was your age.”

Twilight’s face went blank. Her mouth opened and closed slowly, without any sound, as she processed the drake's words. She ran for Rarity, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m going to be small forever!”

When Twilight reached her, the dragoness wrapped a claw around the little, purple dragon. “No you’re not, you’ve been growing steadily since I met you. I don’t think you’re going to just up and stop now, do you?”

The hatchling sniffed loudly as she held on to Rarity’s leg. “I hope not, but how can you be sure?”

“Well, I’m not sure, deary, but trust me on this.” Rarity leaned over toward Spike and whispered to him, “Who is this? And why did he just make Twilight cry?”

Spike could feel the anger dripping from the dragoness’ words. He whispered back, “If any dragon in this world could truly be called cruel, it’s that one. He’s known for the utter destruction, both mental and physical, that he brings to those who oppose him. Even his allies aren’t safe from his whims. He brings everything to the utmost extreme, and then pushes it until it breaks. He’s the top official of the Draconican military, personal aide and advisor to Celestia, and, unfortunately, the closest thing I have to a father.” Spike sighed and held a hoof out in front of him, gesturing to the small grey dragon. “Everydragon, meet General Ice Heart.”

By the end of Spike’s explanation, Ice Heart was beaming, smiling widely and resting his fists on his hips. “And don’t you forget it! Nice to meet you, everydragon.” He walked up to Spike and pointed up at the pony’s face. “Now, fight me!”

Spike whipped his hoof out, catching the smaller dragon in the face, and sending him rolling back into the settling dust cloud. “No! All you ever want to do is fight, and I’m not going to go along with it!”

Rarity looked back and forth between the pony and the rapidly disappearing cloud of dust. “Uh, Spike, was he wearing bunny slippers?”

“Yes.” Spike lifted his front hooves and flexed his ankles. “He always wears those, and that stupid striped scarf, and those ugly green swim trunks. He even wore those to a diplomatic meeting with the dragon colonies of the western islands. He almost started a war because he refused to go without slippers for one day!” Spike started shaking his joints out and stretching. “He’s a menace!” The pony’s ear twitched and he looked over at the shrinking dust cloud. It was now only slightly larger than Ice Heart himself, and no doubt being held together by magic. “Here he comes.”

Ice Heart started laughing, a booming noise that echoed off the mountainside. “Fine! Don’t fight me then, you’re boring anyway.” The last remnants of the dust cloud faded, revealing nothing but a patch of barren rock. “Perhaps your friends are more interesting. That girl next to you is definitely pretty enough, though she looks like she’s had a rough time recently.” His voice was bouncing off the rocks, making it impossible to tell where it was coming from. “Rarity, if I’m not mistaken.” A whistling sound from above made Spike and the dragoness next to him look up. Ice Heart was diving towards Rarity at forty-five degree angle, claws outstretched and travelling very fast. “How about a kiss to make you feel better?”

Spike planted his front hoof in front of the dragoness and spun around, using that hoof as a pivot. “Kiss this!” He kicked his rear hooves out the moment Ice Heart was in range. The impact of hooves against dragon flung the diminuitive drake through the air. He slammed into the side of the mountain, horns first, and stuck there.

Sticking out horizontally from the rock face, Ice heart crossed his claws in front of him. “I see you’ve gotten a little faster as well.” He held one claw out in front of him, pointing it at the sky. “But don’t think that’s enough to beat me!”

Spike placed himself between Rarity and Ice Heart, before pointing at the general with his hoof. “Where are you even pointing? You’re stuck, aren’t you? Doesn’t that mean that you’re pinned? By your own rules, you have to admit defeat.”

Rarity stood up gave Twilight a little nudge. “Let’s go, dear, I believe these two have some issues to work out.” She glanced at the old drake stuck to the mountain before starting to walk away. “We probably shouldn’t get involved.”

“You’re already involved!” With a sharp grunt, Ice Heart curled his body, almost touching his bunny slippers to his face. Once he was curled as far as he could go, he sprung back, planting his feet against the rock below him. In the same motion, he pulled his head free from the mountainside, dislodging the chunk of rock stuck to his horns, and launched it at Rarity.

Spike jumped between the dragoness and the block of stone, taking a hit to the face in exchange. Even through his protection spell, the impact with the stone had enough force to bust his lip. “Are you crazy?! What if that had hit her?! Or Twilight?!”

Ice Heart just took his fighting stance again, one claw held open in front of him to guard, the other held back in a fist, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. “You sound angry. Care to do something about it?”

Spike rushed forward. “Just leave them out of it!”

Ice Heart ran to meet him. “Make me!” The tiny general launched himself at the pony, aiming a spinning kick at Spike’s chin.

Spike dodged the attack by crouching low to the ground, using his momentum to slide under the attacking drake. Once he was clear of Ice Heart’s attack, he dove for the dragon, launching a series of punches with his right front hoof. Ice heart dodged or blocked each one with quick movements, using the minimum amount of effort to avoid any single attack. After several punches, Spike punched his right hoof into the ground and brought his left hoof around in a sweeping strike that Ice Heart couldn’t dodge. The drake caught the attack with his shoulder, spinning with the attack to lessen the impact. As he turned, he grabbed the hoof and pushed it along its own path, adding enough weight to the pony’s motion to force him into a spin of his own.

Spike turned with the inertia, using it to line up a double kick with his back legs. Ice Heart jumped the moment Spike launched the kick. He landed on the pony’s head and jumped off immediately, ending up on the ground in front of the mountainside.

The pony launched himself at the drake, throwing a wild punch straight at his head. The drake leapt into the air at the last moment, and Spike’s attack struck the mountainside, crushing some of the stone below his hoof. Ice heart grunted lightly as he landed behind the pony. “You’ll never hit me like that.”

Spike smiled. “Who said I was aiming for you?” Spike’s horn lit up, and he flung his hoof skyward, launching countless small shards of stone into the air. They hovered there as he launched himself back and into the air with his hind-legs, somersaulting over Ice Heart and landing on the other side of him.

“Oh? Going on the offensive?” Ice Heart launched himself at Spike again, aiming a jab at the pony’s nose. “Think again!” Spike sidestepped and launched a jab of his own. Ice Heart backflipped away from the attacking hoof, and Spike launched one of the stone shards at him. The dragon caught the shard before landing, and threw it back at Spike the moment his feet touched the ground. Spike knocked the shard out the air with another and launched himself at Ice Heart. He attacked the dragon with a flurry of punches, and Ice Heart dodged each one, but every time the dragon moved, Spike launched another stone at him, forcing him back.

After several dodges, and being forced back by the flying stones, the dragon’s back hit the side of the mountain. Spike lunged forward. “Now, I’ve got you!” Ice Heart just smirked as the pony’s hoof swung towards him.

It passed through the empty space between Spike and the mountainside. The pony immediately scrambled back and started scanning the area, looking for any sign of the small general. Ice Heart appeared to Spike’s right, grinning madly. “Not bad.” Without moving his body, the pony launched a stone shard at the dragon. Ice Heart was gone before the stone made it to him. He appeared on the pony’s left, and Spike launched another stone. The dragon disappeared just as quickly. “What’s the matter, am I going too fast for you?” The dragon started appearing and disappearing at random around the pony.

With each appearance, Spike launched a stone shard at the spot where the dragon appeared, and one at the spot he thought the dragon would appear next. Ice Heart was teleporting so quickly that it was only seconds before the pony ran out of stone shards. Once they were gone, the dragon appeared behind Spike and crossed his claws. “Now what? You’re out of rocks.”

Spike just smiled as the glow around his horn faded. “I am now.”

A large rock, about the size of Ice Heart’s head fell on the small dragon. He didn’t move for a moment, and just stared at Spike. “Not bad, but it’ll take more than that.” He picked up the rock and tossed it at the pony. He then disappeared. He reappeared in front of Rarity and Twilight, both of whom let out short shrieks at his sudden presence. He nodded to the two dragons before saluting. “While I have a moment, please allow me to sincerely apologize for my actions earlier. It goes against everything I believe in to involve innocents in a fight, but I did what was necessary for the sake of my successor’s training. Again, I apologize, and please know that at no time were you ever actually in any-“

The large rock from earlier slammed into Ice Heart’s side, knocking him into a nearby tree. Spike ran up to Rarity and Twilight. “Are you ok? What’d he say to you?”

Ice Heart started laughing from where he leaned against the tree. “All I did was apologize to them, but you should know that. Just like you should know that the same old tricks won’t work on me.”

“Fine!” Spike took a few steps toward Ice Heart. “How about a new one?” Spike’s horn lit up, and he took a deep breath, sucking as much air as he could into his lungs. He held it in for a moment before releasing it in a rolling blast of flame. Bright orange and yellow tendrils of fire twisted and curled in on themselves as they sped across the ground toward Ice Heart.

The drake smirked. “A good bluff, Spike, your illusions are getting better and-“ Ice Heart’s smirk disappeared just before the flames engulfed him.

Spike turned to Rarity. “Don’t fall for his mind-games, just when you think he’s your friend, he’ll throw you into the depths of hell, just for the fun of it.” The pony looked back at the flames surrounding the tree where Ice Heart once stood. “And if he really likes you, he’ll do it twice.”

The dragoness didn’t get to respond before a blast of steam nearly knocked her over. She looked over at the source of the blast. Ice Heart stood at the base of the tree, rather, he stood at the base of what used to be a tree. At the moment, it was little more than a charred stump. The drake was panting as smoke drifted from his scales. “I was not expecting that. Good job, Spike, but it’s not over yet.” Ice Heart Launched himself forward, shooting straight past Spike. He started running away from the other dragons, around to the far side of the mountain.

“You’re not getting away!” Spike took off after him, leaving Rarity and Twilight behind.

The hatchling sighed and looked up at her guardian. “They get along well, don’t they?”

“I suppose.” Rarity looked down at Twilight. It always surprised her how solidly the little hatchling grasped the concept of sarcasm. “And, I suppose I’ve been using that phrase far too often, haven’t I?”

“Yep.” The hatchling nodded slowly before slapping a claw to her face. “Now he’s got me saying it wrong.” Twilight looked over at Spike as he ran after Ice Heart. As small as Ice Heart was, he was incredibly fast, and the pony was struggling to keep up. The two fighters were almost out of sight when Ice Heart doubled back, leaping over Spike before trying to attacking from behind. Spike launched his hind-quarters up to avoid it, keeping his front hooves on the ground. He stomped at the drake, but Ice Heart jumped out of the way. The short dragon immediately launched himself at the pony’s face, throwing punches and kicks too fast for the hatchling to follow. Spike defended himself just as quickly, blocking and dodging so fast that, at times, he was little more than a blur in Twilight’s eyes. The hatchling watched intently, trying to figure out where each attack would land. Ice Heart’s spinning movements and flips were difficult to follow, and Spike’s sharp linear motions gave no indication of his next action. The hatchling groaned in frustration. They shouldn’t be able to move this fast. “Come on, Spike! You can do it!”

Ice Heart looked over at the hatchling as he continued his barrage of attacks. He threw a wide punch at Spike, lowering his guarding arm so Spike would block and try to counter-attack. Less than a second before the pony’s hoof came into contact with the drake’s fist, he opened his claw and twisted his wrist. The dragon’s claw wrapped around the pony’s leg like a snake, and Ice Heart used the momentum he still had to pull Spike off balance and throw him over his shoulder and into some nearby bushes. The drake then pointed a claw at Twilight. “Who do you think you’re cheering for?! We shorties have to stick together, you know!”

Twilight pointed right back at him. “You’re just jealous that I’m taller than you!”

“No, you’re not!” Ice Heart stomped his claws, looking like a hatchling in the midst of a tantrum. “Horns count, I can get the Princess to sign it into law, if I have to!”

Rarity sighed loudly. She sure was meeting a lot of… unique creatures lately.

Spike launched himself out of the bushes and tried to grab Ice Heart, but the drake jumped up and onto the pony’s head. He then jumped off and ran toward the mountain. Spike ran after him. Ice Heart jumped again, landing on the nearly vertical mountainside and running toward the peak of the mountain. The pony followed him, if at a slightly slower speed. Near the top, Ice heart jumped into the air again, flipping once before landing on the very top of the mountain with both claws stretched out to the side. He breathed out slowly. On the next inhalation, the drake rotated his arms in a wide circular motion, pointing his left claw straight up, and his right straight down.

Spike’s eyes went wide for a moment, but he kept running. He grinned at the drake as he grew closer. “Now who’s bluffing? It’s still daylight out.”

Ice Heart didn’t say anything. He brought his claws together in front of him, forming a square that he could look through as if he was framing a picture. When he neared the top of the mountain, Spike leapt at Ice Heart. The drake pulled his claws apart, forming a square force field of bright, white light in front of him. Spike slammed into the box of light and stuck to it.

Ice Heart took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He shifted his stance, and pulled his right fist back. “Lunar Judgement!” He punched his fist into the center of the force field and it flared up so brightly that the dragons watching from below were forced to turn away. The light then exploded out, away from Ice Heart, expanding and traveling down the mountain and over the landscape with a deafening, silent, roar.

The wave of light came to a stop somewhere in the forest below. As it faded, the destruction it left in its wake was revealed. A line of stone was torn out of the mountain, as if a massive claw reached out and ripped it away. Beyond the mountain, as the light had gotten farther from its source point, the destruction had spread across a wider area. Dirt, stone, and trees lay torn from the ground wherever the light had touched.

Ice Heart hopped down from the mountain’s peak, landing in front of Rarity and Twilight as they stared in horror at the terrible scar on the earth that had replaced the pony. Ice Heart looked over at the Twilight. “The pure light of the moon judges the hearts and minds of those on whom it is unleashed. Don’t worry, he’ll be-“ The drake suddenly stopped and looked up at Rarity. He stared at her for a moment before looking away. He crossed his claws and sighed quietly. “Oops.”

Rarity gaped at the drake. “Oops? What oops?” The dragoness nudged Twilight out of the way before advancing on the drake, growling in a low voice, “He had better be ok, you little-“

“Ah! No, no, no.” Ice Heart stepped back, rapidly waving one claw between him and the angry dragoness. “I’m sure he’s fine, he’s gotten hit by this plenty of times.” The drake scratched at the back of his neck. “Of course, I don’t recall him ever noticing dragins before, but you are a rather pretty one, and that may be a bit of a-“

Rarity snarled at him, baring her teeth at the smaller drake. “Go, find him.”

“Right away!” Ice Heart saluted quickly and ran away from the dragoness, leaping off a nearby ledge into the forest below. He landed heavily in the forest below, and dusted himself off. “Spike, that is one scary lady you’ve got there, you better hold on to her.”

The drake sighed and closed his eyes. He stood silent for a moment, listening to the forest. Among the sounds of life and frightened animals, there was one that stood out. There was a faint clinking noise coming from nearby. Ice Heart started running towards the sound.

After about a minute’s run, the drake could make out purple through the trees. He stopped running and approached slowly. There was a clearing ahead, and the clinking noise was definitely coming from the purple mass in that clearing, but he couldn’t think of any reason why Spike would be making that sort of noise.

As he approached, he saw that the mass of purple was Spike, but there was something odd about him. He appeared to be tied to something.

Spike held his breath as he dug his way out the dirt and rocks he was buried under. Luckily, the rubble was loose enough that he could force his way through without resorting to magic, if he used his magic, Ice Heart would be able to pinpoint his position. Once his head broke through the surface, the pony took a moment to relax, resting his head in the dirt. “Sheesh, Ice Heart, using Lunar Judgement during the day, when did you learn to do that?” The pony pulled himself the rest of the way out of the ground, feeling way too much like a potato for his liking. “This fight isn’t over, not yet anyway.”

Ice heart watched Spike from a branch in a pine tree above the pony. In addition to the ropes binding him, a large, white “x” was painted on the back of his head, and a string of crystals wrapped around his horn. The drake watched as Spike smacked the crystals around his horn against a small stone on the ground.

Ice heart reached up and pulled a pine cone from a nearby branch. Keeping his eyes on Spike, he tossed it at a tree across the clearing from him. It bounced off the tree’s bark and clattered against the branches as the pine cone fell to the ground. Spike immediately closed his eyes and laid his head down, playing dead.

“I see!” Ice Heart jumped out of the tree, landing in front of the pony. “You painted that mark on yourself, tied yourself up with magic, and then used that rock to put on a disruptor matrix.” The drake gave the pony an approving nod. “I don’t know what you hoped to accomplish with this, but I can appreciate the complexity of your plan, whatever it may be.” Ice Heart gave the prone, purple form a swift kick in the ribs. “But, I wasn’t born yesterday!” The pony’s eyes snapped open and he started coughing from the impact. “How long do you plan on sleeping there? Get up, or you’ll be staying down!” The dragon used his claws to rip away the pony’s bindings and the crystals around his horn.

“What are you doing?!” Ice Heart spun to see Spike standing at the opposite end of the clearing, staring at him.

The dragon blinked. “Eh?”

Something sharp press against the side of Ice Heart’s neck. A low metallic voice whispered behind him, “You may as well have been born yesterday, willfully freeing an enemy like that.” He turned his head as much as the pressure on his neck would allow. The other Spike had his horn pressed against his neck and was staring at him with eyes of the wrong color green. “And that last part didn’t even make sense. Now stay still, or you’ll never move again.”

Ice Heart let out a quiet, “hmph,” as he straightened his head and faced forward. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

“Silence!” The other Spike pressed his horn a bit harder into Ice Heart’s neck. “You there, pony! If you value the life of your idiot friend here, you will explain where I am and lead me to the nearest pony settlement.”

Spike looked confused. “There aren’t any pony settlements, and besides that, why should I care?” Spike pointed at the dragon. “I just spent the last twenty minutes trying to beat the tar out of him.”

“Don’t say tar!” Ice Heart pointed at the pony. “It makes me sound old. Use ‘stuffing’, so I seem likable and approachable. It’s all about word choice!”

Spike flexed his hoof twice, pulling it towards him and smiling. “If there wasn’t a hatchling present, I’d have some word choice for you, you old coot.”

“Huh?” The other Spike looked up in confusion for a split second. They were no longer in the forest, they were in a different place, and they were surrounded by dragons.

In that moment, when the fake Spike’s attention was divided, Ice Heart brought his elbow up into the other Spike’s chin, staggering the pony back and causing him to clutch his hooves to his face. “Stay out of the way!” He jumped up and spun around, lashing out with his leg to kick the other Spike away. “Brat!” It tumbled through the dirt and came to rest against a large rock. "Impersonation of a military official is a crime. And besides that…" Ice Heart disappeared and appeared behind the rock that the doppelganger rested against. "You threw off the rhythm of the fight!" Ice Heart punched the rock, shattering it, and sending its pieces and the fake pony skidding across the ground.

The fake rolled to a standing position. It stared at the dragon as drop of green blood dripped from the corner of its mouth. “Military?” The fake looked back just as the genuine Spike launched himself at its back. The fake reared up and spun around, sweeping its front hoof towards Spike’s outstretched hooves. When their hooves met, the fake twisted its leg, tangling it up with Spike’s and bringing the other down across the pony’s face. It slammed the pony down to the ground and held him there. “What did he mean by military?”

Ice Heart dashed forward, but the fake saw him. It turned its head and launched a bolt of pulsing green energy at the drake. He disappeared, and the bolt struck the mountain, leaving a blackened crater. The drake appeared next to the fake’s head and launched a spinning kick at it.

The fake ducked, avoiding Ice Heart’s kick, but that brought its head closer to Spike. The pony brought his rear hoof up, kicking the fake in the face. He then wrapped both rear legs around its neck and twisted his body, throwing the fake. Both Spikes scrambled to their hooves. The real one immediately took a deep breath and held it. That was the marker! Ice Heart rushed the other Spike. He had to keep it busy and away from the real one for two minutes. The drake attacked with a series of punches. The fake twirled away from the dragon’s first attack, hopped back from the second, and flipped over him to get away from the third. After dodging the last attack, the fake went on the offensive. It swung its hooves at Ice Heart as it danced around him, graceful, flowing movements forming complex paths around the drake’s defense. Every time he tried to block, dodge, or counterattack, the fake’s hooves shifted mid-swing and struck the drake about the head and midsection. Ice Heart gave up on tracking the fake’s movements, and brought his claws to either side of his head, taking the hits on his arms instead.

As the fake pony continued to attack him, Ice Heart kept an eye on the real pony. Two minutes was almost up, and he had to be ready for it. He looked up at the fake Spike as it attacked him. “Your movements are good, it’s a shame we’re enemies.” He glanced over at Spike. The two minutes were over. “I’ll remember you.”

Ice Heart launched himself into the air as the real Spike released the breath he held as a continuous stream of incandescent flame. The fake dodged the flames by jumping to the side, but Spike followed it, forcing it to continuously dodge a river of fire. The fake quickly ran out of room to dodge as Spike slowly continued to spread flames over the mountainside. In desperation, the fake leapt into the air, hoping to make it over the pony and counter attack from behind.

Below the fake, the flames suddenly stopped. The real Spike took another deep breath, and the fake looked toward the spot where it would land, mentally calculating how much time it would have to dodge the next blast of flame. At that moment, Ice Heart slammed into the fake from above. They crashed into the ground, and Ice Heart jumped away, yelling at the real pony, “Now!”

The fake had just enough time look up before Spike unleashed another burst of flame, and it was engulfed in a rolling inferno.

Ice Heart landed to Spike’s left as the pony cut off his attack. A few seconds after the flames stopped, Spike spat a flaming glob of saliva at the ground by his hooves. “That’s going to take some getting used to, but it should take that thing a while to recover from this. ” He wiped a hoof at his mouth as the spit hissed and crackled on the stone below, boiling away to nothing. He kept his eyes trained on the flames before him. “It was stronger this time.”

“And you were weaker!” The fake launched itself from the flames. Patches of burnt skin and scalded fur glowed green as they regenerated. It slammed hooves-first into Spike’s side, knocking him over and kicking away from him, using the pony as a springboard to attack Ice Heart. It knocked him aside through sheer size and weight and charged away from him. “Because you were protecting them!” The fake ran towards the dragons watching, straight toward the two smallest ones. Rarity shoved Twilight behind her, and the fake grabbed the dragoness by the neck with both front hooves. “Sorry about this, but blame the pony.” The fake hoisted Rarity up by the neck, holding her between it and the real Spike. The fake watched the pony to see what he would do, but something pulled the fake’s attention back to Rarity. She was smiling.

Even though she was struggling to breathe, choking around the hooves at her neck, the dragoness was smiling at the fake Spike. “You shouldn’t be sorry.” Rarity dug both back claws into the fake’s gut. “I’ve fought worse.” The fake’s grip loosened slightly as it looked down in shock at its abdomen, at the blood leaking out around the dragon’s claws. The decrease in the fake’s grip wasn’t enough for Rarity to break free, so she started slashing at the fake pony’s front legs until it dropped her. She released her hind claws from the fake’s gut as she fell backwards. As soon as she hit the ground, Rarity rolled over and slammed her claw into the rock below. A stone column burst from the ground, launching the fake through the air and toward the other nearby dragons. The fake pony hit the ground and tumbled, leaving a streak of green across the stone of the plateau.

Spike started running toward the fake as it struggled to its hooves. Behind it, the largest dragon of the group lifted one orange claw. “Applejack! No!” Spike coughed loudly. His voice was weak, a combination of having the wind knocked out of him and inhaling dust after his double’s last attack. The orange dragon probably couldn’t hear a thing he said. The duplicate was defeated, it could barely even stand. Sure it could regenerate, but that would take time, and Spike was certain that he could restrain it before that happened. “Wait!”

The farmer’s claw came down with a thunderous crash of crumbling stone. For a moment, nodragon moved. Silence filled the plateau, and slowly, the scattered dragons converged on Applejack’s location. Bard reached the farmer first, leaving the still-unconscious Fluttershy resting comfortably nearby. Rainbow Dash was the next one to make it to the orange dragin. Rarity took a moment to check on Twilight, and to make sure the hatchling stayed where she was, before heading over as well. Spike walked over to Rarity first, then walked alongside her in silence.

Once Spike and Rarity made it to the farmer, she let out a sad sigh. “Ah don’t wanna see it, but Ah guess Ah gotta lift mah claw, don’t Ah?”

Spike nodded slowly. “I’m sorry, but one way or another, we need to make sure.”

“Whoa, hold on.” Rainbow edged her way past Bard to stand next to the pony. “One way or another? Are you trying to say that thing might have survived?”

Spike looked up at the bright dragin. “It survived being cut in half, isn’t it possible that it could survive this?”

Bard put a claw on Rainbow’s shoulder, gently nudging her out of the way. “I’m sorry, Digger, but as a healer, it sounds to me like you’re getting your hopes up for no reason.”

Rainbow looked at the tall drake in confusion. “Hopes?” She looked back at Spike. “Are you saying you want that thing to survive? After what it did to Rarity?”

Spike looked over at the white dragin beside him. “That’s not what I meant, you had to protect yourself, I just…” The pony sighed. “I just wish things had been different. It mentioned something about a pony settlement, it may have had information that I've been searching for, but now that's lost. Maybe, if I was stronger, I could have stopped it without things going this far."

Rarity put a claw on the pony’s shoulder. “I know what you meant, but what about Ice Heart? Isn’t he supposed to be one of the strongest dragons in the world? Even he was having trouble with that thing.”

Bard raised one of his claws a bit. “Actually, my father’s pretty useless during the day.”

“Who are you calling useless?!” All heads turned toward Applejack’s claw. The muffled, gravelly voice was unmistakably Ice Heart’s, but it came from under the farmer’s claw. “And, how long are you going to argue before letting me out of here?” Applejack moved her claw. Underneath, Ice Heart stood over the prone form of Spike’s double with one claw held skyward. His slipper-clad rear claws were embedded in the stone below.

Spike ran forward, followed closely by Rarity. The dragoness sat nearby as the pony laid his ear against his double’s side. “Spike, is it still alive?

Ice Heart laughed as he pulled his claws free from the ground. “Of course it’s alive. I wouldn’t have pulled such a crazy stunt if it wasn’t.” Once free, the general walked over to Spike as the pony lifted his head. “I saved this thing because you didn’t want it to die. I trust you have a reason for making me do such a crazy thing?”

Spike looked over at Ice Heart. His gaze eventually found all the surrounding dragons. Even Twilight had joined them, hiding behind the end of Rainbow’s tail. The pony’s eyes came to a rest on Rarity. “I didn’t want it-“ Spike winced the moment that last word left his mouth. “Her, I didn’t want her to die, because…” The pony looked around at the dragons gathered around him. “Because, she’s like me.”

Rarity moved closer to Spike. She rested a claw against his chest. “Don’t say that,” she growled, “that thing is nothing like you.”

Spike looked down at her claw. He grabbed it in his hooves and gently lifted it. “Rarity, when we first met, you asked me three questions. Do you remember what they were?”

“Of course, I do.” The dragoness blinked. She placed a claw on his shoulder and moved a little closer. “Spike, what is this about?”

“Just, bear with me.” The pony offered a small smile. “Please?

Rarity sighed and looked away from the pony. A slight blush tinted her cheeks as she answered, “The first thing I had to ask was for you to stop staring at me.”

Spike shrugged slightly. “I should probably apologize for that one of these days, huh?” He sighed lightly. “Next?”

Rarity glanced over at the dragons that stood around them, looking for one particular, a little, purple hatchling. “I asked how you knew Twilight’s name.”

Spike nodded. “I still need to explain that to both of you a little better. Do you remember the last thing you asked me?”

Rarity blinked. “Well, if I recall correctly, I asked who you were.”

Spike smiled sadly and shook his head. “No, you didn’t.”

The dragoness gasped softly. “Oh, dear, I asked what you were, didn’t I?”

Spike nodded slowly. “Don’t feel bad about it. Rainbow mistook me for a pet, Applejack called me, ‘that thing’, Fluttershy asked Grumble what I was in front of me, and the mayor thought she was hallucinating when I tried to talk to her. I’ve gotten used to it. In my entire life, there have only been three dragons that didn’t react to me like that, Celestia, Ice Heart, and now, Twilight. I’ve always been-”

“You hear that?!” Ice Heart puffed out his chest. “I’m included in that list because of my natural empathy towards living things.”

Spike sighed and glanced back at the drake. “Your grand-daughter has natural empathy towards living things, you dragged me out of the barracks by my tail, saying, ‘I don’t care who or what you are, but you’re mine now.’ Then, when I begged you to let me say goodbye to Grumble, you dragged him out by the tail. I have half a mind to remove you from that list.” The pony shook his head and rolled his eyes. Then, he blinked twice. “Where is Grumble, anyway?

Applejack laid down carefully, bringing herself a little closer to the conversation. “He went back to town after ya set out fer the river this mornin’.” She removed her hat, and set it down beside her, toying with a string dangling from the banding.. “It can’t be that few dragons, Sugarcube. What about Pinkie? She ain’t said anything, has she?”

Spike looked up at the large dragon. “She asked what I was via official military correspondence, sent directly to Ice Heart’s office after seeing a picture of me a couple of weeks ago. It was a memorable letter, but it was only addressed with her position and initials, so I didn’t realize it was her at first.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “None of this matters!” She stepped forward, inadvertently dragging Twilight along with her. The multi-colored dragin pointed a claw at the pony. “You may not be a dragon, but you know what you are? You’re our friend, and a good one at that.” She gestured at the fake pony next to him. “Why are you so hung up on this thing? It’s a violent monster! It attacked us, and-“

Spike stood up and turned around. He jabbed himself in the chest with a hoof. “And I beat it to a pulp!”

“Because it left you with no choice!” Rainbow lowered her head, staring the pony in the eyes. “Listen to me, I know what it means to be truly violent, and I hate to break it to you, but you don’t fit the bill.”

Spike met the dragin’s gaze. “You’ve known me for what? Two days? Three? How can you say that and be sure? Do you know how many dragons I’ve beaten, hospitalized, and come close to killing over the last two years?” He sat down. “You don’t know who I am! You don’t even know what I am! I don’t even know! I’m a pony. Well, great, what does that even mean?” He looked at all the dragons around him. “I’ve been searching for answers for twenty years, and that’s all I have, a name. One word!” Spike pointed up at Rainbow. “Before you met me, had you ever heard that word before?”

Rainbow recoiled from the pony as if she had been struck. “Don’t ask me that.”

Spike shrugged. “Too bad, I’m asking. If the answer’s no, feel free to lie about it.”

Rainbow slammed a claw against the ground. “You’re my friend, I’m not going to lie to you! Just…” The dragin shook her head. “Just, please, don’t ask me that.”

Spike was about to yell something in response, but he saw tears forming in Rainbow’s eyes. “Why?” The pain in her eyes was unmistakable. “Why does that question hurt you?” Spike looked down. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, but I’m asking. Before you met me, what did the word ‘pony’ mean to you?”

Rainbow swallowed loudly and closed her eyes. “You know that, out of all of us, I was the one that gave you the hardest time, right? I knew what you were the moment you started talking, that day when you were carrying Twilight. That’s why I reacted the way I did. It was the reason I screamed, and it was the reason I zapped your leg. Because I knew what you were, I made sure you couldn’t carry Twilight, so that I wouldn’t have to leave her alone with you.” Tears started falling from her eye sin earnest. “Up until last night, I did everything I could to push you, to provoke you into acting like the monster I thought you were.”

Twilight let go of Rainbow’s tail and walked up to the large dragin’s front claw and patted it gently. “It’s ok, Rainbow, even Fluttershy thought he was a monster. She told me about the book, and I removed it from the library’s catalog. It’s not your fault.”

Rainbow scooped up the hatchling and nuzzled her gently. “Thanks, Twi, but that’s not it. The book I read doesn’t exist anymore.” Rainbow set Twilight down next to Rarity. “Back where I grew up, they had this really great library, and you would have loved it, but it was destroyed years ago. As far as I know, I’m the only one left who ever read the books there, but I didn’t get to read all of them.” Rainbow wiped the tears from her eyes before addressing Spike. “I can tell you what I know about ponies, but we should talk in private. You may not want everydragon to know this.”

Spike shook his head. “No, I’m not going to keep secrets. Tell me here.”

Rainbow sighed softly. “Spike, everything I’m about to say is legend, remember that, and please, know that I don’t even believe it anymore.”

Spike nodded. “I understand. Please, tell me.”

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Everydragon here knows about The Darkness, right? The war, five thousand years ago, where history began anew? Legends from this time are usually overly vague from being passed from generation to generation, or too specific to be useful, coming directly from scattered journals belonging to soldiers of the time.”

Spike glanced back at Rarity. “That’s where I read about the Nothing, a journal from that period that was housed in the royal archives.” He looked back at Rainbow. “As far as I know, there’s only one dragon from that time who’s still alive, and that’s Celestia.”

Rainbow rubbed her claw along the back of her neck. ”That’s another reason I didn’t trust you. That’s also why I asked you those questions about the legend of the moon princess. I was suspicious, because the princess is the only one who could possibly know what I do.”

Ice Heart crossed his arms and started walking away. “I would be surprised if that were the case, but please continue.”

Rainbow looked down at the general. She was tempted to ask him a few questions of her own, but continued her story. “The books I read were written less than a thousand years after the end of the war and carefully maintained in secret since then. Still, I’m sure there were mistakes, or at the very least, exaggerations, in them, so don’t take this too seriously.” Rainbow sighed quietly. “During the war, there was a group known as the Meek. Among them were the children of Typhon, the ponies, and ten thousand dragons.” Rainbow paused for a moment, expecting questions. When none came, she continued speaking. “According to the legends, there were three types of pony, roughly corresponding with the types of dragons. There were ponies of the earth, and there were ponies of the sky, and they lived among the dragons. When the Meek were sent to seek refuge from the war, both ponies and dragons worked together to find safety.”

Rarity moved forward and sat next to Spike. “Rainbow, this doesn’t make sense. Everything you’ve said so far would seem to reflect positively on these ponies.”

Rainbow sighed. “On earth and sky ponies, maybe. I’m paraphrasing a hundred pages of lore here, but the third type of pony, ponies of magic, unicorns, they…” Rainbow swallowed. “They lived among the other ponies. Because of their magic, they were able to work alongside dragons much better than the others. Many of them became leaders among the ponies because of this. According to the legends, these leaders found a place of safety, somewhere beyond the reach of the war, beyond even our world, and all you had to do was follow a path through a gate. Dragons and ponies alike followed the unicorns, crossing the path away from this world, but the unicorns sealed the gates before they could all make it through, even trapping some of the ponies in the middle of the path. Then, they, um-” Rainbow scratched at the vibrant colors of the crest. She didn’t really want to finish her story. After getting to know Spike, she couldn’t believe that it was true. She took a deep breath, slammed her eyes shut, and peeled off the last sentence of her story like her tail was on fire. “The unicorns supposedly pulled the path into hell, slaughtered the remaining dragons and ponies, and plunged the world into darkness after assassinating Typhon and sealing his children in the void.”

After a moment of silence, the bright dragin peeked out of one eye. Spike was looking up at her, wearing a face she recognized well, the face of one who had given up in the middle a fight. The pony slowly brought a hoof to his head. “Rainbow, this gate, please don’t tell me it’s the Tartarus gate.”

The dragin nodded. Spike sighed and stood up. He turned around and started walking away. He only made it a single step before Rarity stopped him with a claw on his shoulder. “Spike, that doesn’t mean anything. It’s all just legend. There’s no way to be sure it’s true, and even-”

Spike offered the dragoness a soft smile and gently slid her claw off his shoulder. “Actually, there is a way.” The pony looked over his shoulder, at the brightly colored dragin nearby. “Rainbow, was the path itself ever described in the legends?” When she nodded, Spike added, “Was it a tiled path? Lined with squares of white stone, and edged with structures of red clay?” Rainbow closed her eyes and nodded. “Well,” Spike scoffed, “what do you know?” The pony looked at the dragoness and shrugged angrily. “I guess I clean up pretty well for a monster.”

The dragoness slapped him across the face. “Stop that, this instant! You are not a monster.” She rested her claws on his shoulders. “Why are you acting like this? It doesn’t matter what those other ponies were like, that was thousands of years ago. You’re here now, and you’re different. We-“ Her breath caught in her throat, and she pulled one claw away from the pony. “I mean…” She clutched the claw to her chest. “I… I care about you.”

Spike refused to look at the dragoness as he brought a hoof up to rub at his face. “You’ve got a funny way of showing it.” Rarity pulled her other claw away. She stared at the pony in stunned silence for a moment, jaw working wordlessly as she failed to respond. Then, she started backing away. Spike’s eyes went wide when he noticed the look on her face, and he turned to face the dragoness. “No, Rarity, I didn’t mean-“

“Fine!” The dragoness’ voice cracked, and she turned away from him. “If you want to call yourself a monster, then go ahead and do it. I’ll be sure to treat you as such.” She stormed away.

Nearby, Ice heart brought a claw to his face and shook his head in disbelief. “Spike!” The drake hopped off the rock he was sitting on and walked toward Spike. “Saving your idiocy for later, just how far did you make it beyond the gate?”

The pony scratched his head, but didn’t look at the drake. His attention was still on the dragoness. “No more than a hundred leagues. Does that matter? I’m sure you traveled farther than that.”

“A hundred?” The small drake walked up to the pony until he was standing directly in front of him. “This is important, Spike. At any time did you have trouble breathing? Or using your magic?”

Spike shook his head. “No, except for when I tired myself out chasing that stupid Cerberus. Why are you asking me this? You never showed interest in these details before.”

Ice Heart sighed and looked down. “It seems that was my mistake.” He placed a claw on the pony’s leg and looked up at him. “I have entered the Tartarus gate one hundred and thirty-seven times. I have only once made it more than two leagues beyond the gate, and it nearly cost me my life. When a dragon enters the gate, his magic is drained, and it becomes difficult to breath. The farther you travel from the gate, the worse it gets.”

“Oh, goody, more proof that I’m a monster.” Spike sighed and looked over at Rarity. “Look, can we talk about this later, I have to try to apologize.” He walked past Ice Heart, heading towards Rarity.

Ice Heart sighed as well. He jumped in front of Spike, then yanked the pony’s front legs out from under him, and head-butted the pony in the chin as he fell. “I was praising your accomplishments, idiot!” The drake turned and walked away from the fallen pony as he writhed in pain. “And get over this monster thing, it’s boring! A monster would never care if it was a monster or not, nor would it care about the feelings of those around it. No matter how bad you are at protecting those feelings, or expressing your own!”

Twilight ran over to Spike as he pulled himself from the ground. “He’s right, Spike. And, even if you were a monster, you’d be our monster.” She latched onto his neck and held on as he sat up, lifting the hatchling off the ground. She moved her head a little so she could whisper to him, “but, you really need to go apologize, you made her really sad.”

“I will, thanks, Twi.” The pony rubbed at his chin before patting the hatchling on the back. “But, I’ve been searching for answers for so long, I don’t know what to do with this one. If the rest of my kind were monsters, what if I’m like them? Even by just a little bit?”

“History is not always what it seems.” Spike spun around as his double started to speak, moving to protect the hatchling hanging from his neck. The fake pony started laughing and flicked a hoof lazily in the air. “Relax, it would be pointless for me to fight you now. But, remember, history is written by those who survive. Things are forgotten, willfully omitted, or even forged, and it’s all based on the needs of the victor. Even if unicorns were involved in the events your friend described, you can be certain it was a relatively small number of them, not the entire population.”

Spike backed away from his double and pushed Twilight behind him. Rarity positioned herself beside him, between Twilight and the fake, any animosity towards the pony forgotten for the sake of the hatchling’s safety. “Why are you speaking to us now?”

“That story answered a lot of questions for me.” The fake Spike turned his head to look at the original. “What’s the matter? After that wonderful speech defending me, you’re afraid to have a little chat? I just want to talk. Monster to monster, what do you say?”

Spike sighed as he brought a hoof to his forehead. He was careful not to take his eyes off his duplicate. “You cause a lot of headaches, you know that?”

The fake smiled. “Of course I know that, headaches are my specialty. They can be very useful.” It tapped its hooves together. “Even if I had claws, like all your friends, I doubt I would be able to count the number of times I’ve put headaches to good use.”

The real pony shook his head. “Fine, let’s talk, but not with you looking like that. Change into your true form.”

“You sure about that? You may be upset by it.” The doppelganger sat up slowly. “Though, protecting my identity is meaningless anymore, so I’ll even tell you my name.” She brushed dried green blood from her midsection, revealing unbroken fur below. The fake glanced over at Rarity. “Your claws are quite sharp, so I healed rather quickly. Though, not quite as sharp as your coltfriend’s attack. Still, I should thank you for not twisting your claws when you had the chance.”

“One time offer for new customers.” The dragoness bared her teeth at the fake. “Feel free to offer repeat business.”

The fake rolled her eyes. “That was completely level-headed, and not overtly passive-aggressive at all.” She lifted a hoof and rested it against her belly. “I’ll transform as soon as the internal damage is done healing, it should only be a few moments.” She looked at Spike. “If you are truly the only pony alive in this world, then I will not survive long anyway.” She glanced around. “A world of dragons with one pony, it’s almost like they planned this.” The fake pointed up at Applejack. “You, obtuse one! How many members were there on the caravan that was sealed in Tartarus?”

The farmer picked her hat up and stuck it back on her head. “Ah ain’t obtuse! And, why ya askin’ me?” The orange dragin pointed at Rainbow. “It’s her story.”

The fake looked over at the indicated dragon. “Just tell me if there were nine members.”

Rainbow and Applejack exchanged glances. The brightly colored dragon then looked down at the fake pony. “How could you possibly know that?”

A green glow started to surround the fake pony. “Because I am descended from those nine.” Everydragon went on guard as the glow grew brighter and brighter, until the fake appeared to be made of green-tined light. Rarity backed away, taking Twilight with her. Spike stayed where he was, but stood up and took up a defensive stance. The fake’s form shifted, growing slightly taller and thinner. Her mane and tail changed shapes, as did her horn. New shapes sprouted from her back and head. Once the changes were complete, the glowing light shattered outward.

Pieces of light landed at Spike’s hooves, slowly fading to reveal chunks and pieces of green and purple, fur and hair. Spike prodded one of the pieces. It broke into pieces like a ceramic dish would. Where his copy once stood, a new creature had taken its place, having shed its mask of the pony’s form. The overall shape of its body was the same, but that was all. It stood about a hoof’s width taller than Spike, mostly thanks to her long, jagged horn. She was now much thinner as well, with a slightly shiny black body. Blue-green metallic plates covered her back and abdomen, giving her a slightly armored appearance. Her dark blue mane was long and flat, and fell to her knees. Her tail, slightly shorter than Spike’s, matched her mane in color and style. Her eyes were pale and green, with cat-like slits for pupils. Thin, gossamer wings extended from her back. Atop her head sat what appeared to be a black crown topped with blue gems. The most distinct feature, to Spike anyway, was her hooves. Even after her transformation, she still had hooves. Above them, her legs were riddled with holes, and the way the light caught their edges gave her legs the appearance of a sharp, edged weapon.

The transformed fake stood tall and closed her eyes, lifting one hoof to her chest and striking a regal pose. “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.”

Spike loosened his stance, straightening up and scratching his chin. The transformation was impressive, but he had been expecting the change to be much more… drastic? “You still have hooves and a horn, are you a unicorn too?”

Chrysalis sighed loudly. “No, I’m not a unicorn, were you even listening?” She looked over at Spike. “I’m a cha- W-wait a minute, were you always this tall?” She lifted a hoof to the top of her head. “Did I shrink? I should be looking down on you. Literally, of course.”

Spike glanced around. “You know, I think that’s the first time any, uh, anyone ever said I was tall. But you were masquerading as me, shouldn’t you know how-“

Chrysalis reached forward, grabbing the pony by the face and forcing his mouth open. “I didn’t have a good frame of reference.” She peered into his open mouth. “You have fangs. Why do you have fangs?” Spike jerked his head back and Chrysalis ran her hoof along her own teeth. “They’re almost as big as mine.”

Spike took a step away from the changeling. “Just so you know, when you just stopped trying to kill someone, it’s probably not a good idea to grab their face like that.”

Chrysalis started laughing. “I wasn’t trying to kill you, not the first time anyway.” The changeling brushed a hoof over her mane, knocking the crown from her head. “I was just trying to brainwash you and take your place.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “That’s much better.”

Chrysalis smiled and nodded happily. “I know, right?” She turned around and put a hoof to her chin, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. “He’s a bit different,” she muttered to herself, “some sort of proto-pony? Intelligence level seems a tad high, but there may be some hope for some sort of herd structure. This situation may yet be salvaged.” She rubbed her hooves together. “All I have to do is make him feel sorry for me.” A low chuckle escaped her throat as she sat and schemed.

Spike sat down. The more this creature revealed about herself, the more the pony was reminded of a certain superior officer. “You know, maniacal laughter doesn’t exactly do much to put others at ease.”

The changeling froze in place, realizing that she had been speaking out loud. She turned to face Spike, kicking the crown at her hooves away from her. “You would laugh too, were you in my place.” A single tear rolled down her cheek as she took another step toward the pony. “I was the queen of a mighty empire, and now, I have nothing.

The changeling’s crown rolled to a stop near Twilight’s feet. The hatchling looked down at it. The blue stones on its points wobbled as the crown itself swayed slightly, almost as if it was made of rubber. Twilight picked it up carefully. The stones wobbled again, making the hatchling giggle. She looked up at Chrysalis. “Excuse me?” She held the crown out in front of her. “You still have this.”

The changeling glanced over. She took a step towards the hatchling, stopping when every dragon, and the one pony in the area visibly tensed up.

Rarity took the crown from Twilight. “What are you thinking,” the dragoness hissed quietly, “that’s dangerous!” She pushed the hatchling behind her and held the crown out to Chrysalis, glaring at the changeling the entire time. “Here is your property back.”

The changeling glanced at the surrounding dragons before moving forward slowly. This could work to her advantage. She took hold of the crown. “I have no need for it anymore.” She tried to look around the dragoness at the hatchling, but Rarity moved to block her. The changeling stepped back. “I used most of my remaining power to undo the seal of my transformation, I wouldn’t be able to fight you if I wanted to.”

Rarity stared at her. “Then what’s your goal? I see the look in your eyes, surely you have a reason for everything you’ve done?”

“Survival.” Chrysalis shrugged. These dragons were going to be annoying. “But, that’s no longer an option for me, so the best I can hope for is remembrance.”

Rarity glanced back at the hatchling behind her before edging out of the way slightly. “Move carefully,” she warned the changeling.

Chrysalis nodded slowly. ”I will.” She looked at the purple hatchling. “What is your name, little one?”

The hatchling glanced up at Rarity before answering. “Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.”

The changeling’s eye twitched. This had to be a joke, some sort of cruel joke. Some sort of illusion? Forced hypnosis, maybe? Chrysalis smiled down at the hatchling. She could have revenge right now, but that decision would mean she had to ditch her chance at survival. Mind made up, she took the crown and set it on the hatchling’s head. “Dragons live for a long time, right? Hold on to that, and remember that it took four of you to take me down.”

Twilight looked up at her. “What’s going on? Why don’t you want your crown?”

Chrysalis blinked, feigning innocent confusion. “That’s not a crown.”

Twilight picked it up and looked at it before setting it back on her head. “It sure looks like a crown.”

The changeling nodded. “Sure it does, but it’s actually my antennae. See?” She gestured up to her head, where an identical crown-like structure now sat. “It grows back.”

“Ew!” The hatchling scrambled to knock it off her head. “Get it off! Get it off!”

Chrysalis laughed and walked away. She winked at Spike. “I bet she’ll remember me for sure, now.” She shook her head slightly. There was no way the pony would ever feel sorry for her now, but the chance was far too perfect to pass up.

Spike sighed and glanced over at Twilight. Rarity had removed the so-called crown from Twilight’s head and was trying to calm the hatchling. The pony shook his head. “Do you torture others just for fun?”

“Eh?” Chrysalis smiled at him. “Is it that obvious?”

Spike groaned. “Look, what did you mean when you said that survival wasn’t an option for you?”

The changeling sat in front of Spike. “Do you love me?”

Spike blinked. “What?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Do you think you could? Given time, and the right circumstances?”

Spike shook his head slowly. “How hard did I hit you?”

Chrysalis sighed and looked at the sky. “I can’t brainwash you for some reason, and you’re the only pony in this world. I am going to die because of that.” She laid down and rolled onto her back. “It’s oddly liberating, knowing that. None of my changelings are with me, I have no hive to command, and I have no responsibilities to anyone or anything anymore. All I have to do is sit around and wait to die.”

“No, you’re not.” Spike stood over the changeling and looked down at her. “Sure, it’s tough not being a dragon, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to die, not unless you do something stupid. I’ll make sure you get whatever sort food you need, and I’m sure we can find someplace for you to live. They’re bound to accept you at least as well as they accepted me. Probably even better, since you can’t be mistaken for livestock.”

The changeling reached up and patted the side of the pony’s face. “It’s almost cute how badly you failed to listen to me.”

A sharp pain exploded in the pony’s side. He looked down to see Ice Heart poking him with both claws. “Spike, is your horn broken?”

The pony swung a hoof at the small drake. “Of course not!”

Ice Heart jumped back before the pony’s hoof could reach him. “Then why haven’t you scanned her yet?”

Spike rubbed his hoof along his side, checking the spot where Ice Heart poked him. His skin wasn’t broken, but Spike was pretty sure he was going to have a bruise later. “I was trying to recover from our fight. That fire-breathing spell’s brand new, so there’s a lot of wasted magic.”

The drake crossed his claws. “So, your magic is recovering.” He pointed at Chrysalis. “What about hers? Her magic hasn’t recovered at all, it just keeps draining away. Fortunately, it’s slowed down since she recovered, but even at this rate, I’d say she has just over two weeks before her magic is completely drained.”

“What?” Spike looked down. “Is this true? Are you sick? We can take care of you while your magic is gone.” The pony glanced back at Rarity and Twilight before looking back at Chrysalis. “There should be a doctor in town, and I know chicken soup helps me get over scramble flu when I get it.”

The changeling looked over at Ice Heart. “He sure is dense, isn’t he?” She looked over at Spike. “I don’t know what it’s like for dragons, and I’m not even sure what it’s like for ponies, but changeling magic doesn’t recover on its own, and we will die without it. We must feed on-” Chrysalis blinked rapidly. “Did you say chicken?”

Spike blinked back. “Yes, is that what you have to eat? I can go get some and cook it for you.”

“What?! No!” The changeling waved her hooves wildly in front of her. “That’s just- ugh! You eat meat?”

Spike exchanged glances with Ice Heart. “Yeah, doesn’t everybody? But, if I eat too much, I get a stomach-ache.”

“Well, of course you would!” Chrysalis pulled herself up to a sitting position. “And what do you mean, too much? How much is that, exactly?”

Spike chewed on his lip for a moment and made some measurements in the air with his hooves. After a long pause, he said, “about half a foal.”

The changeling stared at him with wide eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly. “Half? Of a foal?”

“Oh!” Spike knocked a hoof against his forehead. “You probably don’t know our units of measurement. A foal is one of our basic units of weight.” He pointed at himself. “I weigh approximately seven foals. I don’t know if your transformation changes your weight, but you weigh just over four.”

“Oh!” Chrysalis wiped a hoof across her forehead. “Whew! Simple miscommunication, what a relief. For a moment there…” The changeling rolled her eyes and chuckled nervously. “A foal is a baby pony.”

Spike’s face lit up. “Really?” He rested a hoof on his on his chin and descended into his own little world of thought. “Nodragon knows the origin of our unit system, so there’s speculation that it came from the time of darkness. What if it was created by ponies? I can walk a league in just under an hour. That seems like the exact sort of practical, yet arbitrary, measurement a society would come up with thousands of years ago.” He suddenly looked up. “Wait, what else do you know about ponies?”

Ice Heart jumped up and kicked Spike in the back of the head. “That’s not important right now! She’s dying!”

The pony rubbed the back of his head and shot the drake an ugly look. “No, she just needs to feed on chicken, weren’t you listening?”

Chrysalis slapped a hoof to her face. “Forget what I said about your intelligence, you are obviously an idiot.” She looked at Spike through one of the holes in her leg. “Emotion!” She put her hoof down. “Changelings feed on emotion. For the average changeling, say a drone, or a soldier, interaction with other hive-members is enough to provide sustenance, but those at higher levels, such as myself, require other sources. Of the nine hives, mine is the only one that feeds off of affection. I require love, or I will run out of magic, and perish.”

Spike nodded energetically, seemingly happy despite the changeling’s dire explanation. “Ok!”

Chrysalis glared at him, mildly upset by the pony’s flippant reaction, even though she hadn’t done anything to warrant otherwise. “Could you at least pretend to care?”

“Don’t you see?” Spike looked back and forth between the changeling and Ice Heart. “All we’ve got to do is find you a drake! There’s got to be at least one who isn’t too much larger than you, and wouldn’t be adverse to starting a relationship.”

The changeling’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The pony scratched at his mane. “There’s no guarantee that you’ll hit things off right away, but there’s a good chance-“

Ice Heart jumped on the pony’s head, interrupting the explanation of his plans. “I have a better idea, Spike.” He hopped off the pony’s head and started walking toward the cave. “Let’s go, I’ll tell you about it.”

Spike and Chrysalis exchanged glances. Spike shrugged. “It’s probably best to listen to him. He gets these weird moods, sometimes, and it’s best not to argue.” The pony looked back at the others, silently promising himself that he would find a really good way to apologize to Rarity afterward. “I’ll be right back.” He followed Ice Heart toward the cave.

Chrysalis tagged along behind him, but looked back to wink at Rarity. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.” The dragoness grabbed a small stone and threw it at the changeling. Chrysalis dodged it, sticking her forked tongue out at the dragoness before walking away. Less than a second later, the changeling tripped over a small stone obstruction that appeared in her path.

As she picked herself up and dusted off, Ice Heart reached the mouth of the cave. The drake brought his claws up, holding them on either side of his mouth. He then yelled into the cave. “Kin! Fighting’s over, it’s safe to come out now!”

A loud, rumbling yawn issued forth from the depths of the cave, echoing off the stone like the growl of some fearsome beast. It was immediately followed by a voice that was its opposite in every way. “I’ll be right out, Heart-chan.” The voice was light, a silky, melodic purr. “Let me get Kite-bo ready.”

The drake pointed into the black of the caves depths. “How many times have I told you, I’m your father-in-law, not grandfather, refer to me properly.”

The rustling of cloth sounded from the depths. “Hai, hai, o-ji-san.” The last three syllables were drawn out in a bright sing-song tone. “Better?”

Ice Heart crossed his claws and leaned up against the side of the cave entrance. He sighed as he shrugged against the rock. “Eh, it’s not my fault that idiot son of mine took a thousand years to hatch, you don’t have to take it out on me.”

A shock of pink appeared at the mouth of the cave, long flowing crest-hairs framing a gentle, pale-turquoise face. The dragon emerging from the cave was thin, like Bard, but long and furred. Darker, greenish-blue scales ran along her belly, and the pink of her crest ran all the way to the tip of her tail, and a reinforced leather pouch hung around her neck. She walked past the drake with smooth flowing steps. “Wouldn’t dream of it, otou-san.” She giggled lightly. “You just make it so easy to tease you that I couldn’t resist.”

The diminutive drake shook his head slowly. “Bard has been a bad influence on you, Kin-kun. What would your parents say?”

The graceful dragoness smiled back at Ice Heart. “They would tell me to spend less time around you, and that you used the wrong honorific.” She walked over to spike. She met his eyes, and deliberately broke eye contact for a moment. “It’s wonderful to see you again, Spike-ouji.”

Spike chuckled nervously. “It’s good to see you too, but I’m never going to get used to that title, Kin-san.” He scratched at his mane. “I should have realized Fluttershy was related to you by her crest, but you never mentioned being Ice Heart’s daughter-in-law.”

The charming dragoness stuck her tongue out at the pony. “You never asked, Ouji-sama.”

“Now you’re just teasing me.” Spike sat down and gestured towards Ice Heart. “I get enough of that from him.”

“Of course, that was unfair of me, I apologize.” Kin giggled and sat down as well, taking special care to keep the leather pouch around her neck from touching the ground. “I suppose I have been secretive in regards to my relationships, and I suspect you would understand them quite well. You know what the courts and councils are like, would you force that on anydragon?”

The pony winced and shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t. Getting away from all that was the only up-side of being forced into the military.”

Kin nodded. “I suspect you’ll feel otherwise, given time, but now you see why I was so secretive. I wish to give Shy-chan a choice to avoid politics, if she so desires.” She touched a claw to the pouch at her neck, gently tracing along the flowing, intricate stitching. “Kite-bo as well, if my children wish to follow their own paths, I wish to leave them unburdened by my obligations.”

Spike’s head tilted to the side. “Kite? Unless I’m wrong, ‘bo’ is an honorific for a young male. Fluttershy has a younger brother?”

“Not yet.” Kin carefully removed the pouch from her neck. She opened it just a little and held it out to Spike, revealing the light-blue egg within. “We’re hoping for a drake, so we’re trying to keep it nice and warm.”

Spike smiled and touched a hoof to the egg’s aqua-colored shell. “Hello, Kite.” He sighed quietly. The egg was at least twice as large as he was. “You’re gonna be a big one.”

Behind the pony, Chrysalis looked over the pony’s shoulder, trying to peer into the pouch. She caught a glimpse of shell. “Is that an egg? Isn’t it dangerous to carry it around like that?”

Spike gave the egg a light pat before stepping back and turning to face the changeling. “It’s a dragon egg, until the hatchling inside is ready to hatch, nothing can break its shell.”

Chrysalis stepped forward to get a better look at the egg. “Then why hide from the fight?”

Kin gestured over to the small drake perched against the side of the cave entrance. “He uses ice magic to fight, I didn’t want to risk any exposure to the cold.”

Chrysalis looked back at Spike. “I don’t recall any ice.”

The pony shrugged. “I think he used an ice shield to block my fire breath, but other than that, he was probably avoiding ice magic because of Kite.”

Kin closed the pouch and fastened it back around her neck. “Ouji-sama, I am still waiting for an introduction.”

“Huh?” Spike glanced up at the dragoness. “Oh!” He looked over at the changeling. “This is Chrysalis.”

The dragoness smiled down at the changeling. “It’s nice to meet you, Chrysalis-san. Ever since I met Spike-ouji, I’ve wanted to meet another pony.”

With a loud, “hmph,” Chrysalis sat down and crossed her hooves in front of her. “I’m a changeling, not a pony, and it’s ‘Queen’ Chrysalis.”

“Oh, my.” The dragoness touched a claw to her lower lip. “My apologies, Ohime-sama, forgive me for addressing you so informally.”

Chrysalis sighed and rolled her eyes as she nonchalantly waved one hoof in the air. “Forget it, the title’s pretty much meaningless at the moment.” The changeling uncrossed her hooves. “So, I’m guessing Ohime-sama is some sort of title, probably the equivalent of Queen.” She pointed over her shoulder at Spike. “But, what’s the meaning of the title you gave to pony-boy over there?”

Kin blinked and looked over at Spike. “Ouji-sama?” She looked back down at Chrysalis. “He is the royal prince of Draconica, the son of Celestia-hime.”

The changeling’s lips twisted into a sneer. “Celestia’s son?” She glanced over her shoulder, glaring at the pony standing behind her. “I thought you said there weren’t any other ponies.”

“There aren’t.” Spike scratched at his mane and offered a sheepish smile. “I’m adopted.”

Chrysalis groaned quietly. “Then this Celestia is a dragon.”

“What else would she be?” Kin lowered her head, trying to bring herself to eye-level with the changeling. “You speak as if you know her, how can you not know she is a dragon?”

Spike scratched at his chin. “I noticed that too, you seem to know certain things, but not the obvious details that go along with them.”

The changeling’s sneer faded, and she brought a hoof to her head with a quiet sigh. She glanced around, eyes coming to rest on Ice Heart as he leaned against the cave entrance. “I’ll explain later, but first, I want to hear the midget’s plan to replenish my magic.”

Spike glanced over at Ice Heart as well. “Oh, yeah, we’ve been keeping him waiting.” The pony looked up at Kin. “Well, it was nice to see you again, Kin-san. I guess I’ll speak with you a bit later.” The pony stood up and broke eye contact with the larger dragoness with a deliberate turn of his head. He then walked away, toward the mouth of the cave, where Ice Heart waited.

Kin giggled as the pony walked away. “Such a polite one, as always.” She looked down at Chrysalis and lowered her voice to a whisper. “You called yourself a Queen, I suggest you take care with that title. None may truly rule a dragon, though Celestia-hime, the Princess, is the one who comes closest. Claiming to be above her will not bring you many friends.” With that, the dragoness walked away, leaving a nervous changeling behind.

Chrysalis gulped loudly. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She turned around slowly and started walking toward the cave. Spike and Ice Heart had already gone inside, so she was alone at the moment. She sighed quietly as she walked. Even if the small drake had a plan that could keep her alive, it seemed like things would be different now. She was once a creature of fear and power, but now, she was thrown among beings that could just step on her and be done with it. She was going to have to change the way she went about doing things, even if she wasn’t sure how. The changeling glanced back at Kin, and a random thought made her smile. The dragoness was the first being that had ever apologized to her. She continued her walk to the cave feeling a little better. “Even if I’m not a queen anymore, maybe this place won’t be so bad after all.”

Kin glanced back at the changeling as she walked away from the cave. To the dragoness, Chrysalis was an odd creature, but no more odd than Spike had been. Still, there was something tapping at the back of the dragoness’ thoughts that left her uneasy, some foolish story out of a bed-time fairy-tale. Something that didn’t seem quite so foolish anymore. “And the queen that left her crown behind to seek a heart that stands through time, trust she gained, but lost her name, and changed the one that saved her.”

“Reciting old stories?” Kin snapped her head around at the sound of a voice, letting out a surprised squeak. Bard laughed as he barely dodged a collision between his head and Kin’s. “Practicing for our son? I wish I’d thought a’ that, Butterfly.”

Kin gave the golden-brown drake a playful shove. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. Besides, our daughter’s the one with wings, you should be calling her Butterfly, not me.”

“Aw, but then there’s no irony.” Bard ducked in and gave the dragoness a light peck on the the cheek. “That would make things boring.”

Kin smiled and returned the gesture. A moment later, she caught sight of Fluttershy, resting on the rocks behind Bard. “Anata, what did you do to our daughter?”

Bard froze. Nothing good ever followed when Kin referred to him formally. “Um, I think I broke her.”

The dragoness moved to Fluttershy’s side and looked up at her husband, her unwavering smile shaking him to the core. “How?”

Bard looked away, nervously scratching at the side of his face. “I was teasing her about a drake.”

“A drake?” Kin looked down at Fluttershy with a look of shock on her face. “Our little Shy-chan is interested in somedragon?” Her look of surprise shifted into a smile. “Isn’t that wonderful?” She looked back at Bard. “Is it that young, red drake who helped her move into her cave?”

“This is the first I’ve heard about that.” Bard looked over at Applejack. She was chatting with Rainbow Dash and Rarity while Twilight climbed the brightly colored fur running down Rainbow’s back. “Ay! Big girl? Is your brother red in color?”

The large orange dragin looked over. “He’s ‘bout as red as ya can get. Why d’ya ask?” Applejack glanced down at the small dragoness she had been talking to. “Wait, before that, Rares here had a question for ya. Go ahead, girl.”

“Oh, hello,um…” The white dragoness started walking toward Bard and Kin. “You must be Fluttershy’s mother, I’m delighted to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise.” Kin moved toward the dragoness, meeting her halfway. “You must be Rarity-sama, Shy-chan spoke highly of you in her letters.” She touched the pouch at her neck. “And, I must say, your work does not disappoint.”

“Just Rarity is fine.” The smaller dragoness moved a little closer to Kin and lifted herself up on her hind legs to get a better look at the pouch. She quickly lost her balance and fell backwards. She immediately scrambled to right herself. Once she was upright, she didn’t look back at the other dragoness, instead she kept her gaze off to the side. “I, um, please excuse my clumsiness, Kin-san, recent events have…”

The larger dragoness folded her legs beneath her, lowering herself until her belly rested on the ground. “The bandages are explanation enough.” She removed Kite’s pouch from her neck and held it out for Rarity to inspect. “It is indeed your work, mail-ordered anonymously a few months ago. And, please, call me Kin.”

Rarity slowly looked up at the larger dragoness. “Thank you.” Rarity inspected the pouch carefully. “I remember this piece, the insulated egg pouch, you made a lot of special requests for the materials and design. You should have let me know who you were, I-“

“Would have given us a discount?” Kin handed the pouch to Bard. The drake took it and hung it around his neck. “I gathered as much from Shy-chan’s letters.”

Rarity watched the pouch as it changed claws. “Even so, from now on, I insist you come to the boutique to place any future orders, especially since you live so close to town.” The smaller dragoness nodded toward the cave. Something about it caught her eye, and she stared at it in confusion for a moment. “Something’s missing.” She looked up at sky above them, clear as glass with occasional wisps of cotton clouds. “Where’s the smoke?” She looked over at Kin. “Wasn’t there smoke? Somedragon bought the mountain for their nap. At least, that’s what we thought, but it doesn’t seem like any of you are preparing for sleep.”

“Darn right we’re not!” Without warning, Ice heart appeared in front of Rarity. In one claw, he held the limp, battered frame of one purple pony by the green splash of his mane. In his other, he held the equally tattered body of the changleing queen by the tail. “The smoke was made by burning green pine. Honestly, did everydragon in town forget how to use their snouts?” He tossed the limp pony at a horrified Rarity. “Take him.”

Rarity caught Spike, barely maintaining her balance under his weight. Up close, she could see bruises and cuts all over his face and body. “Spike?! What happened?!” She snarled at Ice Heart. “You did this!” She rammed her claw down to the rock below her, launching a spire of stone at the small drake.

The sudden motion jarred Spike, waking him up. The pony started coughing, leaving a splatter of bright red on the dragoness’ scales as Ice Heart hopped up, effortlessly dodging her attack and landing on the re-formed rock. Spike tried to pull himself upright, leaning heavily on the dragoness. “He’s crazy. Don’t-“ He broke out in a fit of ragged coughing. Once the spasming fit ended, Spike looked up at the dragoness holding him, a thin line of blood drawing its way from the corner of his mouth. “I-“

“Shh, shh.” Rarity wiped away the blood and rested her claw on the side of his face. “Don’t speak, darling, it’s ok, I’ll get Bard to patch you up.”

Ice Heart pointed a grizzled claw at Rarity. “You’ll do no such thing.” He tossed the limp form of Chrysalis away from him. “If that was enough to kill him, he would have died long before you met him.” The small drake marched up to the dragoness and poked his claw toward her chin. “Besides, for the next nine days, he’s still my subordinate, and don’t think you have any say over the actions I take. If you have a problem, you can address it to the Princess. She’s the only one who can stop me.” He swung his claw over to the pony. “As for you…” The drake crossed his claws in front of him. “Rest up, we leave in one hour.”

Rarity stared down at the drake, appalled by his actions towards the pony. “You can’t be-“

He brought his claw back around to the dragoness, and shouted her down, “One hour!” He then looked past her, at A.J., Rainbow, and the little purple ball curled up on top of Rainbow’s head. “That hatchling of yours is asleep again.” Ice Heart crossed his claws again. “You have fifty-nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds. I’ll allow you to take whatever action you feel necessary to get Spike ready for travel, but only you. Nodragon may help you.”

“What?!” The dragoness looked down at spike. He seemed to be sleeping, head resting against her shoulder. She wanted to protest, but she had seen the fight earlier. Ice Heart was much stronger than she was, stronger than any other dragon there. “But, I don’t know anything about ponies, I don’t know how to help him.”

Ice Heart turned away from the dragoness. “You just realized that? It took you long enough.” He walked away, up the angled stone spire left from Rarity’s attack. He spun to face Rarity, and sat cross-legged on the stone. “You have fifty-eight minutes, and fourty-nine seconds.”

Rarity lowered Spike to the ground as gently as she could. She didn’t know what to do, other than just let him rest. She didn’t really know much about him at all, his history, his physiology, anything, and that was frustrating in this situation. She laid down next to him, letting his head rest against her. She promised herself that she would learn, that she would speak to Bard and Fluttershy about first aid for non-dragons. Any information beyond that would probably have to come directly from Spike. Rarity carefully brushed a few strands of the pony’s messy mane out of his face. For all her lack of knowledge, she knew at least one thing about the pony that nodragon else did, something that even Spike didn’t. The dragoness laid her head over the pony’s neck, cradling her face in the mess of his mane. In that strange dreamworld of the link, she learned that Spike had given her something, and after he left, she learned what it was. She held the sleeping pony tight. It was something she would never be able to repay.

Author's Note

Special thanks to the proofreaders, Imaginary Valued and King Obscuratio. I apologize for hitting you with asuch a ridiculously long chapter out of the blue.

I would like to clarify a few things that are difficult to describe in the story without sounding awkward in the narrative.

Bard's accent is supposed to be australian, but as a highly educated doctor, he tries (and fails) to keeps it under control as a means to maintain a proffessional image.

A foal, as a unit of measure, is approximately 45 pounds, or about 20 kilos.

A league is a real unit of distance, originally created by the romans. It's approximately three and a half miles, or about five and a half kilometers, and was originally defined as the distance a person could walk in an hour.

Chapter Title: Heart of Ice by Celesty

Also, 5,000 views! WHOO!

Destiny

In the dark of the cave, Spike was nestled upside down in a cocoon of rough sisal ropes. He sighed around the cloth gag tied around his mouth. Around his horn, Bard’s strand of crystals wrapped around his horn and sapped his magic if he tried to use it. He was stuck in here until someone let him out. And, until that happened, Chrysalis was with Rarity and Twilight, masquerading as him.

The pony shut his eyes and screamed into the gag. His words were muffled, and he was pretty sure he couldn’t be heard beyond the cave. He groaned quietly in defeat. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t do anything.” Spike’s eyes snapped open. His gag was gone.

Rarity was standing above him, looking down at him with a smirk. “Didn’t we agree, no more apologies?” She touched a claw to the pony’s lips to silence his reply. She spoke to him as she worked to undo his bindings. “You didn’t have anything to do with happened out there, and as much as I dislike that Chrysalis creature, I can’t wish starvation on her.“

Once he was free of the ropes, Spike pulled himself to standing, stretching out muscles that were stiff from immobility. “You’re being a lot more understanding than I would be.”

“Don’t misunderstand, darling.” With a mischevious gleam in her eye, she rested a claw on her chest. “I made it quite clear what will happen, should something like this ever happen again.” She saw the crystals around Spike’s horn, and reached up to untie them. She smiled as she undid the knots in the string. “After all the times you’ve touched my horns, I’m just now getting to return the favor.”

Spike blushed and looked away. “I only did it to make sure you were ok.”

“I know that.” Rarity giggled. “Besides, I was the one who, I suppose you could say, initiated it.”

The pony scratched the side of his neck as he felt the crystals slip off his horn. “Say, Rarity, could I ask you something?” After a moment of waiting for a response, Spike looked over at her. She was sitting in front of him, looking down at the folded front claws she clutched to her chest “Rarity, are you ok?”

She jerked her head upright. ”I’m fine. I’m fine, Spike.” Her gaze drifted back to her claws. “It’s just…” She looked up slowly. “Spike, what do you think about destiny?”

“That’s an odd question.” The pony recalled the conversation he had with Celestia before leaving the capitol and sighed quietly. “I’ll do my best to answer it, but did you have something specific in mind?”

She nodded slowly. “Do you believe in it? Suppose you were told that something would happen, something that seems impossible. Then, you are told that something specific would follow that.”

Spike’s eyebrows pulled together. “You mean, like a prophecy?”

The dragoness shook her head. “Not quite, but I suppose that’s close enough.”

“Well, I’ve seen a lot of magic and a great deal of unexplainable things.” The pony scratched his neck. “I’m one of them.” He put a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “I can’t rule out the possibility of looking into the future, and there are countless ancient prophecies and predictions. But, even if there is a fate laid out for us, I don’t believe it controls us. We change our path going forward through our own strength and through the strength of those around us. We’re dragons, not even the future can rule over us, and that freedom is our greatest gift in this life. The prophecies can be true or not, but the most they can do is serve to guide us.” The pony chuckled. “Well, I’m not a dragon, but you get the point.”

Rarity smiled at him. “Of course you are, dear. You are a dragon in every way that matters.” She looked down at her claws, still held tight to her chest. “Thank you for answering me, Spike, but I’m sure you’ve been cooped up in this cave long enough. You can head out, and I’ll be right along.”

“Yeah.” The pony looked towards the mouth of the cave. “I’ve got a thing or two to say to those two.” He started to leave, but turned back after a few steps. “I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but do you believe in destiny?”

Rarity shook her head slowly. “I’m not sure, not anymore, Spike.”

“Oh,” Spike said to himself as he started walking again, “that’s probably why you asked.”

“No,” Rarity whispered. She unfolded her claws. In the dark of the cave, the sharp nail on each digit glowed with bright purple light, and the strand of crystals she held glowed green with the residue of the magic it was used to restrain. “It’s why I asked you.”

Author's Note

Chapter Title

Destiny - by Unsun

I Wish I Had an Angel - Part 1

Twilight yawned and threw her arms over her face. The surface she had been sleeping on had shifted, and she was now directly facing the sun. She grabbed a claw-full of the pink hair surrounding her and rolled onto her side, treating it like a blanket.

“I think you woke her, Possum.”

Twilight groaned as she buried her face deeper in the pink to the soft yellow just beneath. “No, she didn’t. I’m still sleeping.”

“It seems I did, but she’s asleep again. I guess she doesn’t want to wake up yet. Sorry, Spike.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, I wanted to talk to her.”

“Spike?” The hatchling jolted upright and untangled herself from Fluttershy’s crest, nearly dropping herself off the dragin’s back. “Spike! You’re awake! I was so worried. Bard said you were hurt, and that I couldn’t go near you.”

Spike laughed and plucked the hatchling from Fluttershy’s back with his magic. “I’m fine now, see?” He deposited Twilight on his back and bounced from hoof to hoof. “Completely recovered.”

The hatchling giggled and grabbed his mane to steady herself.

Spike turned to Bard and Fluttershy and silently mouthed the words, ”thank you.” He then looked back at the hatchling he carried. “So, what happened while I was sleeping?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment. “Fluttershy woke up, Bard said we were going to go somewhere after you woke up, then I took a nap. That’s about it.”

“I see. I guess you were worn out from all the excitement.” Spike saw Rarity exit the cave and waved her over. “Did Bard say where we were going to go?”

“No.” When Rarity got close enough, Twilight hopped from Spike’s back to hers and hugged the dragoness around the neck. “Good morning, mom.”

“Thank you, Twilight.” Rarity reached back to pat the hatchling's shoulder. She then pointed at the sun, sitting low in the golden sky. “But, that’s west.”

The hatchling looked up at the big orange circle, then in the opposite direction. With a loud groan, she flopped onto her belly. “Good evening, mom.” The hatchling looked over at Spike. “Bard said his dad would tell us where we we’re going.” She sighed loudly. “I’m never going to get to sleep tonight.”

“Good!” The pony, dragin, and hatchling turned around. Ice Heart was walking up to them, arms crossed and scowling. “We’ve got stuff to talk about, kid. And, I’m sure these two do as well.”

“Oh, no.” Rarity shook her head. “I am not leaving Twilight alone with you for any length of time you little-“ She stopped herself for Twilight's sake, and cleared her throat. "Suffice it to say, I don't trust you."

Spike leaned over to her. “Rarity, he may be annoying sometimes, but he’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Rarity looked at Spike like he had lost his mind. “After what he did to you, and me, you’re going to defend him?”

The pony nodded. “Unfortunately, I’ve known him for two years, and we’ve been through a lot in that time. I trust him.” He glanced over at the short drake. “Well, I trust his intentions, anyway. You can’t always trust his words.” The pony shrugged. “Besides, he’s one of Celestia’s closest friends, and I know she’s very picky about things like that.”

The dragoness shook her head. “I’m still not leaving Twilight alone with him. If he wants to talk to her, you, I, or one of my friends will need to be there.”

Spike nodded lightly. “That’s fair enough.” He looked over at Ice Heart. “Don’t you agree?”

The drake grunted. “I guess. What, are you afraid I’ll drag her off and force her to join the military?” He turned his back on them. “She’s ten years too young for that, and too small to boot.”

Rarity looked over at Spike with an, “I told you so,” glare as the hatchling on her back hopped on her head, pushing her crest over her eyes.

“Say that again!". The hatchling shouted. "You’re smaller than I am, you smelly, old lizard!”

Rarity gasped and looked back at her passenger. “Twilight Welkin Sparkle! Where in Draconica did you learn to speak like that?”

The hatchling froze. The last time she heard her middle name, it was because she had set fire to a particularly expensive leather vest. She slowly climbed off of Rarity’s head, back onto her back. “I heard Applejack say it to the postmaster, last time he raised shipping prices.”

“Did she now?” The dragoness peeked over at the largest of her friends. The orange dragin’s lips were scrunched up, and she was whistling like a broken teapot as she looked everywhere except at the dragoness. Rarity was not amused by this display. “I know you have good hearing to go with those super-eyes of yours.” The orange dragin ended her stunted melody and swallowed visibly. “What were you thinking?! Swearing in front of Twilight?! Of all dragons, I would have expected this from Rainbow, but you don’t see her swearing around her hatchling, do you?”

Rainbow’s head snapped around. “Hey!” Her eyes went unfocused for a second, and she started glancing back and forth between Applejack and Rarity. “Uh, wait, was that an insult or a compliment?”

Ice Heart laughed heartily. “It is my expert opinion that it was a bit of both.”

“Oh, really.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Pray tell, what are you an expert in, and how does that apply here?” The dragoness looked over at the drake, only to find herself staring at Twilight. The hatchling brought one claw to her mouth in attempt to mask her snickering. The other claw pointed at the space she once occupied.
Ice heart reclined on Rarity’s back, and pointed one claw straight into the sky. “I am an expert on opinions. Therefore, all my opinions are expert opinions.” Rarity turned her head around to glare at the drake that now sat on her back. He let his claw fall, and patted the dragoness on the side, dangerously close to the haunch. “And, it is my expert opinion that it is quite comfortable up here, very soft. That brat’s got a pretty sweet deal going on. Of course, that’s probably because of sweets in the first place."

Rarity looked over at Spike. “Handle this,” she growled, “or I will.”

The pony swung around, launching a kick at his commanding officer’s head. The drake rolled onto his front claws and used them to spring off of Rarity just in time to avoid Spike’s hoof. “Ha, you missed!“ At that moment, a speeding stone slapped him out of the sky with enough force to send him over the edge of the mountain, and plunge him into the depths of the forest below.

“But, I didn’t.” Rainbow tossed her back-up stone and ran a claw through her crest as all the other dragons on the mountain stared in shock at the forest below. “Is it just me, or was that guy starting to get annoying?”

Ice Heart appeared just above Rainbow’s head, sitting on her stone missile. He smiled as it fell on the bright dragin’s skull with a coconut-like, “thunk.” She cursed and swatted at him, but he danced about, avoiding her efforts at capturing him. Fluttershy lunged for her grandfather when he came close to her, crying that he should be nicer to her friends. His response that he was being nice turned the scuffle into a free-for-all. Anydragon not already fighting rushed into the fray.

Spike sighed and plucked Twilight out of the fight with his magic. He deposited her near him, well away from the stomping and slashing of claws. “Just watch for now. I don’t want you getting stepped on, and I’m pretty sure Rarity doesn’t either.” Laughter approached the pony from behind, and he looked back to find its source.

“Lively bunch, aren’t they?” Chrysalis walked up and sat next to Spike. “I’m almost glad I fought the ones I did.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Spike looked over at Chrysalis. This was the first chance he had gotten to take a good look at the changeling. She definitely resembled a pony anatomically, but with major physiological differences.

Chrysalis smirked when she noticed the pony studying her. “See something you like?”

“What? No!” Spike looked away quickly. “It’s just, I noticed that you aren’t physically or magically restrained.”

“Oh, my.” she opened her eyes wide and she brought a hoof to her mouth. “I didn’t realize you were into that sort of thing. Does Rarity know?”

Spike’s eyes nearly bugged out, and he started to choked on his own breath. “No! That is not what I- You! There is something wrong with you, you know that?” With a sigh and shake of the head, the pony touched his hoof to his head, as if he could somehow delay the oncoming migraine through touch. “I was merely observing that the perception of you as a threat seems to have diminished.”

“So cold,” the changeling cooed, “so technical. You don’t talk to your marefriend like that, do you?” She shrugged. “Without deception and the element of surprise, I’m not much of a threat to your scaly friends. And, it’s become clear I can’t survive here alone, so I came to an agreement with Shorty. He’ll fill you in on the details.”

“It keeps coming back to that, doesn’t it? And you keep using words I don’t recognize.” The pony shook his head. “At least we aren’t trying to kill each other anymore. So, where were you?”

“I was talking to, um…” Chrysalis pointed a hoof over her shoulder. “You know, the dragon with the egg?”

The pony nodded. “Her name is Kin, she’s a good friend of mine.”

“Is she now? You seem like you would travel in completely different circles. Ooh!” She pointed at the fighting dragons after a particularly vicious collision between two winged members. “Did you see that?”

It was the pony’s turn to shrug. “I haven’t sat at the council tables in years, but I’ll be returning to them soon enough.”

The changeling’s ears twitched. “Council? Some sort of ruling body?” She tore her eyes away from the fight to look over at the pony. “And, you’re involved with it somehow? That would make sense, considering you’re some sort of prince and all. Good, you can give some advice.”

Spike didn’t like the sound of that. “What kind of advice?”

“Take-over advice.” Chrysalis laughed. “It seems obvious that I can’t conquer this land through force. So, what’s my best bet? Economic collapse? Diplomatic struggles with a neighboring nation? Are there any strange cults that I could bend to my whims?”

With half a smile on his face, the pony replied, “How did I know you were going to ask something crazy like that?”

Chrysalis shrugged. “Hey, a girl’s got to have a hobby.” She looked up into the sky. The sun had just set, and stars were beginning to make their frail appearance. “You know, in a perverse way, me being here is a dream come true.” She laid on her back, staring into rapidly filling the sky. “When something is special, it’s said to shine like a star. But, look at them.” She pointed a hoof towards the distant lights. “There’s so many of them. And ,they’re all the same. There’s nothing really all that special about them. One is just like another, is just like the next, and so on.”

Spike folded his hooves underneath him, pleasantly surprised by the shift in the conversation. “Even among many, there are stars that stand out.” The pony waved Twilight over to him, and let the hatchling sit leaning against him.

Chrysalis watched them. “In my world, I was one changeling among many. Sure, I stood out, I was the Queen, but to the rest of the world, that didn’t mean much. It didn’t even mean all that much within the hive.” She held a hoof in front of her face, looking at Spike through the holes. “We look like insects, but we’re not. The queen plays no role in populating the hive. On top of that, changelings as a society require very little in the way of guidance or government. A little food for our bodies, a little love for our magic, and we’re happy.”

Twilight studied the changeling’s face. “You don’t look happy.”

“You’re right, I wasn’t.” Chrysalis chuckled quietly. “Playing royalty for a race of subsistence farmers wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more. I wanted power. I wanted to make a name for myself. But, most of all, I wanted prove that a single individual could rise up and make the world take notice.”

Twilight’s eyes grew wider as she listened, like she was listening to a story that was just getting to the good part. “What happened?”

“I proved myself right.” The changeling sighed sadly. “I fought for power, struggled through the worst the world could throw at me, and raised an army that would rival any other in history. Then, as I stood at the edge of conquering my world’s greatest nation, I proved myself right in the worst way possible. I made a hero of some purple-faced brat.” She looked over at Twilight. “No offense.”

The hatchling narrowed her eyes. “If you made a hero of them, wouldn’t that make you the villain?”

Chrysalis nodded. “I was a good one, too.”

Spike laughed. “You say, ‘was,’ but I get the feeling you aren’t quite reformed yet.” He nodded slowly. “Actually, I’m sure you aren’t. But, thanks for telling us your story. I think I understand you a little bit better now.”

Chrysalis smirked. “How do you know I didn’t just make the whole thing up?”

“I’m pretty sure you took some liberties here and there, and aren’t telling us everything, but, take a look.” Spike gestured towards the waning fight. “Earlier, that was me fighting Ice Heart. Ponies and dragons aren’t so different. Maybe, Ponies and Changelings are the same way?”

“Maybe you’re just a weird pony.” Chrysalis frowned. After a few seconds, she started fidgeting, squirming like a dragon with ants crawling between her scales.

Spike and Twilight exchange worried glances. “Chrysalis, is something wrong?”

“I don’t know.” She glared at the pony. “Are you doing something? Stop it! I can feel… something. It’s feeding me, like love, but it isn’t. It’s there, but it’s like drinking pudding through a straw, there isn’t enough. I want more.”

“Is this some kind of riddle?” Twilight asked. She looked at Spike. “Love that isn’t love?”

The pony looked down at the hatchling. “That leaves you wanting more?” He smiled and looked back up at Chrysalis. “Congratulations, I think you’ve made your first friends.”

The changeling grunted. “Well, I don’t like it.”

Spike tilted his head to the side. “Hmm, well, I think you’re stuck with it.”

“Yep.” Twilight agreed. “But, if you make more friends, wouldn’t it be like drinking through more straws?”

Chrysalis groaned in disgust. “That sounds like a lot of work.”

“Maybe so.” Spike sat up. “But if you promise to give it a try, I’ll give you that advice you wanted.”

Chrysalis sat up quickly. “Ok, I’ll try it, but I don’t have to like it.”

“Good.” Spike nodded. “As for advice about taking over Draconica… Hmm, let’s see. As a Centurion in the military, it would be my job to stop you should you decide to try to take over in the next few days. As Celestia’s son, and first in line of the five princes and princesses, it would be would be my responsibility to stop you should you ever try to take over. Also, Celestia is about a thousand times bigger than you. I think that covers everything.”

The changeling rolled her eyes. “Not quite the advice I had in mind, but point taken.”

Spike smiled and gave a single nod. “Good!” He pointed at the fighting dragons. “So, how long do you think it will take them to notice?”

“Notice what?” The changeling looked around. “What?! When did this happen?”

Around them, the mountain was gone, replaced by a wide, gentle hill surrounded by forest. Spots of green blinked and drifted through the night, fireflies on a pre-summer evening. Moss and scattered, stunted trees covered what seemed to be geometrically patterned stone, layed out like hexagonal tiles, and shattered ruins, yellow-grey in the warm moonlight, lay dead under low hanging clouds. Among the clouds, the remains of an ancient city drifted aimlessly in the wind.

The hill shook, knocking over anydragon not already seated. With their focus shifted away from their fight, the five dragins examined their surroundings for the first time.

While most of them focused on the ruins, Rainbow’s attention was drawn to the patterned ground. “Tank? How did we get here?” Everydragon watched her as she took to the sky, and called out loudly, ”Tank!”

The hill shook again, and a low bellowing moan, like a whale’s song, answered the dragin’s call. Off the side of the hill, a great head rose up, scaled and weathered, eyes focusing on the bright colors flying above.

It called out again, and Rainbow flew over to it. She perched atop its head like a canary perched on the top twig of a thorn bush, dwarfed by the creature below her. “Hey, tank, how ya doin’?” She scratched at the head she sat on. “Did you miss me?” Tank answered with a happy wail and a shake of his head, nearly dislodging his owner. “Aw, thanks. I missed you too.”

Chrysalis poked Spike in the side to get his attention. “Let me get this straight, we’re sitting on a giant turtle right now, aren’t we?”

“It’s a tortoise,” the pony answered. “Specifically a Torra Terra, said to carry the world on its back.” He gestured to the ruins around them. “Well, cities at least.”

“Oh, is that all?” The changeling scoffed. “For a moment, I thought it was something impressive.” She tapped the ground with a hoof. “Um, so, how normal is this? Giant things that make even dragons seem small?”

“Hmm.” Spike scratched his mane. “I wouldn’t say they’re common, but they aren’t exactly rare either.”

“So,” Chrysalis asked with a sly grin, “how does your precious Celestia measure up against this brute?”

“Let’s see…” Spike put a hoof to his chin as he studied the dragon sitting on Tank’s head, comparing her size to the Torra Terra’s, then to his. “Rainbow’s just a little bit smaller than his head, so I’d say… Celestia’s about the same size.” He spread out his hooves, indicating different dimensions . “In length and height only, she’s not quite as wide.”

The changeling blinked slowly, trying to picture it, but the only image her mind was able to conjure was that of alicorn Celestia standing taller than Canterlot and laughing as she prepared to stomp the changeling flat. It wasn't a pleasant image. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

The pony looked over at her. “You’ll meet her one of these days. You can tell me if I’m kidding then.”

Once the shock of their sudden transition started to wear off, each dragon started to wander off. Fluttershy joined Rainbow at Tank’s head. Applejack found a comfortable to lay down and mutter about how long the day had been. And, Rarity found her way over to Spike and Twilight.

She sat down next to Spike, opposite Chrysalis. “Spike, I know Ice Heart had something to do with this, but I didn’t feel anything. That first teleport was rather unpleasant, but I didn’t even notice this one.”

Spike nodded. “It’s better to give, than to receive.” The pony chuckled at the three confused stares directed his way. “Sorry, I guess I should say it’s easier to send than to receive. It’s one of the tenets of teleportation, sending something close to you to another location is easier than pulling something to you from far away.” He glanced over his shoulder. “And, you were waiting for the moon to come out so you could put a little more power into it.”

“Hmpph.” Ice Heart stepped out of the shadows of one of the ruined buildings. “You could say that, but it would be a gross oversimplification.”

“Right.” Spike nodded. “You had to raise the moon, too. So, are you done?”

“I’ve had my fun.” The drake sat cross-legged next to Spike, close to Twilight. He nudged the hatchling in the arm. “Your mother has some good friends. I like them.”

The hatchling lifted one eyebrow.

Ice Heart slapped his leg and broke into hearty laughter. “I know, I know. I have a funny way of showing it.”

Rarity sighed loudly. She was watching the drake like a hawk. “I don’t think funny is the right word.”

“However you want to call it.” The drake shrugged. “I hope you treasure them.”

“My friends?” Rarity got up and walked around Spike so she could see Ice Heart better. “Of course I do.”

He held up a claw, palm out. “I didn’t mean to imply that you don’t, but I’m fourteen hundred and change. I’ve lost so many friends that I’ve lost count. Many died, some had to be banished, and I have a mate that I will never see again. Make sure you live this time with everything you’ve got.”

Rarity was caught off guard by Ice Heart's sentimental words. “I- I will.” Rarity glanced at Spike and Twilight before looking back at Ice Heart. She had to admit, begrudgingly at least, that there was more to the drake than met the eye. Given his age, that shouldn't have been surprising. “I’m not quite sure what to make of you, but Spike seems to trust you. And, honestly, you seem like somedragon that would get along great with my father.”

“Uh-oh.” Ice heart looked over at the pony. “Daddy issues, run.”

“Shut up.” Spike half-heartedly waved his hoof at the drake. “Ignore him, Rarity.”

The dragoness crossed her claws. Maybe she was wrong about being wrong about him. “Well, I was going to let you talk to Twilight, but now you have to abide by my original terms. One of my friends has to supervise you at all times.”

Ice heart raised a claw, like a student with a question.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes?”

The drake lowered his claw. “Do I get to pick the friend that does the supervising?”

The dragoness mulled it over for a moment. “Sure. Why not?”

Ice heart pointed at Spike. “I pick him.”

She shook her head. “You can’t, I need to talk to him.”

The drake immediately pointed at Chrysalis. “Then I pick her.”

Rarity tapped her claws against Tank’s shell. She was quickly losing her patience. “She isn’t one of my friends, not by a long shot.”

“Oh.” He pointed at Tank’s head, where two winged dragons fawned over the massive creature. “Then, how about Fluttershy?”

Rarity looked back at her yellow friend. “I should have known you would pick your own grand-daughter.”

Ice Heart smiled innocently. “Isn’t she one of your friends?”

The dragoness rolled her eyes. “Fine. She can supervise.”

“Great!” The drake hopped up and cupped his claws around his mouth. “Oy! Moonbeam!” When the yellow dragin looked over, the drake started waving her over. “I need your help real quick!”

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, exchanging a few words with Rainbow before flying over. She landed far enough away that the gusts from her wings were little more than stiff breeze to the seated dragons, pony, and changeling, and hastily walked the remaining distance to reach them. “Um, Grandpa, I thought you agreed not to call me that.”

“Oh, right, I forgot about that.” He put a claw to his chin. “I suppose Bunny-Breath is also out of the question?”

The yellow dragon gasped. “Grandpa!”

The drake laughed and tapped Twilight’s arm. “Funny story, when she was younger, she got it into her head that animals said hello by licking each other on the head. Now, she’s been caring for injured animals since she could walk, but there was this one rabbit that liked to hang around even though he never got hurt.”

“Grandpa,” the yellow dragin whined, “please don’t.”

The drake looked up quizzically. “You’ve never told them this story?”

“No.” She looked away, hiding her face behind her crest. “It’s embarrassing.”

Chrysalis looked around the small group. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but now, I’m curious.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “So am I.” She looked up at Fluttershy, wide eyed and pleading. “Please tell us? I promise, I won’t laugh. Unless it’s really, really funny.”

“Which it is.” Ice Heart held out a claw to his grand-daughter. “How about it moonbeam? Do I keep going, or not?”

“I, um, I don’t think-“ She tried to tear her eyes away from the hatchling’s puppy stare, but her resolve crumbled first. By the time she closed her eyes and looked away, she had already answered, “Fine, go ahead.”

Ice heart launched back into the story without hesitation. “So, one day, she brought me this thing. It was sopping wet, and white, and I couldn’t tell what it was. Then, with tears in her eyes, she says, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I turned mr.bunny into an angel.’” Ice heart laughed so hard that he had to wipe tears from his eyes. “The rabbit recovered, but I think Fluttershy learned her lesson about licking animals.”

Spike and Rarity did their best to suppress the urge to laugh. Chrysalis was much less considerate. Twilight was the only one that didn’t laugh at all. She was definitely amused by the story, but her expression was that of a dragon coming to a sudden realization. She clapped once. “That’s how Angel got his name, isn’t it?”

Fluttershy sighed quietly. “Yes, Twi. That was how Angel got his name.”

The hatchling looked over at Ice Heart with a big smile on her face. “That was neat. Do you have any more stories?”

“I sure do.” The drake stood up and stretched. “I have one in particular that I think you’ll find very interesting.” He walked off. “Follow me, Shorty, you too, Moonbeam.”

“Hey!” Twilight called after him. “I’m taller than you are!”

“Which is still shorter than everydragon else,” the drake answered without pause. He kept walking away. “So? Are you going to follow me? Or do I tell my stories to the fireflies?”

With a sigh, the hatchling looked over at Rarity. After a nod from the dragoness, she started after the small drake. Fluttershy followed after her.

Rarity watched them go, silently resting a claw on Spike’s hoof. “Let’s go somewhere.” She took a deep breath. “I have something important to tell you.”

“You do?” Spike scrambled up, blush spread across his face. “Uh, ok. Where should we go?

Chrysalis waved her hoof to grab the dragoness’ attention. “Hey,” she whispered, “if you’re breaking up with him, can I have him?”

“Even if I was, the answer would be no.” She nudged Spike in the side. “Let’s go, dear, before she gets any more crazy ideas.”

Spike followed her as she walked away, opposite the direction Ice heart had taken. “Um, Rarity?”

She looked over as she walked. “Yes, Spike? What is it?”

“About, um… You know, what, uh…” The pony stopped in both speech and motion, unable to bring himself to ask his question. “Y-your crest looks really pretty in the moonlight.”

“Th-thank you. Yours too.” The dragoness blushed and started walking a bit faster. “Um, I mean, your, uh, hair, no, um…”

“Mane?” Spike offered.

“Yes, that.” Rarity cleared her throat. “It’s quite fetching on you.”

“Thanks.” Spike sighed. By now, the dragoness was a good ways ahead of him. He had wanted to ask her about what she told Chrysalis. What did she mean by, even if she was? As far as the pony knew, he and Rarity weren’t in any sort of relationship that they could break up from. Or, where they? Was that what she wanted to tell him? He ran to catch up with her, hope and confusion fighting for control of his emotions.

Author's Note

Chapter Title

I Wish I Had an Angel - by Nightwish

I Wish I had an Angel - Part 2

“This looks like a good spot.” Ice Heart sat down facing the two dragons that were following him. “You can rest if you need to.”

Fluttershy watched in concern as Twilight dragged herself towards the drake. “That… was… cheating…” she said as she gasped for air. She wiped the sweat from her face. “I don’t know what you did, but you cheated, somehow.”

Ice Heart put a claw to his chest, feigning hurt innocence. “Me? What did I do? Aren’t you just being a sore loser? Where we even competing in the first place?”

Fluttershy gently fanned the hatchling with her wing. “She’s right, Grandpa, that wasn’t very nice.”

“It wasn’t?” The drake crossed his arms. “Then why didn’t you help her? You had no trouble keeping up. And, I doubt carrying her would have slowed you down any.”

“She never carries me anywhere.” Twilight grabbed onto Fluttershy’s wing to help herself up. “But I don’t care about that. I want to know how you were able to go that fast. You were just walking, and our legs are about the same size. What did you do?”

Ice Heart squinted at her. “You really didn’t see it? You didn’t feel it?” The drake stood up and walked around Twilight in a wide circle. “And here I thought you were going to be some sort of prodigy. I’m kind of disappointed. So, how often do you practice your magic?”

Fluttershy wrapped her wing around the hatchling as she backed away from the drake. “Grandpa, you shouldn’t ask about that. Rarity-”

“I already know all about it.” Ice heart pointed at Twilight. “Her magic caused harm to somedragon she cares about. I want to know how well she’s learned to control her power since then.”

“Shut up!” Twilight shouted. “I can’t control it, so I don’t practice. I don’t use my magic, ever.”

The drake walked up to her. “Then you are still a danger to those you love.”

Twilight hugged the feathers surrounding her. “That’s why I don’t use it. If I keep my magic sealed away, it can’t hurt anydragon.”

“Yes.” Ice Heart pulled Fluttershy’s wing away from the hatchling. “But you aren’t sealing it away.”

Twilight backed away from the drake. “Yes, I am!”

“Don’t argue with me!” The drake held his claws out in front of him, making a circle that he could see Twilight through. He slid his claws past each other and balled them into tight fists. “This is a seal!” He opened his claws and spread them wide. Threads of light shot from the ends of his claws, and wrapped around Twilight, immobilizing her mid-step before fading away.

“Stop! What are you doing?” The hatchling tried to move, tried to put her foot down, but it was stuck just a few centimeters off the ground. “Let go of me!”

Fluttershy stepped in between the two smaller dragons. “That’s too far, Grandpa! Let her down, now!”

“I can’t. Once the seal is set, it must last for at least one minute.” He walked past Fluttershy, attention focused on Twilight. “This is a seal, hatchling! It requires magic,knowledge of magic, and control of magic. You can only seal that which you know and understand! And you do not understand magic.”

“Grandpa, we’re going back to the others as soon as the seal wears off.” Fluttershy shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe you would do something like this.”

Ice Heart waved the dragin’s words off with his claw. “I’m not interested in what you believe at the moment.” He walked up close to Twilight, and stood eye to eye with the hatchling. “Do you understand now?”

Tears fell from her eyes as she struggled and failed to nod.

“Just relax.” Ice Heart put a claw on Twilight’s shoulder. “The less you struggle, the looser the seal becomes, and the sooner it will release. Understand?”

Twilight took several deep breaths, and was able to nod slowly. “If this is a seal, what was I doing to my magic?”

“Storing it.” The seal came undone, and Ice Heart caught the hatchling as she fell. He helped her sit down, then tapped her on the chest, right over the heart. “You’ve been bottling it all up and keeping it inside you. Through the seal, I could feel it. Magic is a seed that never stops growing, but you kept yours from sprouting.”

“Ok, we’re going now.” Fluttershy moved in and scooped up the hatchling in her claw. “Hold on, Twi.”

“Wait!” Twilight squirmed out of Fluttershy’s grip, landing at the dragin’s feet. “Please? Just wait a little bit?”

“Twilight…” The yellow dragon looked back and forth between the hatchling and her grandfather. With a troubled sigh, she leaned towards Ice Heart. “Don’t do anything like that again, Grandpa. Rarity is a good friend of mine, and I promised her years ago that I would protect Twilight. I will keep that promise.”

“I like your resolve, moonbeam.” The drake patted the end of her nose. “But, don’t worry, I won’t have to do anything drastic now. The hard part is over.”

The yellow dragin sighed again. “I hope so.”

Ice Heart walked towards Twilight as his grad-daughter moved away. He gave the sitting hatchling a pat on the head and said, “I’m sorry I had to do that to you kid, but are you ready to talk about your magic now?”

Twilight looked up and nodded.

“Good.” Ice Heart sat down in front of the hatchling. “Think of magic as a seed. It grows roots, and it grows a stem. The stem is the magic that is used, its leaves, flowers, and thorns are the changes made to the world around us, good, bad and neutral. The roots represent the magic inside. It fuels the stem, and grows unseen. As a dragon grows, so does the magic inside.” He gestured at himself. “As you can see, this growth doesn’t have to be physical. It could be mental, physiological, or even just growing more accustomed to magic in general. The dragon is the field in which the seed grows.”

Twilight listened closely to the drake’s words, silently nodding every so often.

Ice Heart allowed himself a small smile at the Hatchling’s eager attention, but forced it back as he continued. “Normaly, the field grows. It’s carefully tended to, dirt is added, and the plant can grow without limit. But, your magic is different. The plant sprouted, and at the first sign of a thorn, you pushed it back into the dirt. Then you uprooted the whole thing and stuffed it into a flower pot so you could watch over it and make sure it never grows.”

The hatchling looked down and nodded slowly. “That kind of sounds like what I did.”

“I know it is. Hey.” He waved a claw at the hatchling. “Hey, look at me.” He waited for her to look up. “This is important. If you forget everything else I say to you, remember what I say next. Got it?” He waited for a nod. “Magic never stops growing. As long as you’re alive, your magic will grow bigger, and stronger. Under that dirt, the roots are still growing, twisting in on themselves to buy time. But, pretty soon, they’re going to outgrow that flowerpot.”

Twilight swallowed hard. “What happens then?”

“It takes years, far more than you’ve even been around for, but the flowerpot eventually breaks.” Ice heart clenched his claw into fist. “I’ve seen it happen. Three times, I’ve seen it happen. They each had different reasons for rejecting their magic, and each of them thought they had it under control. Each of them broke.”

“W-will that happen to me?” Twilight hugged her arms to her chest, as if to hold herself together. “Am I going to… break?”

Ice Heart shook his head. “Only if you refuse to change. It took as many as a hundred years for those others to break. You haven’t even been around for ten.” Ice Heart stood up and walked over to Twilight. He stood beside her and rested a claw on her shoulder. “You are safe for now, but what about the future? What happened to those other dragons was terrible. You’re too young, I won’t tell you all of it, but you should know that only one of them survived.”

Twilight looked up at the drake. “Did that dragon get better?”

“No,” Ice Heart’s voice cracked, “he didn’t.”

The drake was facing away from her, but Twilight could see tears falling on the ground. They only fell on the left side. “Was he a friend of yours?”

“No!” The drake snarled, not at Twilight, but at memory. “That thing, it can’t even be called a dragon anymore, it went mad long before I was even born. It was sealed away, by force, after killing many, many dragons, including its own brother.”

Twilight gasped in shock. “What?! Then, why are you sad? Isn’t it better for somedra-thing like that to be sealed away?”

“Of course it is,” Ice Heart said calmly. He looked back at Twilight. “But the ones who sealed him only did so because they couldn’t kill him. And keeping him sealed means that somedragon must sacrifice their magic to keep his locked away.” He turned his gaze to the night sky, and the bright moon above. “Right now, my mate is the one keeping him sealed. She is just as much a prisoner as he is, locked away, deep in sleep, alone and forgotten.” The drake wiped at his good eye. “Sorry, kid. We’ve all got our sad stories, and I shouldn’t burden you with mine.” He cleared his throat and turned around. “I should be focusing on you. I want to make sure your friends don’t have a sad story to tell about you.”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, then stood up as tall and proud as her height allowed. “What do I have to do?”

Ice Heart reached out to the hatchling, a glowing sphere of pure-white energy floating just above his palm. The hatchling instantly recognized it, the light-bringer spell, the first spell magic dragons learn to cast. He crushed the glowing ball in his fist showering them both in harmless sparks. “Harness your magic, and learn to control it.”

“But, how?” The hatchling touched the star hanging from her ear-fin. “My magic hurts Rarity, so she can’t teach me.”

“She doesn’t have to be the one to teach you. I could order Spike to teach you, or you could just ask him. Seeing as how he’s got the hots for that caretaker of yours, he’d probably jump at the chance to impress her. He’s not even the only option.” Ice heart set a claw on her shoulder. “There are angels watching over you, kid.”

Twilight squinted at the drake. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Ice Heart smiled and walked away. “If you can catch me, or tell me what I am doing, I’ll tell you.”

Twilight groaned as she started after him. “Not this again!”

Virtue and Vice

“This looks like a good spot,” Rarity said. She and Spike stood near the edge of Tank’s shell. Below them, a row of large spines lined the very edge of the shell, and below that, a good way down, the grassy ground waited. “Now, if we can just find a way down there, we’ll be set.”

“I can take care of that.” Spike started walking a bit closer to the edge, gauging the distance. He looked back at the dragoness. “It doesn’t look too far, do you trust me to get you down there with magic?”

The dragoness smiled at him. “We’ve been through so much together, how could I not?”

“O-ok,” the pony stammered, “w-wait here then.” He turned away quickly, both to hide his blush and to continue judging the distance to the ground. She was beautiful, and the moonlight only added to it. He just couldn’t tell which was better, the shimmer of her scales when she moved, or the sparkling in her eyes when she looked up.

The walk to the edge of the shell had been a silent one, and the whole while, Spike had been thinking about her. More accurately, he had been thinking about them. The events since the river had opened up possibilities and hope, but nothing definite. Tonight, he was going to change that. He was going to ask her what she thought of him, and ask her if she was open to the possibility of a relationship. All he had to do was work up the courage to ask her about it.

He sighed and ran towards the spines. He heard a gasp behind him as he leapt, landing on one of them and balancing himself on it. Then, he edged his way towards the end of the spines. He leapt again, rolling as he hit the ground below. When he stopped rolling, he shook off the grass and looked up towards Rarity. “Ok,” he called, “you ready?”

The dragoness took a deep, calming breath before calling back, “Warn me next time! You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry!” Spike chuckled sheepishly. “So, are you ready?”

“Yes.” She whined softly to herself. “But, be careful. Please?”

The pony nodded. “I will!” He focused on the dragoness above him, white scales and vibrant purple crest standing out in stark contrast to the earthy scales and moss surrounding her. He reached out with his magic, gently wrapping it around her and… The pony blinked. His magic was gone. It was there, then it wasn’t. He could still feel it inside him, but the magic he had reached out with was gone. He tried again, reaching out to the dragoness. Once more, the moment his magic surrounded her, it disappeared.

“Spike? Is something the matter?”

“I don’t know. Something’s happening to my magic when it gets close to you.”

Rarity’s head tilted to the side. “Your magic…” Her eyes went wide. “Oh, yes, I forgot. That’s my fault, dear.” She held something up in her claw. “Here, catch!” She threw it down to the pony.

Spike tried to catch it in his magic, but suffered the same failure as when he tried to pick up the dragoness. More than a little confused, he snatched it out of the air with a hoof. The object was composed of crystals tied along a length of string, with little strips of paper evenly spaced between them; Bard’s magic limiter, pony version. “Rarity, why do you have this?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment, but could you let me down first?” The dragoness shrugged lightly. “I’m sort of getting tired of shouting.”

“Oh, right!” Spike tossed the limiter away from him, making sure it was far enough away not to interfere. Once again, he focused on Rarity and reached out with his magic. It surrounded her, and the pony gently lifted her from Tank’s shell.

The dragoness let out a small yelp as she started floating, but her anxiety quickly transitioned to breathless wonder. “Oh, my…” She drifted down to Spike, and he released her the moment her claws touched the grass. “Whoa!” She stumbled as she landed, catching herself against the pony. Nervous laughter escaped her as she used Spike to steady herself. Without letting go of him, she looked back at where she had been standing. “That was amazing. Truly exhilarating, I must say.” She looked back at Spike, blushing slightly when she realized she was still holding on to him, but made no move to let go. “Is that what it feels like to fly?”

Spike noticed her blush, and the reason for it. He lifted a hoof and rested it against the dragoness’ back, meaning to reassure her that he didn’t mind. Instead, he turned what had been a pleasant accident into an awkward, bungled embrace. He coughed quietly and lowered his hoof. “You have two flying dragon friends, they’ve never flown you anywhere?”

Rarity pulled her claw away. “It’s not like they haven’t offered, I’ve just never taken them up on it.” She squeezed the grass below her. “I much prefer having earth under my claws.”

“I can understand that.” Spike smiled warmly. “But, I’ve done my share of flying. If you trust the dragon carrying you, there’s nothing to be scared of. Grumble and I have been flying together for almost two years, and I’ve ridden on Celestia’s back for as long as I can remember. It’s sort of fun once you get used it.”

“Well, then I will do my best to be a bit more open to the idea in the future.” Rarity looked around, searching for something. “Spike, what did you do with those crystals I threw down?”

The pony pointed to where they lay, in the grass to the pony’s left. “I had to toss them over there.” He went over and picked them up. “While we’re on the subject of flight, where’s Grumble? I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“I heard he went back to Dragonspire after we went to the river.” She walked over to Spike and took the crystals from him. Her gaze lingered on them as she spoke. “According to Applejack, he stayed up all night to watch our new resident shape-shifter, and wanted to go get some sleep.”

“He did?” Spike shook his head slowly. “That’s Grumble for you. You know, he’s been following my orders these last few days even though he doesn’t have to? He saved up enough leave to last from now up until the end of his service.”

“No, I didn’t know that.” Rarity looked up. “He must consider you a good friend then, to demonstrate such loyalty.”

“After the hells we’ve been through under Ice Heart, I’d say he’s the best friend I’ve got.” Spike laughed uneasily at the memories. “Yeah, there were some rough times. Anyway, Grumble’s really the only friend I had in the military. Everydragon else was either a subordinate, a superior, or just a colleague. I’m glad he’s sticking around.”

Rarity tilted her head to the side. “Sticking around?”

Spike nodded. “As long as I’m in Dragonspire, he’s going to be keeping an eye on me. He thinks I don’t spend enough time relaxing, so he wants me to have fun, go treasure hunting, and…” The pony trailed off as his eyes met hers. A blush spread across his face, and he coughed into a hoof. “Well, there was some other stuff, but you get the idea.”

“Really?” The dragoness took Spike’s words at face value at first, but the memory of their meeting quickly came to mind. Slowly, a smirk formed on her face. “Looking back on it, I must ask, would that other stuff have anything to do with why Grumble was so quick to leave after we met?”

“Yes.” Spike winced, looking away. He would have left it at that, but figured that honesty would be better received than a vague answer. “He wanted me to find a pretty female.” The pony chuckled nervously. “And, you’re about as pretty as they come.”

When Rarity didn’t respond, he looked over slowly. She was sitting there, clutching the string of crystals to her chest. She was closed in on herself, like she was alone despite the world around her. Spike put a hoof on her shoulder, snapping her out of whatever trance she was in. “Rarity, are you ok? You’ve been spacing out like that a lot lately.”

“I, I’m fine,” she stammered. “I just have a lot to think about at the moment.”

“With everything you’ve been through, I can understand that.” He moved his hoof up and down the scales of her shoulder. It wasn’t much of a motion, just enough to try and give her some reassurance that she wasn’t alone. “Anything I can help with?”

She leaned into the motion. “I wish it was.” She took his hoof in her claw, and held it close. “I wish it was something you could help with, like everything else these last few days... but, you’re the problem this time.”

“I am?” Spike’s feelings of hope became feelings of worry. “What did I do? Did I say something stupid again? I do that sometimes.”

“No, no.” Rarity moved closer to him, resting a claw against his chest. “It’s not like that. It’s not what you’ve done, it’s what you are.” The dragoness rested her head on his chest, just above her claw. She listened to his heartbeat as she idly pet the soft fur beneath her claw. “I just need to sort out my feelings about it.”

Spike stood stone still, numb to the caress and weight upon his chest. He felt like he had been kicked in gut. “I-“ He caught his voice just as it was about to crack. He swallowed hard and tried again. “I understand.” He felt heat in his eyes, and closed them to stave off the tears he knew would follow.

Still leaning against him, Rarity didn’t notice the pony’s distress. “I knew you would, dear. Thank you.”

He nodded silently, not trusting his voice. He understood her situation, but he was having trouble understanding his own. Why was he crying? He had nothing more than a flimsy hope to start with. Why did it hurt so much to lose it? No, not even that. He didn’t lose anything yet. All she said was that she needed time. Was it the reason she needed time that bothered him? “What I am.”

Rarity’s claw paused for a moment. “What was that, dear?” She resumed her petting motion immediately after asking her question.

“Don’t…” For each stroke against his fur, she could have dug her claws into the pony’s chest and he wouldn’t have felt the difference. Why was she doing that? If she needed time, why was she doing that? He stopped her claw with his hoof.

“Sorry, dear, but your fur is so delightfully soft. I just couldn’t help myself.” She looked up at him and recoiled in shock. “Spike, why are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“Please, don’t.” His voice cracked as he spoke, but he didn’t care anymore. He shook his head as he backed away. “I understand that you need time, but don’t toy with me.”

“Toy with you?” She tried to move closer to him, but he held her back. “I would never do that. What’s wrong? Tell me.”

“Nothing.” The pony let his hoof drop, but turned away before the dragoness could move towards him. “It’s my fault that I’m so upset. I should have known that being a pony wasn’t something that would be easy for you to get over, if you can get over it at all.”

“Being a pony?” Rarity gasped in realization. “She didn’t tell you. Spike, no, that’s not-“ Her words trailed off as the pony started walking away, and after a few steps, his walk turned into a run. The dragoness reached out for him. “Spike, wait!”

He didn’t wait. He didn’t slow down. And he didn’t look back.

Author's Note

Special thanks to Imaginary Valued, Gwenio, and Ph0enix for proof/pre-reading.

Chapter title

Virtue and Vice by Delain

I love the solo just after 2:55

Nemo(True Name)

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Spike sat in a grassy clearing, surrounded by small, twisted trees. They were weak and shriveled, wasted in the rocky socky they grew in, just as wasted as the tears he now watered them with. He had found the largest and strongest of them, and was banging his head against it. "How could I have been such an idiot?”

He let his head fall against the rough bark one last time, and sat there, crying. He knew, or at least he should have known, that Rarity would have problems with him being a pony. He was alone among dragons, and always had been. He was used to it by now.

Then, why did this still hurt so much? He dug his hoof into his chest. Why did he hurt so much? Rarity hadn't rejected him; she just said she needed time. But, what if time proved this was something she couldn't get over?

If that happened, he would leave. He would let her go on with her life how she chose. What else could he do? He would leave, and resume his search for others like him. He was a pony, maybe he didn't have a place in this world of dragons.

He stepped away from the tree and looked up. The moon was still almost full, and the clearing was well lit by it. He stared at it until tears blurred his vision, then he closed his eyes. Why was he even waiting? He should just leave. He met Twilight, she was surrounded by dragons, friends and foster family, that would protect her and help her grow. His mission was over. There was no need for him here.

The crack of twigs and dry leaves sounded off in the darkness, drawing the pony’s attention. It was probably just some wild animal, but Spike felt his heartbeat quicken as he stared into the forest. Then, he came to a sobering realization. He really was an idiot. He left Rarity out there. Alone.

He was just about to cast his tracking spell when whatever was nearby started charging at him. He faced the approaching sound of trampling feet, or claws, and prepared to defend himself. After he was done here, he would find Rarity and make sure she was safe. No wild animal would keep him from that task.

He prepared a preemptive spell and waited for the creature to come into view. When it did, he froze, carefully charged magic dissipating alongside his concentration. Charging straight at him, was a determined bundle of white scales and purple crest. "Rarity?"

The dragoness tackled him. After a brief tumble, Rarity had Spike pinned beneath her, and she yelled in his face, “Spike, you being a pony isn’t something I have to get over. I don’t care!”

Those words, the very words Spike wanted to hear, brought no joy. They only made the pain worse. Stronger and much more experienced in combat, Spike flipped the dragoness over as easily as turning over a sheet of paper. Then, he stood over her, just as she stood over him seconds ago, letting his tears fall to the scales below.

“Then what am I?" He yelled at her, closing his eyes against the flow of tears.

"Spike..." Rarity reached up for him, wanting to to touch him. She tried to rest her claw on the troubled face looking down at her, as if she could just wipe away the pain like she could a tear.

He jerked his head away from the touch and lowered his voice to a whisper. "In your eyes, what am I?". His voice cracked. "If being a pony isn’t the problem, what is?” He brought a hoof to his chest, squeezing the spot she had been touching. “I don’t understand any of this. Not even my own feelings anymore. But, I know this, Rarity. I’ve never felt like this before. Not for anydragon. When you said that what I am is a problem, it hurt. It hurt like hell, but not like any pain I've ever felt. It was like something was trying to crush me from inside, something I couldn't fight against.” He put his hoof down on the grass. “Like a claw closing in on my heart… Your claw.” He moved off of Rarity, shaking his head as he stumbled away. He felt like he barely had the strength to move. “The things you say, and do, affect me more than they should.” He plopped down heavily. “Honestly, I’ve been trying to sort my feelings out too. Have been ever since I met you. And I keep coming back to the same conclusion, and every second I spend with you only supports it. I wanted to tell you... but now, I’m not too sure you would want to hear it.”

“The good and bad become better and worse around those we care about. The stakes are higher, the fear of loss, greater.” Rarity sat up slowly. “Spike, what you are is not the only issue I am concerned with. What I am is also causing me difficulty. It has nothing to do with ponies and dragons, and I barely understand it myself, but please, give me a chance to explain.”

“I will, you know I will.” He looked over at her. “I love you. Even if you don’t feel the same, I want you to know that I love you.”

The dragoness looked down and closed her eyes. “I wish you hadn't said that. I do feel the same, but hear me out before you say anything further.”

“Why?” Spike walked over to her. “If you feel the same, why did we just go through all that?” He sat in front of her and lifted her chin gently. “If you really feel the same, look me in the eyes and say it. I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’ll trust you. Just let me hear you say it.”

She looked into his eyes, purple meeting green, both lined with the red of tears. “I can't, Spike, I don't know for sure. I think I do, but it scares me. It scares me because this was decided for us.”

“Decided?" Spike shook his head. "How could this be decided?"

Rarity rested her claws on his chest. "Spike, you say you love me. What does that mean to you? What does love look like through your eyes?"

The pony brought his hoof to meet the claws, holding them to his fur. "I don't know. I'm still finding out. But, I know that what I feel is for you alone."

"Then..." She stared at his hoof, silently preparing her words. "Would you take me as your mate?"

Spike's eyes went wide. Those had to be the last words he ever expected to hear in this situation. "What, like, now?"

Rarity's face went bright red. "No!" She shook her head quickly and tried to back away, but Spike still had hold of her claws. "Not now! hypothetically! Hypothetically, would you take me as your mate? One day far, far, far in the future?"

"Oh." Spike scratched at his mane, shyly looking away from her. He should have realized that she didn't mean it like that. "I... I guess." Now that he calm enough to think about it, he was starting to see problems. The way she posed her question had sent his mind down a path of preparation and practicality, and now, he had questions. Dragons mate for life, but is a pony's life the same as a dragon's? Would one of them have to go through the loss of the other? And, was it even possible for a dragon and a pony to…

He was broken from that train of thought by a series of small pokes as Rarity tightened her claws against him. "Spike, please, answer me seriously."

He took a deep breath. "Yes. If you would have me, I would take you as a mate without hesitation."

The dragoness pulled her claws away. "What if it meant giving up your magic?"

Spike stopped and stared at her. How could he even begin to answer that? Magic was everything, it was everywhere. "How could I give up my magic?"

Rarity nodded sadly. That was the answer she had expected. "Your magic is more important to you than I am."

"No." Spike shook his head slowly. "That's not what I said." The pony moved closer to the dragoness. "I just don't understand. Why would I have to give up magic? And how would I do it? Is it even possible?"

The dragoness looked up, her eyes wide in shock. "Then, you..."

He wrapped her in a tight embrace and nodded. "If that is what you would ask of me, I would do it."

Rarity buried her face in the fur of his chest. As she tried to calm her pounding heart, she listened to the steady, rhytmic beat of his. How could he be so calm, so resolute, while saying something like that? "I- I wouldn't." She shook her head against him. "How could I? How can any dragon?" She looked up slowly. "I don't understand how you can say that."

Spike met her eyes and ran a hoof along her crest. He understood now. He knew why she was so scared of this. "This isn't about me, is it? It's about you."

She broke eye contact and nodded. "When an earthmate gives herself up to another, she must give her powers up as well."

Spike closed his eyes. He couldn't ask that of her. "I won't ask anything of you. Let me stay by your side, and that will be enough."

He felt a weight on his snout, and opened his eyes. Rarity pulled his face down and slowly rubbed her claw through the fur there. "I would, but it's not that simple, Spike." She then reached up and tied the magical limiter around his horn. "There is only ever one Earthmate at a time, and the history of the Earthmates is passed down from those that gave up their powers to be with the ones they love. The name is much more literal than it seems. We are the chosen of the Earth, and our destiny is to wait for the one who hold's the Earth's blessing."

Spike stayed silent, and didn't resist when Rarity took his hoof and lifted it to her chest. She ran her claw over it, gently exploring every nick, scratch, and scar hidden under fur. "Spike, show me your magic."

He touched his other hoof to the limiter. "I can't, Rarity. This-"

The dragoness shook her head. "No, not that." She pressed her claw to his chest, over his heart. "I want to see your true magic. That which comes from here." She brought her claw back to his hoof. "And here."

Spike took a deep breath and focused on the hoof she held. He tried to envision his magic, as if he were going to... Cast a spell... From his hoof? He sighed heavily. "Rarity, I don't think I can do this."

She let his hoof drop to the ground. "Don't think." She brought her claws to his face, and gently tugged down. As she touched their foreheads together, she whispered, "Just close your eyes and feel."

They closed their eyes together, and Spike did his best to follow her instructions. He didn't think about his magic, or try to force it. He just sat there and tried to focus on what he felt. Her head touching his, claws slowly falling away from him, a quiet breeze running through his mane.

He could hear the wind pick up, and slowly became aware of other noises around him. Crickets in the grass, nocturnal birds and bats rustling through the trees; his own breath, and the breath of the dragoness in front of him.

With each breath, he could smell her. He could smell himself too. They both reeked of the blood and sweat of the last two days. But they were surrounded by other smells as well. The scents of woodland plants, grass, and dirt intertwined with their own.

Slowly, Spike became aware of something among the various sounds, smells, and sensations. A gentle warmth, formless, coalescent, surrounding him. It brushed against him as it grew more and more defined.

After a few moments, the warmth had solidified into a gentle, sweeping curve that danced around him. It lit upon him and slowly invaded his very being. He didn't fight it though. Now that it was within him, he could sense it clearly, as if he were looking at it. It was a purple ribbon, smooth and flowing, with a shimmering surface that hid the jagged portions of its edge. This ethereal ribbon was magic, Rarity's magic.

It slowly withdrew, drawing something out. Energy, bright and condensed. It was shifted and bent, angular and green. This was the magic from last night, the unidentified spell at the campfire. Spike could feel it, wanting to expand, to explore. It wanted to shoot off in every direction, but Rarity's magic kept it bound. Was this his magic? The 'true magic' she had spoken of?

Rarity's magic relaxed slightly, and a single beam of his magic shot off on an angular path around them. It was caught by a piece of ribbon that branched off from the main one. The two magic offshoots intertwined, combining into a twisting white line of energy that continued to swirl around them.

The dragoness continued to release his magic in such a way that one or two lines could escape, just to be caught a second later. After a few rounds of this, Spike's magic began to actively seek hers out.

She let go. Spike's magic burst into a thousand dancing lines, filling the clearing with harsh light. Rarity split her own magic into an equal number of ribbons, and spread them out among the lines. One by one, each instance of magic met its opposite. They combined, becoming something different, something greater, brighter than they had been before.

After every thread of magic had merged, the new lines continued to swirl, forming a framework around them. They wove and braided themselves into complicated patterns as pony and dragon sat unmoving beneath them. Braided magic criss-crossed and locked into place, fading away once each piece stopped moving.

When the last bit of magic faded, they opened their eyes. The clearing was completely transformed. Around the grass and hobbled trees stood a forest of woven stone, a wide, domed temple, grown from solid rock. And in its center, beneath an opening that let moonlight shine through, Spike and Rarity stared at each other.

The magical limiter had disintegrated, leaving nothing but sparkling dust. Rarity reached up and brushed the powdered crystal out of Spike's mane. She gave him a small bittersweet smile. "The earthmates have been waiting for you, Terris.”

Author's Note

Yay! I stuck to a chapter a week for two whole weeks! I'm going to try and release new chapters every saturday from now on.

Special thanks to Imaginary Valued, Gwenio, and Ph0enix for proof/pre-reading.

Chapter Title

Nemo by Nightwish

True Name by Metal Pony Fan

Can be found here(it's the only post).

http://metalponyfan.tumblr.com/

Kings and Queens

Twilight lay in a sweaty heap at Fluttershy’s feet, shaking her fist at the small drake atop the yellow dragon’s head. “I know you were cheating, but that was low!”

Ice heart slid down his grand-daughter’s crest and walked over to Twilight. There was a large red bump on his forehead, and he rubbed it gingerly. “I should say the same thing to you, brat! Who said you could use rocks?”

“You never said I couldn’t!” The hatchling wobbled back onto her feet. “Now, keep your promise.”

Ice Heart crossed his arms. “So, you figured out my little trick?”

Twilight took the same pose. “Of course I did, how do you think I caught you?”

Ice Heart pointed at the hatchling. “You didn’t catch me, the rock did!”

Again, Twilight copied the drake’s action. “You’re just being a sore loser!”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and shook her head as the two continued to argue. Under her breath, she muttered, “Honestly, if didn’t know better, I’d think they were twins.” She cleared her throat loudly to get their attention, and stepped forward. “Why don’t you let me handle this?”

Applejack tilted her hat back and scratched her forehead. “Handle what, Sugarcube? There ain’t much goin’ on right now.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she looked around. To her right, Rainbow Dash was sitting on Tank’s head, talking to him like a long lost friend even though they’ve only been apart for less than a week. To her left, Chrysalis was dealing with her boredom by scratching graffiti into a small ruin wall. In front of her, Applejack was sitting calmly, seemingly undisturbed by the lack of activity.

“He teleported me!” The yellow dragin made a noise that was halfway between a groan and stifled shout, and stomped away. “That drake is impossible!”

Applejack chuckled and pushed her hat over her eyes. She then laid down with her head on her claws. “Eeyup.”

Twilight’s claws rested on her hips, and her lips twisted to the side as her snout scrunched up. “You’re not wearing a watch, you know.”

“Shut up,” Ice Heart commanded calmly as he continued to stare at his wrist. “It helps me keep track of time.”

“Without a watch?”

“Even without a watch. Try it sometime.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “What are you keeping track of anyway?”

The drake looked up from his wrist. “My grand-daughter is going to yell at me in approximately seven seconds.” He held up his claws and started counting down.

The hatchling raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty specific.”

Ice Heart smiled. “Isn’t it though?” He reached the end of his countdown and frowned. “Hmm, I guess it was a bit off.”

“Grandpa!”

Ice Heart turned around. “Moonbeam!” he called happily. “You’re late, but it’s nice of you to join us.”

“Don’t give me that!” Fluttershy stormed up to the drake. “Teleport me like that one more time, and I’m going to start carrying around one of dad’s magic nullifiers.”

He put his claws up in a placating gesture. “Alright, alright, I won’t do it again. Relax.” He pointed over his shoulder at Twilight. “The kid’s about to explain how she caught me.”

Twilight blinked. “I am? Wait, does this mean you admit that I caught you?”

Ice Heart shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

“What do you mean, why not?” Twilight asked angrily. “I caught you fair and square. Admit defeat already!”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. “He’s not going to, Twilight. You may as well just tell us how you figured out his trick.”

“Fine.” The hatchling shot the drake one last angry look. “At first, I thought he was doing something to speed himself up, like Spike’s spell to make himself tougher, but then I realized he was using teleportation.”

Ice Heart nodded. “Good reasoning. I modified the iron-scale spell to the iron-fur spell for Spike, and taught it to him. I’m not exactly a stranger to capability enhancement magic, but I wouldn’t say it’s my strong point. As for teleportation, now that is my specialty. I can jump from place to place as easily as most dragons breathe.”

Twilight crossed her claws in front of her. “But you weren’t teleporting yourself, you were teleporting me.”

“Of course I was," Ice heart said as he teleported himself to his right. “You were watching me closely, trying to figure out what I was doing. You would have noticed that. But, you were so focused on me that you didn’t even realize that I was pushing you backwards every other step.”

"I figured it out after I tried to pick up that first rock. Just before I could grab it, I was pushed back." The hatchling smiled smugly. "After that, it was easy to catch you."

"You've got some smarts, kid." Ice heart raised a claw to his mouth, and lowered his voice to a staged whisper. "It took Spike two months to figure that out." He hopped up on a nearby rock like it was a stage, and took a proud pose. "Now, as promised, I will explain what I meant by angels."

He held the pose for about a few seconds, then hopped off the rock. "Moonbeam, you're up."

Fluttershy sighed and walked over to Twilight. She sat down in front of the hatchling and quietly asked, "Twi, do you know the lightbringer spell?"

The tiny purple dragon nodded. "I haven't used it in a long time, but Rarity taught it to me years ago."

The yellow dragin opened her wings and brought them in front of her. She clasped the tips together as if she was trying to hold something. "It looks like this, right?" In a fluid, sweeping motion, she pulled her wings apart, leaving a glowing sphere that slowly drifted towards the ground.

Twilight stared in wonder and disbelief as the orb of light hit the ground and rolled towards her. "You... can use magic?"

Fluttershy nodded. "All dragons can use magic. Magic dragons differ in that they have direct control over their magic, meaning they have the ability to learn spells. Certain flying dragons can do that too. I am one of them, as is Rainbow Dash. Though, I'm not sure she is aware of it."

Ice heart walked up besides his grand-daughter. "That's right. These flying dragons are called angel dragons, have been for centuries. They are quite rare, and can be identitied by the feathered wings." He pointed at Twilight. "You know two of them, and therefore have two more options for your magical training."

Twilight scratched her chin. "Actually, I think it's three. Scootaloo has feathers too."

"Another friend, eh?" Iceheart chuckled and crossed his arms. "Perfect, ask them to help you."

Fluttershy leaned down and whispered to him, "Grandpa, Scootaloo is three years younger than Twilight."

The small drake blinked a few times, then shrugged. "Or, don't ask them to help. Either one's fine." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, the important thing is for you to not give up on magic. It can hurt, it can heal, but it must always be controlled. Going back to the seed metaphor, you must cultivate your magic carefully once it sprouts."

Twilight mulled it over for a moment. "How?"

Ice heart walked over to a small tree. It was almost a shrub, stunted and twisted as it grew in the scant purchase afforded by Tank's shell. "Look at this thing. It's struggling just to stay alive. A gardner would probably prune it back a bit. Or, he might add some dirt and plant food." He pointed at the grass and clover-like ground cover surrounding it. "But those smaller plants are doing just fine. They're smaller, but there's more of them." He looked back at Twilight. "There are thousands of types of plants, and even more ways to arrange them in a garden. Your magic is your garden, and you have to decide how to tend it. Do you carve the topiary into rabbits or birds? Do you focus on flowers, or foliage? Do you have a few large plants, or countless smaller ones? No dragon can make those choices but you."

Twilight groaned as she listened. She was starting to understand, but did he have to dress up every answer like a Kung Fu Tzu quote? "I would probably learn this faster if you explained it like an instruction manual. Less metaphor, and more technical details."

"There is no instruction manual!" The drake crossed his arms. "I just got through explaining that." He scratched his face, his claw making a rough sound against his cheek. "Unless you're talking about individual spells. You can get manuals for those." He went back to his previous pose and shouted, "But, uh..." Something distracted him mid-shout. "Um, not for magic in general." A faint glow on the horizon had caught his eye, and for a moment, he forgot the two dragons with him. "Of all places, it's gonna show up here?"

The hatchling shook her head. This was just getting more and more confusing. "So, what do I do?"

Ice Heart shook his head and looked over at his grand-daughter. "Is she deaf or something? I just told her that she has to make those decisions for herself." He walked over to Twilight and gave the annoyed hatchling a little pat on the head. "Anyway, I've got to go. I'm sure you'll figure it out, but I can't work with a brat that can't even listen to simple explanations. Good luck, kid, and take care of Spike for me."

"Simple? What part of anything you said was simple?" Twilight shouted at the empty air where Ice Heart once stood. After a moment, yellow fur stepped in to fill the void he left.

Fluttershy sighed quietly and leaned down, gently nudging the fuming hatchling to get her attention. "Why don't you let me help you with one of your spells. We can start with something basic."

Twilight looked up with a wide smile. The frustrations that Ice Heart had brought were already forgotten in the midst of her eager anticipation. "Ok! I know which one I want to do!"

Sand. It was hot during the day, and cold at night. And it never stayed in one place. Whether it was shifting under one’s weight, or blowing on the wind, these tiny grains of stone were always on the move. Yet, for all its fickle nature, there was one undeniable constant when it came to sand. That constant was the crunch. The inescapable feel of grit between the teeth. It didn't matter how big you were, sand would eventually find its way between your teeth.

The wind died down, and Celestia took the opportunity to spit. She was somewhere in the southern wastelands, about forty leagues south of the Tartarus gate. A sandstorm had halted her progress, and she was about half-buried from weathering it. As she wriggled herself free from the small sea of sand engulfing her, she kept spitting. As much as she had tried to keep her mouth clamped shut, sand had made its way in.

"You're lucky there's no dragon around to see you."

She looked down at the small drake that was now sitting on her shoulder. He had his scarf wrapped around his mouth like a mask. She then gave one last defiant spit, taking a little extra time to work it up good and wet. "You think I care?"

Ice heart shook his head. There was only one reason why Draconica's princess would be this abrasive. "You went to see him, didn't you?"

Fed up with slowly crawling out of the sand, Celestia spread her wings and started flapping. Another sandstorm began, spreading away from the largest dragon known to exist, who now served as a perch for one of the smallest. She was free of the would-be tomb in seconds, and shook herself to rid her fur and scales of lingering sand. "I was sorely tempted to put out his other eye."

Ice heart sighed to himself. She did go, even after promising not to. "Just try to remember what happened to me."

"An eye for an eye." Celestia shrugged, nearly dislodging the smaller dragon. "It's kind of hard to forget your brother-in-law showing up in the middle of court drenched in his own blood."

The drake nodded. "I should hope so. Heaven forbid I do anything mundane."

"Speaking of the unforgettable things you do..." Celestia looked down at him, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Why did you come here? I'm relatively certain it wasn't to talk me out of inflicting pain on that monster."

"As much as I would like to see that, I don't want to see the price you would pay for it." Ice Heart sat cross-legged and rested his claws on his knees. "No, I just wanted to let you know that I visited Dragonspire."

The princess laughed happily and started walking. She needed some good news right about now. "You just couldn't leave my poor Spike alone, could you? You had to check in on him. So, how is he? I already know that he met Twilight. And, it seems he's been having a good time for the most part."

"There's a lot more going on than just that." He lifted a claw and started counting things off on his fingers. "That Twilight brat was suppressing her magic. There is another angel dragon living there besides my grand-daughter. That dragon also happens to be from Casull. She also knows things about the old war that we don't." Upon reaching the end of his claw-counting capability, Ice Heart just reversed the direction he counted in. "There are ancient creatures roaming around. There are completely unknown creatures roaming around. The unknown creature seems to know something about ponies. The unknown creature also refers to itself as a queen. On top of that, it seems to have a crush on Spike. But, Spike has a crush on one of the dragons. Oh, yeah, this may be important, but the dragon that Spike has a crush on happens to be the same dragon you've had me searching for these last hundred years or so."

Celestia stopped in her tracks. "The earthmate?" she asked urgently. "She's been found?"

Ice Heart nodded. "It's the brat's caretaker."

"Rarity?" Celestia sighed quietly. "This may cause problems. According to the letters, Rarity and Spike seemed to share some mutual feelings. It would be wonderful for Spike to have a meaningful romantic relationship, but we can not allow it to reach the point where the earthmate's powers are transferred."

"Actually..." Ice Heart chuckled. "Here's where it gets interesting. The Temple of Awakening has already appeared."

Celestia's eyes went wide with bewilderment. "When?" she shouted. "For that matter, where?" She shook her head. "I don't believe this!" She tromped around in a circle and sat in the sand. This was years ahead of schedule. "The Earth King has returned?"

"Well, it's not so much that he returned," the drake said in a hesitant singsong. "Rather, you had him gift-wrapped and delivered."

Celestia blinked. He couldn't mean... "Spike?"

Ice Heart nodded. "Spike."

The princess repeated it one more time, as if to confirm it. "Spike is the Earth King?"

Ice Heart shrugged. "I told you he had potential."

Author's Note

Special thanks to Imaginary Valued, Gwenio, and Ph0enix for proof/pre-reading.

Chapter Title

Kings and Queens - Freedom call

True Name, the song from the previous chapter in a convenient format, listen or don't, it's up to you. May be a bit loud.

Carnival of Rust

Spike ran a hoof over the twisted stone of the temple walls. The earthen lattice was smooth and cold, polished to a bright lustre. Even with magic, this temple should have taken a long time to build. Yet, here it stood after mere minutes.

He wasn't even aware that it was happening. Their magic, his and Rarity's, had manifested without conscious thought. At least, not on his part. For all he knew, Rarity could have been guiding the process. It was just as well, this new magic was unfamiliar to him, and far from being under his control.

There was a series of clicks on one of the stone walkways that had formed within the temple. Without turning around, Spike knew that Rarity was walking over to him. It wasn't just the sound either. There was still a faint sensation left from the exchange of magic, if it could really be called that. The hadn't actually exchanged anything, unlike what happened on the way back from the river. It was more of a joining, like pouring two sources of water into the same bucket, but that didn't explain why he could sense the dragoness.

Behind him, Rarity held out a claw. She reached out for his shoulder, then drew back, over and over, in a wavering display of hesitation. She eventually settled on clenching a fist and putting the claw down. "Spike?"

"Don't you mean, Terris?" Spike asked. He winced at the acid in his tone. Was he angry? At her? It sure sounded that way, but that wasn't how he felt. Was it? He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Rarity. I didn't mean that. It's just..." He looked back at the rest of the temple and shook his head again. "This is a lot to take in right now. I mean, me, Terris? I'm the Earth King? Who decided that?"

"I don't know, Spike. But it has been decided." The dragoness looked down at her claw, the one she had been to cowardly to reach out with.

Spike noticed it, and reached out a hoof. Giving her a small touch on the shoulder. "At least I know how you felt now. There's something unsettling about having your destiny defined for you. It makes you second-guess yourself."

Rarity nodded slowly. "Every decision makes you wonder if your choices are truly your own. I've had to live with that since I was a hatchling, and it nearly drove me mad. I did everything I could to fight it, to make my own decisions. I habitually disobeyed my parents, I ran away from home on a regular basis, and goodness knows how many times I've insulted some dragon for daring to offer advice. Until I took in Twilight, I was an uncontrollable terror." She lifted her claw again. She didn't reach out though. She just squeezed it tighter and tighter into a trembling fist. "That's why I'm scared. Of you, of this, of my own feelings. Spike, I've worked hard to live my life based on my own decisions. But now, I can't make one. I can't make a decision, because I don't know if I really love you, or if I just feel this way because I'm supposed to love Terris."

"But, I'm not Terris." Spike pulled his hoof back slowly. "I can't be. Celestia used to tell me bedtime stories about the Earth King. He was supposed to be the greatest dragon since Typhon. Stronger than all enemies, a hero for Draconica's darkest times. That isn't me."

"Why not?" Rarity grabbed him by the leg before he could turn away from her. "Spike, your magic has only just awakened. There's no telling how much stronger you'll be now."

The pony shook his head. "But, I'm not a dragon. No amount of magic is going to change that."

Spike tried to pull away, but Rarity held tight. "Where does it say you have to be a dragon? The Earthmate's history doesn't mention it, and anything else is in the realm of myth by this point." She loosened her grip a little. "It certainly doesn't matter to me."

Spike stopped fighting her, and covered her claw with a hoof. "Then, what do you want? You're the one who's been waiting for the Earth King all these years. Do you want me to be Terris?"

She shook her head. "No. I want you to be Spike, the pony I've been getting to know. I don't want this to change you, and I didn't want it to change things between us."

"That isn't possible, Rarity." With a wide, sweeping gesture, he indicated the stone temple surrounding them. "This... This is too big. Forget about it changing us, this could change the whole of Draconica."

Rarity stared at the cold stone beneath her claws. "I don't care," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I wish it had never happened. I wish I could have met you without any of these powers and prophecies to get in the way."

Spike slowly nodded his agreement. "Things would have been simpler. But we have to do our best with what we've been given. I know it's cliche, but all I can say is that we can't change the past. We have to live with what's already happened, and try to focus on the future."

"No." Rarity looked up at the temple's ceiling. "Spike, the future has already been written. For us, at least." She reached up towards the moonlight streaming through the patterned stone. "The sun sets, and the moon rises. Soon, the moon will set, and the sun will rise. There's nothing that can change that, and there's nothing that can change the fact that our choices are not our own."

"But, who says what the sunset will look like? How can you know if clouds will block the moon from view?" Spike got up and nudged Rarity towards the temple entrance. "Come on. You want a choice? I'm making one right now." He ran for the door, leaving the dragoness to try and catch up. "I choose to be outside! I'm not going to stay cooped up in a stone cage on a night this beautiful."

He ran and ran, with Rarity hot on his hooves. He dodged trees and stone pillars until he reached another clearing. Then, he stopped. Without any warning, the dragoness was unable to match his stop. She
crashed into him from behind, knocking them both sprawling in the grassy clearing.

As they lay in the windblown grass, Spike reached out to the dragoness. "You said it yourself, there was nothing mentioned about me being a pony. Even if things like prophecy hold true, isn't there enough room for us to live our own lives in between? There has to be, right?"

"Spike, I would love to believe that, but... it's difficult for me. I've been running from this for so long, that I don't know if I can just accept it. That night in the library, after I had exhausted my magic, I made the decision to pursue you. It didn't matter to me that you weren't a dragon, and I was almost happy to give up being the earthmate, since it would mean my freedom from this prophecy." She pulled back a little then rolled onto her back. With a sigh, she looked up at the night sky and continued, "Then I found out that you were Terris. At first, I was overjoyed, because I would be able to keep my powers if it was you. But, the more I thought about it, the more I became afraid I might come to resent you." She shook her head slowly. "I don't want that to happen."

Spike let his head drop to the grass below, scrunching his nose from the tickle of the cool blades. "I don't either, but where does that leave us? I don't like the idea of my destiny being decided. But, even if we rebel against it, aren't we still letting it control us?" He groaned and folded his hooves over his head. "I just don't know. This is all so confusing."

A touch on his hoof made home look up. Rarity had crawled over in front of him, and was pulling his hooves away from his face. "I don't know where it leaves us. But, I don't want this to tear us apart." She chewed her lip for a moment. "So, I'll ask you again, please give me some time to sort this out."

"But..." Spike stopped himself. With a wry smile, he sat up and sighed. "Yeah, I guess we both need some time to think about this." He helped Rarity up. "I should probably talk to Celestia about this. She's been searching for the Earth King since before I was hatched. Well, that is, if ponies hatch."

Rarity smiled despite herself. It was terrible that Spike didn't even know enough about his own species to know how he was born, but it was a much needed reminder that he was still the same Spike. "How do you think she'll react?"

Spike shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. She knew of the Earth king prophecy, but she never mentioned the earthmates. She may not know everything about it." He looked down at his hoof and called forward the green glow of his new magic. Then, he just let it fade away. "I hope she isn't disappointed. She was probably expecting Terris to be a little more impressive."

Rarity shook her head. "I'm sure she won't be. The way you speak of her, she sounds like somedragon I would very much enjoy meeting." The dragoness rubbed the back of her neck. "And, to tell the truth, I don't know everything about the prophecy either. There's somedragon I need to speak to about that."

Spike's eyebrows pulled together. "Who?"

"One of the previous earthmates. She sent me some letters a few years ago, asking to speak with me. Of course, I wanted nothing to do with the prophecy, so I always refused." She scoffed at herself. "The sad thing is, she said she lives in Dragonspire."

Spike's eyes widened a bit. "Really? I should probably talk to her."

Rarity nodded. "That's a good idea. We can meet her together. As soon as we get back to town, I'll dig out the letters and make arrangements." She slowly looked off to the side. "In the meantime, I should tell you what I do know." She stood up with a quiet sigh. "Unfortunately, it isn't much, so let's head back, and I'll tell you on the way."

"Ok." Spike nodded and followed her lead. He stood up and started walking towards where Tank and their friends waited. After a moment, he stopped. Rarity wasn't moving. He looked back, and she was still standing there, staring off into the night. "Rarity, is something wrong?"

"Huh?" The dragoness looked up quickly, as if she was broken out of a trance. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just trying to remember all the old stories." She walked up beside him. "Let's go."

Spike nodded and started off. As they walked, he noticed that Rarity was keeping her distance. She wasn't walking as close to him as she was earlier. Spike kept the observation to himself, and he didn't bother trying to close the gap. Until they sorted things out, it might be best to leave some space between them.

Author's Note

I cut it a bit close this week and had to skip the proofreading. I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Next Saturday's chapter will most likely not happen, in favor of being pushed back while I deal with a move and a grandmother who is in the hospital after tripping over her cat. If there is a chapter, it will most likely be quite short.

Capter Title

Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall

The Book of Shadows

The book of shadows, a rumored artifact posessing an unknown power, was believed lost in the fourth century of what we call The Void. The Void was a period of approximately seven hundred years spanning from the end of the Great war to the banishment. The banishment of what, we do not know. We don't even know what the war was about, or why the Void occured, only that there was a war, and the Void did occur.

We call it the void because there is little to no record of it ever occuring. In fact, it seems our entire history, up to and including the great war, begins after the Void ends. What little we have found from before that is broken, mired in uncertainty and mystery. Even though my order has spent centuries piecing together what we have found, we are no closer to finding answers.

Ah, of course, I should have introduced myself first. I am Sator, of the order of Abbadon, a monastic order residing in the city of exile, Casull. Sator is not the name I was born to, of course. None of the monks retain their given names, we choose one that describes us and our work in the order every hundred years or so. I have recently chosen Sator, which means father, because that is what I have become, not through any deficit of my monastic vows, but through necessity.

Unfortunately, there are many innocent hatchlings in this city. Given that most of the adult residents, aside from the monks, are bloodthirsty criminals, we have begun to take in these hatchlings. Some of these poor orphans are under our care before they even hatch, and the monks have become the only family they will likely know.

I care for the eldest hatchling under our protection. I am responsible for her feeding, education, and bed times, and it is quite the hassle at times. She is as stubborn as a volcano, with a temper just as fiery. At times, I wish I could let somedragon else care for her, but none of the other monks dare go near her after what she did to poor Excurro. If only I could return her to Draconica, and find a proper home for her, I am sure her attitude problems would go away.

That hardly seems possible though. With all the young we care for now, safely making the journey with all of them would be problematic. We have discussed the possibilty of making several pilgrimages, but we would need to leave enough monks to defend the temple while sending out enough to defend the hatchlings. We simply do not have enough dragons for that.

It is my hope that, as these hatchlings grow older, we can count on their help to make the journey. The hatchling I care for alone would be worth a dozen monks.

That is not merely a statement born of pride. She is a rare one, an angel dragon, blessed with both wings and powerful magic. On top of that, she has a remarkable will, a strength that I believe will carry her far. Of course, this will seems to fuel her stubborn nature, and sometimes leads to acts of supreme stupidity, such as sneaking out of the temple at night, or sneaking out during the day. Honestly, I am unsure which one is worse. At night, at least you need not battle dehydration, but there are many beasts, and a few plants, that would gladly make a meal out any dragon unable to fight them off.

She snuck off like that a week ago, shortly before dawn. I suppose she thought that a time between day and night would be safer. I went out to drag her back myself. There were not many dragons out and about, and those that were knew enough to give me a wide sway. I doubt they would do the same for a lone hatchling though.

It took me several hours to find her, and it was a wonder I ever did. She was crawling around the ruins of a building that collapsed long before I ever came to Casull. I happened to be passing by as she popped out of the window on a fallen wall. She was being chased by a horde of rats, no doubt seeking revenge for their brethren, whom she was chewing on.

She tried to fly away from them, but only managed a series of hops and poorly executed hovers. I grabbed her out of the air before she could see me, and roared at the rats, scaring them back into the rubble. I scared the hatchling too, and she dropped what she was carrying to cover her ears. I had not noticed earlier, but she was clutching something in her claws. That was why she didn't run from the rats, despite knowing full well that she lacked the power of flight.

After returning to the temple, she revealed that the book was intended as a gift for me. Excurro suggested that she said that to avoid punishment, but I believed her. She was still punished for putting herself in danger, but I am just glad she is unhurt. She was put to bed immediately after dinner, and a guard was placed outside her door. A heavy stone was also placed outside her window, blocking it completely.

I spent the rest of that night studying the book she retrieved. It was fairly ornate, and seemed to have dragon scales embedded along the spine. The front cover had a golden emblem riveted to the leather, with a polished gemstone bound to its center. Thin grooves swirled around the stone, which looked ever more like an eye as I stared at it.

Oddly though, it was blank. I counted exactly three hundred and forty-eight pages, and not one bore a mark of any kind. At first, I assumed it was just an empty journal, but then, I tried to write in it. The pages would not accept ink. As I wrote, the ink flowed into the paper and was absorbed, disappearing entirely after a few seconds.

The next day, I ordered a team of monks to investigate the ruins. They returned with several ruined artifacts, cloths and books that did not survive the rats. They also brought metal artifacts, everything from plates and utensils to bits of jewelry. Though these items were interesting, and would no doubt be of interest to a museum or a collector, they were of little historical value.

The only item of note was a carved stone box. Its lid was broken in two, and according to the monk who found it, it was found among blue feathers and rat blood. Judging by its size, the box once held the book my daughter gave me. She most likely left the box behind because it was too heavy.

The lid was edged with what seemed to be a variant of today's royal seal, possibly even the design that inspired it. Carved within that seal, were two figures. One was a dragon, regal and imposing, even by dragon standards. He was obviously a drake of some importance. The other was an unknown creature, dragon-like in shadow, but softer. It did not have scales, and its tail seemed to be made of hair, matching its flowing crest. It had one horn, pointing forward in the center of its forehead, and was clad in regalia armor similar to that of a female dragon lord. Whatever this creature was, it was being depicted in a manner equaling royalty.

Sadly, the lid held no clues regarding the identity of that creature. It did, however, state the identity of the book. It was the book of shadows. More accurately, it was the third book of shadows. There was no mention of the first or second books, but the text inscribed in the stone clearly said that it was the third of a set. It also made no mention of being last in the set, leaving the possibility that there are more books of shadows out there.

Within the box, there was more writing, explaining that the book had been sealed away to prevent its misuse during the war. It also explained how to use the book, and that only those chosen by peace will gain necessary knowledge. I was not sure exactly what it meant by that, but it seemed that this artifact was older than I thought. It not only predated the Void, but the great war as well, possibly making it one of the oldest known artifacts, as old or older than the Lineus Veil.

Of course, a blank book can only have so much historical significance, so I followed the instructions given. I poured my own blood into the grooves of the cover. It flowed through the pattern, and soaked into the metal. I then opened the book and brought my pen to the page. My claw moved of its own accord after that, writing names and places from my past. The ink stayed on the page this time.

I pulled my claw away after three pages. It was astounding. What was written read like a glossary of the dragons and places that shaped my life. There was encyclopedic information that even I was unaware of, but it was mixed with explanations that seemed obvious, including definitions of common words. There was no order to it, alphabetic or chronologic, that I could determine, except that everything written was related to my past.

I closed the book and went to fetch another monk. I had meant to show him the entries, but when I opened the book again, the pages were blank once more. At my request, he followed the instructions as I had. He pulled his claw away before the first entry was written, but it seemed the book was behaving as it had earlier.

We experimented after that. Every member of the order tried offering their blood to the book. We found that the dragon writing did not have to be the one to give the blood, but that the information written was determined by the blood. We also found that propping the book open would not keep the words from disappearing, but delayed it for about an hour's time. One passage in the instructions, "The sanguin offering shall hold the place by mark," led to us finding that a bookmark either containing blood or a scale from the one whose blood is used will keep the words in place. We have only tested it overnight, but it is promising. Especially since the information written for each dragon seems static, and begins again each time the book is reset.

The only real problem we faced was that the information we recieved was unimportant. The method of delivery was amazing, and with nothing but a sample of blood, one dragon could learn a great deal about another, but most of it was common knowledge regarding names, places, and words.

I solved that problem last night. When she manages to sleep, the hatchling I care for sleeps like a brick. With a mild anasthetic, and a small sharp blade, I took a small sample of her blood. I then bandaged the wound with medicinal herbs so it would be healed before morning. The bandage was removed before she awoke, and she never knew it happened.

When I applied her blood to the Book of shadows, the reaction was the same as it had been for the rest of us, until the stone in the center started to glow. It looked like an eye before, it was an eye now, one of glowing energy trapped behind crystal, staring, judging. From that point, I knew that the hatchling was different from the monks. I did not know what it meant for her to be, "chosen by peace," but she was far more important than any of us. My thoughts on this matter were confirmed from the first few entries I wrote.

I stopped myself after writing them, and placed a marker, one of the hatchling's feathers, between the pages.

Tonight, I am returning to the book with a second one by my side. As words appear in the book of shadows, I will record them in this journal. I will do this every night for as long as I am able. I am using a separate pen and inkwell for each task, hopefully to avoid any bleeding of magic between the books. Truthfully, I should be dictating to one of the other monks, but they would not approve of what I have done to obtain this information. I do not care at this point. I only hope that the one dragon that matters will forgive me. For some reason, I believe she will.

I am sorry, Rainbow Dash, but it was necessary.

Author's Note

Excerpt from the book of shadows:

Abbadon - The location of the final battle between the brothers Typhon and Jorgmungandr.

Typhon - The dragon bound by another. The dragon of magic and cunning.

Jorgmungandr - The dragon bound by his own tail. The dragon of strength and power.

End exerpt.

Back! I am moved, no longer live in a camper with 5 people, 3 cats and a 150lb. dog, and have stable internet again. Each chapter from here on out will have a small glossary entry in the Author's Notes. If you have a question, or want a bit more information about something in the story, mention it in the comments and it may end up in the Glossary(as long as it's not a spoiler).

Title song

Book of shadows by dragonland

Lightbringer

"How many does that make?" Twilight leaned against Fluttershy's foot as she tried to catch her breath. They had been practicing for a while, ever since that annoying Ice Heart up and ran off in the middle of their conversation. "I've lost count."

Fluttershy winced. "Twenty-seven," she lied. The real number was closer to forty-three, but she didn't want to discourage the little hatchling too badly. "And, you almost had it that time."

Twilight groaned and plopped herself down on one of the larger dragon's toes. As she hung there, limply draped across the claw, she asked, "What am I doing wrong? The first one was so easy. Why can't I get any other spells right?"

Fluttershy shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Twi. I'm not used to teaching anydragon magic. I'm trying my best, but I don't know how to perform scans, or troubleshoot spell failures."

The hatchling groaned in defeat. "You probably shouldn't use magic on me anyway. Nodragon should, not until I can get my magic under control."

Fluttershy carefully rubbed Twilight's back. "Then, how do we figure out what you're doing wrong?"

"I don't know!" The hatchling rolled onto her back with a sigh, straddling to of Fluttershy's toes like she was laying in a hammock. "It's recursion! I can't use magic right, so I need a scan. But I can't be scanned until I learn to use magic right. So, I'm stuck in an endless loop of magical mediocrity, the dragon with a single spell."

Fluttershy had to hold back a giggle while the hatchling pouted. "It isn't that bad, Twi. You did really well learning the lightbringer spell. I'm sure you'll do just fine, given enough time."

Twilight scoffed and crossed her arms. "Like a century or two?" she asked sarcastically.

"No," Fluttershy admonished, "but you can't expect this to happen overnight. It took me months to learn my first spell, and several weeks for each one after that. You're already ahead of where I was at your age."

"But I have to learn quickly," she whined. "So I'm not a danger."

"All the more reason to take it slow, Twilight." Fluttershy picked up the hatchling. "You don't want to rush into a mistake. How would Rarity feel if you hurt yourself? And what about Spike? He cares for you too. Neither of them would be happy if something happened to you."

Twilight looked up at the larger dragon. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"For now, you should rest." Fluttershy held the hatchling up to her shoulder. "It's getting late, so I'll bring you back to camp. You can get to sleep, and we can practice some more tomorrow."

"Wait, you mean you're going to carry me?" The hatching squinted up at the other dragon and slowly, suspiciously asked, "What's the catch?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No catch." She then deposited Twilight atop her head, letting her sink into the long pink hair. The older dragon then wiggled her claw playfully at the hatchling hidden in her crest. "But, it's just for this once. Remember that."

"Aw, come on!" Twilight whined. "You never carry me around. Don't you think you ought to make up for lost time at least?"

Fluttershy gave her wings an indignant flap, forcing the hatchling to brace herself against the sudden wind. "No, Twi. As a matter of fact, I do not. I also believe that Rarity should carry you around far less than she does. She's spoiling you when she should be helping you learn to stand on your own."

"But everydragon else can walk like, a thousand times faster than I can! I'd get left behind!"

"I know, Twi, and I can understand carrying you when we all go out together. But Rarity insists on carrying you, even if it's just the two of you. Some dragon has to take up the slack, and get you walking."

Twilight sighed miserably. "And that some dragon is you?"

"Exactly." Fluttershy smiled. "I'm glad we understand each other."

"But I walk around the library all day," Twilight whined. "And I go up and down all those ladders and steps."

"But you're still a bit of a couch potato." Fluttershy started walking. "When you play with the crusaders, you sit around and give out orders. When you all come back after playing for a day, they're filthy and covered in mud from their adventures, while you're the only one that's clean. You don't seem to be as active as a dragon your age should be. I'm worried about you."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Because I make sure I run around mud puddles, instead of straight through them with the other crusaders?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, Twi, being a bit cleaner than your friends isn't the issue. It just seems to me... I guess it seems like you hold yourself back a lot, sort of like you did with your magic. You don't need to, though. You have a lot of friends, more than you think. Besides the crusaders, all of Rarity's friends care about you, and so does Spike, I think. There are more, too. The Cakes, Caramel, the Apples, and others."

Taking a clawful of hairs as a safety rope, Twilight made her way to Fluttershy's snout. "You really think so?"

Fluttershy almost nodded, but caught herself. "I know so."

Twilight didn't answer, but Fluttershy could tell that the hatchling was thinking it over. That was one of the young dragon's greatest strengths. That, even at this young age, she could think things through in a logical manner, and incorporate new information into her conclusions as it presented itself. True, her conclusions were sometimes based in some sort of fuzzy hatchling logic, and sometimes made little sense, but she still did the best she could.

The walk back to camp continued in silence. Fluttershy checked several times to make sure her hatchling cargo stayed awake enough to hold on, but otherwise let her be. It was late, and Twilight would be put to bed as soon as they made it back to camp, her being relaxed would make that easier. Rarity being back from her walk with Spike would make it even easier. Twilight never gave her caretaker a hard time when it came to bedtimes, unless there were books involved.

Fluttershy sighed quietly. She was a little curious what they were talking about. Given that mysterious light, it was probably something important regarding Rarity's earth powers. It's too bad, she had been hoping that they would get a chance to just talk. They were cute together, and Rarity of all dragons deserved someone nice to support her. Not that it would be a one way street, Rarity was a formidable dragon in her own right, and any drake would be lucky to have her on his side.

The yellow angel dragon sighed again. All this thinking about her friend's romance was bringing up thoughts of her own, or the lack of her own, with Applejack's brother, Mac. How long has it been since she even talked to him beyond a simple, "hello," or, "how are you?" Three years? Almost four? It wasn't like they were on uncertain terms about their feelings either. It brought a blush to her face to remember, but she once had a rather candid conversation with him regarding feelings, pledges, and even the possibility of starting a family. That was just before he was slated to join the military, with their plans to take effect when he returned in two years.

None of it never happened though. Things happened, the second attack happened, and everything changed. He had gotten hurt, and his sister had taken his place. Given the special circumstances, A.J. was given an easy job that let her stay in or near Dragonspire, but Mac stil blamed himself and withdrew. That was when they started drifting away from each other. He would pull away, and she was always too much of a coward to pull him back.

No more.

She would have to be a fool to believe there was any sense in continuing to act this way. She was going to change things... just as soon as she figured out how. Maybe Rainbow's advice was the way to go? Or maybe she should ask Applejack?

Fluttershy could see the glow of a campfire, so she was almost back at camp. She could also see Applejack, faintly lit by a fire that was much too small for her. As the yellow-furred dragon moved closer, she could see that the larger dragon was talking, no, more like arguing, with a much smaller figure.

For a moment, Fluttershy worried that she was somehow arguing with Spike or Rarity, but as the scene grew closer, she saw that the other party in the spat was that insectoid pony-like creature, Chrysalis. It wasn't long after that that Fluttershy was able to make out their words.

"It's gonna haf ta be, yer royal high-and-mighty-pain-in-the-tail-ness."

"Clever. How many hours did it take to think up that one?"

"Ya know, belittlin' me ain't gonna make me any more likely ta let ya in there."

"Oh, come on! I'll just slip in, transform in to one of them, cuddle with the other for ten minutes tops, eat my fill of affection, and be out without either of them noticing."

"That's why Ah said no."

"What if I cuddle with each one for five minutes? Then no one gets left out."

"How is that any better? Ah'm less likely ta let ya in there now."

"Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy rounded some scrub brush and entered the campsite. She pointed to a small ruin, probably an ancient storage shed, previously hidden by Applejack's bulk. "Are Spike and Rarity in there?"

Applejack nodded, then nudged Chrysalis, toppling her like she was a toy. "That's why she ain't. She's campin' out here with us until we figure out what to do with her."

"Figure out what to do with me?" Chrysalis stomped a hoof. " I'll have you know, I am a visiting dignitary! If I ever find a way home, I'll have an army I can unleash on you!" She waved furiously at the orange dragon. "Hey! Hey, don't ignore me, I'm talking to you! Look at me you overgrown dinosaur!"

Applejack sighed and lowered her head to the ground, looking down her nose at the small creature that barely came to her nostrils. "All right, Ah'm lookin'. Now what?"

As they glared at each other, Fluttershy took the sleepy hatchling from her snout and set her near the door to the ruin. Twilight yawned and wobbled a little, but stayed on her feet.

The winged dragon then peeked in the door. One pony, and one dragoness, both laying on opposite ends of a simple blanket, stared at opposite walls. They didn't even seem to notice the dragon at the door. Uh-oh, did something happen? They didn't really look mad at each other. If anything, they both looked a little sad and mopey.

Fluttershy chewed her lip a moment before whispering to Twilight, "You know, it's a really nice night out. Would you want to camp out with me and Applejack?"

"Why?" Twilight yawned, rubbing her eye. "Are they kissing or something?"

Fluttershy smiled and held back a giggle. "No, I was just asking." She nodded to the door. "Why don't you go in and show them what you can do now? I'm sure they'd love to see it."

Twilight yawned again, then shook herself almost awake. "Right... that... what?"

"The spell?" Fluttershy prodded. "Show them the spell you learned."

"But I didn't learn it, I just practiced one I knew. I messed up the one you tried to teach me."

"That doesn't matter, I'm sure they'll be happy either way." Fluttershy nudged the hatchling with a wingtip. "Go on."

Twilight looked up and nodded. "Ok, I'll try." The hatchling walked forward, into the dark building with her claws clasped tightly in front of her. "Mom? Spike?

Inside, Rarity looked up at the shadow falling across the floor. "Twilight? Is that you? Here, let me give you some light, dear."

"No, wait." Twilight squeezed her claws even tighter. "I can do it." She closed her eyes and lifted her claws, then whispered the spell's pattern to herself. Her horns glowed faintly pink for a second, and light began to escape between her fingers. She slowly opened one eye, then the other and a smile formed on her face. "See?"

She opened her claws a little too quickly, and was blinded by the sudden light. Blinking, she stepped forward, tripping on a small rock before reaching Rarity. The orb of light she just formed shattered against rock, spreading marbles of light across the floor, but something caught the hatchling before she could fall.

"Whoa there." Spike Lifted the little hatchling in his magic and deposited her next to her caretaker. "You've got to let your eyes adjust when you use a spell like that." Spike gestured at the glowing pieces left behind. "But you did great, look how bright these are."

Rarity patted the hatchling's head. "I agree." She mouthed a thank you at Spike for catching the hatchling and pulled the young dragon to her. "They look like stars, don't they?"

Spike rolled one around under his hoof. "Here's a little trick." He licked his hoof, then crushed the tiny light. When he picked his hoof back up, it was coated in sparkling glitter. He ran his hoof through his mane, leaving it dusted in light. "How do I look?"

"Like a pretty princess," Rarity laughed, "don't you agree, Twi?"

The hatchling examined the pony with a critical eye and nodded. "Not a good look for him."

"Perhaps it will suit me better, dears." Rarity reached for one of the spheres, only to yank her claw back when it sizzled against her scales. She looked down at Twilight as the hatchling looked up in worry. "It's ok," the dragoness reassured her, patting her head head and putting on a smile. "Why don't we go ahead and get to sleep? It's been a long day, and I'm certain we are all most spent."

Twilight managed a weak smile back. "Ok." She leaned against the white dragon's side and glanced over at her shattered spell. "Good night, mom. Good night, Spike." She crossed her claws and nestled in. "Spike?" She waited a moment, then waved the pony over.

He got up and dutifully walked over. "Yes?"

"Turn around." Twilight yawned. "Please?"

Spike blinked and glanced at Rarity, who offered up a shrug. "Ok," the pony replied, complying with the odd request.

There was a tug at his tail as the hatchling grabbed the end that trailed along the ground. She picked out a few sticks and bits of grass, then wrapped it around her like a blanket as she snuggled up against Rarity's side.

Spike chuckled softly as he sat down next to her, and by extension, next to Rarity. "Clever, isn't she?"

Rarity returned the chuckle and shook her head slowly. "She is at that." Smiling, she gave Twilight a goodnight kiss on the top of the head. Spike was watching with a smile, and Rarity gave him a mischevious smirk. "You want one?"

The pony's cheeks went red and his voice went all flustered. "What? No- I mean... Yes? But that wasn't, um-"

The dragoness giggled and laid her claw over the pony's snout, stopping his frantic rationalization. "Maybe tomorrow," she teased, mussing the fur on his snout.

"Yeah..." Spike closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feel of her claws running through his fur. "That'll be fine," he said, almost in a trance. When she finally pulled her claw away, he jerked his snout up and his eyes open like he was doused with water.

"Silly pony," Rarity chided with a smirk.

Spike laid down with an overplayed pout. "I'm gonna hold you to that, you know."

Rarity folded her claws and laid her head down. "Of course, dear."

Meanwhile, the not yet slumbering Twilight pulled her furry, improvised blanket a little tighter and whispered to herself, "So close."

Author's Note

This chapter may seem like filler, but things are about to start moving in a big way.

Also, this chapter was not proofread, so there may be some mistakes and such. The current proofreaders don't have much time on their hands, and are putting it towards the new story I will be posting soon. It's going to be a sci-fi epic, and is already as long as my little dragon. Working on artwork now, and can't wait to post!

Chapter title

Lightbringer - Original song

The Black Mare

Spike yawned as he walked out of the stone shed. It was shortly after dawn, grey clouds tinted by the gold light of sunrise, and the dragons outside were already up and about. The two left in the ruin were still sound asleep, and would likely stay that way until enough light spilled through the doorway.

Of the active dragons, Fluttershy noticed the pony first. "Good morning, Spike." She was cooking something on several rocks scattered in a fire. "Did you all sleep well?"

"I think Twilight and Rarity did." Spike sniffed and walked closer to the fire. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that last time he sat down to a proper meal was the picnic at the start of this ill-fated trip. "Whatcha making? It smells great."

"Steak and eggs," the yellow dragin answered with a smile. "It's our traditional camping breakfast. I have enough Roc eggs for all of us, but Pinkie didn't give Rainbow quite enough salted meats, so Rainbow volunteered to go get more."

"Eeyup," Applejack joined in from across the fire, "that manticore's gonna be butchered in more ways 'n one."

Fluttershy shrugged. "Maybe, but she won't take as long as either of us would." She turned her attention back to her cooking, flipping steaks and scrambling eggs. "So, Spike, did you have trouble sleeping?"

"Not really." The pony scratched at his mane. "I just had this weird dream, and it woke me up a few times."

"Ah think that's called trouble sleepin', Sugarcube." Applejack tilted her hat back. "What was it 'bout?"

Spike winced before answering, "Lines."

Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged glances. "Lines?"

"I did say it was a weird dream. There was some sort of pattern to it though, it has to mean something. I just don't know what." Spike shrugged and looked for a convenient subject change. He found it in the changeling, Chrysalis, who was staring off into the distance. "So, what's wrong with her."

Applejack looked over and shrugged. "Ah think she tried ta use magic on me. One moment, her eyes were all glowy, the next, she's gone loopier than the delivery gal."

"You could have warned her about your eyes," Fluttershy chided, gesturing at her with a steak in claw. "Then, maybe she wouldn't have tried to use sight-related magic."

Spike gulped as he watched the steak get slapped back onto the sizzling rock, and his stomach growled and twisted in protest when he looked away from it. He really was hungry. "So, tell her what about your eyes?" he asked Applejack, distracting himself.

"Mah special ability, Sugarcube." The farmer looked over at her yellow friend and gestured to Spike. "Why don't ya give 'im some? He's looking mighty peckish."

Fluttershy cut off a small-by dragon standards- piece from on of the steaks. "She doesn't like to brag," the yellow dragon said as she offered him the chunk of meat, "but her eyes are really remarkable. They have a reflective layer like most cat's eyes, but it reflects and amplifies magic instead of light."

"So she can see magic?" Spike gave a sheepish smile when his stomach growled again. He took the offered food and tore into it with big healthy bites. He chewed, swallowed, and wiped his his mouth with a hoof before speaking again. "This is good. Manticore?"

"Good ol’ cattle, Sugarcube." Applejack thumped her chest. "Raised 'em mahself. And goin' back ta mah eyes, Ah can't exactly see magic. Not like seein' the energy everywhere, but Ah can see through it. I can see if some dragon collects a bunch of it for a spell 'r somethin', and Ah can usually tell if there's some sudden change in aura, like nervousness 'n lies."

"Really?" Spike looked down at his steak and took a small bite. "That's interesting," he said around a mouthful.

"I guess another way ta put it is, ya can't hide nothin' from me."

Oh boy. Spike swallowed his food. He could just guess what was coming next.

Applejack leaned down to look Spike in the eye. "Did somethin' happen between you and Rares last night?"

Lying wasn't an option for Spike, not just because of the farmer's ability, but because he didn't want to lie to Rarity's friends. So, he answered quickly and directly, "I don't want to talk about it until I get to talk it over with her."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Clever little thing, ain't ya? But, Ah'm afraid you ain't got that option, Sugarcube. Ah'm askin', and yer answerin'."

Spike felt a slight tingling on his back. It was a faint sensation, barely there, like warm static. Spike knew what it was before turning around, but the other two were a little more surprised to see Rarity walking out of the shelter and towards them.

"Oh, good morning." Fluttershy held up another piece of meat. "Are you hungry? We have eggs as well."

The white dragoness smiled and nodded. "I am famished, thank you, dear, but it will have to wait. I have something to tell you." She sat down next to Spike and looked up at Applejack. "You can see it, can't you?"

The farmer scratched her head. "Ah can, but Ah'd like ta know what Ah'm seein' here. The two of ya are glowin', have been since ya got back from yer walk."

"Is that how it appears?" Rarity glanced at Spike. "I wasn't sure how it would manifest, but I assumed the magic involved would be strong enough for you to see." She let her claw slide over the ground until it met a hoof, then she took hold of it.

The dirt and dust, essentially small pieces of dirt and stone, reacted to the magic the dragoness channeled into Spike. A small cloud of specks swirled and formed as his magic answered hers of its own will. Pebbles clattered and jumped as they were drawn to the power shared by the Earth King and his-

Rarity pulled her claw away, and the dust cloud succumbed to gravity, falling to the ground around her and Spike. No longer fueled by their magic, it was no different from the dirt one might find anywhere. Rarity scratched at it as she worked up the nerve to look back up at her friends. "I trust that was enough of a demonstration."

Save for the crackle of fire and sizzle of food, there was silence. The two larger dragins glanced back and forth between themselves and their smaller friends.

Applejack was the first to break the silence with a hesitant question. "Ya mean Spike's that dragon feller ya told us 'bout?"

Fluttershy followed up with one of her own. "The one you vowed to bury in a shallow grave if he ever made a move on you?"

Rarity nodded before she registered Fluttershy's question. "Yes." When it sank in, she looked over at Spike and swung her head back to face Fluttershy. "What? No! That was a long time ago..." She cleared her throat. "I suppose I didn't speak too fondly of prophecy, but-"

Applejack cut her off with curt laugh. "Fondly? Ya promised a massacre if any dragon tried to force ya into anythin' ya didn't decide fer yourself."

The seamstress and armorer bit her lower lip. "I... um, admit I may have been a bit hasty regarding the prophecy, but whatever action I take from here on will be my decision."

"Are you going to go through with it?" Fluttershy hid a slight blush behind her crest as she spoke. "From what you told me, the prophecy seems sort of... romantic. Two dragons, or um, a pony and a dragon, bound by destiny, connected through time waiting to meet."

Rarity surprised herself by not sharing the yellow dragon's blush as she nodded to the pony beside her. "Spike has already told me that he would respect my decision, but I haven't made one yet. Please leave it at that."

"Oh, ok," Fluttershy agreed quietly, "I won't intrude."

Applejack wasn't as gracious. "Now hold on there, Sugarcube." She pointed at herself, then at Fluttershy. "We're yer friends, right? And that means we care 'bout ya, right? And don't that mean we should do everything' we can ta make sure ya end up happy as can be?"

"Oh my." Rarity brought a claw to her head. Last time Applejack made a point by asking a series of questions, Twilight tried to seed the library with bioluminescent mold. "Maybe we should-"

"Ah'll tell ya what," Applejack said over Rarity's rebuttal, "we oughtta look at this impartial-like. We need to figure out if Spike here is gonna make ya happy, so we need to find what makes ya happy, and see if this little fella can provide it." The large dragon pulled a blackened rock from the fire and scratched a tally mark into it. "He agreed ta honor yer decisions, and that's kind of a big deal fer you, so he gets a point for that." She scratched in another. "I also overheard ya talkin' to yourself 'bout how cute he was, so that's another." She then scraped both tallies off. "But he didn't wake ya up before eatin' breakfast, and that was a might bit inconsiderate of him. And a' course, he ain't a dragon, so ya probably couldn't have kids." She picked up the rock and chucked it. "Yer standin' on a big fat zero, Spike. Ya need ta try harder."

"Ha! Take that, you stupid dinosaur!" Every dragon looked over at Chrysalis as she snapped out of her trance-like state. "Augh! My head!" Her look of triumph faded and she curled up in a ball, clutching at her head and squeezing, as if she had to hold it together. "What did you do to me, you overgrown behemoth?! And why is it daytime?" She rolled around in agony at the migraine gripping her. "You were supposed to be under my control you fat lizard!"

Applejack shrugged off the insult and looked over at Spike. "So, are we keepin' her? Or do we get to send her somewhere when we get back ta town?"

Spike shook his head. "I have no idea. But, Ice Heart didn't take her with him, so he probably wants me to deal with it. For now, I guess the least we can do is make sure it doesn't starve."

Chrysalis managed to push the pain away upon hearing that. Her ears perked up as she looked over. "Really? You mean it?"

Spike looked over in confusion, then realized his mistake. He corrected it by pointing at the fire. "Breakfast. I meant you could have breakfast with us. Physical nourishment, physical nourishment only."

"Ah, you're no fun," the changeling said with a pout. "At least the small one had a sense of humor."

"He does indeed," Celestia said, carefully holding back a snarl. "You'll find I don't share it."

"Come now, it was a simple question." A stately old dragon pushed his soup bowl away and picked up a folded silk napkin. "I merely asked where you went. A perfectly reasonable request."

"No, you demanded to know where I went. There's a difference between a demand and a request." Celestia walked around the table, her table, and sat at its head.

This grand dining hall was a shining example of draconican architecture. White marble, inlaid with gold, made up nearly every surface. Even the table was made of these two materials, intertwined in delicate floral patterns while spanning a surface large enough to accommodate even the largest feast. Around the outer edges of the hall, statues of ancient heroes, names lost to time, stood silent watch over a fight far less bloody, yet no less intense than any they participated in.

Celestia was by far the larger of the two, and certainly the more powerful. In a physical battle, or magical one, the dull grey dragon would not last long enough to draw a second breath. But this was a different kind of war. One that the princess hated more with each passing day.

Politics.

Oh, how pleasant it would be to just snap him in two and be done with it, and let the cleaning staff deal with the mess.

After wiping his mouth, the drake folded the napkin and set it back where it was, making a show of keeping everything perfect and clean. "The dragons of this city make demands of me all the time. It is my job to bring these demands before you, or so I thought." He rested his claw against the table's surface, gold and silver rings and bangles clattering against the cool stone. "I was merely surprised that you wouldn't place your subject's needs above your own personal travels.

"Be careful about how you refer to other dragons, Greyscale. Very few would enjoy being called a subject." Celestia leveled her gaze at him. "And know that I put nothing above Draconica's needs, not even my own."

"Not even the needs of that furry little pet of yours?" The drake chuckled. "You are far too attached to that thing, and it seems to be rubbing off on some of your Generals."

"If you are referring to my son, I would prefer you leave him out of this."

"Ah, yes, I forgot." The drake rolled his eyes and swooped up a goblet. He took one lethargic swig before muttering, "you went and adopted the little abomination."

Celestia leaned forward, fur bristling and scales glinting. "Excuse me?"

Greyscale didn't look at her, opting to stare at his wine and swirl it slowly. "You can paint a lizard, glue on paper wings, and call it a dragon, but it won't fool a soul. Some in this city believe that your obsession with that creature is a sign of weakness. At the very least, it is a sentimentality that a leader cannot afford."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Family can be source of strength. Certainly, you have exploited your relationship with Bluescale enough to know that much."

Greyscale grimaced. "Exploit is such a nasty word. Taking an opportunity when presented, or pressing an advantage when one is given, should not be so looked down upon." He down the the last of his wine and set the goblet down, running a claw around the rim. "Remind me again, what exactly is the lifespan of a pony? There is so little information to be found."

A flame-licked snort escaped Celestia's snout. "I assure you, it will be a longer lifespan than any who dare lift their claws against him."

"Oh my," Greyscale laughed heartily, "you seem to have misunderstood my question to be a threat." He tipped his empty goblet over, spilling the last few drops of crimson drink. "I was merely illustrating how little we know about the ancient races. However, new information comes to light everyday. Ruins are explored, artifacts are recovered, manuscripts translated. Who knows, perhaps he will outlive you?"

Celestia remained silent and watched the smaller dragon carefully. Greyscale has always been an aggressive political opponent, but shrewd enough not to push too far. Something about today was different. He was being far too bold. Were his words truly meant to be threats? This was far too direct, even for him. Did he seriously intend to act this time?

"I see our conversation has ended." Greyscale sighed and moved away from the table. "Such a shame, things were just getting interesting." He hummed to himself as he walked away, heading for the banquet hall's great door. He paused only once, just before exiting into the corridors of the castle, to turn back and say, "As always, I value your hospitality, and thank you for the time. May you walk in the light."

Celestia nodded in recognition of the ancient farewell. It annoyed her to no end when such an insincere dragon used the phrase, but at least it meant he was leaving.

Greyscale started to close the door behind him, but stopped halfway. With a smile, he added, "and may it follow you in the day..." The drake's toothy grin grew as he saw Celestia's face go pale. He shut the door slowly as he whispered the last words, "As it does at night."

It took Celestia a moment to recover, but when she did, she slashed at the food he left behind. She didn't care that she was leaving gashes in priceless marble furniture, she just wanted to erase every trace of her visitor's presence.

How could he know that?! She ran to the far end of the banquet hall, to the door leading to her personal chambers. How did he know the second half of that phrase?! It's been lost for thousands of years, known only to her, and one other.

She made her way through the private sections of the castle, where only herself and her most trusted attendants and advisors were allowed access. Past the private kitchen, past the library, past Spike's bedchamber, past hers, and to the final room.

She stopped in the sanctum, the room where, just days ago, she welcomed Spike home for the first time in two years. She moved to the center of the room and flicked her tail at the tunnel which let light in from the surface. The end of her tail snapped back like a whip as it cracked against a barrier.

Good, that was intact.

She made her way to the other end of the room, and out onto the balcony overlooking Dragartha. If any dragons were awake to watch, they would have seen an odd sight, their princess picking up a rock and throwing it back at a doorway to test a barrier. However, the rock bounced back, the barrier was intact, and the princess rushed back into the the castle. She didn't even pause for the customary wing spread and cheering.

Back inside the room, Celestia headed to the side wall, and placed her claw against it, in an inconspicuous spot that would probably seem chosen at random.

The stone glowed under her hoof, an array of faults and leylines illuminated by magic of solar influence. The jagged tracings spread along the wall, filling the chamber with a radiance that rivaled high noon. When it faded, Celestia blinked the spots away. The wall was replaced by a dark wooden doorway, wraught from the intertwined trunks of several massive trees, and large enough for her to enter with ease.

She didn't immediately head for it though. Instead, she took a moment to look down at her claw, the one she rested on the stone. It had happened again, same as it happened every time she tapped into her true magic. Just for a moment, she saw herself differently, in an appearance similar to Spike's. Claws were replace by stone-like hooves, scales by fur, crest and tail by a waterfall of lighted spring colors.

The first time solar magic showed her that particular hallucination, she didn't have anything to compare it to. The recovery of a partial drawing of a family of ponies from pre-void times didn't reach her until several years later. It was another century, and two more hallucinations before learned what the creatures were called. Another millennia before the word came up again in a phonetic language, letting her know how to pronounce it.

It was a few millennia after that before she actually found one. And, when she did, she knew there was a connection of some kind between her and that tiny, fragile creature.

But, she knew nothing else about ponies. It had actually taken her a few minutes to realize that the one she found was only a baby. Even then, she only figured that out because it had started crying for its mother. It had done so in a nearly extinct dialect of an ancient language, but still...

After that, she helped the creature search the forest until it couldn't walk anymore. She was hoping to find more, maybe an adult she could communicate with, but they found nothing. Shortly after nightfall, she had carried the crying child out of the woods, patting his back and whispering, "it's ok, momma's here."

She couldn't help but smile. He has grown so well since then. Even though he wasn't a dragon, he grew into an honorable young drake, strong enough to make his mother proud. She just wished she could spend more time with him. As it stood, there were only a few years left.

Celestia shook her head. This wasn't the time to worry about things like that. She had something important to check.

She opened the door carefully, using magic to support the wood as it moved. These particular trees were extremely rare, and not chosen for strength, but for their magical properties. Making even a simple repair would probably cost a small fortune, and expose secrets best left untouched.

In the corridor beyond, there was a single rune carved into the floor. It shone with a gentle, icy blue light, throwing its color onto the nearby stone. The rest of the corridor remained shrouded in darkness. As Celestia approached the rune, sharp, tooth-like markings started to appear around it. While most dragons would avoid a magical mark that was obviously reacting to their presence, Celestia knew better. This particular trap was already set. The only way out was through, avoiding the rune, or turning around would set off a blizzard beyond any that could occur naturally. Ice Heart was sometimes too clever for his own good.

She walked straight to it, and stood on top of it. She had to wait a few seconds, but it soon disappeared, leaving only the glowing triangles around it. It was only a few more seconds more before those markings started to dance along the corridor, marking out a glowing trail down an inclined floor.

She followed the markers, walking for a minute or two as the hallway grew steeper, sinking into the depths of the bedrock below Dragartha.

The even stone walls gave way to the mottled irregularities of natural volcanic stone, winding below the mountain. Crystalline veins and deposits of metallic compounds caught the faint light of the trail markers. Exceptionally large and flawless gems appeared every so often, bright and tempting, just like they were made to be. Celestia wasn't sure what sort of misfortune Ice Heart wove into them, but she didn't want to find out.

As she descended, a faint orange glow joined the fading blue markers. It grew brighter as she went, eventually drowning out the markers altogether. Celestia rounded a sharp corner, and came face to face with the source of the light, a wide magma flow running over the cavern floor.

She crossed it without hesitation. A little molten rock was no more dangerous than a mud puddle to her. The worst either could do was stick to her scales.

And stick it did. The hot, syrupy morass clung to her claws and belly like honey, leaving a trail of dying red blobs as the magma dripped off and cooled against the floor.

Around the next bend, the cavern ended, terminating in an abrupt wall. At least, that's how it appeared. Celestia walked headlong into it, passing through the illusion, and through the final gate to her destination.

Ancient runes, beyond even her understanding, encircled a body in the center of a simple room. They pulsed with icy white light as breath was drawn and released in the slow rhythm of a dragon's long sleep.

Celestia walked up to the slumbering giant, her only match in all of Draconica. Not only a match for size, she was also a match for her features. From the scales to the rippling crest. From broad, feathered wings to the serpentine shape. The only thing different about the sleeping dragon was her color, dark blues, black, and specks of white, like the sky of eventide, flecked with stars.

The princess of dragons was not one to shed tears, but seeing her match there, bound by sleep and magic drew them out. She reached for the dragon, running a claw slowly over her sleeping head and through the soft, midnight crest. "Oh, Luna, I've missed you."

Celestia wiped at her eyes with her free claw. She was alone now. She could cry, she could show weakness, she could mourn the sister she was forced to live without. But, she couldn't forget her purpose for coming here.

She looked back at the illusion she had stepped through to enter the room. The runes there were of her own devising, and told her, and only her, exactly who entered this room and when. To her relief, the only dragons listed by the runes were herself and Ice Heart. There were a few others, but all names she recognized. Every single one was long gone, having died centuries, if not millennia ago.

That meant that Greyscale and his agents knew nothing of this room. Luna could rest safely, undisturbed until it came her time to wake.

Satisfied, Celestia turned her attention to her sister. "It seems you were spared meeting Greyscale for now. You will not be so lucky when it comes time for me to take your place. But, don't worry, Spike is growing up wonderfully, and I’m sure he would be happy to guide his aunt, just as Ice Heart guided me."

"And, I just found out something interesting." Celestia laid down next to Luna, getting comfortable. Even if she wouldn't get a response, she had a lot to talk about. "Spike may be the one who brings us back together, Terris from the old legends. I don't know how I can be sure, but I hope it's true. I want to have more time with him, see him grow,watch him fall in love, start a family, triumph over his foes, everything a mother wants from her hatchlings. I never had the courage to have my own like you did."

Fluttershy sneezed as she cleaned up the mess left over from breakfast. "Rainbow, you don't have to put pepper on everything."

It was still morning, but the sun was creeping steadily upwards. In an hour or two, it would be standing tall at noon' height. Breakfast was cooked, eaten quite quickly, and determined to be insufficient. The charred rocks and ashes from the fire were all that remained.

"Yeah I do," Rainbow retorted, sweeping her pet's shell clean with broad strokes of her wings. "Besides, that manticore was way too old, the meat was tough and nasty."

"That's what ya get fer goin' after the biggest one ya could find." Applejack pitched in by moving the larger rocks, piling them up next to Rarity,who in turn, magically turned each one square for Spike to stack up neatly.

"The roc eggs were simply perfect, though." The white dragoness looked over at Spike. "They would go marvelously with those potato cakes you made the other day."

"I guess," Spike shrugged. "I'm not really a big fan of eggs." For each squared off stone, he tried touching his hoof to it, mimicking Rarity's actions in the hopes that he could summon some of the earth magic she had drawn out last night. All he could manage was a little shove, accompanied by a geometric swirl of angular, green lines. With a sigh, he went back to using his regular magic to stack them up. "What do you think, Twi?"

Splayed out on her back, the hatchling didn't try to move. She had been in the same spot since breakfast, nursing a stomach that wouldn't even have enough room for her favorite gems. She did respond to Spike's question, but she did so without paying attention to the rest of the conversation. "There are snakes that eat one big meal, then sleep for a month."

Spike leaned over and whispered to Rarity, "I bet she wished there were dragons like that."

With a giggle the dragoness quietly added, "And that she was one of them?"

"I don't know about her, but there are dragons like that." The startled pair looked up. Chrysalis was laying atop the stacked blocks, looking down at them like an artist would look at another's work, trying to figure it out, comparing it to other pieces, and deciding whether or not it was worth the appreciation. " At least, there are where I come from." She yawned, then continued, "you know, there's something else peculiar about where I come from. You just pack away at least a dozen kilos of meat, foraged greens, and those eggs you weren't fond of. Then, you mentioned that you were still hungry. That doesn't happen where I'm from."

"So?" Rarity touched Spike's shoulder. "Breakfast light, and he still gave me and Twilight some of his share. He can complain if he wants to."

"Protective, aren't you?" Chrysalis stood up and stretched. "You remind me of somepony." There was a flash of green light, and the changeling was replaced by a smaller, grey version of Spike. In a new voice, one that was calm, collected, and cultured, she said, "This is more what I was referring to."

She leapt down in a smooth, graceful movement, landing between Spike and Rarity. Her smooth ashen coat shone like scales over her far more feminine shape, and her charcoal mane, short in front and long in back, would bob and flow with each move of her head. A thin collar of white material sat around her neck, fastened with a small bowtie. Her tail, the same dark grey as her mane, was clean and well-maintained, trimmed to stand just off the ground.

She flicked the tip of her tail at Spike's nose. When he lifted a hoof to swat it away, she took advantage of the movement to duck in close. She nestled into his body, fitting in the forced embraced like a tailored suit.

"This is what a pony is supposed to look like." Winking a light purple eye at Rarity, she added, "Mares, anyway."

To Chrysalis's surprise, the dragoness wasn't taking the bait. She wasn't getting angry, or jealous. If anything, she looked confused. The faux pony looked up to See Spike looking down with the same expression. When Spike wrapped his hoof around her midsection, she realized why, and again, exactly how big Spike was.

He hoisted her up until she was eye level with him, only her tail touching the ground, and looked her over, turning her a bit to either side. "So," he asked mildly, "is, 'mare,' the term for a juvenile pony? Like, a foal is a hatchling, and a mare is a little bit older?"

"Careful there, big boy," Chrysalis deadpanned, "you can break a girl that way."

Rarity ran a claw over the changeling's back, between the shoulders. "So soft, Spike, was your fur ever like this?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's kind of soft when I grow new fur over an injury, but nothing like this."

Rarity absentmindedly stroked at the soft coat of grey. "Newly hatched ponies must be adorable."

Spike chuckled, watching Rarity for a moment before looking back at Chrysalis and noticing something. "You don't have a horn. Does that grow in later? 'Cause I don't remember not having one."

"Perhaps some ponies don't have them," Rarity suggested. "They may be like dragons, and some have wings, others have horns and magic, and others have strength?"

"That part's right, but the rest is way off." Chrysalis crossed her hooves. "For your information, fuzzball is a freak of a giant by pony standards. The form I currently hold is that of your average adult female, a fully grown mare, emotionally mature, mentally stable, and sexually-"

"Drop her," Rarity commanded.

"Yes ma'am." Spike complied without hesitation, dumping the changeling on her back with a crunching sound.

"Ugh..." Chrysalis rolled over and stretched, popping the bone structure of her borrowed body back into place. "Why did I not see that coming?"

Rarity moved over to Spike, sitting down next to him, but a little between him and Chrysalis. "Ok, let's assume that you're telling the truth for a moment. Why would Spike be any different from a regular pony?"

"How should I know?" Chrysalis scoffed. "Ask his parents, are they big, stupid cave ponies too?"

Rarity started snarling, but Spike stopped her with a gentle touch on the shoulder. "Rarity, why don't you get Twilight ready to travel?"

The dragoness looked back. "Are you just going to let her get away with that?"

Spike nodded slowly. "I don't know what my birth parents look like, and I don't know what I'm supposed to look like. For all I know, she may be right."

Rarity stared at him for a moment. He wasn't looking at her or Chrysalis, but off to the side, at nothing in particular. She knew that look. It was one she had worn many times before. She stiffly stood up and walked past him. "At the very least, she's wrong about the stupid part."

Chrysalis transformed back into herself. Given the sizes of all those around her, it made no sense to hold on to the frail form of an equestrian royal musician. "Why'd she get so defensive?"

Spike smiled after the dragoness as she walked away. "I don't know, but it makes me happy that she did." When he eventually looked back at Chrysalis, his expression turned grim and serious. "Before anything else, I'm going to ask you one question, and I want a straight, simple answer. No more games."

She replied with a smirk. "You want to know where I'm from."

Spike nodded once. "There are no ponies in this world, aside from me. I've searched long enough to know that."

Chrysalis leaned towards him. "Then, perhaps, I am not of this world."

Author's Note

Chapter Title - The Black Mare by Dragonland

I don't now if anyone else does this, but I like to shrink the text and window to approximate the size of a paperback novel when I read fanfiction.:derpytongue2:

The Dragon Lies Bleeding

Rarity smiled nervously as she fidgeted on one of the two small couches the Apple Family had installed for their smaller guests. To steal a phrase from a crime drama she had recently read, this was not how it was supposed to go down. She had a plan, a prepared script for this event, and it did not involve the pony seated next to her. Not that he was any better off. He was sweating, visibly so, and after their little trek through the wilderness, it wasn't doing any favors for his scent.

The two dragons seated on the couch across from them just stared, waiting for their daughter to speak. Every so often, one or the other would reach for their drink, a refreshing glass of iced apple tea, an obvious choice, given their hosts. They were calm, quiet, not wanting to rush Rarity, but as clueless to the discomfort their silence caused as a goldfish is to its sanitation conditions.

"So," Rarity started, straightening up, "I suppose it's best to be straightforward about this..." Rarity held her claw up, gesturing to the dragons across from them. "Spike, this is my father, Magnum, and my mother, Lapua."

Her father raised an eyebrow, and her mother tilted her head slightly, lowering her tea glass just so.

Before Rarity could continue with the carefully crafted speech that she was improvising, Spike blurted out, "I really like your daughter!"

Smooth.

Rarity choked and glared at Spike. But, her glare softened quickly. The pony was sitting stiffly, almost shaking from how tense he held himself. His body betrayed how nervous he must feel, but his eyes held only pure determination. Perhaps a little too much determination, he looked like was heading into battle, not conversation.

Rarity's father pursed his lips, putting on a stern face that made Spike gulp. What the pony didn't realize though, was that the drake was simply trying to keep himself from laughing. Rarity's mother was undergoing a similar situation, coughing lightly into a claw. She cleared her throat and spoke up, "Why?"

Spike looked over at Rarity, catching her eye for a moment. She held the gaze for a moment, and the corners of Spike's mouth pulled into a small smile. The dragoness looked away quickly, she liked the pony's smile, but that one was a little different from his usual goofy optimism. If she stared at that smile too long, she would probably start to blush. But, she glanced over with a little twitch of her ear. She still wanted to hear what he was going to say.

"I don't know."

Rarity blinked. What? She looked back at Spike, and he shrugged, still looking at her. Was that really all he had to say? Rarity groaned and brought a claw to her head.

"I've known hundreds of brave and honorable dragons, and Rarity is as brave and honorable as any of them." She pulled her claw away from her face as the pony continued, "She is as beautiful as any dragon can hope to be, and her unique strength and magical abilities are enviable at the very least. She will not hesitate to put herself on the line to defend what she cares about, and she shows a compassion that is as rare as her name implies." Spike slipped his hoof around one of Rarity's claws. "She works hard for Twilight's sake, and never puts herself first, and has not rejected me for what I am or am not. I feel at ease around her, at home in a way that I did not think I could feel." Rarity was blushing furiously by this point, but she didn't care. And she didn't really care that the pony's speech wasn't over. "I don't know which of these traits it is, or if it's any of them, but I...I love her."

Rarity's father didn't know if he should clap or cry. Her mother had decided on cry, and sniffed loudly. "That was like something out of a novel."

The drake shook his head and sighed. "It was certainly dramatic, I'll give you that. Now, I want to hear what my little girl has to say."

Rarity was still reeling, all the lines she had prepared were gone, and all she had left was her own confusion. She felt the same way, didn't she? She looked at Spike, but she couldn't put her feelings into words like he could. There was so much they had been through, how could he be distilled into a few words? His optimism pulled him forward and rubbed off on those around him. He was kind and helpful, had a sense of justice maybe? He was alone in this world but didn't show it?

No.

Rarity tightened her claw around his hoof. He wasn't alone. Not anymore, not if she had any say in it. She was going to sort out her feelings now. She straightened up and looked at her parents with what she hoped was the same look of determination Spike had. "First, I need to ask, how did you and mother know? When did you realize you were in love, that you wanted to spend your lives together?"

Rarity's father leaned back, laughing quietly. "We didn't."

"Huh?" Rarity shook her head, looking back and forth between her parents. "I don't understand. You didn't know when you loved each other?"

"No, dear." Rarity's mother shrugged and leaned back, letting her husband drape a claw around her shoulder. "We didn't love each other."

Spike and Rarity shared looks of confusion, prompting another laugh from her father. "I should probably explain."

"You think?" Rarity snapped. "How could you and mom not love each other? That's as preposterous as Spike sprouting wings." She looked over at Spike. "That is preposterous, right?"

"Me sprouting wings?" He asked. "I guess."

"Calm down, honey." Rarity's father leaned forward and grabbed his tea. "Your mother and I love each other very much. It just... wasn't always like that."

Rarity's mother nodded and grabbed her own glass. "We were friends, but..."

"But, nothing! Give it to me!" The young drake held out his claw.

"No, I changed my mind, Magnum." The young dragoness clutched her scroll tightly. She wasn't about to hand it over to any dragon. "I'm giving it to him without a proofreading pass. I'm not giving myself a chance to back out."

The drake sighed and plopped down on the rock next to her. "As long as you don't back out of proofreading mine. I won't chicken out, and I don't want any mistakes. Take no chances, need no excuses, Lapua."

The dragoness stretched out in the soft grass, absently reaching for a small flower nearby. "You always say that."

The royal gardens in Dragartha's caldera were empty except for the two young dragons, representatives of two rival clans from the contested regions of the southern oceans. Supposedly, their clans were at war right now, but these two were so far removed from it, that it didn't seem real.

How could it be? The official representatives, caretakers, and ambassadors from both sides interacted on a regular basis, negotiating peaceful agreements, discussing politics, and even meeting for grand banquets. Hell, the two of them had pretty much been raised together, attending the same schools and functions for the last several years.

"Hey, Lapua, good luck."

She rolled over and looked at her friend. Something was off about him today. The way he was staring at the sunny sky was a little off, no other dragon would notice it, but his eyebrows were doing that thing they did when he was uneasy, just slightly scrunching as he focused on random clouds.

"I thought you didn't believe in luck?"

He scoffed. "I don't." There was a pause, and he shrugged. "But you do, so good luck."

"What's wrong, Magnum?" She flicked the fluff off a dandelion in front of her. "And remember, you can't lie to me."

He swatted at the fuzz as it blew in his face. "I overheard the ambassador talking to Greyscale. Bandy's going to be reassigned next week."

"Reassigned how?"

Magnum shrugged. "I don't know the details, just that some dragon is being brought in to replace her."

"She's being sent back to Corith?" She sighed. No wonder he was upset. "You better give her that letter quickly then."

He shared the sigh. "That's not the problem."

She perked her head up. "But you said you loved her, how is that not a problem? I don't know how I'd feel if Tiro moved away, but you can bet it would be a huge problem for me."

"But, Tiro's a high ranking guard cadet, I bet his superiors are always discussing his future." Magnum sat up and stared at the stone below him. "I hate saying it like this, but Bandy's just an apprentice chef. The ambassador shouldn't even know she exists, much less be discussing her assignment with one of draconica's council members."

Lapua was starting to feel uneasy when he put it like that. "What are you getting at?"

He shook his head. "I hope it's nothing, but I have this weird feeling that she's being reassigned because of me."

"Because of your father?"

He nodded. "It's no secret that he doesn't like Greyscale, but why would Greyscale go through the trouble of getting the ambassador to reassign Bandy?"

"Maybe he doesn't want you courting her?" Lapua couldn't think of a reason why he wouldn't, but what other possibility was there? "Maybe he just wants you to be miserable."

"Greyscale may be a jerk, Lapua, but he doesn't do things that petty. He has to be planning something else."

A speck on the edge of the caldera caught Lapua's attention. "Magnum, did you tell any dragon we hang out up here?"

"Hmm?" He followed the dragoness' gaze. "Only Bandy. How about you?"

"I told Tiro, of course. I wanted to bring him up here to give him my letter." She shaded her eyes with a claw as she watched the speck grow. "You know, I think that's him."

"Who, Tiro?"

"Yeah." The speck grew into a recognizable shape, and Lapua stood up. "It is!"

Magnum stood up as well. "Why is he here? Isn't he supposed to be on duty?"

When the approaching dragon landed, it was clear he was on duty. His ceremonial sash and armor were on and neatly adjusted, and he walked tall and stiff, with purpose. Lapua didn't seem to notice. She ran up to him and threw herself around his neck in a hug, quite a feat given that he was a few scales over twice her size. "Tiro, what are you doing here?"

The guard cadet pulled her off gently and set her down. He looked down at her with a look that nearly broke her heart. Disgust, sadness, and worst of all, pity. He stepped back and composed himself. "The two of you are needed in Greyscale's office. The ambassadors from Corith and Iber are waiting."

Two hours later

The door to Greyscale's office squeaked open, one intentionally bent hinge alerting the room's occupants to the visitors. Tiro, leading the uneasy Lapua and Magnum, entered the room and stood at attention off to the side.

There were six dragons waiting in the room. The one Magnum recognized as Greyscale sat behind the desk in the center of the candlelit room, flanked by what appeared to be two personal guards. The ambassadors from Corith, Magnum's clan, and Iber, Lapua's, sat on either side of the desk. The last dragon in the room was waiting was hidden behind the bulk of Greyscale's bodyguard, but when she peeked out, Magnum saw her face.

"Bandy? What are you-" He tried walk over to her, but was blocked when a guard flicked his wing out like a wall between them. Magnum glared at Greyscale. "What's going on here?"

The aptly named council member laced his claws together and rested them on his desk. "I would prefer to let the ambassadors explain, but I would recommend you not associate with those below your station."

"Below my station?" Magnum growled. "I thought you were Draconican. There's no caste system here."

Greyscale scoffed, lifting a claw to dust at his shoulder. "That is correct, shame though it may be. However, both Corith and Iber's caste systems are alive and flourishing."

"Not when I take over," Magnum retorted. "Lapua won't put up with it either."

"Is that so?" Greyscale asked, eyebrow raised. "She at least had the sense to fall for a promising noble, instead of some pretty peasant."

"Get to the point!" Magnum shouted. He turned to the guard blocking him. He was at least twice Magnum's height, and mass. "And you, get out of my way."

The guards only response was to slip one claw behind his back. There was the snap of an undone latch, and the scrape of steel on leather. Magnum washed his own magic over his body as the guard produced a large spiked club.

Moving faster than the guard could react, he chomped down on the club, close to other dragon's grip on it. With a twist, he threw the dragon into a nearby shelf. The crack of wood and raining thuds of falling books spurred the other guard into action. He pounced at Magnum, drawing an identical club.

The smaller drake spun twice, swinging the club with his whole weight and enhanced strength. The first swing knocked the guard's weapon off target, and the next connected with his armored shoulder plate. Steel bent with a squeal like a wounded rabbit, and the guard crashed to the ground as Corith's ambassador ducked out of the way.

Greyscale chuckled. "As expected of Corith's warrior class, an impressive show."

One last sound of steel on leather, and Magnum spun to face it, raising his weapon at Tiro, who was bringing the stout blade of a traditional Iber dueling sword to ready.

Magnum shook his head. "Don't." If it had been any dragon else, there would be no hesitation, but he couldn't fight Tiro in front of Lapua. Forget the political ramifications of injuring an Iber, he would be hurting the dragon his best friend loved. "I don't want to hurt you."

Tiro stepped forward slowly, dead look in his eyes. He didn't care. He swung fast, slashing straight down at Magnum's head. It was an easy dodge, a simple hop back, and the heavy blade buried itself in the floor, splintering the oaken planks. Magnum launched himself up to attack the taller dragon. He swung wide, and their eyes met for less than a second. Tiro made no move to free his weapon from the floor, or even move out of the way.

Tiro closed his eyes as the club came down.

"No!" Lapua rushed forward

The crunch of bone sounded like the wet snap of a sapling tree, and the splatter of blood was sickeningly warm. Magnum dropped the club. Tiro fell to his knees, catching himself with his left claw. His right would never be able catch anything again. It had been far too late to stop the swing entirely, but Magnum somehow shifted it enough to miss his opponent's head.

"Your mercy is misplaced," Tiro forced out in a soft ragged voice. It was taking all his concentration to keep from passing out. His right shoulder was ruined, torn open down to the crushed bone. The arm hung limp, held only by sinew and what little remained of the muscle. "I did not think it possible to lose more than I already had."

Tiro shoved Lapua away when she reached him, and Magnum looked back at Bandy. She was staring at the floor silently. When he looked back at Tiro, he was doing the same thing, wordlessly watching his blood pool below him, as if willing himself to die from blood loss. "What's going on?" he demanded

"Magnum," Bandy spoke up for the first time since entering the room, "we've been banished."

"What?!" Magnum looked back at her. Tears were falling from her face. A quick glance showed him that Tiro was in the same condition, and not for his injuries.

Lapua dove for Tiro's sword. She had it pulled from the floorboards and at the closest ambassador's throat before he could even raise his claws. "Explain this!"

Moving slowly, the ambassador pointed to a pair of sealed scrolls on the desk next to him. A similar pair of scrolls sat next to the other ambassador. "The banishment orders, and a letter from your parents, explaining for each of you."

Greyscale cleared his throat. "I believe I can explain this simply." He pointed at Lapua. "You and your friend will be returning to your home nations, the cook and the guard will not. Once there, you two will take over for your parents as leaders of your clans... with one small change."

"What type of change?" Magnum reached for the scrolls, wary of what they may contain. "And why do our ambassadors allow you to speak for them?"

"I am merely acting as an impartial mediator between Iber and Corith." Greyscale shrugged. "And it really is a miniscule change, but you will be returning to one nation instead of two."

"One nation?" Lapua lowered her blade a little, and the ambassador scrambled away from her. "You can't mean-"

"That the two of you are to wed and unite your clans into a single empire?" Greyscale finished for her. "What else could I mean? That's why these distractions need to be dealt with."

Magnum took the sword from Lapua and pointed it over the desk at Greyscale. "Insult them one more time, and it's you who will be dealt with."

Greyscale smiled and leaned forward, looking at magnum down the point of the blade. "Are all of Corith's warriors so melodramatic? You've done far more to harm your so called loves than I could ever hope to." He slowly pushed the sword away. "Ignoring the obvious physical harm to poor Tiro, you just attacked a Draconican council member. Not only did you incapacitate two of my guards, but you threatened me directly. I could have you all banished from this land." He waved a claw in Lapua's direction. "You and she would be forced to go home, but these other two would have nowhere to go. Who knows, they may even be sent to Casull, in the northern wastes. A cripple and a baker," he laughed, "they may survive long enough to curse your names on their dying breaths."

"My father would never allow this," Magnum tried to protest.

Greyscale gestured to the scrolls. "It was his idea, and a wise decision. From what I understand, there is another clan trying to invade both Iber and Corith. Without putting up a unified opposition, one or both nations may fall." He gestured to the other scroll. "Iber's leaders agree, of course."

Magnum looked over at Lapua. There was no way out of this, was there? She caught the look, and nodded slowly. "What happens to Tiro and Bandy, if we agree?"

"They will be considered political refugees, and allowed to stay in Draconica. I will even call for the best of physicians to treat Tiro's wounds." Greyscale folded his claws in front of him. "Your choice."

Magnum sighed and stared into his tea glass. "I kissed Bandy goodbye, your mother kissed Tiro, and we never saw them again. In the morning we started our journey back home." He emptied the last of his drink, set it down, and wiped his mouth. "It was a mess after that. Both clans split into factions, either opposing or supporting unification, and while they were fighting, outside forces invaded without much of a fight. They then used our lands as a staging area to attack Draconica. The military response was swift and decisive."

Rarity's mother shrugged. "In the end, our lands were united, but as Draconican Territories instead of a sovereign empire. We sought refuge in Dragartha, but our ambassadors had committed suicide, and we were wanted in connection with the initial attack on Draconica. We were captured by a young tetrarch named Bluescale, but he released us a few days after hearing our story. We had nothing left, so we stuck together, traveling ever since, only settling down long enough to raise you and Sweetie Belle."

"You... You never told me any of this." Rarity covered her mouth with a claw. Her parents had never told her how they met. When she was youndger, any time she would ask about their past, they would laugh it off, or change the subject. She understood now why they wouldn't share such a terrible story until she grew older, but she couldn't help but feel something else as well. Anger. "How could you?"

Lapua leaned forward. "Please understand, dear, we only kept it from you because we didn't want you to feel we were only together out of obligation. It may have started that way, and after the collapse of our clans, all we had was each other. But, we could have gone our separate ways at any time. It was our choice to stay together, and somewhere along the way, we learned to love each other."

"No!" Both parents flinched from their sudden shout. "I understand that part just fine! What I don't understand, is how could you expect your own daughter to blindly follow a prophecy after what happened to you?"

Spike touched her shoulder. "Calm down."

She pulled away from him. "No, you don't get to tell me that. In fact, you need to just stay out of this before I change my mind."

"About what?" Spike asked innocently. A quick glare from Rarity made him put his hooves up in a placating gesture. "Never mind."

Rarity moved to stand up, but in the time she had been distracted, her mother had gotten up and moved over to her. Lapua caught her daughter as she came off the couch, pulling her to her chest and cradling her head close to the heart, as if she was a hatchling, and not a full-grown dragoness. "Please believe me," she whispered into her crest, "we never meant for you to follow it. It was an excuse, a convenient excuse. We just wanted to keep you safe, so that you would never know the helplessness and heartbreak we had to endure."

"Draconica is different from the nations we grew up in," Magnum explained, mostly to Spike. "A Dragon's value is based almost completely on their own power and talents. It's quite different from the Caste systems we were used to. Rarity's powers would have made her valuable to a dragon like Greyscale, or any dragon wishing to advance his position in life." He gestured to Spike's untouched tea. "May I?"

"Go ahead," Spike replied.

Magnum swept the glass up and downed half of it. Then set it down with a sigh, wishing it was something stronger. "It sounds so horrible to say it out loud, but we didn't want her forming connections. We didn't want her to become attached to anydragon in a way that could be used against her. We kept her isolated, like we did ourselves, traveling a gypsy's life through Draconica, just so we wouldn't get hurt." He scoffed. "What cowards we were. When she ran away from us and settled down here was the first time we ever really saw how misguided we were. But, misguided or not, we still want to protect her. Is there any way we can be sure you, or your family for that matter, won't use our little girl's power for your own personal gain?"

Spike bit back a smile. "I think so. I have no personal aspirations for power or glory, and would rather live a quiet life with good books and good friends. As for my family, I don't think my mother has anything to gain by accumulating more power than she already has."

Magnum shook his head. "Every dragon has something to gain. Your mother would have to be princess Celestia, or as apathetic as you claim to be, to not want more power."

Spike scratched his neck. "Um, yeah, about that... Wait, apathetic?"

Magnum held up his claw. "I understand, if you're that embarrassed to talk about it. I had an aunt who was the same way. She would just sleep on her little pile of gold, never wanting to expand it, never venturing out for anything but food."

"Um, not quite." Spike shrugged. "But, I guess it would be best for all of you to meet her, then you can decide for yourself."

Magnum nodded. "I would like that. We'll be in the area a while, so arrange it and we'll be here. Now, could we have a moment alone with our daughter?"

"Of course!" Spike answered quickly, and with far more energy than necessary. He noticed it, and dialed back a bit. "Um, I'll be outside if you need me." He stood up and edged his way towards the door. "It was nice meeting you," he said with a slight nod. "Your daughter really is a wonderful dragon, I'm lucky to even know her."

He slipped out the door and closed it behind him. He kept backing away until he hit the far wall, then collapsed against it, clutching at his racing heart. Hoo, wow, that was nerve-wracking. He had been through battles that were easier than that. He could only hope he made a good impression.

He took a few seconds to catch his breath before making his way down the hallway. It was interesting, this section of the house seemed too small for most of the dragons living here. It must have been built specifically for guests and the younger family members.

He took a set of stairs down to the ground level. Each section of the house was slightly different, both in architecture and materials. Most likely, the house was remodeled as needed to accommodate changes in the size of its occupants. The small section he was just in, and the stairs he walked, seemed to be the most recent additions. The cavernous room they linked to seemed much older.

At the base of the stairs, there was a small door, large enough for Spike, but not quite large enough for a dragon say, Grumble's size. Just a few meters over though, was a door that would easily fit Applejack. The rest of the room was on that same grand scale. Furniture the size of a smaller dragon's house was neatly arranged. A table, shelves, and even a clock carved out of fine-grained wood.

Spike pulled himself away from his study of the farmhouse and let himself out the small door. He wasn't sure where every dragon was, but they shouldn't be too hard to fi- Oh, wait. There they are.

The entire group, minus Rarity, who was still inside, was staring off in the direction of town. Most of them were silent, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. The younger dragons, Twilight and the Crusaders, had looks of wonder. As Spike started walking over, Applejack took off her hat and muttered, "Sweet jumpin' Apple Patties, where'd that come from?"

The pony rounded the corner of the farmhouse and saw what had captured their attention. "Is that a tree?"

It was more than just a tree. It certainly looked like a tree, but it was more of a mountain. The twisted towering trunk, topped by a lush crown of green and jewelled by glimmering golden beacons, towered over the forest on the other side of town. It cast a shadow that reached the edge of Dragonspire's residential district, and no doubt caused a few homeowners to wonder where the sun went.

"Ah ain't ever seen a tree like that." Big Mac turned and looked at his sister, a twinkle of wanderlust in his eye. "Ah'm gonna go check it out. Stay here with the hatchlin's."

"No way," Applejack shook her head and stepped forward defiantly, "Ah'm comin' with you."

Mac stepped towards her, and the two siblings butted heads. "Ya wanna leave Applebloom an' her friends unsupervised?" Mac pointed off at their target. "They'd be up the top a' that thing 'fore we even reach it."

"Oh, please," AJ pushed, and Mac pushed back. Despite the size difference, her brother, at the very least, had her matched for strength. "They cain't even make it ta town 'fore nightfall. And trust me, Appleboom's tried more 'n once. I blame those adventure stories ya tell at bedtime."

Mac rolled his eyes. "At least Ah read stories to her, not field guides fer common crop pests."

Applejack gasped, wounded by her brother's words. "What's wrong with knowin' yer enemy? Them pest guides are good tools. She also falls asleep faster when Ah read to her."

"Cause ya bore her to tears. She already knows the pest book inside and out. Ya need to change things around every once 'n a while."

Applejack sat down, raising a cloud of dust as she thumped on the ground. "And how do you suggest we go about that?"

"Um," Fluttershy raised a claw, seeking permission to speak, but unwilling to put herself between the two siblings. "Excuse me?"

"That's it!" Applejack shouted, pointing at the timid dragon. "Fluttershy can read to her!"

"Oh, um, ok. But, I was going to volunteer to watch the hatchlings. That way, both of you could go. Oh, and Spike too."

"That works too," AJ responded without missing a beat.

Mac shook his head at his sister, then glanced over at Fluttershy. Before speaking, he looked away. "Uh, thanks, Shy."

The yellow dragin looked away as well, blushing, and just happy to be speaking to the farmer. How long had it been since they even spoke this much? A year? More? "Oh, it's, um, it's nothing, really." She looked back at the red drake, awaiting a response like a wildflower waits for rain, shriveling slightly when none came. Was that it? The end of their interaction who knows how much longer? She didn't want it to end like that, couldn't let it end like that. She had to do something, say something. "I... I... I'm happy help?"

She tried.

She turned around stiffly, face turning bright red from embarrassment. She was Guardian of the forest, daughter of the Water Kingdom's Princess, and granddaughter of Draconica's highest ranking general. She had faced countless monsters in her relatively short lifetime, and wrought victory over all of them. Despite all that, she couldn't even get one sentence out properly when faced with a single red farmer, who was barely any taller than she.

"Whelp, what're we waitin' 'round for?" Applejack got up and dusted off. "Fluttershy, 'fore Ah forget, tell Rare's that Granny Smith wanted ta talk ta her."

Author's Note

Chapter Title

The Dragon Lies Bleeding - Hammerfall

I think I'm finally getting used to the time management skills required when you're working three jobs. I haven't been on much the last few months, but I haven't stopped writing. I kept my little pad with me on breaks and lunches, and wrote when I could, and have enough content to post weekly for the next year! Not all of it is for MLD, but I will be uploading something every week. I will shoot for Wednesday or Thursday evenings after work.

Thanks for the patience, everyone.

Gerudo's Valley (Side Story)

Gerudo's Valley (Side Story)

Sand, it’s one of the world’s cruel jokes. It finds its way everywhere, even the little spaces between scales,and when that happens, the slightest movement is all it takes for it to rub and grind. And a small, red dragon was walking through an endless expanse of it. With every step, he cursed the sand, and the sun above, and wished he was somewhere else. A futile wish, he knew. He cursed again as a gust of wind blasted his face with sand, stinging his eyes. His wings weren’t big enough for him to fly away, and trying to walk across the desert would probably be his last mistake, a mistake that was looking more and more tempting every day. The only thing that kept him going was that he knew he would be able to leave someday. All he had to do was survive until then.

That was why he was out here. He knew nodragon would follow him into the desert during the day, so his secret would stay safe. After a few more minutes of walking through the sand and sun, he could make out his destination in the distance. He just kept walking. He learned about the mirage the first time he came out this way. His destination was actually much farther away than it appeared. But it was ok, he had time. That was all he had.

After a few more minutes, he heard a sound behind him. Had he been followed? He slowed down, but didn’t look back. He didn’t want to give away the fact that he knew, but he couldn’t keep going in the same direction. He strained to listen for any sign of whoever was following him, but at this time of day, the wind made that hard to do. He had to lead whoever was following him away from-

He heard another sound behind him, it was faint, but close. It almost sounded like coughing. He turned around. It was a bad idea to follow somedragon out into the desert if you aren’t up to the trip, and it seemed like whoever was following him made that mistake. He started walking in the direction of the sound. Maybe, if he was lucky, that dragon would have food on them.

Odd. He looked around, but couldn’t see any sign of another dragon. They either ran away, or they were really good at hiding. He got ready to defend himself should it be the latter. Whoever it was would find out that he was stronger than he looked.

As he stood there, waiting for an attack, he heard the coughing again. It was right below him. He looked down at the sand. There was movement in the sand, and a strange clump of red grass. He grabbed it and pulled it up. It wasn’t grass at all, it was a dragon’s crest. It belonged to a bright, multi-colored hatchling, about a year or two younger than him, and seriously scrawny for her age. “Why are you following me?” The little blue hatchling’s only response was to cough up some sand. He dropped her and started walking in his original direction. The hatchling wouldn’t last long, so he didn’t have to worry about her finding out his secret.

After a few more minutes, he heard more coughing from behind him. He glanced back. The hatchling was following him, limping on one of her front claws. He groaned. “Why are you following me?!” She snarled at him, and he snarled back immediately. Then he blinked, shook his head, and started walking away. “This is stupid,” he groaned, “do you really want to fight me? All I have to do is walk around in circles and the sun’ll kill you for me.” He glanced back and noticed that the hatchling stopped walking. He smiled to himself. “Good, now, if you run along home, you may actually live to see tomo-“

“Shut up!” The hatchling ran past him and stopped in his path. He stopped and dropped his head to his claw. This hatchling was getting to be a serious pain in the tail. “I heard you know where water is.”

“Yeah? You heard that?” He rolled his eyes. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t, what of it?”

She pointed a claw at his chest. “Tell me where it is!”

She was seriously trying to order him around? He was at least twice her size. He scoffed at her. “And, if I don’t?

The hatchling bared her teeth at him. “I’m gonna make you tell me!”

That was enough of this. He slashed at her, and she jumped back. She collapsed the moment she landed, clutching at her side as blood dripped from under one of her wings. He looked down at his claw in confusion. It didn’t feel like he hit her, and his claw was clean. Was she already injured? He didn’t have time to think too hard about it as the blue hatchling launched herself at his neck. He threw himself to the side, tumbling through the sand as her outstretched claws sliced through the space that was previously occupied by his head. He scrambled to his claws, but by the time he was up, she was after him again. She slashed at him repeatedly, forcing him back and advancing with every missed strike. She was too fast! He didn’t have a chance to counter-attack. His rear claw suddenly sunk in the sand. He couldn’t move! She slashed at him again, and he ducked. She tried to adjust her swing, but her over extended claw bounced off his horn with a loud clacking noise, and she lost her balance.

Now! With the back of his claw, he swatted the little blue pest away, sending her sprawling in the sand. He freed his leg from the sand as she struggled to her claws. Why did he sink? He saw the hatchling grin at him before he realized why. It was the hole she was buried in, and she had been steering him towards it for the whole fight. She leapt at him again, but he had had enough. Instead of dodging, he charged into the attack, ducking his head and taking a hit to the shoulder for the chance to strike back. Ignoring the tearing pain as her claws cut into his shoulder, he slashed up at her, hoping to gut the little nuisance. She altered her course with a flap of her wings, and all he managed to do was grab some fur. He continued his slash, turning it into a spin and whipping his tail around, batting the hatchling out of the air. She went tumbling across the sand, and he ran after her as she rolled onto her claws. She tried to leap out of the way, but he pounced at her, grabbing her mid-leap and slamming her to the ground below him. She squirmed in his grip, and he lifted her in his claw and brought her slamming into the ground over and over. After several hits, she stopped moving, and he dropped her.

Finally, the little brat was out of his scales, and he could get back to what he was doing. He turned and started to leave, but glanced back one last time. “Tough luck ki-“

She was breathing. He could hardly believe his eyes, but the hatchling’s chest was still rising and falling in an even rhythm. What was this urchin made of? “Still alive?” He walked over to her. “I’ll fix that.” He flipped her over and put his claw to her throat. Her face was a bloody mess, most likely from a rock in the sand, and aside from the rise and fall of her chest, she didn’t move. Her face was far more damaged than he would have expected, even if she had hit a rock. Fur is softer than scales, he supposed. “How are you still alive?” He put his claw around her throat and started to squeeze. She twitched as he tightened his grip, but didn’t wake up, didn’t offer any resistance. Blood dripped from the wound on his shoulder, mixing with the blood on her face. As he stared at the blood, something inside him snapped. “Why aren’t you dead yet?!” He screamed at the helpless hatchling. “Why are you still alive?!” He shook her, as if to wake her and demand answers. “GAAAAAH!” He tossed her away from him.

Why? Why was she still alive? Why was he so angry about it? He had fought with countless other dragons. He had killed some of them, and others had come close to killing him, but none of them had ever made him this angry. You fight to survive, that was a fact of life. It was all he had ever known. He won this fight, he survived, so why was he so upset at the outcome? The hatchling had the same goal he did, to survive in this wasteland and the blight on creation known as Casull. How many times had he been in the same position the hatchling was in now? How many times had his survival hung on the whims of another, only to be saved by their disinterest? He looked over at the hatchling.

He walked up to her, and sat down beside her. If things had only been slightly different, he could have been laying there. He looked down at his claws. She was still unconscious. It would be so easy to just slash her throat right here and now. He thought of all the times he had been knocked out during a fight, all the times he had woken up and slipped away in defeat. With each fight, he grew stronger, and each loss grew further from the last. But, he had to wonder, at some point, did somedragon stand over him like this and made the decision to let him live? He flexed his claw. That dragon was an idiot.

The hatchling woke to a stinging pain in her face. She was too weak to move, or even open her eyes. All she could do was sit there and endure the pain. It was a weird pain though; it was moving. One side of her face would hurt, then the other, then her forehead, then her chin. Suddenly, she felt something pull her by the crest. Then, she felt herself get pulled forward. Something surrounded her. She didn’t know what it was, but it was hot, and it stung her face even more. She forced her eyes open, but everything was blurry, and her eyes started to sting, so she shut them. She became aware of something filling her ears and nose. It wasn’t pleasant. She opened her mouth to cry out, but her mouth filled with the same thing that filled her nose and ears. She gasped in surprise, pulling whatever it was into her lungs. Panic filled her as she tried to expel the substance, chest spasming as she desperately tried to exhale, but her lungs just kept filling. She didn’t notice when she was pulled back, out of the substance that surrounded her, but she did notice that her choking and coughing was actually starting to clear her lungs. Her throat burned as she was racked by a fit after fit of coughing. Her chest convulsed, spewing forth the vile substance that coated her lungs. After a while, the choking started to subside, and she could feel cool air enter her lungs.

Cool air? She was in the desert; cool air was a thing that didn’t exist in Casull. She opened her eyes and stared at the ground. It was dark, but she could make out the rock beneath her claws. It was smooth and hard, but most of all, cool. She looked up, but something hit her in the face, stinging her eyes. She put up a claw to pull it away from her face, only to find it attached to her. It was her crest. But it felt weird, it felt… wet? That wasn’t possible. Water was scarce, nodragon would waste it by doing anything other than drinking it. Most of the time, you couldn’t even find water, and had to survive off the blood of wild beasts, or, if they didn’t kill you first, the juices of nomadic plants.

This didn’t add up. Cool air and water? Last she remembered, she was in the desert, in the middle of a fight. Did she lose? Was she dead? Before the nomadic plants killed them, she heard some of the old monks talking about Alysium, the place of Typhon’s legacy, where the sacrosanct and the meek found refuge from fate. Was this it? Was she dead?

She pulled her crest back, out of her face. She couldn’t be dead, she could still feel pain. Her face still hurt, and her throat was still burning from almost drowning. It felt weird to her. She knew the word, but the idea of drowning seemed so unnatural. In a place like Casull, with so little water, having so much of it that it could kill you seemed like mere fantasy.

Ok, if she was still alive, where was she? She looked up. Instead of sky, there was more rock. Was she in a building? It was dark, so there were no windows. Not a building then. That was another weird thing about Casull, every building had windows, and sometimes, they were huge, overlooking the vast desert. Of course, the buildings were thousands of years old, so maybe there was actually something to look at back then? This had to be a… what was the word, cave? The monks didn’t get to teach her very much before the plants got them. The wall in front of her was solid, so she turned around, looking for the exit. What she found was a red drake, drinking from a pool of water, the same drake she had been fighting.

A new possibility presented itself to the hatchling. They were both dead and ended up in Abbadon to fight for eternity, like the Architect and the Ravager. At least, she thought it was the Architect and Ravager, but she was only sure about the Architect part. Why did those monks have to go and get eaten by those plants? There was a problem with that theory though, and it wasn’t just that she didn’t pay enough attention to the monks; she was pretty sure that she was the one that lost the fight.

That brought one last possibility to mind: he let her live. She backed away from the drake. This had happened once or twice before; some dragin lost a fight, but survived and came to the monks for help. She didn’t understand why, but those dragins were always unhappy. Even after they laid eggs, they stayed unhappy, and they usually left before the eggs hatched. She didn’t know why they would be unhappy about surviving a fight, but she didn’t want to find out. “Why did you let me live?”

He glanced up at her. “Because I’m an idiot, I guess.” He went back to drinking, and the hatchling just watched him, tense and ready for anything. After drinking his fill, he sat back and picked up a bloody cloth from the ground next to him. “What’s your name?”

This had to be the water she heard about. He nearly killed her to keep this place a secret, so why would he bring her here. “Why do you want to know?”

He washed the cloth out in the pool of water and started to clean out a scratch on his shoulder, the scratch she gave him. “So I know who to kill if anydragon finds out about this place.” That scratch was his only injury, where did all that other blood come from? She realized that her face still stung, and she lifted a claw to her cheek, touching it softly. Pain flared where she touched, and she pulled her claw away. “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Your face is still pretty messed up.” The hatchling walked over to the water, keeping an eye on the drake. He watched her , and noticed that she didn’t look away from him. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve done it while you were out.” He leaned down and started drinking from the pool of water, keeping an eye on her the entire time.

She thought it over for a moment before looking away. She looked into the pool, at her reflection. Her face was covered in scratches, and her cheek was swollen and discolored. “It looks like you did.”

His face contorted as he swallowed wrong and started choking. “What?!” He smacked himself in the chest as he coughed in an effort to clear his throat. “You got hurt while we were fighting! You attacked me, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she dismissed his words with a wave of her claw, “whatever.” She leaned down and sipped at the water. It reeked of sulphur, but it was still water. She drank greedily, filling her stomach with as much water as she could. By the time she lifted her head from the pool, she had finished drinking more water than she ever had in her life. She looked over at the drake. “Rainbow Dash.”

He shook his head and looked at the hatchling beside him. “You say a lot of weird stuff, kid.”

The hatchling stomped her claw. “I’m not a kid, I’m 6 years old already!”

“Yeah, yeah,” the drake waved his claw, mocking her actions earlier, “whatever, pipsqueak.”

She glared at him. “What do you mean pipsqueak?!”

“I mean pipsqueak.” He yawned. “I’m only 7, and I’m about twice your size.”

“Luck of draw.” She looked into the water, staring at her reflection. She was pretty small, but it wasn’t like she could do anything about it, half the time, it was a struggle just to keep from starving. “Rainbow Dash is my name.”

He snorted. “That’s a weird name.”

“Yeah,” the hatchling ran a claw through her multi-hued crest, ”but you gotta admit it fits.” She sat down, dangling one claw into the pool. “And it’s all I really have.”

The drake glanced over. ”Yeah, I guess it fits.” He laid down and rolled onto his back, wincing at a sharp pain in his wing. “But, whoever named you must have been dull.” Odd, he didn’t recall hurting his wing.

“You don’t know the half of it!” Rainbow flicked her claw at the surface of the water, smiling at the splash it created. “He was always like,’vaka so, Regnbogi, vaka so. Sefvren efr.’”

He looked over at her, slowly rubbing at a pain in his leg. “I must have hit you harder than I thought.”

“Hmmph! It’s called Kykren.” Rainbow paced along the edge of the pool, wondering what it would be like to get in the water. She had read about it once, in one of the books at the monastery, about a thing called swimming. But there was something you had to do during swimming. What was it called again, holding breath?

“Is that what they call it now? It’s getting to be impossible to keep up with hatchlings these days.” The pain was getting worse. He could feel more and more injuries all over his body, injuries he couldn’t remember. He tried to ignore them, tried to close his eyes, but the pain was still there.

“You mean, you don’t know about it?” Rainbow laid down near the drake. “It’s the language of Typhon, the monks taught it to me.”

“Not all of us were raised by monks.” Why was there so much pain? And why could he smell smoke?

The brightly-colored hatchling rested her head on her claws. “Yeah, I guess not. So, are you gonna tell me your name?”

He let out a low sigh. “Yeah, it’s-“

“WAKE UP!!” Sharp pain exploded across the drake’s face, and his eyes flew open. He found himself looking up at a pair of amber-gold eyes. “Y-you actually woke up?” One of which looked back at him while the other looked in a different direction. “You’re not dead!” He was rapidly lifted, and promptly squeezed.

He tried to fight against the force that threatened to crush him, but found himself far too weak. “Ack! Kckh! Ch-choking!

“Oh! Sorry!” He was immediately shoved backwards, and tripped over something cold and hard. “I didn’t mean to! But you scared me, I thought you were dead.”

“Give me time.” The drake forced himself to his feet. He found himself in a forest clearing. Trees several times his height surrounded it. Smaller plants thrived in the open area, filling the clearing with various shades of green, brown, and even blue. The smell of smoke hung in the air even though there was no fire in sight. Beside the drake was the wreckage of some sort of steel contraption. Parts of it were dented and bent out of shape, while others were shredded, claw marks clearly visible on the surface. Inside, scorch marks marred the steel, and bits and pieces of chain lay scattered around. There was no machinery inside, no mechanisms or moving parts. It wasn’t a contraption at all, it was a box.

“How much time do you need?” He looked behind him. He could now clearly see the owner of the off-kilter golden eyes. She was a reasonably sized grey dragin, a little bigger than him, and with an impressively shiny coat of grey scales and gold spines. Then she smiled, a huge, happy grin, one that just screamed cheerful, even if her teeth could put a shark’s to shame. “Oh, I get it!” She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side with a little giggle. “That was a joke.”

“Yeah, it was.” The drake sighed. What was going on? Where was this place? And what was that earlier? A dream? No, it was real. Those things happened, but it was a long time ago. Some sort of memory then. But why? And why now? He looked back at the grey dragin as she smiled. “Who are you?”

“Oh” Her eyes popped open. “I forgot to introduce myself!” She snapped to attention and saluted with practiced precision. “Derpy Scales! Mail-dragon, first-class, weight class two, cargo class three, speed class seven! It is my duty to deliver you safely to the council of Soefren in Dragartha.”

“A Dusk Tribunal, huh?” He shook his head and started laughing. “I should have known that’s how I was gonna end up.”

“Um,” the grey dragin slowly lowered her claw from the saluting position, ”I’m not sure what that is, but if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?” The drake's sudden laughter was a bit off-putting, and the grey dragoness shrunk back a little. "And what's a, um, Tribunal?"

The drake looked over at the wreckage. It was so amazing how, sometimes, all it took was a tiny bit of information to make everything fall into place. The chains, the burnt and twisted steel, everything he failed to understand was now clear. It wasn’t a box at all. It was a cage, his cage. “My name is Fire Flash, and the Dusk Tribunal is a death sentence.”

Author's Note

So, this was originally a side story, but since it will soon tie in to the main story, I figured it was better to merge the two. I couldn't figure out how to do it in any easy way, so it's good old Copy/Paste.

Chapter Title

Gerudo Valley from Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time

Original Artist - Koji Kondo

Remix - Gamer Shredding

Hastily preserved comment chain, yay!

Badly Drawn Turtle

6 · 10w, 1d ago · · ·

…or, if they didn’t kill you first, the juices of nomadic plants.

I forgot about the nomadic plants! I like them. They add this fantastic element to the story; just being mentioned as a thing that occasionally happens.

Now to see where you go with Fire Flash. Because 1:30 in the morning is the perfect time to read new chapters. :pinkiecrazy:

Badly Drawn Turtle

5 · 91w, 17h ago · · ·

It seems that Dash just missed what she's been looking for in the main story. Luckily, Ditzy has provided her a second chance. :derpytongue2:

Also, monks killed by nomadic plants. It's horrifying and amusing at the same time. :twilightoops::rainbowlaugh:

This is going to be interesting. :rainbowdetermined2:

bastiaan

4 · 94w, 2d ago · · ·

ah that explains a lot thanks

Metal Pony Fan

3 · 94w, 2d ago · · ·

bastiaan If you haven't read it yet, there is a main story. http://www.fimfiction.net/story/70891/my-little-dragon

It may answer some of your questions.

MyHobby

:facehoof:I keep forgetting that the line doesn't transfer from word.

bastiaan

2 · 94w, 2d ago · · · Metal Pony Fan

this story leaves me with a lot of question.

why are all the pony's dragons?

did fire flash had a flashback and dos he have amnesia?

why was he sentenced to death?

anyway I hope to find that out in the coming chapters

MyHobby

1 · 94w, 2d ago · · · Metal Pony Fan

My backstory senses are tingling. Also, my current-events senses. :pinkiehappy:

Looks like I gotta reread the previous chapter of My Little Dragon before reading the new chapter. I remember enough to say "oh, hey, I see what you did there," but not enough to do much else.

He let out a low sigh. “Yeah, it’s-“

“WAKE UP!!” Sharp pain exploded across the drake’s face, and his eyes flew open. He found himself looking up at a pair of amber-gold eyes. “Y-you actually woke up?”[...]

I think it'd be good to add a horizontal line between these two paragraphs. The scene change is confusing and startling and disorienting, yes. In that you met your goal spectacularly. It's also kinda whiplash-y in a bad way.

You see, with no clear scene breaker, it looks messy and reads jarringly. Putting a break in the prose would create a better flow from one scene to the next, while keeping the disorientation of such a sudden scene change intact.

As with all free advice, you may consider or discard. :raritywink:

Intro Theme (Side Story)

Fire Flash let out a loud sigh. He was currently held in the iron grip of the mail-dragon, Derpy Scales, and she refused to let go. To make matters worse, she was crying. The way he was being held now, her tears fell straight down on his head, matting the short fur of his crest. The drake squirmed against the dragin’s grasp, but only managed to shift enough to look up at her. “Can you please stop crying?”

She looked down at Fire Flash, eyes puffy and red. “B-b-but, y-you’re going to die!” She broke into a loud wail and squeezed the drake even harder. “I shouldn’t have woken you up, I should have just let you go peacefully when you were laying in the wreckage.” She pulled him even tighter to herself. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Hrk!” The drake struggled to pull the grey dragin’s limbs away from him, or at least loosen the grip on his neck so he could breathe. “It’s ok,” he choked out, “I forgive you!” He wriggled against Derpy’s claws to no avail. “Now, let go!”

Derpy loosened her hold on him, but didn’t let go. “But- but-” She lowered her head, rubbing her cheek against his. “But-“

“What are you- Stop!“ He pried at the dragin’s claws. He could barely breathe. Was she trying to kill him now? Strangulation at the claws of an overly emotional dragin was not how the drake had envisioned his life ending. He never really considered that his life would end in anything other than a bloodbath or fireball. “I lied! I’m not going to die!” The dragin stopped moving. The vice-grip she held on the drake’s neck loosened slightly, and he breathed deeply, savoring the cool oxygen that entered his lungs. “Now, can you please let me go?”

Derpy dropped Fire Flash to the ground. The drake stood up and cleared his throat. He then looked up at the dragin, just as she launched an overclaw punch at his head. He didn’t have time to react before the blow collided with his skull, dropping him to the dirt. “It’s not nice to lie! I was worried about you!”

Fire Flash shook the stars from his eyes. “You’ve sure got a funny way of showing it.” He stood up and dusted himself off. This dragin was a confusing creature, jumping between extremes of emotion with the slightest provocation. “Why do you even care? If I was condemned to death, wouldn’t there have to be a good reason? For all you know, I could be waiting for a chance to kill you.”

Derpy tilted her head to the side. “But, you’re not.”

Fire Flash sighed. “No, I’m not, but you don’t know if-“ He shook his head quickly. “Wait a minute! What do you mean I’m not? What is- How did you even come to that conclusion?!” He stepped forward and poked the dragin in the chest. “Look, right now, you’re all that stands between me and freedom. If you think I’m not going to take that opportunity, then you obviously don’t know who I am.”

Derpy brought a claw to her chin. One eye focused on the ground, and the dragin went still, lost in thought. After a few moments, she looked up at the drake. “You’re the dragon who attacked the library, aren’t you?”

Fire Flash pulled his claw back. “You just figured that out?”

The grey dragin nodded vigorously. “Pinkie told me the story before I left, but I didn’t realize that she was talking about you.”

Fire Flash started walking away. How did this dragin miss the link between that story and being asked to transport a prisoner? “Now that you know, you should realize how dangerous I am.”

“Yep!” Derpy trotted off after him. She pulled up alongside him and smiled. “You’re not dangerous at all.”

The drake stopped walking. He hung his head with a low groan. “How in the name of the seven paths did you decide that?” Try as he might, he could not figure this dragin out. What, if anything, was going through her head? “I set a building on fire, I threatened two dragons that had no chance at fighting back, and if help hadn’t shown up when it did, they would have been incinerated. Tell me again, how am I ‘not dangerous?’ ‘Cause, I’d really like to know.”

“That’s easy!” The dragin closed her eyes and smiled at the drake with the most annoyingly happy expression he had ever seen. She opened her eyes again and lifted a claw, extending a single digit. “First of all, you attacked the library first, avoiding the two dragons.” She extended another digit. “Second of all, a little bit of fire isn’t really gonna hurt anydragon.” She extended the last two digits. “And, um…” She looked down at her claw and sat down. Using her other claw, she took hold of the smallest digit on her raised claw. She raised and lowered it a few times while humming to herself. “We were on number three, right?”

“Oh, for cryin’ out loud!“ The drake stomped away in a small circle, turning back to face the dragin. “Yes, it was three, how could you forget that?!”

“Practice?” Derpy cleared her throat dramatically, and struck a pose, holding the claw with three raised digits in front of Fire Flash’s face. “Third of all, all in all, overall, et cetera,” she cleared her throat one more time, “you lied again.”

The drake stood there grinding his teeth together. “So?” He asked through clenched teeth. He raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to hit me again? Or do you plan to explain what you’re getting at?”

“Hah!” Derpy crossed her claws in front of her chest. “Pretending to be angry won’t get you anywhere.”

Fire Flash’s eyes went wide. “Who’s pretending?!” He clasped a claw to his head. He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to put up with this… eccentric dragin. He took a deep breath, calming himself as much as possible. “Alright, what did I lie about?”

Derpy pointed at him. “Popcorn.”

Fire flash blinked. He blinked again. He chuckled lightly. Then, he blinked a third time. He then broke into wild laughter, clutching his head as he bellowed, “That’s it! I’ve figured it out!” He spun in place, looking up at the sky. “It makes so much sense!” He galloped over to Derpy and threw one claw around her shoulder. He tapped her one the nose with the other. “I died.” He shook his head slowly, holding his face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching. “That crash killed me, and this is punishment.”

Derpy stared at him for a moment. “Um, Mr. Flash, I’m sorry about this, but…” She took a deep breath and shoved him away. She then launched a haymaker at his chin. It launched the slightly smaller drake through the air, and he hit the dirt a good distance away from where he started. Derpy walked over to him, inspecting the downed drake carefully. “Are you back to normal?”

Fire Flash laid on his back, staring up at the sky. His eyes matched those of the dragin looking down at him. “Punishment is supposed to hurt.”

Derpy blinked. She sat down and brought a claw to her chin. “Good point.”

The drake shook his head, returning his eyes to their proper orientation. He then rolled over and stood up. He sighed as he brushed off the debris that clung to him. “Don’t just agree with me.” He sat down heavily and started inspecting the forest around them. Trees several times taller than either of them surrounded the two dragons. Sounds of life filled the air, birds, frogs, and the occasional cicada. It was still daylight, but the light was starting to take on the golden properties of a waning day, catching the leaves in the tallest limbs in a glittering display of plant life. He sighed and looked down at his claws. Rich, earthy leaf litter crunched beneath them. It teemed with life as well, as he sat and watched a small salamander, the namesake of his type, crawled over his claw and hid beneath the leaves on the other side. “Fine, this place is too nice to be punishment.”

Derpy sat down next to the drake. “So… I guess you’re alive again?”

Fire Flash looked over at her. Somehow, he felt like he had aged over the last few minutes. At the very least, he felt worn out, like he was being ground down in a slow deliberate manner. “Yeah, I guess.” If he tried to argue with her, or resist the random machinations of her whims, he would just end up going insane. He had no choice but to go along with it. “So, are you going to explain what popcorn means?”

“Popcorn, that purple thing?” Derpy scratched her head. “Or was it ponicorn? That thing that lives at the library now, it’s small, furry, and all purple and green.”

The drake groaned. “Of course, that thing.” It seemed to the drake like he couldn’t escape that thing’s shadow. It was always there, always a step above him. How? It wasn’t even a dragon. He sighed again. There was no point in worrying about that now. He looked over at the grey dragin with a small smirk on his face. “Popcorn’s the right word for it. So, what about it?”

“Well,” she scratched the side of her nose, “you said the two dragons would have been incinerated if he didn’t show up, and he took a direct hit with the fireball you launched, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” The drake glanced behind him, wondering how comfortable the forest floor would be to lay on. He didn’t really get a chance to appraise it after getting knocked over by the brute of a dragin he was talking to. Not that it really mattered, he had put up with much worse through his life. “And?”

Derpy smiled at him. “And, he was standing a good distance in front of Twilight and Rarity, wasn’t he? If he hadn’t shown up, the only thing that would have been incinerated was grass and dirt.” The drake sighed, but the dragin kept going. “I don’t think you wanted to hurt anydragon.”

The drake let out a tired sigh. He lifted a claw and flexed it, traces of dirt and leaf litter falling from his scales. “Wanna see how wrong you are, bubble brain?”

The mail-carrier held up a claw, waving it in front of the drake’s face. “Close, but the word you’re looking for is breath.”

Fire Flash rolled his eyes and flopped onto his back. Leaves and small twigs crunched under the dragons weight. The forest floor was actually pretty comfortable, and much softer than it seemed. Despite the cushioned surface, a jolt of pain coursed through his injured wings. He wouldn’t be flying anytime soon. “I give up. Everything I say seems to be wrong, so I’m just gonna lay here and let you talk.” He flexed the muscles in his limbs. The injuries in his arm and leg still hurt, but he could live with it, even if he had to move around. He looked over at the dragin. “You can start by explaining why I was supposed to say breath.”

The dragin didn’t respond with words. Instead, she took a deep breath and drew her lips together. With a soft, “foo,” she released the breath she held in the same way one would to cool off over-heated food, and a single, shimmering bubble popped out of her mouth. A rainbow of colors swirled over its surface, exactly like a normal soap bubble, and exactly like a normal soap bubble, it burst when Fire Flash tried to touch it. “See? Bubble-breath.” The grey dragin pointed at her mouth. “I have different oils in my saliva that let me blow different types of bubbles. It’s a lot of fun.”

Fire Flash rolled his eyes. “Interesting ability, too bad it’s completely useless.”

“Oh, yeah? Watch this!” Derpy stepped away from the surly drake. She took a deep breath and spun around, releasing a steady stream of bubbles as she twirled. The bubbles filled the clearing, creating a field of tiny stars as they caught the golden light filtering through the trees. The mail-carrier fell to the ground, dizzy from her frantic spinning, but bubbles she released drifted around with abandon, colliding with each other and anything else that crossed their path, breaking into a shower of golden sparks as they popped. The bubbles that managed to avoid any obstacles continued to drift away from the dragin that created them, floating through the forest in lazy paths of light. Once her dizziness started to subside, Derpy raised a claw towards the remaining bubbles. “See? Isn’t it pretty? I love the way the bubbles catch the light.”

The red drake lifted his head a little off the ground. After a second, he relaxed the the muscles in his neck, his head fell to the dirt with a soft thud. He repeated this movement a few times, beating horned impression into forest floor. “I am definitely going crazy.”

Derpy rolled onto her side and lifted her head to look at him. “Good crazy, or bad crazy?”

Fire Flash turned his head towards the dragin. “Only you would think there could possibly be a good kind. Sure, it’s pretty, but how does that make bubbles any more useful?”

The mail-dragin blushed and brought her claws to her cheeks. “You really think I’m pretty?”

“Gah!” Fire Flash slapped a claw to his face and slowly scraped it down his snout. “The bubbles, you air headed dolt, the bubbles were-“

Without warning, Derpy launched herself at the drake. She landed atop him twisted, straddling him and clamping a claw over his mouth. “Shh.” Her head bobbed from side to side as her eyes scanned the surrounding forest in a dizzying frenzy. She raised her head high and took a deep breath. She held it for a moment, then inhaled again, still holding her previous breath. She breathed in one last time, taking in as much air as her puffed out chest could hold. She let her head droop like wilted flower, and blew a bubble straight at Fire Flash’s chest. Unlike earlier, she only blew one bubble. It expanded outward, oily surface gliding effortlessly over scales as it grew between the two dragons and eventually engulfed them. When it stopped expanding, the bubble made a sphere large enough for the two dragons to move around in. Anything beyond the bubble was tinted pink, far deeper than could be explained by the day’s waning light. In addition to the change in color, everything took on a weird, flowing distortion, almost like looking through a lens that was melting.

The drake twisted out of the mail dragon’s grip, an effort greatly aided by the greasy sheen now coating his scales. “What did you just do?!” He tried to wipe at the glossy coating on his body, but his claw just slipped right over it. Ugh! I’m covered!”

“Quiet,” the grey dragin hissed, gesturing frantically for the drake to stop making noise.

“Why?” The drake brought his arm up and gave it a tentative sniff. He immediately started gagging, eye bugging out as tried to hold back his bile. He stumbled towards the bubble’s boundary. “That’s nasty! I’ve got to-“

Derpy tackled him, pinning him to the ground. “I’m sorry! But please, be quiet.” She clamped her claw over his mouth as best she could, and leaned in close to the drake. Please,” she whispered,” I know it smells, but please, just put up with it for a few moments.” Something rustled on the far end of the clearing, and the dragin’s head snapped up to face it. “I’ll do anything you ask, but please, don’t make any noise.”

Fire Flash craned his neck to look as the rustling became more pronounced. The dragin’s claw slipped from his mouth, but he remained silent. Whatever was coming, it had her scared. Given that she was undoubtedly more familiar with the area than he was, he had no choice but to heed her judgement.

“You sure it was over here?”

Fire Flash’s eyes narrowed to slits as two dragons entered the clearing.

“Yeah, didn’t you hear it?” One of the dragons walked into the middle of clearing and looked around. He was a dull maroon color, stout, bipedal, and had a thick steel plate, patched with rust, strapped to his chest like armor. He was nearly as tall as Fire Flash, and had scars all over his body. His face was flat and ugly, more befitting an ogre than a dragon. “Sounded like voices.” His eyes came to rest on Fire Flash for a moment. No, the bright red drake realized, this other dragon was looking past him like he didn’t exist. The armored drake walked back to his companion, revealing several manners of sword, mace, and other weapons strapped to his back, a personal armory. “I hate this forest, it’s making me hear things.”

The other dragon, a tall, dark green creature with cat-like features sniffed at the air. “It smells like rotted fish. A Hydra probably passed through here.” He was slightly larger than derpy, and his weight was much lower to the ground than was normal for a dragon that size. As he moved, his scales rippled over the muscles beneath. There was no mistaking it, he was a hunter. He turned away from the clearing. “There’s nothing here. We’ll meet back up with the others, then resume our journey.”

“You sure?” The brutish dragon gave the clearing a quick once over. “I know I heard something. What if it’s somedragon from town? We’ll be in trouble if-”

“I’ve indulged you more than enough.” The green dragon turned to face the other dragon. “You have good instincts, but you need to learn something about our group.”

“Heh, yeah?” The armored drake turned to face his cat-like companion. “What’s that?”

“Listen, and whenever I say something,” the green dragon lifted his claw and tapped on the metal plate strapped to the ugly drake’s chest. “Don’t. Talk. Back.” He sliced a single claw through the steel plate, tearing out a jagged line of steel, scale, and flesh. With a shriek of pain and shock, the armored drake fell to his knees. He clutched at his chest with trembling claws as blood started to pour from the wound. The green dragon brought his bloody claw to the other dragon’s chin and lifted his head to look him in the eyes. “Think you can remember that?”

The maroon drake’s nostrils flared and contracted as he shivered in agony. “Y-yes, I’ll remember.”

“Good.” The green dragon let go of the other drake’s head, letting collapse to his pain. He turned around and walked back into the forest, glancing back at his fallen companion. “We’re heading back, now.”

The injured drake crawled over to a tree, and used it to support himself as he lifted himself up. He then shambled off after the green dragon, leaving Fire Flash and Derpy alone in the clearing. They stayed where they were for several minutes, not daring to move, in case those other two dragons were still close. The red drake looked at the mail dragin on top of him. He wasn’t exactly sure what just happened.

Derpy edged her way off of Fire Flash. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “there wasn’t time to explain.”

The red drake stood up slowly. ”How did you know they weren’t just travelers?” He was careful to keep his voice down. “And why didn’t they see us? Was it because of the bubble?”

The grey dragin gestured towards the edge of the oily dome surrounding them. “Go take a look, it won’t break if you step through.”

Fire Flash hesitated for a moment, and Derpy shoved him forward. He tumbled through the slick film that made up the bubble, receiving a fresh coat of oil on his scales. “Ugh!” He scrambled to turn around, and was met by the sight of an empty clearing. He sighed as he swatted at his oily scales. “Ok, so it is a useful ability. You never mentioned that the oil could bend light like that.”

The bubble burst silently, revealing the mail dragin within. “I told you I could make different kinds of bubbles.” Her voice was grim, lacking its previous energy, as she stared into the forest, eyes glued on the blood-stained patch of the forest floor where the armored dragon once stood. “We have to go back to Dragonspyre. We have to warn them.”

“Warn them about what?” Fire Flash glanced at the blood, slightly unsettled by the memory of the encounter. “So, there’s some hunters who don’t get along. They’re free to do what they want.”

“They’re not hunters.” Derpy forced her gaze away from the stain, and looked at Fire Flash. “This section of the Everfree is a wildlife preserve, and off limits to everydragon, except for the Forest Guardians. We’re not even supposed to be here.”

Fire Flash smirked. “So, you’re afraid of a pair of poachers? Sure, we may not want to mess with them ourselves, but just send your Forest Guardian in to clean up. That’s their job, right?”

The grey dragin shook her head slowly. “They weren’t poachers.”

“Huh?” The drake looked back at the forest. The dragin that was once an annoying glob of migraine inducing energy was now sitting there, solemnly staring at the forest in near-total silence. What changed? For her demeanor to change this much, what were those two dragons? “Derpy?”

The dragin looked down at her claws, body shaking as she dug her claws into the forest floor. “I know that green dragon. Hi-his name is Koro.” She brought a claw to her face, holding it over her wayward eye. “Fifteen years ago, he attacked Dragonspyre.”

“A bandit, huh?” Fire Flash took one last glance at the forest where the two other dragons had disappeared into the trees. He started walking in the opposite direction, tapping Derpy on the shoulder as he passed her. “Come on, we need to find a defensible location. Sitting in the middle of a clearing is just gonna get us killed.”

The grey dragin followed him into the woods, ducking a moss-laden branch as the drake led her through the trees. “You’re really going to help me?”

“I’m not doing this for you, or your precious town.” The drake stalked through the trees, steps as silent as shadow as he watched the terrain. It was almost night, and they needed to find shelter. That dragon mentioned that there were hydras in the area, and he didn’t feel like going up against one in his current condition. “We’re a little bit safer if we stick together, but the moment the opportunity comes up, I’m gone.” He watched the forest floor for signs of stones or boulders, searching for any sign of caves or animal dens. “Do you know how far we are from that town of yours?”

Derpy followed him. She didn’t know what he was doing, but she didn’t have much of a choice but to trust him. “If we have to walk, we should be able to make it back in about a day.”

“What do you mean if we have to walk?” A large stone caught the drake’s eye, and he walked over to it. The top of the stone was covered in feathery, green moss, and its side was covered in deep scratches. “Manticores, there should be a den around here somewhere.” He started searching the area for a hidden entrance. “Unless I missed something, I’m injured, and you don’t have wings.” Beyond a nearby fallen tree, Fire Flash found himself looking down a small dirt cliff, overgrown with sickly, brown vines. “Over here.” He climbed down carefully and searched the crust of plant matter until he found an opening cut into the cliff face. It would be a squeeze, but they would both be able to fit through it. The cavern was sure to be roomier farther in, but there was something the drake had to check first.

He started gurgling deep in his throat, working up a chunk of phlegm. He spat into the cave, bodily fluids igniting on contact with the air. The chunk of flaming spit splattered against the floor of the cave, spreading liquid fire across the dirt floor, and lighting up the inside of the cave. It was empty, save for a half-mummified manticore corpse in a far corner. This cave had been abandoned for a long time. That was good. Even a large group of manticores would have been little more than a meal for him and the dragin he was traveling with, but the fight would have left evidence of their presence in the forest.

Fire Flash looked over calmly as Derpy joined him in front of the cave by unceremoniously tumbling over the fallen tree at the top of the cliff. She hit the ground next to him with a soft thump and a puff of leaves. “I take it back.” Fire Flash walked into the still flaming cave. “I’d probably be safer on my own.”

Derpy picked herself up and followed him in, dusting herself off before squeezing through the aged cave entrance, and covering herself in a fresh coat of dust. The inside of the cave was larger than the entrance, but it was barely enough room for the two dragons to move around in. Derpy shuffled around the cave a bit, extinguishing patches of flame with her claws and tail before laying down.

Fire Flash set about putting out the rest of the flames. It was almost completely dark outside, and he didn’t want the light giving them away. Every so often, he would steal a glance at the grey dragin sharing the cave. As the cave grew darker and darker, the dragin barely even moved, staring at a patch of flame in front of her on the cave floor. Once he finished extinguishing the rest of the small fires, he walked over to the one in front of Derpy. “I’m not complaining, but you’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.” He put out that last flickering light, and laid down as far from the other dragon as was possible in the cramped cave. “Who is that Koro guy? To you, I mean. I get the feeling he’s not just some random bandit.”

Derpy looked away from the drake. “What do you think of my face? Of my eyes?”

Fire flash rolled his own eyes. He had all but given up on getting a straight answer out of her, but it would be nice to not have to play these games every time he asked a question. “Who cares about your eyes? It’s your teeth I’m scared of.”

The mail-carrier smiled and looked over at him. “Thank you, but be honest, they’re unsettling, aren’t they?”

The drake sighed. “Dizzying is more like it.”

“They weren’t always like this.” Fire Flash rolled onto his back, ignoring the momentary pain in his wing as Derpy continued talking. “When I was younger, they were normal, like everydragon else’s.”

The drake yawned. “So? What happened?”

Derpy lifted her head and crossed her claws on the ground in front of her. “I never knew my parents. When I hatched, my egg was abandoned on the shore of the Sediero Sea.”

Fire Flash nodded as he listened. He should have known he was going to get a life-story. “I can relate, but I would have given anything to have been born near water.”

The mail dragin laid her head on her claws. “Well, I had to support myself for my entire life. For the first few years, I didn’t even know there were other dragons. I just lived wild, off the land. After I learned about civilization, and learned to speak, I found out that I was pretty strong for my size. I used that to get jobs. At first, I would do grunt work, mostly; construction, deliveries, anything that required brute force. Then, as my wings developed, I started focusing more on making deliveries.”

“Wait a minute.” Fire Flash shook his head. “You don’t have wings.”

“Yeah, I do. It’s just…” The mail carrier scooted over to the drake and turned so he could see her back. Just above her shoulders, two bat-like wings stuck out. In addition to looking like bat wings, they were about the same size as a bat’s wings. They were also covered in little blue polka-dots. “When we crashed, I think I landed in some poison joke.”

Fire Flash stared at the two mini wings. “So, when you say we crashed, you mean that-“

“I crashed, and I was carrying that box you were in?” Derpy scratched at the back of her neck. “Yeah, pretty much.”

The drake rubbed a claw against his face. “Just how big are your wings, usually, for you to make it as far as you did.”

Derpy craned her neck to look at her wings. “A lot bigger than this. And I would have made it all the way to Dragartha by now, but I was attacked by a flock of Pteroqs.”

Fire Flash narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t those extremely rare? Like, to the point of being nearly extinct? And you were attacked by a flock of them?”

Derpy nodded. “We’re in a wildlife preserve, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” Fire Flash noticed that the dragin wasn’t making any move to go back to her original position in the cave. “Well, this brings back memories.”

Derpy looked at the drake, tilting her head in confusion. “What does?”

Fire Flash chewed his lip for a moment. He didn’t really want to talk about his past, but at this point, what did it matter? “I’ll tell you, if you finish telling me about Koro.”

The mail dragin looked down. “Promise?”

The drake sighed. It seemed she didn’t want to talk about the past either. “Yeah, I promise.”

“Thank you,” the mail-carrier exclaimed happily, “where should I start?” Derpy rolled over, placing her side against the drake’s and snuggling up against him. “So, I already mentioned that I did a lot of deliveries, so, right now, I should probably tell you about-“

“No.” Fire Flash gave the dragin a solid push, but wasn’t able to move her. “Right now, you should probably give me some personal space.”

Derpy looked up. “What’s, ‘personal space?’ I hear that a lot, but nodragon ever wants to explain it.”

The drake rolled his eyes. “Of course they don’t. Personal space is the space around a dragon that is personal. It belongs to that dragon, and others are supposed to stay out of it.”

“Oh.” The dragin put a claw to her chin. “That makes sense.”

Fire Flash sighed. “Good, so-“

“Oh, right! I need to finish my story. I don’t mind sharing personal space.” Derpy cleared her throat. “Anyway, you already know that did a lot of delivery work when I was younger. I worked in several large cities, and got to see all sorts of amazing things. There was this one time, in Dragartha, I bumped my head on the ceiling and dropped a box of-“

Fire Flashed waved his claw for the dragin to stop talking. “Look, just cut to the chase. I just want to know about this Koro that we’re hiding from, and you seem to be talking about everything else. Who is Koro?”

Derpy swallowed hard and rolled away from the drake. “Are you, uh, sure you don’t want the background? Some parts of the story might not make sense if I skip around.”

“No!” The drake sat up as tall as he could in the cramped cave. “Nothing you say makes sense, so I really doubt it can get any worse. Our lives are at stake. Tell me what I want to know.”

Derpy shrunk back. “I- I should really just, uh-“ Her tail hit the wall of the cave and immediately rolled up beneath her.

After seeing her reaction, the drake regretted his words. He needed to know what he was up against, but he didn’t have to terrify her to find out. He leaned down a little, making himself a little smaller. “Derpy?” He moved towards her slowly. “Are you ok?”

She looked away from him. “I, uh-“

Even in the dim cave, Fire Flash could see her shivering. Why was she acting like this? He reached out a claw to put on her shoulder, a small gesture of reassurance. “What did he do to you?”

“Don’t touch me!” Derpy shrieked as she smacked the claw away. She backed into the cave wall, trying to get away from the drake. “Don’t touch me.” Unable to back up any more, the dragin pressed herself to the wall and slid to the floor. “Don’t…”

Fire Flash backed away from the dragin, staring in shock as she broke into tears. He sat down as far away from her as he could, not wanting to upset her anymore. He sat in silence for a moment, then surprised both of them by breaking it. “You reminded me of somedragon, somedragon very important to me." Why was he telling her this? "You reminded me of someone I lost. She was loudmouthed, pushy, and convinced she was always right, but then again, she usually was. No matter how much we fought, I couldn't stay mad at her."

Derpy didn't look up from the floor, but calmed herself down enough to ask, "What happened to her?"

Fire Flash shrugged. "Who knows? I left her, and by the time I realized it was a mistake, I couldn't find her again. I don't even know how long I've been searching anymore."

The mail carrier pulled herself away from the wall, watching the red dragon closely. He didn't look like he was lying. That meant this was some dragon that knew what it was like to care for another. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for? I was the one that yelled at you."

She shook her head. "I just didn't want to talk about Koro. I hate him. I hate his memory. I just want it all to go away."

Fire Flash nodded slowly. There were certainly memories he would rather forget, but things didn't work that way. he pointed to the mouth of the cave. "He's out there right now. That's not going to change just because you want it to."

Her once smiling face twisted into a snarl. "It would if I killed him." She dug her claws into the ground. "He deserves it for all he's done." The grey dragon's face wasn't designed for anger, and after a few seconds, her snarl broke, along with her composure. She buried her face in her claws. "Who am I kidding," she cried, "he almost killed me last time. And he killed the farmers I was working for. Their children grew up alone because of me." Fire Flash remained silent, and let her continue, "I have a daughter. I don't want her to be alone."

"The father?" Flash probed, as gently as possible.

"I tell her she doesn't have one. Saying he died before she hatched is easier than telling the truth." She took one last shaky breath to steady herself. "Koro's the father."

Author's Note

Hastily preserved comment chain

Badly Drawn Turtle

3 · 10w, 16h ago · · ·

Thoughts as I read:

Derpy+Fire Flash is my new favorite ship.

Bandits? Attack on Dragonspire 15 years ago? Hello, murderer of AJ's parents.

Confirmation received. And he raped Derpy. I see a clear future for this Koro, involving much pain at the claws of either Fluttershy or Fire Flash (depending mostly on whether or not FireDerp goes anywhere).

Final thoughts:

Does Fire Flash know that he has a daughter? Never mind, we'll (he'll?) find out in due time. :scootangel:

I still think he's better with Derpy, though.

Now, why was Fire Flash attacking the library? To the next chapter! Even if it doesn't answer that question!

{I totally went to sleep halfway through this chapter last night. I guess 1:30 in the morning isn't the best time to read new chapters. :twilightsheepish:}

Pyro The Faithful Reader

2 · 11w, 2d ago · · ·

Woah, what a jerk! I didn't think this would get this dark... unless I'm jumping to assumption that Koro uh, raped her. Which is hard to even consider since Derpy seems pretty nice. :pinkiesad2:

Magical Trevor

1 · 11w, 3d ago · · ·

THAT BASTARD! :twilightangry2:

Stage Select (Side Story)

"Stahl!"

"Stahl?"

Fire Flash crouched low in the shadows of the cave entrance. Two dragons were tromping around outside, calling for one named Stahl. The shorter of the two was pale, cream-white, and had smooth, snake-like scales. He was devoid of distinguishing features like horns, ears, or crest, and his large slitted eyes seemed out of place in daylight. Small cuts and scrapes explained the leather armor he wore over his weak hide. The other wore no armor, he didn't need it. The glint of his blue-grey scales in the mottled light gave his natural armor the appearance of faceted steel.

"I told you we were lost," the snakish one complained. "He's not here."

"Someone is," the metallic one countered, "I can smell them."

Fire Flash cursed under his breath. Derpy crawled up beside him and whispered, "What should we do?"

The red dragon looked over. His grey companion didn't get much sleep last night. What little she got was fitful and nightmare ridden, and it showed. She looked ragged, and the tracks of dried tears stained her face. She didn't look ready for a fight, and that might be the one thing that saves them. "When I call for you, walk out, but don't do anything. Just look at the ground the whole time."

He started to crawl forward, but the grey dragin grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "You can't."

Fire Flash grabbed the claw, and looked her in the eyes. "Trust me." He looked down at the claw intertwined with his. How long has it been since he was responsible for another's safety? And, why did she have to be so like her? "I'll get you home, to your daughter, but you have to trust me."

Her answer was silent, with a slight nod, she pulled her claw back.

Fire Flash squirmed out of the hole behind the two prowling dragons and let out a loud, exaggerated snort. "Boy, you guys are late."

Their shock showed when they spun to face him. White even stumbled and fell, and had to scramble back up. "Who are you?"

"I should ask the same thing." Fire Flash took a single step forward. He still had to find out if they were friend or foe. "Koro didn't mention anyone else."

"Really? He didn't even talk to us," Steel said in a low scraping voice, "had his lackey Stahl give us instructions. We were supposed to meet him and the other two somewhere around here."

Two more? "I dealt with Koro directly, is Stahl the weaponed weasel that follows him around?"

"Nah," Steel shook his head, "that's Bilk. He has a bad habit of talking back to Stahl and Koro, and they don't trust him. So, they they keep him close."

Easier to get rid of him that way. Fire Flash shrugged. Looks like this group wasn't exactly well-knit. "Did any of them tell you why we're attacking a little nothing town like Dragonspire?"

"N-no," White shook his head nervously, "You two may be attacking, but I'm a thief, I'm going after the hatchling and getting out."

Fire Flash blinked, then cursed silently hoping his momentary surprise didn't blow his cover. "This is the first I've heard of that. My job was to create chaos, cover for whatever else is going on."

"Me too," said steel. "I take it you're a firebreather?"

"Locals live in wooden buildings," Fire Flash said with a smirk, "this will be my easiest job in a long while."

"Slow down, hotshot, there's a few dragons that might make this hard on us, including their forest guardian. She's an Ice Mage that forced Koro into retreat during a fight a few years ago. Killing her is my job, preferably before she kills any of you, but no promises." The confident drake pointed to his skittish companion. "The other fighters are all supposed to take on specific dragons around the target, letting him slip in and take the hatchling Koro wants."

Fire flash winced as Derpy gasped. Both of the other dragons snapped their attention in that direction. Steel stepped sideways, keeping his attention on Flash. White took a step back, staring in the direction of the noise. "I thought you were alone."

Fire Flash tried to smile confidently. "Do I look like the type of guy who spends a cold night alone?" He looked over his shoulder. "Get out here!" He waited a few seconds. "Remember what I said! I keep my promises, girl."

White and Steel didn't understand the significance behind the red dragon's words, but Derpy did. She crawled out of the manticore den, and limped out into the open. She followed instruction, and kept her gaze firmly on the ground, but it was a death stare, as if she wanted to kill the ground, stuff it, and kill it a few more times.

Steel was the first to speak. "She doesn't look like a fighter, but with those eyes, I can't tell. Why is she here?"

"Entertainment." Fire Flash shrugged. "I'm done with her, so feel free to do whatever."

"Really?" Steel raised his eyebrows. "This job just gets better and better."

He started walking towards Derpy. White watched carefully, but took an absentminded step forward, then another. Fire Flash flexed his knuckles quietly. One... more..

White took that last step into striking range, and Fire Flash lashed out. His claws sliced through the pale dragon's throat like scissors through cloth, leaving three deep gashes all the way to the spine. If he wasn't dead now, it would only be a matter of seconds. Fire flash struck him hard on the side of the neck for good measure, and rewarded by a solid pop as vertebrae snapped.

As the body crashed to the ground, Fire Flash wondered if he even felt it happen. He didn't have time to dwell, though. Flash turned to face Steel just as the other dragon heard the drop of White's carcass.

The sound that rang out was a war cry, halfway between an anguished scream and a predatory growl. Neither drake had a chance to react, let alone move before it's source pounced. Derpy tackled the steel-colored dragon that had been approaching her. Her respectable mass caught him off balance, and her hard-earned strength let her over power him long enough to shove what looked like a black rubber ball down his throat.

Steel gagged, and tried to bite the limb Derpy was holding in place. Fire Flash ran to help her, but Derpy didn't need it. She closed her eyes, braced against the pain, and crushed the bubble she held in her claws.

A massive wind swept Fire Flash off balance. His ears rang from an unnaturally high-pitched hiss, and blasts of dry air and dirt stung his eyes. It was only a second before silence took hold again. Debris leaned against him, leaves, twigs, and broken branches, all piled up, but only from one side. He thrashed about, dislodging anything that might impede his mobility, and stood up.

The sight before him was one he had seen before. This fight was over. Everything loose had been blown away, leaving Derpy in the center of what looked like a crater, sitting atop her defeated opponent.

Steel still drew breath, but it was a labored, gurgling affair. His jaw was shattered, and he was bleeding from his ears, nose and eyes. The rest of his body seemed unhurt, but laid limp, unwilling, or unable, to move.

Fire Flash walked over as Derpy pulled herself off of him, nursing her bleeding right claw. He looked down at the defeated drake. The fear he saw was a familiar sight, but the helplessness that accompanied it was unnerving. The drake tried to speak, but nothing came out save a sputtering as blood foamed in his mouth. If left there, he would probably drown in his own vital fluids in a few moments.

Not a pleasant way to go.

Flash rolled the drake over. If he was ever in this position, he hoped his opponent would give him as much consideration. One stomp to the back of the steel drake's neck, and gurgling noises stopped.

Derpy closed her eyes and started to shiver as she headed towards an adrenaline crash. "He can't have her," she told Fire Flash. "I won't let Koro take Dinky away from me."

Fire Flash walked over to the snake-like thief he dispatched earlier. Attached to his armor were a variety of satchels and pouches. He tore off the one closest to the dead dragon's claws and dug through it. As expected, it was filled with maps and papers. One in particular described a high paying criminal job, enough treasure to live a long and comfortable life, even by dragon standards, for the kidnapping of a single hatchling. "I don't think they were after your daughter." Fire Flash flipped to the next page. "According to this, Koro is after a hatchling named Twilight Sparkle."

Author's Note

The remaining titles will all reference the soundtrack to one of my favorite NES Games, Bucky O'hare. Next chapter, Green Planet.

Hastily Preserved Chain of Comments.

Badly Drawn Turtle

3 · 10w, 15h ago · · ·

"He can't have her," she told Fire Flash. "I won't let Koro take Dinky away from me."

I have a feeling that they're after a bigger target… Yup, I was right. Still, epic mother-rage Derpy is a go. Did she just make a bubble bomb? And stuff it down another dragon's throat? You have to wonder what Koro is like if he could mess with her.

Who, exactly, would want Twilight? It can't be Koro; it sounds more like he's the type to only do things if there's a direct monetary reward involved, so he's probably been hired by somedragon else. Might Greyscale be trying to take Twilight because he knows Celestia is interested in her? Or is there yet a hidden player in this game?

Now that I'm caught up, I'll try to actually read chapters as they come out. But no guarantees.

Caliaponia

2 · 11w, 3d ago · · ·

Hmm. Very interesting, I look forward to reading more.

Magical Trevor

1 · 11w, 3d ago · · ·

Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUN!

Green Planet (Side Story)

Acrid smoke stung Derpy's lungs, and her body threw a spasming fit of coughing in a vain attempt to expel the black fumes. Any hopes of making it back home undetected were shattered now. If anything, Dragonspire was probably alerted to approaching trouble.

The papers the thief had on him described the attack plans in detail. There were seven dragons involved, including the two they had already defeated. Six of them were going to attack the dragons that would otherwise be protecting their target, and the thief would have stolen her away in the confusion. Each of the fighters was planned out for a specific dragon, with abilities and strengths chosen to give them a distinct advantage.

The dragon they were fighting now was meant as an opponent for Applejack, the daughter of the farmers Koro killed. He was a crazed magic type who could control plants, and it was starting to look like they would have to burn down the whole forest to get away.

Though, looking at Fire Flash, that seemed to be the plan all along. He spewed fireball after fireball, splattering everything green with flaming globs of oil until they were surrounded by inferno. One last vine snaked its way towards the flaming drake, intent on capturing a claw, but was incinerated by one last annoyed spit.

That was it, there wasn't a single living plant within twenty five meters of them, and the plant dragon was staying even beyond that, hidden in the forest.

Fire Flash backed up to Derpy, putting them tail to tail as they scanned their surroundings for movement that wasn't flame. "Oy, Grey, those bubbles you're so proud of, can they hold up to heat?"

Derpy glanced back. "Heat? You mean this fire? Yes, why?"

A bramble vine shot towards the blind spot looking away created. Flash grabbed it before it could hit her, wincing as the thorny tendril wrapped around his wrist. A little snort of flame reduced the vine to ash. "How long can you hold your breath?"

The plant mage perched on a branch, picking his nose and watching the localized blaze. "Eenie, meanie, miney, mo. Catch two dragons by the toe." He flicked away a nugget of snot and took some seeds from a pouch on his woven belt. "String them up, don't let them go. Lop off heads and watch them roll."

Whatever plans he had for those seeds, they were quickly forgotten when his prey bolted from the flames, red one first, fat one second. "Where are you going?!" The grey one yelled, panicked, sweetly scared. "We were safe in there!"

Safe? How funny, she thought she was safe. He dropped his seeds with a snicker. The big one was amusing, much more pleasant than the angry one, she should die last.

"Did you think I could keep that up forever?" The red one yelled back. "I'm out of flames!"

The hunter took to the chase, laughter ringing through the forest as he hopped from branch to branch. Finally, the annoyance was gone, no more would his weapons turn to ash before striking. "Run, run, as fast as you can, take the entrails, make a flan." He jumped to the ground, so he could run faster. "Hear them scream, begging no. Bring the bodies-"

"Now!" The red one shouted. Grey turned and charged at the plant mage. Surprised only for a moment, he jumped before she could reach him. First up, and then off her head, only to be body slammed by the roaring red dragon behind her. The two crashed to the ground, one calling forth his plants for aide, and the other calling forth fire.

Hunter and prey grappled and fought as the forest floor burned beneath them. Roles that seemed decided just seconds ago were called into question as they struggle and squirmed, like serpents locked in combat. The plant mage tried to slash at his opponent, but mustered no more power than a cat batting at a sock as Flash clung to him, tangling their limbs.

Blazing inferno ate away at the encroaching plants, keeping them away from the battleas the two dragons wrestled. The plant mage gave up on summoning aid and threw his all into the contest of strength. He wasn't quite as brawny as his flaming opponent, but his wiry frame proved an even match.

After a minute or two of struggling, the plant mage managed to work a claw free. The red dragon clung stubbornly to the other one as the mage slashed at him. The first few slashes slid off hard scales, leaving little more than scratches. Then, with a roar of frustration, the mage jabbed his claw up into Fire Flash's gut, digging past the scales from the other direction.

The attack didn't penetrate deep enough to cause much damage, but it caused plenty of pain. His face contorted in pain, but Fire Flash didn't cry out. If anything, he kept his mouth screwed shut in grim determination. At least, until the plant mage pulled his claw back for another attack. He lunged forward, teeth first, and clamped down on the plant mage's shoulder. He was aiming for neck, but the mage twisted at the last second.

The mage roared in pain. He slashed blindly at his foe. At some point, he had balled his claws into fists, and started pummeling the fire dragon. One lucky strike to an eye loosened the bite, and the mage put everything he had into shoving the other dragon away.

He stared down at the other dragon, and at the claws he just pushed with. Blood, both his and the other's. Pain, both from his shoulder and from a broken bone somewhere in his claw. Anger, at the failure of his plants and his opponent's refusal to lose. Fear, fear that somehow, he might just lose.

He smiled. With a screeching, cackling laugh he threw himself at his down opponent. How exciting! Never, never before had he been in a fight like this. Never before had he been so close! So close to the blood, the death. Surely, this is what battle was meant to be!

He cried out with glee as he battered the red dragon under his fists. He snorted with excitement at the sound of his strikes thudding against his opponent's feeble guard. He threw punch after punch, striking until the red dragon dropped his guard. Then, he punched some more.

He took it slow now, savoring each blow to his opponent's face. The red dragon was at his mercy, unable to even right his head after each strike. All he could do was stare up at his tormenter with a delicious look of defiance. What a warrior! Such determination in the midst of defeat!

The plant mage wrapped his claws around Fire Flash's neck. He would watch that determination disappear, slowly, right along with the red dragon's life breath. And he would enjoy every second of it.

It was then that he noticed the red dragon wasn't breathing.

He pulled his claws back in surprise, blinking away the spots in his vision. No! He couldn't be dead, could he? He was still looking up at him. The plant mage shook his head. It hurt to think. Wait, no, it just hurt. Why did his head hurt so much? He didn't get hit, did he?

He looked down at the two red dragons... No! He shook his head again, willing the two images back together. He tried to focus on his opponent, but the image was fuzzy. Everywhere he looked, little black dots danced around him, buzzing static, ringing in his ears. Did they have a magic type with them? Was this an attack?

He turned to run, to put distance between himself and whatever this was, but he felt heavy. His body responded slowly, so slowly that the red dragon had time to reach out and grab his tail. With a sharp pull, he pulled the plant mage off balance enough to send him crashing to the charred ground. No flames or plant life remained, the fire having exhausted all possible fuel minutes ago, even the very oxygen in the air, leaving nothing but smoke and ash.

As the plant mage struggled to get his claws under him, Fire Flash crawled forward. He was starting to understand. Through the haze that only he could see, the plant mage saw the other dragon, the large grey one, on the other side of a clear, oily-pink wall. She was almost completely obscured by the static in his vision, but she watched the battle with confidence, like she knew the outcome had been decided.

The plant mage took one last unfulfilling breath as he felt a sharp pain behind his ears. It was a distant pain, no longer part of him, but part of some other world. He didn't care anymore. It was odd for him, a moment of calm. As he watched the grey dragon close her eyes, he realized that, for the first time in his life, he had lost.

His view of the grey dragon twisted sharply sideways, and the static faded to black.

Author's Note

Chapter Title - Green Planet, composed by Tomoko Sumiyama for the game Bucky O'hare for the Nes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbrG3yKhMuM

I write on a device roughly the size of a standard paperback novel, so the formatting and paragraph separations are optimized for a narrower page.

Comment chain, Hastily preserved.

Badly Drawn Turtle

4 · 3w, 5d ago · · ·

Metal Pony Fan

Ah, that makes sense.

I think it's a pretty safe bet that if something is fun to write, it will be fun for others to read. :pinkiehappy:

About removing this story…I guess I can see that it makes “business sense”, in that the main story already has a reader-base that hasn't found its way over here. But this was intended as a side story, and it certainly has a side story feel to it. It's your decision, I guess. I might suggest some sort of indication in the title of the chapters that it's a side story of sorts, but that might just be me feeling nostalgic. I can see it being integrated relatively naturally into the main work.

Metal Pony Fan

3 · 3w, 5d ago · · ·

Badly Drawn Turtle And I'm considering deleting this story and moving the chapters to the main Story.

Metal Pony Fan

2 · 3w, 5d ago · · · Badly Drawn Turtle

Badly Drawn Turtle he asks because at that point, he isn't sure who was going to end up in the bubble. Both of them tried to tackle the plant mage, but he dodged derpy, leaving Fire Flash to stuck with him.

Also, thank you, I wanted to do something different, and it's nice to know it's well recieved. I had thought about writing all of the chapters from the bad guys' perspective, but I probably won't. I may do bits and pieces later on though. As short as this chapter was, it was a ton of fun to write.

Badly Drawn Turtle

1 · 3w, 6d ago · · · Metal Pony Fan Metal Pony Fan

I'm only a few days late! Nobody has commented here? Maybe you should link to this story in the description for My Little Dragon.

Poor assassin dragons. It's looking like none of them will get to face off with their intended opponents. Though considering how well this was apparently planned, that's probably a good thing.

The part of the chapter written from the plant mage's perspective is excellent. Not that the rest isn't; I just really like the perspectives of odd personalities.

I have just one question: Why does Fire Flash ask Derpy how long she can hold her breath, when only Fire Flash ends up doing so? (Well, other than for dramatic effect.) Is he using that as a lead-in to the explanation for his plan?

And I'm still totally shipping FireDerp.

Green Planet Part 2 (Side Story)

"Well, this brings back memories." Fire Flash rolled over and shook the sand from his back.

"Yeah, but backwards this time." Rainbow danced lightly on top of the dune, smiling down at the other dragon. Years had passed since they met and first fought in this very spot. The landscape had changed dramatically; flat wastes were buried under rolling dunes, the dusty, withered corpses of wandering plants dotted the horizon, and in the distance, what little remained of the ancient city of Casull burned in never ending flame. "That makes three," she laughed, "you're getting weaker."

"Fat chance," Fire flash scoffed. The two dragons had changed almost as much as their surroundings. Almost mature, but not quite there, they were already stronger than any who dared to challenge them, especially when they were forced to work together. "You're just getting stronger."

Rainbow cleaned her ear with a claw. "What was that? I must have misheard you, that almost sounded like a complement." With a hearty laugh, she started down the dune, walking carefully, lest she collapse the sand under her. Still the smaller of the two, but only by a little, she was rapidly approaching Fire Flash's size. If she didn't stop growing soon, she would probably surpass him.

The red dragon rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I lost. If you're happy with three-zero, how about telling me why you dragged me all the way out here?"

Rainbow swept a wing out to the side, kicking up dust as she indicated their surroundings. "Don't you recognize this place?"

"No," Flash answered, shielding his eyes from the grit. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

The other dragon sidled up beside him, playfully nuzzling at his chin. "Are you sure you don't remember?"

He sighed, tolerating the contact even though he was still sore from losing. "Yes, I'm sure." When she finally sat down, he followed suit, extending a wing around her. The sun was just starting to sink away, and the temperatures would soon join it. Nights in the desert were harsh, but sharing them made it bearable. "What is this place?"

Rainbow ruffled her feathers up, trapping as much air between them as she could for insulation. "It's where we first met. Sure has changed, huh?"

Fire Flash surveyed the area again. Memories, old, but etched into his mind, played through his head like they were yesterday's. "It can't be... Has it really changed this much?"

She leaned against him. "I know," she muttered quietly, "I could hardly believe it myself when I found the cave. The water dried up, but everything else is still there."

"Dried up..." He clicked his tongue. "Too bad, now that we can defend it, that would have made a nice den."

"A den?" She pulled away to look up at him. "For the two of us? Like, you know, a real den?"

"Well, yeah?" He looked away, not wanting to meet the questioning stare directed his way. "Why are saying it like that? I mean, sharing beats fighting over it, right?

"I don't know, I might get the better end of that stick." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "But, you better be careful. A den, I might just get spoiled."

"You already are." He nudged her in the side. "Besides," he added with a smirk, "I wouldn't have to fight you, I could just smoke you out. I know how much you hate the smell.

She looked away with a pout. "Only because it sticks to my feathers..."

Silence fell over them. Fire Flash knew how much she hated being teased about her aversion to smoke and flames, but given that it was his special ability, he couldn't resist. He watched her sulk for a moment, and wondered what was going through her mind as she looked this landscape. All he could think of was the realization of change. He didn't know if things were worse, or better, only that they had changed, and that they had survived.

He leaned down and ran his snout through the colors of her crest. The only response was a stifled giggle. It was the one thing he knew would always get a smile out of her. "You know, the land isn't the only thing that's changed."

"You're right, it isn't." She looked back up, but her expression wasn't the wrinkled smile he was expecting. Instead, she stared quietly up at him, wide eyes sparkling in the fire of the setting sun. It was far softer, and far more vulnerable, than he had ever seen her before. "We've changed too."

He lowered his head, touching their snouts together. "We have, haven't we?"

She pushed past his snout, rubbing their faces together, and he moved closer to her, wanting to touch as much as possible. "That isn't a bad thing," she whispered in his ear, and by the time their lips met...

Air filled his lungs, jump-starting the cycle of breath that had temporarily ended. He gasped in air, overfilling his lungs, and coughing as cold air burned his throat. He was on his back, charred, broken branches jabbing him as he looked up into a blurry pair of golden eyes.

"You're breathing again! I was so worried."

The eyes moved away, and with them moved the shadow that covered him. Bright sky stabbed his eyes through the treetops, forcing him to turn away. And when his blurry vision started to clear, he found himself looking into the eyes of the twisted, broken carcass of the plant mage. Laying amidst the blackened coal of his plants, his claw stretched forward, lifelessly reaching for help none could provide.

Fire Flash scrambled away from the remains with an anguished shout. His head screamed for him to stop, pain pulsing in protest at the stimulus assaulting him. Light, sound, buried memories, and his own feelings of regret clawed at him, dragging him back to his knees. What was happening? Why was he here? He was just in Casull! He was home, not here. Wherever here was. He couldn't think, couldn't focus. All he wanted was to be back with Rainbow, in that brief, forgotten moment of happiness.

"Help me," he whimpered, clutching at his head.

Something pulled at him. He didn't have the strength to resist. Or did he? He didn't know, couldn't tell. Either way, he didn't have the will to try. He felt something wrap around the back of his neck. It pulled him in tight, and he waited for it to twist, to snap his neck like he had done to so many others. But that final attack that never came.

"Shh. Shh, it's alright."

At first, he didn't recognize the voice, but slowly, to the rhythm of soft patting on his back, his senses returned. "Derpy?"

"Feeling better?" Derpy released him from the hug, and helped him up. She saw the tears running down his face, but didn't mention them. "You ran out of breath before I could release the bubble." She waited a moment for him to answer. "Flash? You ok?"

He stared at her, tears flowing without shame. He knew he was crying, and he didn't care. He didn't care that it made him look as weak as he felt. "When I was young..." He looked down. At some point, he had grabbed Derpy's claws in his own. "When I was young, I had nothing. I was an orphan in a dead city that barely existed. Every day was a struggle to survive, just to find enough water or blood to drink to see tomorrow." He pulled her to him, and held her tight, in a way he had only ever held one other. "I wish that had never changed. I wished I could've died in that miserable existence. If you never have anything, you don't have to know how painful it is to lose everything."

The sound of a breaking twig caught Derpy's attention. "Flash?"

"I can't do it!" Whatever she heard, he was oblivious to it. "I can't lose everything again! Knowing love and losing it, seeing how great this world can be just to be sent back to that sand covered hell I came from? I'd rather die." He let his head fall. "But, I won't die for nothing. Next dragon we fight, I want you to run. I'll fight to my last breath to slow them down enough for you to get home."

Another snap, and Derpy pinpointed the location. There was a twitch, and her eyes snapped open in horror. "Flash! He's moving!"

Derpy grabbed Fire Flash and dove to the ground as what looked like a gnarled root whistled through the air towards them. It missed and slammed into a tree, splintering it. The plant mage flopped over, not alive, like Derpy feared, but moved by something else. The pouch on his belt was torn and writhing, like something was crawling within, and trying to escape.

The pouch burst open as its contents expanded skyward. A tangled mass of bark and burl rushed high, weaving and swirling towards the sun. At the same time, massive roots grew below, freely twisting and planting themselves as they pleased.

Flash and Derpy could only brace themselves against the ground as chaos stormed around them. Displaced air and magic battered at them in wake of impossible growth. Deafening cracks and booming rumblings shook them as the forest was torn asunder, replaced by a single tree towering several times higher than any tree ever should.

It was all over in minutes, and Derpy looked up, and up, and up. The top of the tree was partially hidden by clouds, massive golden flowers shining in the midday sun. The patch of ground they occupied seemed to be the only spot within a hundred meters not consumed by the maze of roots. It extended as far as she could see, a cage of wood, meant for larger creatures than her. The two of them would be able to navigate it, even if it would mean climbing in some places.

She looked back down. Fire Flash was still below her. He didn't even try to move. He just stared apathetically at the awe inspiring plant above them. She didn't quite know why, but seeing him like that made her angry. How dare he give up?!

"No!" She yelled, planting her claws on his chest and knocking the wind out of him. "You don't get out that easily! If you want to throw your life away, fine! I'll take it. It's mine now." Fire Flash moved a little, and Derpy pushed back down on him, pressing him to the dirt. "News flash, you aren't the only one with a tragic past. You at least knew what you were. I didn't even know what it meant to be a dragon until I was who knows how old. The ones who taught me, who showed me the wonder of life and gave me pride in my possibilities, they deserved better than they got. They were killed for trying to save me. I can't ever tell my daughter who her father was. She sees the other families in Dragonspire, and wonders why ours is different. How could I tell her the truth? How could I ever explain what he did to me?" She pulled back a claw and squeezed it into a fist. She belted fire flash in the jaw, knocking at least on fang free of his mouth and loosening another. "You want to die so you don't get hurt? Try getting hurt and struggling to live, like I did. Because that's what we are! We are dragons, and dragons bow to nothing, least of all pain."

Fire Flash said nothing, and Derpy crawled off of him with a snort of disgust. He could have stood up, but he didn't. He stayed on his back, watching as leaves the size of sails swayed overhead. "You have something to live for, some dragon else that gives you the strength to move on. I had that once, but she's long gone. I'll never see her again."

"You don't know that." Derpy shook her head. "She's out there somewhere, what would she say if she saw you like this?"

"She'd probably kill me herself," Fire Flash sighed, "then go after Koro for fun."

"She's that strong?"

"Strongest in the northern wastes. Stronger than I can ever hope to be." Flash rolled over and picked himself up. "Phoenix Lignum."

Derpy blinked. "What?"

"The tree, it's a Phoenix Lignum. I saw one once before, but it was just a fallen husk. The tree only grows under two very specific conditions. The first is that there has to be a forest fire, or the aftermath of one. The second, is that a dragon must die at its base." Fire Flash rubbed his jaw again. "Better him than me."

Derpy looked over with a smile. "I've never seen one before, but I've heard of it. It was in one of the stories the farmers would read to teach me to speak." She walked over to Fire Flash. " I was told that the first promise made beneath it would remain unbroken forever." Derpy lifted her claw and placed it as a fist over his heart.

He looked down at it, then met her gaze. In that moment, he understood something. The strength that Rainbow had, the strength that stayed his claw in their first battle, the strength he envied, the strength that he had grown to envy, it wasn't a physical, or even magical strength. It was simple strength of will, and this grey dragon had more than did. But, she did seem willing to share. He placed his fist on her heart, copying her movement. Then, they made a promise to each other.

"I will survive."

Author's Note

Hastily preserved, this comment chain is.

Badly Drawn Turtle

1 · 1w, 2d ago · · ·

"You don't get out that easily! If you want to throw your life away, fine! I'll take it. It's mine now."

Yes. Rainbow Dash had her chance; he's Derpy's, now.

And Derpy is Applejack's adopted sister. I can't say I saw that one coming.

A tree that big was probably noticed. The question is, are they close enough to Dragonspire for it to be seen by someone who doesn't want to kill them?

By the way, does the plant mage have a name, or should I just call him Crazy Plant Mage? Either way, I miss him, even though he existed for a total of two short chapters, one of which he was dead the whole time. :fluttercry:

Blue Planet/Yellow Planet

"Well that was a stupid promise!" Flash and Derpy ran through the woods again, chased again, by another magic type. "And why are all these dragons completely insane?"

"Whoa, oh, ho ho!" Their pursuer, long and snake-like, laughed in an eerie sing-song. "Who's insane? Is you's insane? I mustache you to stop running so we can discuss. Get it? Mustache!"

Fire Flash looked back at the purple dragon on their heels. In the middle of a life and death struggle, that gaudy idiot mentioned his facial hair every few moments. "I'm gonna burn that mustache off of you if you keep it up!"

"What?" He paused and stroked the bright orange hairs flowing from his snout, letting his prey gain some distance. "Oh, non, non, non, that just won't do, ouí?" He flicked a finger towards Fire Flash.

There was a splash, and Fire Flash looked down. More puddles! He jumped away, just as the water below turned to razor blades. He jumped away from another puddle as the liquid snaked out to grab him. Where did all these come from? Did this dragon set these traps?

"Water, water, everywhere, but do not stop to drink." The dragon clapped, and both puddles exploded in a shower of droplets that hit Fire Flash like a hail of stones. Was he freezing it? "Is water soft, or is it hard, it really makes one think."

Cursing the battering he just received, Fire Flash kept running. It was all they could do, run, and hope that the phoenix lignum's sudden appearance would draw dragons from town. Preferably, they would be either strong or fast, so they could either fight, or fetch the appropriate help. As much as he might hate to admit it, Fire Flash was actually hoping to run into that annoying pony creature that plagued his military career.

Behind him, he heard another clap, and a puddle he missed exploded near him, pelting him with dozens of stinging impacts. Ahead of him, Derpy was mostly left alone by the water mage's attacks.

Another clap, and Fire Flash was caught by surprise when a puddle directly beneath him exploded into steam with the force of a small landmine. He caught the impact square in the chest, getting the wind knocked out of him as it flipped him over. He barely had time to tuck and roll before landing, lessening his impact with the ground ever so slightly.

He was back on all fours and running again before the water mage could get any closer. Not that he even seemed to be trying. Flash glanced back as he ran through what was now a minefield. Every time the purple dragon clapped, something else exploded; a puddle, a hollowed stump that collected rain, even bowls and dishes that were obviously laid out as traps.

Through it all, the water mage maintained his distance. Why? He still followed Fire Flash, but never got close. Was he simply wary of ending up like his green partner? Or was he toying with them, planning something, running them like minnow into a trap?

Flash found his answer ahead of him. He had caught up with his grey companion, and she was stopped... at the edge of a small lake.

He cursed as he came to a stop. As powerful as their opponent was with just puddles and plashes, this much water was the same as handing him the Scales of the Ancient. He would be unbeatable.

"Ingenious, non?" The water mage used one of his explosive puddles as a springboard, and sailed over the two dragons at water's edge. He landed in the lake with a loud splash, and swam in a small circle before turning to face his prey. "The trap is sprung, the stage is set, and the actors are all in place. Taste the beauty of my true power!"

With that, the purple dragon dove below the surface.

"Now what?" Fire Flash watched the lake carefully, searching for any change. He briefly considered running, but if that would make a difference, their opponent wouldn't have left it an option.

The change was slow, so slow at first that Fire flash almost missed it. A fish passed by, then another, then another. That wouldn't have been strange, except they were swimming in the wrong direction, being pulled backwards by an overwhelming current. "Oh, hell, you've gotta be kidding me."

A growing whirlpool appeared at the center of the lake, starting small, like you would see in a drain, but rapidly growing as the lake itself was stirred by the invisible hand of magic. Roaring to life, it pulled in rocks and trees from around the lake's rim. The debris was little more than a collection hatchling's bath toys in the water's grip. Like the maelstrom of legend, the lake pulled in anything touching it as it grew more and more violent."

"Now what?!" Fire Flash asked the grey dragon beside him. "You know, next time some dragon offers to sacrifice themselves for your sake, take them up on it, cause I ain't gonna do it again."

Derpy just stood there, hyperventilating.

Fire Flash looked over. Was she really hyperventilating? She was breathing heavy, but it sounded labored, forced. Oh, please don't be having an asthma attack in the middle of a battle.

Derpy lowered her head and lifted a claw to her mouth and carefully spit out a small, oily-black sphere. Fire Flash recognized it immediately. It was the bubble bomb that took out the steel dragon near the cave. What was she going to-

Derpy chucked the black bubble into the lake, adding one more piece of rubble.

Fire Flash waited a moment.

He looked over at Derpy.

She looked over at him.

Fire Flash shouted over the now deafening storm. "Was something supposed to happen?"

Derpy opened her mouth to speak, and the lake changed from whirlpool to volcano. Fire Flash jumped as a geyser-like eruption burst straight up from the center of the lake, disrupting the maelstrom, and sending tens of thousands of liters of water skyward. What went up came back down quickly, drenching both dragons in a torrential downpour of water, fish, and sticks.

It was over in a second or two, and a waterlogged Fire Flash stared at an equally soaked Derpy. "You timed that, didn't you."

She smiled and shrugged before looking out at the lake. It's surface was pulsing, surging with small waves as the water struggled for equilibrium in the wake of such total disruption. It was calming rapidly, but at a level well below its previous height. Dead fish were floating to the surface, along with one much-less-talkative purple dragon, unconscious and bleeding from his ears.

Derpy prepared another bubble, and Flash grabbed her arm before she could lob it into the lake. "No no, I think you got him."

"Indeed you did," said a gravelly voice behind them. "I take it you two are the ones responsible for the string of corpses I now have to replace?". Behind them stood another dragon, one they had yet to see. He was smaller than Koro, but still larger than either of them. Heavy set and rough-scaled, he lacked wings or magic-type horns. His scales ranged from dirt brown to sandy tan in mottled patterns, like a patch of mixed soils. Even his face was earth-like, square and rough like carved sandstone. And on that face, was a faint smile of almost pleasant surprise. "My name is Stahl, and you two have caused me quite a bit of trouble."

Fire Flash jumped away from him, but Derpy took a more direct approach to dealing with the new threat. Bubble bomb still in claw, she spun, swinging her arm out with the momentum and throwing herself at him.

The earthen dragon watched the start of the attack, eyebrows lifted slightly in curiosity. When he realized what she was doing, he shrugged and opened his mouth, taunting her.

"Stop!" Fire Flash jumped forward to catch Derpy, but by the time he reached her, her claw was stuffed down the newcomer's throat.

Stahl bit down, sinking his teeth into grey.

Derpy stifled a shout and clenched her claw, crushing the black bubble and releasing its gale. The force of the wind was fired back at its creator, roaring forth from the stone dragon’s mouth as if it was his own breath. As the wind died down, Stahl chuckled around a mouthful of bleeding grey. "So, that was the attack that killed Damsk." He bit down a little harder, making his captured prey cry out. It was a good attack, powerful, yet subtle, equal parts trickery and pure destructive force. Even Koro would be in trouble if he got hit by that.

Stahl started walking backwards, dragging the grey dragon along like a disobedient child. Her companion leapt at him, raising his claws to strike at the other dragon's eyes.

Stahl shifted, pulling Derpy into the line of attack. "Not so fast, red," he said, letting go of his hostage and kicking her into her would be savior. "Aiming for my eyes means you don't have confidence in you claws versus my scales. She is definitely the stronger dragon, but you are, by far, the more experienced. It would be troublesome to leave either of you alive."

On the ground, two dragons freed themselves from each other and righted themselves. Derpy immediately wanted to charge back in, but Fire Flash grabbed her by the leg. "Don't," he whispered, "stay close. And when I say to jump, jump straight up, as high as you can."

They backed away, crouched low and snarling as Stahl ambled towards them, calm, confident, like he was walking down a street instead of though a battle zone. Derpy glanced over at the Drake beside her. She didn't know what he was planning, but he hadn't let her down yet.

"What are you planning now?" Stahl asked pleasantly. "Surprise me, and there may be value in keeping you around after all."

"Now!" Fire Flash hopped back, throwing his wings wide open.

Derpy leapt skyward. If her wings weren't under poison joke's influence, she could have added several meters to the leap. Of course, she also could have flown straight to town immediately after the crash.

Fire Flash had no such restraints, and he wasn't about to let his injuries get them both killed. With a powerful beat of his wings, he launched himself at the mail carrier, grabbing her at the peak of her jump. Through the tearing pain of his injuries opening up, he flew off, holding his grey companion tight.

"Disappointing," Stahl sighed. He brought his claw to his neck, pulling on a light blue crystal tied on with rope. "Koro. Head north."

"I thought you said to head south?" asked the wrong voice from within.

"Bilk, give Koro the crystal."

A clinking sound signaled the crystal changing claws. "Changing your mind again, Stahlheart?"

The earth-toned dragon raised an eyebrow. When did that brat learn his full name? "I will triple your pay if you stop questioning me. Now, head north."

After a short pause, Koro's voice echoed through the crystal, "how far?"

Stahl smiled. "You'll know, just follow the breaking branches."

He let the crystal fall back to his chest and picked up a small rock. Tossing it and catching it to feel it's balance, he peered into the sky. His prey was receding into the distance, rapidly clearing the forest that stood between the and safety. If they kept it up, they would pass close to Koro and Bilk.

Right...

About...

Now.

Stahl threw the rock.

Escape

Branches broke, bark and leaves scraped past scales, and birds scrambled out of the way as two dragons fell from the sky. They crashed through the treetops, each limb they hit slowing them slightly before snapping. Fire Flash came to a momentary stop in the last branch above ground level, but even that weighty bough snapped when he tried to move. He hit the forest floor with a dull thud, and groaned as he rolled over.

He didn't know what hit him, but it stung like hell. He could feel the line across his side where something just skimmed the scales, but somehow managed to knock him out of the sky. That brown dragon, he must have done something. And if that was a glancing blow, what is a direct attack capable of?

Click.

He raised his head. That sound was too sharp, too clear, to be natural. Scanning the forest, he saw nothing out of place. Moss-covered logs, composting leaves, and the same old trees they've been running through for days. The only difference in the terrain was the sloping, rocky hill ahead of them. Scraggly trees grew in the scant purchase between the strata of weathered stone, and moss and ferns claimed any shade.

It must have been a falling rock. He sighed and untangled himself from Derpy. She seemed alright, but knocked unconscious from the fall. He slowly stood up, working through the aches and bruises left by the plummet through the branches. As soon as she recovered, they could continue their journey. Even though the flight was cut short, it brought them far closer to Dragonspire than expected. They would be there within the hour.

Still, that sound bothered him. He looked around again. He couldn't see anything else that could have caused it, but he just couldn't convince himself it was a falling stone. If anything, it sounded like metal on metal.

"Boo!"

Flash spun to face the voice. Behind him, hanging upside down from a tree, was a stout, dull, maroon-colored dragon covered in scars. Freshest of these was one across his chest, revealed through the jagged tear in his steel chest-plate.

"Bilk blast." The tree-bound dragon raised a large mechanical device towards the other dragon's head. Ornately engraved, its two steel pipes were bound to a dark wood handle by brass straps and rivets, and Bilk pulled both of its triggers as Fire Flash dove out of the way.

The red dragon felt the rash of heat against his face, and a thunderous noise. The sound's blast, like a hammer, hit Flash as he fell. He landed in leaves, but if they made a noise, he couldn't hear it. He was deaf to everything, save a single crystal tone playing in his ears.

Fire Flash pushed himself off the ground. He felt nauseous, his insides shaken like a cocktail by the concussive sound, but he had to be ready for another attack. He ground his teeth together, steeled himself, and straightened up. Then, he opened his eyes... and screamed.

He collapsed to the forest floor, screaming in pain. Writhing and clutching at his face, he didn't see that another dragon was approaching.

Tall and green, this dragon looked at home in the forest, but didn't quite blend in. His scales were too light for that, sleek and silver-sheened. His eyes narrowed as he drew closer, inspecting the downed Drake that his companion stood over. "Bilk, I said to find them and report back."

"Yeah," the armored Drake nodded. "Well, I found him, shot him, and now I'm reporting then. Orders followed." He slung his blunderbuss over his shoulder and used his free claw to point to where a grey dragin was slowly coming around. "Should I help 'er wake up, or put 'er down? Ya only need one to get the answers you wanted."

The corners of Koro's mouth turned upwards ever so slightly when he turned his attention to her, a grin that would be hard to see if you were looking for it. "No, I will handle this." He started walking towards her. "I do believe she's an old friend."

"No!" Fire Flash heaved himself up. One claw supported him, the other slowly pulling away from his closed right eye. Blood poured from between the lids, and there was no question that Bilk's opening salvo was not a clean miss. "Leave her alone, your flight's with me."

Koro rolled his eyes. "Bilk?"

A heavy blow blindsided Flash. He was struck in the ribs with the butt end of the blunderbuss. Another blow followed, catching him in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. A third blow, sharp and metallic, came from the barrel, crossing his cheek below his good eye.

Bilk hooked the arm holding the blunderbuss around the red drake's neck, impressed that he was still standing after all that, and leapt. He rolled over Fire Flash, back to back, building the speed and momentum needed to hoist the other dragon up and slam him down.

With his opponent pinned, he pulled a smaller firearm from among the arsenal strapped to his back. It was long and thin, its barrel twisted and longer than the blunderbuss. "You ain't even gonna feel this one, sunshine."

"Bilk," Koro said slowly, like a parent admonishing a child, "don't kill him. Not yet. I think he might want to see this." He was standing over Derpy, and ran a claw across her forehead, pulling her crest away from her face. A thin line of red hid near the hairline. "Poor dear," the green dragon nearly whispered, "she must have hit her head."

He leaned down, and breathed in her ear, "girl?"

Derpy's eyes flew open, that one word jolting her awake, the voice that haunted her nightmares yanking her through the fog back to reality. She tried to stand up, but Koro placed his claw on her back and pushed her right back down.

"Looks like you remember me." He flipped her over, and dropped himself on top of her, a suffocating weight, even for her. "Don't you, girl?"

She buried her teeth in his shoulder, the closest thing she could reach. One thought ran through her mind as she started slashing away at the scales above her. "I'll kill you!"

Koro raised a claw and slapped the grey dragon across the face, stunning her long enough to stand up and back away. "You've gotten stronger," he muttered as he inspected his wounds. He was bleeding in several places where her claws made through his scales, and his shoulder was well torn open, even though the wound was shallow enough to ignore. This was the worst he could remember being injured in a long time. "For that, I'll knock your other eye loose before I have you again."

Bilk, distracted by his employer being forced into retreat, even the few steps that it was, loosened his grip on his own quarry's neck. This allowed Fire Flash to take a deep breath and shout, "Derpy, run!"

The grey dragin scrambled to her feet, shaken into action by the red drake's call.

As Bilk looked down, Flash grabbed the barrel of his rifle, yanking it away fast enough for the trigger's pull to blast the projectile harmlessly into the dirt. Then, with the rest of the breath he took, he spat a flaming glob of phlegm into the armored dragon's face. Clawing at armor, and pushing with his wings, Flash was able to turn his fight around, holding Bilk down as he struggled to reach for one of his other weapons. It was easier than he expected. Bilk lacked any sort of serious strength, explaining his choice to rely on weapons.

Flash looked up at Derpy, standing there, watching him. She was torn, and he could see it. The conflicting desires to run, and to stay and fight, her fear, and her anger, were battling for control. "Go!" he shouted. "I'll survive long enough for you to bring help. Now, run!" She opened her mouth to protest, glancing at Koro, before looking back at Flash. But, when their eyes met, Fire Flash silenced her argument before it could begin. "Go back to your daughter."

"I-" Derpy gave one teary nod, closing her eyes before running off into the forest. "I'm sorry!"

Koro watched her go, then turned to face Fire Flash. "What a noble lie you just told. I'm sure it makes her feel much better about abandoning you." With a sigh, he brought a claw to his face, rubbing and pinching just between his eyes. " There is just one thing that I can't understand. Why do dragons keep sacrificing themselves for her? What has that girl done to deserve so many lives being laid down? I've killed three dragons to have her so far, and more keep getting in the way."

"No," Fire Flash snarled, "I've killed, you've murdered."

Koro stopped for a moment, pulling his claw away from his face and raising an eyebrow. "There's a difference?" He scoffed. "Either way, let's see if you can amuse me longer than the last dragon."

Fire Flash stared at Koro. All his life, he's been dealing with dragons like this. Those who went beyond mere survival in their ruthlessness and willingness to hurt and kill others. If not for Rainbow, he might have grown up like Koro, an evil creature lacking pride or honor. If not for Derpy, he may have returned to Casull and still ended up that way. Here, now, he still had one chance to die as he lived. Fighting tooth and claw.

Silence stretched between them, a spring, waiting to snap, waiting for one of them to launch the first strike.

Koro was the one to make that move, darting forward to close the gap between them. Flash was a smaller dragon, and winged, his mobility and fire would put him at an advantage in a ranged battle. Flash reacted by hacking another spit of flame at Bilk, who he still held down. Only this time, he aimed at the raw wound Koro had left on his chest.

Searing flames and hot oil seeped under the armor and into torn flesh, and Bilk curled up, trying to tear his armor off as he howled in agony. Flash used that opening to grab the largest weapon from his arsenal, a massive sword, made of several hardened steel edges riveted to another steel beam, hopefully with a softer temper. A weapon like this could end any conflict with a single blow. All he needed now was luck.

He leapt forward, sword in his mouth, to meet Koro, but the other dragon stopped short. Koro planted his front claws, let himself pivot, building momentum and striking Flash with his tail like he was snapping a fly out of the air with a bullwhip. The weight behind his tail threw the smaller drake through several smaller trees, splintering them before he came to a hard stop against a much older and solid oak.

The sword fell from Flash's mouth as he cried out. His wing was skewered, broken branches were pierced through the membrane in several spots. He tore his wing free as Koro bore down on him, charging through and wiping out any remaining saplings in his path.

By the time wrapped his claw around the sword's leather grip, Koro was over him, claws raised, an executioner's axe, ready and willing. Flash swung the sword in a desperate block, catching Koro's strike on the flat side, and bracing his other claw against the other side.

Koro hammered on the blade, striking over and over, wearing his opponent down like a chisel on stone. He stopped after several blows, and leaned his weight on the blade, pushing Flash's strength to the limit just to keep from being crushed. Then, the green dragon leaned close. "You know," he snarled through a hungry grin, "you've already lasted longer than the last drake I fought. I'll try to give you a cleaner death."

"Sorry," Flash grunted, "but I can't promise you the same!" With a shout, Flash twisted the sword, digging the edge into Koro's palm. The heavy dragon lost his footing, falling and nearly flattening Flash beneath him. The sword twisted away once more, and caught under his weight, snapped near the guard.

Flash Flash twisted away, but kept on fighting. He stabbed at Koro's injured claw with what remained of his blade. He got in three good hits before Koro slammed his other claw into the tree behind them. As the massive oak fell, both dragons rolled out of the way, letting it crash harmlessly between them.

It was difficult, but Flash stood up. Stumbling, he planted the broken end of the sword to steady himself. On the other side of the tree, Koro stood as well, favoring the injured claw. "For that," the green dragon snarled, "I will eat you, and you will be alive to feel it."

Fire Flash took a step back, raising a shaky blade at his opponent. "Be careful you don't choke."

Koro started climbing over the tree, slow, snake-like movements. He kept low, keeping the weight off his right side. "Did that girl ever tell you why she hates me so?"

Flash tightened his grip on the sword, but said nothing.

"It's probably because of what I did to her so-called family." He continued at a crawl, cautiously, like a python, watching for the chance to wrap his prey in death's grasp. "The drake was a fool, some farm hick who thought himself stronger than he was. Tried to face me head on. I laid him open from neck to tail in one stroke."

Flash took a few steps back. There weren't any openings for him to attack. And if he tried to flee, crouched as he was, Koro would probably be able to leap for him with ease.

"He was boring," Koro growled. "It was his mate that was the fun one to kill." He smiled slowly, relishing the memory with a disturbing grin. "I didn't even have to fight her. All I had to do was capture their little hatchling boy, threaten to tear him in two, and she laid down right in front of me. Just like I asked."

Not taking the bait, Flash waited for Koro to come to him, easing himself into a half-remembered sword stance from basic training. He would likely have one chance at a fatal blow, and that would be the moment Koro lashes out.

"You do know why dragons refuse to bow?" Koro asked. "The real reason, not that crap about pride and honor." Koro paused for a moment, as if expecting an answer. "It's because of how weak the back of the neck is. The spine is thinnest there, where it connects to the skull. The muscles surrounding it are weak, a mere shadow of the rest of the back. A single, deliberate, blow will take out almost any dragon."

The red drake stiffened. He knew. He had exploited that weakness far too many times not to know, but he would never dream of using it to kill a dragon who surrendered. "You executed her like that in front of her son?"

"No," Koro said with a long, drawn out sigh. "I thought about it, but Derpy was there too. So, I stomped that bitch's head into the ground until there was nothing left but a bloody-"

A scream erupted from a charging blur. A grey mass launched itself at Koro, catching him in the side and bowling him over. Derpy scratched and clawed her way across his body until she reached his head, and started railing on him. She punched him in the face, over and over, until he managed to shake her loose.

Snarling like rabid wolves, both of them righted themselves. But, when Koro turned to bare his teeth at her, she had her claws at the ready. And, she had picked up a weapon. She swung as hard as she could, throwing all of her weight, and that of the rock she grabbed, at that evil dragon's face.

Koro dropped when it connected, rattled by the blow, but not completely out. Derpy would have preferred that it cracked his skull, but she couldn't attack with her full potential without her wings. She shifted the path of the rock down, stopping her spin halfway with a dull thud.

She immediately launched herself at Flash, raising her rock for another strike. "Down!" she shouted at him.

Flash twisted and jumped away at the same time. Behind him, Bilk, charred from his chest up, was lifting a stout dagger for what would have been a fatal sneak attack. How was he that quiet in all that armor?

Derpy gave one last shout as she met Bilk head on. Her leading claw caught his dagger claw halfway up the arm, pushing him back and off balance. Her trailing claw, wrapped around a hunk of granite bigger than his head, swung forward, meeting little resistance until it smashed into a tree trunk.

Bilk was left as little more than a smear between stone and wood as Derpy ran to Flash's side. "I'm so sorry!" she cried, grabbing him and squeezing him way too hard for his current level of damage. "I shouldn't have left you, and I feel bad about it, and I won't do it again, and... and... and you can't leave me either!"

"Derpy!" Flash forced a claw between his neck and her arm, staving off the suffocating force. "Koro!"

She dropped the drake and turned her attention back to the fight. Koro was just starting to regain his bearings, whatever they were going to do, it had to happen now.

Stepping forward, head held high, Derpy took a deep breath, puffing her chest out as she took in as much of the forest's air as she could. She held that breath, deep guttural noise echoing from her throat as gurgled and combined her unique mucosal fluids. She let the breath out with a whirlwind storm of bubbles. Reflecting light the color of blue-green sea glass, the bubbles flew as far as the breath carried, then fell to earth with an orchestra of wind-chime clanks.

Derpy spit her remaining mucus at Koro before turning around. "Run," she told Flash before darting off in the direction of town.

"Agreed," said the Drake, taking off close behind her.

Seeing his prey fleeing, Koro lunged forward to chase after them, claw coming down on one of the scattered bubbles. The smooth, glassy surface, like a marble, rolled underneath him, dumping him sideways onto a cluster of more bubbles. Of those, most held their shape, jamming into his side as his weight came down. But some of the weaker ones cracked, others breaking entirely, peppering his scales with shards and needles of the hardened substance.

And before him, an entire army of those bubbles littered the forest floor, as numerous as the fallen leaves.

Flash flinched as a furious roar echoed through the forest. With the roar's owner behind them, no matter how far, he didn't dare slow down. Beside him, Derpy did the same, keeping her eyes forward, on their path. "You shouldn't have come back," he shouted over the pounding of their claws and the crunching of the leaves and sticks beneath, "but I'm glad you did."

"I couldn't leave you," she shouted back. "Couldn't face my daughter if I let Koro take any more good from the world."

"So, how do we fight him? Even hurt, he's more than a match for both of us."

Derpy shook her head. "We don't. I got a few lucky hits in, but without a plan and some sort of surprise, we don't stand a chance."

"Then what?" Flash demanded. "We just run?"

"Until we reach town. There are dragons there that even he can't touch."

"Well, seein' as we got closer n'all," Applejack pushed her hat back to wipe her brow, "Ah can safely say, that's one heck of a tree."

"Eeyup," her brother agreed.

The rest of their small group stared up in awe. It wasn't just the size, how did that thing just suddenly appear? The massive flower at its peak dropped golden petals every so often that would shimmer like they were coated in oil. Each of those petals looked like they could crush a dragon, a dangerous, beautiful mystery.

It seemed like the whole village was in a trance. Standing in the doorways and streets, frozen where they stood. They may have come out to investigate the ominous shadow that fallen over their village, but their stares showed the gap between what lay before them and any expectations they once held.

"This feels familiar," Rainbow whispered. What was it? Something from the past, but what? "Elder Sator..."

The only soul in the village not gazing skyward was Spike, and he walked along in a trance of his own. His magic, changing and expanding, was dragging him along. He could feel it now, thanks to Rarity. That night, the creation of the stone temple, she awoke power he didn't know were his. "The roots," he mumbled, "they're growing." He could feel them, deep beneath. The energy and magic within the earth pulsed beneath his hooves, and he could sense it.

The tree was reaching out, not searching for nutrients like a normal plant, but giving itself to the earth around it. The magic leaching into the ground would fuel plants and creatures that relied on such energies for millennia to come. Such a powerful rebirth, the stuff of legends.

Spike looked up. There was only one legend he could recall that could explain this. The phoenix lignum, the seed that grows from death to bring the flower of new life. If true, that meant at least one dragon died in the forest within the last day.

He kept walking forward, towards the edge of the forest. They were near the edge of town, and the only thing between them and the endless sea of trees was a flat expanse of grass. Serene and peaceful, the green carpet promised quiet walks and comfortable picnics. It was unblemished by all but the occasional flower, and in this quiet moment, Spike couldn't imagine anything more ominous.

He turned to face his companions, to voice his concerns, but behind him, two dragons burst from the woods and took the task upon themselves. "It's Koro," the grey one shouted, continuing her sprint away from the treeline, "he's back!"

Spike started to turn as a red dragon limped out of the forest behind her, struggling, but only barely keeping pace. Thundering footfalls, and the crash of trees followed close behind them.

"Rainbow?" the red dragon shouted as he caught sight of her, injuries catching up to him as he collapsed, her name on his lips, "Rainbow..."

The grey one kept running towards Spike, eyes on something behind him. "Mac! It's Koro!"

Spike was trampled from behind by somedragon rushing forward, his world going black in a shock of sound and commotion. The only thing he could feel before losing consciousness was the comforting warmth of magic, and the familiar presence of the earth wrapped around him.

Passion Colors Everything

Fluttershy hummed while she cooked, twirling around the kitchen with ease and grace. She loved to cook, had to, to care for all the animals she shared her home with. If she didn't enjoy preparing at least a hundred meals a day, she would have gone quite mad by now. But, enjoyable as it may be, cooking for her critters wasn't the same as cooking for another dragon.

Right now, she was cooking for the hatchlings. One by one, during the course of their playtime, they started to complain of hunger. And, as their caretaker, even temporarily, she couldn't let a challenge to her maternal instincts go unanswered.

So, here she was, cooking hamburgers and gravy on the Apple family stove. A little rice au gratin would balance it off, and a few fresh apples, all sliced up, would work well as both dessert and a fruit dish.

She sighed as she peeled Twilight's apples. As small as she was, she would only eat one or two of them. The others were all big enough that even Sweetie Belle, the second smallest, would eat at least a dozen apples alongside the rest of her meal. It would take far too long to peel that many, so she settled for coring them, sighing all the while.

It wasn't the apples that drew her sighs. She didn't mind peeling a few for the hatchlings. She actually enjoyed, and took great pride in, knowing and catering to the needs and tastes of others. It was the little details that made meals that much more enjoyable, the little things like apples sliced into little rings that make the hatchlings laugh and smile as they stuck them on their claws before eating. Peeling a few apples wasn't worth any exasperation.

No, the reason she was sighing was a little different. As much as she enjoyed watching the hatchlings, her friends seemed to like pointing out how well she performed the task. But, again, that in itself wasn't sigh-worthy. No, what made it sigh-worthy was that the only drake she would ever consider having hatchlings of her own with hadn't spoken to her in years.

She sighed again. What ever happened? Years ago, when she first became Dragonspire's apprentice forest guardian, she and Mac met by chance in a little clearing at the edge of town. After that, they would meet almost every day, spending a few minutes of sunset and nightfall between the orchard and the forest's edge. It was a quiet place that only they knew, a peaceful place they would be free to talk, or spend their time in silence, as they wished.

But, then, bandits attacked. A despicable gang of dragons led by a ruthless green drake. At the time, there were no dragons in town capable of besting his physical strength. It was only through her own unique powers that they were finally chased away. So many in dragonspire lost loved ones that day, and among the dead lay her mentor, the previous forest guardian, and Mac's parents.

It would have been understandable if Mac had suddenly withdrawn after that, especially if the rumors were true, that he witnessed his parent's murders. But, the change was gradual. If anything, the two of them had grown closer. Sharing their loss made it easier to deal with the pain, and she was there to support him as he stepped up for the sake of his younger sisters.

By the time he came of military age, it seemed natural that the two of them would spend the rest of their lives together. The night before he left, they met in the clearing, and under the last full moon of Autumn, spoke of hopes and plans. In two years, it was decided, when he returned, the apple family would grow by one member. The eventual possibility of, "more to follow," was mentioned, and between two blushing dragons, a single kiss and a sad farewell were shared.

Then, everything went wrong. Mac returned, not after two years, but after two weeks. He was injured when she saw him, bandages wrapped around his chest, but she never learned anything beyond that. He wanted to be alone, and she respected his wishes. It was around then that he took up drawing. It was something to do while he recovered. Years passed, his sisters grew up, and he grew distant. The day Applejack joined the military in his place was the day she realized how bad things had become, but by then, it was too late to change anything. Mac was so withdrawn that only his family ever saw him. He worked the fields, he wrote his books, and kept to himself. Even when he ran the apple stall in the town market, he was quiet, never saying more than strictly necessary.

She had almost given up hope at that point, but then, she read the book, that simple little hatchling's book. Twilight had given it to her after receiving twin copies as gifts. Though, until she noticed the author's name, she almost suggested it go to a friend in a more appropriate age group. She read it a dozen times the first night, and would look through it any time she felt depressed. That book spoke of the importance of family, the joys of friendship, and turned a hopeful eye to the future. Those books weren't the work of somedragon who had given up. At least, that's what she wanted to believe.

She also wanted to believe she would read those books to her own hatchlings one day. Or, even better, sit by the doorway and listen to a father telling a story he was still planning to put down on paper. She would giggle when the story would be interrupted by a silly question, and he would sigh and completely rewrite the ending on the spot to satisfy the hatchling's curiosity. Then, she would catch him with a smile as he got up to leave, and ask which ending would end up in the book.

Meanwhile, Twilight and the crusaders watched Fluttershy from the kitchen doorway. They all exchanged glances, thouroughly confused by their caretaker's behavior, but Twilight was the first to speak. "Why is she peeling so many apples?"

"Who knows," Answered Scootaloo.

"And why does she keep sighing like that?" asked sweetie Belle.

"Who knows," answered Applebloom.

"Guys!" Twilight pointed as Fluttershy looked down at the pile of apples before her. "I think she's going to..." With another sigh, the yellow dragin reached for a mixing bowl and a canister of flour. Twilight reacted to this with a fist pump. "Yes!"

"She's makin' pie!" Applebloom grabbed Scootaloo, the second smallest of their group, and gave her a good shake. "Sweet apple pie, like Granny taught her ta make."

"But, why?" Sweetie Belle wondered out loud, prying her winged friend from Appleblooms grasp. "She never makes, 'junk food,' without a reason."

Scootaloo squirmed free of both sets of claws, and offered a guess. "Maybe she's celebrating the fact that she managed to talk to your brother. Even though she flubbed it at the end." She put a silly smile on her face. "I'm happy help," she said in a sing-song mockery of their caretaker, "I'm so embarassed around the drake I loo~ove, that I can't even talk right."

Fluttershy sighed again, but with a much different tone. "Years from now, one of you is going to embarass yourselves in front of your crush, and I will be able to remind you of this afterwards."

The hatchlings ducked behind the doorway, pressing themselves to the wall.

"She heard us," Applebloom whispered.

Scootaloo's eyebrows pulled together, and her head tilted ever so slightly before she looked over. "Ya think?"

Not catching the sarcasm, Applebloom nodded.

Before Scootaloo could respond, the front door slammed open, rattling the wooden frame. Applebloom's brother took one step in, leaning heavily on the door frame. He froze when he saw the hatchlings, eyes wide and breath wavering.

The hatchlings stared back at him, terrified. He was out of breath, and streaked with dirt. The look in his eyes wasn't one any of them recognized, except for Twilight. It was the same look Rarity had when she faced the monster at the river.

Twilight tore her eyes away. She didn't want to see that expression again. She didn't like seeing the dragons around her so scared. But, what was it that scared him? What was out there that could bring that look to a dragon so large? And, was he coming back to warn them? She started to look up again, but something else caught her attention before her eyes left the floor.

There was blood on his claws.

"It sure got quiet all of a sudden," Fluttershy called from the kitchen. "Did something..." She trailed off as she walked out into the main room. "What happened?" she asked quietly, noticing the blood much faster than the hatchlings had. She also noticed things the hatchlings missed. Things like the tears welling up in his eyes, the shallow scratches along his side, and that this drake, who easily weighed twice as much as all of them combined, was shaking like a newborn bird. Fluttershy softly repeated herself. "What happened?"

Mac looked over at her. "I..." He looked back at the hatchlings, focusing on his youngest sister, then looked back at Fluttershy. He shook his head, not for her benefit, but lost in his own internal debate. Over what, was something only he knew. "No." He barely whispered the word, but as soon as it left his lips, he was on the run, leaving the farmhouse and the prying eyes of hatchlings far behind.

"Wait!" Fluttershy ran to the door, catching herself against to look out. She could see him in the field, heading for the hills of the orchard. He was fast for a dragon his size, and he would be out of sight in seconds. She could make out another form approaching from the opposite direction. Small and white, purple crest barely a speck. "Perfect timing, Rarity," she whispered to herself.

The yellow dragon composed herself, then looked back at the hatchlings. She had to be calm for them. They were already scared, and she didn't want to make it worse. "It's all right girls, don't be scared. Rarity is on her way, and she will be back in a few minutes. Stay here, and stay calm." She offered a smile. "Can you do that for me?"

Several weak nods answered her, and she backed out the door. She could tell the hatchlings didn't quite understand what happened, beyond the fact that it scared them. They didn't know how to recognize the aftermath of a battle between dragons. But, from now on, they would.

Fluttershy took off, running away from the farmhouse, and taking flight once she was clear. Mac had too much of a head start for her to catch up on the ground. Her wings would be her only hope of reaching him. The grassy fields below became orchards almost immediately as she flew, reminding her that this was the first time she had so desperately flown over the apple trees since...

Since the last time Mac had been in battle.

She shook her head, trying to forget that horrible day. It was in the past, and it would stay there. She had to focus on what was ahead. Mac was there, close. She could see him through the trees, and she would overtake him before he left the orchard.

She set down behind him, using her flight momentum to run up along his right side. She kept pace for a second, giving him a chance to see her and slow down. When he didn't, she called out to him. "Mac!"

He shoved her aside with the back of his claw, never looking over, and never slowing down. She picked herself up, and looked down at the red smear left across her chest. What happened? Whose blood was this?

She started running again. She was faster than him, and would catch up again quickly. The only problem left was what to say. Or, if words wouldn't get through, what to do. As she realized that she might have to fight him down to even get him to talk, her breath started to steam. That's how it appeared at least. There were many dragons whose body temperature rose greatly under exertion or anger, but she was the opposite. No, her body was going cold. Her breath, for all it looked like steam, was frost.

She was worried. She was uneasy. Most of all, she was scared, and her body was reacting on its own, preparing for battle. Was she really going to fight him? Would he truly fight her? Her eyes glowed ice blue as approached him again. She didn't want this to happen, but she couldn't just let him run away.

She spread her wings. The ground below crackled. Grass and leaves frosted over and crunched under each impact of her claws. Tears fell from her eyes, frozen crystals, bouncing off the icy ground as she left them behind.

She launched herself forward, flying a wide arc around the other dragon, and leaving a wall of ice behind her. She only landed when she was behind him again, leaving his path, and several trees, locked away in glacial ether. "Mac, stop!"

"No!" Confronted by a blue-grey wall taller than he was, he was forced to stop running. But, he only stopped long enough to turn around and head for the only opening. It didn't matter that the opening was directly behind Fluttershy. "Leave me alone!"

Finally looking him in the eyes, the glow started to fade from Fluttershy's. What had she been thinking? It was impossible to fight him.

Mac advanced. "Leave me alone, or I'll-"

"You'll what?!" With one last flap of her wings, Fluttershy sealed off the opening behind her. They were both trapped in this frozen colisseum now, and if he wanted to fight, there was nothing she could do to stop him. It wasn't a matter of ability though, she knew she was strong enough to beat him. But, how are you supposed to look the one you love in the eyes and raise your claws against them? "You'll hit me? You'll slash at me with your claws? Do it! I won't fight back."

Fluttershy waited until he was standing over her before she spoke again. "Mac, it's me. Are you really going to attack me?"

He stared down at her, eyes wide, unfocused, like they had been at the farmhouse. "He came back."

Fluttershy's mind filled in an identity for her, but it wasn't possible, was it? "Who came back?"

"Koro." Mac lifted a claw, looking down at the bloody scales. "He came back, but he wasn't as big as Ah remembered." Fluttershy reached out and touched the other dragon. She rested the palm of her claw against his arm, and his eyes focused on her for the first time. "Fluttershy, Ah- Ah fought him."

"What happened?" Fluttershy hated repeating those words so many times, but she needed to know. "Mac, where is Koro?"

"Ah don't know." Mac brought his claw to his head. Everything was starting to catch up to him. Adrenaline was leaving him, and so was his confusion. "Ah guess he's still alive, but someone might a' moved him by now." Mac focused on Fluttershy. Was he really about to try fighting his way past her? "Ah'm sorry, Ah wasn't right there for a bit."

"Mac," Fluttershy kept her claw on him, maintaining what little touch she could. This was the closest she had been to him in years, and not just physically. "There's something you aren't telling me."

"Eeyup," he agreed quietly, "and it's gonna stay that way. It's best if Ah keep to myself."

"Even if that hurts me?" Fluttershy closed her eyes. "I've been quiet about it for years, but, Mac, I can't take it anymore!" She took a deep breath, and willed herself to speak. "Mac, I still love you." She kept her eyes shut, hoping for a touch, a sound, any sort of response from the drake. "All these years, I've still loved you, and wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how to. I didn't know how to speak to you, didn't know how to get close. You wanted to be alone, so I left you alone. But, that left me alone too, and it hurts. Mac, I don't want to be alone. And I don't want you to be alone either." She looked up into his eyes. "Tell me what happened."

He looked away. He knew it would hurt both of them, but it would hurt less than the truth. "I couldn't do it," he whispered. "Ya oughta forget about me, and find a stronger drake."

Fluttershy could feel him shiver. She wasn't sure if it was the cold or not. "I wouldn't be able to find one. Mac, talk to me. I want to help you. Stop giving me these bits and pieces, and tell me what's bothering you!"

Mac shook his head and pulled away from her touch. "Shy, Koro, Ah..." He walked away until he met his reflection in the wall of ice. He stared at himself for a moment, then looked away from the judging eyes. "Ah couldn't kill him." He paced along the wall. "Ah fought him, right outside a' town. He came runnin' out a' the forest, chasin' ma's friend and some other drake, and Ah couldn't stop mahself. It was the same thing that happened after pa died. Ah just wanted ta kill him. But, he wasn't as big this time. He couldn't just grab me like he did then. Ah could fight him, really fight him, like ma could a' done if Ah wasn't there."

Mac looked down at his claws. They were going numb walking on the ice this close to the wall, and the blood that wasn't yet dry was starting to freeze. "Ah've never fought another dragon before. Ah got kicked out a' the military before Ah ever got the chance." He lifted a claw towards the ice, letting it hover before the smooth surface. "Ah didn't really know what to do, so I did what he did to pa." Mac slashed, leaving four deep diagonal gouges in the ice. "Hit him in the chest. It felt good, gettin' revenge fer pa, even if it weren't enough ta end it. Ah wanted ta tear out his heart, but Ah didn't cut deep enough."

Another slash sliced across the previous gouges. "Ah hit him again and again. He tried ta defend himself, but Ah just hit his claws. Then he tried ta hit me with his tail. I grabbed it and threw him as hard as Ah could. But Ah didn't let go. Before Ah could toss him, Ah slammed him down. His back hit the ground, and I was on top of him." One claw clenched the ice below, cutting shavings from the surface. The other lifted up. "Ah had him by the neck, choking his pathetic life out of him, and he couldn't fight back."

Mac slammed his fist to the ground, fracturing the ice below. "Ah couldn't do that to him," he said quietly. He hit the ground again, causing a spreading spiderweb of cracks. "He did that ta ma. He even laughed. But, Ah couldn't do it." Mac screamed and punched the ground over and over. "Ah couldn't fuckin' do it!"

The punches slowed down as pain started creeping up the drake's arm. "Ah couldn't avenge ma." His claw stopped and hung limp in a small crater. "He took them away, and Ah let him live."

Fluttershy walked to him slowly. She reached out, brushed against him, and the drake fell into the touch. She slowed him until he landed on his side. He looked up at her in pain. "Wasn't Ah supposed ta kill him?" he asked her. "Ain't ya supposed ta take revenge for yer loved ones?"

"No," Fluttershy whispered, running the back of her claw up and down his neck. He seemed so fragile right now, laying before her. "You did everything you were supposed to do. You made sure he couldn't hurt anyone else" She leaned in, and swept her lips across his cheek. "And I am proud of you."

"Shy, Ah'm tired." Mac closed his eyes and turned his head, letting her caress reach more of his neck. "Too much happened today."

She nodded. "Let's head back to the farm, and you can sleep there."

"No." He picked himself up with sluggish movements. "Ah don't think Ah can explain this ta Applebloom right now. Ah want ta be alone."

Fluttershy grabbed him by the shoulder. "Mac, you've already been alone for too long."

He glanced down at the claw, then looked at its owner. "Ah know."

Author's Note

Chapter title

Passion Colors Everything - Poets of the Fall

Edit: Thank you, user Docontra, for the proofread and pointing out of typos.

Time After Time

A short, silver-spectacled dragon kicked the door shut behind him. His black scales shimmered when he moved, broken by a pattern of light blue scales scattered across his body and a leather belt loaded down with pouches. He teetered on his hind legs, as his his forelegs were tied up with stacks of papers, folders, and a clipboard or two. "I've got the info you asked for, Boss."

He took two more steps before looking down and dropping the papers. The point of a blade was at his throat, the smooth curves of a khukuri, its etched lines of damascus steel as twisted as the snarling face of its wielder. He slowly looked up, realizing his mistake. She hated being called that.

"What was that?" The angry dragoness asked. Her pink scales rippled, and the short, pale, purple fur that lined her back bristled. She stood three times taller than him, hunched over in the short-ceilinged room. "I didn't quite hear you," then, she spat out the short dragon's rank like she was spitting out a tooth, "Specialist."

"Apologies, I, um, I got the info you asked for, Centurion." He slowly leaned down to pick up one of the folders. The blade lowered enough not to skewer him, but not enough for him to relax. "Witness reports say that, um, the other centurion was taken out of the picture before any actual fighting occurred. The green drake currently in custody seems to have a history with this town, and a bloody one at that. He's a bandit by the name of Koro, and led a band of raiders in an attack on the town a number of years ago. This resulted in a number of both criminals and civilians injured or dead."

The blade retreated with a swish, joining its twin in the scabbards on the centurion's back. Her swirl-shaped right eye flashed as she shut it, pulling a leather eye-patch down over it. "I hate asking this, but any notable casualties?"

The folder opened, and the drake skimmed the list of names and timeline on the first page. "The forest guardian was the first casualty. He took down three of approximately fourteen attackers in mass combat. Second casualty was the local librarian, a millenial dragon who flat out ate two attackers, and flattened another two. Took several years for him to succumb to a rather extensive list of devastating injuries."

The centurion nodded, face unable to decide on a smile of pride or a show of pain for the loss of innocent life. "Tough old bastards, small towns usually have a few."

"This town has its share of tough kids too." The short dragon flipped a page. "The librarian's assistant at the time, the white dragon who accompanied Centurion Spike into the E.R., killed another two, though she is most likely unaware of this."

The pink Centurion sat down, cross-legged in a corner, raising an eyebrow. "Unaware that she killed two dragons?"

"According to these notes, she was rather young, and has an unidentified and abnormal magical talent, and was apprenticed to the librarian for the purpose of controlling it. It was by his request that she not be told. It was also by his request that she took in his grandchild, a hatchling who currently serves as the current librarian... of sorts." He sighed as he turned to the next page. "The gang of attackers hightailed it out of the town proper in the midst of all that, and ended up on a small farm near the edge of town. The owners and their single employee each took down another of the gang, but then the leader made his move. Both farmers ended up dead, their helper was raped, and three hatchlings ended up orphans living with their grandmother."

One more page, and the small dragon leaned towards what he was reading. "According to this, Koro and his last remaining raider were chased out of town shortly afterward by a single hatchling, also displaying an abnormal magical ability." He reached the end of the page, and straightened up. "Oh. It was General Ice Heart's grand-daughter, Ice Empress Fluttershy."

The female Centurion nodded. "I've heard she was a good fighter. It's a shame she decided to become a forest guardian in the middle of nowhere instead of following her Grandfather into the military. It would be nice to have a fellow female Centurion to talk to. Or at least another dragon Centurion."

"Sure," the short drake agreed with a shrug, "but she probably wouldn't end up under her grandfather's command like you and Spike. Kind of like how you weren't assigned to your father's ranks."

Her sword flashed forth once more, faster than the spectacled dragon could follow until it was once more pointed at him. "What have I said about mentioning that creature in my presence?"

Papers fell from his folder, now neatly sliced in two, and the short drake offered a nervous chuckle. "Which one? Spike, or your father?"

"Either one," she answered flatly.

"Um," he reached down for the pieces of the last page in the report, "never do it?"

"Yes. I will forgive the mention of Spike since it is related to our investigation, and we are in the hospital waiting for him to die-"

"Actually, a nurse I spoke to said he would be making a full recovery."

"Ugh. Of course he is. Whatever. Any news on the dragon that took Koro down this time? That bandit would be a formidable opponent for anyone."

He held up the two pieces of his last page. "It seems that it was one of the orphaned hatchlings from the first attack, a red drake. The witnesses referred to him by the name Mac."

The centurion's head tilted to the side and she placed her sword back in the scabbard with a slow, absent-minded motion. "Mac? A red farmboy? That sounds like the recruit from the Dunbar incident."

The specialist nodded. "I haven't gone to see for myself, but I believe it is ma'am."

The centurion rested her claws on her knees. "You never got a chance to thank him, did you?"

"No one did. He left the moment the doctors signed his exemption papers. It was the middle of the night, and he was long gone by morning. Do you really think he walked straight home after that?"

"I guess so. I really wanted him under my command, too. He never properly joined, but still saved more lives than most will in their entire career." She shook her head. "Any dragon can fight another dragon, but it takes courage or idiocy to run headfirst into an avalanche."

"If it's all the same to you, ma'am, I'll call it courage. A lot of recruits, especially us smaller ones, wouldn't have made it off that mountain if it weren't for him."

Her face finally settled on a small smile. "I will have to thank him myself then."

"Hey, don't stir so hard, you're gonna spill!"

"Then quit staring!" A tan dragon clad in steel armor tossed his wooden spoon at his silvery-grey companion. He was by far the taller of the two, and had to aim down at the pointy scaled annoyance. "What are you looking at anyway?" he asked in a huff, adjusting the soup pot hanging over their campfire.

The tiny dragon dodged the spoon with ease, and shrugged at the question. "I was only looking at your armor. You had to get it somewhere, right? Then that corpse we found had to get his armor somewhere too, right?"

"And your point?" Armor took a sniff of the soup. It was coming along nicely. "How do you know he didn't make it himself?"

"Even if he did, you saw all those weapons laying around, right?" Scales picked up the spoon and licked the soup end of it. Tasty. "There seemed to be at least three distinct design styles. Even if one of those styles is his, he had weapons from at least two other makers. Maybe we can track those and determine his identity."

"You really think the boss hasn't thought of that? She's one of the top Centurions, and on the short list to become one of the next generals. She probably has four-eyes looking into it already." The armored drake gestured across the clearing. There, away from the fire, sat a cage of gossamer steel, an enchanted material made from modified ore-spider's silk. The thin strings were all but invisible in the waning light, only reflecting dancing sparks of firelight. The cage's occupant, left claw torn and bleeding from testing the wire's stength, glared at his captors. "Besides, I bet you we can get everything we need from this little scumbag."

Koro let out a low growl. "Open the cage, and see what you get." Wounds covered his body, and every movement sent pain shooting down his back. "I will kill you, and raze the town to the ground."

"Yeah, yeah," silver waved a claw, "don't give up on your dreams, big guy, they's all you've got left, right?" She pointed the spoon at him, waving it in little circles. "You got your tail handed to you by a local farmer, right? And our boss is the daughter of General Discord, right? And she's super pissed about something, right? There wouldn't be enough of ya left to interrogate."

"True," said a gravelly voice behind her, "there won't be."

When she turned, she saw a large, brown drake standing over her armored comrade. No blood was obvious, just a large dent in the chestplate of the armor. "Pentarch!"

"He's still alive." Stahl kicked the limp body away, sending him crashing into the cooking soup, dumping it into the fire and creating a cloud of steam. "You two are of no consequence to me. I will not kill you unless necessary. Needless to say, though I will say it anyway, please do not make it necessary." He started forward. "Now, if you'll excuse, I need to have a word with my subordinate." A swipe of his claw, too fast for her to even try to block, tossed the smaller dragon and a good chunk of earth into the trunk of the nearest tree. "Privately," Stahl added.

"Took you long enough, Stahl." Koro stood up, ignoring the grinding feeling in his spine. "The big one has the keys. Let me out and we can finish this."

"You seem confused." Stahl didn't even spare a glance back. He kept up his grim pace until he was standing before the cage. "You finished exactly what you needed to do." He reached up and grabbed a handful of the steel threads. As he squeezed them together, the rest of the cage shifted, walls closing in on Koro.

Koro took a step back. "Wait!" He looked around him, the memory of testing the wires fresh in his mind as the walls grew closer. The wires didn't cut into Stahl like they had him. "What are you doing?"

Another squeeze of the claw, and Stahl shrunk the cage a little more. "If you'll pardon the pun, I'm tying up a loose end." He brought his other claw up to the wires grabbed another claw full. "None of you were ever expected to survive. We only wanted to focus some attention on that hatchling and her caretaker. A failed kidnapping would surely draw some eyes from above." He continued to crush the cage together until he and Koro were face to face. "We never expected you to actually injure the Crown Prince of Draconica."

With that, Koro understood. He had been dead from the moment he accepted the money. He had been chosen because of his history with the town, because they knew he wouldn't ask too many questions after being offered a chance at revenge. He was a pawn, used to lure out a higher ranking piece, and discarded once the play was over. This was one step in a far grander plan.

A plan he wouldn't be around to see completed.

As the cage drew in around him, Koro offered up all his anger, pain, and futile rage in one final scream. "Stahl!!!"

"Are you sure?" Derpy limped towards the hospital door, joining Fire flash at the threshold. Her right claw was wrapped in a cushioned support. Apparently, punching things with a boulder in your claw is not good for your tendons. That and the various small injuries made it painful to move around. She just wanted to go home, hug her daughter, and sleep for a few days. "You haven't had a chance to recover at all."

Fire Flash shrugged. "I know, but I can't put this off." He was in worse condition than she was. His left eye was gone. The surgeon had tried to remove the lead pellets, but the point blank concussive blast left very little to even try and salvage. They ended up sewing the lid shut after removing everything. His wings were in tatters. The membranes were so torn that the doctors actually had to sew patches of fabric in to guide the growth of new tissue, and the limbs were hardly any better. They had to pull most of the scales off, and with all the stitches they put in after that, disfigured was the best case scenario. "Before I go, I wanted to thank you. We made a pretty good team out there."

"We still could," she said softly. "If I tell them what you did, maybe you won't get in so much trouble?"

Flash shook his head. "I don't know. Even before I came to this town, I got into a lot of trouble. I have a punishment of some kind waiting for me, and I will accept it with my head held high."

She lowered hers, closing her eyes. "Even if that means we never see each other again?"

"That will be the hardest part." Flash moved his head to meet hers. Foreheads and snouts touching, he closed his eyes. "These last few days, you've saved me, gave me the chance for redemption, but you can't change what I've done. I have to pay for my crimes." He slowly pulled away from her, turning to face the door. "I just wish we could have gone flying together."

Derpy looked back. Her wings were back to normal, thanks to an antidote potion. She gave them a little ruffle, since they wouldn't fit in the room at full extension. "That would have been nice."

"Goodbye, Derpy, and thank you." Fire Flash pulled the door open, intending to rush out before either of them could say anything else, but he couldn't step outside because of a short dragon standing in the way.

"Ah! You must be Fire Flash." He pulled his claw back from where it had been reaching for the handle, and adjusted his glasses. "My name is Turquoise, Turq for short, a Specialist under the direct command of Centurion Screwball. I was sent to inform you that she has declared an emergency situation and passed a summary judgement in the matter of your court-martial."

"Summary judgement?" Derpy tried to push past Fire Flash. "Wait, you can't! You don't know what happened in the forest, I owe him my life, he deserves the chance to-"

Turk reared back and held up his claws in a placating gesture. "The decisions have already been made. I'm just a messenger." He turned to Fire Flash. "You are hereby demoted to the rank of recruit, with the immediate loss and forfeiture of all prizes and privileges once afforded to you by any previous rank. This includes a reset of the two year mandatory service term."

"A demotion?" Fire Flash shook his head. That couldn't be right. "That's it?"

Turquoise nodded. "The Sentence would have been stiffer, but we have an immediate need for any and all military personnel we can get our hands on. For now, you will be under my supervision. I specialize in restraint magic, and I'm carrying enough gossamer steel to immobilize a small army. So don't try anything."

"I... I won't." He exchanged glances with Derpy, then smiled. "I will do my best to repay the centurion's kindness. Thank you."

The short drake squinted behind his glasses. "I hope that's your genuine sentiment, and not you trying to throw me off guard. Typhon knows I'd probably fall for it. Anyway, we'll be based out of Dragonspire for the foreseeable future, so you'll need to figure out your own food and lodging."

A grey wing wrapped around Fire Flash, giving him a gentle shake. "That's all taken care of," Derpy answered happily. She looked at Fire Flash with a huge smile on her face and could barely keep herself from squealing in excitement. "Anything else?"

"Nope." Turq shrugged. "Other than that, all you need to do is follow orders. And the first order is to provide me with all the information you can regarding the dragons you encountered in the forest." He looked over at Derpy. "Any cooperation you could give in this matter would be appreciated as well. This is a matter of extreme urgency."

"Urgency? They're all dead..." Fire Flash stiffened up the moment the words were out of his mouth. "Except for one. Did something happen?"

"Yes." Turquoise adjusted his glasses. "Our camp in the forest was attacked. Two extremely skilled soldiers were overpowered with no chance to fight back, and Koro has been killed. We are operating under the assumption that the worst is yet to come."

The two injured dragons shared a short glance, and Flash looked back at his new commanding officer. "His name is Stahl..."

"Is that all, your Highness?"

Rose's voice drew Celestia's mind back to the present, and the dark, candlelit throne room she sat in. The barrels of steaming tea the small dragon had hauled in on a cart drew her nose to their delicate aroma. "Yes," the princess answered distractedly, "thank you, it smells absolutely delightful."

With a smile, the smaller dragon offered a nod. "I try, ma'am. But, if you don't mind my saying so, you seem distracted lately. It may not be my place, but is there anything I could do to help?"

Celestia shook her head an reached for a barrel. "I wish there were. However, you already do more than enough by bringing me such wonderful tea. It helps me relax, and that helps more than you might imagine."

With one last, "thank you," Rose started for the chamber doors. They swung open as she reached for the handle, and she barely avoided the fine-robed politician that barged in. "Sorry, sir, excuse me." The drake stopped and turned to face her. He was taller than her, at least twice over, and the dark velvet of his cloak made his colorless grey scales stand out all the more. She recognized him immediately. "Lord Greyscale, I-"

"Speak when spoken to," he nearly spat, cutting off whatever she might have said. "Good day, servant."

With that, he continued towards Celestia, leaving Rose to slink out the door as his two personal guards pulled it shut. The small dragon stared at the door for a moment, sparing only the briefest glances at the two guards before starting down the hallway. She liked Greyscale less and less every time she came across him, and had to wonder if it would help the princess if he managed to have some sort of accident.

Inside the throne room, Celestia let out a sigh. Good news never followed this particular visitor, and neither did good spirits. "Rose is a personal employ of mine, and not a member of the palace staff. I would appreciate it if she were treated with more respect."

"You are far too generous. Exchanging pleasantries with every clumsy servant who ends up in the way only serves to waste valuable time." Greyscale reached into his cloak, and for a second, Celestia caught herself hoping he would pull a weapon and give her an excuse. When his claw reappeared clutching only papers, she sighed. Greyscale offered up a short laugh. "I can already guess what you must be thinking. More tax proposals? Or another petition to officially reinstate the Dragonlord title?" He flipped through the papers, pulling one out and placing it atop the others. "As much as I would love to live up to expectations, I bring nothing of sort. These are merely letters that were mistakenly addressed to the council instead of you personally."

Celestia straightened up in her throne. This was surprising to say the least. Greyscale never did anything unless it would advance his own position. "Go on."

"Yes." He cleared his throat. "First off, we have another letter from the monks of Casull. To summarize, the children they have rescued see the monks and older children as family now, and refuse to leave them. The numbers are still low enough that they can continue to take care of them all, and they will let us know if that changes." He shuffled through the papers, picking out another. "A new restaurant is opening, and is asking you to grace their grand opening with your presence." He shuffled again. "The two generals that got married wish to thank you for the lovely wedding gifts." He moved to the last of his papers. "Also, some dragoness by the name of Rarity has written to you, claiming to be a friend of Spike's."

"Is that so?" Celestia shrugged. She didn't dare let Greyscale know how important that might be. If he were to find out that she was the earthmate, or that Spike could well be Earth King Terris, there was no telling what he would do. She could only hope that Rarity hadn't realized it yet, or at the very least, hadn't mentioned it in her letter. "I've heard Spike was making some friends in that town he visited. What does she say?"

"It's odd," Greyscale scratched his cheek, "and I almost dismissed the claims as fake."

Celestia grit her teeth. Whatever it was, she wouldn't like it. She could tell by the barely contained smile on Greyscale's face.

"But," Greyscale lowered the papers and look up at the princess, eyes gleaming in the candlelight, "it seems that Centurion Spike has fallen in battle."

The marble arm of the ancient throne snapped off in Celestia's grip.

"He survived," Greyscale continued, knowing full well how his choice of words affected the princess. The priceless stone sculpture work she was grinding to dust in her claws was proof enough of that. "But, barely. He has been hospitalized, and is currently unconscious under the watch of this Rarity, as well as another of Ice Heart's Centurion. He does not seem to be in a coma, but has not waken up despite his condition stabilizing. The letter is dated two days ago, should I send an agent to confirm?"

Celestia threw the mangled chunk of marble at the floor between them. "I'm sure you already have. Recall them."

"Is something wrong, your Highness?" Greyscale stepped away from the mess in front of him. "I only wanted to ease your mind, regarding your pet's well-being."

The princess moved forward, stepping from the throne. Tiles unfortunate enough to wind up underclaw shattered as her claws gripped the floor a bit too hard. "I will check on my son's well-being on my own. And your agent had best not cross my path."

Greyscale set the papers down on the floor and backed away. "Of course. My apologies." As he neared the door, he turned around. As his guards opened the door, and he walked out, he could feel the predatory glare on the back of his neck. He was playing a dangerous game, against the most dangerous of opponents, but that merely meant the rewards would be that much sweeter.

Author's Note

Chapter title

Edit: Thanks again, Docontra, for the proofread.

Time After Time - Quietdrive

I didn't think anybody would remember this story, and I was amazed by the immediate response to the last chapter. Anyway, I want to offer a little bit of an explanation to everyone.

Over the last six months, I watched an amazing man lose the battle with cancer. He was the reason I use a handkerchief instead of paper tissues, one of the reasons I love music, and one of the best measures I know of how man should be. He helped everyone he could, every chance he got, and never asked for anything in return. He worked hard, and never complained. He never let anyone else pay for a meal when eating out, or work in the kitchen when eating in. Everyone was treated like a guest, and everyone always felt welcome.

He worked on a destroyer in the navy. Down in the engine rooms. Around Boilers lined with Asbestos. After that, he worked in the engine rooms of Coast Guard ships. More Asbestos. Given what we know now, it isn't a surprise that he ended up with lung cancer. But, that doesn't make it hurt any less.

He was diagnosed almost 2 years ago, and after scaring the shit out of his doctors during his first and last surgery, proceeded to defy all their predictions with a successful Cyberknife treatment. Then, 6 months ago, one of his catscans found a spot on his brain. His brother died of brain cancer last year. A more detailed scan revealed multiple small tumors, and one large one. The radiation treatments were successful, and he never seemed to be affected more than some short term memory loss. But the lung cancer started spreading again, and it just wore down his body. He died shortly after breakfast on his birthday, a few days after mine.

The last time I saw him, he told me, "you're going to be ok." He's the one lying on his deathbed, and he's doing his best to make me feel better. As I was leaving the room, I look back, my dad(his son-in-law) is the last one in the room with him. They shake hands like it's a business deal, and I hear my grandfather say, "I'm ready. Take care of them, will you?"

He was buried on the 27th of October with full military honors. I was a pall-bearer. I gave his eulogy. It wasn't planned that way, but my mother, and her siblings, all of whom had speeches prepared, broke down in tears at the podium. I wasn't ready, I had nothing planned, but I muddled through somehow. I was the only one to speak aside from the preacher.

Afterwards, we went to my aunt's house. I sat with my grandmother, and held her hand and talked with her. Her hand was clamped so tight that mine went numb. I held her hand for nearly an hour. The whole time, I kept watching the chaos in the kitchen as half a dozen people tried to organize meals for the two dozen people there.

And all I could think about was how grandpa would never have put up with that. He would have been the only one in that kitchen, and everyone would be seated with plates that would never be completely emptied.

I miss him. And I know everyone else in my family does too.

Also, for the last few months, I've been working my but off to make some changes in my own life. I've been putting in 70-100 hour weeks to get my home shop established as a means of income, and that has happened. I do cnc machining, laser engraving, 3d printing, welding, and woodworking. As things stand, I have one more month with the store, and an open invitation to come back. My boss has been understanding and supportive, even though he likes to schedule me for 13 hour shifts and knows I drive 3 hours to get there.

Working from home is giving me more time with my family, (parents and siblings who are slowly becoming my employees), more time for my hobbies(music, writing, art), and hopefully more time to get out and do more than work.

I also hope to update my stories more frequently from now on. I know I've said that a few times over the last two years, but for the first time, I feel confident it will actually happen.

Thank you for sticking with my stories, and if you haven't yet, check out my Sci-fi story, Cryo-7.

TL,DR; My grandfather died, I lose my job in a month, life is better than it's been in years.

Head Bangya!!

A white claw wrapped around the darkened silver of a necklace, sharp pink nails clicking against the crescent moon shaped pendant.

"Tell your master..." The short dragon pulled it free from its owner's neck, snapping the chain. With a smirk, she turned to face the last, and smallest, of the group. "This is my turf."

She waited a moment for a reaction.

"Hmph." She climbed up on the dragon whose necklace she just stole. The tree broken over his head slid off as she climbed, making her duck as an errant branch whipped past. Perching herself on his back, and stretching up as far as she could on her hind legs, she ended up almost, but not quite, eye to eye with her last opponent. She brushed pine needles from her pink crest, and scratched a spot of pitch from her arms. After all, when kicking tail, one must keep themselves looking sharp. "Your bodyguards weren't all that tough," she muttered, "I would think about firing them."

The other dragon quivered in his boots, the only article of clothing he wore. The weapons in his claws shook as he held them at the ready- a pair of stone clubs much to large for him. Blade-like, and elegantly carved of a faintly glowing, midnight colored obsidian, their metal handles were gripped by claws that were losing color at the knuckles.

"Y-you're mistaken," he stammered. He was alone now, and doing his best to put up a brave front. His two companions had already fallen to this monster. The first one to a surprise attack with an uprooted tree, and the other to a single blow to the face by this monster. She was barely over two meters tall, young and skinny like a hatchling barely out of puberty! How was she so strong? "They aren't my bodyguards."

"Oh?" The small dragin tilted her head. "Then?"

"I'm theirs!" With a roar, the dragon stepped forward, twisting his body as he swung his clubs in a figure eight pattern. A few rapid steps, and the swriling stone clubs built up a brighter glow. His upper body twisted with each swing and step, as the dragon compressed his movements into rotation, storing force like a gyroscope. Before reaching his oponent, he launched himself in the air, bringing one of the stone clubs around in a wide arc that started behind him and ended with a loud crack where the short dragon's head was.

She sighed as she looked at her reflection in the polished stone. She held the blunt edge in her raised left claw, though the claw was barely large enough to span the width of the blunted edge. "Then you should really be fired, cause you just dislocated your buddy's shoulder."

Eyes wide, the armed dragon jumped back, letting go of his club, which fell despite the small dragin's attempt to catch it. His comrade's shoulder, underneath the small monster, was distinctly lower than where it had been previously, and sitting at quite the odd angle. "Oh, crap." The drake dropped his other club and ran up to his fallen companion, hunched over, holding out his claws to help, yet stopping short out of fear of actually touching the injured shoulder. "Crap, crap, crap! Greyscale's gonna kill me!"

"Hey," the little dragin called from her perch atop said shoulder, "crapface." She shrugged when he fixed her with a glare. "That's your name now, don't question it. Is Greyscale the name of your boss or somethin'?"

He grabbed the nearest of his clubs and pointed it menacingly at her, handle first. He realized his mistake, and switched it around quickly. "Greyscale will expose the darkness in the light, and bring forth the light in the darkness."

She scratched her head. "Look, I'm just a simple girl that lives in the wilderness and beats the tar out of wimpy-ass traveler's like yourselves. You'll have to use smaller words and fewer metaphors."

"A hermit?" He lowered his club slightly. "What do you know of the political structure of this nation?"

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "We gotta princess, I know that much. Then like a council or some shit. I thought I was the one asking the questions?"

"We had a princess," the drake spat. "The council has been lied to. Celestia uses them to keep others from raising questions."

The little dragon sat down. "You seem sad," she said simply.

He slammed the club into the ground, raising a cloud of dust as he lodged it there. He looked down at the weapon. "My grandfather gave me these. He trained me to use them before he died. They belonged to the true princess of Draconica, the one who reigned a thousand years ago."

"True princess?" She looked down at the necklace in her right claw before holding it up. "Is that why your compatriot carries the emblem of Princess Luna?"

The drake looked up in surprise. "You know of her?"

"No. I do not know of her." She hopped to the ground and walked over to the upright club. "I know her. And I recognize the dreamscythes." She rested her claw against the edge once more. "These were a gift to her, almost two thousand years ago. I crafted them from nightstone obsidian found in the volcano where we first met, and forged the handles from meteoric iron with my own breath." She looked up at him. "They are not bladed as a symbol of the peace she and I worked for. What would you do with them?"

The drake clasped his claw in front of his heart. "I will honor my grandfather, and fight Celestia to return Princess Luna's glory to its rightful place." He reached his claw towards her. "You were her friend, Join us. Greyscale would welcome an ally as strong as you."

She raised her claw and pushed his slowly aside. "I'll have to decline." Shaking her head, she let out another sigh. "I do not believe you know this Greyscale as well as you think, and he does not know the Luna he claims to fight for."

"None do." The drake sat down, bringing him closer to the small dragon. "No mention of her exists in the public records, and the few dragons that remember her are either old, dead, or in hibernation. That is why we must fight Celestia."

She pointed up at him. "I know Celestia as well, and you should not raise your claws against her. You would not stand a chance against her in battle, and Luna would surely be saddened by that outcome."

He grabbed the handle of his club. "I know exactly how powerful she is. She could crush me underfoot like the bug I am, call the very power of the sun to scorch me to the bone, or tear me apart with her magic. What else am I supposed to do?"

"Realize that you may be right, yet wrong at the same time." She placed her claws on either side of the clubs blunted bladed, and held it in place when he tried to pull it away. "Celestia would be saddened as well, if she were to fight you. As such, I will be keeping these. Return to your master, tell him you were ambushed by a stronger foe, send help for your fallen friends. After that, live a simple life. Make friends, be happy, raise a family if you so desire, but leave this fight to those destined for it."

He let go of that club, and reached for the other. "You would choose Celestia over Luna, the rightful Princess?"

She didn't move as he grabbed the other club and swung it at her. As the cloud of dust raised by the impact cleared, she stood there, looking up at him, with the edge of the Dreamscythe resting on her shoulder. "There is no choice to be made. The dreamscythe cannot hurt anyone the wielder does not believe to be evil. You are upset, but you do not believe me evil. There is a chance you will come to believe me." She offered a smile. "Go, and be careful."

His mouth moved to reply, to tell her she was wrong, but no words came out of it. The conviction he had before was shattered by his own blow. He dropped the club and ran off, leaving the small dragin behind without a second glance.

She waited until he was out of sight to let out a sigh and rub her shoulder.

"Well done." The sound of clapping made her turn around. Up in the tree behind her, hanging upside down with his legs around a branch, was a greyish-blue dragon even shorter than herself. "Though, I am unaware of any such restrictions on the Dreamscythes."

"Shut up, Ice Heart," she snapped at him, "you know damn well that hurt like hell."

"Yes I do." He disappeared from the branch and reappeared sitting cross-legged on top of the standing club. He gave the butt of the handle a soft tap with the back of a claw. "I never thought I'd see these again."

The little dragin tilted the other dreamscythe up beside its twin and Ice heart gave it a solid smack, seating it in the ground enough for her to climb up to the top. "Luna gave them to you as a wedding gift, didn't she?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "Hard to be mad at a regift when it's a priceless artifact of untold value." With a smirk, he added, "remember when I could actually lift these?"

"Yes," she answered with a laugh. "Remember when you tried to fight me with them?"

"Ugh, yes," he conceded. "Celestia, wouldn't it have been easier to tell that drake the truth? Maybe hiding Luna's existence was the wrong choice. And Typhon knows hiding yours will be near impossible."

She scratched her neck. "You've been at my side a long time, but my sister and I have been doing this for far longer than you've been alive. The first time we had to switch places, there were dragons that didn't accept her. There was a terrible war because dragons were loyal to me, and couldn't accept her even though I told them to."

Ice Heart nodded slowly. "Luna told me of this, shortly after our wedding. The war led to the creation of the council, the military as it is currently structured, and the worst loss of life and culture since the Great Darkness."

"The war only ended when I returned. The next time we switched places, I secluded myself for a hundred years before, interacting with no one beyond trusted council members, leaving them with plans, instructions, and my trust. Luna was accepted without incident, and most dragons weren't even aware that anything changed. You met her a few centuries after that." She hung her head low. "She repeated the process flawlessly, and I took over without a hitch. Well, except for this Greyscale nonsense. If he truly wishes Luna to reclaim the throne, he only needed to wait a few years. He would have gotten what he wanted without having to lift a finger."

"But," Ice Heart pointed out, "he has no way of knowing that."

"True," she conceded, "but, I somehow doubt his intentions are as noble as he tricks others into thinking." She smirked. "I bet he wants to set himself up as some grand hero, so when Luna does return, he can claim the credit. Too bad I already chose Spike to fill that role. And it helps that you managed to not kick the bucket all these years. I never expected you to last this long."

"Funny. But, about Spike," Ice heart interrupted, "I assume you are here because you heard what happened to him?"

She nodded. "The earthmate sent me a letter. Guess who intercepted it."

Ice Heart gestured to the two unconscious dragons behind Celestia. "That explains present company. But, what kind of sick bastard reads another dragon's mail?" That drew out a chuckle, and Ice Heart allowed himself a brief smile. The smile faded quickly, and he knew hers would too. "It's too bad my brother is involved in this somehow."

She straightened up immediately, laughter dying on the breeze. She stared at Ice Heart for a moment, hoping that she had misheard. "Stone Heart?"

He shrugged, staring at the ground. "He's going by the name Stahl these days."

"He's using Kykren, the old language?" She shook her head. "This bodes worse than Greyscale's involvement. I assume he isn't the one who injured Spike."

"Spike's injured, not dead, remember?" With a groan, Ice Heart stretched his back. "He got stepped on by the, um, what was it, brother of a friend of the earthmate. It just so happened this brother of a friend, yadda-yadda, was charging headfirst into battle with a drake that was attacking the town. It also happens that my brother decided to kill that drake after he was captured."

Celestia stood up. "I should probably hurry then. Any idea what his goal was?"

He shook his head. "Who knows with him anymore. I have my top Centurion, after Spike, of course, looking into it. I also placed a spell on Spike and all his friends. Should any of them encounter my brother, they will be teleported directly to me. It took a good deal of magic, but a little insurance can never hurt."

"What would I do without you?" Celestia hopped down from her perch and turned to face the forest. "See that those return to my sister." She glanced over her shoulder. "I need to go request an audience with the Earth King Terris."

Ice Heart gave her a smirk before disappearing with the Dreamscythes. "Tell the brat I said hi."

Author's Note

Chapter Title - Head Bangya!! by Babymetal

My Arms are Broken

Questions. Questions define our existence. By asking questions we can determine what we view as important in the world around us. By answering questions, we shape a world within our perceptions. Our senses constantly ask simple questions for us. What is in front of me? What does it sound like? What does it feel like?

Right now, Spike was asking himself questions as he awoke from sleepless dark.

Where am I?

It was hard to answer that. The sense that would normally answer that the fastest, sight, was obscured by a curtain of pale green. There were blurry shapes beyond the green, but nothing he could identify.

What is this place?

Same question, pretty much. Spike took a deep breath, then released it with a heavy sigh. Wherever he was, it smelled like it was recently cleaned. Pungent cleaning chemicals, with the faintest hint of lemon, tickled his nose, causing him to scrunch it up in displeasure. Sometimes, he was convinced his sense of smell was more sensitive than the average dragon's.

Why do I feel like I got stepped on?

Harder question, but Occham's Razor suggested it was because he recently was stepped on. It was unpleasant. He was sore all over, especially around the torso. There weren't any sharp pains, and he was able to breath easily enough, so he probably didn't have any broken bones.

What was that noise?

There were actually a few noises. The one he was most curious about was a steady consistent beeping, but there were others as well. Concentrating for a moment, he could hear shuffling, squeaking, and breathing.

What was that weight on his leg?

It was warm, whatever it was. It was nice and warm. Something smooth was resting against him.

And, the most important question of all, as feeling returned to his body, was asked out loud. "What the hell is around my neck?"

"It talks?" Asked a voice, a drake, old and raspy. The shuffling noises stopped. He must have set down some papers. "Most interesting."

"Of course he talks." That was Rarity, she was close by. The weight shifted, lifting from his leg. Was that her? Her concern made the pony smile. "What kind of doctor are you?"

"A Vetrinarian, ma'am. I have never seen a pet that could talk. Unless it was a bird, of course. For a mammalian pet to have vocal chords capable of draconic speech is unheard of in my profession."

"He is most certaintly not a pet. He is a dear and important friend, and I will not have you speak ill of him."

"I meant nothing by it," the drake sighed. "The other doctors called me in to work on an unconscious mammal, so you can imagine my confusion. However, if he is an intelligent creature, I believe the cone might be unnecessary. Well, If you'll excuse me..." There was a shuffling noise as the vet gathered a few items and left.

Spike groaned. Is that what this green thing was? One of those cone things you put around a pet's neck to keep it from aggravating an injury? This would be humiliating if there was anyone other than the doctor and Rarity to see it. It was still embarassing, but he was pretty sure he could trust her to keep it a secret.

He brought his hooves to the cone, gasping in pain as he stretched a little too far. His whole side hurt. It felt like had gone through a landslide. No, he'd done that before, and it wasn't all that bad. This felt worse than if he had gone through a landslide. "I got stepped on, didn't I?"

"I'm afraid so, dear." A careful claw wrapped around his hoof and eased it back down. Two shadows appeared beyond the obscuring surface of the cone, then the latch on the collar was undone.

The curtain of green fell away and he offered Rarity the best smile he muster. He wanted to convince her that he was in considerably less pain than we actually was. He wanted to ease the concern on her face, on both faces. "Wait." He looked back and forth between the two Rarity's, or is that Rarities? And offered the other Rarity a look of confusion. "Huh?"

Both dragonesses looked up at each other. Moving in perfect time, they snarled, snorted, and crossed their claws. "I knew I shouldn't have let you stay," they echoed each other, "if I have to see to it myself, these games of yours will end."

Both pairs of violet eyes went wide. "How did you... You're using magic, aren't you? Cut it out, or I'll-"

"Calm down." Spike touched his hoof to the Rarity on the right's leg. "Let her play whatever games she wants, it doesn't matter."

With a scoff, left Rarity rolled her eyes. She flashed green, and white scales gave way to black leathery skin, and a bright pair of green eyes that hovered way too close. "What gave it away?" She demanded animatedly eyeing the dragoness and looking back at the pony. "I can duplicate ponies perfectly, so why should dragons be any different?"

"Easy." Spike lifted his head a little to let the real Rarity pull the cone out from under him, then settled back into the pillow with a groan. "She was leaning on my leg when I woke up, and she was the one who pulled my hoof back so I wouldn't hurt myself." He left out the part where he could see strands of his magic, wandering strings of different length, connecting him to both of them. The real Rarity's string was much shorter, and twined around her with her own flowing, amaranthine thread. It would be impossible not to recognize the magic they shared, the magic that built the temple around them that night.

But, why would he be connected to Chrysalis? The string was longer, meandering around the room before linking to her, but the magic it joined was much more similar to his. Sharp, angular, green, but with the faintest tint of blue, her magic called out to his in a different way from Rarity's.

He put it out of his mind as the swirling lines faded from sight. He would have time later to study and understand this new magic within him, and Rarity would be there to help him through it. He smiled up at her and extended his hoof.

She looked down when she saw him move. She didn't want to take her eyes off that trickster they somehow got saddled with, but it was reassuring that Spike could tell the difference between them. When she saw him smiling, she returned it immediately. "Don't worry, Spike," she reassured, knowing full well that he wasn't worried in the slightest. She took his hoof with one claw, letting herself stroke the fur with the other. "I'll take you home, and then you can focus on recovering. Twilight has been so worried about you, I know seeing you awake will make her happy."

"She has?" Spike closed his eyes. The hatchlings all stayed behind at the farm, didn't they? "How long have I been out?"

"No more than three days," Chrysalis said, sounding almost bored. "I was hoping for amnesia, then I could have convinced you that I was the only pony you could trust in this strange land of dragons."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Except you obviously aren't a pony."

"At the moment," the changeling pointed out, "I can be any pony any time I want."

"In that case, why was the pony you turned into earlier so small compared to Spike? Huh?"

"Hey, I just turned into an average-sized mare. It's not my fault Fangs here is a bigger hunk of stallion than the ones I'm used to."

"Fangs?" Spike brought a hoof to his mouth. His canines were good and sharp, but nowhere near what a dragon's should be. "I wouldn't exactly call them fangs."

"Look, Fangs." Chrysalis brought her own hoof to her mouth and lifted the side of her lip into an awful smile. Her rows of sharp teeth glinted harsh in the hospital light. "I have fangs. You have fangs. These dragons have fangs. Ponies are not supposed to have fangs, yet you have fangs, therefore, I will call you Fangs. It's a nickname, and it denotes affection."

"Just remember, any affection, you show Spike, will be putting you very squarely on my bad side, and that is a place you do not want to be."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "What are you going to do? Gut me again?" The changeling gestured to the barely visible marks in her midsection. "I will admit that was an unpleasant experience, but hardly life threatening for somepony of my constitution." She looked down, and her mouth twisted into a small frown. "That really should have healed by now."

Rarity turned her head away, slowly looking at the hospital wall instead of the injuries she caused. "I'm sorry, but you forced me to fight back. I wasn't going to let myself be used against those I care about."

"Then why the shame?" The changeling accused, raising her droning voice. "You should feel proud that you were strong enough to fight back. Take a good hard look at your handiwork!" Chrysalis grabbed at her wounds, squeezing hard, and breaking the poorly healed scars open. As green ichorous blood wetted her hooves, she hissed, "And be sure to smile."

"What is wrong with you?" Rarity asked in a whisper. She could see the anger in the changeling's eyes, but somehow, it didn't feel like it was directed at her. "I don't take pride in what I am forced to do."

Chrysalis slammed her hoof down, flinging the blood that was pooling in her hoof at the dragoness. "Well I do!" She stalked towards her. "I've drained the love and magic from hundreds of ponies, taken it for my own. Sometimes," she slipped around the dragon like a snake, leaning over her shoulder, "I slip in at night, whisking one lover away to replace them for a few days. Sometimes," she moved to the other shoulder, "I replace somepony who died, giving those left behind a few more days before facing the truth. I've even split lovers apart." She moved in front of the dragon. "Just so I can offer each of them the comfort of somepony new."

Rarity stood her ground. The changeling stood over her, teeth bared, hot breath washing over her snout with a faint smell of acid. But one look at the eyes above that maw made it impossible to feel any fear. The anger was still there, but there was something else. Need. She was trying to scare her. She desperately needed that fear. Why? "How can you be proud of any of that?"

"Because I survived! My hive survived." Raising her bloody hoof, she smiled. "More than that," she whispered, "we thrived. We became powerful. We didn't have to hide and cower like the others. Love is a tool. It's a way to get what you want. You say you love him, you better be ready to hurt him, because that's all love is good for!"

Rarity felt she was starting to understand. "You only say that because you've been hurt."

"No!" Chrysalis protested. "Never! I am not weak enough to need the same fragile companionship most creatures seek. I exploit those bonds, how could I ever be fool enough to seek them out?"

"You don't always seek out love," Rarity explained quietly. "Sometimes, those we find ourselves bound to come to us by chance. Love isn't something sought, but thrust upon us at the most unexpected moments. Sometimes, it's there all along."

Chrysalis shook her head. "What are you saying?"

Rarity looked the changeling in the eyes, feeling truly sorry for the creature for the first time. "You loved your hive."

Chrysalis looked around the buzzing stone tunnels of the hive. The buzz of work and new construction being carried out brought a soothing white noise to accompany the faint light of glowing fungus. Anywhere she walked, changelings would take a moment of their time to acknowledge her presence, no matter the task they were occupied with. She was more important than any of it, the leader that made it all possible, the one who brought them magic, and they loved her for it.

And she loved them.

She loved them enough to keep going out, time after time in search of love to bring back as magic. She would give anything, and had, to keep them safe and fed. They were like children to her, and even if they were not her own, she did her best to care for them. Just like her own mother before her.

Chrysalis closed her eyes as the sounds of her hive faded around her. The black cragstone walls gave way to the smooth white paint in the hospital as she came back to reality. Then, she choked out the two words that summed up her life right now, "I'm alone."

"You don't have to be," Rarity offered quietly. "Whoever you were before, whatever you did, it's gone now. You can start over, be honest about yourself instead of hiding your identity. You are much more dragonlike than Spike, but we all accept him. If you let us, we might be able accept you."

"Accept me how?!" Chrysalis demanded. "I have no identity! You cannot accept what doesn't exist! I am a changeling, we exist to become something else because we have nothing of our own. We turn into the thing best able to get what we want, then discard the useless baggage. We are spiders, spreading our venom and shedding useless skins that grow too tight. If I wanted your pity, I would take it!"

For the first time since the argument began, Spike spoke up. "Tell me about a changeling."

"What do you want to know," Chrysalis sneered. "How to beat us? How to pick one out of a crowd? What poisons affect us? I can tell you so much."

"No," Spike said firmly, "I'm not interested in changelings. Tell me about a changeling. Tell me about one changeling from your hive, the last one you interacted with. Tell me what you remember about that one particular."

"There is nothing," came the retort.

Spike lifted his head to look at her, ignoring the soreness in his neck. "Tell me."

Chrysalis shook her head. "Drones are all the same."

"Tell me!" He shouted, wincing at the pain it brought to his side.

"He said be careful!" She shouted back. "Happy?"

"Yes." He dropped his head back to the pillow with a groan. That short outburst took a lot out of him, letting him know just how badly he was injured. "And why would you even remember that? Didn't every changeling in your hive tell you that?"

"No, just him." Chrysalis looked down, then to the left, then pointed to a spot on the floor. "He would stand there,one of the two guards before the throne, whenever there was something official going on. The rest of the time, he guarded one of the hive entrances. One time, after a meeting with another hive, I got up to leave, and tripped over a rock. I stumbled, but caught myself, and he saw. He would tell me to be careful as a farewell from then on. I didn't plan it, but I ended up passing by his post before setting out for Canterlot."

Chrysalis sighed. "I never expected it would be the last time I would see him."

She and Rarity sat quietly for a moment, until a knock at the door interrupted anything else they were thinking of saying. "Excuse me," a nurse poked her head in, "visiting hours are almost over. Please sign out at the front desk before you leave." She left without another word, and without glancing up from her clipboard.

Rarity spoke quickly, trying to sweep away the awkward silence that settled on them like dust. "Well," she said with a clap of her claws, "that's that, I suppose." She loooked over at Spike and walked over so she could touch his hoof. "You relax, darling, I'll be back in the morning. And I'll bring the checklist Twilight made of all the things you need to help her with."

"I've doomed myself, haven't I?" the pony chuckled. He nodded towards the changeling. "What about Chrysalis? You two aren't going to be fighting anymore, are you?"

Rarity glanced over. "No promises, but I assure you it won't be anything too serious." She patted his hoof one more time and reluctantly walked to the door. As she passed the changeling, she sighed. "You don't have a place to stay, do you?"

The next morning, Spike stretched his hooves out in front of himself. He was a little sore, but the pain was minimal. He felt pretty good compared to yesterday. He stretched a tiny bit harder, grunting with effort. He felt the muscles across his shoulders pull taught sooner than they should have.

"Ugh." He slowly worked each leg through a series of rotations. His back felt weird, just below his shoulders, and he faintly wondered if they had been dislocated when he was stepped on. "Feels like something's in there."

He rolled onto his side, and contemplated his next action for a moment. He moved every extremity, and tensed various muscles to test himself. The pain didn't return, so he slid himself out of bed.

He hit the ground with a thump, lines of green magic radiating across the tile where his hooves fell. He hefted himself back up, supporting himself by the bars of the hospital bed.

Alone in a room slowly filling with morning light, he looked around. He didn't get a chance to pay much attention to the decor while Rarity and Chrysalis were here, and the lights were shut off shortly after they left.

All he could think was, yep. This was a vet's office. Portraits of different dragons with small cats, big cats, dogs, wolves, and various birds filled the far wall with simple frames. Anatomical diagrams, and posters detailing proper care for more exotic creatures filed another wall. The wall behind him now, where his visitors had been standing was completely blank.

And in the corner, was a large carrier kennel with clumps of dirt stuck to the bottom. It looked just large enough for him to fit into. He could only assume that he was carried from the site of the stomping in it.

With a sigh, he brought his hoof to his forehead, smacking himself in the face with the tile stuck to it. "Ow! Huh?" He stared at his hoof in confusion. At the end of it, as if glued there, was a stone floor tile. Twisting his hoof around and looking at the bottom of the tile, the pony could see the blob of sharp, angular, green lines nestled in the center, where his hoof met the other side.

A few lines of magic traced the veins of the stone, deviating from their angular shape to follow the cracks and colors of the dark streaks in the otherwise plain stone tile. Spike gave his hoof a little shake. The tile stuck.

For a moment Spike wasn't sure if he should be excited or worried. This was obviously his new magic manifesting itself, but it was doing so without his conscious control. He would need to speak with Rarity about it when she comes to visit.

A knock at the door made him turn his head, and the sudden movement caused a twinge of pain in his already tight shoulders. The tile slid from his hoof and shattered against the floor.

"Is everything all right in there?"

Spike's eyes went wide, and he tried his best to sweep the pieces back into the space the tile originally came from. "Yeah, um, I'm fine, just the,uh," he gave up and stared at the floor, cringing as he uttered, "the floor isn't."

"The floor?" The nurse opened the door, squinting at the tile floor in front of her. "I don't see," she checked the tiles in a sweeping search pattern, ending at under his hooves, "oh. Those hooves are harder than they look I guess." She shrugged and let herself in. "I take it you feel better, seeing as you are standing on your own. Do you feel up to meeting a visitor?"

Spike's ears perked up, and the nurse looked up at them. "Rarity?"

"I didn't ask her name," the nurse replied, chuckling as the ears moved back to their normal position. "She's too large to fit in here, so you'll need to head out to the waiting room."

"Oh." Spike's ears drooped slightly. Maybe it was Applejack? Here to apologize for her brother stepping on him? "Ok, I think I can make it out under my own power. Give me a moment."

The nurse nodded, still watching the movement of his ears. "Just tell her to quit swinging those swords around inside."

"Swords?" Spike looked over as the nurse walked out. He knew exactly who it was now.

With a sigh, Spike placed both hooves over the broken tile. He had all the pieces shoved back into place, more or less. Though, mostly less. And he closed his eyes and thought about water. Pouring water into a shallow dish, letting it spread out and settle, ripples disappearing as it settled, leaving a glass smooth surface behind.

He tried to imagine the feeling of placing his hooves over that water, still and smooth. Then, he started to channel his magic. His hope was to make the stone flow back together, to become fluid like he had seen Rarity command before.

And it worked.

Sort of.

His nose wrinkled at the smell of sulfur. Or was that brimstone? He opened his eyes, knowing what he would see if he happened to look down. He could feel the heat cooking up from beneath his hooves.

He ceased supplying magic power and sighed. "Seriously?"

Where a broken tile once sat, a puddle of lava was quickly cooling into obsidian. The surounding tiles were scorched, and the synthetic fibers of the hospital bed's sheets were slowly sagging towards the floor. He got up, rolled the bed away from the heat, and headed for the door, wondering who he should apologize to.

"Fellow Centurion!" Screwball snapped to attention and offered a clean, crisp salute. "It is good to see you up and about. After hearing of your injuries, many were beginning to fear the worst."

Spike stared up at her and blinked. "Are you feeling all right?"

She stared off at some point behind him, and her lips were pressed tightly together, moving slightly as if she was chewing something back. "Of course, thank you for your concern."

His lips curled slightly in confusion. "Now I know something's wrong."

She shook her head urgently, but with a movement so compact, Spike almost missed it. He tilted his head. "Don't you dare," she mouthed silently.

He held his hoof up, placed it to his horehead, jerked it away because it was still freaking hot from the lava tile incident, then just put it back down. "What is going on? Before I left for Dragartha, you told me in no uncertain terms, that you wanted me out of the picture by any means necessary. I half expected, no, fully expected you to be here for the sole purpose of collecting my pelt in case I up and died. But I don't believe for a moment that you were concerned about me."

Screwball's left claw fought itself halfway to the handle of one of her blades. Fingers twitched as the muscles tensed, and she bit down on her lower lip until blood started to from her fang. "I'm trying to be polite here."

Spike stared at her and took a step back. "And it's scaring me."

"Agh! Screw this!" Both claws jumped to the swords on her back, and she drew them in a smooth movement that fed straight into a vicious swing.

Spike raised his left hoof to his horn as it lit up with the magic of an ironscale spell. With a tap the energy was transferred, placing concentrated protection on only his hoof, and he swung his hoof out to deflect the balde. He knocked it away, and twisted to deflect the other blade in a similar manner.

His hoof was caught by another dragon's claw before it met steel, and the second blade was frozen mid-swing in a similar manner. "Young centurions," the small dragin sighed, "always so lively."

Spike smiled, eyes wide with pleasant surprise. "Mom!"

"Rares?" Applejack paced around the outside of the library, looking for an open window. "Rares? Ya in there, Sugarcube?" The front door was locked, and that was the only way in for a dragon as big as her. "Rares!"

"On my way, Darling!" Rarity's voice answered from inside.

"About time," Applejack muttered, "Ah don't see why ya-"

"Oh, don't get your scales in a bunch," an annoyed Rarity lamented.

Applack blinked. "Uh, 'scuse me?"

"Shut it you," Rarity hissed.

Applejack tamped a hoof, What was Rarity's problem? "Look, Ah'm sorry mah brother stepped on Spike, but in case ya missed it, he was kind of focused on the guy who murdered our parents."

"Oh, crud. Sorry." Answered a different voice. "I'll uh, just get the door. Hold on."

Wait, she knew that voice. "Yer that Change-thing from the mountain."

"Changeling," Chrysalis corrected, as she unlocked the door and opened the smallest of the nested entryways. She found herself snout to snout with Applejack for the first time. Having stayed away from the dragon that nearly squished her like a bug, she noticed something for the first time. "My, what big eyes you have."

"All the better to stare unamused at ya with, " the big dragon replied without missing a beat. "Where's Twi and Rares?"

"Lady Buzzkill is on her way to visit her coltfriend." She pointed a hoof over her shoulder. "The brat is still sleeping, recovering from an all night reorganization spree."

The orange dragon squinted at the changeling. "And Rares just left Twilight alone... with you? Unsupervised?"

Chrysalis shrugged. "The fact that I will literally starve to death if nobody likes me is a pretty good motivator to play nice right now."

Applejack lifted her head and looked in the general direction of the animal hospital where Spike was taken after Mac stepped on him. "Well, Ah gotta go find her. Spike ain't at the vet's no more."

Author's Note

Chapter title
My Arms are Broken by Tim Hawkins (Parody of With Arms Wide Open by Creed)

Feel Good Inc.

Chrysalis paced back and forth in front of the Library's central stone table. Every so often, she would glance up at the dragoness sitting accross from her. She couldn't understand this, a situation that was increasingly prevalent this last week or so. Everything she knew about Rarity's personality was being called into question right now. Hell, her own ability to guage other's emotions was being called into question, and that was a skill that she relied on to keep herself alive!

Eventually, the changeling had enough of the pacing, and turned on the dragoness. "Seriously?" It was almost a shout. "How the heck are you not jealous right now? He is eating breakfast with another mare!"

"I already knew Spike had a breakfast date." Rarity looked down at the pastry Twilight had given her. It was starting to get cold, but still smelled good. "But it's-"

"But nothing!" Chrysalis looked down at her hooves. Was it trust, or was it pride? Was this dragoness so proud of her looks that she feels she has nothing to worry about from another dragon? Chrysalis wasn't sure if she could transform into a bipedal creature, it was never necessary until now. But she had to try.

Flames engulfed the changeling as Rarity crossed her claws in front of her. The flames swirled for a moment longer than usual, and the dragoness took that opportunity to take a bite of her pastry. She looked down in surprise just as the flames faded.

A lithe young dragon stood where the changeling once did. A pink, furry crest ran from her head, down her back, all the way to her long, whip-like tail, which terminated in a small floof of fur. Her smooth scales where white, with just the faintest hint of colorful shimmer when the light hit them a certain way. And she was frowning at Rarity.

Rarity glanced up. "Is that what she looks like? She's quite pretty." She lifted her pastry. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to enjoy whatever this is."

Chrysalis looked down at her legs, counting the joints and noting their positions. "All right," she muttered to herself, "you can do this." She wobbled over to the table, and slammed her front claws down. "How can you just let him do this and not be upset about it?"

Rarity looked up at her like she was crazy, a very real possibility based on how every single one of their interactions ended up with them shouting at each other. "Look," she pointed a claw at the changeling, "I don't know how things work where you're from, but if he wants to eat breakfast with his mother after getting out of the hospital, I am not about to stop him."

"Yeah, but..." Chrysalis stopped mid-sentence, mouth hanging open. It took a moment for her to speak again. "His mother?"

The click of the library door made both dragon and changeling look over. Spike was letting himself in and wiping his hooves on the mat. He was taking special care to get any trace of dirt off, but looked up when he felt eyes on him. "Oh, hey," he said with a smile, "I thought you were heading over to Sweet Apple Acres." He looked back and forth between the two dragons he saw. "I guess an introduction would be a little late, but, mom, this is Rarity. Rarity, this is my mother."

With a sigh, Chrysalis released her transformation. She turned away from the table as the flames faded, and walked away towards the kitchen. "I'm gonna go stick my head in the oven."

With a smirk, Rarity called after her, "Let me know if you need any help."

A confused pony walked up to the table and took a position opposite the dragoness. "What was that all about?"

Rarity waved a claw in front of her face. "Nothing darling. She's just being a drama queen, pardon the pun."

She saw him about to sit down, and tapped her claw against the table. The flowing purple thread that raced towards him on the stone surface, caught his attention before he could sit down, and a swirl of her claw brought the end of the thread looping back around to her. He shifted his attention to her as the violet light faded. Their eyes met, and lingered there. For a moment, neither moved.

She was the first to look away, patting the seat cuhion beside her. It was the first quiet moment they would get to share since the mountain, it shouldn't be spent sitting across from each other. He understood and walked over without a word.

He sat beside her, not breaking the silence between them. He watched her glance back, then look away, cheeks flushing as she noticed his scrutiny. He leaned in. Every detail, every scale, even the lingering scent of perfumed shampoo; he wanted to take it in.

She slowly started to turn back, keeping her eyes low to avoid the embarassment of meeting his again.

"Oy," Chrysalis muttered to herself, "Just bend her over the table and rut her senseless already." She was watching the two from the gap in the kitchen door, frowning as they coyly made eyes with each other . "Or kiss. Or even just hold freakin' hooves already."

Twilight excitedly ran over, and ducked under the changeling's hooves to peek through the gap. "Spike and Rarity are kissing?"

"Gah!" Chrysalis jumped. The back of her head smacked into a spice cabinet jutting from the wall. "Buck!" She ducked down, grabbing her head. She stepped away from the now tilted cabinet, only to slip on a can of baking soda that she had unknowingly dislodged. She fell, and her chin hit the counter, snapping her mouth shut and impaling her tongue on her fangs. She hit the ground hard and rolled around in agony, clutching her mouth with both hooves. "Aggh!" She gurgled. "Guh-Dammit!" She rolled over, spitting out green blood as the spice cabinet broke loose. It hit the counter, and all dozen or so glass jars within spilled out over the changeling before the cabinet itself fell on her. "Yagh!" She reared up with a primal scream, shaking loose the damaged spice cabinet and tossing it to the ground. She pounced on it, smashing away in anger. "What. In. The. Hell," She grunted out between pounding the cabinet into splinters, "is with all the freakin' shoddy construction in these piece of shit houses?!"

"What in Typhon's name is going on in there?" Rarity called from the other room.

"Nothing!" Chrysalis shouted back. "Go back to snogging fuzzy buns, you pale-scaled floozy! Or better yet get a room!"

"Well, I never-" Rarity huffed. "Hmmph! Come on Spike, let's go somewhere where we can talk in peace."

"Oh, sure," Chrysalis responded in a big, exaggerated, suggestive tone, "go find a nice, comfortable place to talk. Be careful while you're talking, you might not be walking straight afterwards." Chrysalis chuckled as the the library door opened and claws and hooves scrambled out in embarassment. A smile spread across her face as she imagined the blushes on their faces.

That smile disappeared when she looked down.

"Um," Twilight sheepishly tapped her claws together, "you used a lot of strange words just now. They didn't sound like I should repeat them."

"Can you believe her?" Rarity let out a pointed snort as she and Spike walked away from the library. "The nerve of that thing, especially after I offered her a place to stay!"

Spike shook his head. "She's a little different, that's for sure. But consider that she probably comes from an entirely different culture. She probably thinks we're the crazy ones."

"Really?" The dragoness asked in a low monotone, giving the pony a level-browed stare. "You're the only weird one here. She's jealous."

"Of us?" Spike laughed. "She's been around all of what? A few days? She's latching onto me because I'm the most familiar thing to her. When she realizes she can get along with everydragon else, she'll leave us alone."

He looked down, and Rarity saw him press his lips together, debating something left unsaid. "What is it?" she prodded, "is something bothering you?"

"I..." Spike shook his head. "I don't know. I'm not worried, exactly, it's just..." He looked over. "Chrysalis obviously came from somewhere else, right? Another dimension, world, universe, whatever you want to call it." He sighed and looked down. "If she made it here, there has to be a way for her to make it back."

Rarity nodded. She knew what he was getting at. She had thought of it herself, but the thought must be so much more powerful for him. "A world full of ponies. Would you want to go with her?"

Spike stayed quiet.

Rarity walked closer to him. With a sigh, she bumped into him, leaning her weight into his side as they walked. "I would support you, whatever you chose."

"I don't think I could go." Spike leaned into the dragoness. Neither of them could move away now, else they would both fall. "If you asked me years ago, or even a few weeks ago, I wouldn't hesitate. But, now, too much has happened."

"Is that Spike talking? Or Terris?"

"There's that," Spike admitted. "I still don't fully understand it, but if I really am Terris, I can't just abandon Draconica." He looked down at Rarity. "But, as Spike, I can't abandon you and Twilight either." With a sigh he added, "besides, from what Chrysalis has said so far, I'm not the same as the ponies from her world. Do you think there might be different kinds of ponies?"

"Hmm." Rarity pressed her lips together. "So, a pony-like creature justs happens to come to our world from another, and it just so happens that this other world has ponies, but it just so happens to be wholly unrelated to the only pony in this world? That's quite the stretch, darling."

"It doesn't seem like any more of a stretch than anything else that's happened," Spike pointed out.

"I'll give you that, darling." Rarity slowed down, forcing Spike to do the same. "So, where are we headed? Or are we merely going for an aimless stroll before returning to the library?"

"As nice as a leisurely walk may sound, I think we need to sit down somewhere and have a talk." Spike shook his head. "We haven't really had a chance to lately."

She nodded slowly. "You are right about that, dear. Things have been happening so fast, it seems." She pushed away from him, and he wobbled before regaining his balance. "Let's head over to my place, I can think of several things we haven't properly discussed."

"Yeah," the pony followed as the dragoness turned down the street.

"Three." Twilight crossed her claws in front of her. "No less."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Where am I even supposed to find rubies? Much less three a day? One gem a day, of any kind, that's my last offer."

Twilight thought it over.

She wasn't thinking it over fast enough. Chrysalis was losing her patience. How dare this little reptilian brat force her, queen of the changelings, to haggle like a common shopkeeper? "You know what, forget it. I retract the offer. If you're old enough to understand the concept of blackmail, you're old enough to hear a few swear words."

"I thought you might say that." The hatchling produced a small roll of paper, unrolling it and shaking her head. "This is more than a few. And, I don't even know what most of these mean."

For a moment, Chrysalis considered burning the paper. Fire wouldn't hurt a dragon, right? Even one as young as this?

Twilight started rolling the paper, and saw the changleing staring at it. "I have three copies hidden around the house, and all the words memorized."

"You are evil." Chrysalis frowned. "Even that damned pony wasn't as cunning as you."

Twilight produced the scroll once again. "There's another one." She scribbled it down with a pencil that was tucked behind her earfin. "It's a variation on a previous one, but I'll add it anyway."

The changeling queen sighed in defeat. This was the second time Twilight Sparkle had bested her, and she was not sure which loss stung more. At least the pony one had been the personal apprentice to a demi-goddess. "How about two gems a day, and I'll give you a ride to the bakery once a week?"

Twilight tapped her pencil against the tip of her snout. "Make it twice a week, and you have a deal."

"Fine," Chrysalis huffed, "monster."

Twilight merely shrugged. "I'm not the one with the potty mouth."

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay. I have three more chapters almost ready.

Chapter Title

Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz

Cover by Leo Moracchioli

Bad Apple

Greyscale yanked his claw back from the door handle as it twisted. The hinges creaked as the massive door was pulled inwards with panicked urgency. He pulled back his claw, ready to use it if needed, but the dragoness rushing out barely even noticed him. She blubbered an apology as she ran past him, down the hallway, and out of sight, crying all the while.

He glanced down at the stone tile lining the hallway. The sheer amount of discoloration from the dragin's tears was impressive to say the least. If her emotional outburst kept up for any significant amount of time, she may wind up severely dehydrated.

Another dragon approached from the other side of the door, heaving a sigh. "At least close the door when you-" Tall, lean, and much younger than greyscale, the white dragon looked out into the hall as his claw gripped the edge of the door. His eyes narrowed, and the ridge of golden scales down his back flattened out in dismay. He sat down, leaning against the door and brought a claw to the single blue scale in the center of his forehead. "Uncle," he said in a careful, neutral tone, "this is a surprise. What brings you here?"

Greyscale shrugged, throwing his claws out wide. "What? I need a reason to visit my favorite nephew?"

Bluescale paused for a moment, claw lifting from his forehead. "Yes, actually." He started closing the door. "I am rather busy, and-"

Greyscale pushed a fist against the door, stopping it. "I only need a moment."

"That's what you said last time, and you talked at me for over an hour." Bluescale looked down at his uncle's claw, knuckles scratching at the door's paint. "But, at least you didn't use your claws this time." With a defeated sigh, the younger drake stalked away from the door, retreating into his room. "What do you want?"

"Have you heard?" Greyscale headed in, closing the door behind him. "They say a Pheonix Lignum has appeared near Dragonspire."

Bluescale headed over to a table loaded down with weapons and armors, each one bearing the mark of a compass rose with a blue stone embedded in the center. "I have. Now, what do you want?"

Greyscale walked over to the window, and looked out as Bluescale set about polishing a large shield. He gazed out over the subteranean vista of Dragartha, and took a deep breath. The view was impressive, but even being the top level of the guard barracks, it was a much lower view than from the palace. "You aren't very trusting, nephew."

"Right," Bluescale agreed absent-mindedly, focusing instead on his armor. "I wonder why? It might have something to do with my family."

"You don't have to be so cynical all the time." Greyscale ran his claw over the ornately carved handle of a spear leaning against the wall near the window. The carvings represented wind, and Bluescale's signature compass rose emblem appeared in several places, each embedded with a small piece of bright blue material. "This one's new," Greyscale observed as he turned away from the window. "As is that entire rack of swords by your bed. Still obsessed with enchanting weapons and armor? You are still young enough to enjoy other pursuits alongside your hobby. Perhaps whatever that female earlier was offering?"

The shield clanged to the table as Bluescale tossed it down, then picked up a helm that was clearly built just for him. "What she was offering, uncle, was assistance with my cleaning." He scrubbed at the helm with his rag, leaving a thin film of clear oil over the exposed metal. "She knew nothing of the weaponry beyond the absolute basics, and almost used dish soap on the leather strapping. Honestly! I am much more comfortable taking care of things on my own. Why would she even offer to help with a task she clearly doesn't understand?"

"You're as dense as your father," Greyscale muttered, shaking his head.

Bluescale looked up. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Greyscale looked over at his nephew. "Oh, you might be pleased to know that the Dreamscythes have been recovered. It seems they were in the posession of a group of bandits, but General Iceheart defeated them with the help of an un-named dragin."

"Good for him." Bluescale grabbed another helm, and started wiping it down. It was the same shape, but made of a darker material with platinum inlays. "I will make some time to examine them."

"I wish it were that simple." Greyscale smiled. "It seems he has not returned them to the royal armory, nor did he keep them in his posession. They seem to have disappeared again. Perhaps he entrusted them to a subordinate? Perhaps that mysterious dragin? From her description, she does not seem to be a member of the military, yet she defeated a drake many times her size with brute force alone."

"Giving the Dreamscythes to whosoever he pleases is well within Iceheart's rights," Bluescale pointed out, "Celestia forged those weapons for him in the first place."

"Ah," Greyscale said softly, "that's the thing..."

"No!" Bluescale slammed the helmet down, and pointed a menacing claw at his uncle. "Whatever conspiracy you're building, whatever plot you're dreaming up, I want no part of it! You know full well where my loyalties lie."

"I know, I know. Unfortunately." Greyscale held up a claw. "Anyway, hear me out. I've found records of their forging. There is no denying that Celestia Forged them."

"Then why are you still talking?"

"And there is no denying that Celestia gifted them to Iceheart nearly eight hundred years ago."

"Again, why are you still talking?"

Greyscale leaned in close. "She gave them to someone else nearly twelve hundred years before that."

Bluescale's eyes went wide with horror. "Oh, Typhon, no. Our princess regifted an item once? The scandal!"

Greyscale was not amused. "You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"Of course, uncle." Bluescale grabbed another helm, golden this time. "I tire of your games. The more you try to involve me, the less inclined I am to listen."

"Yes, obviously," the older drake sneered. "Very well, I will leave you alone regarding this matter. I suppose you don't even care who the original recipient of the dreamscythes was?" Bluescale didn't say anything, and Greyscale headed for the door. "In case you are curious, and containing it for the sake of appearances, it seems Celestia intended to present the dreamscythes as a grand gift." He smiled evilly as he opened the door. "A gift, forged for the princess of Draconica."

Greyscale was out the door, closing it behind him before the other drake could say anything. Bluescale could only stare at the door, and wonder what political machinations he was cooking up this time.

Before returning to his armor, he shrugged in a big, exaggerated motion. "So, what? She made them for herself? Good for her."

Author's Note

Oy, it's been a crazy few weeks. Taxes are crazy when you own the business, instead of just working there, but I am finally through it. Also, working with international clients for the first time, yay! Paying your bank to convert the currency in the wire transfer? Less yay. Still, totally worth it to have my work visible at an international tradeshow. What a resume piece.

Anyway, back to what you guys care about.

Chapter Title, Bad Apple from Touhou

I've been working on some art for an upcoming chapter, and it came out better than I was expecting, given that I haven't been practicing like I used to. Look forward to that in two or three chapters.

And thank you to everybody who reads and comments, I'll try to go through and respond to each of the recent comments, but in case I get too busy, I want to reassure you that I do read them at the very least. Thank you all!

A Thorn Without a Rose

"That's odd," Rarity pulled ahead of Spike as they approached the boutique. A small wooden crate sat on the doorstep, a cube as tall as Twilight, and topped with a silver ribbon. It wasn't at the large front door, bright and visible, that even Applejack could fit through, but on the doorstep of the back door. The door that was quietly tucked away between two trees and a small patch of flowers, mostly gladiolas. "I wasn't expecting any packages today."

"Hold on!" Spike ran ahead of her, reaching the crate first. "With all the nasty surprises we've had lately, I- Oh!" He pulled a shipping label off the crate and smiled. "5 Castle Way," he read out loud. "That's Rose's Storehouse. She and Celestia are the only ones allowed to make shipments from there." He held out the paper as Rarity approached. "Whatever it is, it's for you."

"Why would either of them be sending me anything?" She took the offered label and inspected it herself. The first thing she noticed was how many times it said, 'fragile.' It was quite a few. "Who is Rose, dear?"

"Dragartha's brew-master," Spike answered. "She makes everything from potions to Celestia's favorite tea. She's probably the greatest alchemist alive, and has written some of the most comprehensive books available on potion-making."

"Do you think she sent me a potion?" Rarity looked down at the crate. "It doesn't say we can't use magic on the crate. Should we bring it inside?"

"I don't see why not." Spike opened the door, then turned around to pick up the crate, only to see that Rarity beat him to it. Spike quickly pushed the door open a little wider and stepped out of her way. "After you."

"Thank you, dear." She brought the crate in, and set it down in the cozy sitting room just inside the door. Easy to clean tile, small coffee table, a couch, and a mudbench with raincoats and galoshes for her and Twilight. Comfortably sized for her and her current guest, it would be downright cramped for her other friends. Most of them wouldn't even fit in here. Nor would they fit in the neighboring kitchen, dining room, or the upstairs studio and bedroom. They would fit, however, in the business spaces that made up most of the building; showroom, workshop, fitting room, etc. "There's a toolbox under the bench. Be a dear and fetch the crowbar out of it, would you?"

"Ok." Spike headed over. "You keep a crowbar near the door?"

Rarity glanced over, holding her claws out towards the crate. "This isn't the first crate I've recieved, Spike. It isn't even the first one this week. Remember, this is my place of business, as well as my house."

Spike found the box, located the crowbar within, and brought it over to her. "I thought you lived at the library with Twilight?"

With a shrug, she held her claw out for the tool Spike brought her. "For the most part, I do. But her family owns the library, I am merely a guest. I own this building, and one day, when Twilight is old enough to live on her own, I suppose I will return to living here full-time. Not that I won't be visiting her at the library on a regular basis, of course. However, as much as I care for her as if she were my own, it is important to remember that she isn't, and to cultivate her sense of independence and individuality."

Spike nodded slowly. "Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into it."

"Yes," Rarity agreed absent-mindedly, "thought." She took the crowbar to the crate, carefully easing individual nails out of the top. "Thought, and time, and sleepless nights wondering if I'm doing the right thing. Not to mention, so many times, I will decide to do one thing, and then, when the time comes, and I have to make the decision with her next to me, I do something completely different." She worked the last nail out, and held her tool out for Spike to put away. "I've been told that's a common experience for single mothers. I've also been told I have a talent for looking after hatchlings, so I suppose it all works out."

Spike laughed as he took the crowbar, and returned it to its box. "Well, If I had any hatchlings, you'd be first one I ask to look after them."

Rarity paused for a moment, tapping the lid of the crate. She was about to open it, but felt she should probably address Spike's comment. "I would hope so," she muttered, "given they would probably be mine, what with the Terris-Earthmate dynamic of our relationship. Which we have yet to talk about, by the way."

"I, um," Spike scratched his mane, "I thought we weren't going to talk about it."

"We agreed that we wouldn't let it control us," she corrected. "I do sort of feel we need to talk about it. A serious, sit-down discussion, possibly over tea, of exactly what each of us wants, or expects, out of this situation."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Expects?"

"Not, 'expects,' expects," Rarity vaguely clarified. "Not as in, either of us holding any sort of, um, expectations, of the other, you see? More like, what problems do we expect to arise if we, um, pursue things?"

The pony stared blankly, mouth hanging open. "Uh, well, first off, um the noticeable problem is we are, um..." He scratched his mane again, being much rougher with it, and letting out a frustrated grunt. "Alright, I don't know how else to say this, but it feels like we've been dancing around the main issue here."

"I certainly agree with that, darling." With a sigh, Rarity leaned against the crate. "We've both been hesitant to discuss certain things. Honestly, I'm still hesitant. I would be more than happy to sit down to tea while forgetting everything that's happened to us these last few days."

Spike walked over to the crate, sitting across from Rarity. He leaned against it himself, reaching one hoof across to gently touch her neck, where her makeup hid an even larger scar than before. "But it did happen." Spike shook his head. "Things have changed, and we need to move forward, instead of getting caught in our own fears."

She grasped his hoof, holding it there to her scales. "And how will you move forward?"

"By saying something I should have a few days ago." He pulled his hoof back, bring her claw with it. He shifted, taking a deep breath as he brought his other hoof up to gently clasp her claw in both. "I like you. I really, really, like you. It's more than safe to say that I am falling in love with you. This isn't doesn't have anything do with Terris, the Earthmates, or any of that." He swallowed hard. "More formally... I, Spike, of Dragartha, Chosen Prince of Draconica wish to court you, Rarity of Dragonspire, Armorer and Clothier. My intentions are to gain your favor, to walk by your side, and to one day gain your token. Would you honor me with a response?"

She stared at him in shock, unblinking, mouth moving as she fought to get words out. "I, um, I think I could use a glass of that tea, right about now." She turned around, pulling away from his claws and pulling the unsecured lid from the crate. She took one look inside, ate the ornate crystal decanter packed in straw, and ammended her statement. "That's even better. I'll get glasses."

She ran out of the room, towards the kitchen, but stopped halfway through the living room. It's happening! He said it! She looked back at the doorway she came through, and turned to face it. She needed to respond, tell him how she felt about it. She turned back towards the kitchen. She also needed to calm down, give herself time to get her nerves under control. She turned around again. But, it would be rude not to respond promptly. She turned around yet again. Though, her mouth suddenly felt very dry.

With a frustrated shout, she turned around one last time and ran back into the foyer. She charged at the confused pony standing there and threw her claws around him. "Thank you," she cried, burying her face in his soft fur. "Thank you, yes, I accept, Spike. Of course I do! Earthmate or not, I want this. I want you, and I would gladly have you by my side."

She pulled back, looking up as he smiled down at her. Then, as he opened his mouth to respond, she ran off again, leaving a very confused pony to throw his hooves in the air.

Spike scratched his forehead and leaned against the crate. Well, he finally said it. And, it seemed, he managed to thoroughly freak her out. Still, she said yes. He brought his hoof to his neck, where she buried her face when she hugged him. "Holy crap," he muttered breathlessly, "she said yes."

There was a clinking sound, and he looked over to see Rarity enter the room again. A pair of delicate looking glasses trailed behind in her magic. She smiled, shyly, refusing to meet the pony's eyes. "Shall we, dear?"

"Huh?" He glanced down into the box. "Oh, yes!" Realizing that the fancy decanter was a beverage of some kind, he worked it out of the crate and floated it over to the coffee table. He admired the clear as water, yet bright red, liquid as the faceted container caught and reflected light from around the room. "What is it?"

"Only one of the most sought after beverages in all of Draconica, Ruby Fireball." She set the glasses down on leather coasters as she moved to his side. Both of them were now staring into the crystalline depths of the drink. "Finely powdered ruby, fire opal, pyrope, realgar, and cinnabar, blended with a slow-brewed cinnamon concoction, then filtered and reduced. Five hundred liters of raw brew are simmered down to produce the amount in front of us. Only a few hundred bottles are produced each year."

"Sounds spicy," Spike noted. "Have you had it before?"

"I wish, darling!" Rarity leaned over the decanter, catching sight of her reflection in the facets. "This is the first time I've even seen a bottle so close. Isn't it just marvelous? Even the container is a work of art."

Spike leaned in to inspect the bottle closer. "It is nice," he agreed. Each face was flawlessly cut like the facet of a gem, surrounding a minimalistic pink label, on which, sat a logo of gold leafed flames centered around a single faceted ruby, probably less than a single carat of weight. "How expensive is a bottle of this stuff?"

"I don't rightly know," she admitted. "I've never made it off the waiting list." She glanced over at Spike. "I suppose this is a gift from your mother?"

"Yeah," Spike nodded, "I guess. This doesn't seem like something that gets sent by accident." With a sigh, he added, "she knows."

"Knows?" Rarity raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"Us," he shrugged, "that I'm Terris, and you're the Earthmate."

"I see," a blush rose on her face, "so, this would be a congratulatory gift?"

"What would she be congratulating us on?"

Her blush deepened. "Let's just nevermind that for now."

"Oh. I see." Spike scratched his cheek. "Is it alcoholic?"

"Oh, most definitely not. Can you imagine? It would burst into flames the second a fire-breather tried to drink it. All those gems and and spices?"

"That makes sense, I guess." He looked over at her. She glanced over, but looked away the moment their eyes met. "Hey," he put his hoof around her, and leaned in to whisper, "why don't you sit down? I'll pour."

"Sounds like a good idea." Rarity made her way around the table, and climbed up on the sofa as spike unsealed the decanter. The scent of cinnamon filled the room like incense. Subtle hints of other spices mingled with it, becoming stronger as Spike poured out a small amount into each of the glasses. "Oh, my, that is quite powerful, isn't it?"

Spike nodded his agreement as he sealed the beverage back up. A tentative whiff off one of the glasses was rewarded by a sinus-cleansing wave of spice. "Like fire without smoke," he mused, before clearing his throat. "This would probably get that stain off the Library's kitchen counter. The one by the sink?"

Rarity gasped as Spike made his way around to her. "You wouldn't dare! Besides, you should have another way to get a stain out of a granite counter."

"Sure I do," Spike laughed, climbing up beside her, "but melting the countertops might damage the cabinets." He offered her one of the glasses, and sank backwards into the cushions with a sigh. "I've tried my new magic a few times, and I can't seem to make stone move like you do. Every time I try, I end up with a blob of lava."

She moved, pressing herself against him. The cushions sunk even deeper under the weight of two now. "You're focusing too much on making the stone liquid, and not enough on the movement itself. I used to do the same thing. I'll help you with it, but later. For now, we're alone, with a strong drink. There are more appropriate things for us to discuss, aren't there, dear?"

"There are," he agreed. With a smile, he ran his hoof over her cheek, following the smooth scales back until his hoof was resting on her side. "Let's discuss them, shall we?" He took a sip of his drink, and promptly forgot whatever else he was about to say. The small amount of liquid that splashed onto his tongue had evaporated into a white-hot mist. He gasped, the room's air fridgid as it washed over the inside of his mouth. His face flushed red as he forced his mouth shut, and swallowed the faintest drop of liquid. It was a dull burn all the way down, radiating warmth from deep within him. "Wow."

Rarity chuckled at his unfocused gaze. "That good?" She regarded her glass for a moment, and took a sip as well. She was more adventurous than Spike had been, and had to clench her mouth shut to fight the urge to immediately cough it up. She swallowed it down, coughing as it burned its way to her core. "I've eaten magma that wasn't this hot." Air tingled against the walls of her open mouth, bitingly cold. She closed her mouth quickly, swallowing the residual flavor. It was much more pleasant the second time, the after-taste of cinnamon and ruby distinctly noticeable. Her second sip was much smaller, just enough to gain a stronger hint of the flavor. Her lips burned as she licked the faint trace of the red liquid away. "My, my."

"Unexpected," Spike said as he stared into his glass, "Isn't it?"

She chuckled at the statement. "That's an understatement, dear." She looked up at him, and leaned close, chin pressed to his chest, ruffling back and forth in the unruly fur. "Your face is positively flushed, darling. Is it too much for you?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he replied softly, tucking his own chin to put himself snout to snout with her. "How about you? Your face is almost as red as our drinks. Too much cinnamon?"

"It isn't all from our libations,"she confided, with a devious smile. She inched closer. "I wonder what else could be contributing?"

"Hmm, I wonder?" He ran his hoof through her flowing crest. "I have a theory, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it." He tilted his head as he slowly moved closer. "Stop me if I'm wrong."

"Never, darling," came the whispered reply as Rarity closed her eyes.

Someone knocked on the door.

Spike looked up at the source of the sudden sound. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Ignore them," Rarity whispered, "maybe they'll go away."

"Rarity?" Asked a voice.

"You in there, honey?" Asked another.

"My parents," Rarity hissed as she jumped up, running her claws over her scales and crest in a rushed attempt to smooth out her appearance. "They have a key," she warned Spike as she hopped down from the sofa. She called out in a hurry. "Mom! Dad! Let me get that door foor you."

While she headed to the door, Spike hopped off the couch. He quickly poured the contents of both glasses back into the bottle, then stuffed it and the empty glasses back into the crate. As he stood there, ready to slam the lid back in place, he froze. He stared at the bottle, its ruby red contents shimmering.

What was he doing? He and Rarity were both young by any dragon's standard, but they were mature, independent, and fully capable of having a drink together without having to hide it or make excuses. But things were going past just the drink, and these were her parents. How embarassed must she be? He would be mortified if Celestia ever caught them, despite the fact she seemed to be encouraging things.

The door opened, and he slammed the lid down, shouting, "Crate's almost ready to ship out!" He swallowed hard, almost as hard as he had swallowed his pride with that proud exclamation. He glanced at the floor, and resolved to swallow the rest of his pride for Rarity's sake. He grabbed the nails off the floor and started hammering them into the crate with his hoof.

He finished up with the crate, drawing stares from the three dragons by the door. Rarity and her parents watched as he carried out his grand deception. He double-checked that the lid was secure, inspected the label, nodded his head sagely before hoisting the crate with magic and heading straight for the door.

Magnum and Lapua watched the pony marched out, then looked at each other. "We interrupted something," Magnum told his wife.

"I agree," Lapua responded, glancing back at her daughter.

"No," Rarity waved her claw rapidly, dismissing the notion, "not at all."

"We can tell," Lapua countered, "Your face is flushed, and I know the smell of real Ruby Fireball."

Magnum nodded his head towards the door. "Go."

"Thank you," Rarity said quietly, and ran after him. It didn't take her long to catch up, but they were out of earshot from her parents by the time she did. He turned around as she ran up, and she threw her claw over his mouth before he could say anything. "Spike, thank you for trying to save me from embarassment, but it isn't necessary. We aren't going to hide. From now on, I want you to be proud of us." She lowered her claw and, despite the distance between them and any dragon listening, whispered, "As soon as we have time, we need to get back together and finish our drinks. And, perhaps, follow things to their... proper conclusion, hmm?"

Spike nodded nervously. "I... I'd like that."

"I know you would," she laughed softly. "Take care, dear."

Spike stared after her as she turned and walked away. His heart was pounding, and he felt shaky as he turned away himself. He held his head high as he marched away with a smile. She wanted him to be proud of them? Of her?

He already was.

Author's Note

Hopefully, the next chapter won't take this long to complete.

Chapter Title : Thorn Without a Rose - Edguy

Return to the Tribe(Paid in Full)

“Spike, my faithful student, please come in.” The voice was loud, like always.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Spike kept his sensitive ears folded against his head as he stepped into the cavernous room, each step sounding a sharp click against the polished stone tile. He looked around the familiar room, relishing in the comfort he had not felt in the last two years. The room was dark, but it was always dark. A single shaft of sunlight, shining through a hole in the ceiling and falling to the floor in the center of the chamber, was the only source of illumination. Spike sat down in front of the light, keeping out of the illuminated circle of stone tile.

There was a soft chuckle ahead of him, issuing forth from the darkness at the end of the chamber. “Now, now, there is no need for such formality; I called you here merely because I am glad to have you back.”

Spike nodded. “Of course, Ma’am.” Spike kicked himself mentally for his slip. “I mean, your highness.”

What was once a chuckle became a roaring laugh. There was movement in the darkness, a shimmering coil of power, at once raw and refined. It seemed to glow with an inner light as it approached the light at the chambers center. Spike watched as it got closer. He was one of the few who did not fear seeing this display. Most beings would be cowering on the floor, if not soiling themselves, but Spike merely watched. A smile formed on his face when he saw the first glint of sunlight bouncing off a scale. His smile as it was followed by another, then another, then another. Then, she stepped into the light. She towered over Spike, then again she towered over pretty much everything. She was the tallest of the dragons, as well as the most powerful, and she looked the part. Scales clad her serpentine form, each hardened plate having the appearance of polished alabaster. Her wings remained at her sides. Were she to spread them, they would hit the chamber walls before stretching to their full width. Her antler-like horns glowed slightly, as did the fur and spines running the length of her back. Unlike her pale-colored horn, her fur and spines shifted constantly, giving the appearance of an ever-burning, pastel fire. She coiled up in the center of the room and looked down at spike. “Your highness is even more formal than Ma’am, just Celestia will do nicely.”

“Of course, princess.” There was silence in the chamber as the two looked at each other, blinking every so often. Something in the moment snapped. He ran up to the solar dragon before him and wrapped a hug around a toe. “Oh, it’s so good to be back! I missed you the entire time.”

She couldn’t reciprocate the gesture, as her claws would certainly flatten the young creature before her, but she moved the very tip of her tail and draped it over Spike’s shoulders in a close approximation. “As did I, Spike. As did I.” The tail uncurled from his shoulders and pushed him back. “Let me get a good look at you.” Celestia lowered her head, moving it left and right as she inspected the smaller being’s appearance. “My, how you’ve changed these last two years.”

“Aw,” spike scratched the back of his head, “I haven’t changed that much, have I?”

“Of course you have, military service tends to do that.” A plated claw reached out and tapped a floor tile. The stone surface rippled for a moment, like a puddle of water. “I assure you, it is definitely for the better.”

Spike stepped over to it to find a perfectly polished mirror where there had once been stone. For the first time in two years, he got a chance to really study his reflection. He did look pretty good. At least, about as well as a pony can be expected to look after two years in the Draconian Military. He had put on some muscle, not too much, but more than he ever would have in the library. His mane, the same emerald green color as his eyes, had grown quite a bit longer. He’ll have to take the time to trim it one of these days. His horn had grown as well. He didn’t know if that was normal or not, so he made a mental note to ask if he ever met another pony. His coat, purple and smooth, covered most of his scars. Most. He had one visible scar, and he made that one scar count. It was a combination of a slash mark and a burn. No fur grew around it, leaving the old wound clearly visible on his left shoulder.

He was one of a group of dragons that completed the basic training. Dragons come in all shapes and sizes, some even smaller him, and they all have different abilities. This makes military evaluation and training a highly individualized process. Sometimes, a dragon will disagree with another’s promotion. In such cases, known as challenging rank, there is a process that must be followed. Five minutes, one rule, no deaths. Of his group, he passed with the highest overall score. He wasn’t as strong as half of the dragons there, or as physically tough as any of them, but he had magic and a quick mind. Tactics came second nature to him, and he could find a way around most obstacles. If he couldn’t, he found a way through them, and that included the dragon that challenged his score.

His name was Fire Flash. Befitting his name, he had scales of bright red and orange. Also befitting his name, his claws dripped flammable oil. He wasn’t particularly large, as dragons go, but he was still three times as tall as spike. He was also ridiculously fast, and his wingspan gave him an impressive capability for flight. It was that speed and flight ability that proved his downfall. A quick cloaking spell on a rock and a dodge at the last moment, and no dragon ever challenged him again. Looking back at it though, Spike wished he had dodged at the second to last moment.

It’s not that he minded the scar, scars were respected by dragons, especially if there was an interesting story behind them, but apparently his supervisors saw the fact that he waited too long as a sign of courage and gave him an immediate promotion. He soon found himself under the wing of General Ice Heart, and things just got crazier from there. But that’s all over now, now he’s back in Dragartha, capital of Draconica. His two years of mandatory military service are over and he has no plans to go anywhere other than the library ever aga-

“It’s really too bad that you have to leave again.” The sound of Celestia’s voice broke Spike out of his nostalgic reverie. He stared up at his teacher, not quite sure if he heard her correctly. For a few long moments, the only sounds in the chamber were breathing and the crackle of a mirrored tile returning to its original state. Celestia blinked, eyelashes as long as Spike was tall created a light breeze from the sudden movement. “Didn’t I mention? Your two years isn’t up for another two weeks.”

Poet and the Pendulum

Rarity entered the library at a run. She slammed the door behind her once she was in. “Twilight?! Spike?!” She started running for the stairs that led up to Twilight’s room.

“Rarity?” That was Spike’s voice! It’s coming from the kitchen. “Is that you?”

She changed course. With a flick of her magic, she threw open the door and rushed in. She stopped running, but her momentum kept carrying her forward. She started talking as she slid past Spike and Twilight. “Oh, it’s just horrible! The. Worst. Possible. Thing! I don’t know what I’m going to do! I need your help! If both of you help, I may only be a little late. Please, please, please, pleeeeeaaaaassseeee?” She clasped her claws in front of her and gave the two her best puppy-dog face.

Spike stared blankly from where he sat near the oven. Twilight, who was laying on the counter, tilted her head back until she could see the frantic dragoness.

“DING!!”

Spike opened the oven and cast the protection spell on himself. It couldn’t be called the iron-scale spell since he didn’t have scales, maybe he could call it the iron-fur spell. Twilight rolled over until she was laying on her belly with her face pressed against the cool, polished granite of the counter-top.

“Oh!” Rarity threw her claws in the air and rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry! ‘Cause, you know, my career is ruined, but hey, no big deal. How was your day?” Her words dripped with sarcasm.

Sarcasm that was wasted on Twilight. “Boring,” she said, face still pressed sideways against the counter. “We made pancakes out of potatoes and sugar water.” She lifted a claw and pointed it at Spike. She made a point to use as few muscles as possible to accomplish that task. “He actually cooked sugar water and put it in a jar.”

“Just wait a few days.” Spike reached into the oven and pulled out a pan. He offered Rarity a reassuring smile. “Calm down, I’m sure whatever it is, it’s something that can be fixed.” Then he offered her the pan. “Hash brown?”

She looked down at the golden-brown patties on the pan. They smelled good, but her career hinged on the events of the next two days. This was no time to be eating! She looked up at Spike and opened her mouth to voice this opinion when a purple claw swooped down, grabbed a hash-brown, and shoved it into her mouth. “Mmh!” Her eyes went wide. She chewed the potato patty thoughtfully before swallowing. “That was good.” She stared at the rest of the hash-browns on the pan. “Savory, and just a little filling, even without meat. Seasoning’s just right too. This would make an excellent breakfast.” She caught herself reaching for another before slamming her claw to the ground. “No! I don’t have time for this. I have a deadline to meet!”

Spike nudged the pan towards her. “Don’t skip meals, you can work faster when your stomach’s full.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Maybe just one more.” She gingerly picked up another hash-brown and took a bite. She chewed, swallowed, and levitated a napkin over to wipe non-existent crumbs from her face. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have skipped lunch.” Her stomach had definitely calmed down after eating a little. Just moments ago, she felt like she was going to be sick.

“No perhaps about it,” Spike set the pan on the counter and took one of the potato patties, “if you skip a lot of meals, it throws your blood sugar off. It can make you jittery, or tired, or irritable.” He blew on his hash-brown to cool it off. Twilight examined the pan’s contents, but made no move to take one. Spike noticed and gave the pan a quick tap, causing her to jump back from the metallic clang as his hoof hit the metal. “They won’t bite, try one.”

She gave Spike a look that suggested she would have rather eaten the rotten eggs. Then she glanced at Rarity, who seemed to be enjoying the weird vegetable pancake. Is it possible that it tastes better than a potato does on its own? With a sigh, she reached a claw towards the pan. She steeled her resolve with a whispered, “for science,” and broke a piece off of one of the hash-browns. The texture seemed inconsistent with the softness of a baked potato, perhaps the odd manner of cooking is meant to impart crispiness? Twilight bit her lower lip. There was only one way to find out.

She closed her eyes,

threw her head back,

and opened her mouth.

Then she dropped in the morsel she held.

She slammed her mouth shut.

…

…

…

It was love at first crunch, love at first wonderful, salty, tasty crunch. How could this be made of potatoes? In Twilight’s experience, potatoes were tasteless, pasty things that were eaten so Rarity would give her a second helping of meat, but this was unlike any potato she had ever eaten. “Wow, Spike, you cook much better than Rarity does.” She took a hole hash-brown and bit into it eagerly. “This,” she said between chews, “is good.” She swallowed her food and took another bite. “You have to make it again sometime.”

Spike swallowed his own mouthful of hash-brown before speaking. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” He dusted some crumbs from his face and licked the last of the salt from his hoof. “Besides, I’m not that good at cooking.”

“I’m afraid I have to disagree, darling.” Rarity took another hash-brown from the pan. “Your skills in the kitchen far outclass mine.” She punctuated her point by taking a big bite out of the hash-brown.

“Really?” Spike looked at the pan. There was only one hash-brown left. “Then wait until you try some of the stuff Grumble makes.”

“I have!” Twilight smiled, remembering the cupcake from yesterday. “He’s almost as good as Pinkie.”

“Just almost?” Spike chuckled. “I’m gonna have to try some of Pinkie’s cooking then, something besides caramel apples.” He turned to face Rarity. “So, how’re you feeling? Better?”

The dragoness replied with a nod, declining to speak since she was still chewing the last of her hash-brown.

“Good, now, tell me what’s wrong.” He struck his best imitation of the military’s at attention pose and saluted. “As a member of the Draconican military, I must remain ready to assist civilians at a moment’s notice.” He wasn’t quite structured right to perform the salute properly.

Rarity smiled despite her situation. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this calm in the face of an impossible deadline. “As a member of the Draconican military, I’m sure you’ve heard of generals Akhekhu and Rinjin.”

Spike lowered his hoof from the salute. “Lord of sand and lady of the sea, you won’t find two dragons more different than those two.”

Rarity shrugged. “They say opposites attract. I was hired to make the ceremonial armor for their wedding.”

Spike nodded, taking this information in stride. “Took’em long enough. Skip to the part where you run in screaming like Jormungandr or Typhon returned from their banishment.”

“Hmmph!” Rarity crossed her forelegs. “I did not react that badly.”

“Sorry,” Spike put his hooves up in a gesture of submission, “I just don’t understand the problem.”

Rarity let out a sigh and unfolded her limbs. “I was getting to that, dear. They came by my shop today to see their vests, and-“

“Wait!” Spike threw a hoof up in front of the dragoness to stop her. “They’re in town? Where?”

Rarity pulled her lips to the side as she glared at the purple pony. “They left. Now stop interrupting.” Spike lifted both hooves again to signal an apology. “Thank you. Now, the problem is, they were supposed to inspect their vests so I could make a few last minute adjustments, but they decided that they want to switch the designs.”

Spike nodded slowly, looking up at the ceiling as his head bobbed up and down. He stopped and looked at Rarity. “Meaning?”

With an exasperated sigh, the dragoness started walking. She didn’t have enough room to pace back and forth, so she ended up turning circles in place. “Meaning that the elegant, blue, water-themed armor that I designed for the slim and long lady Rinjin has to be reworked to fit the blocky and over-weight General Akhekhu. And his desert-themed armor must be similarly reworked to fit her.” She stopped pacing and grabbed Spike by the shoulders. “Now do you see my problem?”

“Yes.” Spike nodded solemnly. “Are you sure they left? ‘Cause I haven’t had a chance to congratulate them yet, and I-“

“Focus!” Rarity snapped at him. “The wedding is in two days! Only family members were invited!”

“All right, all right, calm down.” Spike took hold of her claws in his hooves and lifted them of his shoulders. He lowered them, but didn’t let go. “I’ll help you, just keep calm.” He punctuated his words with gentle lifts and drops of the hooves holding her claws. “Panic doesn’t get you anywhere, I learned that the hard way.” He looked down at his hooves, noticing for the first time that he hadn’t let go of her claws. He stiffened up and let go, slamming his hooves to the ground. “I’ll grab a book for Twilight and we can head to your shop. All military members are required to learn the basics of steel work and armor construction, so I should be able to help a little bit.”

Spike turned and walked out of the kitchen. Rarity started to follow him, but turned around to grab the last hash-brown. Twilight beat her to it and was holding the salty treat in both claws. The hatchling glanced at Rarity before examining the treat she held. With a twist of the claws, she ripped the thing in two. Then she offered one of the halves to the dragoness. Rarity levitated it with a smile and edged up to the counter. The hatchling climbed onto the dragoness’s back and they walked out of the kitchen.

Into the Horizon

Twilight nibbled at her breakfast pastry in an uncharacteristically reserved manner. She tried to keep her gaze fixed on the red and white checkered cloth beneath her, but caught herself sneaking glances towards the dragon and pony sitting on either side of her, each with their own breakfast roll. There were five other dragons gathered around, her aunts and Spike’s friend. They all had similar pastries, each in an appropriate scale. The hatchling was at a loss; she hadn’t spoken since Spike revealed his feelings about Rarity, but there were so many things she wanted to say, so many questions she wanted to ask. But she promised Spike that she wouldn’t- Wait a minute! She didn’t promise anything! She just agreed to hold back.

“This is good.” The hatchling looked up at the pony to her right as he started talking to Pinkie. “You called it a cinnamon roll, right?” The pink dragon looked up after taking a bite from her own pastry and nodded. “Have you ever tried adding nuts? Some pecans would add a nice texture and contrast to the frosting.”

Rarity nodded thoughtfully as she finished her cinnamon roll. “Indeed, these are marvelous, as always, but a tad on the sweet side.” She turned towards Spike. “And I believe it’s pronounced peca~hn, darling.”

Spike scratched his head. “You sure? Everydragon in Roundspire called them pecans.”

“Either way,” Grumble said through a mouthful of pastry, “they’d be difficult to find this far from the southern regions.” He swallowed before continuing. “You could cut the amount of sugar in the frosting and add a bit of fruit to make the sweetness a little less overpowering. Maybe some orange, lemon, or even apple, since it already has cinnamon.”

“Now hold on there!” Applejack had already finished her cinnamon roll, despite it being the largest of the bunch. “Whaddya mean ‘even’ apples? Ah bet apple-cinnamon rolls’d beat the scales off a’ orange-cinnamon rolls any day a’ the week!”

Grumble nodded quickly. “Yes, of course, I’m sure they would.”

Spike chuckled as Grumble scrambled to defuse the situation. The pony then turned towards Rarity, but just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Twilight was staring up at him. He looked down at the hatchling, but she just kept staring up at him with a look on her face that made it look like she was intently trying to figure something out. Spike glanced back and forth between the hatchling and her guardian. He couldn’t say anything, couldn’t ask what Twilight was up to, not without alerting Rarity. He nervously glanced around to see if any of the other dragons noticed the hatchling’s stare, but they all appeared to be preoccupied.

Spike let out a sigh, the only thing he could do was ignore the stare and hope the hatchling held up her end of the bargain. The pony turned his attention to the dragoness sitting just beyond Twilight. “So, Rarity, what made you run off earlier? It seemed important.”

“Oh, that.” Rarity picked up a napkin from a pile sitting nearby on the blanket and wiped her claws on it, carefully removing any trace of sticky frosting. “Just something I’ve been meaning to buy, but haven’t gotten around to.” She lifted a paper bag from the blanket beside her and tapped a claw against it. “It’ll be quite useful with your plant research, but it’s a surprise for Twilight, she’ll get to open it later.” With a sly grin on her face, Rarity set the bag down between her and the hatchling and looked away. After a few moments of silence and inactivity, the dragoness glanced back towards Twilight. The hatchling was looking down at the picnic blanket and tapping her claw against her lower lip. Rarity cleared her throat and looked away again. “I just hope Twilight can handle not knowing what I got for her.” She glanced back out of the corner of her eye, hoping to see some sort of movement, but the hatchling didn’t budge. Rarity crossed her claws in front of her. “For a whole day, knowing that it’s just out of reach.” Again, the dragoness glanced back, but the hatchling still showed no interest in the bag. Rarity looked up at Spike and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Is she ok?”

The pony sighed and shrugged. “Who knows?” He decided not to mention the fact that he had a pretty good idea what the hatchling was thinking about. She was most likely thinking about what he had confessed to her earlier, and who could blame her? Even a hatchling knows that sort of thing comes with consequences. In many ways, Twilight was just like him, and the pony wondered what she thought of him intruding on their lives. He could only hope she was ok with it, but what if she wasn’t? Rarity and Twilight were just as much of a family as he and Celestia were, and he couldn’t get in the way of that. He would have to have an in-depth talk with the hatchling before taking any sort of action.

Unknown to the unsure pony, consequences and approval were the farthest things from the hatchling’s current line of thought. Right now, she had one thing on her mind, actually, two. The first was whether or not Rarity liked Spike back; the second was, if not, could she be convinced to? And not in a way that involved potions, poisons, or any help from- “Oh, no! I forgot!”

Rarity jumped at the hatchling’s sudden exclamation, but it was movement, and the dragoness gave her charge her undivided attention. “What did you forget, darling?”

Twilight looked up at her guardian with a look of worry on her face. “When does Sweetie Belle come back? Wasn’t her trip supposed to be over today? Are we waiting for her?”

“I’m afraid not, deary.” Rarity gently placed a claw on the hatchling’s back. “Mom and dad aren’t going to be back until this evening, so Sweetie won’t be coming on this camping trip. You’ll be able to play with the Crusaders.”

“Speakin’ a’ which,” Applejack piped up, “everythin’s set up with Macintosh, he’ll meet up with yer folks at the boutique and bring Sweetie and her friends back fer a sleepover.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She would talk to the Crusaders about everything later, but for now, it was better that they didn’t interfere. There was just one problem left. She had to get Rarity alone without alerting the other five dragons going on the camping trip, not to mention the one pony. She had a plan for that, but first, they had to reach the first campsite.

Spike let out a low whistle as he watched the scenery fly past. He had assumed the camping trip would consist of a long, arduous walk with the larger dragons stopping constantly to wait for the rest to catch up, but that was far from the case. Applejack, the largest dragon in the group carried the pony and two dragons, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. He and Rarity sat atop a large cloth-covered package. She ran along a well beaten path towards the mountain in the distance. Oddly enough, Rainbow Dash ran beside her rather than fly. Twilight sat on the colorful dragon’s head, holding on tightly to spectral-hued crest. Grumble and Fluttershy flew above them. It had come as a shock to the pony when the shy dragon first spread her wings, they were huge! They easily dwarfed her brash friend’s cyan wings, but she was a much slower flyer. It was also surprising because, until that point, Spike didn’t even know she had wings.

That was several hours ago. They had been travelling at a relatively steady pace since then, speeding up every now and then as the two running dragons held miniature races between random landmarks. Spike looked ahead, towards the smoking mountain in the distance. They were almost halfway there, and, if they continued at the current pace, would reach it just after nightfall. But, Applejack and Rainbow Dash probably needed rest. Spike held his breath and listened intently, tuning out the sound of thundering footfalls. Nothing, he heard nothing. Despite the fact that they’ve been running since breakfast, neither dragon was even breathing heavy. The pony silently wished more of his subordinates had been this in shape, it certainly would have made his job a lot easier.

There was a tap at the pony’s shoulder. He turned back as Rarity leaned forward. “We’re going to stop soon!” She had to yell to make herself heard above the earthquake-like din of running dragons. “Hold on to something!” To illustrate her point, she wrapped a claw around one of the heavy ropes securing the package they were sitting on to the dragon carrying it. Pinkie Pie did the same.

Spike quickly moved to imitate the gesture but ran into one small snag; he didn’t have claws. He tried in vain to get his hooves around one of the ropes, but there wasn’t enough slack to get his hoof under it. There was nothing else for him to hold on to. He ran through his options in his head. He had a spell that let him mimick Grumble’s spit ability, but Applejack would probably hate him afterwards if he glued his hooves to her stuff. He could try to hold on to- “Wait,” the pony turned to face Rarity, "how do you know we’re going to-“ Applejack stopped. The laws of physics took hold of Spike immediately, sending him flying through the air with all the force his inertia could muster and, the pony would have sworn, a little extra, because the universe just hated him that much. He cast his protection spell well before he hit the ground, preventing any serious injury, but that didn’t mean that tumbling through undergrowth at outlandish speeds was ever pleasant. He ground to a halt in a pile of dry, fallen tree limbs, thankful that at the very least, he hadn’t straight-out slammed into a tree. He slowly untangled himself and started walking, following the obvious trail of destruction he had left through the forest’s plants. As he walked, he noticed sparse patches of blue here and there among the plants. He laughed to himself. “I guess that’s another thing to be thankful for.” There was no sign of blue mixed in with the debris of his landing. He could nullify poison joke, of course, it was the same process as nullifying any other magic, but it would be troublesome to perform that spell on himself while under the plant’s effects.

Rarity called out to Spike as soon as he stepped out of the undergrowth. “Are you ok, darling?!” She felt a bit guilty about not giving him more warning, but he seemed unharmed. Using the ropes used to tie down Applejack’s pack, the much smaller dragoness climbed down until she could jump to the ground from a reasonable height. Her pink friend just hopped straight down, landing with a heavy thud and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Spike waved and nodded before walking over to her. “I’m fine, but how did you know she was going to stop? She didn’t say anything.”

Rarity giggled softly. “Twilight,” she said in a pleasant sing-song, “be a dear and explain to our guests why we stopped here.” The dragoness gave Spike one last smile before turning her attention to magically untying the ropes on Applejack’s back.

Rainbow Dash walked around her orange friend and towards Spike. “Dude,” she laughed, “what’s with the stupid grin? You look like you’ve been munchin’ on brimstone.” She lowered her head to allow her small, purple passenger to disembark. Once the hatchling was safely off, the multi-colored flyer swung her head over towards Spike. “Well, well, well,” she whispered, “looks like somepony likes it when somedragon giggles, huh?”

“What?!” Spike shook his head quickly, hoping to clear his face of expression. “So? What does that matter?”

Rainbow lifted her head up and looked over at Twilight. “Yo, kiddo! Run and grab your notebook from Rarity. I want to show this guy your map.” Twilight gave an enthusiastic nod and ran off towards the dragons currently engaged in the unpacking effort. Rainbow watched the hatchling for a moment, then turned back to Spike. “Look, dude, we all know what’s goin’ on, but you better keep in mind that there’s two dragons you’ve got to worry about. If you hurt either of ‘em, well,” she clicked her teeth together, long, pearly razors, each nearly as long as Spike was tall, “these aren’t just for show.”

Spike gulped loudly, memories of his first day in the military filling his mind. “When did things get to that point? I haven’t done anything.” The look on Rainbow’s face told the pony that she did not care. “I told Twilight.”

The dragon’s menacing expression turned into one of confusion. “You what?”

Spike took a deep breath to calm himself, now that the dragon he was talking to wasn’t as threatening. “I told Twilight about my feelings for Rarity. I don’t know how you found out, but I’m not going to do anything until I talk to Twi about it.” He glanced over to where Twilight and Rarity were digging through the contents of Applejack’s pack. The pony sighed as he watched the two search for who-knows-what. “I think I’m falling in love with Rarity, but I can’t ignore Twilight. There’s, I don’t know, a connection, or something. It’s there, I can feel it, but don’t ask me to explain it.” He looked up at Rainbow. “Twilight and I are the same, we never got to know our parents, both of us have had to rely on the generosity of another just to survive, and both of us found more than just survival in that generosity. We found a family.” He looked back towards Rarity and Twilight, it looked they found what they were looking for; Twilight’s notebook. Rarity picked Twilight up with her tail and placed the hatchling on her back. “I’m not going to get in the way of that.”

Rarity walked over to Rainbow and Spike. “Did the two of you lose something?” She set Twilight on the ground between the dragon and pony. “I believe she has something for show and tell. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to help finish with the unpacking.” With that, she turned and left.

Rainbow glanced down at Spike. “Alright, I’ll buy your explanation, for now. But know this, “ she held out her claw in a gesture indicating something small, “you were this close to actually making me cry. If that ever happens, I’ll have to squish you.” Rainbow looked towards the sky before Spike could respond. “Fireball boy! Get your butt down here before I go up after you!”

Grumble landed a few seconds later, cutting his aerial survey of the area short. Rainbow walked away without another word, leaving Spike, Grumble, and Twilight together. The brown dragon let out a groan as soon as he thought Rainbow was out of earshot. “Not the friendliest dragon, eh?”

“Hey,” came the instant reply, “I heard that!”

Spike sighed. “So, Twilight, you said you had a map to show us?”

The hatchling nodded happily. “Welcome to campsite one-alpha-three, the woodland clearing.” She started flipping through her notebook. “As you can see, we are in a clearing in the middle of an old-growth pine forest. The smooth rocky surface of the trail grows wider here than at any other point along the trail, making it the ideal location to set up camp, because you can have a campfire without the risk of it spreading.” She stopped flipping through the notebook and held it out to Spike. It was opened to a page with a decent aerial map, no doubt drawn while riding on the back of Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy. “Its designation breaks into three parts, the one marks it as the first day’s campsite, the alpha indicates that it is the first choice, the three indicates that there are three adjacent areas for fun activities.”

“Wow,” muttered Grumble, “you should be a travel agent.” Spike shot him a glare and the brown dragon shrugged in response.

Twilight just continued talking. “The three fun locations are as follows. One, mining area to the north, abundant gem and mineral deposits, and an unconfirmed native diamond wolf population. Lots of fun. Two, hunting area to the west, you’d have to ask Fluttershy about this. Not much fun. Three, fishing hole to the south, large section of a river, fish are always biting. Tons of fun.” Twilight flipped through her notebook again. “And… That’s about it. Just watch out for poison joke.” Twilight snapped her notebook shut just as a loud growl escaped from her stomach. “Time to eat.” She spun around and marched over to Rarity with poise and purpose. She tapped on Rarity’s leg to get her attention, but before the hatchling could say anything, another loud growl from her stomach made her intentions known.

Rarity looked down and patted Twilight on the head. “How did the presentation go?” She looked around at the supplies that were being unpacked. Everything was neatly organized and laid out for easy access.

“Good, like always.” Twilight climbed over a bundle of metal stakes and made her way to a large coil of rope. She sat back in the coil of rope like it was a cushion and closed her eyes. “I have it memorized, so it’s the same each time.”

“Well, aren’t you the organized one?” Rarity walked past the ropes towards bundles of thick canvas. Just past that was a small picnic basket, a tin can with a lid, and a long, thin, fabric-wrapped bundle. The dragoness grabbed the picnic basket with her tail and magically lifted the other two items. She walked backed to the hatchling with the items in tow, dropping the canvas bundle and tin can into the coil of ropes that was currently occupied by the hatchling.

Twilight opened her eyes just in time to catch the falling items. She looked at them for a moment before realizing the meaning behind them. “Yes!” The hatchling hopped up out of the rope coil, clutching the items tightly to her chest. The bundle was twice again the hatchling’s height, but that didn’t deter her in the slightest as she marched off into the woods.

“Twilight! Wait for me, dear!” Rarity looked around for her friends. Pinkie and Fluttershy were nearby, so she called out to them. “Girls! Twilight and I are going to be at the usual spot, be sure to tell the others!” Fluttershy waved back. She may have said something, but Rarity couldn’t be sure. She didn’t have time to worry about it though, Twilight was heading off without her! She took off after The hatchling, quickly catching up with the encumbered hatchling. “You shouldn’t run off like that, darling, it’s not safe to be alone out here.”

Fluttershy carefully untied the last bundle of fabric and neatly coiled the rope it was bound with. She looked over everything one last time before turning to the pink dragon helping her. “Um, Pinkie? Would you mind handling the rest of this? I need to go talk to Grumble and Spike.”

Pinkie popped up from beneath a dark green tarp with two metal stakes sticking out of her mouth like a set of fangs. “Oki-doki-loki!” She moved her lips around, moving the stakes to the center of her mouth. She then spit them out towards the dirt on one side of the clearing. “Just put in a good word for me.”

Fluttershy nodded and walked over to where the pony and dragon were talking. “Um, excuse me?” Spike and Grumble looked up from their conversation, causing the yellow dragon to take a step backwards. “Um, you don’t have to stare.” The dragon and pony exchanged glances, but remained silent. “Um, Twilight and Rarity went for a picnic down by the river, just like they always do. Twilight gets hungry when travelling, so we make sure to bring a bit of extra food for her. The rest of us usually fend for ourselves, but I thought, since, Grumble applied for a hunting license, and you did such a good job with dinner yesterday, the two of you might want to handle food for everydragon.”

Author's Note

Again, Special thanks to Cold Spike and Imaginary Valued for proofreading.

Chapter Title

Into the Horizon by Neverland

Edit - CONTEST OVER!

I'm going to hold a contest! In the next few chapters, I am going to introduce a new character. Can anyone guess who? Leave a comment with your guess, the first person to get it right will recieve a pm from me and get to pick from three different prizes.

1 - A pony OC can be mentioned in one of my other fics.

2 - A dragon OC, or a dragon version of a pony OC can be mentioned in this fic.

3 - You give me your address (via pm),I send you a poly-clay keychain in your choice of Rarity, Pinkie, or Big Mac Cutie Mark.

Rules!

1 - Use the format, "My guess is ________!"

2 - One guess per person, If you have multiple guesses, I will not accept any of them. If that person guessed correctly, the next person with a correct guess will win the prize.

3 - To avoid spoilers, I will not say who won or that someone did, in fact, win. I will contact that person directly.

4 - The contest will end when I introduce the character. If no one has guessed it by then, I will pick a winer at random and the contest will end.

The Final Countdown

Fifteen seconds.

Ice Heart looked around.

Thirteen seconds.

Everydragon was sitting around the mouth of the cave. A few of them talked quietly, but the overall atmosphere was one of silence. He stood up and started walking, claws clicking softly against the stone below.

Five seconds.

His actions earlier probably played a role in it, but he had his reasons for what he did.

Three seconds.

He approached Spike and Rarity as they rested nearby.

Two seconds.

He positioned himself behind the sleeping pony without Rarity noticing.

One second.

He took a deep breath. “Time’s up!” The small dragon booted the pony away from the dragoness, sending him on a tumbleweed’s journey across the grey stone of the mountain.

The pony came to a skidding stop with his snout hanging over the edge of the flat mountain top. He shrieked and scrambled back like a crab, away from the edge and towards the relative safety near the cave. He glared over at Ice Heart, breathing heavily from the shock of the drake’s bizarre wake-up call. “Are you crazy?! Were you trying to send me over the side?!”

The drake crossed his claws in front of him and looked away, feigning interest in some random speck of the landscape. “I thought you would fly, is all.”

Nearby, something in Rarity snapped. She stomped over to the drake, no longer caring who was stronger, or if he was within his rights as Spike’s commanding officer. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. “I have had enough!” She yanked the smaller dragon up by his scarf and held him in front of her, snout to snout. “I don’t care how powerful you are, or how high up you are in the military. That doesn’t give you an excuse to treat everydragon else however you please!”

Spike walked up to the dragoness and sat down next to her. “Yeah, what she said.” He yawned deeply, holding one hoof up over his mouth. “Would five more minutes have been too much to ask for?” He smacked his lips and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I was almost full.”

Rarity took her eyes off the small drake in her grasp just long enough to glance over at the pony beside her. “Full?”

Spike stood up and walked over to where Chrysalis lay collapsed on the ground. “Yeah, best meal I’ve had in ages. I should thank you, but it was the midget’s idea.” He tapped the prone changeling with a hoof. “This thing is pretty creepy, isn’t it?” He lifted his hoof and slammed it down on the changeling’s head, shattering it into thousands of crystalline shards. “I’ve never had something imitate me before. It’s kind of an interesting switch-up.”

A growl started forming deep in Rarity’s throat as a green glow started to envelop the pony. The growl grew more pronounced as Spike’s form changed into that of the changeling queen in a dazzling display of green light. “You…” She twisted her claws on the drake’s scarf. “I am going to make you regret everything, you little twerp. Making Twilight cry, hurting Spike, everything.”

Ice Heart’s legs kicked in frantic spasms as the dragoness’ twisting claws drew the rough cloth around his neck tighter and tighter. “Not the scarf, not the scarf,” he choked out through an airway straining for air, “anything but the scarf.”

Chrysalis laughed and walked away from her icy clone. “Oh, this place sure is lively, isn’t it? I may just grow to like it here.”

Rarity ignored her and continued twisting the rough garrote of Ice Heart’s scarf. “Listen well, because I’m only going to ask this once.” She leaned in close the drake, keeping her voice low and dark. “What did you do with Spike?”

“Cave,” the older dragon croaked, “he’s in the cave!” He fought for a few seconds, then suddenly winked out of existence, leaving Rarity holding an empty scarf. Before she could react, Ice Heart walked up beside her and snatched his scarf away from her. He coughed and rubbed his neck. “A life hung in the balance. If you choose to begrudge me my decision, then so be it, but I do not regret what I have done.”

Rarity looked over at Chrysalis. “When you put it like that...“ She clenched her claws and slowly looked away. “Fine. I’ll overlook it this once. But, you are going to tell me exactly how you were able to make her bleed red. And you will use somedragon else as the fool next time.”

Ice Heart shrugged. “Sure, why not? I force fed her some of the strawberry syrup that was in that bag of food you guys brought.”

The changeling nodded. “It was pretty good, too, except for the… forced nature of the ingestion. Oh, and vomiting it out, of course.”

“Vomit it…” Rarity’s eyes went wide like a squirrel's. “Ugh!” She grabbed a rock and frantically scraped at the red smear on her chest-scales. “I take it back! I don’t forgive, condone, or overlook anything you two have done, or will do from here on out. You two are officially at the top of my list of worst dragons ever.” She stopped scraping and pointed the rock at Chrysalis. “Before you say anything, cause I just know you’re dying to, I don’t care that you’re not a dragon. You are still the worst, and you are still on that list.”

The changeling gave a mock salute. “Duly noted. Anything else?”

“Yes.” Rarity inspected her scales, making sure all trace of red was gone. “If you ever spit upon me again, I will tear you into so many tiny pieces that it will take lifetimes for you to regenerate.”

“Well, that’s not exactly how it works.” Chrysalis chuckled. “Even I am not entirely-“

“Stop.” Rarity pointed at herself. “Does this look like the face of a dragon that cares?” After a moment of silent stares, the dragoness forcefully dropped the rock she held. “I thought not. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on Spike.” With that, she walked off, snout held high and lips pursed thin.

Ice Heart and Chrysalis watched her walk away in silence. Once the dragoness was out of earshot, the drake let out a low whistle. “She’s a grumpy one, isn’t she?”

The changeling nodded her agreement. “Probably not getting enough fiber.”

Author's Note

Bypassed the proofreaders, hope there aren't too many mistakes.

Chapter title -

The Final Countdown - Europe, covered by Neverland

Over the Hills and Far Away

It was early afternoon when Dragonspire came into view. Applejack had once again taken on the role of taxi service for the smaller dragons in the group, but this time, did not stop running until she was on the hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres.

"Whoo!" More than a little winded, she looked down at the expanse of towering old apple trees and smiled. "Told ya we'd make it 'fore supper." She started down the hill at a slower pace, keeping an eye out for specks of color between the trees. "Rainbow shoulda made it out here an hour ago, so-"

"There they are!" Twilight shouted. She was perched on Spike's head, since it provided a slightly better height than Rarity's, and pointing at something in the distance. "That's them!"

"That's who?" Spike wondered. He looked in the direction his passenger was pointing. There was a red shape among the trees, not too far away, near a comfortably dragon-sized farmhouse. The shape moved slowly and steadily towards a storage building while three smaller, and faster, shapes swarmed around it.

"Why's he goin' ta the barn?" Applejack started down the hill. "He's s'posed ta come meet us."

"Who is?"

"Mah brother." Applejack sped up to a dead run down the hill, thundering steps threatening to bounce her passengers right off. "Y'all'll meet him in minute."

"Woohoo!" Twilight grabbed onto Spike's mane like vilebull rider in a rodeo.

"If we make it in one piece," Spike muttered. He grabbed Twilight before she could lose her grip on his mane, and braced himself low against Applejack's back, kind of like how he would if he was on Grumble's back during a rough flight.

Rarity grabbed onto him before mimicking his stance. She had a smirk on her face. "I'm rather used to traveling in this manner. So, how does this measure up to flight?"

"Pretty close, actually." Spike shrugged as best he could while still holding on. "Grumble's a bit rougher, so he's easier to hold onto, but there's-"

Applejack planted her claws at the bottom of the hill, kicking up dirt and grass, and launching Spike forward. Rarity grabbed at Twilight with a cry of surprise, but she flew beyond reach with the pony projectile she was latched onto.

Before he could hit the ground, Spike was struck by lightning. At least, that's what it looked like. The flash, the crack of thunder...

Spike hit the ground with a dull, and Rainbow landed lightly beside him, dancing back and forth as electricity crackled over her body. In her mouth, held as delicately as eggshells, was the purple hatchling in a purple bubble.

The bubble was set down next to Spike as the pony groaned. "Sorry," Rainbow said with a shrug, "I was tryin' for both of you, but you just had to go and move."

Fluttershy jumped off of Applejack, grabbing Rarity and bringing her along as she landed softly near the center of the commotion. "Rainbow, what happened?" she asked, concerned.

Spike rolled over, getting his hooves under him. "Nothing, I'm fine." With a grunt, he stood up and started rolling each joint, checking for damage. "Next time, I want a warning."

"Nothing, my tail scales!" Rainbow pointed at hamsterball twilight, who was having way too much fun. "I sure as Talos didn't do that!"

Twilight rolled over to the group, merrily giggling the whole way. "Spike, this is so cool! You have to teach me this spell. Look, mom, I'm rolling around like Pinkie does."

"You sure are," Rarity replied with a smile. She walked over to her young charge as , much to the hatchling's dismay, her protective bubble started to fade, blowing away in layers like sand in an evening breeze. "Maybe you can convince spike to let you play in the bubble some more after we get home, hmm?"

Pleading purple eyes looked up. "But we just got here," came the puppy-like whine. "We can't just go home without dinner, we never visit the farm without staying for dinner. And all my friends are here, and Sweetie Belle was going to bring me a souvenir."

Rarity sighed and rested a claw on the hatchling's head. "That's right, we don't, and I wish to see my little sister as well, but..." The dragoness glanced back at a certain member of the group who was dusting himself off. There were things she needed to do, and dragons she needed to talk to. "I have something to take care of, so I want you to stay with Spike, ok? Do what he tells you, and don't give him a hard time."

"You got it, mom!" After a quick hug, Twilight ran over to Spike. "Do that again, I want to show the crusaders my new bubble-shield!"

"Uh-" Spike looked to Rarity for approval.

"With a smile, the dragoness nodded. Deeper thoughts racing through her mind, thoughts of trust, time, and possibilities."

"Pinkie!" Rarity shouted at the disembodied voice, blushing slightly.

The pink dragon fell out of a nearby tree, bouncing like a superball. "It's accurate though, right?" She giggled. "Seriously, it took you like, three months before you let me babysit Twilight. Letting Spike do it, even though all your friends are here, tells every dragon something really powerful, like, almost as powerful as that hot sauce I made for Cave's warming last year. Remember, the time that Rainbow dash almost-"

"Pinkie!" It was Rainbow who scolded the party dragon this time. "You promised not to bring that up!"

"She is right, ya know." Applejack looked down at Rarity with a shrug. "Ah know it would have ta be a mighty special drake 'afore Ah trusted 'im ta watch Applebloom. Ah guess that's one point."

If roses would bloom in arctic lands, they might come close to matching the red on white coloring of Rarity's face. "Well, I, I wouldn't-" her eyes met Spike's, and she stopped herself. He looked at him a moment, and at the hatchling looking up at the older dragons in confusion. "Yes," she stated, matter of fact tone surprising even herself. "He is quite special, both to myself and Twilight, and I trust him to watch over her. That doesn't let the rest of you off the hook though, I expect you to help him while I speak with my parents." A shadow fell over the suddenly talkative dragoness. "Who were no doubt resting in the farmhouse when we started making a commotion, and are most likely standing right behind me."

"Nnope." Rarity looked back and up, and up, and up, at the dragon behind her. Standing on two legs like statue carved from crimson stone, he towered over... only the smaller members of the group. This must be the brother Applejack spoke of, Big Macintosh. It wasn't the most fitting name, he was taller than Fluttershy, but not as tall as Rainbow Dash. He was solidly built, to be sure, but wasn't really all that big. He stared passively at the small group and pointed towards the farmhouse. "They're watchin' from the window."

Every dragon leaned to look around the newcomer. Hanging out of an oversized window, two dragons waved, a drake and a dragoness. They were only a little larger than Rarity, similar in color to her, and were dressed in traditional tourist garb. Both wore hats made of straw, with brightly colored fabric bands, one wore sunglasses, and the other, a flowing sundress of tropically patterned fabric.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Twilight waved excitedly. "You're back! Do you have my gifts?"

"Straight to the point," the drake mused, "I like it."

A smaller, closer voice let out a whine. "I'm back too, don't I get a mention?" The red dragon twisted around, revealing a trio of hatchlings latched onto his tail as if they were trying to take down an anaconda. There was a white one, a yellow one, and an orange one, but only the white one seemed interested in anything other than their improbable wrestling match. "I found the perfect souvenir too!"

"Sweetie belle!" Twilight ran to her friend, timing the swaying of the red dragon's tail so she could latch onto her friend's. "What was it like, treasure hunting near the ocean? Were there pirates?"

"No, but we had to fight off giant lobsters!" Sweetie Belle's grip slipped with Twilight's added weight, and the two fell to the ground. "The hotel was over run with them."

Twilight tilted her head to the side. "Did they taste good?"

"Head in the game, guys!" The orange hatchling cried out. "We've almost got him!"

The drake in the window chuckled as the two hatchlings started jumping for the red tail with each pass, but turned his attention to Rarity. "Is that him?" the drake shouted, pointing at Spike. "He's smaller than I expected."

The dragoness gave him a little shove. "Of course not, dear. His head's still attached. She said she was going to tear it off."

Spike choked back a snicker. Rarity had already explained her thoughts on the prophecy to him, and how they were changing, but it made sense that she might have to explain it a few others, like her parents. He waved to the two dragons. "She's tried!" he called out in jest.

The drake smirked at his companion. "See, I told you that was him."

"Our little girl is growing up." The dragoness made a show of sniffing and wiping at an eye. "Are we going to have to hand down all the things we saved from the hatchery?"

"Mom!" Rarity cried in embarrassment.

"THUD!!" A spiky brown shape fell from the same tree as Pinkie and shook itself awake. "Huh, what?" it mumbled groggily, still upside down. "I nodded off, did I miss something?"

Spike welcomed the distraction. "Flip over, Grumble."

"Ah! Grumble!" The drake from the window called. "You win, fair and square, that is definitely not a dragon."

The dragoness smacked the drake in the shoulder. "That's not nice, he may end up as our son in law, at least say, 'he is not a dragon.' Or, better yet, remember his name."

Spike shot an inquiring look at his brown friend, who shrugged it off. "They didn't believe that you weren't a dragon, so we made tiny little bet."

"Ah." Spike nodded slowly. Grumble could probably retire off the treasure he earned of those bets, he made them often enough. But it seemed in poor taste to scam Rarity's parents... Wait... Rarity's parents? Shoot! He had romantic intentions towards their daughter, he needed to make a good impression, but how?

Applejack stepped in, and whether she planned it or not, offered Spike a push. "It looks like Twi wants to spend some time playin'," she nodded to the house, "Ah'll keep an eye on her, why don't ya go say hi?"

Spike thanked her and walked up to Rarity. "Shall we?"

Rarity gulped. "Do I have a choice?"

Author's Note

Be sure to check out the side story. That story will be updating before the next chapter of this one is posted.

Chapter Title - Over the Hills and Far Away by Gary Moore, also covered by Nightwish

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_795580&feature=iv&src_vid=o8gXzDLNWl8&v=meLi4p9uQjs]

Breakfast at Tiffany's

"I just don't see how you put up with him." Spike took a sip of his tea. It was cold, and mixed with a little bit of mint and lemon. It was perfect for starting out a sunny day like today. He and Celestia - she was still in her compressed form- were sitting at the smallest table outside Sugarcube corner, waiting for breakfast. Nearby, Screwball and one of her subordinates sat at a much larger table and poured all their attention over a pile of paperwork. "How did he even get to be on the council anyway?"

"A lot of dragons see him as a hero." Celestia smoothed her crest before sniffing at her own glass of tea. Years of drinking Rose's special blends had spoiled her somewhat, and she wasn't sure about this particular blend just yet. Spike certainly seemed to be enjoying his. "His role in uniting Corith and Iber has gained him countless supporters, and there's also the fact that he's related to Bluescale."

"Bluescale hates his guts though." Spike drained his tea and set the glass down. "And I think he was responsible for Corith and Iber's problems in the first place."

Celestia's eyes snapped up from her glass. "Spike," she said quietly, "do you know what you just implied?"

The pony nodded. "That Greyscale isn't just some annoying politician? That he's responsible for interfering with the governments of our sovereign neighbors and forcing Dragartha into wars that would never have occured without his intervention?" He sighed. "I spoke with dragons named Lapua and Magnum recently, and based on what they said, I can't see Greyscale as anything but dangerous and power-hungry." He took a sip of his tea. "I always knew he was power hungry though."

Celestia's tail twitched. "Lapua and Magnum were the names of the Corith-Iber Alliance's leaders when they tried to invade Dragartha. They are wanted criminals, how did you meet them?"

"They're Rarity's parents," Spike answered. "Based on their story, Greyscale is the criminal. And, while I have some things to check with Bluescale, I don't feel I have reason to doubt them."

Celestia let out a sigh of her own and decided to taste her tea by slamming most of it down in one go. Not bad. "There was a report back then, that those two had been sighted in the capitol. At the time, I believed them responsible for the war, and was about to set after them myself. Bluescale came to me personally and asked me not to pursue it. He also said I should not trust his uncle."

"Psst!"

"They're staying in town." A pebble bounced off Spike's head, and he looked up, to see where it dropped from. "You should speak with them."

"Psst!"

"I probably should," Celestia conceded. She hadn't revealed everything about Greyscale's recent threats to Spike, but she could at least tell him, "Greyscale's actions, as of late, have grown bolder."

As Celestia took a sip of her tea, another pebble bounced off the side of his head, with more force this time, giving Spike a sense of the direction it traveled from. He looked over at the corner of the building, but there was nothing there. Wait. Grumble just poked his head around the corner and waved Spike over before disappearing again.

"Spike?" Celestia set down her empty glass. "Are you alright? If you aren't fully recovered, we can always-"

Spike held up a hoof. "I'm fine," he reassured her with a smile, "It's not the first time I've been stepped on, and it probably won't be the last. Excuse me a moment?"

Spike disappeared in a flash of magic.

When he reappeared around the side of the building, Grumble was waiting for him. The larger dragon grabbed the pony and dragged him towards the wall before sneaking one last peek at the white and pink dragin Spike was sitting with. "Dude, who's the hottie?"

Spike buried his face in his hooves.

"Hottie?" Celestia asked from her perch on the drake's head. She was laying on her belly, elbows propped up and resting her head in her front claws. "Why, Grumble, you flatter me." She hopped to the ground, leaned up to plant a small peck of a kiss on the tip of the surprised drake's snout, and gave him a little wink before strutting away. "You're not too bad yourself."

Spike groaned as she turned the corner with a satisfied, "Hmph, I still got it."

Grumble just stared at the corner. "Dude, how did she know my name?"

"Trust me," Spike deadpanned, "you don't want to know."

The pony headed back to his seat just in time to meet the waitress that was bringing their order, a familiar pink dragon who was carrying the tray atop her head. "Oh, hey, Pinkie. I forgot you-"

"All righty!" She grabbed his head,wrapping it entirely in her giant claw, and muffling his words. She flicked her head towards the table, depositing the tray in the center. She also used the opportunity to let go of Spike and whisper, "Ix-nay, on the inkie-Pay! She doesn't know we know each other!" The hyper dragon scooped up the poor pony and looked over at the table. "Here's your breakfast. Two dozen ham and cheese Kolaches, and two kilos of Blueberry and Cream Danish. I'm gonna borrow him for a moment, K? Thanks! Bye!"

An unblinking Celestia reached for a kolache as she watched her son get pulled away from their meal for a second time.

Spike could only sigh as he was hauled into the back room and thrown into a cold, hard, metal chair in what seemed to be a walk in fridge. "Who was that?" Pinkie demanded as she pulled a bright light down and pointed it in Spike's face. "And why did she kiss Grumbly?"

Spike walked up to Sugarcube corner from behind a nearby tree and made his way back to the table. "Sorry about that. I had to teleport away." He calmly dusted himself off before sitting down. "So, where were we?"

Celestia didn't look up from her half-devoured kolache. She merely pulled off another chunk of chewy, salty, hammy, breakfast pastry and stuffed it in her mouth. "Spike doesn't sit like that," she said between chews.

"Damn it!" He threw his hooves in the air in exasperation, and slumped back in his seeat. "Why can't I just make one convincing copy here? Huh?" Green flames engulfed him, and Chrysalis returned to her normal form. "Five minutes, that's all I ask. Let me fool one of you guys for five freakin' minutes. Is that too much to ask?"

Celestia stared at the changeling while she finished her kolache. After that, she picked up another, but didn't take a bite. "Do I know you?"

"I doubt it. I come from some bizarro alternate universe where my transformation abilities are actually effective." Chrysalis sighed and straightened up. Then she started cutting herself a slice of the danish. "I probably look familiar because I look like pony boy. Four hooves, one horn, fangs, and a sexy, swishy tail."

"It's not that." Celestia offered her one of the smaller plates that was delivered with the food. "I recognize your scent."

Chrysalis stopped cutting.

"I can't place it," Celestia continued, "but it's very familiar." She scooped up the changeling's piece of danish and set it before her. Then she started cutting a piece for herself. "I had a similar experience when I first met Spike. It wasn' possible that I ever met him before, yet I felt that I recognized his scent. You two are the only ones I've ever felt that way about."

"Ugh! Don't get caught up in her pace!" A short, purple hatchling stormed up to the table from behind the same tree Spike appeared from. She stomped right up to Chrysalis. "What happened to the plan? We had a script and everything!" Twilight climbed up into the changeling's lap, and then from there onto the table. She grabbed the nearest thing she could, one of the kolaches, and pointed it at Celestia. "Spike has Rarity. If you try to get in their way, you'll have to go through me."

Celestia smiled sweetly. "You must be Twilight."

"I am. Who are you?" The hatchling's stomach growled as the scent of warm bread and melted cheeses wafted up from her pointing implement. "And what is this?" She swallowed hard, realizing that she and Chrysalis had skipped breakfast to come spy on Spike. "This smells kind of... delicious."

"Quick question, young Twilight Sparkle." Celestia leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and forcing the hatchling to retract her kolache. She waited a moment while the hatchling held the pastry in both claws and nervously tapped the crust. "Did you enjoy the books I sent you?"

Twilight's eyes grew in size, and her fidgeting stopped. "That was you?"

Celestia nodded. "Postmarked, Tia from the Royal Archives Overstock Department, 1 Castle Way, City of Dragartha."

"Thank you!" The hatchling wrapped her arms around the white Dragiin's neck, hugging her tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! The library hasn't had that many new books in as long as I can remember! You need to come over, Spike helped me organize them all, and it all looks really nice. We still have room too, are you planning on sending more?"

"Now who's getting caught up in whose pace?" Chrysalis scoffed.

Twilight released the hug to turn around. "Shut it," she snapped at the changeling, before turning back to face the other dragon. "And you still can't get in the way. Spike and Rarity are more important than new books."

"I believe you," Celestia said with a nod. "After all, I'm the one who sent Spike here in the first place."

The kolache fell from Twilight's claw. "You're my new favorite dragon," the hatchling said in quiet wonder, "I hope you know that."

"I do now," Celestia giggled. She picked up the fallen pastry and set it on a plate in front of her, then offered the hatchling a fresh one. "And it makes me really happy."

Spike walked out the door to Sugarcube corner with a paper bag in his mouth, his head held low and a coffee stain on his left shoulder. He let out a weary sigh as he approached the table.

"Shoot!" Chrysalis excliamed when she saw the pony. "It's the Fuzzy! Time to go!" The changleing was once more engulfed in flames as she reached for Twilight. Bright yellow hooves wrapped around the hatchling's midsection as she grabbed a kolaches with each claw, and Chrysalis flew off, fiery orange mane flapping in the wind. They made it about twenty meters before their flight plath started dipping towards the ground. "How are you so small and still so heavy?!" Chrysalis groaned, flames engulfing her as she changed into another winged pony, a slightly larger, blue one this time.

They managed to pick up a little height with the change, at the cost of some speed.

Spike shook his head as he sat down across from Celestia. He dropped the bag, contents clinking together inside, and reached for a kolache. The plate was missing a good number of pastries, and he didn't even get one yet. "What did they want?"

"Not sure," Celestia mused. "Though, Twilight was kind enough to thank me for the books I sent her. Who was the other one? Was she a pony?"

Spike glanced over to where Chrysalis was still struggling to fly off into the distance. "Somehow, I doubt it." With a shrug, he continued, "She called herself a changeling, and she can transform her physical appearance. But, when she does, it also changes her scent and mannerisms. It isn't always perfect, but it's more than a simple camoflage. " He sighed. "Her magic reminds me of the creatures found beyond the Tartarus Gate."

Celestia shared a shrug of her own. "Perhaps that's why she smelled familiar. She sure looked like a pony."

"Yeah," spike agreed half-heartedly, "I guess." He started loading a plate with meat-and-cheese-filled pastries. "She says I don't though, and all the ponies she's transformed into so far have been... a little on the short side? I don't know. I get this weird feeling there's more to it than I want to know."

"That's surprising." Celestia finished cutting the piece of danish the changeling had started on and set it on Spike's plate. "I would have expected you to be much more excited about finding a lead about other ponies. How long has she been living here in Dragonspire?"

"Since I got stepped on, I guess?" Spike took a fork and started cutting into his pastries. "I ran into her in the woods during the camping trip. She attacked me, and I guess she was trying to replace me."

"Obviously, that didn't happen." Celestia finished off the last of her tea. "How did that work out to having her stay in town?"

Spike paused with a fork full of pastry halfway to his mouth. "Apparently, she derives magical nourishment from positive emotions." Spike took a bite and chewed for a moment. "She survived the windthread spell, and fighting with me and Ice Heart, oh, and Rarity... Eh, let's just say she was badly injured, and we had a chance to talk to her a little. She was starving out there in the wilderness, and she's promised to behave herself for the most part."

Celestia started helping herself to a large portion of danish. "And you trust her?"

Spike shrugged. "She'll literally die if she doesn't have any friends." The pony looked down at his hoof. His magic hadn't manifested itself since he left the vet's office, but he couldn't help but remember when he first woke up, how his earth magic was somehow intertwined with the changeling's as well as Rarity's. "Hey, mom? You know those stories you used to tell me about the old legends?"

"Of course I do." Celestia smiled at the memory. "It was impossible to get you to go to sleep without a story of some kind. Did you have a particular story in mind?"

The pony set his fork down. "I did."

Before the pony could continue, Celestia nodded slowly. "The legends of the Earth King?" She smirked at the surprise on the pony's face. "Spike, I already know. Ice Heart told me about the temple." She looked down, smirk fading. "I never would have expected you to be Terris, or that I would send you straight into the arms of the earthmate, but both happened."

"Yeah, they did." Spike scratched his mane, looking down sheepishly. He couldn't read the expression on her face. "Are you disappointed? The Earth King was supposed to be some powerful hero, not a little pony that can't keep himself from getting stepped on."

Spike," Celestia scolded, pointing a claw directly at him, "don't you ever say that again. You may be a little pony, but you are my little pony, and I am just as proud of you as I have ever been. You may be Terris, but that doesn't change who you are, or how much I love you." Her expression softened and she lowered her claw. "If... if anything, I'm glad Terris is someone I can trust."

They sat silent for a moment before Spike spoke up, "thanks, mom." He straightened up in his chair, and pushed his plate away. His appetite was gone, and there were more important things to discuss. "So, what does this mean? What, exactly, is Terris supposed to do, be, accomplish, or whatever? I'm guessing there's more to it than was in those old bedtime stories."

"There is." Celestia glanced around. "But this is not the place for it. One day soon, I will take you to meet someone important, and I will tell you everything. Until then, I must ask you to be patient."

Spike nodded his understanding. Important dealings often require secrecy, he knew enough about politics to understand that. "I'll wait then. Here, Pinkie gave me these as an apology. Want one?" He opened his paper bag and dumped it out on his plate. Small gems clattered against the ceramic. He picked out a small sapphire, and tossed it in his mouth, crunching it in his back teeth. "So," he said between chews, letting the gem's flavor wash away the taste of his breakfast as he powdered it between his teeth, "can you at least tell me who you want me to meet?"

Celestia reached for the plate, picking through the pile of gems. "Why, your aunt, of course." With a smile, she picked out a peridot and an emerald, then excused herself from the table. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there are a few dragons I need to go introduce myself to."

Author's Note

It's been a long time coming, and I apologize for the wait. Starting my own business took most of my free time, but I should be able to update more consistently from now on. Thank you all for sticking with me.

Hmm. I don't think indents are working right.

Chapter Title

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something
Covered by Eric Calderone