//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Victory // Story: You Can Count On Me // by Ekhidna //------------------------------// Chapter 7: Victory The two dragons carrying Spike left him a meter in front of Ember. Behind her, Spike could see the eight Elders looking at him with varying grades of contempt. Looking directly at Ember’s eyes Spike could see she was fighting back the urge to hug him, but he still smiled when he saw the soft, tender, sincere smile Ember was giving him. Ember hit the ground with her scepter twice making a wave of red light cover the entire stadium. “Congratulations, dragon Spike, you have won the Tournament of Bonding. Truly, you have proven to be a suitable companion and second claw to Lord Ember herself with your display of skill and power,” Kroxus said with absolutely no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction. “Against all odds, you managed to come on top each time. Despite your numerous enemies, you defeated them with the power that can only belong to us dragons. Even with your several disadvantages, you have demonstrated enough competence to be worthy to stand side by side with Lord Ember,” another Elder said. “We, the Council of Elders, salute you on your victory,” the eight Elders did a short-lived bow. “Step forward, Spike, claim your prize and place beside Lord Ember. May your rule bring power and glory to all dragons and the Dragon Lands!” With that said, the entire stadium roared in approval. With their gazes still locked on the other, Ember nodded. Spike smiled widely. “No.” The roaring died but a few moments later. “W-what did you say?” A female Elder asked. “I said ‘No’. Want me to repeat it? Fine. No way Jose. Nah-ah. Negatory. I refuse. Tartarus no. I don’t accept. No--” “You insolent Disgrace! Is it not enough that you sully the name of all dragons with your mere unnatural wingless existence!? Have you come to show your undying disrespect to us here today!?” Kroxus yelled, fire spewing out of his maw with every word. “Of course not, honorable Elders. I came here today to further test my abilities. Nothing more, nothing less. I never sought to win this tournament because I wanted to take Ember’s claw.” “That’s Lord Ember to you, Wingless Disgrace!” The other female Elder yelled. “She is Lord Ember to you. But for me? She’s just Ember. One of my best friends and one of the few dragons I actually respect,” Spike said with a wide grin. “Your opinion matters not, Spike. You won the Tournament of Bonding. Lord Ember and you shall be bonded to rule over Dragon Lands together as our ancient rules and traditions dictate. And you WILL honor them,” another Elder said. “You dare to talk about honoring traditions despite using your position to set me up to lose?” Spike asked angrily. Ember turned around looking at the Elders with a slight glare. The Elders were frozen in shock. Standing at her side, he continued. “At first, I thought it was just my imagination since the fights are randomized and all that. But when I fought Raiga I noticed a pattern that was confirmed when I was set up against Zhaitan.” “I fought Raiga at the end of the third bracket. I’m sure you were hoping he would be enough to defeat me, but when I won, you set me up against Zhaitan. And just to be sure, at the end of the semi-finals for in the far off possibility that I beat him I would be too damaged or tired to put up a proper fight against whoever won the other match. Goliath and Garble were nothing more than your failsafe,” Spike sighed. “Now, I don’t have evidence to support my claim, but I’m sure that’s what you did. After all, how could you let the Wingless Disgrace win? Am I right?” “As for your rules and traditions, I’m afraid they don’t apply to me, Elders,” Spike smirked. “I was hatched, fed, raised, educated, and housed in Equestria under the vigilance of Princess Celestia herself. My home is Equestria. My family and friends live there. I don’t answer to any of you or any other dragon for that matter. My loyalty belongs to the Princesses, not to the Dragon Lord. Only they can command me.” “You are a dragon, you insolent fool!” Another Elder yelled. “You may be nothing more than a blotch upon our glorious kin, but you are still a dragon!” “Is that so?” Spike turned to Ember. “Ember, could you be so kind to order me to do something?” With a knowing smile, Ember took three steps back, then her scepter began to glow. “Spike, as your Dragon Lord, I order you to kneel before the Elders!” She said with a clear, authoritarian voice. “No,” Spike replied crossing his arms while he smiled smugly at the Elder. “Spike, I COMMAND you to kneel!” Ember repeated louder. “Sorry, Ember, but all this fighting left a nasty cramp on my leg, so kneeling will be a bit too hard for me right now,” Spike said in a derisive tone while staring at the infuriated looking Elders. “See?” Spike took a step forward. “The only reason I even showed up at the Gauntlet of Fire was because my scales were itching to the point of madness. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I didn’t care, I only wanted the itching to stop. When it did, I was ready to leave but after hearing what the Gauntlet was all about I decided to stay and win it to protect my home, Equestria. Ember and I worked together; she became the new Dragon Lord and I gained her friendship,” he finished while Ember stood at his side once more. “It matters not. You have won, and you shall become Lord Ember’s life-mate,” Valerian ordered. “Again, I refuse. I won, but I don’t want to be her life-mate. And there’s nothing any of you can do about it, Elders,” his smirk morphed into a shit-eating grin before continuing. “And before you even think about holding up another Tournament of Bonding because of my refusal, there can only be one Tournament of Bonding for each new Dragon Lord, as per your own traditions and rules. The only exceptions to this are if the new Dragon Lord already has a life-mate or steps down before the Tournament is held. Now, the Tournament has passed, I have won, and I choose to refuse the ‘prize’ because I’m not bound to your dragon rules.” The Elders were frozen in place, unable to respond to what Spike had just said. “I’m afraid Spike tells the truth, Elders,” the thunderous voice of Torch made the Elders and the two young dragons look up at him. “What our tradition dictates has been fulfilled and cannot be altered. He’s a dragon and had every right to participate, but he’s not soul-bound to follow our traditions and rules unless he so chooses to. He has chosen to refuse the prize for his victory and, as much as it pains me to admit, he is in every right to do so. There’s nothing we can do about it,” Torch sighed. “Just like the first Dragon Lord, Ember too shall remain mateless until her time as the Dragon Lord ends or she chooses a life-mate of her own accord.” One by one, the Elders bowed their heads in defeat, knowing Torch was right. “Very well. In accordance with our sacred traditions, the Tournament of Bonding is now concluded,” a second or two after an Elder said those words, Ember tapped the ground two times and the red aura vanished. “Hey, it ain’t so bad. Wasn’t your goal prevent me from actually winning the tournament in the first place? You should be happy!” Spike said with a little, mocking smile. “Curb your tongue, you disrespectful whelp. You’ve caused us enough shame as it is. Leave our lands as soon as you can, Disgrace,” Kroxus spat with hate before he and his fellow Elders flew away. “Well that--” Spike was cut short by Ember. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Spike, you did it! Thank you!” Ember chanted while she embraced him tightly while she jumped up and down. Spike was screaming in silence, his eyes wide open while his fingers and toes curled in pain. Desperate and unable to even breathe, he looked up at Torch begging for mercy with his eyes. Torch smiled. “I’ll leave you two alone. There’s something I have to take care of,” Torch said before spreading his huge wings and taking to the sky with one powerful leap. “....nooo…..” Spike managed to squeak out. Several seconds later Ember finally let go of him. “You put your life at risk for my sake, Spike. You… you… I… thank you! I don’t know how to thank you enough, Spike!” Ember cheered with tears forming in her eyes. “You just did,” Spike murmured in pain. Clearing his throat and doing his best to ‘look cool’, he looked up to Ember. “D-Don’t mention it, Ember. You’re my friend. And like all my friends, you can count on me!” Spike said with a wide smile. They stood there for several moments looking and smiling at each other until Ember pulled him into another hug, softly this time. “Thank you, Spike,” Ember murmured. “Anytime, Ember. Anytime,” Spike replied. A few short seconds later their hug ended. Then Spike chuckled. “What’s so funny?” Ember asked taking a step back from her purple scaled friend. “Heh, I just remembered you said many dragons made bets to predict the winner of the tournament, right? Well, I can only imagine the nightmare that’s going to follow to recover their bets!” “Actually, not quite,” Ember began. “There was one dragon that bet for you,” using her scepter, Ember showed a chart carved in solid rock with all thirty-two names of the competitors with his name at the very bottom and a single ‘I’ next to it. “Woah, really? And who bet for me? I think you said the competitors and you weren’t allowed to bet,” Spike asked tilting his head in confusion. Ember giggled. “Who do you think?” Ember then turned around to point at her father carrying almost his own huge body mass worth in gold and gems flying away from the stadium. “Ohhhhhh!” Spike stared dumbfounded. “Anyway, would you like to eat something with me? My treat,” Ember offered with a friendly smile. “I’d love to, Ember. I’m famished,” Spike accepted placing a hand over his stomach. Side by side, the two dragons walked away talking uninterrupted. ------------------******************** Several hours later during nightfall, a flash of purple magic dimly illuminated a street of Ponyville. “Ah, home sweet home,” Spike murmured as he made his way toward his home. His entire body exhausted, aching, and spent. It took him a couple of minutes to reach the Castle, but once he did he stepped inside opening the doors by pulling a key out of his “pockets”. He then made a bee-line to the bathroom to take a long, refreshing hot shower. Once Spike was done with his shower, he used his fire to elevate his body temperature until all the water on his scales evaporated. After that, he made his way to his bedroom. With some grunts and groans, he slipped into his bed letting out a relaxed sigh. He closed his eyes ready to fall asleep when he heard the door of his room opening. “You’re late,” a familiar voice said. “Sorry about that Twilight, my fire took longer than I expected to recover. And maaaaybe Ember and I got a little distracted after the tournament was over.” “That’s a relief,” Twilight sighed. "You went through with your plan, I suppose." “Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it later, okay? You're going to love it! But right now I feel like sleeping for an entire month,” Spike said while Twilight used her magic to tuck the sheets for him. “I’m glad you were able to help Ember, Spike,” she smiled mischievously. "You can still claim the prize later, am I right?" Spike groaned as a blush spread across his cheeks. “You're an expert at killing romance, Twi.” “Love you too, Spike.” Twilight replied. "But in all seriousness, are you going to tell her anytime soon?" "After I improve the use of Amplitude and Fire Jet. As Rarity would say, 'A lady must be courted and seduced'. Winning her hand on that tournament seems woefully anti-romantic for some reason. Almost like giving an entire encyclopedia about Starswirl the Bearded to your earth pony boyfriend, am I right?" Spike said looking at Twilight with a huge grin. "Oh Har, har, har. Good night, Romeo," Twilight said closing the door, but before she shut it completely she spoke once more. "Ember is in for a surprise when you finally tell her," then the door was shut. Spike smiled as sleep began to settle in. "Yeah..." End.