Disclaimer:I don't own MLP. If I did THEN I WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING CAUSE THIS SEASON HAS BEEN AWESOME
"Then she dumped me, and I never had another girlfriend again."
"Um Discord. Why are you telling me all of this?" Spike asked ready to pull his spines out from the last thirty minutes of Discord's rambling.
"Because we're not in Equestria and no one can here all of the embarrassing things I say. Besides its breaking the male code to share information like that!"
"You seem to be forgetting the fact that she's a mare and your a…something."
"I used to be a pony like 1000 years ago. And besides, that's pretty hypocritical of you considering your crush on Rarity!"
"Actually the Zhēng Zhâng made it to where I can only like dragoness now, so that's a moot point."
"That's not how that works. Dragons can have feelings for ponies."
"Well either way I don't have a crush on her anymore.Now you might want to hide yourself since we're coming close to the wall, and I don't think I could get away with a draconeques next to me at all times. Especially since the other one is one of the biggest enemies of the Rebellion."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about him! I believe his name was…Jackie!"
"Not even close. Now hide yourself, we're almost there." Spike told his reluctant ally who shrunk himself and hid inside his armpit. Spike approached the gate and saw a dragon in typical recruit uniform on top who called down to him "Hey kid, what are you doing here by yourself with Sha Qiū running around?"
"I'm here to enlist!"
"Where's your conscription notice?" Spike tossed the scroll up to the guard who read it and dropped it back down into the younger drake's claws "Seems legit. Try not to die!"
The dragon pulled open the gates with the lever to the gates giving Spike and a hidden Discord an opening into the wall. They looked to see multiple different settlements like in the previous wall, but a major difference was that it was also filled with military camps, most of which appeared to be flooding empty due to the incoming battle.
"Beautiful, simply beautiful. I should take a few pictures to show are friends back home." Discord said as he pulled a camera from nowhere and snapped multiple shots.
"Focus Discord, we need to find the characters for the camp I'm supposed the train in; and I can't do that with your yapping!"
"Well aren't you demanding."
After a few more minutes Spike found the Draconic characters for his camp and began heading in that direction. He entered the camp and was surprised to see that everydragon there was a rookie just like him, as instead of acting like veterans they just picked their feet and scratched themselves.
"Well they're kind of disgusting!"
"Not really. It's just their own special way of cleaning up for the commanding officer. It's just cultural differences. Now your going to act just like them so you should pay attention. And act tough, like those guys!"
Discord pointed his shrunken claw to the dragons who looked to be about Spike's age talking to each other. One was a very muscular drake with rough camo green scales and chocolate brown spines that had a very calm look on his face and was eating food on a stick he'd never seen before. But what was really striking about him was that he had two circular scars where his wings should have been.
But his friend couldn't be anymore different. She was a dragoness with cobalt spines, and very ruffled hair like spines in a sky blue color. In front of her was a very lovestruck looking dragon with black scales, with red spines and eyebrows bragging to the Dragoness.
"Look at this tatoo I got, Cobalt my love! The dealer said it will protect me from harm."'he said before Cobalt nodded her head and kneed him where the sun don't shine "Well looks like you'll be needing your money back pervert"
"You really should be more tolerant of Night Stalker's…extravagence. He is our friend after all." The brown one said in calm southern accent.
"If he wants to not get his lunch beaten out of him, he should stop flirting with every dragoness or mare that he meets! That's why I hang out with you more Silent Scout; you know how to treat a ness."
"No offense Cobalt, but I'm pretty sure your tougher then most of the drakes here."
Spike watched their exchange from behind only for discord to turn his hoof into a boot and kick him right in to them. When Cobalt saw the new dragon she gave her average response "Who the halibut are you?"
The purple dragon froze with nervousness at being spoken to and whispered into his shoulder "Um Discord, a little help here?"
"Well you should start by punching someone in the face. That way the others will know you're tough, and won't mess with you!" Discord told him. Spike was a bit confused and quickly answered
"Thanks but no thanks. I don't really feel all that much like dying today." Discord wasn't detered though and regrew his lion law to punch a dragon who was walking by right in the face.
The three dragons in front of him stood with their mouths gapping as the dragon Discord hit rose. He was a very large dragon with blood red scales and large twisted antlers sticks out from both sides of his head. He easily dwarfed any of them. He opened his mouth to speak after a few seconds.
"You think you can just walk up here and punch me in the face like that? Well I tell you, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm gonna rip off your spines and make you eat them you sack of weakness." The large drake claimed in a very squeaky voice.
Every one who heard such a voice coming from such a large and intimidating dragon had to hold in their laughter to avoid angering him any further. But a certain draconeques couldn't contain it "Oh please, Saphire Shores sounds manlier than you"
The antlered dragon couldn't see Discord though and assumed Spike was the one who insulted him. He bellowed an enraged roar at the much smaller dragon who ran while he still had the chance.
"We should probably save him shouldn't we?" Cobalt said before spreading her wings and zooming after the chase.
"Great now he's trying to kill me. Thanks a lot Discord!"
"Anytime."
The chase came up to a line of dragons resulting in both Spike and his pursuer stopping dead in their tracks. However, this didn't stop Cobalt from charging into the line, sending all in it crashing down. The dragons turned around looking very angry that their meals had been destroyed. The antlered dragon pointed at Spike as if to signal his responsibility for the incident.
As they closed in on him Cobalt stepped in "Back up there Slovachek, I don't care what he did but I won't tolerate hurting someone way weaker then you!"
"And what are you going to do about Sexy?" Cobalt scowled at the name and immediately sent a torrent of blue fire right into his face.
Slovachek flailed around blind as a bat instigating a massive brawl amongst the dragons of the unit. Cobalt took down multiple but wasn't prepared for when a dragon came for her from behind. His claw was caught though, by a very pissed of looking Night Stalker.
"Listen up jackass. You can beat up on any of these other jerks all you want, but if you ever hurt a lady in my presence you'll have to answer to me!" Night said before putting the dragon in a chokehold with a nearby stick of wood.
Silent Scout didn't actually get involved like his friends, instead just moving quickly out of the way of any hazards with small movements of his torso or neck. Unfortunately for Spike though, his chubby body had completely burned away by the Zhēng Zhâng leaving him a bony physique, which with his lack of fighting skills lead to a horrible combination.
Meanwhile in a nearby tent, three drakes sat planning on how to track down and defeat the invaders "It is from there we will track Sha Qiū's movement, and conclude his target. Where we will wait to defeat him."
"Excellent strategy sir! I do love surprises." Chi Fu sucked up to the General of the Rebel Army, Quasimodo.The general then pointed to the other dragon who appeared much younger than the other two.
He had silver scales and stood still on the room with red, unseeing eyes "You will stay here and train the new recruits. After you receive permission from Chi Fu, you and your men will join us in battle. Captain Nubuatan."
"Captain?"
"RrrReally? Me, a captain sir?" Nubuatan stuttered from the shock in a very thick trottish accent and deep voice.
"But General, this is an enormous amount of responsibility for someone so inexperienced!" Chi Fu tried to persuade his superior otherwise.
"Inexperienced my hunch. Nubuatan was the top of his recruit platoon, not to mention he has a very impressive military lineage. He should be more than good enough for the position." Quasimodo said as he handed a purple wizards hat to the silver drake in front of him.
"Thank you sir, I swear that I won't let you down."
"Now with any luck, we'll be able to bring down Acnologia without Equestria's help. And we'll celebrate the reforming of the Draconic Empire at Notar Draak. In one month's time I'll need a full report on your progress."
The general and the counselor walked out of the tent with Nubuatan following behind while musing "Captain Nubuatan. Leader of the finest rebels. No, the finest SOLDIERS of all time!"
His hopes were dashed moments later when he saw the group of dragons he was supposed to train beating the shit out of each other right outside the tent. Quasimodo turned to the newly promoted captain and said "Well you've got your work cut out for you! Good luck Nubuatan."
"Thank you…father." Nubuatan softly said as watch the other camps clear out and his father ride away. He then turned his attention back to his misbehaving army and yelled out in a much angrier and gruffer voice than he'd used with the General "Alright ya pathetic piles o' donkey waste. Tell meh what the hay is going on here before ah make ya run all the way tah Griffonstone and back!"
A good majority of the dragons cleared out of the way to show Spike beaten and bruised by the scuffle "This drake started it!"
"Listen up Toothpick, Ah don't need any troublemakers on mah camp!"
"SsssSorry sir."
"What's your name soldier?"
Spike just stood their for a moment as he remembered that his given name probably wouldn't pass for a real dragon name, considering the fact he received it in Equestria "Having some trouble deciding on a name. Maybe you need some help from one who's been around since the old days of the Empire. And don't worry I used a spell to make it where your the only one who can hear or see me. Let's try something cool like ummmm Night! You don't mess with a guy named Night!"
"His name is Night!" Spike said while pointing to the black dragon.
"Do you think I care about his name? I asked for yours!"
"Ok then try Atchu!"
"Atchu?"
"Atchu!?"
"Gesundheit! I should write that down!"
"Discord!"
"Discord?"
"No, that's not my name!"
"Then what is it?"
"Scar! My name is Scar!"
"Really? Then where's your draft notice" Nubuatan asked his new recruit, who immediately handed him the scroll as he looked at name inked on it "Yur Zhao Fragum's son?"
"I didn't know that he had a son. I've met his daughters before but I never knew he had a son. Are you that drake from yesterday?"
Spike rubbed the back of his head as he explained "Well…He doesn't talk about me!"
"Well I can see why. This boy is a complete loon!" Chi Fū stated as Nubuatan regained his no-nonsense demeanor "Well thanks to yur new friend Scar, you'll beh picking up every last grain of rice you spilled untill ah see this little fighting ground spotless! And at the crack o' dawn tommorow, we start for real."
The aliased dragon felt the glares of the others, as he himself glared at the bashful looking Discord "You know, we've got to work on your people skills."
On the northern edge of the Ming Wall, Sars had completely slaughtered the guards at the post. A large and muscley dragon with yellow piercing eyes, black spines, and pale brown scales dressed in numerous pelts stood surveying his handiwork.
This dragon was Sha Qiū, the current possessor of the Element of Water and a commander known for outnumbering his enemies and brutally slaughtering them, taking inspiration from other evil monarchs throughout the age. Including his own.
As he gleefully admired the scene of blood and gore a shadow approached him from behind and spoke in monotone "So you've completed your mission I presume Sha Qiū?"
"Well judging from the fact that none of these bodies are breathing I'd say yes. We've ruffled up Mako's feathers and now get to take down one of Celestia's top allies. Talk about killing two cockatri with one stone. But you'd know a lot about stone wouldn't you Maoza?"
"I've only been defeated after my involvement with Sombra. That's more than I can say for Mania, or Discord as he's called in his current form. And as for your mission, you have no need to kill all of these dragon. It would be illogical to anger Mako too much at such an early phase in the war. But if you are, please make sure to finish all of them off."
The moment he said this a dragoness who was supposedly lying dead on the ground winced noticeably "It appears I have missed one."
With what little time she had the dragoness took of in a mad dash before she saw a rainbow like most appear above her and her body constrict.
"Imperio Curse."
"Now tell me young lady. Should I use my sword to freeze your innards solid, or boil your flesh dry?" Sha Qiū asked his victim with sadism practically dripping off of his deep and slithery voice.
"Kiss my ass!"
Sha Qiū stabbed her and released a large amount of Boil Magic from the sword. Afterwards a picture flew out from the corpse of the dragoness. The killer grabbed the picture and saw the girl he just axed off with a large group of colts and fillies in a snowy environment.
"Well this is interesting."
"Don't get to many ideas. Continuing to fuel that love of blood you have could disrupt your mission. And during a failed mission I am forced to terminate anyone involved. This includes you."
"Relax you robot goat. It's right next to the target. Right on the other side of the mountain in fact. And besides, this daycare will be missing its part-time watcher. The least we could do is explain what happened."
"Don't be too reckless up there, we don't need our enemies notified of our presence." The emotionless being of chaos then disappeared in a flash of darkness, leaving his sadistic ally to continue on to their true destination.
Early in the morning Spike laid down in his tent trying to get comfortable on the ground without a sleeping bag. He awoke to a peculiar smell hitting his snout and looked to see Discord slicing up fish on a hibachi "Like it? It's a draconic style of cooking called sushi!"
"What's it made of?" Spike asked as he picked one up with some chopsticks before Discord shoved it into his mouth "Oh you know the poisonous fugu pufferfish. But don't worry I only left some of the poison in it. Now remember to always listen to your commander and play nice with the other kids! Unless they want to fight. Then you've gotta kick the other kid's butt!"
"Am I late?" Spike asked again through his food filled jaw.
"Don't talk with your mouth full. And don't worry the troops just left without you!"
As soon as he was told that, Spike blasted out of his tent putting his gi and pants on along the way. Discord looked out the flap and sighed to himself "Ah one minute their cleaning up shelves and the next their being trained to slaughter their enemies.*Sniffle* They grow up so fast."
After a few minutes of running Spike eventually stopped at the training grounds, panting like a dog before a large shadow washed over him, and he was picked up by the collar of his gi by a very angry Slovachek "Hey small fry. You look hungry; good thing I've been cooking up a knuckle sandwich for you since last night. You know, when we were picking up grain after grain thanks to you?"
"Attention!"
When they heard the loud and angered voice of their commander all the dragons immediately formed into a line "You may think you can just do whatever when you first get up. But your wrong! First thing every morning you'll assemble swiftly and without speaking. And the first and last words out of your rotted, shit covered cake-holes will be sir! Do I make my self clear?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"For the next three weeks, I will be training you in the art of traditional draconic combat. You will speak only when spoken to and will rest only when given permission." Nubuatan said as he walked past the line of nervous dragons until he came across Night Stalker who was completely out of uniform with nothing but the scales on his back and the pants around his waist.
"What's your name soldier?" The metal coated dragon confronted him.
"Sir, my name is Night Stalker, Sir."
"So tell me Night Stalker, why are you half naked without your gi on?"
"Sir, shirts or any kind of tops make me uncomfortable and I will gladly accept any punishment rather then put on anything other than pants." Night immediately answered.
"Is that so soldier?" Nubuatan said as he focused magic into his left claw, turning it into a crossbow. He aimed the weapon at a nearby pole and shot it into the top.
"Retrieve the arrow without wings, or no food for the rest of the week."
Night Stalker immediately responded by nodding and walked towards the pole preparing to climb before he was stopped by Nubuatan
"Wait, you appear to be forget something." Nubuatan said as he held two weights up for the recruit to catch. Weights which immediately dropped down onto his foot when he grabbed the cloth holding them up.
"These weights represent strength and discipline, and their made of the heaviest metal on Terra: plutonium. You'll need both to reach the arrow at the top."
Night Stalker looked nervous at first but regained composure and began his attempt. Though he put up a valiant effort, even using his teeth at one point he fell to the ground tired and broken.
Nubuatan looked down at the defeated drake before turning to the others "Meet me at the armory at 700 hours to pick the weapon of your choice. Your dismissed!"
"Sir yes sir."
Nubuatan then spread his wings and flew off which triggered the other soldiers to diffuse around. Spike just stood there and looked around for a moment or two before he followed Scout and Cobalt.
The two dragons stood their aching and degraded friend as Scout playfully told him "You got some mud in your…everywhere actually!"
"Shut up you overeating pack of manticore shit. At least I don't eat my weight in dango every day!" Night snapped at his calm friend while scraping dust and mud off of his scales, before turning his attention to Cobalt "Didn't you see how manly I was up there my sweet?"
"If by manly you mean making yourself look like a weakling in front of the entire platoon, then yes. Well well if it ain't King Popularity!" Cobalt declared after she noticed Spike observing them.
"Oh, uhhhh hi there! I just wanted to see if he was ok and all."
"I have to say, for somedragon with noodle arms you've sure got balls, punching out someone as big and crazy as Slovachek. But I have to say it was pretty darn stupid."
"Yeah, it would be stupid to just attack someone out of nowhere!" Spike grumbled bitterly of to the side as if talking to an invisible being next to him.
Cobalt then extended her claw signaling Spike to shake "I'm Cobalt, the greatest flier on Terra. My buddy with over there with brown scales is Silent Scout, and pervert with the black scales and the stupid look on his face is Night Stalker."
"Hiya"
"Hey there. So your really Zhao's son?" Night asked his new friend
"Actually I'm just a guy who was passing by when the draft happened. I'm not even from the rebellion, I came from Equestria!"
"Small world. Which town?"
"Well I was born in Canterlot but then I moved to Ponyville for about a year before I decided to strike it out on my own. And you Night?"
"We're all from the noble city of Prance. I used to be the assistant of a fashion designer before I figured out a secret which made me leave for good. I'd rather not speak about it, but it's a large part of the reason I don't like to wear tops."
"I see, and you two?"
Both Cobalt and Scout tensed up upon being asked this question, with the latter looking angry and muttering something about a 'Pompous pony dirtbag' under her breath, while the former looked as if he was remembering some trauma before collapsing to his scaly knees.
"Oh, was that too touchy?"
Once he regained composure Scout stood up and brushed the dirt off himself before speaking "It's fine, at least we now we're all in boat when it comes to Equestria." It was then when he noticed a large antlered shadow covering him.
"Let's do a headcount. Toothpick, Night Streaker, Sexy, and Fatboy. I'm gonna have fun with my weapons and you."
"First off we only get one weapon so 'weapons' is grammatically incorrect. Second, you don't have any right to make fun of my weight when you could sink a warship with yours. Finally, grow some balls because judging by your voice and your insults only a schoolyard bully would find credible I don't think you have any!"
In immediate response Slovachek laid him out flat in a single punch before walking off in a huff "Just you wait until sparring begins Trash Hole, then your mine."
"What a jerk! Your not going to let him get away with that are you?" Spike asked angrily to Scout who didn't even look bothered by the assault.
"I don't really like to fight; I find it to be a waste of time. The only reason I even signed up for this is because these two wanted to."
"Well you might consider dodging it next time big guy." Cobalt playfully knocked on her friend's head while in midair "Now let's get going, we only have about 10 minutes before Captain Cuckoo Panrs gets back here and bites our heads off."
They flew off to the location (with the exception of Silent Scout, who just sprinted) leaving Spike to ponder his current position in the army "Well at least they like me. Well, I'm pretty sure they do."
"Ah yes but don't forget the bet's not over yet. Get kicked out and your mine."
"Well I gues I'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen Dipcord!" Spike retorted before realizing he had sounded a lot like Rainbow Dash and covered his mouth.
"Sounds like Rainbow's had an influence on your adolescent nature. I'm sure she'll like that when we return to Ponyville. Would you look at the time; its Tea Tuesday with Fluttershy. Au Revoir Scarface!"
Spike found himself very irritated with his travel companion and muttered under his breath "傲慢的混球. Wow, I have no idea what I just said."
"Hey Scar buddy, whatcha just standing here for. We're on the clock you know" Night Stalker asked after returning to the clearing.
"Oh sorry just zoned out for a second there. Don't worry I'll meet you there in a hop skip and a jump."
"By the way, the old snobby councilor said something about Zhao having daughters right?"
"Well one of them' adopted but yeah."
"Well………Are they hot? Oh I can just imagine how breathtakingly beautiful they are. Maybe one of them might date me!" Night Stalker rambled on before he noticed Scar giving him a steely glare "Oh I get it hands off."
"Wait, it's not like that or anything!" Spike quickly responded while blushing.
"Oh sure it isn't. Now come on before we run out of time."
Spike quickly responded to his new friend with a smile and nod and following him by claw, while mentally preparing himself for what he was sure was going to one of the most brutal experience of his young and long-lasting life.