Part 5
There's four days left until our Rating Game against the ponies and I'm looking forward to my next day here in Ponyville as I enjoy the half-sleepiness just after waking up, although the bed does seem a little lumpy this morning.
For once we're not being called upon to fight for some serious reason or to save the Underworld. It's just a friendly match and the best thing about it is that I spend my days training with the girls. In it's own way this is rather peaceful.
I can feel someone stir beside me. One of the Occult Research Club members must have snuck into bed with me again. Wondering who it is (I'm hoping it's Buchou) I turn around.
“Yo, Ise-kun!” he says with a wide grin.
My eyes snap open and I sit bolt upright. “S-s-s-sensei!?” Yes, the man laying beside me is the Fallen Angel Governor and our self-appointed advisor Azazel-sensei. I take a look around and realize that we're not in my hotel room, but some kind of forest. “What's going on, you shitty Governor!?”
“Don't worry, I just brought you out here for training purposes,” he responds, getting up and brushing some leaves off his clothes.
“And this couldn't have waited until I was dressed?” I ask, noticing that I'm wearing my pajamas.
He shrugs. “You can always conjure up some clothes.”
“No, I can't.” I've never learned how to do it.
“Oh, well then now's a good time to learn.” He picks a leaf from a tree. “Otherwise you can always make like Adam and Eve. Funny couple those two. Had to be with nobody else for company back in the day. Always the life of the party, even with just the two of them.”
I keep growling at him. “I'm not interested in a history lesson. Why have you brought me out here?”
“Well,” he says, stroking his chin beard. “I've been worried about your progress. Seems to me like the girls are a distraction for you. So I've decided to conduct the rest of your training here, in the Everfree Forest. An old friend of mine gave me the idea. It's not exactly what I had in mind for your training in the Underworld, but it's close enough.”
“I'm supposed to stay here for four days?” Without Buchou? Without any oppai!?
“I see you understand the situation. Well then, see you Sunday!” While he mockingly salutes me, a bright light begins glowing under his feet and just like that he vanishes through a teleportation circle.
“AHH! Come back here, you shitty Governor!” Damn, I'm so angry right now. I was making the best out of this unexpected situation and now this.
I look around, trying to get my bearings, but I haven't got the faintest clue of where I am. I'm never gonna find my way back to Ponyville and I don't have enough magic power to teleport.
Dejectedly I sit down on the forest floor again. “What the hell am I supposed to do here?”
As if to answer my rhetorical question, a small, purple dragon appears out of the brush and whizzes past me with one word: “RUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!”
My brain is still half asleep, so I can't make heads nor tails out of what just happened and I stare after him in dumb-founded confusion.
Then I notice something else, however. Is it just me or does it feel like the ground is shaking? Thump. Thump! THUMP! Something is crashing through the woods, something large. I feel like a rabbit caught by a snake as one enormous foot steps through the dense vegetation and right in front of me.
I look up and see four snake-like necks protruding from a massive reptilian body covered in brown scales. Three of its heads begin to roar loudly, but what's really frightening is the fourth head. It's looking straight at me, fletching a row of dagger-shaped teeth.
Ah, now I get it. “RUUUNNN!!!” I scramble to my feet and bolt the same way Spike had fled.
As I crash through branches and bushes my clothes get shredded by the sharp vegetation. Even the plants in here seem to want to attack me. I keep taking glances over my shoulder, although I can tell by the shaking of the ground that it's still in pursuit. How can such a large thing move so fast?
I catch up with Spike after a while, matching my stride with his. “What the hell is that thing?”
“Hydra,” he answers, panting heavily. “It must have come here from Froggy Bottom Bog.”
I stretch out my arm and make my Boosted Gear appear. [Boost!] “Can we fight it?”
“Looks like we're about to find out,” Spike answers shakily as our flight is brought to a halt by a sheer cliff face that extends at least thirty feet upwards and into the vegetation on either side.
[Boost!]
It'll take my best technique to take that thing down. “I'm gonna need a minute to power up. Can you buy us some time?”
The little dragon gulps as the creature catches up to us, all of its heads fixed on the two of us. “I'll try.”
I watch as Spike makes a break for the left, his movement getting the attention of the Hydra. “Over here! Come and get me!” he screams, waving his arms around.
[Boost!]
The little guy has balls. I'll give him that much. Come on, Boosted Gear, just one more. One of the heads strikes downwards, trying to catch him between its fangs. Spike jumps just in time, landing on all fours on top of the head that buries itself in the ground. He's shivering in fear like a wet dog.
[Boost!]
That's it. “Spike, get clear!” I shout as I line up my shot. He manages to slide down the neck, hitting the ground hard and rolling out of the line of fire. The gem in my gauntlet begins to glow green as I aim for the body. I won't get a second chance, so I have to take it out in one hit.
[Dragon Shot!]
The energy beam releases and hits the creature dead center. But then something unexpected happens. The blast glances off its scales at an angle, flying into the distance and tearing a path of destruction through the forest.
[Partner! Hydra scales are almost as tough as dragon scales. I don't think your current power level will be enough to penetrate its hide.]
You couldn't have told me that earlier, Ddraig!? Now he just looks pissed off. One of the heads shoots towards me, burying itself in the rock face behind me with splinters flying every which way as I dodge by a hair's width.
“Ise! Over here!” Spike calls out to me. Looks like there's a hole next to him. This might be our chance to get away.
Not really seeing any other option, I make a dash for safety, going down the rabbit hole head first. I can feel myself falling through the darkness. Feels like this hole is actually a tunnel that leads into a cavern.
After some time sliding down the earthen ramp, I'm brought to an abrupt halt by a rock floor. Spike tumbles down behind me, landing on top of me.
“Ouch. Where are we?” Devil eyes work better in the dark, so I can make out we're in a cave. There's an opening that leads back out into the forest.
“It's probably best to lay low here for a while,” Spike suggests.
Yeah. I can still hear the hydra rampaging above us. He's probably pissed at missing out on his breakfast. I'm starting to shiver a little with only my pajamas on. “Is this forest always so uninviting?”
“Pretty much,” Spike confirms as he gathers some fallen branches from the cave entrance. He piles them up and gets a camp fire going with his dragon breath. “Thanks for helping me out back there.”
“Seemed like the thing to do,” I reply with a grin, warming my hands against the sizzling flames. “Didn't really have a lot of options.”
Spike shakes his head. “You could have outrun me easily. My legs aren't exactly built for sprinting.”
“Yeah, well. You had no reason to follow my suggestion and distract that thing. For all you knew, I could have used you to make my getaway.”
There's a bit of an uncomfortable silence after we've swapped the reasons of why both of us are here and vented a bit about how Discord and Azazel seem to be cut from the same cloth.
“How do you do it?” Spike finally asks. “Go on fighting despite being the lowest on the totem pole, I mean.”
I see. He's a [Pawn] just like me. I can remember the feeling when Buchou explained my role and the Evil Pieces to me. I take a moment to think while we sit around the crackle of the fire. He reminds me a lot of Saji.
Finally I shrug. “I just try to be the strongest [Pawn] I can be for that person I love. Also I want to fulfill my goal of someday becoming a high-class devil and have my own harem.” I smile at him. “You're the same, aren't you? The way you look at the white unicorn is the same I look at Rias and you try to protect that purple one the same way I protect Asia.”
He glares at me over his crossed arms. “I won't let you have Rarity, or Twilight, or any of my other friends for your harem.”
“I'M NOT A FURRY!!!” Geez, why do people always assume the worst about me?
Suddenly there's a deep chuckle filling the cave. [You've got nobody to blame but yourself, partner.]
I look at my left hand and there's a green glow. Judging by Spike's face he also heard him. Is it because he's a dragon? “Was there something you wanted, Ddraig?”
[I wanted to have a word with the little one, if you don't mind. I've been mulling it over for the past few days and I think I figured it out. Spike, do you know who your sire is?]
There seems to be a mix of emotions on Spike's face. Confusion. Sadness. Doubt. “You mean my parents? No. I was found as an egg. Twilight hatched me. I never knew where I came from.”
“Ddraig is the Heavenly Dragon sealed inside my gauntlet,” I explain, since I'm not sure if Spike is aware of this. Then I look at my Sacred Gear. “Do you know something, Ddraig?”
[Yes, I do. His aura is very similar to that of Tannin, the Meteor Blaze Dragon. Even got the purple scales. He's called that since his breath attack was the strongest out of any western dragon and that's why he was one of the Six Dragon Kings.]
I can see Spike's face falling. “Was? Do you mean he's … dead?”
[Hm, that depends on how you define dead. He was reincarnated as an ultimate-class devil via the Evil Pieces.]
“So there's a chance he's still alive?” I ask, hoping the prospect will cheer Spike up.
[Last I heard, this was shortly before I was sealed away, he was turning the part he rules over in the Underworld into a sanctuary for dragons. For a time it seemed like dragons would become extinct in the human world, you see. One of his plans to save our species was also to bring dragon eggs to Equestria, since the environment is more suitable and dragons can live by consuming gemstones here.]
Spike seems like he's enraptured by all this news about his family he never knew. “Then, I was brought here the same way?”
[Yes. Before he became a devil, Tannin brought the last three eggs he produced with his mate here. Her name was Salamandra, an eastern dragon. It explains why you have no wings, but that green breath of yours is much like hers.]
“That means I could have brothers and sisters here in Equestria.” Again Spike's face falls. “But why did they never contact me?”
[Salamandra died during the Great War, I'm sorry to say. Tannin had his claws full becoming a devil and trying to save our race. He probably just didn't have the time. But let me ask you, was your upbringing that bad?]
Spike takes a long time to think, but finally he shakes his head. “No, my friends are my family. I've just always wondered where I came from and I've never found a satisfying answer. I've always thought I was different from most other dragons here, because I was raised by ponies, but... Thank you for telling me about my parents, Ddraig.”
[You're welcome, little one. Tannin was a good friend of mine. With that kind of heritage, you've got some enormous potential. The Dragon King whose breath was like the impact of a meteor and the Mistress of the mystical Green Flame of the East, a rare trait.]
“What's so special about this Green Flame?” I ask. My curiosity has been piqued.
Spike blushes and scratches his cheek. “It's nothing special.” He belches and a piece of parchment appears in the flames. Strangely enough he hands it over to me. “I can send letters through it. This is a spell for fixing up clothes that I copied for Rarity a while ago. Maybe it could help you.” He gestures at my torn pajamas.
I chuckle and take it gratefully. “There's no reason to be embarrassed by it. Seems like a handy thing to know. Thanks for this.”
Again Ddraig chuckles. [That's just the beginning of it. It took your mother hundreds of years to master all she could do with it. Don't worry. You'll figure it out in time.]
“Yeah, not gonna help me for the Rating Game then. I need to get stronger for that.”
“Not just for that,” I say. For the last couple of minutes the steps of the hydra seemed to have been coming closer and now what little light is coming in here through the cave entrance is blocked by an enormous foot. “Looks like our friend is back and still hungry.” We should have fled when we had the chance.
“We can't hide in here forever,” Spike agrees, casting a furtive glance up at the cave ceiling. There's chunks of rock and dust coming down with every reverberating step the beast takes. If we try to wait it out, the cave might just come down on our heads. “But how can we fight it?”
“I don't know,” I answer honestly. “My best attack didn't even scratch him.”
[There might be another technique that could work.]
“Ddraig, do you have an idea?”
[I do. Transfer the Boosted Gear's power to our young friend here. It should give him even more of a Boost, since he's also a dragon.]
“Will that really work? We've never tried something like that. The only ones who have received a power-up through my [Gift] ability so far have been devils.”
[A year ago I would have never even considered the possibility. Dragons do not share power easily. But you managed to absorb part of the White-One's Sacred Gear into your own. That means the possibility exists.]
“It's a long-shot,” I admit to Spike. “But he's right. As a real dragon you might be able to make the most use of this power. What do you say?”
“I say we're out of options,” he replies, backing away from the cave entrance, where one of the hydra heads has come down to watch us. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just hold still while I hand over Sekiryuutei's power to you.”
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
I place my mailed hand on his shoulder. “Here goes nothing. [Transfer!]”
Almost immediately Spike is enveloped by Ddraig's scarlet aura, but then something else happens. As it swirls around him, it mixes with purple and emerald energy that seems to emanate from the small dragon himself.
Spike is groaning and panting as if he's in pain and something is trying to break through. He's hunched over and it sounds like his voice is getting deeper. Then the built-up energy explodes. It's so dense that it knocks me back on the cave floor.
It takes me a moment to shake my head clear. It feels like this has drawn much more energy than I normally transfer with [Gift]. I look up at what used to be a little baby dragon with chubby cheeks.
“Woah!”
BUT WE NEED TO KNOW NOW!
K one: Happy to have the update and I like the way you used the boost to power up Spike and how they will become partner in arms (hope he can talk Spike into wanting to create his own harem. (which could then be its own spin-off after this one ends lol))
And two: I SO HATE YOU FOR HAVING TO MAKE ME WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!LOL
3990623
I agree with all your points. And, actually, I could so see Ddraig convincing Spike that, as the child of two such powerful dragons and one of the few dragons in Equestria still civilized, it's his duty to the race to spread his seed to several mates so that he can have many children, but ones kept close so he can play a part in raising them.
In essence, Ddraig convinces Spike it's his duty as the son of Tannin and Salamandra to make the Mane 6 into his harem. That would be hilarious.
damn cliff hangers.
3991288 I know right, and could you picture the spin-off. Him being a badass now (and slightly pervy lol) Going on quest with the girls and trying to seduce them.Then maybe they could even take a trip to the human word (as demon) and pay them alittle visit.
3991337
That would be awesome!
3991340 lol just think of those two running around the human world, trying to get contract, chasing their loves, (while Spike and the girls try to get use to everyday Japanese teenage life) But of course it is never that easy when chrysalis crosses over to the human world and joins with a rebel group of fallen angels,angels,and demons that want to take over.
3991359
Good lord...
And then Chrysalis discovers how to have Changelings turn into humans...and attacks Issei with an army of Oppai! How will Issei handle being attacked by naked copies of Rias and the other girls?
3991384 I think about as well as Spike would handle it when chrysalis traps him with her and tries to seduce him by changing into Rar once he hears about his lineage. OH what if Applejack become their Akeno once he see how great Spike is and how he would help out at the farm lol.. She could always lasso him up and try to drag him off lol. Things could get really interesting when Spike goes to the Demon work and some teenage female dragons take interesting in their almost "prince" lol
3991411
Oh boy. Given how Rarity has been about wanting to marry into royalty, how will she react when she learns about Spike's heritage?
Of course, if they went to the human world, what if it went Equestria Girls style, and turned them all into humans - or at least human in shape - but retaining their abilities. Just imagine them dropping in - literally, cause of the position of the portal - as naked humans.
So sorry for dropping in uninvited like this. Umm...who did I land on?
Issei: ...Oppai...
Issei reaches for Rarity's breasts. Issei is pinned to the wall by an angry, naked boy with green hair and breathing fire.
MINE!
Asia: Oh goodness!
3991411
3991439
Uhhhmmm, ... this is still my story, right? Just checking.
3991443
Oh sure. We're just tossing ideas out that you could use, either for character interactions here or for a sequel.
3991452
Well, don't get me wrong. If the latest chapter managed to spark such a discussion, that can only be a good thing.
3991439 Lol then Dash see she is naked and flies off but when she does she bumps Spike and makes him kiss him in front of everyone. Just think how funny it would be to see them "All" transfer into school at one time. With how gentlemanly Spike is all the girl will fall for him while Rar is trying to keep them away (while Spike is doing the same for her lol) and Issei is like .... really lol.Oh what if when they land naked Spike has ... "twin dragon" and the girls are like..... Spike and Ddraig say at the same time "It's a dragon thing"
3991470 Yea sorry if it felt like she kinda got out of hand. It is just your writing and story got my mind racing thinking what could happen next.
3991477
The school thing would be hilarious! And I could so see Akeno responding to Ddraig and Spike about the 'dragon thing' with, "Then how come Issei only has one?" while pouting.
3991501 Lol okay you just made me cry alittle there . Could you imagine all the fainting from that. Shy would drop like a rock lol. What about Luna running around talking in her old tongue lol. Just think of her at McDonald lol. And me have to have one the staple bathhouse moment lol,
3991524
Wait...what if after the Rating game, Luna makes a move on Spike? Can you imagine Celestia's face?
Luna: But Tia, we hath never seen a stallion of such honor, integrity, grace, beauty, and virile power! Not even in the days of old did one such as he exist! Why do you make such fuss over us seeking to join with him when he is available?
Celestia: Mostly, because he already seems to be forming a herd-
Luna: Which we may join!
Celestia: With Twilight and the other Element Bearers-
Luna: Our greatest of friends!
Celestia: And herd mares are expected to engage with each other as well-
Luna: We are no prudes to shrink from such things! Besides, Twilight and her friends are great beauties!
Celestia: And Twilight is like a daughter to me.
Luna: ... ... ...we have nothing.
3991539 Lol just think Spike getting attack from both ends , Luna in his sleep, Jack and Rar when he is awake. Shy thinking everything he says or does has a double meaning lol. Dash going violent since she can't admit her feelings. And Twi always jumping in try to keep her assistant. They are wearing him out so he decide to take them up on their invitation after the rating game to visit.But when the girls find out the jump him and join him on the trip lol.
3991564
Good lord, that's perfect! And because the girls are still used to Equestria's lack of a nudity taboo, they're perfectly happy to have Spike in with them when they're naked. And Issei finds out and gets super jealous...especially when, since Spike is a perfect gentleman in those situations, Rias and the other girls are fine with him being in with them, too, so Spike's the only one in the tub with all the girls while Issei is left eating his liver.
3991598 Lol yup, and he loses it when he hear through the wall that they ask Spike to soap them up (Rarity ask) So he jumps Spike in the changing room and try to sneak in acting like a gentlemen ( but flaring nostrils and wiggling fingers give him away) Spike runs in to keep him away from the girls but as the wrestle their towels fall. And lets just say the girls don't take it well.... BOOM lol.
3991613
Yup, Issei gets blasted away by the kitten. But Spike gets to stay because he's an actual gentleman and doesn't perv out over them being naked.
Of course, then there's when the girls first try to mount Spike. I could see AJ having tied Spike down, and then Rarity bursts in angry, they start to fight, and then...
Rares, why are we fighting?
We're fighting over who gets to ride Spike first, of course.
Yeah...but he's got two...
Ooh...
3991624 That is when Spike freaks when he see the two predators looming over him. He take and slides on his underbelly out of the bath and runs out naked Which give the old lady running the bathhouse a eye full. which she says "oh someone is blessed"
3991632
I was suggesting he's been tied down to his bed wherever they're staying, separate from the bathhouse scene. So someone would have to bust in to stop them...
Unless this sequel turned into one of Ranko's other stories... in which case Spike either gets all the mares as humans mounting him while he's tied down, or we get the sudden spike of hormones creating something like this.
3991647 That could work if the story took that shift. And I am always one for a instinct driven Spike story any day of the week lol. Only thing is that would change the whole DxD style if it went from teasing to " following through" lol
3991668
If you like instinct driven Spike, go to the gallery of the artist of that link and see the rest of the pics titled "The Greedy Dragon". It's really fun...and I'd actually love to see Ranko turn it into one of her M rated stories.
3991704 Hmm I think i would agree, I would like to see the "squeal" take that route.Just would be alittle odd for me to see DxD cast just go for it lol. Unless that becomes the joke, that Spike gets laid while Issei is still trying lol.
3992006
Yeah, that would be the joke. Heck, the DxD girls watch it happen, eating popcorn and commenting on Spike and the girls' techniques, and Issei is still left not getting any.
3992013 Spike could give him some tip on how to be a gentlemen lol. But I still think a trip to the demon world to see his father's work would be cool and then another Spin-off where he goes looking for his siblings.
3992082
That would be pretty awesome.
So, feel free to delete this comment if you think its going to spoil what's going to happen in the story (Though a little confirmation before the deletion would be nice ), but I'm going to take a crack at the future.
Azazel sending Issei into the Everfree Forest was essentially the same plan as his month on the mountain with Tannin in Vol. 5, and he's going to end up learning Bilingual regardless, which he'll show off in the Rating Game.
Close at all?
3992593
Nope. Issei will end up learning a different skill. There will also be a side effect that can't be foreseen yet.
Thus continuity with the light novels is for the most part preserved, except that he shouldn't know who Tannin is yet.
Spike: (Godzilla-esque roar)
Issei: Ddraig, is it supposed to turn him into Godzilla?
Ddraig: Issei, just because it looks like the Kaiju in question doesn't mean it is, probably due to various reasons.
Issei: Either way, it feel like it should run like it is him.
Ddraig: It isn't...and we might have to snap him out of it.
After watching the series and rereading this part, I can't help but want to read a rewrite of Issei meeting Tannin (his planned training partner in the underworld) and talking about meeting one of his children in Equestria. I mean, if sending the eggs through was a desperation move to save them for Tannin, learning that one had survived and thrived...
That's a conversation I'd want to read.