Chapter 12: Champion
In the late hour of the cool fall night, ponies everywhere slept in unconscious bliss. Almost every single pony gleefully slumbered with a smile on their face as they let the world of dreams overtake their minds. These ponies dreamed of fantastic things, from Rainbow's dream of an adventurous journey into jungles far off, to Pinkie Pie's dream of deducing the nature of crime in general. In each, while the dreams did not necessarily define the pones that created them, they did take Luna to the most fantastic places one could imagine.
It was for this reason why Luna was currently pacing on the balcony outside, fuming about the previous dream.
Instead of the wondrous adventures that Luna had been preparing herself for, Twilight's dreams were the closest to nothing that one could get without actually dreaming of nothing. Sure, there was nothing wrong with books—Luna herself loved to sit down with a nice almanac every so often—but there was a difference between reading during one's wakeful hours, and actually dreaming of reading. Even Luna knew that the point of reading books was either to learn more about a subject or to escape the real world in a wondrous and adventurous tale. Even then, the point of dreaming of reading didn't make any sense at all when one considers that there couldn't be anything in those books that the dreamer didn't already encounter.
Luna continued to grumble to herself as she paced across the balcony. “Twilight Sparkle, student of Celestia, Element of Magic, and savior of Equestria thrice over... dreams of only reading books?”
Annoyed at the immense waste of time this detour was, Luna continued to fume to herself. Alas, there was no good reason to stay here on this balcony, and while the alicorn did desire to make Twilight pay for the waste of time that the mare had caused her via a prank or thirty, such an action would only further waste whatever precious time that remained in the night. Instead, she took one last deep breath, released it, then began to make her way to the railing to continue on to her next destination. As to where her next destination would be, she wasn't sure. However, what she was certain of was that staying here was not of any use to her.
Just as she was going to take off, she heard a shuffling of a body in a bed behind her. Normally, she would’ve just flown off as she had done all night, and not have bothered herself with trying to figure out who caused the noise. However, as if some kind of outside force pulled her mind to the room behind her, Luna turned her head around, and looked back at Twilight. Surprisingly enough, Twilight had not moved in the slightest—her body still flat on its back as she quietly snoozed. This fact surprised Luna, and with her curiosity peaking, she turned around, and made her way back inside of the room.
Back inside, Luna scanned the bedroom once more to see if she could find out what caused the shuffling noise. Already determining that Twilight wasn’t the one that caused the noise, Luna looked around to find any other possible sources. The owl to her right was possible, but considering the fact that owls were a quiet sort, she suspected that it was not the case. Those two not being the cause, there was only one other that could possibly cause the noise.
The pet dragon to Luna's left.
Indeed, as soon as she thought that to herself, the wyrmling shifted a little bit more as he rolled over to his other side. In fact, not only did he roll over, but he curled up into a ball and began to snuggle up with his blanket. It was cute, it was adorable, and it was a complete insult to his draconic heritage. In fact, if any fully grown dragon were to see the young one snuggling with his blankie, they would probably do their best to convince Luna that said wyrmling was nothing but a simple wyvern.
“So what makes you tick, young one?” Luna asked the sleeping dragon as she approached him. “I might as well find out while I am here. I am certain that it will be... educational.”
With that, Luna lit her horn, bent her head down, and touched the bright tip to his head.
The first thing that Luna noticed was the acrid smell of smoke in the air. This did not come as a complete surprise though, for all around Luna, billowing towers of smog from blazing infernos rose into the ash-filled sky. Buildings all around were destroyed, with only the scant one or two in her vision being spared from the carnage around her. In fact, the only thing of any significance that appeared to be mostly intact were the roads, though those were almost completely clogged by the debris of the ruined buildings. All in all, the entire scene was something that Luna had not seen since the war against her sister, with the only exception being the distinct lack of bodies on the ground. Instead, there was just the rubble of a ruined village littering the streets.
Upon a quick inspection, Luna determined that this village wasn't Ponyville—or at least if it was, it was not laid out in the way that it was in the real world. Instead, this village was much more sprawled out, each building being its own entity with a yard and fence to boot. Running through the spread out village, a massive road ran through the center of the settlement. All along the side streets to either side, debris clogged up the cobblestone path, making the main road the only viable path through the town.
It was then that Luna finally caught a glimpse of somepony, even if the approaching figure wasn't a pony at all. Instead, the silhouette running into the village was that of a massive bipedal creature, with extremely long legs, a broad chest, and arms that looked as wide as trees. It was difficult to tell exactly what it was wearing from this distance, except for a cape that whipped behind it as it ran into the village. The final thing of note were the two weapons that were crossed across its back—both spear-like, but impossible to properly identify at this distance.
Could this possibly be the dreamer? It does not appear anything like him though.
However, that question was quickly answered as he got closer, and the light from the fires in front of him illuminated his face. The first tell-tale sign that he was the wyrmling were the unique purple scales that covered the vast majority of his body, The only places that these scales did not shine a bright lavender were on his massive green-scaled chest, the black pants he wore, the red boots he wore over his feet, and the silver metal plates that were strategically strapped onto various parts of his arms and shoulders. Indeed for what it looked like, it appeared that the metal plates did not provide the majority of his defense, and he instead relied on his dragon scales to deflect any blows.
He has a impressive chin structure as well, if I may add.
Not pausing for a second to even inspect the area around him, the not-wyrmling charged into the village silently. Making his way quickly to the center of some of the most terrible of the destruction, he turned a corner, and began to make his way over the rubble. As Luna saw this, she quickly gave chase, and tailed the dragon in front of her.
As soon as she turned the corner, her eyes fell onto the dragon, who was currently kneeling next to a wounded pony. Supporting the stallion's head, he spoke with a surprisingly soft voice. “Easy my good stallion. Take it easy. You're safe now.”
Slowly, the stallion lifted his eyes up, until they fell across the face of the dragon above him. “Thank... thank the goddesses you're here... Sir Spike.”
Sir? Even gave himself a title.
Sir Spike allowed the smallest of smiles to grow on his face before he calmly spoke once more. “Who did this, my friend? Was it diamond dogs? Giants? The legendary Tarrasque?”
“No, no, and no; it was... it was none of those. It was... it was the evil Overlord that invaded recently.” Slowly, the stallion pointed in a direction—obviously north—and whispered, “He and his minions swept down from his fortress to the north, stole everything of any value in their path, and destroyed anything else. Fortunately, I do not believe anyone died because of their rampage.”
Spike nodded. “This is good. So everypony is alright?”
The stallion lowered his eyes. “Neigh. They... they ponynapped somepony. They... they ponynapped Lady Rarity.”
With that statement, Sir Spike's face transformed from its small grin into a hardened glare—his face showing a far off look of determination. “Then by my honor, I—Sir Spike of Draconia, master of ten thousand weapons, liberator of the pixie tribes, slayer of the evil frost wyrm Sífrerinn, and overall pretty cool guy—will go out to save her.”
...Eh, I have heard more impressive titles boasted.
With his statement made, Spike lowered the stallion back to the ground. Still wearing his face of determination, he picked himself back to his feet, and ran back towards the main road that ran through the village. His leaps over the rubble were just as effortless as Lyra's were a few dreams back, as well as just as nimble and dexterous. Another flip later, and he planted his feet onto the cobblestone road, and sprinted away into the distance.
His destination—the castle to the north.
However, if he expected that the task would be an easy one, he was sorely mistaken, for up ahead Luna noticed the sight of several bipedal creatures blocking the road. It was hard to make out what they were from this distance, but she could easily tell that there were five in total. Each bore a spear-like weapon of some kind, and appeared to be at least somewhat trained in their use. They quickly made their ill intent with such weapons known as they noticed Spike, lowered their spears, and began to hoot and holler.
Instead of the familiar diamond dogs or the like that Luna expected, the creatures looked reptilian. However, they were nowhere close to as fantastically colored as Spike was—nor as armored—and instead were colored in mostly green and brown earthy hues. Each was entirely nude, save for a few simple belts they used to carry a few provisions and weapons on. Even after racking her mind for anything that would look like these creatures, Luna was drawing a blank on what they could be.
Spike—as if he knew exactly what she was thinking—drew the lance affixed to his back. “Troglodytes.”
Without a single bit of hesitation, he pointed his deadly weapon towards the group. With a predatory yell cascading out of his throat, he charged the group of troglodytes lance-first. The troglodytes charged as well, intent on stabbing him with their weapons instead of the other way around. It was only a few short seconds until they met in the middle.
Suddenly out of literally nowhere, there was a loud yell. “Seventeen!”
What was that?
With a mighty blow, Spike blasted away the lead troglodyte, sending the poor reptilian creature flying off to parts unknown. However, in response to having their compatriot utterly defeated by Spike's attack, the other three surrounded him, and began to attack with their spears in earnest. Fortunately for the dragon, every single attack failed to make an accurate enough hit against him to get through his near flawless scales, as if he was encased completely by the strongest of armor. Unfortunately for him, no matter how much he tried to twist and turn around, he could not get his lance to bear on another troglodyte.
Luna heard Spike murmur to himself. “Hmm... should've known using a lance while not on the back of a mount was a bad idea...”
With that, Spike dropped the lance to his feet, and quickly pulled out the second weapon that was on his back—a halberd. As he did this, he spun his body around, and did a spinning kick against the nearest troglodyte. His foot connected squarely against the lizardman's chest, and sent him into the ground in a crumpled mass. The rest of the troglodytes appeared not to care about their fallen comrade, for instead of attempting to treat his wounds or maybe at least get him out of harms way, they merely continued to attack their foe.
Now with his halberd in his claws, Spike mercilessly fought back against his assailants. Facing the next troglodyte on his list of destruction, he took a few steps closer to his third foe of the day. Even though it fought back, Spike was surprisingly nimble as he bobbed and weaved his body away from every single attack. Finally closing the distance enough to attack now, Spike brought the blade of the halberd down onto the top of his foe's head. The troglodyte dodged though, and allowed the blade to strike the paved road with a loud clink. Spike did not allow this miss to slow him down though, for he quickly brought the weapon back up, and struck the troglodyte in the chin with the back end of his blade, sending the troglodyte sprawling onto the ground.
Spinning himself around, Spike caused his cape to slap against the next troglodyte, blinding it temporally. Unfortunately for said troglodyte, by the time that it regained his vision, it got a face full of fist courtesy of Sir Spike. This sent him to the dirt, causing him to slam his head against the hard ground, knocking him out cold. However Spike did not bother to check to see for himself, for he was too busy parrying a blow from the final lizard. Said lizard thrusted with its spear, only to have it deflected to Spike's right. Recovering, it again thrusted its weapon against Spike. This time, Sir Spike used his left shoulder's armor to deflect the blow, and with a mighty swing—
“Sixteen!”
—smashed the back end of his halberd into the side of the troglodyte's head. Instantly, the creature flew right, and fell to the ground with nary a sound escaping from his throat—the creature quite unconscious. As for Spike, he quickly put his halberd back onto his back, and with a large grin on his face, turned towards the castle once more, and ran.
It was a very short run, for only a minute or two after he began, he was almost at the castle main entrance. The only thing separating Spike and the doorway from each other was the fifteen meter wide moat that encircled the entire fortress. On the near side, a pair of troglodytes stood with their spears at the ready as they awaited their imminent defeat. On the far side, four troglodytes stood just in case Spike somehow made it to the other side of the moat.
“Eighteen!”
With a roar, Spike spun around, pulled out his halberd, and smashed it into the heads of both troglodytes in a single swing. Both blacked out the moment they were hit by the halberd, and were already dreaming of lambs playing in fields of green by the time they hit the ground. Spike wasn't done though, for immediately after, he lifted his halberd over his head, and with a mighty throw—
“Sixteen!”
—threw the polarm into the face of the troglodyte on the far right. Before the other three could react, Spike lifted one of the fallen troglodytes over his head, and with a grunt of strength—
“Eighteen!”
—threw it into the face of the troglodyte on the far left. Once again, the foe was down for the count well before his body hit the ground. This left the two sole remaining foes on the other side, with each slightly fidgeting with anxiety as they realized the implications of how much trouble they were in.
After thinking for just a second, Spike ran a few steps back. Then without any additional warning, he charged at the moat, and attempted to jump over the wide expanse. His body soared through the air—cape billowing behind him in majestic glory—before the eyes of the two shock faced enemies. Then, before either could react—
“Nineteen!”
—he slammed his palms into both of their faces, and smashed their heads into the hard cobblestone road below. So hard was his hit, that the stone underneath cracked slightly from the dual impacts.
Slowly, he lifted himself back up to his feet, and as he brushed his claws on his pants, he muttered, “Too easy.”
I must admit, he is nearly as skilled as Captain Vigilant Watch
Spike hustled over to the spot that his halberd was sticking out of, and after yanking it out of the troglodyte's face, began to make his way into the castle itself. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be a front door at all—or if there was, it was wide open—for he merely ran through the open doorway, and into the front hall. However, while there were plenty of very valuable items to note in this room, Spike did not stop to collect any of the loot. Instead, he ran through the fancily decorated hall, and upon reaching the opposite wall, he kicked open a locked door, and proceeded to make his way up the stairs. This series of events continued for the next few minutes as Spike worked his way higher into the castle complex.
As Luna followed Spike, she noticed there were three things that every single room had in common. The first was that each large room appeared to be connected to a single stairwell that went straight up a single floor—a logistical nightmare for a normal building. The second detail was that no matter how many rooms Spike ran through, there wasn't a single defender to try and stop Spike. It was as if the ten troglodytes outside the castle were the only guards in the Overlord's entire military. The the final thing Luna realized was that with every single doorway he passed through, Spike found himself closer to the top-most room in the tallest keep. Indeed, if Luna's hunch was correct, there was something there that was most likely guarded.
One more stairwell later, and Sir Spike burst through the final door, and found himself inside the uppermost room. Looking around, his eyes quickly fell upon a snow-white unicorn standing on the opposite side of the room—her hoof shackled to the wall by a large chain. With frantic eyes, he yelled, “Lady Rarity!”
She returned his frantic eyes with a panicked cry. “Sir Spike! Look out for—”
Her warning came too late, for it was right then that Spike's entire body became encased in a light blue glow of magic. Suddenly, his body was levitated off of the ground, and as he was forced to drop his halberd, Spike's eyes widened five times their previous size in shock as all of his limbs refused to cooperate with his will. A few seconds later, his body rocketed back and slammed into the stone wall behind him. All the while, a maniacal laughter filled the chamber. Spike struggled against his bonds for a few seconds, before he finally gave up and lowered his eyes to the perpetrator of the deed.
A snarl forming on his face, Spike yelled at the top of his lungs. “Who are you!? Why are you doing this!? Show yourself!”
Slowly, a shadowy figure began to form to the left of Rarity. The pony was large enough to be unmistakable for a stallion, and from the blue glow of magic, he was obviously a unicorn. Slowly, the still laughing Overlord stepped out from the shadows, and into the center of the room. As soon as his features appeared, Spike snarled even more, and Luna couldn't help but to roll her eyes.
“Prince Blueblood! I should've known!”
Why am I not surprised in the slightest?
Prince Blueblood slowly stopped laughing, until he was finally able to speak. “Yes, it is I, Prince Blueblood, though I think the title Overlord fits quite better now. As for why, I have two very good and simple reasons, my annoying lizard-friend. The first is that I wanted to finally see the great Sir Spike, in the scales!”
“Well here I am,” Spike growled. “Want to get a closer and more physical look?”
“In due time my good peasant, in due time.” Overlord Blueblood began to walk over to the trembling form of Rarity. Despite her efforts to get away, there was only so far she could move before the chain she was attached to pulled taut, and stopped her escape. Blueblood grew closer, and just as he was about to be nose to nose with the mare, turned around, and faced Spike once more. “As for why I am doing this, it is because I wish to have you witness the wedding of myself and my bride, Rarity!”
“What!?” was all that Rarity could manage to yell.
Spike, on the other hoof, had more control over his speech. “You'll never get away with this, Blueblood!”
“Ah, but you see, dear Spike...” Blueblood trailed off as he waved a hoof to his right. Coming out of the darkness, an older unicorn stallion dressed in religious robes came out of the shadows. His walk was slow, but he still made good enough time getting to his proper position on top of the dais. Lighting his horn, he brought a book in front of him—readying himself for the ceremony that would soon commence.
It was then that Blueblood finally finished his sentence. “...I have already won.”
With that, Blueblood turned around, and the priest began the wedding ceremony. The entire time that the vile words echoed through the chamber, Spike struggled against the persistant levitation. More and more he tried to break out of his restraints, until the burning in his arms overtook his entire body. At first, his resistance seemed all for naught, for his body did not budge in the slightest. However, as he worked at the magic, he started to gain more and more mobility in his arms. Muscles flexing in his arms and chest, he fought the magic, until—
“Seventeen!”
—the magic spell finally gave way, and Sir Spike broke out of the aura. Falling to the ground, Spike quickly picked up the halberd that he had dropped to the ground, and readied it against the evil Overlord Blueblood.
Blueblood instantly realized that Spike had broken out, for right right as Spike planted his feet on the floor, Blueblood slowly began to turn around to face the dragon behind him. However, when Luna caught sight of his face, it was not one of fear, anger, or malice, but one of the utmost confidence. “So, Sir Spike, you really wish to challenge me?”
Spike grinned. “If you think that you can even call this a challenge.”
Blueblood grinned as well. “Then let us begin!”
Spike won the initiative, and so pounced at Blueblood in an attempt to end the fight before it even started. However, Blueblood was prepared for such a brash action, and before Spike could make it any further than half of the distance, the dragon was blown back by a blast of arcane force. Even with the slight stumble on his part, Spike recovered, and faced Blueblood yet again. Staring down the monster of a unicorn, he readied his halberd, and prepared to attack again.
However, it was Blueblood's turn to act this time, and after a quick spell, four ring shaped saws appeared from the shadows on the edges of the room. Blueblood smiled slightly, before the four saw-like blades began spinning, and were sent speeding towards Spike's position. Further, he used his magic to summon a gripless straight blade, and with a flick of his head, brought it before him. With that, he decided that there was enough animated weaponry to give him the edge in the battle, and so he charged at the dragon.
Spike didn't waste any time in reacting to the situation at hoof. He stared at the saws, waiting for the perfect moment to dodge out of the way—the light from the candles all around gleaming off of the deadly tools of death. Just as the weapons were just out of his arm's reach, he quickly faked left, then rolled to the right. The sudden shifts were successful in tricking the saws' tracking spell, and as such, they went too far the wrong way to turn back towards him in time. As such, they passed by him by just a few centimeters off distance, and continued towards the far wall. Just as both Spike and Luna thought that the saws were gone, they quickly veered up, and started to fly towards the ceiling.
Spike didn't have a chance to plan out another strategy on how to dodge the saws later, for it was at that moment that Blueblood closed the distance between the two parties, and began to engage Spike in mortal combat. Blueblood's first strike was less of an actual trained attack, and more of a wild swing meant to have as much power behind it as ponily possible. Such an attack was foolhardy, for Spike rolled once again, narrowly getting out of the way of the deadly weapon. Of course, that wasn't to say that the strike wasn't close, for the sword slightly nicked the edge of Spike's cape.
Rolling back onto his feet, Spike swung his halberd in a horizontal arc at knee level as he attempted to surprise Blueblood with his attack. The Overlord had apparently anticipated this, for with a tiny hop, he jumped over the weapon—dodging it completely. Spike spun with his weapon, and attempted to do a spinning kick to follow up with the first attack, but that effort was for naught, as he was forced to evade the spinning saw-blades once more. While successful in this endeavor, one of the saws slightly cut him on his right leg, giving the dragon a slight wound.
Taking advantage of the present situation, Overlord Blueblood took a few steps forward to once again close the distance, and swung his own weapon at Spike in a vertical swipe. Spike was just fast enough to lift his halberd in time, and blocked the incoming attack with the wooden pole. Blueblood was not done though, for as Spike held his weapon in place, the unicorn used his advantage of not physically holding the end of the weapon to spin the back end around the pole of the halberd, and cut into Spike's chest with a deep slice. Finally, as if that wasn't enough, Blueblood got right up next to Spike, and delivered a mighty kick against Spike's now deeply cut chest.
Stumbling back slightly, Spike held his left claw against the flowing wound. Growling, he quickly lifted his halberd, and jutted the back end of the pole into Blueblood's chest—surprising the unicorn—and likely leaving a nice sized bruise at the very least. In any case, it caused the unicorn to stumble back, and allowed the dragon to get back on his feet, and after readying himself once more for combat, charged.
If he was hoping to catch Blueblood off balance, he was to be disappointed. Quick to act, the unicorn ducked under Spike's attack. Further, Blueblood shoved his body into the dragon's knees, and sent Spike flipping through the air. Standing back up, Blueblood took his weapon into his magic once more, and prepared himself to charge at the dragon once more. Sadly for him—and fortunately for Spike—the dragon corrected his flip, and with an acrobatic roll, stood back up on his feet, and pointed the axe of his halberd at the unicorn.
That combat readiness only lasted for a second, for Spike was forced to duck under a pair of saws that came straight for his neck. Just a moment later, Spike dove forward as he dodged the other two that were attempting to come at his knees. Tucking his head down, he did a quick somersault on the ground, and stood back up, lifted his weapon, and prepared to take Blueblood down.
It would've been easier if he wasn't right next to his opponent while he was off balance.
Before Spike could react further, Blueblood once again caught Spike in his magic, picked him up off of the ground, and slammed him into the stone wall. Halberd clattering to the ground, Spike tried his very best to break free from the spell for a second time, but it was to no avail. For all intents and purposes, he was helpless.
Behind Blueblood, Luna could see the saws turning back towards Sir Spike once more.
“I must say,” Blueblood said in between a few tired gasps for air, “you were a much tougher opponent than I expected, especially for an unrefined brute like yourself.”
Spike grunted as he tried to break free. “And you... are the... ugliest thing I've ever fought... and I'm counting... Glob the Ugly Giant.”
Blueblood smirked. “Maybe, but I seriously doubt that any of your petty opinions matter now.”
Both of them—as well as Luna above—trained their eyes up and back, and saw that the saws were making a beeline towards Spike. Unlike all the other times, the dragon had no way to dodge the saws, and could only rely on his dragon scales and few pieces of armor to deflect the weapons. Of course, considering that Blueblood's sword appeared to easily pierce Spike's scales... Luna wasn't holding high hopes for how well they would block these saws.
Turning back towards his opponent, Blueblood now yelled. “This is it, Sir Spike of Draconia! You lose!”
Spike narrowed his eyes. “Not quite.”
With a mighty intake of air, Spike let out a massive breath of scorching green fire. The flame quickly spread in front of Spike, until it enveloped Blueblood's entire body. The unicorn tried to do his best to avoid most of the damage, but there was no way he could dodge all of the fire—such a feat was impossible without the most roguish of training.
As the fire cleared, it became apparent that while Blueblood was mostly alright, his mane was indeed quite on fire. As the green flame shifted red, he looked up and shouted, “My mane! My glorious, luxurious mane!”
While he was distracted, the magic around Blueblood's horn flickered slightly—a sure sign that his attention was not on his spells. Taking this momentary chance, Spike once again fought against the magical binds that held him. All the while, the four saws quickly sped towards the dragon, with only a few seconds separating him with certain death. Spike saw this too, and with his eyes never leaving the weapons, he worked his muscles with all his might.
“Sixteen!”
There was a sudden pop as the spell's bonds failed against the dragon's strength, and with a quick tuck and roll, he dodged out of the way of his impending doom. Every single one of the saws impacted the wall immediately afterward—each powerfully sawing their way into the wall. The hewn stone was unyielding, and while the saws did cut into the wall a few centimeters, the walls were not breached. This left the weapons thoroughly stuck in the stone, and completely useless for whatever action was left in the battle.
Spike got to his feet at about the same time that Blueblood extinguished the fire in his mane. Locking eyes—a look of fury in each—the two simultaneously let out a roar, and charged one another in a final bid for victory. While Blueblood's saws were out of commission, he still held his powerful sword in his magic. Compound that with the fact that Spike himself was completely unarmed—albeit he had his powerful claws—and Blueblood still held the edge. Closer the two parties got, until they were finally within striking distance. Both combatants threw their attacks at the other, and—
“Dangit!”
Dangit?
Just as the two were about to impact one another, the entire scene before Luna froze. The two combatants, Lady Rarity on the dais, and even the flickering flames of the candles all around Luna stood still. In fact, it looked as if this was one of those displays that they sometimes had in museums with the fake animals from ancient times. Of course, while Luna was able to tell what she was seeing, the real question was what in the name of Equestria was going on!?
Suddenly, a series of mysterious loud noises of something scraping against a wooden floor filled Luna’s ears. Such a situation was impossible, for not only was the floor of the room they were all in covered in an area rug, but the floor underneath said rug was made of stone. Further, there were no obvious pieces of furniture that she could see that could be scraped across the floor. This was obviously ignoring the fact that the entire scene before her was frozen, so there was no way that anything could shift around in the slightest.
The disembodied voice from before once again appeared. “Hang on... almost got it...”
Almost got what?
A second of silence passed, until the voice yelled out excitedly, “Natural twenty!”
Suddenly, the dream's time began again. As Blueblood's weapon came down, Spike shifted his body, and allowed the weapon to glance off of his right metal paldron. Continuing with the motion, he reached out with his right fist, and slammed the unicorn in the face with a mighty punch. The sounds of a snout breaking resonated through the room, which was quickly followed by Blueblood flying across the room, slamming into the far wall, and slumping onto the ground below.
Slowly, Spike stood back up, and with his fists on his hips and his cape flowing in the still air, he stood proudly in front of Rarity. The priest from earlier was long gone—most likely having run away during the previous battle—so only Rarity was on the dais. The white mare was positively beaming with delight at the sight of her victorious savior. So much so, that if she wasn't chained to the wall, Luna was certain that she would've run right over to Spike, and showed him exactly how much she appreciated being saved from the evil Overlord Blueblood's clutches.
After a few more seconds of standing proudly in his spot in the room, Spike walked over to where Rarity was chained up. With nary an effort on his part, he stomped on the chain with his foot—utterly obliterating the poor, defenseless links. Ever so slowly, Sir Spike got down on a knee, so that he was level with the mare's sparkling eyes.
In a confident whisper, Spike spoke. “Are you alright, milady?”
A blush on her face, Rarity turned away, and giggled. “I am quite alright, Sir Spike. Is there anything I can do to repay your wonderful and glorious deed?”
Sir Spike took Rarity's soft cheek in his claws, and gently moved her head so that she was once again facing him. The two gazed into their eyes—green orbs meeting blue—until with a smile Spike whispered—
Once more, Luna heard the bodiless voice. However, this time, it was much more subdued. “Umm... natural one...”
“—I would like nothing more than to lick the inside of your nostrils.”
“WHAT!?”
WHAT!?
“Like my tongue is your tissue,” Spike finished as he licked his lips with his forked tongue.
For at least five seconds, Rarity sat wide-eyed as she looked at Spike in bewilderment. Eventually though, she finally blinked, and with a strained and forced giggle, said, “Well, as... appetizing as that sounds, I just realized that I was ponynapped in the middle of doing some very... umm... important things! Yes! Important things with important ponies! So... umm... with that... I'll be going now!” With that, Rarity ran away from the dragon with all the speed that her little legs could muster.
Slowly Spike got back to his feet, and with a smile on his face, watched as the terrified mare ran away from him. As if he had dust on his claws, he slowly patted them together, and whispered, “She digs me. I can just feel it.”
Luna leaned her head back up, and with a humored, yet embarrassed smile, looked down at the wyrmling in the basket. Spike was still softly snoozing in the basket, though his blanket had somehow found its way onto the floor next to him. Just like a few houses ago, Luna took the blanket in her magic, and in a gentle movement, put the blanket back over him—tucking it into the sides of the basket shortly after.
Picking her head back up, Luna softly whispered, “Silly dragon. Of all the times I have heard that line used, I have only seen it work twice.”
With that, Luna turned around, and made her way to the open doorway to the library balcony. Upon reaching the platform, Luna extended her mighty wings, and with a powerful flap, took off into the sky.
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D&D references for the win; not quite what I was expecting (I thought we'd get something more interesting for Twilight than books). But nice chapter.
That line has worked before? I uh. I ... *frozen speachless*
The Tarrasque... I lol'd.
Spike would be a legendary hero, though. Its only fitting!
2171014 I have read by now a few dozens of good, well written stories with chapters of completely irregular length, or just having interlude chapters that are very very relevant. I strongly believe every chapter must be as long as it needs to be, and people who judge by chapter have the wrong criteria in mind and shouldn't be taken seriously. It's about quality, not quantity.
Edit: let me explain why I'm so botherred: I read on my Kindle and I read really fast, so I have to constantly plan what I'm reading next. I suddenly found myself with nothing I was interested in reading because two thirds of what I had was secretly a wikipedia paste. :\
I got the DnD reference at "won the initiative", sorry.
Who wants to try for the third time?
I only realized the D&D rolls when I saw Natural twenty, and then he rolled a one, god you are to good!
2172261
Up until the non-combat use, I was thinking RPG damage numbers.
2171984
Yeah. I, too, was expecting an alternative Twilight dream, or the revelation of her reading something interesting, or a touching statement of how Twilight's life is fulfilling in a way she had never dreamed of as a filly, and can't possibly dream of anything better than the love and affections of her friends. At least, not every night.
1 on what I'm guessing is an ettiquette roll...for anything other than 2nd ed, that suuuuucks. Its true, your dice do hate you
I knew you were doing initiative roles! Soooo much win and I do wonder when that line has worked
Sir Spike makes me think of Jarvan IV, The Exemplar of Demacia.
The dice rolls? Pure epicness. Figured that one with the third roll (still, being the RPG fan I am, quite disappointing
). Good job!
2173392
Doctor Whooves?
Twice huh? Would like to hear that tale.
My first thoughts: Spike's dreams eh? But I thought you said no more shipping.
Caught the D&D reference when he said "16" for the first time. Very funny.
What are the two times that line worked.
*Giggles* Good ol Tabletop RPGs. Two small things of note, Spike's chest scales are cream it's his crest that's green.
This was a bit confusing because up til know you'd called out his rolls.
I got the DnD reference at the first mention of Troglodytes. To be fair I've spent a good portion of the day learning the basic GURPS rules, so I had an advantage.
I just loved it when I finished this story and found that my desktop picture had changed to Luna.
I had thought of this chapter as just another standard "herp derp" adventure story, but then my older brother said, "Why not add in a few D&D references." I ask how, and he says, "Maybe you could... I don't know... have Spike somehow playing this, and Sir Spike is the character?"
And thus, my brother is a literary genious.
2171984 Always expect the unexptected... unless you don't expect it.
2171986 Twice. Both times they were snot monsters.
2172039 Spike would be the most OP character ever... at least when compared to the martial classes. Any wizard would have their wicked way with him. Such is the folly of the non full-spellcaster classes.
2172085 Ah, I got yeah. Well... I still stand by my decision. I have had fairly consistant chapter lengths. A really short one might have tipped people off that it was... well... maybe not a full chapter I guess.
2172157 It's alright! No worries. I'm surprised that someone realized that in itself was a D&D reference. That, and "the most roguish of training" were the subtle ones.
2172164 Third time?
2172261 Technically, a natural one on a skill check would not result in a failure but oh well!
2172572 (About the Twilight dream) Well screw that. That's boring. Let's troll you guys instead!!!
2172762 I play 3.5, so I would say it was a diplomacy check. Barring that, it would possibly be a straight charisma check. Either way, oops!
2173330 Actually, those were attack rolls. Oh well
2173389 ... Nope. Got nothin'.
2173496 It's alright. No worries. I'm just glad people GOT it
2173656 A stallion that sells hourglasses.
2174553 Snot monsters.
2176640 Snot monsters. 'Nuff said.
2183749 That was because those were attack rolls. Guess I should've tried to make that more clear... somehow...
2184497 Always wanted to try out GURPS. Played AD&D, D&D 3.5, D20 Deadlands (garbage unless you use Unearthed Arcana variant rule for AC for classes), and WoD (with expansions).
2185107 Yay! I inspired someone! Which picture?
2191532
2191532
I thought it was to do with clocks?
2191532
Yeah. I actually just found out about it, and decided to learn once I saw there was a Discworld worldbook. It's going to be interesting to see how well a 3rd edition worldbook translates to fourth edition rules.
2191532
Anywho, despite that whole thing I feel as if I should thank you twofold. Once for the thoroughly enjoyable story that you have here and Once again for the fact that you respond to the comments on your story itself. So, yes. Thank you.
I have just read several chapters in one sitting.
I liked the Pinkie chapter it was differently worth waiting for.
I really like when Luna was very reflective and just decides that Ditsy dream taught her about muffins
As for the one with Twilight It makes scene. She is a super organized, OCD's pony with control freak tendencies.
But Spike's dream, I liked it we all knew how makes a good villein, and I won't judge you about the D&D stuff because I am One at heart so...
I completely enjoyed this chapter and I hope the next one is just as good.
I know this story is all with in one night but will the story end when the day come?
Or will this be the beginning of another set of adventures?
Is this story sort of how she decide to become the guarder of her people's dreams?
Well thanks for the new chapter.
Good luck and I hope the best for the future.
2192123 Common misconception.
2192202 Yeah. I'm not that interested in playing 4E. Really the same reason why people from AD&D didn't go to 3.0: I already have almost all the books, so why change over to the next one?
2193158 Well you are certainly most welcome! I feel that it is the loyal people that read and comment that drive me to write as well as possible. As for replying to comments... well... I just feel that I should at least acknowledge that you exist, right?
2194257 First off, kudo's to you for reading that much in one go. Second... do you really want me to answer any of those questions and spoil the ending, or would you rather it be revealed through the story itself?
2201073
Makes sense, but having just started out now, there's really no reason to use v3 rules. Unless someone who has played both told me they are at least partially superior.
2194257
No, no thank you but thanks for the offer any ways.
I would like to find out but I just thought I would pose the questions.
Of all the bad times to get a crappy die roll, especially after getting so many good rolls on that D20... Spike's dice are rigged.
Last time i got a natural 1 i cut my brother's arm off... We all laughed.
Sooo...I guess I'm the only one out there who don't know what in the hell is this D&D thing/game. Sad. Anyway, great story