Twilight has called for and assembled her friends in the Golden Oak Library. Something has registered on her strange-looking meter she hanged on the top of her tree library.
For some reason, Spike was placed in the middle of the circle of mares. He was unused to the unusual amount of attention from the mares, who was staring at him with thoughtful looks. Eventually, he could take it no more, and exclaimed. “What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“The atmospheric particulate detector has sensed a large fluctuation of vital incendiary residue.” Twilight stated.
“… Can you put it in Equestrian, please?” Spike paused for a long time and eventually asked.
Fluttershy made a face to the deliberately difficult purple pony, and explained. “What Twilight meant is that she found some ashes in the air, and those ashes are likely from some creature that breathes fire.”
“What kind of fire-breathing creature is it?” Spike asked.
“Could have been a phoenix, but those are very rare in this area. The most likely candidate is a dragon like you, Spike.”
Twilight said. “We have to find this dragon. Not that we’re concerned that the forest will catch fire or something, since dragons can usually control their breath. It’s because if he or she is left alone, the smoke might eventually build up and cause breathing problems in ponies, blotting out the sun and thus affecting the local plant lives.”
The last statement earned a severe nod from Applejack.
“Yeah! The ashes will also mix with the morning fog and cause a blanket of smog to cover the whole Ponyville. That would take us ages to clean off!” Rainbow added. “And since dragons could sleep for years and even decades, the smoke might build up into a smoke film covering a large part of Equestria, eventually.”
“Oh dear, dragons do that? Am I going to…” Spike asked.
“You don’t have to worry for now, Spike. Only some dragons breathe smoke out involuntarily when they sleep, and only when they reached a certain size. Also, it is not too big a problem if we can just talk with the dragon in question. Ponyville’s location in a bowled-shaped valley bottom caused the smoke to accumulate much quickly than other places. We just have to persuade the dragon to move to a better spot.”
“B—but what if the dragon is mean?” Spike asked uncertainly. While the young drake was looking forward to connect with his brethren of the same species, they were also a complete unknown to him, so he felt somewhat uneasy towards the trip.
“Haha, Spike, don’t be a chicken!” Rainbow Dash teased Spike, “Aren’t you supposed to be a masculine dragon and lovable scamp?”
Twilight shot a glare at the cyan mare, and sighed, “Your worry is not unfounded, Spike. Dragons were naturally more aggressive and territorial than ponies, they were also much more protective of their possession. In other words, um… “
“Dragons are usually a greedy bunch, Spike. That’s why they horde stuffs.” Applejack added for the hesitant purple pony, “They are prone to become greedy. When they become greedy, they grow bigger, which makes them desire even more, until they reach a gigantic size and become pure greed themselves.”
Spike’s face turned a strange shade of red, then green, and then red again. So many thoughts went through his head at once. Was he going to become a greedy dragon? Would he then be hated by Twilight and her friends? He dreaded that his greed would be a deal-breaker for the famously generous Rarity.
Also, they mentioned that greed would make him grow bigger. While this was not necessarily a bad thing, as he always want to be a bigger, stronger dragon to impress others, his becoming a towering high dragon would change his life drastically. For one, he would not be able to live in and learn with Twilight. He would knock down houses, so he would have to move out of Ponyville as well. He…
Twilight looked at the confused and fearful purple dragon, then the somewhat tactless Applejack. She figured that it might after all be better to simply tell it like what it was, and tell it early to Spike. Still, she saw the troubled dragon and decided to do something to comfort him. She poked Rarity, who in turn nodded at the purple pony.
“… Spike.” Rarity looked at the young dragon straight in the eyes “I don’t think that dragon out there is afflicted with greed-induced growth. Probably just a snoring problem. Besides, greed-induced growth is different to normal dragon growth, and is perfectly reversible shall the dragon control themselves and remain temperate. Bottom-line, Spike, we will all still love you no matter what you become.”
“So don’t be a silly mopey dragon and cheer up!” Pinkie Pie added with a grin.
“Spike, you now know why I insist on teaching you about magic and control.” Twilight told the purple dragon, who was now simply staring at the mares with wide eyes. “You must learn to control yourself as a dragon. It is like walking on a thin line. Although if you couldn’t control your greed, bad things would happen, but a moderate amount of desire and want drives self-improvement and made ourselves into better ponies, and dragons. Just don’t let it get to your head.”
“We will watch over you, Spike.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Um… So what do you want me to do with… that dragon?” Spike asked, bringing the topic back to the smoke-breathing dragon.
“We aren’t sure if that’s really a dragon, or even if it’s a dragon, he or she is amenable to a chat. We will send out our best animal handler, Fluttershy.”
Twilight pointed to the yellow pegasus, who gulped and nodded. “… to act as our emissary. If the dragon is friendly enough, then besides fixing the smoke problem, we intend to also invite him or her to give a short lesson to you to what it meant to be a dragon and share the experiences in the wild.”
Spike looked at Twilight wide-eyed, “I—I…”
“Spike, don’t you remember what I’d said in Canterlot before we departed?”
“… You shall one day become a strong and wise dragon of your own.”
“This is but the first step of becoming a grown-up dragon, Spike. You must go out and see for yourself, for you have only lived amongst ponies but not your kind. Your life should not be chosen by your circumstances, but by your own hands.” Twilight gently said to Spike.
Spike went silent for a moment, but then he quietly muttered.
“T—Thank you, everypony…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group swiftly moved out of Ponyville and onto the meandering paths that lead up to a small mountain. The sky was slowly getting darker, and the plants nearby started to be covered with some sooty substances.
“Twilight, your smoke meter was rea—” Spike’s words were cut short by a burp, and a letter from Celestia materialized in the green flame.
Spike quickly grabbed and unfolded the letter, when Twilight said with a triumphant smirk. “See, my equipment is even faster than those in the Royal Observatory.”
“Yadda yadda, unknown smoke, investigate the source. Sighed Princess Celestia. Hey, you’re right!”
Spike exclaimed in amazement. “The Princess even told all of you to go, which you… uh, kinda already did.”
The group trotted and walked, until they have reached a steep slope. Applejack took out a long and thick rope from her saddlebag. She tied the head of the rope into a lasso, then threw it with all her might onto the top of the slope. After a few tries, the rope was successfully hooped onto a protruding rock. Applejack bit and pulled to ensure the rope was secure, and gestured the others to climb up.
“Um, why don’t you just let Rainbow Dash take the rope to the top?” Spike asked Applejack.
“Nothing, I jus’ wanted to lasso somethin’. Been a long time since I last did it.” Applejack smirked.
The group reached the top, as Twilight took out a nail and fastened the rope to the rock with her magic. They then approached a narrow chasm. This time, Twilight just groaned and fired up her magic. A small plank made out of purple light appeared between the gap. The earth ponies and unicorns then walked over the bridge, plus Spike, who had to suppress the urge to look down to the abyss.
Eventually, the low but loud snore of a dragon could be heard booming from afar. They looked at one another and kept their mouth closed, until they arrived at the entrance of a cave.
“That’s where the dragon lives, it seems.” Twilight commented. “Fluttershy, I will go with you inside. We shouldn’t be entering all at once, or the dragon might think that we’re going to rob his treasure horde… Sounds like a he anyway. Spike, you should especially wait outside with the other girls until we called for you. We don’t want to anger the dragon by bringing in another dragon unprovoked.”
Twilight and Fluttershy then trotted together into the dark cave. Thin but grey smoke was billowing from inside the caverns. After walking for a short distance, the duo reached the sleeping form of the red male dragon, who was snoring loudly on the giant pile of gold and jewelries.
“By Celestia! If we got that many bits on our hooves, we could have just saved all the troubles. We can hire an army with this!” Twilight was stunned by the sheer amount of wealth in front of her eyes.
Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth and shushed Twilight. “Shh! You’re going to make him mad!”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, he’s sleeping like a swine… pardon my words. Besides, this one is not a particularly careful dragon. His lair is barely protected from intruding ponies and the elements.”
Twilight smirked. “I’m going to wake him up now, prepare yourself as well.”
Twilight then trotted back a few step, and lit her horn. Her horn shot out an orb of incredibly bright white light, which rose to the top of the cave. All of a sudden, the cave was as bright as the midday sun, which caused Fluttershy and even Twilight herself to shield their eyes with their hooves.
“… Who dare interrupt my slumber?!” The dragon was woken by the light and lowly roared, not too pleased to be awaken from his deep sleep.
“Your turn, Fluttershy.” Twilight poked Fluttershy’s side.
The yellow pegasus flew forth towards the red dragon, and hoovered just above his nose. She gulped and spoke with her most determined tone. “May I know your name, Mister dragon? We came for an urgent matter.”
The dragon gruffly huffed. He wanted to just ignore this tiny, soft-spoken pony and go straight back to sleep. But he didn’t want to be woken again by that bizarre bright flash of light, and this yellow mare… he could not put his paw on it, but she seemed to have a strangely persuading gaze.
Thus he nodded and replied, “You ponies might not know the glorious dragon tongue, or even how to pronounce it, but it is Rauðheift, Red Fury. Now, speak your case, and I will consider throwing you ponies out of my lair later, rather than now.”
“Greetings, Rauðheift (Red Fury).”
Twilight bowed to the red dragon in a polite curtsy. She giggled to herself in her mind. The most precious gift from the ancient tome’s experiences was the myriad languages that it had recorded and learnt over the years. Since Canterlot was a prestigious world capital, countless speakers of different languages belonging to different races and nations had lived or stayed in the city.
The ancient tome had always fantasized about coming to the surface to speak to the inhabitants. So it made an effort to learn the language of every passer-by. Although after gaining a consciousness, its attention had also been limited like a living being, but it had more than enough time to go from one speaker to another.
As a result, they were now adept at not only various pony dialects, but also tongues of the dragons, griffons, cows, zebras, and a smattering of races that had long disappeared from the Equestrian scene. Even though what they knew might be antiquated, they were still incredibly useful. Like trying to impress the dragon in front of them.
“We come in peace, Red Fury.”
Fluttershy also spoke to the surprised dragon, who was more than slightly unused to hearing the ancient and sacred dragon tongue from the two young ponies in front of him.
“We ask you to move, because in your sleep, your smoke has choked our city.”
Fluttershy pled with steady eyes.
The dragon raised his eyebrow.
“… Is that true?”
Fluttershy and Twilight nodded vigorously.
“Indeed, great dragon.”
Fluttershy hurriedly added.
The dragon pondered for a while. These two ponies simply asked him to move, out of desperation. He was not too concerned with just two small ponies, but he was a dragon with honor and pride, and he would be troubled by his conscience if he harmed so many creatures with an unintended action that he could easily avoid. Plus, he literally just settled in, he could simply decamp and move with little lost.
Finally, the ponies offered their respect by speaking in their noble tongue, however disfluent. This was rarely seen in other ponies in Equestria, even from the rulers of this land, who thought the whole land was theirs and everyone on it should speak their… effeminate language.
So he nodded.
“Alright, little ponies. I shall move out the next morning.”
Fluttershy slightly chuckled at the dragon word that literally means ‘little small horses’, and said to the dragon.
“Thank you, good Red Fury.”
The red dragon waited, and then saw that the two ponies had not left yet. He raised his voice and asked.
“Anything else?”
This time, Twilight trotted forth.
“Yes, forgive my impudence, I have a request.”
“…There is a dragon, Spike… Gaddur in your tongue, who lives with us since his birth, wants to learn the way of the dragons from you.”
The dragon asked with some suspicion.
“… And what will I gain?”
“In return, we will help you decorate your new home.”
Twilight smiled. She went out of the cave to bring in Rarity, who explained her plan to make the dragon’s new home as beautiful and comfy as a royal palace.
“Hm, not bad. The little one is outside, isn’t he?”
The mares exhaled in relief, and Twilight once again brought in Spike and other waiting mares from the outside. Spike trembled a bit, as he was somewhat fretful at the prospect of meeting an adult dragon.
“So, what do you want… Spike?”
The red dragon spoke to Spike with a booming voice.
“Oh bulls.” Twilight muttered, then turned to the red dragon.
“I’m sorry, great dragon, he’s still not fluent in the dragon tongue.”
The red dragon frowned, then changed into common Equestrian. “So you’re Spike, I presume? I am Red Fury, scion of Crimson Thunder.”
“Y—yes, I’m Spike… uh, nice to meet you?” Spike meekly replied.
The red dragon let out a roaring laugh, which stunned Spike and caused the other mares to wince.
“You still have much to learn, young drake. You should never, ever, make yourself look weak in front of another dragon. It is a drake-eat-drake world out here. You will get badly hurt by other dragons if you do that.”
The mares looked to one another, and Twilight told the two dragons. “We will excuse ourselves for now.”
She then turned to the baby dragon. “Spike, please just ask away, anything. Red Fury would answer your questions to the best of his ability.”
The mares retreated out of the cave, leaving the two dragons, one small and one big, in the vast cavern chamber alone.
“Young drake, before you asked me any questions, I would like to ask you a few myself first.”
The red dragon looked at Spike curiously. “How did the ponies get their hooves on you, and how do they treat you?”
“… I was born in Canterlot, from an old dragon egg that Princess Celestia kept… I did not know who my biological father or mother is, but ever since Twilight, the purple pony, hatched me with her magic, I’ve treated her… almost as my mother.”
Spike continued. “Twilight, and other ponies including the Princess, has given me a place to live, gems to eat, and companionship. Since I was little, I have followed Twilight around as her assistant.”
The red dragon hollered with an angry expression. “She kept you as her slave?”
Spike’s eyes shot wide, and quickly corrected. “No! I’m her assistant, I helped her around her library. She, and other ponies, had treated me with kindness and respect. And recently, Twilight even almost stopped giving me errands to do, just focusing on teaching me about everything, including dragons and dragon magic. That’s why she brought me to you as well.”
“Uh-huh.” The red dragon’s face was somewhat doubtful. “So what do you think of the ponies yourself?”
“They are in general a peaceful bunch. Kind and friendly, although prone to irrational scares and the occasional mass hysteria. I am happy to be friends with them.” Spike replied. What Spike didn’t mention though, was his crush on one particular white mare.
“They sound too weak and soft to me. Dragons have their own ways, Spike, and despite the limited time, and the sad fact that you know not your native tongue, I shall tell you what I know about our noble and glorious race.” The red dragon proclaimed.
“… First question, what do you think of… dragon greed?” Spike asked.
“Greed? Hahaha! You sounded like you think it is, by nature, something to avoid. Let me tell you little Spike. Greed is not bad. Greed is good. It drives every being in this world to reach for higher, better and more. Ponies say dragon greed’s bad, simply because they are an ambitionless bunch. Without greed, there is no improvement. The world will be a dull place and you will be a weak dragon.”
Spike was stunned by the dragon’s words, as he prepared to ask him more. The red dragon looked at the little dragon with amusement, and answered his questions one by one with patience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mares waited and waited, and witnessed the sun slowly going down towards the horizons. They had sat on a giant sheet of thick velvet that Rarity had brought, and playing a complex-looking board game with each other.
“… Oh my Rainbow, what are you doing? This is scandalous! She is your sister for Celestia’s sake!” Rarity yelped.
“Pfft, Rarity, love conquers all and stuff, surely you’d understand that? Besides, this would unite the two crowns together, and we will soon become the strongest nation on the continent!” Rainbow triumphantly proclaimed.
“B—But.” The white mare weakly countered, when she noticed the darkening sky. “Oh dear, I hope Spike-wikey is alright.”
“It’s gettin’ late too. The roads downhill would be dangerous in the dark, plus our families and friends would worry.” Applejack said.
Just when the mares were discussing the situation, a small figure was seen walking out of the cave towards the waiting mares.
“Spike! How goes the meeting?” Twilight put down her playing cards and galloped towards the purple drake, as the other mares followed.
“It’s alright, I guess. I’ve learnt a lot today. Something that I never thought of, and something that I doubt I would ever read from the books.” Spike replied.
“So… Spike, whaddya think?” Pinkie Pie asked with interest.
“What? I’m of course going to stay!” Spike reassured the mares. “For one, I’m just a super light-weight in terms of dragon size, I will have to wait until I grew bigger before even getting close to the teenage dragons. Besides, I’ve lived with you all… the ponies since my birth, you’re my friends. How can I just leave my friends behind?”
Applejack gazed at the purple dragon. “… If so, why are you still looking so unsure?”
Spike gulped and looked up. “… I’m still not sure about which way is better. The pony way, or the dragon way.”
“Must there be a distinction, Spike?” Fluttershy asked rhetorically.
“As I’ve said, the dragon race was by nature aggressive and territorial.”
Twilight said. “… Perhaps it was a poor choice of word. Not all dragons, or beings, are completely bound by nature. Of course we are somewhat constrained by what we’re given, but we’re also shaped by our environment, others, and more importantly, ourselves. We are the statues, and also the sculptor. You are what you are, Spike, and the choice is in your hands.”
Spike looked at the purple mare, and quietly said. “So… uh, is greed good, or not?”
“Ha! The dragon preached to you about the goodness of greed, did he not? Oh boy, that’s rich!” Rainbow Dash chortled.
“Spike, as I told you, you should make your own judgment on how to approach greed. It’s a delicate matter. But if you ask me about what I think…”
Twilight sighed and said. “Yes, it is good to be successful. But greed has little to do with success. Greed might be mentally rewarding, but it is also an unnecessary ego trip that makes you desire more and more and when enough is never enough. Unrestrained greed blinds truth, Spike. You must be careful.”
“Um, Spike, you don’t have to make a decision right now.” Fluttershy gently cooed. “We still have plenty of time, just as Twilight has in Ponyville.”
Spike nodded, but spoke nothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight and Spike had returned to the Library, as Rarity had departed on the hot air balloon Twilight lent her in order to follow the red dragon to his new lair, and offer a complete renovation for his new home.
“This time, Spike, it is you who should write a friendship report.” Twilight turned to the purple dragon and said plainly.
“What? Me? But… the Princess sent you on a mission to learn friendship, not me!” Spike protested.
“Well, we sent you on a mission to learn about yourself and your own kind, so treat this as a report to me as well.”
Twilight said. “Besides, writing down things helps you organize things in your head better, so try it out. I will write the letter for you this time.”
“Alright, Twi.” Spike sat on the little stool and nodded.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned a great deal about my heritage as a dragon. Ever since you let Twilight hatch me from the egg you gave her, I have been wondering about my kind, and how different I am to them since I am raised amongst ponies. This self-doubt had persisted and continued to trouble me. This is until today, when Twilight and her friends spent a great deal of efforts and found me one of my kind to tell me about dragons from a dragon’s view. I am now much more at ease with myself, as I realized I am a dragon of my own. I can decide my own actions, and I am not bounded to dragon nature shall I choose not to.
Your humble dragon,
Spike.
P.S.: I’ve learned that my name in the dragon tongue is Gaddur! How cool is that?”
Twilight’s eyes glimmered, as she praised the young drake. “This is a superb letter, Spike! All the big words are used correctly, and it surely moved and warmed my heart. I’m sure the Princess would be pleasantly surprised as well. Though, um, the last line might be omitted.”
Spike pulled a face at Twilight, which earned a smile from the defeated mare, who then looked to the night sky with a relieved sigh.