Spike and Iron Heart made their way to the docks and split up upon arrival, Iron Heart waved goodbye to Spike and made her way to the only Boat tied to the Docs, Spike meanwhile made his way to the end of one of the many empty docks and looked out across the cove in search for Emerald, After spotting nothing he sat at the end of it and waited for her to show up.
While Spike sat in wait Iron Heart was busy doing basic maintenance on her boat, Spike shifted himself and watched as she worked away at making sure it was in tip-top sailing shape, the boat itself had only ever left the harbor twice since he had gotten it for her on her 17th Birthday, the first time it had left was when Iron Heart had tried to set out on her own only for her to return a week later with her ship slowly sinking and a crew of pirates hot on her tail, The 2nd time had been her and Spike trying to go on a trip to visit Equestria for a wedding between two of his old friends, but a storm rolled in and they barely made it back to the cove in one piece. Now the boat just sat at the dock, both Spike and Iron Heart too worried to take it out to sea a third time due to Iron Hearts Armor making it impossible for her to stay afloat, and Spike's lack of a left arm making him a pretty crap swimmer.
"You know they say third times the charm," Spike called to her "the lady I'm meeting with can control water telepathically, maybe she'll help us get to Equestria,"
"Great plan," Iron Heart called back "It's just a casual 2-month trip,"
"Hey I made the trip once," Spike called back "Only I had to walk,"
"Bitch you chose to walk," Iron Heart replied with a laugh "I know you originally came from the only Equestrian port in this ice hell of a country,"
Yeah, but it's on the other side of the dam Continent, "Spike replied casually as he brushed some snow off the doc and watched it dissipate in the Ice waters lapping at the doc's support beams "And the only way to get places here is to either walk, fly, or teleport since the closet Train is a few thousand miles south," as he spoke he began shoveling more snow into the cove to give himself a better place to sit,"
"I know you lost your arm not too long after you arrive here," Iron Heart said casually as she herself began shoveling snow off the boat, "But you never talk about your lack of wings, I've seen the scars on your back, did our all friend Rusty take them to?"
"Oh no, I lost my wings way back when I still lived in Equestria,"
"Is it a good story?" She asked as she looked over at him.
"It really shows off how pathetic I use to be," Spike replied casually. Iron Heart was about to say something but her ears went flat as she looked at something behind Spike, as her ears went flat the light around Spike started looking as though it was being reflected through something, he looked behind him and saw a large pillar of water forming a hand.
"Told you I'd get kidnaped by the ocean," He called to her as the hand gingerly grabbed him and instantly rushed away from the shore with Spike, in the distance he could just hear Iron Heart calling to him that she had thought it was a joke before he was out of the cove and traveling away from it at high speeds. As the cold winds bit at his face, he looked back as the Icey landmass that was his home started getting farther and farther away. Spike was impressed at the speed of travel and turned back to face forward, ahead of him was a small island, The Hand slowed to a stop and set Spike Down on the beach before dissipating back into the water, Spike looked around the Island with some confusion, he could still see the cove in the distance and was confident this island had not been here the last time he had looked out at the sea.
He was unable to keep this train of thought rolling as the call of the island won him over, there was no snow and the water that washed over his feet was warm, the area past the beach had grass and sand, but what got him moving was what he saw growing in the tree's, many lush red apples were growing in the upper leaves of the tree, a simple commodity in Equestria that he hadn't had since he had arrived in the Frozen North, Spike wasted no time in kicking the tree and knocking a few apples down, and began hurriedly devouring them. He was so busy giving the fruit his full attention that he failed to notice the many Mereponies that began surrounding the island until the sound of their whispering drew his attention, he looked out at the waves at a few dozen Mereponies all talking to one another, there were all different sizes and had different fish like body parts, some were more Pony than fish and some were more fish than Pony. It took Spike a moment to Spot Emerald and he waved at her cautiously.
"I see you brought friends," he noted as some of the crowd got closer and started inspecting Spike.
"Oh, I told them about you and they all wanted to meet you," Emerald said sweetly before licking her finger and rubbing it on Spike's cheek, "My you're covered in dirt, even after my water hand carried you here,"
"Yeah, Hot water is kind of a rare commodity, and most chose to take a hot bath over using it to clean their dirty clothes," Before Emerald could say anything the Largest Merepony in the group approached, she was very tall and large in stature, She had a Black mane and looked to be some kind of Shark Merepony, she was one of the Mereponies that was more Fish than Pony, while Emeril's upper half had fur the Shark Merepony had shark-like skin all across her body, she had sharp teeth, She had a large Shark Fin on her back that looked to have a Cutie Mark on it, or at least what he figured was the Merepony equivalent of one, She had the same clothing as all the other Mereponies a simple Bikini top. She glared down at Spike with Piercing Yellow eyes.
"What is such a young dragon doing in the Frozen North?" She demanded, her tone similar to that of a scolding mother, "This is the single worse environment for a Dragon, especially one of your age,"
"I'm almost 50," Spike replied confidently, he realized his mistake when he saw the looks on their faces
"You're not even a half-century old?" The Shark pony demanded "Where are your parents I need to teach them a firm lesson young one,"
"Never met 'em, I can tell you where my Pony family might be but I haven't really asked them where they live so I can't guarantee..."
"You were raised by Ponies?" The Shark pony asked in shock "No wonder you look so thin, are you eating the proper amount of meat daily?"
"I have like 2 or 3 meals a week, mostly brown salads and gems," Spike replied casually, Spike could tell that the Shark Pony was becoming pissed as her Gray colors started slowly turning red and the calm seas started to become mildly violent, forcing some of the Mereponies to fight back against the Shark Ponies own magic affecting the sea.
"So," Spike said, trying to prevent the Shark Pony from getting any angrier, "My name is Spike, and I guess 49 is young for Dragons?"
"Oh yes how rude of me, I am Angel, and Yes 49 is very young for a Dragon, A Dragon isn't even of age to leave its nest until the age of 279 at the very latest,"
"I think most of my friends' grandchildren will be dead by then," Spike mussed "So I'm not really up for that, and regardless I don't have a nest,"
"No, But I have a nest," The Shark pony said with determination.
"Oh, I'd hate to intrude," Spike said as he backed away from Angel and waved her off "And besides I can't really swim all that well," Angel's face noticeably turned a darker shade of red and Spike wasn't entirely sure what he had done to make her mad until she pointed at him.
"You're using your Right hand a lot while you talk, your left arm isn't even making your cloak move a little," Spike's reaction to this instantly gave away to her she had found something he was hiding and water tendrils shot out of the water and forcefully moved his cloak out of the way, revealing to her and the rest of the Mereponies his missing arm. Every other Merepony instantly shot out of the water and moved far away from Angel, who was staring at the place an arm should be in silence, her body was now a dark red and even her hair had changed color, around her the ocean began to bubble, Spike was worried something was about to happen when he saw steam coming from the water and realized She was making the water around her Boiling hot
"You seem mad," Spike said nervously "Maybe we should go ahead and get started on what I was originally Invited here for, Emerald said she was looking for some ponies imparticular when she let herself get captured by Pirates,"
"Oh...oh yeah," Emerald said nervously as she and Spike both looked at Angel with fear as she continued to silently stare at Spike's lack of an arm, "That was just to get you down here to meet with my friends to see if we could help you, I...didn't know you had been maimed though, anyway a dragon of your age doesn't have any business with Rusty Tom so..." Spike actively snorted at that.
"Oh that is the most inaccurate thing anyone has ever said to me, I have a lot of business with that Rusty Bitch," Angel snapped out of her silent staring and her eyes instantly snapped to Spike's face.
"Such language for someone your age," She said "And what business do you have with That no-good monster Rusty Tom,"
"You first," Spike replied simply.
"He's been dumping large quantities of trash into the Ocean, that by itself would be bad enough but the spot he's chosen to dump has a current that leads it all to the underwater city we call home, It's gotten so bad that we've had to leave our home due to all the contaminants, shards of glass, moldy food, even cor-" Angel cut herself off but Spike had a pretty good idea she was about to say corpses, "He's destroyed our home and we will not stand for it, once we find where he is we are going to gather all our powers and destroy his home with a tidal wave filled with all his disgusting trash and then bubble it and remove all the salt from the water so that it can fastly freeze and remove his trash from our home and any trace of that...dirtbag," Spike nodded.
"I like it, Honestly I hope I can be there to watch it happen,"
"We'll see about that, now what is your business with him young one,"
"Oh, he cut my arm off and very nearly skinned me alive, I got out though, gave his face a nice scar to remember me, then spent 20 years in a frozen wasteland that he controls with an Iron fist," Spike then pointed back to the Cove "Except that Town right there, it use to be his but now that town's mine and he can suck it," Spike smiled at Angel "So I guess my business is revenge? I dunno, bitch still has my arm though and I really want it back,"
Angel didn't say anything immediately and instead chose to breathe angrily in thought-moment before speaking up "Little one, I can tell just from your body language that if I tried to keep you safe in my nest you'd be less than happy about it, and might even resent me for it, so I have a deal for you, I will help you kill Rusty Tom, and let you watch as we erase him from this worlds history if you agree to let me live with you starting from today," Spike looked at her for a moment before responding.
"Who can even think of saying no to a giant Shark Pony with water manipulation offering to help someone kill their mortal enemy," He asked honestly "I feel you already know there's zero chance of my saying no to that regardless of what you tag to the end of it," Spike wished he had kept his mouth shut the second he saw the smile on her face.
"Then I also demand you let me mother you without resistance," She declared proudly, "And to start we are going to get you an actual meal for a Dragon of your age, Can someone get a large fish for me?"
"I hate fish," Spike whined back.