//------------------------------// // Chapter 27 // Story: Tale of Two Dragons // by Kind of Brony //------------------------------// Last time on Tale of Two Dragons, Amy and Spike's peaceful trip to Burrowton ended in violence as they discover a dog of Cujo's pack waiting for them on the surface. Forced to act quickly, Amy made sure the dog would not have a good time of it. It felt like his entire body was covered in cotton when Rocky awoke, with a bunch concentrated at the side of his face. It was not necessarily unpleasant, but far from normal as he tried to open his eyes. Strangely, only one of them obeyed the mental command with a flutter before he was forced to shut it again in response to the searing light that flooded his retina. What in the world happened to him? Last thing he remembered was the old diamond dog at the bobble shop and maybe someone behind him. No, that was right; someone did sneak up behind him, and… Was he dead? Gods, he couldn’t think straight, and the damned light shining red through his eyelids was not helping. Bringing a heavy paw to shield his face, he tried to demand for the light to be turned off by any who could hear, but a sharp pain shooting across his muzzle stopped him. More alert from the shock and hearing a sudden gasp from his side, Rocky opened his compliant eye and looked over. There stood what could only be described as the most… voluptuous bitch he had ever laid eyes on. Holy…! I am dead, and angels are real! shot through the dog’s mind as he stared at the wide-eyed girl. She was even wearing a nurse’s outfit, cap with a little red cross included. Jackpot! Attempting to speak again, Rocky was struck with a lancing pain once more. Going to feel the side of his face with a wince, a gentle paw halted him at the wrist. “Please, you might aggravate your injuries,” the girl spoke, “I have to go get the doctor, but I’ll be back shortly.” Without another word, she left, leaving Rocky to only partially enjoy the view of her jiggly hips as he tried to process what was going on. If he had ended up at the raw end of the afterlife like he always suspected, that would explain the pain, but the lack of his mother there to eternally whack him upside the head had him questioning that theory. Seeing as he probably wouldn’t have this slowly building headache if he were experiencing eternal bliss, that ruled out hitting the afterlife jackpot as well. Never thought I’d be disappointed to wakeup alive. Looking around the room, he concluded he was in a hospital room, the rock wall carved as smooth as claws could get them and painted white. Putting the pieces together from there, it wasn’t hard to figure out the basics. He had been attacked from behind, choked out, and apparently had his face bashed in with a rock or something. Yeah, that sounded about his luck. And his luck showed no sign of turning anytime soon as Buddy came rushing through the door with wide eyes. That’s what he needed, a pain in his tail to go along with the one in his head. “Rocky, you’re awake!” The open eye give it away? he wanted to snark, but had to settle for a pirate’s glare instead. Not picking up the hostility, Buddy moved to the side of the bed and continued talking. “Just heard it from the nurse when she told the doctor; I’ve been coming by every morning for the last three days to check up on you. Think the doc was actually getting annoyed, but I don’t know why. I mean, it’s perfectly reasonable for a fella to worry about his friend, right? Definitely doesn’t have anything to do with the doc’s daughter being a smokin’ hot nurse.” Leaning in conspiratorially, he whispered, “Which she totally is, by the way. Don’t know if you’ve gotten a good look at her yet, but she is one fiiine piece of tail, and I do mean that literally. Sure, her body's good, but wait ‘till you get a load of that tail; sucker's got eight spikes on it. Eight! I didn’t even know a tail could be that pokey. And speaking of pokin'-” Whatever vulgar words were about to spill out of Buddy’s mouth were cut off as his bedridden partner reached up and clamped the end of his muzzle shut with a strong paw. Shut. Your. Trap, Rocky communicated with his glare, not that Buddy could read that as he smirked and pulled away. “Ah, I get it, a bit of love at first sight, eh? Don’t want me talking about your lady with disrespect. Never would have pegged you as then gentledog; guess you were hiding the heart of a romantic under the prickly exterior.” While Buddy nodded his head in self-gratification of his own deductive skills, Rocky stared incredulously. There was no way this guy was that dumb, right? While seriously contemplating an attempt to get out of bed and smack his fool of a partner, he was interrupted by the door opening once again. “Mister Buddy, I would very much appreciate you not running through my establishment unattended,” a dog in a lab coat said coldly. “This is a place of rest and recovery, not a gymnasium. The patients here need peace and quiet, which I’ve gotten plenty of complaints about since you’ve started visiting.” “Hey now, plenty of the dogs stuck here are enjoying my company,” argued Buddy. “Let me guess, that old bat in room twelve is the one doing all the complaining, right? She’s less fun than Rocky here.” Getting two glares and a light giggle from the nurse standing behind her father, Buddy smiled with pride at the latter accomplishment and didn’t even mind when the doctor jockeyed him out of the way to reach his patient’s bedside. “Ah, Mister Rocky, yes? It’s nice to finally meet you. I can’t say I hear of many dogs falling down the main elevator shaft, let alone living. Once we get you speaking again, you’ll have to tell me how you managed that.” There was a hint of skepticism in the older dog’s voice, but Rocky could only raise his only functional eyebrow in confusion. Had he been able to speak, he’d have questioned where he heard such an outlandish story, though looking over the doc’s shoulder served equally well in giving him the answer. With his partner mouthing that he’d explain later, Rocky was left to give a noncommittal shrug, much to the doctor’s obvious annoyance. Just as much the professional he appeared to be however, the doctor didn’t press and instead began to explain Rocky’s health. A broken jaw, fractured cheek bone, a molar knocked out. Why, if the doc didn’t know any better, his patient must have landed face-first directly onto a distinctly fist-shaped stone. And got a noose wrapped around his neck to have resulted in that bruising. Buddy agreed; it was quite the fall, and definitely not a fight with an irate dragon, which it wasn’t. A fight would have suggested Rocky actually got a few hits in, after all. “We won’t be able to cut the wires in your mouth for at least ten more days,” The doctor explained, looking down at his clipboard. “I’d recommend longer than that, but your partner has stressed that you two have very important business to attend to outside of town that mustn’t be delayed. I certainly don’t pity the state you’ll be in; no gems for a month minimum, and I can hardly recommend most other foods either. I’d say bread soaked in water will be about all you’ll be able to chew for quite some time, but until then, we’ll put you on a purée diet and get that IV out of your arm.” Looking down, Rocky noticed the itch he hadn’t realized was indeed a needle in his arm, and grimaced. He may not have been a whiny pup anymore, but that didn’t change his dislike of needles. The rest of what the doctor had to say was none too pleasing either. It was times like this that the dog wished he had simply stayed in his box when he was offered a place in Cujo’s pack. It was padded well with insulating leaves and the alley it was situated in was right behind a nice restaurant. It may not have been The Ritz, but at least he didn’t have the constant risk of being pummeled hanging over his head, whether it be his pack mates or ornery dragons. There was no point in what-ifs however, and so Rocky simply nodded to whatever his physician said until he and his attractive daughter left the room. As soon as the door closed, Rocky turned a questioning gaze to his partner who sighed and pulled up a chair to plop down into. “Wondering about the lie, right? You remember how you got here?” Rocky nodded. “Good, at least you didn’t suffer any brain damage, what with getting choked out before having your brains smashed off the inside of your skull. I was afraid you’d be a drooling idiot or something, what with how bad you looked after the fact.” Rocky growled and Buddy quickly got back on topic. “Okay, well, that old dog, Charles, helped me bring you here, and on the elevator down, he explained what happened. Apparently Amethyst Thistle got the jump on you, and then took off. Seeing as how she and her brother were long gone, I figured there was no reason for all the threatening stuff and throwing Cujo’s name around like we were supposed to do to get the town to help, so I lied when they started asking questions. “Why go making enemies if you don’t have to, right?” Buddy finished, scratching his head. “Kinda seems pointless now though judging from the sort of gossip I’ve heard around here. Pretty sure they would have believed me if I told them the dragons attacked you without reason. These Burrowton dogs are a skittish lot when it comes to dragons.” Rocky grunted his agreement, surprised his empty headed cohort thought things through like he did. Affiliating themselves with Cujo while he was vulnerable in a hospital bed would definitely not be an ideal situation, that was for sure. Last thing he needed was having guards sitting outside his room just waiting for an excuse to throw him in jail. Plus that nurse probably wouldn’t want to associate with someone willing to work under a psychopath, and Rocky didn’t want to blow his chances before he could even speak a word to the girl. “Ten days before the doctor will let us leave though,” began Buddy, interrupting his thoughts. “That might be a problem if Cujo or the zebra think we were wasting time on top of failing to bring back the dragons. I’m not looking forward to joining back up with the caravan.” That was true, and the thought had a pit form in Rocky’s stomach. All he could do about it though is hope the zebra would be reasonable and Cujo’s brothers could talk the alpha out of splattering him. Damn, he didn’t like those odds. ~8~ “I miss ham,” Spike moaned, snapping off a bite of dried rabbit jerky from sundown-breakfast and frowning. It was good, but nowhere near as tasty as the pork he had had with the diamond dogs. “It’s only been three days,” Amy responded, not looking back as she made sure to watch out for danger. They’d been lucky so far, but as they moved from desert to scrubland, the chances of a night-time predatory encounter increased. With temperatures becoming milder and the search radius Zariba would have to cover to find them growing with every step, it would soon be safe to travel during daylight hours. “Might as well be years,” grumbled the smaller dragon before he tripped over a rock. Tonight should probably be the last before they switched over; Spike had a few too many bumps and bruises for Amy’s liking. Helping her brother, up, Amy asked, “You okay?” “Yeah, I’m fine. Just another stupid rock. They trip me, get stuck between my toes, and I’ll have sleep on them again to boot. I never thought I could start hating inanimate objects.” Amy chuckled, but still looked down at her charge in concern. "You want me to carry you for a bit? I don’t mind.” “No, I’m fine,” he answered, re-adjusting the shoulder strap of his backpack. “Just a little sore about not getting to sleep in a bed back in Burrowton. I was really looking forward to that, you know?” She did. When you travel the continent for ancient treasures and lost civilizations, you learn to appreciate the little luxuries you stumble upon on the way. It wasn’t as hard for Amy to do without as it was for Spike though; she’d been sleeping on the ground and eating rations for years now, unlike her little brother and his cushy library life. “Tell you what, you can have my bedroll in the morning for some extra padding. It might not be a bed, but it’s better than pebbles digging into your back.” "What? No, Amy, I couldn’t-” “I insist,” the dragoness interrupted. “Seriously, Spike, it won’t kill me to go without it for a day, I’m used to it.” Spike looked ready to argue, but sighed and smiled instead. “Thanks, but that means you get both bedrolls next time. You missed out on the bed too, after all.” “You don’t-” began Amy before seeing the fire in the smaller dragon’s eyes. “Fine, I’ll take both bedrolls later. You better not regret it.” Spike beamed at his small victory and the pair fell into silence for a few minutes until the younger asked, “So how much longer ‘till we reach the next stop?” “Well, we’re already pretty close to the Gryphon Kingdom border, if we haven’t already passed it, but we’re going to be avoiding as many of the small settlements and towns as we can from here on out.” “Really?” Spike tilted his head. “Why?” “So we can avoid any more run-ins with Arbez or his lackeys. We’ve more than likely pulled ahead of him as it is, what with being run out of two towns without rest, and I want to keep that lead. Plus, the closer we get to the hoard, the more the possible routes begin to converge, meaning the more the chance of running into his caravan increases. We want to keep that possibility down to a minimum at this point.” Her eyes lost focus as she began to imagine her ambition being realized. The treasure Dad always spoke of finding would soon be within her grasp and everyone the world over would know that it was her, his daughter who uncovered it. “Um, but…” Spike began, seeming hesitant, “What about, you know, getting in contact with Twilight?” The smaller dragon nearly fell on his bottom as he bumped into his sister’s now stationary leg. “Uh, are you okay?” “… I forgot,” whispered Amy, her expression one of horror. “I wasn’t even thinking about that, I was just focusing on finding Bahamut’s hoard instead of getting you home safely.” Spike looked up, a glint of hope in his eyes. “You mean… you trust me enough to help?” “Spike, you’re not understanding,” was the frantic reply. “I was putting treasure ahead of returning you to Equestria. You still have that striped bastard’s magic clogging up your inner fire, we’re out here, constant threat all around, and I was putting my greed ahead of your safety!” Amy spiraled, imagining the disappointed glares of her parents from beyond as they witnessed their daughter devolve into the greedy beast they always warned her not to become. She had worked so hard to be more than what the world saw dragons as, and yet here she was putting gold and glory before kin. Spike for his part, was feeling a combination of worry and indignation towards his sister. He was handling himself quite fine he thought and could not only survive out here, but be an asset as well. The reason he had been hesitant to bring up Equestria was because he had wanted to remain with the dragoness and see this adventure to the end. “Amy, it’s okay, I’m not mad at you. Home will be there waiting for me for as long as it takes to get back. I mean, I don’t like the idea of worrying Twilight any more than I need to, but I don’t want to be worrying about you doing this on your own while I’m back in Equestria.” “But it’s dangerous for you-” “And it’s not for you?” Spike countered. “I get it, you think I’m just a baby and you’re a seasoned adventurer, but I’m not. I helped save the Crystal Empire, I’ve been living in the craziest town in Equestria where gods and monsters attack at least once a month, and before that, I grew up with a filly so powerful that her fits could and would level buildings. I’ve had tea with the Spirit of Chaos for crying out loud! I am not helpless.” Staring in silence at the determined little dragon, Amy blinked a few times before saying, “… I don’t think I’m comfortable with your living arrangements in Equestria anymore. We’ll talk to Lore Finder about you moving in with her after this is done, nothing exciting ever happens to her.” Spike tried to keep up a tough front, but couldn’t stop the snort and upwards twitch of his lips. As his sister knelt down, a tired smile on her face, he asked, “So… is that your way of saying I can stay and help?” Amy sighed. “I don’t like it, and I’m still beating myself up over it, but I want to stick with the plan. As much as I want to send you back to Equestria, I just don’t think it’s safe to be stopping at another settlement. At least, I think it would be less safe at this point.” She ran a claw down her face. “Besides running into Arbez being a possibility, I can’t really think of what it would accomplish. Say we send word of where we’re at and the princesses themselves come to get us, how long will it take? A couple days? Meanwhile, we have to sit and wait for them and risk being attacked. “And we’re definitely outside of Equestrian influence at this point, so it’s not exactly like they could demand help from the locals and expect them to throw the zebra and his goons in jail. Gryphons aren’t exactly known for their love of ponies or dragons, after all. Would the princess even be allowed to come over the border unannounced or send soldiers without it being an act of war?” Spike shrugged his uncertainty and Amy pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s times like this I wish I had paid more attention during Lore’s lessons, but politics doesn’t exactly come up in treasure hunting. Usually governments are just happy I’m returning lost cultural artifacts.” As Amy grumbled to herself, Spike tilted his head. “So… what do we do?” After a few moments of silence, Amy sighed and stood. “We’ll continue on as we have been. Though we’ll be avoiding any more small settlements, that still leaves our final stop at Peregrine. It’s more of a city which means Arbez won’t be able to act as freely as he has been up till now so it’s at least kind of safe. When we get there, we’ll send a message for sure, and since it’ll be by gryphon courier, it should arrive pretty quick to boot. We’ll tell the princesses everything that’s happened so far and where we’re going and, well, hope for the best. “The princesses are smart, right? I’m sure they’ll do whatever is best from their end,” Amy finished with a hopeful smile, getting a nod from Spike. “Yeah, if there’s anything they can do to help, they’ll definitely do it… So, does that mean I’m going with you on the treasure hunt?” “Don’t call it a treasure hunt,” Amy grumbled, “And, as much as I know I shouldn’t… yes, for now at least, you’re gonna stick with me. We can’t afford to wait around in the city for the princesses since I’m sure Arbez will show up there eventually with his whole gang. He won’t need to talk the people there into helping him when he has an army of mongrels to take us down.” Looking to her brother, she saw the little drake with his claws fisted in front of him and his whole body jittering with excitement. Biting his lip only worked for so long in restraining the outburst of, “I’m gonna help you find the treasure!” “Spike! This is serious, and dangerous, and- and seriously dangerous!” Amy nearly yelled, the responsible part of her mind trying to get her brother to understand and make her think up another, not insane plan. “Well, that’s pretty much been the whole trip so far, so I don’t see what’s changed,” Spike responded, confused, getting his sister to slump with a sigh. “Lore Finder is going to kill me, and then Twilight’s gonna raise me from the dead to have her shot, and then Mom’s going to tan my hide in the afterlife, all the while Dad will be watching with a slow, disapproving head shake… Why am I like this?” “Ah, come on, this is going to be great!” said Spike, jubilance returning as he ran ahead, “And don’t worry about Twilight. I told you Princess Celestia doesn’t plan on teaching her necromancy for a long time no matter how much she begs.” The small drake had enough optimism for both of them it seemed as Amy couldn’t fight the small smile pulling at her lips. She might end up facing a grim fate, both of them might, a dark thought argued, but Amy couldn’t help but feel hopeful that this insane plan would actually pan out. She figured that, after the disaster that had been their trip so far, the powers at be kind of owed it to them by now. ~8~ Lore Finder had been worried that day when the clock ticked past noon and her draconic friends had yet to return, but she pushed away the concern with thoughts of the two losing track of time. It was heartwarming actually, the conjured image of the two long-separated siblings having fun and reconnecting, and Lore was looking forward to hearing about all that they did over a shared meal. With each hour after that however, the mare’s anxiety grew until she left the cooled dinner on the table and practically fled the apartment. With Prose staying home in case they returned, Lore went to all the places she could think of to find the draconic duo. The last stop on the day of the dragon's disappearance was Amy’s favorite restaurant, where she got the heart-sinking news that Amy and her brother had left hours ago. With similar answers everywhere else she went, Lore Finder found herself at the police station, as useless as that was. She filed a missing person’s report, talked to detectives, did everything she was supposed to, but deep down she knew it would do little good. The mare knew that, for all the enemies Amethyst Thistle had made over the years, there was one that was always looming, one who had the power to take the powerful dragon in her own city, and if that despicable stallion was behind this, Lore Finder knew the officers in his pocket would ensure Amy was never even looked for. Lore even sent a letter to the princesses, though she doubted it would ever reach them. She didn’t know Spike’s home address, so the alicorns were her best chance of informing his family of what had occurred. Maybe, just maybe, the parcel would be sorted out of the no doubt substantial amount of fan mail the celestial sisters retrieved on a regular basis and they could help in some way. Unlikely, but possible, she told herself. She went through the motions if only for the faint glimmer of hope it gave her as she did the only thing she could, return home and wait. For days she did just that, spending many a sleepless night pacing through the house, ignoring her husband’s wishes to return to bed, glancing at the door with every sound the old building produced, wishing it was her best friend coming in. When there was a knock at the door one lazy afternoon, Lore Finder practically tripped trying to answer it. No one ever visited the reclusive pair, so there was no doubt that the visit had to do with Amy and her brother in some capacity. Perhaps it would be officers with news, or maybe Amy herself. Lore wished strongly for the latter, but was left somewhat disappointed, but very shocked to see it was neither guess. Instead, it was a pair of armored ponies, one a white and gold unicorn while the other an azure and grey pegasus. “Miss Lore Finder I presume?” the celestial guard asked, breaking the silence. “Missus actually,” Lore returned, still stunned. Perhaps her letter reached the princesses after all. The stallion gave an amiable smile and nod. “Of course, may we come in? We’ve been sent by their Royal Highnesses on a mission, and your assistance will be of great value.” “This is about Amethyst and Spike, isn’t it?” Lore questioned almost pleadingly. “You’re going to find them?” His smile becoming more firm, the white unicorn answered, “We’re going to do our damndest, Ma’am, of that, you have my word.”