//------------------------------//
// Greed and Chaos 
// Story: Spike and Discord's Wild Ride 
// by Fortune Tune 
//------------------------------//

It wasn't exactly an odd thing to see two dragons fight one another for dominance. In fact, one could say it was as normal as Celestia and Luna's control of the sun and moon. But no one would ever think that these two dragons, whose entire interaction lasted hardly 10 minutes, would come to blows so readily.

Spike, now standing several stories tall, grappled with Torch, managing to stand claw-to-claw with the bigger dragon. The two seemed to be on even terms, throwing each other around and making massive dents in the landmass. Their fire breath rivaled that of magma, and dissolved any unfortunate rock formation that it hit into molten slag. Their roars made the land shudder and crack underneath their feet, clearing the area of any individual who wanted to keep their bodies intact.

Discord munched on another bite of popcorn, sitting in a reclining chair that was floating just out of reach of the dragons' carnage. It was a one of his better works, if he did say so himself.

"On what planet did you think that this would work!?" 

Still, he did have his own critic: One irate Dragon Lord who had not stopped yelling at him ever since Spike transformed.

"Calm down," he berated her. "They're almost out of it, and then everything will be back to-" a pained roar interrupted him, and he held back a wince as Spike was back handed into a large mountain. "Although, I might have overestimated Spike's greed power a tad…"

"How could you estimate anything!?" yelled Ember. "Greed Growth is one of the most uncontrollable conditions a dragon could have! Why do you think I even called for help in the first place!?"

"Oh, what are you getting all bent out of shape for?" Discord said, leering down at the small dragon. "Isn't it a friend's duty to rely on others? Have a little faith in the boy!"

He chose to ignore the accompanying roar of pain, one that was a distinctive pitch higher than Torch's was, that followed his statement.

"Do you even know how my dad got to be Dragon Lord?" fumed Ember, keeping her gaze strictly on Discord so as not to be distracted by the dueling dragons. "It is literally carved in stone about how he defeated an army of his competitors! He'll pulverize him, leave him a broken mess of a dragon! He'll be lucky if he can walk right after this, and-"

Her tirade ended when Spike managed to get a good hold of Torch and tossed the large dragon over his shoulder, making the earth shake from the impact.

"Thatta boy, Spike!" cheered Discord. "Show him what kind of dragon you are!" He leaned back in his chair, eyeing Ember, who now had to pick her jaw off the floor. "Leaves you kinda speechless," he shut the Dragon Lord's mouth gently with a finger. "Doesn't it?"

Ember shook her head. "I'll admit… it takes a lot to toss my dad around like that," she admitted "But that doesn't change the fact that we have two rampaging dragons now instead of one! How are we supposed to bring him back to his senses?"

"That's why I asked him that question earlier," Discord said as he poofed a heart shaped fire ruby into existence, playing catch with it while he watched the two dragons continue their bout. "I borrowed this little trinket from someone who he holds dear to him. One look at this and he'll snap back to his senses in no time at all."

His words did nothing to ease the young Dragon Lord's worry. "And you're sure this will work?"

"As sure as sunshine, sweetheart!" Discord said sweetly. "Now, let's just focus on the fight. Wanna take any bets?" he snapped his fingers, now clad in a green vest and visor. "I've got 20 bits riding on Spike, myself."

"I'm not betting against my dad!"

"So, that'll be 30 sapphires on your dad beating poor Spike to a pulp!" Ember tried to object, but was drawn to the battlefield by another thunderous roar. Spike had managed to get the upper hand again, and tossed Torch by the tail across the plains. She tightened her jaw to keep from letting it fall agape again, but Discord had already noticed her reaction. "Would you like to pay in advance, or should I take an I.O.U.?"

He popped several gemstones into existence, gems that Ember recognized were from HER own hoard. A claw shot out and grabbed onto Discord's neck scruff, and pulled the draconequs down to face a very irate Dragon Lord. 

"You take any of my gems without my say-so, and there'll be a third rampaging dragon to worry about," she seethed quietly, and pressed her face to Discord's, her slitted eyes staring into Discord's mad ones. "Got that?"

Despite the clear threat, Discord looked more irritated than anything. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to say 'please'," he muttered as he poofed the gems away. "And you could stand to be a bit more thankful. All this is to help your dad, ya know!"

Whatever retort Ember had planned died in her throat when two monstrous roars bellowed out from the canyon. The two turned to see both dragons looking haggard, bruises and scratches littering their bodies and their chests heaving with labored breaths. For a moment, the valley was still, save only for the dragons' breaths. Then they charged at each other, wild fury in their eyes as they threw their fists out at each other.

Both fists connected, but Spike was launched back from the sheer force of Torch's blow. Despite having grown larger than his previous growth, Torch still had more muscle on him. Still, the former Dragon Lord wasn't unaffected; Spike's arms had considerable reach, and he'd managed to delver a solid blow to Torch's jaw. The larger dragon collapsed at the same time Spike landed on the ground, neither moving afterword.

A cold chill ran up Ember's spine as she feared the worst. "Are they…?"

"Oh, they're fine," Discord huffed. "Just knocked out." He snapped his fingers, vanishing from his safe spot and reappeared over the overgrown purple dragon's snout. "Wake-y wake-y, Spikey Wikey." he said, his voice taking on a very feminine tone. He brushed a paw over this face, changing into Rarity's. "You're…" He held back a roll of his eyes as he continued. "Lovely Rarity is here to make things all better."

Ember waited for a moment, breath caught in her throat as she watched Spike begin to open his eyes. For a long, tense moment, she was worried he'd fly back into a blind rage, but as the seconds dragged on, her worry slowly dissipated. While he didn't seem to be back to normal, it was miles better than the rampaging dragon he once was. Satisfied with how things were shaping up, Ember flew down to check up on her father.

The former Dragon Lord lay in a pile of rubble, still unconscious. Ember landed close to his snout, dwarfed now more than ever with the added growth he'd sustained, and gasped when she heard a deep rumble from the other dragon. Large eyes wearily opened as Torch slowly regained consciousness, and as his gaze focused Ember, the current Dragon Lord saw the edges of his mouth curl into a smile. She choked down a sob, and hugged her father's snout with her body,

On the opposite end of the crater, Discord, having done everything in his power to keep from gagging, finally began to see results. Spike's eyes had opened, the large dragon groggily looking at him with some manner of awareness. "It's about time," Discord muttered to himself, his voice still an imitation of Rarity's. He then cleared his throat and spoke directly to the dragon. "Wake up now, Spikey-wikey," he grumbled as he forced the term of endearment to sound sincere. "It's not nice to keep a lady waiting."

Spike's eyes snapped open, the familiar titter of his unicorn crush registering in his brain. But as he looked to the source of that noise, he noticed something immensely wrong. While his attention was drawn to the fire ruby held held in front of him, he couldn't help but notice the creature holding it. His senses were still amplified by his transformation, and he could practically smell the illusion magic coating the 'white pony'. In an odd form of clarity, one thought processed through his brain and solidified itself in his conscious, and, even in the midst of a greed growth cycle further along than his was in Ponyville, he managed to form words to express his displeasure.  

"YOU STEAL FIRE RUBY FROM RARITY!!"

Discord was pushed back on the ground from the force behind Spike's roar, eyes wide as he returned to his normal self. Ember watched in shock as Spike loomed over Discord, emerald eyes alit with fury and focused on that fire ruby.

"Oh, that's not good," Discord flew off, Spike hot on his heels. The dragon ran on all fours, practically galloping across the valley, and it was only thanks to Discord's magically propelled flight that he was able to avoid getting skewered by Spike's claws. "Alright, so that's different," he mumbled to himself, dodging the dragon's snapping maw behind him. "He can see right through my disguises. That complicates things a tick."

While Discord was managing to hold his own, Ember saw the way he moved. Every dodge was by a hare's breath, either by his own design or from actual strain. Either way, she knew he wouldn't be able to dodge forever. She turned to her father, whose eyes where still focused on her, and patted his nose once again "I gotta go dad. My friends need me." She took off as fast as she could, missing her father reach out to her weakly.

Ember flew in front of the charging dragon, holding the Blood Ruby Scepter high. "Spike, as Dragon Lord, I order you to stop!" she yelled putting every once of strength into her voice to get it through to her friend.

Spike gave an unintelligible roar, and swatted Ember out of the sky.

Torch, who had recovered enough to raise his head, roared in fury at seeing his daughter batted away. He heaved himself back up and ran towards Spike, renewed anger in his eyes. But Spike was relentless. As soon as Torch rounded on him, he swung his right fist hard into the former Dragon Lord's snout, sending him careening into a large mountain. He didn't bother to check on the dragon, his sights still focused on the fleeing draconequus.

Ember got up shakily, dismayed at the turn of events. "This isn't working. Yelling at him isn't working, and fighting is just making it worse. He needs something to bring him back to the way he was, and to remind him of who he really is…" Her eyes widened, realization hitting her harder than Spike's blow had. "He needs a friend." Resolutely, she flew up high, heading towards the two as fast as her wings could carry her.

Discord was in a bind; Spike was constantly swiping his razor sharp claws at him, forcing him to twist and turn his serpent body out of Spike's reach. At one point, he even began using fallen rocks for cover, though it wasn't like that helped much. Spike's monstrous size let him charge through any and all obstacles that got in his way, leaving Discord effectively trapped.

It wasn't as though he had a problem escaping; one snap and he'd be right as rain back at the castle. But he knew he'd receive a chewing out for leaving Spike as he was, especially after putting him in that state in the first place. Plus, he did feel genuinely bad about making such a mistake. Not that he'd admit that to anyone, of course.

"Of all the things, who would've thought that a greed grown dragon would be extra magic resistant?" Discord said to himself as he dodged another claw aimed at him. "Although, saying it out loud does make it sound a little obvious." He pulled his tail back when Spike took another nip at him, his massive jaws shattering an unlucky boulder that had been in his path. "There's got to be something that will slow him down, but what…"

An idea hit him almost as fast as the claw did, but he managed to escape the worst of it, and righted himself in front of the furious dragon. Confused at his prey stopping, Spike skidded to a stop, and leered vehemently at Discord, his eyes showing that he was practically waiting for the mis-matched beast to make a wrong move.

"Look Spikey, I know you're mad at me for taking this without asking." He held the fire ruby in clear view, and noted how Spike's gaze centered on it. "And for that, I apologize. As proof, I shall send it back to its owner, safe and sound." He put a cloth over it and snapped his fingers. The lump underneath disappeared, and as he pulled away the cloth, he revealed the ruby was gone as well. "Ta-da!"

It was the wrong move to make.

Spike roared furiously, snarling at the draconequus. Something in his brain snapped, the spines on his back flaring as unrelenting fury coursed through his body. "YOU DESTROY RUBY!" he bellowed, the last vestiges of his sanity forgotten as his shout ended in a roar.

"Destroy!? No you dolt, I returned it to-" he didn't get much farther than that. Spike's large tail slammed into him, catapulting the unsuspecting draconequus into a large pile of rocks with a thunderous crash.

"Discord!" Ember cried, pushing her wings to fly her faster. "Are you alright!?"

"Did anypony get the number of that carriage?" Discord moaned from inside the rubble. "Sunday driver are the worst…"

Spike growled deeply as he approached the rubble, his mouth blazing with emerald fire. But before he could unleash the torrent of flames, Ember landed in front him, now with a pleading look in her eyes. She panted hard, willing herself to not tremble under the oppressive glare she found herself given. She knew what was at stake, and yelled at the top of her voice with all the conviction she could muster.

"Spike! I know you can hear me! Somewhere in there is the dragon that helped me realize that dragons don't have to be crazy, greedy hoarders!" She couldn't tell if her words affected Spike any, but the giant dragon had stopped for the moment. Ember continued, trying to bring up that odd yet pleasant feeling inside her when she remembered Spike helping his pony friends during the Gauntlet of Fire. "You're better than this, I know you are!"

The emerald fire died down, but Spike kept advancing forward, his eyes set on the rubble where Discord lay. Ember flew higher, desperate to keep his eyes on her.

"You said we were all friends!" she continued. "And friends forgive each other, even if they do something incredibly stupid!" She still didn't know if Discord was serious when he'd said that, but she was willing to try anything to reach Spike. "I know I'm still new to this 'friendship' thing, but I know what a typical dragon looks like. They're mean, cruel jerks who don't think of anyone but themselves! I didn't befriend that, Spike! I befriended the pony-lover who'd even give a jerk like Garble a second chance! So, I'm asking you as a friend, please stop!"

She held the bloodstone scepter close to her chest, and it glowed a soft gentle light that drew both dragons' attention towards it. Spike's eyes widened as the light shone brighter, his pupils slowly loosing their slitted edge and returning to the normal ones the baby dragon always had. He wobbled as sense slowly returned to him, and shook his head woozily.

"Wha-? Where am I?" He stopped short when he heard his own voice, several octaves deeper than it was before, and looked down at his much bigger body. "Woah! I'm big! And I can talk! But how?"

"Jusst thank your ole buddy Discord!" Discord slurred from the rock pile.

"Discord? Oh no! " He turned around to see the destruction his little jaunt had wrought, and gasped when he saw Torch lying in a literal mountain of rubble. He threw himself down before Ember, making the ground shake as he begged her forgiveness. "I'm so sorry, Ember! I didn't mean to hurt your dad! Please don't be mad at me!"

Before Ember could figure out how to respond to the blubbering dragon that was at least 10 times her size, Discord blew a raspberry.

"Oh, please. Like I said, he's fine," he said, walking beside Ember and looking none the worse for the wear. "If anything you've knocked the sense right back into him."

Discord vanished in a flash, but not before pointing to the once fallen Torch. The pair watched in stunned silence as the elder dragon woke up, looking like his regular self again. His eyes lit up as he caught sight of Spike and he grinned broadly at the big dragon.

"That was the best scuffle I've had in ages!" he roared joyously. "Where did you learn to throw a right hook like that?"

"Uhhh…instinct?" Spike said sheepishly, still not used to how deep his voice sounded.

"BWAHAHAH, this guy's a funny one!" he laughed and wrapped an arm around Spike. He paused as he took a quick look at the dragon. "Oi, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so…" Spike said nervously. "I'm from… uuh, out of town…"

Torch scrutinized him for a while longer, his eyes narrowing and making Spike sweat. The tension was broken when he laughed again. "Well, be sure to visit more often. I haven't felt this good in ages!"

"Well…you have your daughter to thank for that," Spike managed to say. "She's the one who called me to help."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah," the younger dragon nodded quickly, hoping the tone Torch was using was a positive one. It was hard to tell when they all seemed to be on the verge of a growl. "She told me you weren't feeling well and asked me to come…spar with you!" he made a few half hearted jabs to prove his point, doing his best to hide how nervous he felt.

Torch eyed him for a moment, his gaze shifting between the two dragons for a moment, before he smiled broadly. "Ain't that sweet? My daughter giving her old man a sparring match for a 'get well' present. You've made your old man proud!" He paused to bow his head slightly. "And you've shown yourself to be a capable Dragon Lord."

Ember found her voice abandon her. Of all the things she'd ever think to have seen, her father congratulating her wasn't among them. She stood, dumbfounded, until Spike gave her a small tap with his tail. 

"Ahh…uh… it was nothing, dad. Just… doing my part as Dragon Lord."

"That's my girl," Torch laughed again. "I'll admit, seeing you lead your first council made me yearn for the days when I was Dragon Lord. But seeing you handle yourself so well is an even better feeling." He let out a short snort. "But enough of all this mushy stuff. I've taken too much of you time. Especially when you have company over."

Both dragons could feel something more was being said, but neither could comment on it. Especially not when Torch seemed to approve so highly of…whatever it was he was seeing. Still, they both nodded to keep the bigger dragon in good spirits.

"Whatever you say, dad," Ember managed out.

Torch nodded and spread his massive wings to the sky. "Well, I best be off then. Take care, sweetheart!" He gave the two a small wave and took off.

"I've never seen my dad so happy," Ember said after he was out of earshot. "It was like he was an entirely different dragon."

"Sometimes all you need is a kick in the head to put you back in the right state of mind," Discord said from behind her. "Or a sock to the jaw."

His reappearing stunt spooked Ember, and she was about to go off on him again before Spike asked, "So, how long am I going to stay like this?"

Right as he finished uttering the last syllable, did he suddenly shrink, and Discord swooped in to catch the dragon before he could fall too far. 

"First rule of comedy!" Discord laughed as he brought them down. "Timing!"

"Glad it stayed with me for as long as it did," Spike said as he jumped from the draconequus' grip. "I don't know how Torch would handle knowing he got beat up by a baby dragon."

"Well, I had every bit of confidence you would pull through!" Discord said haughtily. "Which is more than I can say for some dragons," he added, grinning slyly at Ember.

"Oh stick a charcoal in it!" Ember huffed. "I never took that bet!"

"Oh, alright, fine," Discord conceded. "I guess so long as you're happy, we can call it a win." He gave Spike a look. "So, what say you, little boy blue? An entire adventure where you ween't the butt of the joke. How's it feel?"

"You mean beside my entire body feeling like it got run over by a buffalo stampede?" Spike snarked. "I… guess it feels nice. Kinda wish I was more aware of it, though." He was about to chastise Discord for using his fire ruby as insurance when a thought popped into his head. "Wait… Was all this just to boost my confidence?" 

Discord folded his arms over his chest, doing his best to look nonchalant. "Now why would you think that?"

Spike smiled up at the chaos lord, having been with him long enough to know that it was his way of saying 'yes'. "That was pretty cool of you,"

"Yeah well don't get used to it kid. It's more fun kicking someone off their pedestal, after all," Discord replied, grinning mischievously. A quiet snicker brought his attention to Ember, and he snorted right back. "And what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," Ember said teasingly. "Just a little surprised to see you acting all buddy-buddy. Didn't think you had it in you."

"Yes, well, 'don't judge a book' and whatever. We all have our little side stories that help us realize new things about ourselves." Discord huffed dismissively. But after a moment of thought, he brightened up. "Speaking of, now that your land is safe, the dragon quelled and peace restored…" he turned toward Ember and pulled out a large, leather bound tome from behind him. "Wanna play Ogres and Oubliettes?"

Spike perked up as well, and gave a hopeful look. "Oh, say yes! You can join our raid party, and we can spend hours fighting against the evil forces of the squizard together."

Ember paused, then looked at the cover and smiled at what she saw; a large ogre bringing down his club on some unlucky villager. "I want to say yes…" she said, although hesitantly. "What are the rules?"

"Rules?" Discord asked, donning a pair of sunglasses. "Where we're going, we don't need rules." He paused for dramatic effect, but quickly rounded on Ember. "That's a lie, there's actually a ton of rules. Here's a primer!" He snapped another, larger tome into existence, which Ember barely managed to catch and hold onto. 

"This feels like more than just a primer!" she grunted, flapping her wings hard to keep from falling to the ground.

"You gave her the full rule book?" Spike asked, astonished that Ember was able to even keep in the air with the thick book weighing her down. "But that just got a ton of revisions! Not to mention the added classes and locations and-"

"Trust me, it'll be quicker this way. So, Ember!" Discord loomed over the smaller dragon, his visage overshadowed by storm clouds. "Are you ready to enter the world of Ogres and Oubliettes?"

"Not as certain as I was a moment ago…" came her strained reply.

"Too late, no take backsies!" Discord giggled and spirited them all away with a snap of his fingers.