The Tale Of A Lost Wolf

by Solaris Night


Chapter 30: Welcome Home

The train clanked along the tracks, while the ponies inside the wagons were going about their business. In one compartment, a family were enjoying their trip.

The father was reading a newspaper, while the mother was sleeping along with her baby. Their colt in the meantime was playing with his action figures.

"Take that Maneiac." he exclamies and smacks the villain with the figure of Masked Matter-Horn. "Nooo, you have bested me again Power Ponies, curse you." he says in dramatic tone, as the figure falls to the floor.

He then proceeds to pick up the rest of the figures and holds them all in his arms. "Once again the day is saved, thanks to the Power Ponies!" he shouts, to which his father reacts with a shush. The colt looks at him sheepishly. "Sorry." he apologises and sits back into his chair.

He continues to play in silence, when he hears a tapping noise coming from the window. "Dad, dad there's a bald pony flying along side the train!" he exclamis and goes to stand by the window.

"Uh-huh, sure there is." the stallion replies, not taking his eyes from the paper.

"There really is, look." the colt continues, with even more enthusiasm this time.

Sighing, the stallion puts the newspaper down and looks towards the window. "Alright, where is this... bald... pony." he trails off, as his eyes widen. There, right beside their window, flew what his son descibed as a bald pony, but he knew that whatever it was, it certainly wasn't pony.

The flying alien looked at the stallion and gave a small wave. Not sure how to respond, the stallion decided to wave back. The stranger smiled at his reaction, before he proceeded to make some strange gestures. After a few seconds he realised, that he wanted him to lower the window.

Gingerly he unlatched the window and the stranger began to speak. "Hey there. Hope I'm not interrupting you." it said in a calm tone.

"N-no." the stallion replied, while his son looked at the flyer with sparkling eyes. "Is there something you need?" he asked, this time a bit more calmly.

"Yeah. I'm sort of lost and I was hoping someone could help me find my way around." the alien replied with a sheepish smile.

"Where are you headed?" the stallion asked.

"Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" he said with a confused look. He began to ponder over where that could be, before it clicked. "Oh, you mean the place where the newest Princess resides? That Ponyville?"

"Uh sure." the alien said unsurely.

"Well if that's the case, just follow the train tracks and you should get to where you are headed." he said, leaning out the window and pointing along the tracks.

"Thanks." the alien said and zoomed off ahead of the speeding train. The stallion looked after it, it's form slowly becoming a small dot in the scenery. He closed the window and sat into his seat. "The boys at work will never believe me." he mumbled.

Trider was dashing through the sky, not paying attention to the beautiful landscape that passed him and he had a god reason. For the last three months he was stuck in the Royal Guard Academy where he had to go through all of their training and now he was finally free.

Although a nuisance at first, Trider quickly came to like the academy, their instructors and most of all his teammates. When it was time for them to head their seperate ways, it was hard even for him. But none had it worse than Whip, who had to be bound down in order for Trider to even leave.

"I'll miss those idiots." he thought to himself. As he continued his flight his thought went from his Guard friends to the friends he had in Ponyville.

He couldn't wait to taste Pinkie's great pastries again, after such a long time or have Fluttershy prepare another batch of her specail shampoo which made his tail smooth and sparkly. He also missed his petty squabbles with Rarity, he didn't know why though. He also looked forward to having a pleasant chat with Applejack, while dinning with her family and the leisure time he would spend with Twilight in their home. She would either read a book, research something or ask Trider questions on his planet and his race. And while she was doing that, he would just lay on the couch relaxing and watching the mare go about her day.

But out of all the things the one he looked forward to the most were Rainbow Dash and Spike. He couldn't wait to see how much they progressed over the past months.

As he continued to think about all the great things he'd do with his friends. However his thoughts betrayed him when he remembered what Ace told him a month ago.

'Ponyville isn't registered as any kind of outpost. So you can't be stationed there.'

He thought echoed in his mind and it made him aggraveated. "Fucking dammit!" he shouted and accelerated. He knew it was inevitable. In a week he would have to leave his friends again and there was nothing he could do about it. The worst part was, how he would tell them.

"They'll be heartbroken." he mumbled. In reality he knew that they wouldn't be the only ones, but he had to keep his pride intact.

After about an hour of flying, Trider saw the familiar scenery of the Sweet Apple Acres. He quickly changed his course and headed for the Apple family's house. He landed on the porch and walked up to the door.

He knocked a couple of times before it was opened by Big Mac. "Hey there big guy, is AJ home?" he asked and tried to peek over him.

The stallion looked at him in confusion. "Ya haven't met up with 'em?" he asked.

"No, I just came. How could I've seen them?" he argued, now confused as well.

"Well mah sis said she and her friends will wait fer ya at the train station. She left 'bout half an hour ago. How didn't you see them." he continued to ask.

"Cause I flew here. Why in hell would they-" he stopped when he suddenly remembered something. "Aw shit. I was supposed to come with the train and meet them at the station, but it slipped my mind." he grabbed his head in frustration.

Immediatelly he jumped off the prch and took to the skies. "Tell Granny and Bloom I said hi." he shouted, before he bolted towards the town.

In just a couple of minutes he arrived at the station, but because he was still too fast he didn't have time to slow down and he crashed into the ground. Groaning, he laid in the small crater he created.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" a concerned voice said. Lifting his head, Trider looked toward where the voice was coming from, his vision slightly blurry from the impact.

"You should be asking the ground that, cause I'm pretty sure it ended up worse for wear." he grunted, massaging his head. Suddenly he heard a group of people gasp, right before he was tackled by a mass of pink.

"Trider you're back." a high-pitched voice shouted, before lifting him off the ground and giving him a bear hug. "You're back, you're back, you're back." the mare continued, jumping up and down, along with the Kanisar.

"I'm happy to see you too Pinks." he replied, chuckling at her antics. "But could you let me go? I'm sure the others would like to have their share of the Trider."

Giggling, Pinkie released him from her iron grasp and took a step back. "It's good to see your sense of humor is the same as ever." Rarity spoke up, as she approached him.

"Rares." the Kanisar said and smacked her across her back, nearly making her fall. "And it's good to see your sassiness is still present."

They glared at each other for a moment, before they both laughed and shook their hands. Their reunion was interrupted when Rainbow along with Fluttershy stepped up.

"I see they didn't go easy on you wolf-boy." the prismatic mare said, as she gave him a look over.

"Oh please, if it wasn't for Luna, these bad boys would all fat by now." he retorted and flexed his biceps. "You're not looking bad yourself."

The mare gave him a cocky smile, as she flapped her wings. "You better believe it. As of now I'm an official Wonderbolt recruit." she bragged, floating in the air.

Trider then turned his attention to the yellow mare, who was giving him a soft smile. "How 'bout you Flutes? How are your animals doing?" he asked.

The mare's smile widened. "Oh, I'm doing wonderfully and so are my critters." she said beaming.

"Good, good." the Kanisar said, before he leaned in and whispered into her ear. "Hey, uh, you still have some of that shampoo? My tail has been through hell while I was in training."

The mare nodded, promising him she would bring it to him the next day. Satisfied, Trider turned to Applejack and they looked into each others eyes.

"Where in tarnation have ya been? When the train arrived and ya weren't on it we began to grow worried." she chided him.

"Heh, would you believe me if I told you I forgot about it and I flew all the way here?" he said sheepishly.

The mare gave him a deadpanned look, before she smiled. "That is so like ya." she said, before hugging him. He was taken back by her sudden embrace, but he decided not to pay it any mind. Soon she let go of him, a small blush present on her cheeks.

"Don't forget to come by and say hi to mah family. I'm sure Granny will be so happy she'll make your favourite apple pie." she said with a wink.

At the thought Trider began to drool. "Actually I already met up with Mac when I arrived. It was thanks to him that I remembered that I had to come here." he said.

"I'll be sure to thank 'im when I get back home." the mare said as she stepped back.

At that point it was Twilight's turn to greet him. When she stepped forth, a smile came to Trider's face. She approached him and fidgeted in place, not sure what to say.

"Hey, welcome back." she said gingerly.

"Hey." he greeted back. They stood still for a few minutes. Trider watched as the mare twiddled her thumbs, avoiding his gaze. Eventually he rolled his eyes and opened his arms.

"C'mon, we both know you want to do it." he said and beckoned her. She didn't hesitate for a moment, as she immediatelly embraced him in a hug.

"I've missed you." she mumbled into his chest. Quickly she realised what she had said and looked up to the Kanisar. "I-I mean we've missed you." she corrected herself, blushing like crazy.

Trider dismissed her fumble and chuckled at her antics. "You're so adorkable." he said and pulled her closer to himself. Their hug was broken, whe something hit Trider in the face.

"Ow, what the fuck?" he said, releasing Twilight and rubbing his nose.

"Sorry. I'm still getting used to these things." she apologised. It was only then that he noticed the pair of massive wings sticking out from her back.

"OK, either I'm high or Twilight has grown wings. Can somebody tell me which one is it?"

"The latter." Applejack said as she stepped next to the lavender mare. "Trider meet the newest Princess of Equestria."

For a few moments the Kanisar mulled over what she just said, before a smile stretched across his face. "Twilight, a princess?" he asked with a look of disbelief.

"I told you already that you don't have to call me that Applejack." Twilight said, as she gave the cow-mare a small glare. She then looked towards Trider and saw he was looking at her with intrigue. "Yo-you're not angry with my transformation, are you?" she asked, slightly scared.

"Why in hell would I ever be angry at you for growing wings Twi?" he said angrily. "You know me better than that. For all I care you could turn into a gryphon and I still wouldn't give a damn."

"Then why were you so quiet when Applejack told you the news?" she asked.

"I was just thinking how the hell do you suddenly sprout wings and what I should call you from now on."

"You don't have to adress me any differently from before. Twi or Twilight is just fine."

"Oh no. You royalty now and it's only appropriate I show my respects as such." he said. "How does Twi the Princess of Uptight sound to you?" he asked, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Everyone looked at him with mixed reactions. Twilight and Rarity looked disappointed, while Pinkie and Rainbow laughed at his joke. Applejack shook her head and Fluttershy cracked a small smile.

"Seriously?" the lavender mare said with a deadpanned look. "I don't even know what I was expecting."

"You don't like it?" Trider asked with a toothy smile. "How about Twilight the proud Princess of Equestria and ruler of encyclopedias, the ever watchful corrector of wrong facts?"

At that point he could no longer help it and he began to laugh as well. He, Pinkie and Rainbow laughed for a couple of minutes, before they settled down.

"You done?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah. I'm done." Trider said, wiping away the tears. "But in all seriousness, I'm happy for you Twi. You deserve it."

Her glare broke and she smiled as well. "Thank you. It means a lot."

"By the way, where's Spike?" he asked, as he looked around.

"We sent him to fetch a few beverages, while we were waiting for you." Rarity explained.

"Hey guys I'm back." someone suddenly shouted.

"Speak of the devil." the fashionista said.

"Spike, my man, how've you..." Trider trailed off when he saw his little friend. Little however could no longer be associated with the drake.

Where there was once the small and skinny teenage drake, now stood a giant lizard man, him now being almost as tall as Celestia. His once skinny arms and body, were now riddled with muscles upon muscles and his usually rounded spikes now looked sharp enough to cut wood with them. Another difference were now also the large leathery wings on his back.

Trider continued to stare at the drake, unable to comprehend that this was his pupil. "Guys?" he said, turning his head towards the group. "Who the fuck is this?" he asked.

"It's me Trider, Spike." the giant drake said in a deeper voice, than to what the Kanisar was used to. Trider blinked a few times, before he shouted.

"What in the name of holy monkey balls happened to you? Did you shug a gallon of steroids or something?" Spike winced at his outburst, rubbing his ears.

"Funny story actually." he said, before he began to explain. "You see on the day of my birthday we found out about dragon's greed and how it makes them grow. When a dragon becomes greedy, their bodies grow the more stuff they gather. That happened to me and I grew to the size of a house."

"No shit." Trider said flabergasted.

"Yup. Anyway I managed to supress my greed and I became small again. Well smaller, as you can see." he said, showing off his bulky body.

"And the wings were an added bonus?" he asked, to which Spike nodded. "Well then, I guess there is only one thing left to do." He smacked his hand into his palm and grinned. "I have to see how much you've been training, while I was away."

"Do you really have to fight as soon as you come back?" Twilight jumped in. "We've got a party planned for you and it wouldn't be good courtesy for you to show up dirty and sweaty."

Both Trider and Spike gave her a puppy look as their lips quivered. "Pwetty pwease." they begged.

Twilight's defenses quickly crumpled and she sighed. "Fine, but afterwards you both have to wash up and change clothes, OK?" she chided.

The two friends smiled and high-fived, Trider having to jump up to reach Spike's hand. After their high-five, Trider looked at the drake with a disgruntled look. He soon switched his gaze to Rainbow. "You wanna join in?" he asked.

"Would love to, but not today. I've just come back from an intense work out and I probably wouldn't put up much of a fight anyway." she excused herself.

Trider shrugged and looked back at Spike. "The usual place?"

"Sure." With that said they both took to the sky and headed toward the Sweet Apple Acres.

"Should we follow?" Rarity asked unsure.

"Do you even have to ask?" Rainbow retorted, before she too flew after the two, while the rest were teleported by Twilight.

***

Trider stood in the open field, stretching his limbs, while Spike did the same. The mares in the meantime were sitting on a small bench that Twilight conjured up.

"Oooh I can't wait." Pinkie said, pulling a bag of popcorn out of her mane.

"I know, I bet this is going to be awesome." Dash agreed, putting a hand inside Pinkie's mane and pulling out a soda.

"While I would rather do something more productive than watch two stallions fight between each other, I'll make an acception this time." she said fanning herself with her hand, as she watched the drake do a couple of squats.

"Sure." Applejack said, rolling her eyes.

Eventually the two finished their warm up and were now in their fighting stances. "All done?" Trider asked, as he tightened his fists.

"Ready when you are." Spike answered back, widening his stnace.

They stared at each other for a couple more seconds, before they charged at each other. They clashed in the middle of the field, locking their hands in a power struggle.

"So you haven't been slacking off." Trider said and pressed forward.

"Of course not. It would put a bad light onto you as a master." Spike retorted and put more strength into his arms.

The two continued to stare at each other, with their arms locked until Spike took a deep breath. Trider immediatelly knew what followed, so he released his grip and dropped to the ground. The fire from the drake's maw heated up the air and missed the Kanisar by only an inch.

Not wasting any time, Trider kicked his legs from his lying position directly into Spike's gutt, hurtling him into the air. Once airborn, the dragon extended his wings, making himself float in the air. Glaring down onto his mentor, he englufed his hands in flames, before he shot small fireballs from the tip of his fingers.

"Blaze Guns." he shouted, firing the high-speed flames at the Kanisar. Trider dodged the oncoming assault and jumped into the air, flying straight at the drake.

"Spirit Claws." he said and summoned his claws, which he used to block all the oncoming flames. Soon he closed the distance between them and they began to exchange blows.

Meanwhile on the ground the mares had a hard time following the battle, as they could only see glimpses of the two as they soared from one point on the sky to another.

"Can somepony tell what in tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack said exasperated, as her eyes darted all over the place.

"Basically Spike and Trider are being awesome." Rainbow said as she managed to follow them.

"Yeah, they are both kicking and punching each other." Pinkie added.

"Honestly do they have to go all out like this, what if they end up hurting each other." Rarity said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"That's impossible Rarity." Twilight said, her eyes glowing white. "Trider is a born warrior and he would feel ashamed if he didn't go all out against an opponent he deemed worthy. And the same goes for Spike. He looks up to Trider and he doesn't want to disappoint him, so he is giving it his all."

The mare realised she was right and she sighed. "I guess." she muttered. She then looked back at Twilight, raising a brow. "Pardon me darling, but would you mind telling me why your eyes are glowing?"

"Becasue I'm using a spell to help me track their movement, otherwise I would be in the dark like you, AJ and Fluttershy." she explained and focused back onto the battle.

Trider and Spike continued their mid-air brawl, until they stopped, both of them panting. "Not bad Spike, you've certainly improved a lot." he praised.

"Heh, coming from you, that is probably the highest honor I have ever received and I'm a hero of an Empire mind you." Spike quipped, as they both chuckled.

"I can still rememeber when we first started, you couldn't even dliver a proper punch and now you're standing toe to toe with me."

"Yeah, I too remember all of that gureling training you put me through." Spike smiled. "And today I'm gonna repay all of it." His eyes flashed with determination, before his body started to produce steam. His scales became a shade redder and his spines gained a dark green vein pattern.

"Wild Fire form." the drake said and focused his gaze on the Kanisar.

Trider however just smiled. "Atta boy. Show me waht you got." he said, before charging at Spike again. This time Spike stood still, up until the point when Trider was right next to him. When he saw the Kanisar pull back his arm, he raised his own and intercepted the punch.

Before Trider had time to retaliate Spike began to throw punches and kicks at him, and he had no other choice, but to block them to the best of his abilities. It was clear that the drake had the upper hand and he wasn't going to let his opportunity go to waste.

With every hit Trider was pushed back more and more, until he decided to counterattack. When Spike went in for a kick, Trider quickly dropped below the drake and immediatelly flew back up, right behind him. He grabbed the dragon's tail and he pulled at it spinning him around. The two continued to spin around, picking up in speed, until Trider released the drake.

Hurtling through the air, it took Spike a few seconds before he wasn't dizzy anymore. But by the time he was back to his senses it was already too late.

"Piston Cannon Tetrastrike." Trider shouted and planted his fist into Spike's stomach. The blow sent the drake flying, until the point where he was hit again and again and again. The last blow made him crash into the ground, raising dust upon impact.

Trider panted as he looked down where Spike landed. "I didn't kill him did I?" he thought and descended onto the ground. Once he landed however he saw the drake standing, no visible wounds on him whatsoever.

"Nice hit." Spike said, as he cracked his neck. "Now it's my turn." He swung his arms in an arc in front of ihmself, creating dozens of fireballs that formed a line. "Chains of Tartarus!" he yelled, before firing the fireballs at the Kanisar.

Trider quickly summoned hi Spirit Claws and blocked the attack, but it didn't matter as his hands were burned anyway. Hissing in pain he gripped his fist with his other hand and cradled it. "Not only did he become stronger physically, but his flame has gotten hotter as well." he praised the drake in his mind.

Spike saw they weren't finished yet so he formed another chain that he shot at the Kanisar. This time however Trider jumped high into the air, over the chain and was now falling towards Spike, a sphere of energy in his palm.

"Wailing Nova Sphere!" he shouted and launched the orb at Spike. The drake however didn't budge, instead he crossed his arms and began to increase his temperature.

"Conflagration..." he yelled, as his body was engulfed in fire. Everyone watched in awe as the flames began to expand. "Wave!" he finished and shot his arms outwards. The flames suddenly exploded, creating a blastwave of heat and fire. The flames immediatelly dispersed the Nova Sphere and Trider could only watch when the heat reached him, the blast knocking him from the air.

As soon as he fell to the ground, he quickly got back up, but he was too late. Spike was already by his side, when he plunged his firey fist right into his guts. The strike blew Trider off his feet and he crashed into a tree, splitting it in two, the upper part falling on top of him.

Everyone watched in silence, unable to comprehend what had just happened. "Did, did Spike just win?" Applejack asked flabbergasted. The rest didn't answer, as they were still in shock.

Spike however quickly broke out of his stupor and he smiled. "I did it." he mumbled, before he outright shouted. "I did it. I won. I beat Trider." He jumped around like a little kid, as he basked in the glory.

The mares too eventually broke out of their shock and began to stand up. "C'mon girls, we have to congratulate Spike on his victory." Rarity sai, as she stood up.

"And see if Trider's still breathing." Rainbow added, as she followed the fashionista. But they were quickly stopped, when the top of the tree was lifted off the ground, held up by a badly beaten Kanisar.

"Not so fast everyone." he said, tossing the tree away. They all looked towards him in awe, while Spike got back into a fighting stance. Trider took a few steps forward, before he looked at the drake and smiled. "Well done Spike. You finally did it." he said.

Spike looked at him warily, before he lowered his arms. "Thanks." he said. "So what happens now?"

"Now, you've graduated. You are no longer my disciple, instead you're your own master." Trider said, giving him a thumbs up. "Well done buddy."

"Wooo, way to go Spike." Pinkie cheered, the other mares following suit.

Spike was at a loss for words, so all he could do was stare at Trider, tears welling in his eyes. "I-I don't know what to say. I-"

He was cut off when the Kanisar raised his hand. "However, I still have a title to uphold Spike and I've been dying to show you guys how much I've improved over these past few months." he said with a grin.

"Wait, you mean-"

"Yup, this fight isn't over yet." he said, as he began to gather his Ki. The ground around him began to shake and small pebbles began to float in mid-air. The air became heavy, as a white aura began to form around the Kanisar. In a sudden burst of energy his hair and tail turned white and stood up straight and his eyes became neon blue.

Everyone watched with open mouths as he finished his transformation. "Spike, everyone I would like to introduce you to my Super Kanisar form." Trider said, a large toothy smile on his face.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack gasped, what was on everyone's minds.

"Now then Spike." Trider addressed the drake, pulling him out of his stupor. "Shall we?"

Spike shook his head, before he charged at the Kanisar. He swung his arms, which were now on fire, but before they could even connect, Trider disappeared from his vision. Stopping in his tracks, the dragon looked around, trying to spot the Kanisar.

"Looking for me?" Trider said from behind him. He quickly spun around trying to deliver a round-house kick, but before he could even turn full 180 degrees, the Kanisar punched him in the chest.

"Piston Cannon Tetraassault." The blow blew all air out of the Spike's lungs, before he fell to his knees. Before his face could be acquainted with the ground, Trider stopped him with his arm and held him up. "Aww, he's all tuckered out." he cooed, before pulling him up, placing an arm across his shoulders.

"Spike!" he suddenly heard Twilight shout and when he turned around he saw her and the rest of the group run towards them.

"He's fine Twi, just passed out. I went easy on him, so don't worry about him." he reassured her. Sighing in relief she then looked at him, her eyes filled with worry.

"Trider, what is this?" she asked and waved her hand up and down, indicating his transformation.

"Oh, this? It's just something I learned from my countless bouts with Lulu."

"This. Is. So. Awesome." Rainbow said in a high-pitched voice. "How did you do this? Does it feel weird? Can you turn back?"

"Woah, woah. Easy there Dashie, we'll have all the time to talk once we're at the party." Trider said, trying to calm the enthusiastic mare. "Right Pinks?"

"You're right and we better not waste even a single second more." the mare said, pulling a rope out of nowehere, tying it around everyone, before she tied it to herself. "Let's go!" she yelled and began to pull everyone towards town at high speed.