Twilight Sparkle skids to a stop just outside of the massive cave entrance, the flickering walls plunging into darkness as the great roar of infuriated beast abates. She nervously glances to the three ponies and one dog forming up just behind her, their determined faces illuminated by her horn’s glow.
“That’s a dragon in there,” Twilight calmly states as she flips her mane towards the stony maw, steel glinting in her eyes. Her demeanor briefly breaks, “Well, two dragons.” The harsh glare returns, “And it’s a big one. Probably as large as the one we faced a month ago.” Her gaze turns to rest on Rainbow Dash, harshly narrowing as she continues, ”We don’t need any heroics. We don’t want any misunderstandings.”
Twilight turns back to the cave entrance, nodding resolutely. “If Spike is in there-” Winona barks in confirmation “-then that dragon is toying with him.”
Her confidence breaks momentarily, “I hope.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” exclaims Rainbow Dash, ignoring Twilight’s hoof coming to her lips. “Somepony needs to go in there and rescue him! I’m going in!” She takes off immediately.
“No!” Twilight shouts, her aura more than her words yanking Rainbow back to the ground barely a foot from where she took off. She rounds on the two ponies behind her, “What did I just say about heroics? That is not a plan!”
“Oooh, shiny…” mutters Rarity from the cave entrance. Her eyes reflect the glow from the dozens of small fires inside the cave, piles of pink and gray hide, bones, and curly tails all quickly charring to ash. Just beyond lay heaps and mounds of gems and jewels that far exceeds the hoard the red dragon Razer ever carried. And the size of that sapphire on the top! It is nearly as large as her! Just how colossal did-
Rarity gasps, involuntarily taking a step back as orange and yellow flame sears what must be the opposite wall, the rest still shrouded in darkness. Tens of thousands of gems mirror the light from every angle, yet even then she cannot see the ends of the caverns. Merely one pillar after another, possibly from an Ursa Major deciding to make this their terrestrial home, and merely carved a side entrance for their offspring.
Rarity’s leg bumps into Twilight as Rainbow and Applejack appear by her side, four sets of eyes fixating on the gargantuan green dragon barely visible on the other side of the gems. A small brown blur zips to and fro around the dragon’s head, bobbing and weaving claws as large as streetlights.
Rainbow Dash goes up, scanning the dark corners of the cavern as orange flames scour the ceiling. Applejack and Winona trot left, making their way around a few of the branded hides. Twilight gallops right, weaving through the spill-off of a pile of gems as a gigantic clawed foot shifts. Rarity lingers by the entrance, barely peeking around the wall. Her horn glows, a beacon ready to dart away should any wayward spurts of flame head her way.
Twilight shouts, “Spike!” as soon as the small purple dragon comes into view. She frantically waves her hoof over her head, grimacing; the green dragon, while distracted by the owl harassing its head, is directly in between the two. She could probably teleport Spike to her once he gets a little closer, but she should really save her strength for if - or when - the dragon gives chase.
The dragon hears Twilight’s shout, turning their head to regard her. Spike shouts in recognition, his short legs slowly propelling him towards Twilight. The much, much larger dragon’s vastly larger legs also take a step towards Twilight, resting on the closer of two gem piles. His nostrils snort short spurts of smoke, stifling streams of soot sinking down.
Twilight gulps, turning and ready to bolt as soon as Spike gets close enough. Her horn flares, helping propel Spike just a tad faster as she gets ahold of his fleeing form. Her eye, filled with fear, glances up. And up. And up.
The dragon towers above her, though the owl is still just annoying enough to distract him from roasting her alive. His tail twitches, trying to track the tawny terror. He roars as he swings, though the owl dodges perfectly, the spikes impacting directly into the green dragon’s head!
“Hah!” shouts Spike as Twilight levitates him to her back, gasping as he grabs hold as hard as he can. “Take that, you mealy mou-”
“No taunting the vicious pig eating dragon!” Twilight shouts, taking off as fast as her hooves can take her. She beelines towards Rarity’s now brightly shining glow, promising to join Doug on a few of his morning jogs if she makes it out of this alive. A brown streak flies just ahead of her, the mystery owl ‘hoo!’ing loudly.
The green dragon behind her quickly recovers, bellowing, “THIEF!!” A jet of flame scorches the wall just behind her as he lumbers after her, the ground quaking underneath his massive steps. His massive bulk barely squeezes through the opening, buying Twilight just enough time to get to the forest’s edge.
Twilight’s horn flares as bright as she can, but the oppressive darkness of the forest and the lack of light from above combines to make picking her way through the trees as convoluted as following Pinkie Pie’s instructions when she is blindfolded. Actually, it’s exactly like that, the way she has to take three steps forward, then two left, then one backwards so she has enough momentum to leap forwards four more, then back to the right. All at a hard gallop with the crashing of trees behind her competing with the crashing of thunder above.
“Owly!” Spike shouts as he points a claw past Twilight’s face. She spots the brown owl flying just ahead of her, his loud hoots almost drowned out by the thunderous cries. Lightning illuminates the area just long enough for her to glance back, a part of her mind noting that the dragon is looking exactly at her!
Twilight takes off at her hardest gallop yet, doing her level best to keep up with the owl guiding her through thicker and thicker parts of the forest. She drops under limbs, skids around trunks like she is racing around barrels. She’s the Iron Pony! She can do this! She puts on another burst of speed, her muzzle curling to a smirk.
All of a sudden, the smashing behind her stops. She chances a look back; she can barely see, through a break in the trees, the dragon’s head poking far above the green tops. He rages, a cloud of steam erupting around him. Twilight’s exhaustion catches up to her as she drops down, not even bothering with a shield as the rain falls around her.
Back at the cave, Rainbow Dash flies inside through the entrance the dragon departed. She shakes the water from her mane and coat before landing next to Rarity, Applejack, and Winona. The four stare at the wide path through the forest.
“So, you think they’ll be okay?” Rainbow Dash whispers in a low, fast tone, her jaw shaking.
“Ah think so,” Applejack says, her voice confident. “It’s us Ah’m worried about.” She raises a hoof towards the great green dragon staggering towards them.
Rainbow Dash grimaces, glancing at her herdmates. “In or out? I mean, I can outfly him, but I’m not leaving you two to be chased like Opal after a mouse.”
Rarity shudders at the thought of traipsing through the dark woods, in the rain, her coat already tattered enough. Applejack casts a wary look behind them, “If that dragon finds us in his cave, he ain’t gonna be happy about it. And there ain’t gonna be a sisterly bond between us like he might’a had with Spike.”
The three hunker down as flame again shoots into the dark sky. All too quickly the green dragon breaks back through the line of trees, heading directly for the cave. His muttering echoes around the walls, “The Dragon Lord will hear of this treachery! Not one timber will rest on another in this Ponyville, and even the stones will be set ablaze! This… Spike… will rue the day he stole from me!”
Rarity looks to her herdmates, courage pushing past her terror. “This could be bad. Princess Celestia already had to smooth things over with the dragons over what happened with Razer.”
“But that was his fault!” Rainbow exclaims, pointing towards the nearby mountain. “He didn’t have to nap there!”
“And Fluttershy didn’t have to Stare him away, and yet here we are,” Rarity states. “Though it would be nice to have her as a fallback plan.” She nods resolutely as the dragon nears the entrance, “Just follow my lead.”
“Ah sure hope this works,” Applejack quietly mutters.
The dragon pokes his head into the cave, the rest of his body quickly following. He immediately spots Rarity by the light of her horn. The forest green head and lime green plume swings around, snorting wisps of yellow flame that matches his eyes. A black pupil, easily large enough for her to walk through, blinks once before narrowing.
“E-excuse me, good dragon,” Rarity hesitantly offers as she takes a step backward, forcing her warmest smile to her muzzle. “M-my name is Rarity, and these are my herdmates Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” She motions her hoof backwards, her smile growing strained at the dragon’s hard stare. “I-I came to apologize for any, um, misunderstanding that occurred between you and S-Spike.”
A jet of flame spits out of the dragon’s nostrils at the mention of the name. He glances at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both ponies trying their best not to cower under his gaze. His keen eye then turns to the gems strewn around the cavern. He grunts as he lumbers to the closest pile, the spines receding from his tail and sweeping the fallen gems. His massive claws retreat with a loud ‘schink’, now sifting through the pile.
“U-um,” Rarity stammers as she cautiously takes a step forwards, “Y-you called Spike a thief, b-but I assure you, he isn’t. He just really likes the taste of gems, and I’m sure he was overwhelmed at the sight of your magnificent horde. Why, it’s positively the largest collection of gems I’ve ever seen!”
The barest hint of a smile crosses the dragon’s scowl until he unearths a medium blue gem. He holds it up before dropping it next to him, continuing his search.
Rarity inspects the essence with a keen eye. “That’s a greed essence. Very valuable, at least among the more common varieties.”
The dragon nods, pulling out another medium blue gem, this one with a hint of purple. He sets them down, a single claw pushing the two towards Rarity.
“A-and that’s a dread essence, while less common just as valuable.” Rarity gulps as the dragon’s eyes bore into her, taking a step backwards. “Both larger, more powerful varieties. They must have been very expensive to acquire; perhaps not the pinnacle of a horde this monstrous, but surely the centerpiece of a lesser dragon’s.”
“Yes.” The dragon doesn’t need to take a step to close the gap, merely craning his neck forward. “Perhaps you wish to explain why your... Spike... saw fit to steal and devour two essences like them. Before I do the same to you.”
Rarity gulps, her mind whirring through the possibilities. “Well, um, perhaps it would help if you told us your side of the story.”
The dragon nods, “Very well.” He sits back slightly, “Let’s see, where to begin.”
Rainbow mutters under her breath, “It was a dark and stormy night…” to Applejack’s snickers.
Outside in the forest, a quiet voice from besides her startles Twilight. She hugs Spike closer, though she immediately calms as she spots the yellow pegasus. “You okay?” whispers Fluttershy, though she doesn’t seem to be talking to Twilight. Behind Fluttershy stands Pinkie Pie, her mane seemingly unaffected by the rain, and Meringue, her mane still as flat and straight as always. Gummy is walking behind them, his mouth bandaged, but remarkably mobile for the normally unresponsive alligator.
Twilight nods, “I’m okay, and it seems Spike is too.” She pulls away just slightly in order to better regard Spike, “What happened?”
“I’m better now,” says Spike, chancing a glare at Gummy. He points a claw, “I was in the library, getting dinner ready to bring to you, and then Gummy was there. I got, um, spooked, and then Gummy bites down on my leg! At first it was just painful; I mean, I’ve got tough scales and all, but his jaws are still really strong. Then he started rolling around.”
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s comforting smiles briefly grow larger, though they quickly get them back under control.
Twilight snuggles closer to Spike, though her hard eyes rest on Pinkie Pie. “I trust you’ve properly disciplined your pet? Because I never want to hear about this happening again.”
Fluttershy nods, “Yes. It’s… taken care of.”
Twilight nods exactly once before she rubs her head against her dragon. “Spike, if you don’t want to continue, you don’t have to. We’re here for you.”
Spike shakes his head as he continues, “At first I hoped it was a joke, or Gummy just being playful, but then he managed to punch through my scales. Split them in two, just like that. His mouth opened just enough, since one of my scales got lodged in his mouth. Then, he starts chasing after me, like he wasn’t satisfied with just one bite.” Spike flicks an imaginary speck of dirt off him, which is actually several drops of water, smirking as he nods to himself, “Yup; I’m too good. Can’t stop after one taste of the Spikester.” Spike motions to the owl, “Then this fellow swoops in to save the day! Well, sort of.”
“Hoo!”
“You did!” says Spike with a chuckle. “Yup, Owly here dropped off a mouse that he caught.”
“Owlowiscious,” Fluttershy corrects. When Twilight looks at her she shyly smiles, “I… we’ve met before.”
Spike rolls his eyes, “Well, Gummy goes after the mouse, gulps down half of it before I can blink. Apparently he didn’t like that as much as me, ‘cause he comes right after me. I was trying to stop the bleeding, and wondering if scales grow back.” He turns an eye to Twilight, “Do scales grow back?”
“Um, I think so, but they won’t be as strong or as large.” Twilight shrugs, “I’m not sure with dragons. There’s a lot we don’t know about you.”
Spike motions a claw back the way they came, “Hey, maybe you can go ask him. I’m sure he’s burning to tell you.” He smirks to himself, “But, anyway, Gummy comes after me again. Chases me out of the library, into the woods. Keeps coming after me, too, like a mare possessed. Owly here harasses him a little, but he’s a tough little biter.” Spike makes goo-goo eyes at Gummy, “Yes you are! Yes you are!”
Gummy blinks one eye, then the other.
“So, he chases me to the cave here. Breaks away, I think because he can hear the dragon in there or something. I didn’t care, I just wanted to get away. And I find this cave with all these gems!” Spike salivates at the thought, rubbing his belly.
“And then?” Twilight asks.
Back in the cave, the green dragon motions to the two gems, “I awoke from my… rest… to the sounds of munching and slurping. I arose to deal with the intruder to find Spike finishing first the greed essence, followed by the dread essence. He had clearly eaten more than that, as his belly was bulging from his indulgence.”
“Did he seem injured?” Rarity asks, motioning to the greed and dread essences. “These two varieties, when enchanting armor, boost toughness and armor.”
“Yes, I am familiar with them.” The green dragon huffs in irritation, “For dragons, they heal and help replace broken or damaged scales.” His eyes narrow again, another snort of flame, “Were you among those who injured him?”
Rarity immediately shakes her head, “No, I assure you, we had nothing to do with that.”
The green dragon stares at her for a few seconds before an acrid cloud of smoke escapes his mouth, leaving Rarity coughing. “I politely asked Spike what he was doing, and he evaded my questions. And my subsequent tries to continue our conversation.”
Spike continues, “And then he comes after me! Fortunately, my leg was already healing from the essences I had eaten, and the gems were doing a great job of shoring up any weaknesses. And it’s a good thing I had such a steady diet of gems with Rarity, they gave me a bunch of reserves to make it here. So I evaded his best tries to hit me with his fire breath and claws. And then you showed up!”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight says, embracing Spike in a hug. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Owlowiscious quickly join in while Pinkie Pie’s tail snags Gummy and brings him close. Twilight continues, “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that! How are you doing so well?”
Spike shrugs as he pats the back of his head, “Well, after the second time I thought I was dead for sure - that would be running out of the library - I kinda made peace with it. Not much else to do while running blindly through the forest. Then I met the dragon, and he tried to kill me but didn’t, and then we ran away from the dragon some more and he didn’t catch us again. So I figured I’ve got some sort of superpower, or protagonist immunity, or something.” Spike flexes his arm, barely getting a bulge out of the scale. “Yup! I’m pretty awesome.”
Twilight chuckles as she pulls Spike back in for another hug, “Well, don’t go tempting fate too much, okay?”
Spike rolls his eyes, “Okay, fine,” as they get up, starting the long walk back to Ponyville.
Back in the cave, Rarity smiles up at the giant green dragon. “Well, thank you for saving his life and allowing him to live. If there is anything we can do to make up for what happened, then, please, we are at your service.” Rarity bows low, one hoof sweeping out as Applejack and Rainbow grin behind her.
The dragon remains focused on his gems. “I have little interest in the service of ponies.”
“Hey!” Rainbow exclaims, her smile gone. “Just because we’re ponies doesn’t mean we can’t help!”
“Rainbow!” Rarity shouts in a strained whisper, her best glare at the pegasus.
The dragon turns, regarding Rainbow Dash before snorting. “Perhaps you should return to the clouds, little one. There are no gems there, after all.”
“Well, perhaps I can be of assistance,” insists Rarity, her tail underlining her cutie mark. “My talent lies in locating gems such as these. If I can replace the gems that Spike took, perhaps that would appease your wrath? I… may not have any doubt or greed essences, but I assure you that I can procure enough others to be of similar value.”
“Do what you wish.” The dragon turns to sweeping the remainder of the scattered gems back into their piles. “But you make Spike weak by shielding him from the consequences of his actions.”
Rarity snorts, a grand imitation of the dragon’s great bellow, “Oh, I assure you, great dragon, that I will not spare him the consequences. For he will personally dig up each and every gem that we return to you.”
The dragon turns, one eye focusing on Rarity before his maw twists to a smile. “Then Gostir is happy to consider his debt repaid.” He pulls out a small piece of paper, a mailing address in Vanhoover written on it, a snort blowing the paper to Rarity. His gaze turns to Applejack, “And thank you for the meal earlier.”
“Um, don't mention it,” Applejack says, a nervous chuckle as she heads towards the entrance. “Ah think we should be going back right about now. Don’t want to overstay our welcome or nothing.”
Rarity offers a short wave, the dragon turning to his horde, as Rainbow and Applejack walk out into the rain. Rarity sighs, hoofing the paper to Rainbow to tuck under her wing as they head back home.