“Yeah, uh-huh,” says Garble with a shake of his head. “I’ve seen this before. Come on, Spike. That is your name, right?” A red claw pats Spike on the shoulder, though the small dragon doesn’t move.
“What?” asks Spike, trying to look past Whip to see Sweetie Belle. “Yeah. Spike!”
“That’s a pretty fearsome name you got there,” Garble says with a menacing grin. “Good solid name for a dragon, like Whip over there.” Whip snarls as his tail snaps, large green spikes retracting back in. Garble contemptuously stares at Sweetie Belle as she pokes her head around Whip. He crosses his claws across his chest, then shakes his head. “Little filly like you, probably got a cutesy wutesy name like Candy Swirl or Sugar Crush.”
Sweetie Belle hangs her head a little, “I-it’s Sweetie Belle.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Garble crudely laughs, the other dragons joining in, as his gaze rolls over Spike. “What do you think? You like scary names like Backdraft and Charcoal? Or cuddly widdle pony names like Sugar Cookie over there?”
“Um,” Spike says, shying back a little as his claw goes to the back of his head. “I, uh,”
Garble snorts so derisively that Spike stops with his mouth hanging halfway open. “Seriously?” Garble points a red, menacing claw at Sweetie Belle. “You don’t know? What kind of dragon are you?”
“Yeah!” Nickelbangs laughs, shaking his yellow hair back and forth. “Maybe you should have a name like Shrimp!”
“I don’t know,” Fizzle elbows Garble in the side, “He’s more like a Peewee to me!”
“No!” Sweetie Belle adds, trying to stay chipper. “It’s Spike! Definitely Spike!”
“Pssh,” Clump snorts out a burst of flame, Sweetie Belle shrieking a little as it gets too close to her for comfort. “Really, dude? You need some pony to tell us what your name is?”
“N-no! It’s Spike! I’m like a Spike!” Spike weakly shakes his head back and forth rapidly, the other dragons trading smirks.
Backdraft grits his teeth. “Only thing I can’t stand more than a weak dragon who sucks his claw is one who needs a pony to defend him. You need ponies to defend you, Spike?”
“N-no!” Spike says, his eyes going wide.
The large purple dragon squats down, staring at Spike’s claws. “You still suck your claw at night?”
“No!” Spike says quickly, “It’s been months since I sucked my claw!”
“Ah huh,” Backdraft says, disbelief plain in his voice. He looks down as Spike hides his claws behind his back, then up into Spike’s eyes. “Really.”
“Hey,” Garble says, the red dragon stepping up next to Spike, “don’t be too mean to him.” He nods resolutely, the rest of the dragons quieting down. “Or he might run away with his little pony friend!”
The laughs return, Spike getting red in the face as Sweetie Belle grits her teeth, eyes narrowing.
“Seems pretty lame to me,” Charcoal says, coming up behind Sweetie Belle and picking up the filly. “I mean, who likes playing with little ponies?” Sweetie Belle struggles in his arms, her horn flaring green but nothing actually happening.
“Babies, that’s who,” Garble hotly replies. “You a little baby dragon, Spike?”
“No!” Spike says, shaking his head. “I’m a big dragon! I don’t need anypony!”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes widen as she gasps, her struggles against the gray dragon’s claws ceasing. She whispers, “What?”
“Anypony,” Garble chuckles. “Yeah, I can see that.” The red dragon shakes his head, “You didn’t ask her to follow you here, did you?”
“No,” Spike replies, perhaps quicker than he would have liked.
“So you took it all upon yourself to follow our friend Spike,” Garble says, looking at Sweetie Belle but not waiting for a response. She glumly nods anyway as he continues, “Can’t really blame you for that happening. Just stick with us, kid.” Garble slugs Spike with his tail and nearly knocks the purple dragon over. “Don’t worry about her. Happens all the time. Filly gets it in her mind that she wants to hang with the fiercest foes around.” Garble admires his long red claws, Spike doing the same with his shorter purple ones. “Right?”
“Um, yeah?” Spike says, He offers Sweetie Belle a small smile, though she doesn’t smile back. Instead, she frowns, turning her head away from Spike and into Charcoal’s scales.
“That’s right! Fierce little guy like you, she’ll never be able to hang for long!”
“Hey, I hang with Spike all the time!” Sweetie Belle calls, spinning in Charcoal’s claws, but the dragon doesn’t let her go.
Garble whirls on the filly. “You think a dragon, especially one as awesome as Spike here” -he claps Spike on the back, nearly knocking the small purple dragon over- “would hang out with a pony like you?” The other dragons join in his mocking laugh, “And she doesn’t even have a cutie mark, so we know it’s not that.”
Sweetie Belle whimpers, her tail tugging between her legs. She hunkers down, shuddering as Charcoal lightly runs a claw across her flank. Tears threaten to come to her eyes, especially as the claw rests against the base of her tail. The worst part is Spike is doing nothing! She sniffs, once, hard, before burying her face in the gray scales.
Garble stops Charcoal with a quick flick of his head, a claw coming up to his chin as he considers. He turns to Spike, “But, you’re still kinda small. I mean, you look like you just hatched. Must be why I’ve never seen you around before.”
“No, I live in Ponyville, with-” Spike cuts himself off, his eyes briefly flicking to Sweetie Belle. When she doesn’t return anything, he fumes a little, grinding his claws against his palms.
“Really? That’s awesome!” Garble points to the picture of Sweet Apple Acres. “Dude, you been here? Their stuff is the best!” His claw rests on the tiny picture of Applejack on the bottle of cider, “Yeah, I’d like a taste of her. ” He licks his lips, tracing a line over her back leg, “You like ‘em tough?”
“Of course!” Spike says with a grin, “the tougher the better!”
“Heh, you’re all right, Spike,” Garble says, his eyes flicking to Sweetie Belle. His teeth curl to a malevolent smile, “Takes a real kinda dragon to talk like that about ponies.”
“Nah, I talk to ponies all the time. They’re cool with it.” Spike licks his claw before slicking his spines back. Sweetie Belle cowers down as claw returns to testing her flank. They're talking about eating her!
Garble shakes his head, his eyes going a little wide. “Dude, no way. I can’t believe you aren’t bigger! We’ll put some meat on those scales!” He pulls the remaining package out, “I bet you’re used to this stuff already, huh?”
“Um, I haven’t tried it before, actually,” Spike reluctantly concedes. “But I eat a lot of gems!”
“Yeah, gems are cool and all,” Garble says, motioning to the giant pile near them, “but meat is where it’s at! Here, try this! I can’t believe you’ve never had it!”
Spike takes a dainty bite, his eyes immediately brightening. His grin grows wide as he devours the rest, smacking his lips. “That was amazing! You got any more?”
Garble laughs, the other dragons quickly joining in. “Nah, dude. I totally get why they don’t let you anywhere near their production lines! Can’t have you eating all the product, you know?”
“Y-yeah?” Spike says, confusedly looking around. His eyes settle on Sweetie Belle, still curled in Charcoal’s claws. Spike finds himself wishing that his own claws are the ones wrapping around the poor, defenseless filly.
Garble seems to notice this. “You sure you aren’t part pony, dude? You seem pretty jealous of Charcoal there.”
“No! I’m not jealous!” Spike hurriedly exclaims. “Honest!”
“Seriously?” Garble shouts, a gout of flame torching Spike and leaving him dazed. “Jealousy and greed are huge parts about being a dragon! Watch!” Spike barely recovers as Garble tackles Charcoal, roughly wrenching the filly from his arms.
“Hey!” Charcoal yells, claws digging into the ground and leaving thick furrows as he sprints after the red dragon. Garble spins around, a roundhouse kick slamming into Charcoal’s head. The gray dragon goes down hard, sending up a cloud of dirt around his head.
“Pass the Pony!” shouts Garble, throwing the filly into the air.
“Nooo!” screams Sweetie Belle, curling into a ball and holding her head with her hooves.
Fizzle leaps up, snatching her from above Clump. “Hey!” Spike yells as he races over to the white dragon. Fizzle merely chucks Sweetie Belle above his head to Clump. “Put her down!”
“Why don’t you come over here and make me?” taunts Clump, tossing Sweetie Belle from claw to claw. As Spike gets close he grins, an underhanded throw back to Charcoal, the gray dragon already recovered.
“Seems like someone is part pony!” jeers Garble. “Is that right? She your little fillyfriend?”
“No!” shouts Spike. Sweetie Belle sniffles at the admission. “I just don’t want to see anypony get hurt!”
“Oh, really?” Garble scrambles to the pile of gems as the rest of the dragons give chase. “Better come save her, then!” One set of red claws grips the screaming filly as the other scrapes along the gems, sending dozens of colorful stones raining on the heads of the pursuing climbers. Spike rushes forwards, barely getting to the bottom of the pile as Garble reaches the top.
“KING OF THE HORDE!!” he shouts from the top, both arms raised and cheering, Sweetie Belle hanging on for dear life. “Come and get her!”
Spike grunts as he digs his claws into the gems, ignoring the delicious treats. He has to get to her! He has to save Sweetie Belle!
Off on the cliff, a green dragon, scaly sides studded with gems, lazily crests the top. The tubular dragon, about the size of three ponies, glances left, then right, then back to the left, before plopping down, tongue hanging out.
Clump crashes past Spike, the brown dragon rolling all the way to the bottom before he comes to a stop. He roars, swiftly climbing back up and passing Spike, a wayward foot nearly sending the purple dragon into the sky. More and more dragons climb to the top. Garble rages, claws and legs and tail flying this way and that until Nickelbangs rips Sweetie Belle from his claws, a swift kick punting the red dragon off the edge.
“KING OF THE H-”
Spike comes up behind Nickelbangs, tail whipping his leg and sending him sprawling off the edge. Spike cheers, raising his claws in victory! “King o-”
Nickelbangs throws his arms up, tossing Sweetie Belle into the air. She soars briefly before crashing into Spike, the purple dragon careening off the side and clumsily rolling down the pile, the two dragons scattering the others trying to climb up.
Sweetie Belle looks up from between her hooves, the sound of scrabbling claws coming to a close. She grins, shouting, “King of the Horde!” as she proudly stands.
A few seconds pass, groans coming from the base of the pile.
“Or would I be the Princess of the Horde?” Sweetie Belle muses.
“Not bad,” Garble says as he flies up to the top of the pile of gems. He peers down, watching Spike slowly get up and rub his backside. “Better luck next time, Spike! And you’re gonna need it!”
“Why? What’s next?” Sweetie Belle eagerly asks, cautiously moving to the edge. “Tail wrestling? Fire belching?”
“Please,” Garble says, grabbing Sweetie Belle and taking off. He motions to Charcoal, “Nothing so ponestrian. Up next is lava jumping!”
“L-lava jumping?” Sweetie Belle whimpers as Charcoal grabs Spike. Everydragon takes off for one of the cliffs overlooking a large pool of lava, leaving Whip behind. She whispers to Garble, the dragon whispering back. Sweetie Belle’s eyes go wide, now fighting hoof and horn to get out of the red dragon’s grasp.
Charcoal drops Spike onto the cliff’s edge, then flies off as everydragon else lands. The four dragons form a rough ring around Spike and Garble as Spike rushes forwards.
“Hey!” Spike fumes, pointing at Sweetie Belle. “Put her down!” He glances at the other four dragons milling around. "Do something!"
“This again?” Garble grins at Spike, relishing the purple dragon’s fury. “With Lava Cannonball, the goal is to make the biggest splash! And whoever does is the ultimate dragon!” He points at himself, “Think you can beat me?”
“NO!” Spike shouts. “Stop!”
“Wrong answer.” Garble winks as he dives off the cliff edge, Sweetie Belle screaming as they plummet down.
Spike rushes to the edge as the scream stops, a huge plume of lava splashing to the top of the cliff. It sizzles at his feet, acrid smell choking his nostrils. He can only stare as a red dragon surfaces in the lava pool, empty clawed.