//------------------------------//
// Chapter XVII – A Rather Unwelcome Surprise 
// Story: To Devour a God 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

We were finally on our way to our own quarters and I could finally look forward to a good night's sleep... or so I thought. Unfortunately, unforeseen elements would continue to impede the rest I so desperately wanted.

Once we'd all left the Daeus Arms Engineering Lab, both the Captains leading us had apparently decided foalsitting time was over and sent us off to find our own rooms. They'd given us the directions we needed, but from there we were on our own. They told us they'd be relaxing in the Rec Room if we needed anything, though I was perfectly content to find my own way.

From what we'd been told, there were a few ways to get to the living quarters, and as much as I'd come to enjoy Vinyl and Fluttershy's company, I opted to head off on my own. Seeker chose to do the same, but that was no great surprise to anypony present. Soon enough we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

According to Applejack, our individual rooms were 'tagged' with our own unique signature and we'd know when we found the right room. I had no idea what they meant, but I assumed it had something to do with some as of yet unexplained function of the armlets we wore. 

I didn't worry about it too much, mostly because my mind was preoccupied with Daeus Arms; specifically what I'd actually end up using in the end. I'd done some reading up on New-Types before I'd left Canterlot, and knew they were far more flexible when it came to using Daeus Arms. While 1st Generation Daeus Hunters were relegated to choosing one type of Daeus Arm and sticking with it, New-Types didn't have that limitation.

If I didn't like the way one type of Daeus Arm worked, I could just swap it out for another as long as I used the same core. As a New-Type I could effectively become a jack-of-all-trades among Daeus Hunters. In all honesty the only weapon I could see myself using was the arcane staff, but that was only because I was already rather gifted in the use of magic and had quite a bit of natural mana... at least until I underwent the Daeification Process. 

In reality though, I could be terrible with an arcane staff; I'd have no way of knowing until I actually used one. That was neither here nor there for the moment, and I figured I could cross that particular bridge when I came to it. Moving on from that subject, my thoughts turned to the other mysterious New-Type that was supposed to arrive at some point in the near future.

Thinking back on it, I probably could've asked one of the Captains or even Derpy who the other New-Type was supposed to be, but it had slipped my mind to do so. Just as I'd made a mental note to ask when I next got the chance, I felt my armlet vibrate slightly. At the same time I heard a loud, but thankfully short buzz from somewhere next to me and turned to see a nondescript brown metal door to my left.

I stared at the door silently for a few seconds before looking at my armlet, then back at the door. Holding the armlet up, I backed away from the door, moved towards it, and my suspicions were confirmed when I felt the armlet vibrate and the door buzz once more. This was most likely the door to my room and it seemed I was right about the armlet being connected, but why wasn't it opening?

Am I... locked out? Or is this the wrong door?

I looked down the hall and saw a row of identical doors on either side of the corridor. Just to make sure, I walked over to one of the other doors and raised my armlet, but nothing happened. I frowned and walked back over to the door that was presumably the entrance to my own room. It buzzed again and my frown turned to an irritated scowl.

Okay, so that is my door, but why can't I get in?

One of my ears twitched as I heard another buzz further down the hall. I looked over to see none other than Seeker, standing at the door right at the end of the hall. He stepped back from the door and grimaced, looking just as annoyed as I felt. He must've arrived just after I did, and that probably meant Fluttershy and Vinyl weren't too far behind.

Come to think of it... where is everypony?

I only just noticed how empty the corridor was, which struck me as strange given that this was where all the rookie Daeus Hunters stayed and it wasn't that late yet. Sure there weren't that many rooms, but I still expected to see some ponies wandering about. Putting that aside for the moment, I called out to Seeker.

"Having trouble getting in too, huh?" I asked. He turned to me and I gave an awkward sort of wave and gestured to my armlet, "same here. For some reason we're locked out."

He continued to stare at me as though I was an idiot for another moment or two, then snorted, rolled his eyes, and stormed off the other way. I watched him turn a corner and vanish out of sight with another frown.

"Geez," I muttered to myself, "I was just trying to make some small talk. Didn't have to be a jerk about it."

"Wha—aw what the buck, seriously?! C'mon, work you stupid... grrr..."

Both my ears perked up at the distant voice and a smile crossed my face. I turned and headed down the hall towards the familiar deep feminine timbre coming from the direction opposite the way Seeker had gone. I turned a corner and sure enough, there was Vinyl Scratch standing before her own locked door.

She looked the most aggravated I'd ever seen her, and though I couldn't see her eyes behind her violet shades, I could tell she was glaring at the door by her deep scowl and folded arms. It was surprising to say the least, but I didn't blame her, I was beginning to feel the same way after being denied a chance to relax in the privacy of my own room yet again.

"Hey, Vinyl," I said, walking over to the irked mare, "can't get in either?"

"Hm?" Vinyl whipped around to face me and her scowl vanished as though it had never been there, leaving her trademark easy smile in its place, "oh... hey, Sparks. Yeah, I can't get this stupid door to open no matter what I do," she gave an exasperated sigh, "seriously, why send us here if they're just gonna lock us out?" 

"I'm not really sure," I replied, frowning down at my own armlet, "maybe there's some kind of glitch in the security system? Maybe we weren't registered properly?"

"Aaah you gotta be buckin' kidding me with this," Vinyl groaned, "see, this is why I don't like these fancy automated sliding doors. Give me a regular old physical lock and key any day."

My eyebrows rose at the statement.

"Wow," I replied after a long second, "that seems surprisingly... old fashioned for somepony like you." 

"Why would you think that?" Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow at me behind her large shades.

"Oh, w-was I wrong?" I asked, mentally slapping myself for making assumptions, "I don't know, you just kind of give off that... 'modern day girl' vibe I guess. You mentioned you were a DJ before, so that might've had something to do with it."

"Huh," Vinyl replied with a thoughtful look, "well, I guess I could see why you'd think that," she shrugged, "but I spent a lot of time hanging out with gramps after he retired, and he does like to keep things old fashioned, so that might've rubbed off on me."

I didn't really know what to say next, so I opted to change the subject.

"Have you seen Fluttershy at all?" I asked, looking around, "did she already come by?"

"Beats me," Vinyl answered with a shrug, "she said she wanted to check on something and went off somewhere. Didn't think to ask, so I have no idea where she went."

"Oh," I replied, curious as to what the mare could've possibly needed to do, "I figured out of everypony involved, she'd be the most eager to settle down for the night," I sighed and idly stared down the hallway for a moment before looking back to Vinyl, "so... we should probably see one of the Captains and tell them what's going on. Even if Fluttershy came back I doubt she would've been able to get in either."

"Good call. Beats standing around here waiting for the damn door to magically unlock," Vinyl answered, giving her door one last scowl. She shook her head, "well anyway, Bon Bon said they'd be in the Rec Room, right? You remember where that is?"

"I think I remember the directions we were given," I answered looking around uncertainly, "I kind of wish there was somepony around to help me refresh my memory."

"Hey yeah," Vinyl commented, "now that you mention it, where the buck is everypony? I didn't see anypony other than Fluttershy on the way here either."

"I don't know, but it's kind of creeping me out," I didn't dwell on the matter for too long before I began making my way towards the elevator and away from the empty rookie's living quarters, "c'mon, let's just go and check with the Captains about the doors."

"No need to tell me twice," Vinyl muttered, following a few steps behind, "I'm right behind ya."

We made our way to the elevator and took it back down to the first floor. We entered the main floor and saw a few Daeus Hunters and some of the other Wendigo staff wandering around looking busy. I tried asking one of the staffponies where the other Hunters were, but they just shrugged their shoulders, gave a noncommittal response and moved on.

We walked over to the front desk were Cherilee was thankfully still present and asked her instead.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure," she replied after a second of thought, "but I do know that a lot of Hunters like to hang out in the Rec Room around this time of night. You might want to try checking there."

Vinyl and I looked at each other and the other mare shrugged. As it turned out, there was an entrance to the Rec Room at the back of the main room. With that knowledge, Vinyl and I wasted no time in heading over to the singular door. 

"I really hope we can get these doors fixed soon," I grumbled irritably, "it's been a long day, and frankly I'd like nothing more than to put it all behind me. I have enough to worry about with all the extra stuff I have to do."

"I hear ya," Vinyl replied with a nod, "I was looking forward to chilling in my own room. Maybe do a bit of redecorating with some of the stuff I brought from back home. Almost would've been like being back in—"

"SURPRISE!!!"

The door to the Rec Room slid open and I stumbled backwards, letting out a scream at the sudden sound of a shrill voice and a face full of pink fur and baby blue eyes. It took me a moment, but I recognized the mare standing inches away from my face as the one I'd seen out in the slums on my way here. 

I looked over to see that Vinyl wasn't nearly as shocked as I was, though she still looked somewhat taken aback at the mare's sudden appearance. As I stood there in the doorway, a hand to my chest and willing my heart to stop racing, both Vinyl and I were bombarded with an onslaught of words.

"Geez, it sure took you two long enough to get here. The party started ages ago, c'mon!"

I barely had time to process what was going on before I was suddenly yanked into the room with a surprised yelp. There was a loud cacophony of voices all around me and, looking around, it seemed like every Hunter that was supposed to be in their living quarters were here instead.

Well, that solves that mystery.

The Rec Room was large—seemingly large enough to accommodate all of the rookies in the facility. There were ponies everywhere, laughing, chatting, playing pool in one corner, drinking at a bar that was set up smack dab in the middle of the room, relaxing on a pair of long sofas, and there was even what looked like a small band of Hunters playing instruments near the back.

Colorful streamers and balloons adorned the walls and tables everywhere i looked. There were snacks and more drinks off to one side on a large table near one wall. Attached to the ceiling was a large white banner with 'CONGRATULATIONS NEWBIES!' printed in big red font, and seeing that, everything clicked into place.

"Oh snap, is that Tavi?" Vinyl asked, looking over to where the musicians were. Her smile widened a moment later and she turned back to me, "you know what? I might be tired, but a party's a party, and I never turn down a chance to party," with that, she turned and hurried off to meet her friends, "hey, Tavi! Long time, no see!"

I watched her go for a moment, grimacing as she met up with the grey earth pony mare playing the cello in the group. I was happy for her, really I was... but I was less happy about being dragged to a party I didn't ask for.

"This was a setup," I muttered with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes, "I was denied my sleep for a stupid welcome party, and I'll bet the Captains were in on it the whole time."

"Aw come on, don't be like that," came that same high pitched voice from next to me. I turned and frowned at the pink mare, but she only smiled back in response as she spoke, "I greet all the new recruits with a surprise party! Sure it might've been a bit later than I would've liked, but don't let that stop you from enjoying yourself!" 

"Wait, so you're the pony that set all this up?" I asked, scanning the crowd of ponies, "you planned this entire thing? The locked doors? The 'ignorant' staff? The... everything?"

"Yup! Pinkie Pie at your service! When it comes to parties, nopony does them better," the mare replied cheerfully, "well, I did have some help here and there, but for the most part it was all me. Now stop being a grumpy pants!" she slapped me on the back and gestured to the ponies, "c'mon it's a party for you and the others! You survived Daeification! Eat! Drink! Mingle! Who knows," she winked, "you just might get a chance to talk to somepony you've been looking for."

Before I could make any kind of response, she clapped me on the shoulder one more time and skipped away off in the crowd. That just left me wondering about the mare who called herself Pinkie Pie. The name certainly fit with her bright pink fur and overly curly pink mane and tail, but what had she meant by talking to somepony that I'd been looking for? I couldn't remember wanting to talk to anypony in particular.

"Whatever," I muttered, shaking my head and looking for anypony I recognized, "we're all free for the next three days, why didn't she just wait until tomorrow to throw a surprise party?"

Then again, she might've been busy with her own duties. As far as I knew, we were the only ones getting any time off, so if she was busy it would've made sense to have a party while she still had a chance to throw one.

Doesn't mean I'm happy about it though...

Walking around, I spotted Fluttershy sitting near the back of the room where the windows took up half the wall from left to right. She sat alone at the long table that stretched across the wall, nursing a steaming mug of something in both hands and looking like she was doing her best to blend into the background.

I guess she must've gotten here before Vinyl and I did, though it doesn't look like she wants to be here anymore than I do... but what is she looking at?

Even from where I was standing a good distance back, I could see the nervous mare casting furtive, almost fearful glances to her right. I followed her gaze and my mouth nearly dropped open at what, or rather who I saw. Sitting at the far end of the long table away from Fluttershy and everypony else was the drake I'd seen get taken in by the medical staff.

He wore a rather loose fitting dark blue standard Hunter's uniform and I could see several bandages wrapped about his head. His back was turned to me, but I assumed the uniformed covered more bandages elsewhere on his body. Though I couldn't see his expression, I could tell he was staring out the window, a glass of some kind of beverage sitting untouched next to him. If he'd noticed any of  Fluttershy's wary, fearful glances, he ignored them.

Completely caught off guard by his presence, I found myself moving over to the table almost without realizing it. Before I knew it I was standing next to the drake, all thoughts of finding one of the Captains and getting the door to my room unlocked more or less forgotten in the face of this new development.

"Um..."

The drake jumped slightly and whipped around to face me, his slitted green eyes wide with surprise. A second later he relaxed, frowned and turned to stare out the window again.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," I said with an apologetic smile. The smile slipped off my face as the fledgling continued to ignore me, but I wanted some answers, and I wasn't leaving until we talked, at least a bit, "so can I... sit here? I wanted to ask you some things. Oh, my name's Twilight by the way. Twilight Sparkle."

"Spike," he grunted, "and you can do whatever you want. I'm not gonna stop you. Can't promise I'll answer your questions though."

He was obviously trying to sound like a tough dragon, but his attempts to be mysterious and aloof just came off as kind of adorable to me. He may have been a dragon, but he had a bit of a baby face—well, by dragon standards anyway. It was clear to see even underneath the bandages that he was young, and his deep yet still somehow childish voice would've given him away if not his face.

"Alright then, fair enough, Spike," I replied, sliding onto the stool next to him. I cast a side glance in Fluttershy's direction and the mare blushed and gave a small 'eep' before quickly looking the other way. I smiled to myself and turned my attention back to Spike, "again, sorry to just show up and start talking to you right out of the blue, but—"

"You were one of the ponies in the truck, right?" Spike interjected, "back in the wastes?"

"Y-Yeah," I replied, stunned that he'd remembered, "you saw me then? Through that mess?"

"Yup," he sighed, "bet you're wondering what I was doing back there, huh?"

"Well yeah," I admitted, "but more than that I'm wondering how and why you're here and not in the infirmary. You were hurt pretty bad when they brought you in," I looked him up and down, seeing a hint of more bandages beneath his undershirt, "you're still hurt pretty bad," I frowned in concern, "so what gives?"

"Ah, it's not that big a deal," he said with an encouraging smile. He pounded his chest, winced in pain and gave another, weaker smile, "dragons heal pretty quickly, and even among dragons I've always been able to heal really really fast. Don't know why, but I've never complained," he shrugged, "besides, that pink pony invited me and I had nothing better to do than lay around all night, so I figured I'd show up, y'know?" 

It seemed Spike was more open and friendly than I expected, and that was fine with me. He was surprisingly easy to talk to I found, though I could only hope he'd remain that way when I asked the questions I really wanted to know the answers to.

Still, he was pretty quick to abandon the gritty mysterious and aloof dragon act, and to let him just walk around in his condition, fast healing or no...

"Negligent caretakers aside, that reminds me," I continued, "where exactly have you been? There was a..." I threw another glance Fluttershy's way before speaking again, "I had a... friend who wound up in the infirmary earlier, and when I asked about you later, she said she didn't see any dragons there."

"Oh, that?" Spike replied as he finally grabbed his glass and took a drink, "it was the weirdest thing. Instead of putting me in the infirmary, they stuck me in this room in the Doctor's lab."

"Wait, what?" I asked incredulously, "they... confined you to Doctor Whoove's lab? But I never..."

I trailed off as I remembered the second door in the back of the Doctor's lab, the one that had the 'CAUTION' sign attached to it. Had Spike been in there the whole time while we were getting our check-ups done in the other room? If that was the case, then why? What was the Doctor doing keeping Spike there?

"Why would they put you in the lab and not the infirmary?"

"I was still out of it when they brought me in, and they didn't really tell me anything about why I was there when I woke up," Spike replied casually, "but if I had to guess, it probably had something to do with my amazing ability to heal so quickly. Wouldn't be the first time they put me in a lab for that kind of thing."

"Wha... how..." I sputtered. I stopped and took a calming breath before starting again, "okay, so let's... back up and start over. What exactly were you doing out in the wastes all alone?"

At that, Spike's friendly demeanor completely vanished and he turned away with a frown.

"That's... a bit more complicated," he muttered, "long story short, I was a rookie just out of training from the Tiamat Branch of Wendigo in the Dragonlands. Because of my... special talent, I was supposed to be sent to Wendigo HQ in Canterlot to be studied, but..."

He fell silent and stared at the table before him. I saw him give a visible shudder and raise a claw to his face, his expression growing horrified.

"Spike?" I asked worriedly, "I'm not sure what this is about, but it looks like it might be a pretty painful memory. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I wanted some answers, but not if it's gonna make you that uncomfortable. Besides, you barely even know me anyway."

This sounds pretty serious though, and I'm guessing this must be at least part of the reason they held him in the labs. Did they ask him the same questions I'm asking?

"N-No, it's fine. I just... I gotta get over it," he replied, lowering his shaking claw and clenching it into a fist. He took a deep breath and continued, "we—me and some of the higher ranking Hunters from the Dragonlands—we were on our way to Canterlot via military aircraft when we were attacked by this... massive flying avidaeus over the Celestial Sea." 

"A titan class avidaeus?" I swallowed nervously, "as close to Equestria as the Celestial Sea?"

My heart skipped a beat at that. A vast majority of the Celestial Sea to the east was in Equestrian territory. If there really was a titan class avidaeus flying around over the Celestial Sea, Manehattan and Fillydelphia were in very real danger of being attacked.

There was every possibility that one or even both cities could end up like Baltimare, nothing but a ghastly ruin overrun with avidaeos.

Does the president know? Does anypony in Manehattan or Fillydelphia know? Somepony was bound to have noticed something like that at some point.

"Yeah, it was huge," Spike answered, "like three times bigger than our ship. Looked like some kind of giant millipede with a bunch of bat wings," he shuddered again, "chased us all the way to the shores of Equestria. We tried to fight back, but it shot some kind of... mega laser at us, blasted a huge hole right through the hull of the ship.

"Some of the Hunters tried to fight even while the ship was going down, and some tried to flee, but none of them made it far before... well... you can probably guess."

"I'm so sorry," I said in a horrified whisper, "I had no idea... how did you survive?"

"Well..." he turned and gestured to his back," as you can see, I don't have any wings yet so I couldn't just fly to safety, but the aircraft we were on had this emergency escape pod thing, and Garble..." he winced and wiped his eyes, "a... friend of mine managed to get me on it before the ship crashed. I'm not sure what happened with that avidaeus, but I was launched all the way past... I think you ponies call it Foal Mountain?"

"That far?" I asked, flabbergasted at the distance, "that has to be... at least a hundred and thirty kilometers from where we found you!"

"Yeah, it was a long trip. I crashed just outside the wastes near Mount Canterhorn, but thanks to my healing, I survived," he explained, "afterwards I patched myself up and made my way towards Canterlot to get help, or at least that was the plan."

"But you probably ran into avidaeos trouble on the way I'm assuming," I guessed, to which he nodded grimly. I shook my head in disbelief, "and you managed to survive all on your own all that time?"

"What can I say?" he replied with a shrug and prideful grin, "I just have a knack for getting myself out of trouble... most of the time."

"That's crazy," I replied with a hint of awe in my tone, "and that Daeus Arm that you had... is that crash how it got broken like that?"

"No, that was... because of something else," he replied quietly, "I don't really wanna talk about that. In fact," he downed the rest of his beverage and hopped off the stool, wincing in pain as he landed, "I think it's about time for me to get back to the lab. I was only allowed to come here for a little bit anyway."

"Oh... alright then," I replied, slightly put out by the abrupt departure, "I guess I'll see you later?"

He looked at me for a moment before giving a small smile.

"You know what? Yeah," he replied, "once they finally let me out of that lab for good, we can talk some more later," I returned his smile and he turned and walked away with one last wave, "see ya, Twilight."

"See you soon, Spike," I replied  with a wave of my own, "hope you feel better."

I watched him go until he was out of sight, then turned to Fluttershy, only to find that the mare wasn't there anymore. I frowned and scanned the crowd, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I was left alone at the table with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me company.

More worries to add to the growing pile... perfect.

I yawned and stood up from my own seat before heading back into the throng of partying ponies. I hadn't had a chance to enjoy the festivities, but Pinkie had been right when she said I'd meet somepony, or rather somedragon I'd been wanting to talk to. He sounded pretty relaxed about most of what he'd told me, but I felt like there was something major going on involving Spike and his healing ability. It really wasn't any of my business, but I still couldn't help but wonder just what was going on with the fledgling and Wendigo.

For the sake of my own sanity I decided to put all of that behind me for the night and search for one of the Captains. It was way past time for me to turn in, and I needed my door unlocked so I could finally, finally get what I felt at this point was some well deserved rest.