...Spike’s head hurt. A lot.
He could barely feel anything besides the pulsating heat running from his scalp to his temples. He attempted to move a claw to his head but it barely budged an inch. It was as if every time he tried to move, his brain misfired and shot his nerve-endings point blank with a blast of unbridled magical fury.
He let his body rest for a moment before trying to move again, this time focusing on just his arm. If he just took it nice and slow, one body part at a time, it might not end so painfully for him. Just like dance practice with Trixie!
This time, he was finally making some progress. As he waggled his claws through the ground a little more, he could finally start to feel something. His claw was met with the sensation of soft soil and leaves.. Where was he?
As his senses slowly started coming back, he began to feel small droplets of liquid sprinkling his face. He needed to get some semblance of where he was so he slowly cracked his eyelids. However, his eyes saw nothing but a gray blur before being pelted by several drops of water falling into his eyes, forcing them shut once more.
He slowly but surely stretched out one of his legs, grimacing as he did so. Every muscle in his body had been tied into an intricate knot that would make the most seasoned colt scouts envious. It rendered even the slightest of motions horrendously painful. But there would be time for self-loathing and misery later. He knew he had to get up and figure out his surroundings.
He closed his eyes as tightly as he could and braced for impact right before he forced himself up into a sitting position. His stomach tossed and turned in response. It felt as if a bolt of lightning shot up his spinal cord and burst in his head. He grimaced but forced open his eyes to take in the scenery.
The sudden flood of bright lights and colors had his head screaming in agony.
“Ugh!” Spike began furiously rubbing his temples and slowly stretched out his wings, which were in just as much pain as everything else. “They weren’t kidding when they said the jump would be rough. No wonder they couldn’t send a pony. They’d get melted into some kind of ponified liquid or... something.”
Spike twisted his neck a few times, which sounded like a symphony of snaps, crackles, and pops. The blurriness in his eyes crept away, and they refocused when he started to look around himself.
He was in a forest. A dense one from the looks of it. Tall, lush trees were all he could see in any direction. It was also raining. A consistent pitter-patter of raindrops was the only sound to be heard.
He looked down at the ground before him. It was peppered with dead leaves and patches of wet soil and grass. From what he could tell, it was Springtime and the time teleportation sent him exactly where they aimed: in the middle of nowhere.
Spike gasped. “Oh no…”
He frantically brought his hands up to his neck and let out a sigh of relief at the feel of the metal chain hanging around it. The necklace was safe. That was a great sign. If nothing else, he had his return trip home safe and secure. Of course, it’s not as if there’d be any home to return to if he didn’t get the job done.
He took a few deep breaths, taking in the chilly yet refreshing air. Every ounce of common sense in his body was begging him to lay back down and sleep until all the pain vanished, but he didn’t have that luxury. He had a job to do and even more so, he didn’t need to get found by some random pony, or any other creature for that matter, and create a panic. Even though the culture was probably far different in this period, stumbling upon a dragon in the woods was generally a bad thing no matter when you’re from.
His first order of business would be to find a place out of harm’s way and preferably wait for his strength to come back. Then, he’d simply find a town and start asking for clues about his mission. It seemed simple enough, right?
Spike took one last look around himself and let out a sigh. Trees to the left, trees to the right. Trees, trees, trees. When they agreed to send him to the middle of nowhere, I guess they didn’t put much effort into calculating how far away he’d be from civilization. He couldn’t so much as see a single cut-down tree or even a hoofprint anywhere.
He was going to have his work cut out for him trying to get anywhere on this journey.
The dragon curiously flexed his legs, one at a time, to get a feel for his allotted range of motion. If he was ever going to do time travel again, he was going to make sure to pack some painkillers or something because this level of agony and discomfort was not in the job description.
After steeling himself one last time, Spike clenched his teeth and forced himself onto his feet. He almost immediately crashed back down to the ground again, but by the graces of a deity he was becoming more and more disappointed in, he was able to maintain his uprightness. His legs felt as if they were asleep and every motion was like a thousand ticklish pinpricks into his calf muscles. Still, he was able to chalk this up as a relief. At least he was feeling something, and with a few steps, he would surely cure it.
He took two steps and fell to the ground.
“It would appear my confidence was horribly misplaced.” Spike dragged his palm across his face and stood back up to try again.
This time, he was able to make it three steps, and over to a nearby tree, which he immediately latched onto for balance. “Okay, we’re off to a bit of a rockier start than expected, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy… or so Twilight always told me.”
Spike spent the next few minutes at war with his body, trying to get adjusted to moving around, but eventually, it seemed that most of the time-travel sickness wore off, and he was getting comfortable with his legs again. It took a lot longer than he ever would’ve imagined, but at least there was nobody around to see it. His dignity would remain at least somewhat intact.
While Spike had dealt with his battle of stability, he hadn’t remotely bothered to soak up his surroundings. He didn’t have a watch or anything, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was getting late, the overcast skies were growing darker by the minute and the rain, of course, didn’t seem to be letting up any time soon.
Spike began to lose confidence in his abilities to live out in the wilds with every second that passed. Caught in the middle of the woods, in the dark, by himself, in the rain and with no knowledge of where to go wasn’t his idea of a good time.
He made a split decision that it was high time to find a place to hide and sleep for the night, and he needed to do it quick. He was already exhausted from the trip, so getting some extra rest out of the way wasn’t the worst idea he’d ever come up with. Now came for the hard part: he needed to find a place to do so.
He scanned his eyes over the immediate surroundings but couldn’t find anything off first glance. There was a promising tree or two that looked climbable, but on the risk of cutting his life into pieces by falling off a branch mid-sleep, he was going to save that as a last resort.
He maneuvered his way forward a bit more through the branches and foliage before his eyes locked on to a viable target. No more than one-hundred feet in the distance, there was a small, rocky cliffside visible through the gaps of the trees. Although it was dark, he could see a small space at the base where an indentation had formed. A Spike-sized indentation from the look of it.
The dragon waltzed over as quickly as his beaten-down body could carry him to get a better view. When he finally arrived, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. The indentation was a bit shorter than he was tall, but it had a rocky outcrop over it, forming a shallow cave of sorts with stone walls and ceiling. It was wide enough, however, that he should be able to lay down comfortably without his feet being restricted. The ground itself was littered with dirt and patches of rock, so it wasn’t the most comfortable of conditions, but he’d find a way to survive.
He took one last look at the forest behind him. The rain and wind had begun to pick up as the sky darkened, making almost anything impossible to see. He also had no idea what kind of beasts inhabited these woods at night, and he wasn’t keen to find out. It appeared he found shelter just in time.
Spike hunched over and slunk into the small cave that would serve as his home for the night. He plopped onto the ground, resting his back against the wall and spreading his legs and feet out. He hadn’t been roaming around for more than half an hour, but his body felt like he’d ran a marathon. He really should’ve read the ‘Pre-Time Travel Stretching and Exercise’ guide Discord supplied him with.
It was a little dark for his tastes, and now that he was stationary, his body began to shiver intermittently as the occasional droplets of rain bounced into him. But as fortune would have it, there were a couple of sticks and some dried leaves that had escaped the storm in his small shelter. He still had about five feet of space left over, so he slid to the back and put the materials in the open area near the entrance. With a small blast of fire breath, the leaves and sticks were set ablaze, providing some light and warmth to the dragon.
Spike relished the heat on his scales. He could feel his body soaking it up, soothing his muscles and melting his physical stress away. The light was excellent, as well. He generally slept with a lantern lit at home in his room, so this was a decent enough substitute.
He cocked his head to the side and looked past the flames to the outside world. As if a switch had been flipped, it was completely dark outside now, and the rain was getting progressively heavier. Where was he? Where was he even supposed to start looking to find this evildoer? And what’s more, how would he be able to survive if he was truly stuck in the middle of nowhere without any towns nearby?
A large white flash illuminated his entire field of view for but a moment before—
BOOM!
The stone walls shook and vibrated at the sudden explosion of noise. Spike shuttered back into the corner, his spine-tingling and on edge. Thunder was quite loud without any doors or windows to shield the ears.
The dragon tilted back his head against the wall and emitted a lengthy yawn. All his questions could wait until tomorrow to be answered. For now, he should just be grateful he made it to what seemed to be the past in one piece and found a place to stay for the night to boot. As far as he was concerned, this was a pretty great start to the mission.
He closed his eyes and let the warmth of the fire massage his scales once more. Tomorrow though…
Tomorrow was when the real work would begin.