//------------------------------//
// Succeed or Die 
// Story: The Storm Dragon 
// by ShowShine 
//------------------------------//

Tempest laid on her bedroom floor with dozens of books in splayed across the floor. Spike laid on her right hind leg, drooling on it. It felt gross but she was too busy to say anything. Tempest let out a groan and placed her head onto the cold tiled floor. Storm King had given her one more chance to prove that Spike could be useful to him. If she couldn’t find anything, Storm King would kill him painfully.

Spike was useful for the attack on Panthera but after a while he sort of got in the way of things. Two cats named Capper and Chummer had hijacked one of the airships. Tempest almost caught them, but Spike started crying, which alerted them. They managed to get away before anyone could stop them. Due to that, the airship caught on fire and a new one had to be built, setting them back. A week later, Spike had chewed up the plans to take over Equestria. When Storm King yelled at him about it, he burped, lighting his throne on fire. 

Storm King almost killed him right there but Tempest managed to convinced him to show some mercy. Storm King gave Spike one more chance and if he did something else, he would be dead or abandoned. She had been searching books to find out what useful things baby dragons could do. So far she had only found things about adult dragons. It would take too long for Spike grow up to become useful for anything.

Tempest felt herself tearing up a bit. This was the most love she had felt for anybody in months and she didn’t want to lose him so quickly. She felt a claw touch her cheek, making her look up. Spike sat there with curiosity in his eyes. Tempest sniffled and picked him up.

“Don’t worry about me Spike, everything is going to be okay.” Tempest stated as she rocked him back and forth. Spike gave her a confused look and reached his tiny hands out, touching her cheeks. Tempest felt herself tearing up again. She had only known Spike for a month and she couldn’t lose him. She held him close to her and closed her eyes. She hadn’t cried since she first worked for Storm King and that was over a year ago. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she rocked him. There was a quiet buzz from the corner of her room, making her look up. There was a dark blue intercom bolted to her wall.

”Boss needs you and he doesn’t sound happy.” Grubber said through the intercom. Tempest stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She took in a few deep breaths to regain her composure. She put the baby carrier on her side and placed Spike in it, making sure he was secure. She walked out of her room as if nothing happened. She could feel the Storm Creatures eyes following her every move. They knew something was up. Tempest suspected that they could sense any emotion like an animal. Tempest entered the throne room to see Grubber standing next to the throne with a look of worry on his face. She bowed to Storm King, glancing at Grubber.

“I heard that you needed me  Your Excellency. Tempest stated with a bow. He looked at her with a scowl.

“I need you to get me this book.” He stated, showing her a picture of it. It read Powerful Magical Artifacts. Tempest slowly nodded her head. It seemed simple enough.

“It’s in the Canterlot Archives, which is somewhere under the castle. You have to find it yourself.” Storm King stated. Tempests ears flattened. This wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

“Why is it under the castle instead of inside the library?” Tempest asked.

“So it can’t get into the wrong hands.” Storm King stated with a shrug of his shoulders.  “This will be your first mission without Grubber or any of my guards.” He stated. He got off of his throne and got close to Tempest, looking into her eyes.

“Lastly, you will do this mission by yourself and if you fail, you know what happens.” He muttered, jutting his sharp finger out to Spike. Tempest’s ears flattened in fear. She swallows nervously. She had to do this right.



Tempest walked around Canterlot, pushing Spike in a stroller. She wore large red sunglasses, a yellow sundress, and a sun hat to cover herself up. Spike wore blue footie bunny pajamas. He sucked on his pacifier and held a light brown teddy bear with a blue bow tie. They were undercover for a bit until Tempest could find a secret entrance.

“If I were a secret tunnel, where would I be?” Tempest muttered to herself. She spotted two Royal Guards walking past. The both were holding spears, ready to attack at any moment.

“Where are they going?” Tempest questioner softly. She turned the stroller around and followed them from ten feet away. The guards walked behind the castle, making Tempest speed up. She peeked over the corner to see the guards standing in front of a door with there spears pointed upwards. Tempest reached into her front pocket  and started to pull out a bottle of sleeping powder. She couldn’t use anything too extreme or someone would know that there was a villain on the loose.

“Okay Spike, you need to be quiet.” Tempest said, peeking into the stroller. Her eyes widened when she saw it was empty. She looked around in a panic to see where he went. She heard him laugh, making her turn around. Spike sat in front of the guards, holding up the teddy bear. Both of the guards swooned at the baby. Tempest reaches into her front pocket and pulled out a smoke bomb. She ran towards the guards and threw the smoke bomb into the air. She jumped up and kicked it, which landed in front of the guards.

“What the...” The guard started, only for the smoke bomb to explode. Both of the guards let out loud yells of surprise. Tempest picked up Spike and slipped pass the guards, going into the door behind them. Tempest quickly slammed the door shut before the smoke cleared up. She took in a few deep breaths and looked at Spike.

“Don’t do that again.” Tempest scolded. She looked around. The ceilings were high and it was cold. She placed Spike on her back and started to look around.

“Where would the library be?” Tempest asked walking around. She stopped walking for a moment and looked around. It seemed that everything around her was only wall. Did Storm King mix up reality for a fairytale again? There was a soft clicking sound, making Tempest turn around. Spike had somehow gotten off of her back without her noticed. He pressed a button the floor and the walls rumbled. In a split second, the walls quickly separated, making a cloud of dust pour out. Inside the wall, there was a very dusty old library with a few books.

“You found it!” Tempest exclaimed in surprise. She picked Spike up and carried him inside the library. She looked around and quickly found the book. There were only two other books in the library, which was surprising because it was so large. Tempest looked at the other books.

“I think Storm King could find some use for this one too.” Tempest said as she grabbed a book that read ’Dark Magic Amulets.’ She looked at Spike and smiled.

“If you keep up this work, you’ll be perfectly fine.”