//------------------------------// // Chapter 1- Spike // Story: Sweet as Honeydew // by Obsi //------------------------------// My eyes opened once again, and still there was only empty darkness in what I knew to be an incredibly vast, empty cavern. It wouldn’t let me sleep. How could I, when my experience had taught me well that being in such an exposed spot was just inviting the innumerable predators of the night to discover your position? Biting my lip, I tried to turn around, planting my face in the cushy surface underneath me, gasping as it dented under my body. Holding completely still, I silently prayed to Frinjìon that the entire mass wouldn’t just give way below me. Thankfully, it held, but it took my hammering heart a few more moments to calm down. “I-I wish you would wake up soon.” I whispered, casting my glance at the mountainous shadow of Twilight’s ‘bed’, a construct built for seemingly no other purpose than to hold her body one of her enormous hoof-lengths away from the ground… for whatever reason. Seriously, what was the point of that? To subject yourself to the feeling of falling to your death in your sleep if this softness crumbled away beneath you? Maybe it was some kind of training for the ponies to steel themselves against fear.  I jumped off, spreading my wings to safely glide to the floor, feeling immense relief at the safety of firm ground. Then I gave the ‘pillow’ a glance, taking a shuddering breath as I observed it, then the markings on my coat. Maybe I wasn’t brave enough for the pony world yet… The ‘bed’ loomed above my position like a collection of broken trees. Biting my lip, I stared up at the dark form of the pony, fidgeting in her sleep. I wanted to be up there with her, to feel her reassuring warm presence, but right now, she was as dangerous as anything else in this world! Panic rose in the back of my head, but I vehemently shook my head, denying it control over my thoughts. I-I was a scout. If this world was new, then it fell to me to explore it's dangers. And since there was no way I could rest on these soft… things, I might as well start now. As unnerving as this vast cavern was, it at least seemed to be empty apart from me and Twilight. I was atop some sort of angular wooden platform far above the ground, giving me a good, perched position to observe my surroundings from… not that it revealed much in the darkness, even less of it that I understood. There was a strange crevice in the wall, allowing starlight to shine into the cavern. Yet, floating inside that hole were strange markings, following a pattern of tilted, angular shapes. Rock formations that Twilight had called ‘crystals’ were gathered on the walls, in-between which stood boxes taller than she was. Somehow, she seemed to be able to store something inside of them, but where did she find such oddly-shaped hollow trees, and how in the gods names did she make them grow on rock? Spirit powers, I thought to myself. Her might truly is incomprehensible to one like me… Shaking my head, I jumped off my platform, gliding down toward the gigantic gate separating this cavern from the others. Framed by wood grown around more of these strange, floating squares, it seemed entirely unsuitable to keep anyone out. After all, a pony could just walk in-between the frame, and for me- well, there was a gap large enough that when I got on my stomach, I could just crawl under it. For a moment, I thought I had entered the outside world, so vast was this space! Then I looked up, and realized my eyes still hit a ceiling. Swallowing dryly, I began to trot through this absolutely massive tunnel, and then there were more gates at the sides, which I now knew were each leading to another cavern… it wasn’t the first time the sheer dimensions in this world stole my breath, but realizing that my entire clan could live in here without one breezie meeting another for days? Taking a deep breath to calm my fluttering heart, I made sure to remember the way I’d taken. I did not want to get lost in this place! Next, my exploration took me down a vast hillside, but none like I’d ever seen before. Instead of rolling down like an actual hill, this one went a bit straight, then went into a nasty t drop, before resuming straight again before leading to yet another drop. Again and again, dozens, if not hundreds of  times. It made me so glad I was born with wings, else I could have broken my neck in that climb. Eventually in my exploration, which seemed to have only brought up questions and no answers, I suddenly heard a rustle. I gasped, then slapped a hoof over my mouth as I ran back to a scruffy, firm, fur-thing on the ground, trying to lift it up so I could hide below. But no way, I couldn't even make it budge! Meanwhile, I felt the ground tremor as something heavy came closer. “Hello?” A deep, guttural voice asked, causing my heart to leap. My first instinct was to run, but something tickled the back of my mind, the sound of the creature was familiar- right, the only word Twilight had taught me about the ponish tongue so far, a greeting! This must mean the whatever that was… was friendly? “G-gentle winds to you.” I responded, biting my lip as I reluctantly lit my feelers. And the light grew over claws, belonging to purple-scaled limbs, reaching up to a mighty form, ending in a head adorned with green spikes and a maw filled with sharp teeth. My heart skipped a beat as I realized I had just revealed myself to a predator! Screaming, I turned to run, hearing the thing’s strange words behind me as I sought to hide in the fur-thing’s strands. They were like moss, but much more resistant, slowing me down! Then, the monster roared, and it’s voice caught my like a shockwave, slicing through my ears like a bee’s stinger. I immediately collapsed, holding my ringing ears, tears of pain and despair spilling from my eyes. I never should have come here, It was too much, the monsters too powerful- Then, from the corner of my eye, I witnessed a flash of light. Turning my head, I saw Twilight, her majestic, mighty figure completely overshadowing the monster! Then she… my expression turned from joy to confusion as she didn’t attack! Instead, her mouth moved like she was speaking to it, and then the purple thing pointed a claw right at my position. Next, I felt the gentle glow of Twilight’s magic surrounding me, plucking me from the not-moss-ground, floating me closer to the predator! It cocked its head, as if it was considering how  tasty I’d be, before turning to Twilight, asking… something. Then, she began to speak, and it took me a moment to realize that she was translating his words. “So, you are the breezie Twilight met?” My throat too dry to speak, I merely nodded my head. Suddenly, the predators claw surged toward me and I let out a panicked cry- before it stopped just before me. “I’m Spike.” Twilight translated again. “A pleasure to meet you.” After a moment of pause, she added more quietly: “take his claw and shake it a little.” With my heart still thundering, I reached both of my hooves out, laying them around the tip of his claw, noting how much less sharp they were compared to how they appeared. That was how I met Spike the dragon.