//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven:Lost In Translation 
// Story: What It Means To Be A Dragon 
// by FluttershyLover55 
//------------------------------//

What It Means To Be A Dragon
Chapter 7-Lost In Translation

A gentle knock, so quiet that Twilight almost didn't hear it, interrupted her studying. As the unicorn got closer to the door, she heard something that sounded like soft crying. On the other side was a yellow pegasus, bawling her eyes out.

"Oh my gosh! Fluttershy, what's wrong?" Twilight helped her shy friend over to the couch, where they sat down together. "Did something happen to one of your animals?" Twilight guessed, trying to figure out what had upset her so badly. The mare muttered something, but it was not loud enough for Twilight to hear.

Fluttershy calmed down, now just sniffling, and repeated it. "It's Spike."

"Uh-oh, this can't be good." Twilight thought. "Fluttershy, do you think you could start from the beginning?"

Fluttershy nodded, and began recounting her talk with Spike. When Fluttershy finished, Twilight noticed something in her hoof. "Um, Fluttershy, what are you holding?" She pointed to the object.

"Oh, this? It's just my communicator."

Twilight thought of an idea, a light bulb turning on in her head. "Fluttershy, can I see it for a second? I want to try something."

"Um, okay."

Twilight levitated the earpiece in front of her, studying it for a second, and the aura surrounding it flickered briefly, before returning to its original magenta.

"What did that do, Twilight? Um, if you don't mind explaining."

"No, it's not a problem, Fluttershy. I just cast a spell that affects machines such as this, to allow us to hear the last conversation that was spoken through it." A click was heard, before the words of Spike and Fluttershy echoed in the room.

"Um, Twilight, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't see the point of this. I don't understand, how this lets us know what happened to Spike." Fluttershy stated, a little confused.

"Hold on a sec…it's right here!"

The unicorn rewound the recording to the spot where Spike screamed, and if one listened closely, a rumbling noise could just barely be heard. Fluttershy picked it up this time, but she was no better off, since she knew what REALLY happened.

"But, this means that Spike must have fallen off of something." Fluttershy said, finally coming to the same conclusion as Twilight.

"Exactly. I just hope, that he's okay." Twilight was worried about the dragon's safety, especially since he was alone. He could have just been killed, and nopony would even know about it.

"I wonder how far he made it?" Fluttershy wondered.

"That's it! Say that again, Fluttershy."

"Um, I wonder how far he made it?"

"I can track him, using a location spell! All I have to do is scan this communicator, and then broadcast the signal. It will find similar signals, and bounce the information back at me!" She couldn't believe that she hadn't already thought of this, when the solution was so simple. "Wow! He actually, made it pretty far, already. According to this, he's somewhere in Appaloosa. He's fine, just unconscious."

Fluttershy brightened up noticeably at this, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I feel a little better, now."

"Hey, Fluttershy? Do you think we could have a sleepover? It IS late, after all."

Fluttershy smiled, "Sure, Twilight, I'd love to!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Spike was trying to figure out what had happened, and how he had gotten here. This room didn't look familiar, and he couldn't take his eyes off of the apple-themed wallpaper covering the walls.

"I wonder if I got captured? Who else would know, about my secret mission?" He heard footsteps getting closer, probably in the next room.

Spike closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, fake snoring and all. He heard a soft chuckle, and then, a decidedly masculine voice spoke up.

"I know that you're not asleep, Partner. Nopony I've ever heard snores like that, and you didn't snore like that, even when you were actually asleep."

Something about that voice, sounded very familiar…Spike opened his eyes, to look at the mysterious pony with a southern drawl.

"Howdy, Spike. It's been a while."

"Braeburn?!" Spike shouted, in surprise.

This was the last pony he expected to see, but this meant that they had to be in…Appaloosa.