//------------------------------//
// Old Home 
// Story: The Storm Dragon Returns 
// by ShowShine 
//------------------------------//

Spike walked down the hallways of the School of Friendship with a smile on his face and a bag on his back. It was early in the morning and classes wouldn’t start for another thirty minutes. The halls were almost completely empty. It was quiet. Spike liked that. He approached two large doors and knocked on one of them.

“Come in!” Twilights voice said from inside. Spike opened the door to see Twilight sitting at her desk. She smiled when she saw him.

“Spike, I’m glad you made it.” Twilight greeted happily. Spike smiled and walked closer to Twilights desk.

“I love to help out around here. I can’t wait to help out on today’s field trip!” Spike exclaimed. 

“That’s great, we need as much help as we can get. I’m too busy to attend the field trip and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have to teach classes.” Twilight responded. A thought occurred to Spike. He had never asked where the field trip was going to be. 

“I forgot to ask, where’s the field trip going to be?” Spike asked. Twilight slid a pamphlet across her desk.

“It’s gonna be at the Storm King Museum. It’s in one of his old airships and has it letters and documents from when he was alive!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly. Spikes stomach dropped. He didn’t want anything to do with Storm King anymore. He gave a large fake smile and a thumbs up.

“That sounds like fun! It was a great idea for you to choose the museum. Isn’t it a little far though? It’s in Manehattan.” Spike asked with a forced smile. Twilight smiled.

“It may seem far but we can afford some train ticked for the day. Besides, I didn’t choose the trip, Cozy Glow suggested it. She thought it would interesting to learn about the past life of a villain.” She explained. 

That was very odd. Ponies weren’t usually into learning about the past if villains unless they were trying to reform them. The office door creaked open, making Spike turn around. A light pink pegasus with a blue light mane and a white hair bow. Her cutie mark was a brown chess piece. She looked like she was Spikes age.

“Oh, sorry headmare Twilight, I didn’t know you were in a meeting. I’ll come back later.” She apologized, backing out of the room. Twilight stood up from her seat and waved her hoof.

“No it’s fine, come on in.” Twilight reassured. The filly beamed and walked in the room, leaving up her wing. A rolled up piece of paper dropped under it and she unraveled it. It was map with a red line 

“I found the best route we can go on. It’s scenic and educational. It’ll teach us different friendship lessons.” She said. She turned to Spike and her ears flattened.

“Where are my manners? My name is Cozy Glow, it’s nice to meet you.” She said, sticking her hoof out so he could shake it. Something was off about her. Her smile was too wide as if was forced. Spike reluctantly shook her hoof.

“Hi I’m Spike.” He greeted. Cozy Glows smile got wider. Spikes scales flattened. Her eyes were sinister. It was going to be a long day.



Spike walked behind Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. A large group of students were behind him, looking around the museum. It was just as Spike remembered it. Dark, gloomy, and left a bad feeling in his stomach. Applejack stopped walking and pointed to a staff that incased in glass.

“This is the staff that Storm King used to take over Equestria.” Applejack explained, making the students ooh and aah. Spike felt sick. Being in his old home made him feel terrible. Everywhere he looked was a memory of his past. Spike needed to leave. 

“In the next room, we’ll be exercising generosity.” Rarity said, leading the group into a separate room. Spike took a few steps back, letting the group pass him. Once the group was out of sight, he turned around and walked away. He couldn’t actually leave the museum, he had to leave with the class. They had taken the train to the museum so he had no way to get back home without the class.

“I need a break from this.” Spike whispered to himself. He turned around, only to come face to face with a life sized statue of Storm King. His arms were up in the air as if he were going to pounce. His face was making an ugly snarl. That statue was definitely there just to scare It looked like just like him. All the details were uncanny. Especially the fangs and sharp claws.

Spike nervously swallowed and took a step back, almost trembling with fear. He shook his head and stood up straight. He had no reason to be scared. It was just a statue, the real Storm King was dead. An idea popped in his head. He knew where he could stay until the trip was over.

“I wonder if they found the secret room?” Spike asked himself. He walked past the statue and looked around. He took a left and walked down the hallway to see plenty of Storm King related relics. Who thought it was a good idea to make a museum dedicated for one villain? A crazy person had to make a place like that.

Spike stopped walking and turned to face a blank wall. He walked to the wall and pressed his hands on it. The wall opened like a door, making dust pour out. Spike quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching him. When he saw that no one was there, he walked in, shutting the door behind him.

“Where’s the light?” Spike asked himself, straining his eyes to see. He reached and pulled on a string, making the room light up. The room was old and dusty. The room was empty except for a small cardboard box pressed up against the wall. Before a Tempest got her own airship, she, Spike, and Grubber lived in the same airship as Storm King.

Whenever Storm King would get too violent, Spike would hide in the secret room. It seemed like it was built without Storm Kings knowledge. Spike hasn’t been in that room for years. Once Tempest turned thirteen, she got her own airship so Spike never went in the room again.

“What did I leave in this box?” Spike asked himself.  He didn’t remember leaving a box behind. He was only three when he left so maybe that was just a memory he forgotten. He sat down on the floor, opened the box. To his surprise, there was only a black leather journal. He opened it to see very neat handwriting. The first page was dated two years before Spike was hatched.

“I’m so close to taking over Equestria I can almost taste it!” The journal read out. Spike let out a gasp and shut the journal. That was Storm Kings handwriting. Spike stared at the book in his hands, still in shock. In that journal was personally diary entries written by Storm King. It contained all of his plans.

“I’m not letting this get into the wrong hands.” Spike said to himself, standing up. He should meet up with the class before the trip was over. Besides, that room was giving him bad memories. Spike pushed open the door and walked out, holding the book close to his chest. He looked up to see Cozy Glow rounding a corner. When she looked up at Spike, her face flashed in panic before going to a cheerful grin.

“What are you doing here? Why are you away from the group?” Spike asked her. Cozy Glows ears flattened and she walked over to Spike.

“I accidentally wandered off. I was distracted by all of the amazing historical facts. It was just so scary being all by myself.” Cozy said in a soft tone. She looked at the book that was in Spikes arms. She reached her hoof out and touched it. “What’s that?” She asked.

“It’s Storm Kings old journal, I found it.” Spike explained. Cozy Glows face lit up.

“Woah, that must have so many historical facts in it. I just looove history!” She exclaimed with a grin. Spike gave her an uneasy look and glanced down at the book in his arms. Even though he didn’t really trust her, he would feel bad if he didn’t let her read some of it.

“Do you want to read it?” Spike asked. Cozy Glow grinned even wider and eagerly nodded her head. Spike looked around, making sure no one was around them. He leaned in closer to Cozy Glow and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“I don’t want anyone to know I have this. How about you come to my house tomorrow after school and we can read it.” Spike suggested. Cozy Glow pondered to herself for a few moments and nodded her head.

“That sounds great. I’ll come over as soon as school is out. And I promise I won’t tell anyone what you have.” She said in a whisper. Spike let out a relieved sigh.

“Good, now lets go find the class.” Spike said, walking off. Cozy Glow followed close behind with a sinister grin.a a