//------------------------------//
// Gauntlet of Fire 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S6 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

It was another peaceful, yet unordinary day in Ponyville. The town was abuzz about what had taken place earlier that day, as Princess Celestia and Luna had arrived by chariot and landed in front of the Castle of Friendship. Everypony was wondering why they were here, many believing they were in for another Tirek situation.

But that was far from the truth, as they were just here for a visit. Currently Flash, Twilight, Springer, Heart, Soul and the princesses were in the dining room, enjoying lunch. As they ate, Luna found herself more focused on the eggs Springer had brought in. "Hmm..." she went on while putting her ear on the blue egg, "I'm hearing a heartbeat. That's a good sign."

Springer sighed and shook his head, "I just wish I knew when they're gonna hatch." He placed a paw on the other one, "I can sense a spirit within them...a small yet vibrant flicker of aura." He gave Luna a long frown, "So why won't they come out?"

Luna put her hoof on the jakhowl's shoulder, "Do not worry so much young Springer. Every jakhowl is different. Some take only a few weeks in the egg, some take many months. All we can do is wait and pray."

"They have been in there for over two thousand years," Flash added, "I mean, if they've been in that long, maybe they don't want to come out. You know how you are sometimes when you don't wanna get out of bed."

The others raised an eyebrow at this, curious at the explanation before Luna turned back to Springer, "Either way, I hope you are prepared for when they eventually hatch. You'll have a lot to teach them."

"I know," Springer replied, nodding, "But it shouldn't be too hard, right?" He glanced over at Flash, "I wasn't much of a problem when I first showed up."

"True."

Luna shook her head at this, "Well, a tradition for the jakhowl was that the first thing they learn is the Aura Blast. You should start preparing on how you're gonna teach that."

"Wait...I have to teach them that?" Springer asked back, "Won't they automatically know it? I mean, I did. I just hatched and I knew how to make one."

Luna tilted her head at this, "No...it's usually something taught. Though some jakhowl were able to get it first try."

"Huh." Springer crossed his paws at this, "I hadn't thought of that. I just thought it all naturally. I mean, most of my abilities have been like that."

"You're not an ordinary jakhowl, Springer." Luna chimed in, "You are both the son of Sharp Paw, and your egg was both bathed in my magic and sealed with the Tree of Harmony. That is no basic origin for a jakhowl."

"I guess..."

It was here that Flash remembered something, making him speak up, "Say...is it even gonna be possible for these two to learn any aura attacks?" The others turned to him as he continued, "Remember? Those eggs are thousand years before you, and Faust said the jakhowl of those days weren't able to do anything more than communicate with their aura. They didn't learn to weaponize it for a few generations after the city vanished."

"That's true," Twilight added as she remembered seeing that in the movie. "They may simply not have the evolved the capability to do that." She turned to Springer, "You might find it impossible to teach them anything."

Springer grimaced at this, staring at the eggs. Seeing this, Celestia turned to Twilight and said, "You shouldn't make things sound so hopeless. I'm sure we'll figure something out if that's the case."

Twilight and Flash shared a glance before looking back at the princess, both saying in unison, "Sorry."

"Its fine. There are times where being more realistic is necessary, but not always." Celestia replied before turning to the youngest ponies, "Let's change subjects. So, how are you two settling into living in Ponyville?"

"It's great," Soul responded while shining a huge smile. "Everypony here is really nice, and we've made a lot of new friends!"

"And it's never boring!" Heart added. "There's always something happening around here! Like the pukwidge invasion, the seventh and eighth 'Renegade Farm Equipment Incident', and then there was one day where Pinkie tried to-mmph!"

Flash's hoof was now shoved into his student's mouth, "We don't talk about that, okay?"

"Right...sorry." Heart replied as Flash removed his hoof.

The two princesses raised eyebrows at this, only for Twilight to speak up, "But not everyday is super exciting. A lot of the time, it's calm and peaceful, which is why I'm so glad you two could come!"

"Of course," Luna responded, "We so rarely get a chance to relax and just visit."

Celestia nodded in agreement, "There's usually some crisis we have to deal with. Somepony always needs our help, but today-"

"HEEEEEEELP!" The group froze when they heard Rarity's scream, making them turn toward to door as it flew open. An absolutely filthy Rarity ran inside, carrying a glowing Spike in her magic. "Twilight! There's something wrong with Spike!" She floated him over to the table and plopped him down, everypony gasping at the sight.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked as she saw Spike scratching at his glowing scales.

"I don't know!" Spike yelped as he sat up, "All of a sudden my scales just started glowing and..." He began furiously scratching himself again, "Burning! Make it stop!"

"Did you fall in poison joke?" Flash asked, Spike shaking his head as Luna and Celestia shared a glance before nodding.

"Little is known about dragon culture," the princess of the moon replied, "But this is a phenomenon we've seen before. It is the call of the Dragon Lord."

Celestia nodded in agreement, "Dragons glow whenever the Dragon Lord has need of them in the Dragon Lands."

"Great..." Spike continued to cry, "H-h-how do I make it stop?!"

"The only way to end the summons is to answer it." Luna pointed at Spike, "You must journey to the Dragon Lands and see what is expected of you."

This statement made almost everypony in the room gulp, all but Heart and Soul knowing what happened last time they journeyed there.

"B-b-but the Dragon Lands are full of...dragons!" Rarity shivered, "And they're ghastly creat-" she stopped and turned back to a certain drake, "Oh, um, not you of course, Spike." She then grimaced, "But remember that rotten Garble?"

Spike couldn't help but gulp. "How could I forget? He would have burnt us to a crisp if you weren't there."

"Not to mention he tried to throw me into lava," Springer added, "Though that was also Shade's fault..."

"Doesn't sound like the nicest of ponies," Heart chimed in.

"He's a dragon." Flash replied. "Though uh...I'll explain the Shade thing later."

Spike let out a whimper at this before turning to Twilight, "But...if I have to go to the Dragon Lands..." He twiddled his claws at this, "I...don't wanna go alone. Could you all come with me?"

Twilight's eyes turned into stars, "Oh my goodness, I'd love to! We are sadly lacking any information on dragon culture and customs." She shut her eyes as she thought about all the stuff she would soon be learning. "I could research them, maybe even write an article! This could be my chance to make a great contribution to the knowledge of Equestria!" She paused, expecting round of excitement from everypony….only to open her eyes and see nothing but 'are you serious' looks. "And...be there for Spike of course."

"It is good to be happy over learning knowledge Twilight, but you will need to be very careful." Celestia told them. "The Dragon Lands are particularly dangerous for ponies. It would be wise to be discreet."

"Maybe you shouldn't all go," Springer suggested. "The more of you there are, the more chance one of you could end up getting found."

"He's right," Luna added, "But which of you will stay, and which of you will go?"

"Well, I'm definitely going," Twilight instantly replied.

"I wish to come too," Rarity firmly stated. If they could all read minds, they all would have heard her think that this would be a perfect chance to make things up to Spike.

"Sorry, but I'm staying behind," Flash chimed in while waving his hoof, "Iron would probably throw a fit if I left Ponyville again for who knows how long."

Twilight nodded and turned back to Spike. "Then it looks like it's the three of us."

"Four," Heart added.

"Five," Soul corrected while the others turned to them with wide eyes. "What? We wanna come too."

"Yeah!" Heart nodded, "I'd love to see what a real dragon is like."

"Hey!" Spike barked.

"You two aren't coming," Twilight instantly told them. "It's far too dangerous."

"Awww," the twins cried, "But we wanna help Spike! We're small, so it wouldn't be hard to hide."

"Plus, I'm fireproof. Even if a dragon did spot us, I wouldn't be in any trouble. And I could fight against them myself." Heart added while puffing his chest, Twilight rolling her eyes as the two came together and gave her the saddest puppy-dog face they could create. "Pleeease?"

"Ahhhhh," Twilight grimaced, trying to resist, only to sigh, "Fine! You can come. Just stop that already." The twins cheered, high-hoofing as the others rolled their eyes. "But you stay close, and if things look like they're gonna get dangerous, I'm teleporting you both back here. Understand?"

They nodded back, both grinning in excitement. At the same time, Rarity turned to Twilight, "I'm sure I still have the dragon costume we used the last time we snuck into the Dragon Lands! The four for us should be able to fit inside it no problem."

She let out a giggle next, only to see Twilight staring at her, "No offense Rarity, but I think we might want something a little more practical this time."





After a day of preparations, and Spike taking an oatmeal bath to try and stop the itching, the ponies had everything they needed to hide in plain sight. Saying goodbye to their friends and family, which consisted of Rainbow complaining she didn't get to go while Heart and Soul did, the five teleported to the outskirts of the Dragon Lands. Once there, they found a bunch of other dragons flying in the same direction, each glowing as they began to gather at a single location. That location was a bunch of rock positioned in a circular stadium-like fashion, with a giant stack in the middle shaped like a throne. Many dragons were perched around this area, each properly spaced out so as to not be near another.

"Hmmm..." Spike hummed before being pulled from his thoughts as he looked down at the rock he was sitting on. The boulder wasn't actually real, but instead a cardboard box with four eye-holes, allowing the mares inside to see out of it.

"Well, this may be practical, but this disguise isn't flattering in the slightest!" Rarity hissed.

"It's not supposed to be flattering!" Twilight told Rarity in a hushed tone. "It's supposed to blend in!"

"At least you two have a big enough rock," Heart's voice came out of the rock next to theirs, a slightly smaller one with four more eye-holes. "Soul, your wing is poking into my sides."

"Ow!" Soul then cried, "That's my tail!"

"Hey!" Twilight barked, "Don't make me come in there. I'll send you back right now." The two went quiet at this. "That's better. Now, let's-" she didn't get to finish as Spike saw something that made him shush them all.

The reason was a certain group of dragons walking up, Garble leading the pack as he laughed, "Hey-hey, look! It's our old friend, Sparkle-warkle."

"It's Spike," the little dragon growled.

"Are you sure your pony friends didn't give you a pony name?" Garble cackled, his friends laughing while Spike simply rolled his eyes.

"It's nice to see you too, Garble."

"I didn't say it was nice to see you!" Garble hissed, "Cuz it's not." Before Spike could react, Garble slapped him off Twilight and Rarity's rock costume before jumping onto it. "I don't like you. Was I not clear about that?" Spike sat up and looked down at the fake rock, seeing through the eye-holes two pained looks on the ponies eyes.

"Hey! That's my rock!"

"Oh really? Then why aren't you sitting on it?" The other dragons laughed as Garble pointed at the rock Heart and Soul were hiding in. "A puny dragon should only sit on puny rocks. Like that one." One of his friends moved behind it as he continued, "So why don't you sit on it, away from me!" With that, the other dragon slammed its tail into the rock, sending it flying.

Heart and Soul did their best not to make a sound while Spike, Twilight and Rarity watched in horror as it bounced down the stone steps. They soon came to a stop when they accidentally crashed into a dragon, almost knocking him over. "WHOA!" He yelped, falling over at the blow.

Heart and Soul looked through the holes at the dragon they had hit, now seeing it was one as tall as Garble, though not as muscly. He was mainly grey with white running down his chest, along with spines and a tail spike that was navy blue. A pair of brown ram-like horns were coming out of his head, and the insides of his wings were also navy blue. The dragon growled as he got up, glaring at the rock before glancing up at the ones responsible.

Spike gulped as the dragon picked up the rock and flew up, Twilight preparing to teleport the kids if things got bad. But as he landed and dropped the rock, Heart and Soul barely managing to muffle a groan, he crossed his arms. "Do you mind?!"

"Actually, I do mind!" Garble instantly barked back, "What are you even doing here, Flicker? Shouldn't you be off digging up some old rock or something?"

"The dragon lord summoned me, just the same way he summoned you." He then glanced at the rock he was sitting on, raising his eyebrow again. "It was either come here or be a walking nightlight for the rest of my life."

"Whatever. Why don't you and this twerp get lost?! Maybe you can talk about useless boring stuff like friendship and old rocks."

Flicker and Spike glanced at each another, Flicker smirking while Spike just raised an eyebrow. But before they could say anything, the area was suddenly shrouded by something that blocked out the sun. They all turned toward the source, Spike and the ponies gasping at the sight.

"Now that's a dragon," Heart whispered as he stared at the largest dragon any of them had ever seen. He was a combo of orange and dark blue, wearing dark armor and had a ring around his horn. Spike stared at him while also glancing to his side and seeing Garble and his friends now shaking in fright. Flicker was the same, only for Spike to notice another dragon that was flying beside him, this one being light blue and about the same size as Garble. And it also appeared to be...female.

The giant dragon landed on a rock in the center of the rock circle, settling down before taking a deep breath, "Dragons of Equestria, hear me! I have been Dragon Lord for longer than many of you can remember, and my reign has been extraordinary!" A long pause happened after this, silence taking over as the dragon growled, "AGREE WITH ME!"

The dragons quickly began to yell and cheer, eventually chanting the same thing, "Torch! Torch! Torch! Torch!" The dragon named Torch raised his claw and they stopped.

"Who is that?" Spike asked, Garble rolling his eyes.

"It's Dragon Lord Torch, dummy."

Spike shook his head, "No, next to him."

"That's his daughter, Princess Ember. I wouldn't even look at her if I were you, unless you want Torch to eat you!"

Spike gulped at this, only for Flicker to roll his eyes, "He wouldn't eat you. At most, he'd tell you to never look at her again, and if you did, then he'd likely banish you someplace you wouldn't want to be. You know, somewhere without any gems to snack on or any lava to swim in."

"This is fascinating!" Twilight whispered, "Dragons are notoriously reckless, but they do whatever the Dragon Lord says!"

"Huh." Garble chuckled, "A place with no gems and lava would probably sound perfect for this loser. He's spent his whole life living around ponies."

This caught Flicker's attention, making him look down at Spike before his eyes blinked at the 'rocks'. "Is that so?"

"Unfortunately," their attention was pulled back to Torch, "According to dragon law, it is time for me to step down. Sad, I know." The dragons were quiet again before the dragon yelled, "BE SAD!" The dragons began crying and blubbering before Torch raised his claw again. "Now, this is why I have summoned you! To compete for the throne...in the GAUNTLET OF FIRE!"

"Of course," Flicker sighed while the others cheered, now seeing Torch hold up a strange looking staff made of rock that had a red crystal on the end.

"Whomever has the strength and fortitude to retrieve this bloodstone scepter from the heart of the flame-cano will be crowned LORD OF THE DRAGONS!" With that, he turned away before flicking the staff into the air.

Every...dragon, watched as it soared through the sky, over an area of ocean, then toward an island with a strangely shaped mountain on it. The staff fell into the opening of the mountain, which spewed out a stream of fire along with a red wave of energy. When that energy flew over them, the dragons were all reverted back to normal. Spike sighed in relief, his scales no longer burning.

"What just happened?" Heart asked.

"When the scepter disappeared, the dragons stopped glowing!" Twilight added before pulling out a book and a quill. "We are learning so much!"

She started writing, the feather of her quill beginning to tickle Rarity's nose. The unicorn tried to fight against it, but it was useless, quickly making a very weak sneeze. The sound was loud enough for the dragon to hear, all but Spike looking around as the little dragon panicked. "Uh..." he rubbed his nose, "Excuse me!"

"Ugh," Garble leapt off the rock, "You even sneeze like a pony!"

He and his friends began to walk off after that, Flicker staying as he kept his gaze on the little dragon. While this happened, Torch spoke up again, "The Gauntlet is dangerous, for I designed it myself! Only dragons with my ferocity, strength, and determination will be able to finish. We will gather at the cliff when the sun is at its peak!"

The dragons cheered while Spike slid up to Twilight and Rarity, whispering so as to not be heard.

"I don't want to be Dragon Lord or dragon toast, and I stopped glowing, so let's sneak out of here!" He grabbed Heart and Soul's rock, Twilight using her magic to make them levitate before he put it on top of the larger one.

The drake began to push both away, getting about ten feet before Torch called out, "Where do you think you're going, little dragon?!" Spike stopped as the other dragon leapt away from him, giving Torch a clear view of him. Spike spun around, looking up at Torch as sweat began pouring down his face.

"Oh, uh, hi, your Lordship. Uh, I was just going home!" Spike squeaked out, only for Torch to fly up and lean down, lowering himself to eye-level with the baby dragon. The sight made Spike wanna curl up into his stomach, now seeing that some of Torch's teeth were bigger than him.

"You don't get to leave unless I say you can!" Torch roared, Spike's body shaking from the sound of his voice. As this happened, Flicker and Ember flew down beside Torch.

"Dad, stop it." Ember chimed in as she ruffled his head spikes, "Look at him, he's just a runt."

"I wouldn't say he's a runt," Flicker corrected. "He's just young. Look," he picked Spike up and turned him around to show Torch his back. "He hasn't even molted yet." He stared at Spike. "What are you, ten?"

"Eleven," Spike corrected while crossing his arms, "Almost twelve."

"Exactly," Flicker dropped him, "He's only in his Tiny Tooth stage of life. Maybe you should have only summoned the dragons that are Short Wings or older."

Ember nodded in agreement, "Besides, he doesn't even wanna compete. Let him go."

Torch smirked while pulling his head back. "He is rather tiny, heh-heh. I could squish him with my pinky claw." He let out a chuckle, Spike nervously doing the same before Torch growled at him. "That wasn't a joke, it was a fact! When I want you to laugh, I will say BE AMUSED!"

"Of course, your Lordship!" Spike exclaimed, "I, uh, guess I don't understand dragon customs. Another reason why I shouldn't compete."

Torch sighed, "Very well then, little dragon. I release you."

"Thank you!" Spike nodded before turning to Ember, "And thank you." He winked while Ember rolled her eyes before flying off, Flicker turning to him.

"Why don't I give you a claw moving these?" Flicker asked as he began to push the rocks.

"Oh no, I got it."

Flicker shook his head, "Nah, I could use a workout. Besides," he then whispered, "Ponies can be quite heavy." This made Spike go wide-eyed, the ponies doing the same as Flicker began to push them away. Spike caught up and did the same, getting the fake boulders away as they then heard Torch yell something at Ember.

"I SAID NO!" They turned to see the princess getting thrown back by the force of her father's yell.

When Ember came to a stop, she growled, "I hate when he does that!" With that, she flew off.

And when she was gone, Spike turned to Flicker, "Why are you helping us?"

"Why did you think it was a good idea to bring ponies here?" Flicker replied, "You're lucky I'm the only one that noticed these disguises aren't actually rocks."

"How did you figure that out?" Twilight quietly asked next.

Flicker gave the rock a glare, "That part is simple. You see...I'm not an idiot." The ponies growled at this, "Seriously, these things have giant eye-holes. How many rocks usually have those? It's a miracle you haven't been found out."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Spike chimed in, "Why are you helping us?"

"Again, I'm not an idiot. If you all got found out and burnt alive and that got back to Equestria, what's to stop those all powerful alicorns from showing up slamming the sun and the moon down on us?" The ponies shared glances at the thought of Celestia and Luna doing that. "Besides, why should I help Garble? You saw that the two of us don't get along at all."

"I noticed. But uh...why don't you?"

"I guess he's just jealous," Flicker chuckled, "Unlike him, I'm not scared to be myself around others." Spike raised an eyebrow, "I'll be kind to him and keep what I mean a secret. Let's just say there's another layer to Garble that he keeps hidden. As for me, I guess you would call me an archaeologist. I've always been fascinated by dragonic past. You can probably guess we dragons aren't big on reading and writing, so much of our history gets forgotten. Heck, no-dragon even knows who the dragon lord was before Torch."

"Fascinating," Twilight whispered inside the rock.

"Ha!" their attention was pulled toward one of Garble's friends. "When I become Dragon Lord, I will make burps an official greeting!"

"Seriously?! You?!" another dragon laughed, "Oh please! When I win, I will pillage Equestria for all their pillows! Why should these ponies be comfortable while we sleep on rocks?"

"That's nothing!" Garble pushed past them, getting their attention, "When I'm in charge, the first thing I'll do is get revenge on those puny ponies!" Spike and his friends' eyes shrunk at this, "They'll regret they ever crossed Garble! We'll take whatever we want from Equestria, and burn the rest!"

The others laughed and cheered at this, all walking away as Spike and his friends just gulped at this. "Oh, my gosh!" Twilight whispered.

"What do we do?" Soul asked.

"Please," Heart laughed, "Those dragons wouldn't stand a chance. Flash could take them down in a millisecond."

"But that still wouldn't be good," Twilight added, "It'll only make the dragons more angry, leading to more problems."

Rarity gulped at this, "Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope that burping dragon wins!"

"None of them can win!" They turned to Spike, "Equestria's in big trouble if any of them are in charge!"

"But what can we do?" Twilight asked before glancing at Flicker. "You could try. I bet you would make a great dragon lord."

"No thanks," Flicker instantly replied, "Being dragon lord sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Sure I'll compete, but only enough to keep lord Torch happy."

The ponies glared at him, only for Spike to speak up, "There's only one thing to do, and only I can do it!" they turned to him, "I have to win the Gauntlet of Fire!"

This statement caused all the ponies to go wide-eyed, the four leaping out of their disguises. "What do you mean you have to win the Gauntlet?!" Rarity yelped.

"It's the only way to protect Equestria from the dragons," Spike responded, "You heard them! They have horrible plans for ponies if they win! So somehow, I have to do it!"

"Hold on there Spike, that's seriously dangerous thoughts you're going for there. There has to be another way," Twilight chimed in, "Besides, if you win...you'd have to stay here!"

Spike grimaced at this, only to sigh, "I know, but there's no other way to keep my friends safe."

This statement caused Flicker to go wide-eyed, surprise on his face as he stated, "You're one odd little dragon."

"And that's why we love him," Soul giggled as she hugged Spike for what might be the very last time.

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Well, if you're staying to compete, then we're staying to cheer you on!" The others nodded as well, only to look up and see the sun was almost peaked. The ponies grabbed their disguises, following him and Flicker toward a cliff where Torch and the other dragons were waiting.

Torch raised an eyebrow when he saw the little dragon join the group, "I thought I released you, tiny one!"

"I decided to compete," Spike replied, "I am a dragon, after all."

"Are you sure?" Garble cackled, "You can't even fly!" The other dragons all laughed, all except Flicker, Torch, and a green dragon that was wearing golden armor.

"Neither could you when you were his age," Flicker added, the laughter now vanishing, "If I remember correctly, you were the oldest tiny tooth for a long time until you molted."

The dragons laughed again, Garble growling at Flicker until Torch spoke up, "All dragons are welcome to compete, but they do so at their own peril! Flying to Flame-cano Island is the first of many challenges you will face in your quest to find the bloodstone scepter!"

With that, he let out a roar and a burst of fire that seemed to signal the start of the challenge. The dragons quickly turned toward the island and took off, Garble turning to Spike and held out a claw. "Good luck!" Spike went to shake it, but Garble pulled away. "Just kidding. I hope you lose." He then slammed Spike with his tail, knocking him off the cliff.

The little dragon screamed as he hit the water, surfacing a moment later and spitting out some water. "Thanks, Garble!" He sarcastically yelled, "I was planning on swimming anyway!"

"You can do it, Spike!" He turned to Rarity's voice, now seeing a load of seaweed floating on the water, Twilight, Rarity, Heart and Soul sticking their heads out and smiling. But as they did this, the water in front of them suddenly exploded as a giant sea-snake like creature flew out and fired a hydro pump attack into the air. This struck the dragon right above it, sending it flying over the horizon.

"That could be a problem," Heart gulped before Flicker flew down.

"Need a claw," he picked the dragon up and began flying toward the island.

"Why are you helping me?" Spike asked.

"I might not want to be dragon lord, but I'd rather you be it then Garble." Spike blinked at him, staring to understand before looking down and spotting bubbles right beneath them. "Turn left!" Flicker quickly did this, avoiding a burst of water.

But as this happened, Garble was almost struck by a blast of water, but he managed to pull back before it hit him. Instead, he slammed into the armored green dragon, knocking him down toward the water.

"He's gonna drown!" Spike gasped before pulling himself out of Flicker's grip, quickly diving into the waves.

"SPIKE!" Twilight screamed as she saw the other dragon about to become fish food. But after a few seconds, bubbles appeared on the surface before it was broken by Spike as he pulled the dragon above the water. He gasped for air before starting to swim toward the island, Flicker flying down and grabbing the armored dragon's shoulder to help. As they did this, Twilight saw the water start to turn green, a trail soon going to the armored dragon, whose wet scales were now turning blue as the green slid off it.

"Paint?" Soul asked.

"Come on! We gotta help them!" Heart yelled, now seeing the other dragons getting further away. Twilight used her magic to teleport them onto the beach of the Flame-cano, now seeing Spike and Flicker dragging the half conscious dragon out of the water, now seeing the dragon turn into a very familiar shade of blue.

"Hey, you okay?" Spike asked as the dragon began to cough, the drake grabbing the dragon's helmet and pulling it off. As he did this, he and Flicker gasped, "Princess Ember?!"

The young dragoness glared at the two as she picked herself up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Only saving your ungrateful scales!" Rarity screeched, only to put a hoof over her own mouth.

"Did that seaweed just talk?" Spike and Flicker's eyes shrunk as Ember moved over to the pile, grabbing the seaweed to reveal the four hidden beneath the pile. "Ponies?!" She staggered back, "What are they doing here?!"

"They're my friends!" Spike replied as he ran up to her.

"Friends?!" Ember raised an eyebrow, "Dragons don't do friends!"

"Well, this dragon does."

"It seems he was raised by ponies," Flicker added. "Not sure how a dragon egg found its way there, but I'm sure weirder things have happened."

"Whatever." Ember growled as she grabbed her helmet, "I don't care as long as none of you get in my way. I have a Gauntlet to win." She turned to leave, but Spike's words made her stop.

"But I thought your dad said that-"

"I don't care what my dad said!" She yelled while turning to glare at him. "I'll show him and every dragon who thinks I'm just a little princess! There are better things than being big and strong!"

It was then they heard a growling noise, looking up to see a large wingless dragon on a ledge of the mountain. It tossed a boulder upward, slamming it into Garble. He screamed as the rock flattened him, trapping him beneath it.

Ember was quick to put on her helmet while Twilight recovered the ponies with the seaweed and Spike tried to hide behind the pile. Garble tried to push the rock off of him, but was unable to move. As such, he looked up and saw Spike, Ember and Flicker. "Don't leave me here, Spike!"

Spike stared at him for a moment, only to sigh as he started to walk up to the dragon. "You're helping him?!" Flicker asked, "All he's done is insult you!"

"Maybe...but if I don't help him, I'll be no better than him."

The statement made Ember and Flicker glance at each other, only to see Spike push the rock off. Once he was free, Garble laughed as he picked himself up. "Knew you'd do it. Your pony friends made you soft." He swept the sand up with his tail and buried Spike, the drake glaring at him from under the pile.

"Uh-huh. You're welcome."

"For what?! I didn't say thank you!" He barked back, only to stop as he began to sniff the air, confusion appearing on his face. "Wow, you even smell like ponies." He turned away and sniffed again, "Or is it coming from over there?" He moved over to the seaweed covered ponies, the four beginning to shake.

However, Ember suddenly grabbed him by the snout and pushed him away. "That's just me. I uh, robbed some ponies on my way over here."

"Huh," Garble replied, "I like your style." He then squinted his eyes at the armor and helmet, the lack of paint now sticking out, "Say...have I met you before? You kind of look like-" He didn't get to finish as Spike leapt infront of her.

"My uh, old neighbor! Um..." He looked around for something to give him a name, "Sandy...Rockbeach!" Another grunt made them look up and see the catapult dragons throwing more rocks down.

"Stupid slingtails knocked me down!" Garble growled before glaring at Spike. "But I've wasted enough time making small talk." He laughed and poked Spike, "Get it? Because you're too small to win this!" He walked off, "I'm funny."

He flew off again, Ember removing her helmet to turn to Spike, "Why did you cover for me? You could've had one less competitor."

"I could ask you the same thing," Spike replied, "You could've told Garble about my friends."

Before Ember could reply, a scream made them turn back to see more dragons getting knocked down by the slingtails, Ember flinching at every hit. "Yikes. That looks rough. But that's what makes it a challenge."

"Are you kidding?! Those boulders are huge!" Spike yelped before turning to Ember, a new idea hopping into his head, "Say, what if we worked together?" Ember raised an eyebrow at this as Spike continued, "You could fly me up there, and I'll help look out for boulders, like a second set of eyes!"

"Pssst!" Rarity's voice hissed through the air, making him turn to the seaweed pile. He poked it in response, only for it to fall apart, "Spike!" Rarity's voice made him look up to now see Twilight and Rarity were now in a tree disguise while Heart and Soul were back in their rock getup.

"Seriously?!" Flicker yelled.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to team up with Ember?" The fashionista asked, "You don't know her too well."

"I do know she could've told Garble about you, but she didn't." He turned back to the princess, "I think we can trust her."

Twilight and her book popped out of the top of the tree. "Her behavior does seem contradictory to everything I've noted about dragons so far."

"Why not just stick with Flicker?" Heart asked next, "He's already willing to help."

"I'd prefer to stay away from those things," Flicker responded while pointing at the slingtails. "Honestly, I'm not the most agile of flyers. Even if Spike wants me to help, I doubt I could dodge them in time."

"Hey!" Ember spoke up, "You uh...little fella!" They turned back to her, "I've thought about it, and your plan makes sense. Let's do it."

"Really?" Spike ran up to her side, "Great!" He held out his claw, "it's a deal!"

Ember stared at him for a moment before grabbing a single finger and shaking it. "Just so you know, this doesn't mean we're gonna pick flowers or exchange necklaces or whatever pony friends do." She turned and walked away, Spike smirking as he followed her.

"Good luck! We'll meet you at the top." Twilight said as Spike leapt onto Ember's back, the two taking to the skies. As they left, Twilight spun around, "Alright, let's get up there."

"Are you gonna teleport us again?" Heart asked, getting a nod from Twilight.

But before she could, Soul spoke up, "Hey, what's that?" She then pulled Heart over to a wall, now finding an opening to a cave. They saw it would go deep inside, so deep there was nothing by darkness.

"Cool!" Heart yelled as his voice echoed into the tunnel.

"Huh," Flicker added as he walked over to them, "That's odd. I've never heard of a cave around here."

But as he said this, a slingtail launched a rock upward. The boulder hit part of the mountain, splitting the rocks apart before hitting the side of the mountain. A shake from the mountain came next, the smashing boulders causing parts of the mountain to crumble before forming a rock slide that began to fall straight for them. Twilight and Rarity gasped at the sight as Flicker looked up. Going wide-eyed, he quickly tackled the two into the cave, the three rolling down it as the rocks hit the entrance, covering the entrance.

"NOOOOO!" Twilight cried, leaping out of the disguise and running over to the rock slide as the final stone fell, "SOUL! HEART!"

"Oh dear," Rarity pulled the tree over to her, "Did Flicker get them inside in time?!"

"I don't know," Twilight replied as she tried to remove the rocks with her magic. But when she pulled one free, the whole thing started the shake until she put it back. "That's not gonna work." She let out a long gulp, "Heart...Soul..."





Flicker and the twins moaned as they opened their eyes, though it would have been just as effective to keep them closed with how dark the place was. "You two okay?" Flicker asked, both letting out a groan.

"I'll live," Heart muttered.

"I'm okay too," Soul replied, "But I can't see. What do we do?"

"Don't some ponies come with built in flashlights?" Flicker asked, making Soul gulp when she realized what he meant.

"That uh...might not be such a good idea," she responded, "If I try that, I might end up bringing more of the mountain down on us."

"Yeah...don't do that."

"I got it," Heart chimed in as his body ignited, Flicker leaning back at the sudden sight of the flaming colt.

"How did...eh, whatever. You ponies are already weird, don't need to know more." Flicker grumbled as he looked away, turning to see that the tunnel curved off a few feet away. Behind them, a large pile of rocks were packed together, all blocking the cave's entrance. The sight made the dragon sigh, "We must have fallen deep beneath the flame-cano. And it looks like the way out is blocked."

"Well then, let's unblock it," Heart added, only for Flicker to grab him.

"Hang on there. These rocks are packed together, and they're stopping the ones behind them from falling. If you remove even one, the whole thing could collapse and we'd be buried. Trust me, I've had problems with that before when digging."

"So what do we do?" Soul asked next, Flicker turning to the other side of the tunnel.

"The only thing we can do. Head down this cave and hope any other exit isn't blocked off." The ponies nodded and began to follow him, only for Soul to accidently kick something. She glanced down, now seeing their disguise on the ground. The fall had ripped it apart, Soul amazed she and Heart weren't actually hurt.

"I hope Spike and the others are doing okay," the alicorn whispered as they kept moving.

"Too bad we didn't bring any paper," Heart sighed. "Then Flicker could send Spike a message." Flicker turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

"How could I send Spike a message?"

"Well...you know," Heart shrugged, "Dragon mail."

"Dragon...mail?"

"Yeah! Spike does it all the time," Heart replied, "He uses his breath to burn something, and the ashes fly to whoever he wants. When they get there, they turn back to the thing he burnt." Flicker's eyebrow kept raising, making Heart ask, "You can't do that?"

"No. Heck, I don't know any dragon who can do that," Flicker responded, "Your friend Spike is a very curious dragon, especially if he can do something like that."

"Huh." Heart said before turning to Soul, the alicorn shrugging. "Guess we'll just have to do this the hard way and find a way out."





Several chambers up, Spike and Ember walked into a large cavern that was filled with lava pools. The two had managed to work together and get past all the traps and obstacles, their teamwork allowing them to get further then any other dragon.

"Oh," The two turned to see a pair of rocks with eye-holes, "you made it!" Rarity sighed in relief. "Oh, we were so worried!"

"About us?" Spike scoffed, "That tunnel was cake!"

That is, till he let out a groan and slumped over while Ember raised an eyebrow. "Wait....how did you two get through?"

"No time to explain," Twilight replied, "Flicker and the twins are in danger." This made Spike quickly get back up, "They fell into some kind of underground tunnel."

"What?! We gotta find them!" But as he yelled that, the cavern around them began to shake. This made Rarity lose her hoofing, her costume staggering back as she did this. Spike gasped as he saw the pony about to fumble towards the edge of a cliff. "RARITY!" He ran up and grabbed the rock costume, seconds before she could fall over the edge. And as he pulled her back, one of the lave pools exploded.

"Oh dear," Rarity gulped before turning to give Spike a smile despite her face masked by the costume, "Thanks, Spike!"

Spike let out a sigh of relief as Rarity and Twilight tried to give him a hug, though all they did was lean up against him. A blush graced his face as felt Rarity try, making him stutter out, "Aw...it was nothing."

"Nothing?!" They turned back to Ember, "You just risked everything to save her! And they're putting themselves in danger just to support you!"

"Well, that's just what friends do." Spike replied while shrugging, "Don't you have anyone who looks out for you?"

"No, not really," Ember looked away. "Unless I count you." She glanced back at him for a second, Spike showing a small smile as she glanced away again, "Which I don't! Because we were only helping each other get through the tunnel, and now we're through the tunnel, so that's it!"

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Ember turned back to poke him in the chest. "Well, there's only one winner, one scepter, and one Dragon Lord. So I guess it's every dragon for themselves."

"Oh..." Spike slouched. "So we...aren't really friends?"

"Maybe if we were in Ponyland," Ember growled as she turned away. "But like I said, dragons don't do friendship." She took a few steps away, only to glance back at him, "I hope you find the others. Most of these caves are all one way, so they should find their way here...eventually." She took off next, Spike sighing as he watched her go.

After a few seconds, he turned back to his friends, "Come on," he headed in the opposite direction. "Let's go find Heart and Soul." Rarity and Twilight heard the hurt in Spike's voice, knowing they wanted to tell him to go after her and try to make things right...but they had bigger issues. The safety of their friends.





Meanwhile...

Flicker and the twins were still making their way through the underground tunnels, going down one path with no splits or alternate routes. Thankfully that meant they weren't technically lost, but they found no daylight in the continuous tunnels.

The dragon hummed as he held his claw up, the twins raising an eyebrow, "I'm not feeling a breeze, so this cavern probably doesn't lead outside." This made the foals gulp as he continued, "But we haven't had any trouble breathing...that means there must be some kind of air source replenishing what we've used up. As long as we don't run into any issues, we should eventually find our way out of here."

"I hope you're right," Heart added as he ran ahead of Flicker to light the way. "Twilight's probably worried sick." He turned to walk backward, "At this rate, she'll never let us go on another adventure like this."

"I think we have bigger issues than going on another adventure," Soul replied while giving him a flat stare, "Like, surviving to the end of this one."

"We'll be fine. It's not like we're in any real-DANGER!" Heart screamed as the ground beneath him suddenly vanished, Flicker and Soul gasping. He quickly spread his wings, stopping his descent before looking down and seeing he was now only a foot or so off the ground. "That was close." He stopped flying and landed, looking back up to see Flicker and his sister staring down at him from a hole in the wall.

Both flew down with Soul asking, "Are you okay?" Heart opened his mouth, only for Soul to not give him time to answer, "You see? This is what happens when you don't pay attention to what's around you."

Heart rolled his eyes while Flicker looked around, seeing they were now in a large cavern filled with holes. From what he could tell from the dim light, every wall had a certain number of holes, with the exception of one. It was the wall furthest from them, this one having some kind of carvings on it. Flicker walked up to it, causing Heart and Soul to follow him to light the wall up. This allowed him to see something attached to the far side of the wall, with was an unlit torch with a string coming off it that connected to a torch above it.

Flicker spat a fireball at the torch, lighting it and causing the string to burn. The flame went up it until it reached the other torch and set that on fire before moving onto the next one. This went on until every torch on the wall was alight, creating an archway with the highest being about fifteen meters off the ground. The light from the flames illuminated the entire wall, allowing them to see it in all its glory.

"Wooooow," was all the three of them could say, Heart changed back to normal as they stared at it.

The wall was covered in carvings that were filled with some kind of paint, allowing them to see the images brilliantly. On the wall was images of different dragons, seven to be precise. Each appeared to be a different shape and color. There was one with no arms, but very large wings. One with no wings that stood on four legs. One that appeared more serpentine then anything and a few more. Six of the dragons were circling one in the middle, this one being a black quadrupedal dragon with large wings and red eyes. The other six dragons were staring at it, Soul's artistic skills allowing her to see a look of anger on their faces.

Every dragon also had some kind of mark on it, some having two, being a series of lines that made up a bizarre, undescriptive shape. Similar shapes lined the walls, though these were much smaller and in groups.

"What is it?" Heart asked.

"Some kind of mural," Flicker replied. "It must be...hundreds of years old."

"I thought you said dragons don't chronicle their history?" Heart responded while Soul squinted at the images.

"Normally..." Flicker said with a nod, "Whatever it's depicting, it must have been considered important enough to make this."

"I think it's some kind of battle." They turned to Soul, the filly staring at every piece of the image, "You can tell from their eyes. These dragons are about to fight the one in the middle."

"You might be right," Flicker flew back to take in the whole image. "But I've never even seen dragons like these before. Whatever they are, the species must have left Equestria a long time ago."

"What do you think those symbols mean?" Heart asked while pointing to the marks lining the wall, Flicker flying up to them.

"These are...ancient draconic."

"Can you read them?"

"I can barely read normal draconic," Flicker replied. "But...some of the images look familiar." He focused on the larger marks, racking his brain as he continued, "I think..." He pointed to the serpentine dragon, "This one means tree." He turned to the one with no arms, staring at the mark. "This one says storm." He looked down at the wingless dragon, "This one means metal." He moved to the dragon at the top of the circle, "This one, I believe is light." He flew down to another dragon, which had two symbols. "Shining...earth?" The last two also had two symbols, the one at the bottom of the circle having the same symbol as the storm one, but the symbol in front of it was a very difficult word. "Err...that's a tough one. Maybe...magic or something like that?" He looked up at the dragon in the center of the image and saw it had the same magic symbol, but the one after that symbol was the ancient dragon word for night.

"I don't get it," Heart instantly responded.

"Me neither," Flicker added, "This warrants further investigation, but for now, let's focus on finding a way out." The two nodded and were about to turn away, but then Soul noticed something in the corner.

"Hey, What's that?" The two followed her hoof, now seeing another image at the bottom of the wall. It was a lot smaller than the others, this one showing a different shape. "Is that...a pony?"

It was a pony. A colorless unicorn with what appeared to be a stone tablet floating next to him. The pony had two symbols on him, the second one Flicker unable to recognize, but the first he had a vague idea of. "Spiraling? Strange...." He looked at the tablet and saw a symbol on it, "Being?"

"Being what?" Heart asked.

"No idea," Flicker shrugged. "That's just the word this symbol means." It was then he saw a bit of paint next to the tablet. It was faded, but it appeared to be a white...river of some kind that was coming off the tablet. He looked along the rest of the wall, seeing the similar designs while the paint had faded away. From what he could tell, it was meant to be one long stream connecting the book to...the central dragon. "Curious." He didn't get to think about it anymore, since the torch lights finally died down, engulfing them back into the darkness.

Heart was about to ignite himself, but before he could, something caught his eye. It was another light, this one coming from a ground level hole, though it was so dim he hadn't noticed it while the other lights had been there. And when he trotted over, they saw the source was at the other end of a long straight tunnel.

"Do you hear that?" He said as they walked over and listened into the tunnel, only to hear a muffled scream.

"Is that Spike?" Soul asked, Heart and Flicker nodding before the three ran down the tunnel.

When they reached the end, they found they were in a large cavern filled with stalagmites and stalactites. There was a large stone bridge above them, running through the center of it with a bunch of crystals piled up on the very end. And on that bridge were Spike and Ember, who appeared to be saying something to each other and smiling.

"We found them!" Heart cheered, only to then see Twilight and Rarity, but no longer in disguise. "What the-" They turned to see the two older ponies getting backed up to the edge of the bridge, Garble slowly walking up to them.

Heart reacted before anypony else, jumping out of the tunnel and taking off as his body ignited. Before anyone could say or do anything, he appeared behind Twilight and Rarity. "FIRE FORCE!" He thrust his hooves forward, unleashing a long stream of fire that hit Garble head-on.

"HEART!" Twilight and Rarity gasped as Soul and Flicker flew up, only to see Garble beat his wings, blowing Heart's flames away.

"Oh...right." Heart muttered, "Dragon." Garble hissed as he was about to charge at Heart, only to suddenly get body slammed into a wall by Ember.

Garble growled at this, only to see Spike running toward the crystal bed. A roar escaped his lips as he managed to overpower Ember, throwing her off him before flying after Spike. But as he got within inches of him, Ember grabbed his tail and pulled him back. Garble yelped in pain at the yank before spinning around and grabbing the princess, pushing her toward the ground.

Spike saw this, going wide-eyed as his gaze began switching between his friends and the crystal bed. His eyes narrowed at this, quickly running up to Garble's back before grabbing his ear and pulling.

"AUGH!" He roared before reaching back and grabbing Spike, instantly throwing him away. Spike hit the ground, rolling over to the edge, barely grabbing the side while Garble and Ember began to wrestle with one another. "I'm sick and tired of you two helping each other! Dragons don't do helping!"

"These dragons do!" Ember yelled back before she jumped over Garble and grabbed his wings. She then threw him with all her might, his body flying into the wall.

Garble groaned as he heard the ponies clapping, only to feel a weight land on top of him, pinning the dragon into the dirt. "Stay down!" Flicker cried before they all heard the chattering of other dragons that were coming up the tunnel. "Hide!" He told the ponies, Heart extinguishing his flames before jumping onto Twilight's back, Soul jumping onto Rarity's before they put their rock costumes back on.

As this was going on, Ember helped Spike up onto the bridge, Spike now seeing the prize across the crystal bed. "Whoa..." he whispered as he reached out and took the staff. Raising it high, he felt a sudden surge of energy before a beam of light exploded out of the crystal. That light flew through the hole in the roof and into the sky, signaling the crowning of a new Dragon Lord.

At this moment, Garble managed to throw Flicker off of him. Flicker fell to Ember's feet and as she got ready to fight another round. And as they were about to throw down, a sudden roar caught their attention.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Garble looked up, gasping as he saw who had said that...and what he was holding.

"What?!" He yelped, "You?! You have the scepter?! But that means that you're..."

"The Dragon Lord," Ember finished before bowing. "Dragon Lord Spike."

"Never a dragon more worthy," Flicker did the same, the rest of the dragons all bowing to their new king while Garble grumbled but did the same.

"Dragon...Lord...Spike..."

"That's right!" Spike said before grimacing, unable to figure out what to say. But as he did this, a certain thought entered his mind as he announced, "Uh...now, go start your long journey home. And give every dragon you see on the way a hug. Don't tell them why."

"Awww!" Garble cried, "But that'll be super embarrassing!"

"I command you to do it!" Spike pointed the staff at him.

"Does that count as an abuse of power?" Heart asked, only to see Garble hug a dragon and look even redder then he usually was. "Never mind. All hail Spike." They turned back to the little dragon as he jumped down, Ember smiling at him.

"Dragon Lord Spike. Hmm...has a nice ring to it." But then, Spike grabbed her claw and did something unexpected. He placed the scepter in her grasp.

"Dragon Lord Ember sounds a lot better." The energy that had been sent into him flew back into the staff, then flowed into Ember's body.

"What?!" She yelped as the power took hold. "No..." she held the scepter back at him, "You're the Dragon Lord now."

Spike pushed the scepter back, "The Dragon Lord is whoever brings the scepter back to your father! Besides, you'll make a great leader. I was just doing this to protect the ponies, but I know you'll protect them just as well as I would have."

Flicker laughed at this, "You truly are a remarkable little dragon." He turned to Ember, "Take it. Spike's still young. A tiny tooth like him shouldn't be burdened with all that responsibility, and he's right. You would make an excellent Dragon Lord."

Ember gave Spike one last unsure look. "You sure about this?"

"Absolutely," Spike nodded. "My home is in Equestria with my friends."

Ember smiled before holding the scepter tightly. "Well, you'll have at least one friend here too." It was then that Spike did something else she wasn't expected. He threw his arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly. "What are you doing?"

"It's called a hug!"

"Oh," Ember tried to reply, "I uh...don't know if I like it, but...okay." She blushed as Spike held her tighter, the new Dragon Lord patting him on the head while the ponies 'awwed' at the cute image.





Everything after that was a blur. Ember left with some of the other dragons to show her father she had won the title while Twilight teleported the ponies, Spike and Flicker back to the area that Torch was waiting. Her father hadn't been very happy to learn she had competed, but seeing as she had the scepter, he quickly got over it and announced Ember as the new official Dragon Lord.

Spike, Flicker and the ponies all smiled as they watched from the mountain top, Twilight turning to her number one assistant slash little brother, "You did well, Spike." The six turned to head back to Equestria as she continued, "With Ember as Dragon Lord, the ponies will be safe and you've gained us a powerful ally."

"And a new friend!"

"Think she can teach me some of those awesome throws she used on Garble?" Heart asked, the others laughing.

"Plus, she said I could write to her anytime I had questions about dragon culture!" Twilight cheered before turning to Flicker, "Though I guess you'd be a better source. I don't suppose-"

"I'm always happy to teach somepony what they want to know," Flicker replied, "Though it may take a while to get a response. Most dragons don't have magic mailing breath like Spike does."

This made Twilight, Spike and Rarity blink at him, now wondering why Spike could do it while others couldn't. "I'll have to talk to Celestia about that," Twilight commented before taking out her notebook. "But with this much information, I'll be able to write a whole book on dragons!"

Rarity nodded in agreement, "And I gained tons of ideas for a new line of camouflage clothing! I think I'll call it, Camo-Maud!" They all laughed as they got further away from the Dragon Lands, eventually reaching an area where they could safely teleport home without being seen.

"Well, I guess this is it."

"Indeed," Flicker replied, nodding, "I hope you all have a safe trip home."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"You're gonna go study that mural, aren't you?" Heart chimed in, Flicker nodding back.

"What mural?" Twilight asked, Heart and Soul replying with a long explanation. Twilight was now looking just as curious about it as Flicker was, debating whether or not to go back and look for herself. She eventually decided against it, Flicker promising to send whatever he learned about the mural to her when he could. And with that, Spike and the ponies gave their final goodbyes before teleporting home.





Several days later...

Flicker smirked as he used a rock to hammer up his last lamp, which was a glowing crystal with rope tied around it that was nailed into the wall. With that done, he turned back to the now well illuminated cavern that had a lamp nailed into several sections of the wall.

He had set up a campsite inside the cave, smiling as he knew he was about to spend several days studying the ancient wall art. "Alright, time to reveal what secrets you hold." Flicker chuckled before he began to record the ancient writing, hoping to reveal the truth behind the mural's inspiration.