-INSTALLATION: THE ISLAND-
“Twilight…” HLN-A comments somberly, facing the mournful group the alicorn is tightened into. “Listen, why don’t you all take some time to recover from that revelation and head back to Sanctuary. It’s still mid-day, and we’ll develop a plan once you all feel a little better.”
Twilight turns her gaze to the AI unit from within the group, the fur on her cheeks damped from previous tears. She wipes her face with her right forehoof before nodding in understanding.
“C-come on, everyone,” The alicorn gestures with a forelimb, motivating them to move, “Helena’s right… l-let’s go back,” She looks over to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, “Girls, I know this is insensitive of me to ask, but...”
Rainbow shakes her head, “No, we understand,” She uses her unharmed wing to wave them off, “Go on back without us, and make sure to check on AJ… you and I both know how she can be when she’s like this. Not that anyone can blame her. We’ll take care of the tame and join you guys after.”
Fluttershy nods in agreement, but her sadness remains as the Ptera she’s taming eats another piece of meat she offered. Vanellope stood nearby as the yellow pegasus retrieved more meat from the Raptor’s inventory when needed.
“Skitters,” Spirit calls out, beckoning the monkey on Rarity’s shoulder to turn to him. “Go with them, and do whatever you can to ease their pain.”
The monkey raises its’ right hand and waves back to Spirit. After a moment, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Skitters begin their trek to Sanctuary, thus leaving behind HLN-A, Rainbow Dash, Spirit, Vanellope, Fluttershy, and their soon-to-be pterosaur mount/tame. However, another set of steps kicks up the sand as one member from the leaving group stays behind after a second thought: Spike.
The drake reaches them, “Gonna stay with us, Spike?” HLN-A inquires with concern. “You sure you’re feeling up for it, mate?”
Spike nods, “Y-yeah. What we’ve just learned is hard on all of us,” He closes his eyes and clenches his claws, “But I have to be strong for not only the girls, but Twilight,” The dragon takes on a saddened expression, “B-but, I….”
HLN-A looks upon the dragon with a sense of realization. They knew what it was that bothered the drake, and with a small sigh, the AI comments:
“This is about you eating meat, isn’t it? And how you’re efficient at harvesting the most valuable parts of a carcass.”
Spike opens his eyes and nods, “Yes.”
Spirit is surprised by this, “But, you’re a dragon,” He walks closer, “I’m aware that those from Equus can feed on gems and other such rarities, but at the end of the day, you’re still a carnivore, Spike.”
The dragon grits his teeth in annoyance, “You think I don’t know that? Duh, of course, I’m a carnivore. But that’s not the dragon I choose to be, and I refuse to eat any meat.”
“Well, in that case,” Chimes in Fluttershy from nearby. “What about fish meat? It’s a nice alternative if you’re worried about-”
“I said-” Spike interjects a bit crudely, causing Fluttershy’s expression to morph into shock. “No. Meat. I don’t care if it’s fish meat; I just don’t eat meat. It’s as simple as that.”
Both HLN-A and Spirit look at each other before turning back to the dragon.
“No offense, dude, but you’re being stubborn as Tartarus about this,” Rainbow Dash says. “Besides, things are different on the Arks, and you’ve got to make some changes to be awesome enough to survive on them. Or in egghead terms,” The pegasus winks, “Evolve.”
HLN-A sounds off fireworks on their visor, “Well put, mate! It looks like somepony’s been taking my lessons to heart.”
“Eh, the lessons that don’t make me fall asleep, that is.”
“Why, you little bugger!” The AI exclaims with an exclamation point on its’ visor but laughs afterward.
Rainbow Dash chuckles at the AI before drawing closer to the dragon. She places a forelimb onto his shoulder in comfort.
“None of us will think less of you if you decide to eat meat. I mean, hay, It’s what you’ve got to-”
The cyan pegasus’s words are cut off as Spike releases a frustrated grunt, batting her forelimb away with the back of his right claw.
“Enough with the stupid meat!” He growls. “All of you, just—shut up!”
The dragon’s exclamation shocks everyone present, aside from Spirit, who looks on sternly. Rainbow Dash, HLN-A, and Fluttershy are especially horrified by what they see in Spike’s eyes:
His pupils are always slitted but in a way that seems to give off a sense of innocence. But now, their ferocity is akin to Vanellope’s, a true predator as he even bared his fangs during his tantrum. In addition, his claws twitched as if ready to slice away at an opponent as he breathed heavily.
The commotion causes Rainbow Dash to fall backward and onto her flank. A sense of dread came over her as Fluttershy still wore her shocked, horrified expression. Even HLN-A was seconds away from flying rapidly to Rainbow’s defense, taking a possible swipe from Spike in her stead, for that is how real his predator-like actions seemed.
Then, as if someone had flicked a switch, Spike’s current state changes back to the draconian the tribe members know and love. His breathing slowly stabilizes, and the ferocity in his eyes regresses to his ever-present innocence.
“I… I-I’m,” Spike strugglingly starts, his breath regressing to calm intakes. Looking down at his claws before shifting his gaze to Rainbow Dash, “I’m s-so sorry!” He falls onto his knees, his claws covering his face in shame, “I’m sorry, everyone… I’m so sorry… I n-never should’ve hidden the truth.”
Truth? What truth? A duo of questions came to the minds of all in attendance.
“What truth, love?” HLN-A inquires.
Spike lowers his claws and looks up with a teary expression, “I’m s-starving. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.”
“WHAT?!” Both HLN-A and Fluttershy scream out in concern. All while Spirit shakes his head in disapproval, but Rainbow Dash stares at the dragon in shock before her expression morphs into anger. Although no one seems to notice her angered state yet.
“Spike!” Fluttershy exclaims. “Why didn’t you say anything? Oh, my, Twilight would be devastated. Do you have any idea how hurt she was when you died to that Megalodon?”
“Mate, and I say this with pure love—have you lost your bloody mind?!” HLN-A roars out as the AI’s lights become crimson red. Then, their voice deepens.
“We have no idea how your body could react here! I know all about your greed transformation, and I refuse to find out what would happen to you if you starved to death! Don’t you ever do something so stupid like that again! Do I make myself clear?!”
Spike’s head had lowered in response to the AI’s scolding, but then the sounds of an encroaching individual can be heard trekking through the sand. A cyan forehoof crashes down in front of the dragon, causing said drake to look up and into the fierce eyes of Rainbow Dash.
The pegasus looked down upon him silently, her teeth grinding against one another.
“GRAUGH!”
Spike lets out a painful grunt as Rainbow Dash’s right forehoof crashes into his left cheek, causing the dragon to keel over.
“Rainbow! No, wait-”
“No, HLN-A,” Spirit interjects, stepping in front of the AI to block their path, “This needs to happen. Do not try to stop her.”
Fluttershy is currently conflicted. On one hoof, she agreed with the AI unit. But on the other, she also understood Spirit’s intentions. Vanellope observes the scene as she stands near Fluttershy and the unconscious Ptera.
Rainbow Dash hurriedly stands over the downed dragon, a swell of purple forming on his left cheek, before she flips Spike over and onto his back. She places a forehoof onto his face, digging his head deeper into the sand but not applying too much pressure.
“You’re so bucking stupid!” The cyan pegasus roars out, Spike closing his eyes as, deep down, he felt that he deserved this. “You called me out with that whole Argentavis thing when we first got here, but then you do this?! Sure, what I did was stupid, but you’re an even bigger jackass than I was that day!” She lifts her forelimb off of Spike’s left cheek; his eyes remain closed in sorrow, “Look at me! You big moron!”
Spike hesitantly complies and opens his eyes, but a series of water drops graces his cheeks as an angered, but now tearful pegasus stands over him. A series of emotions bombarded the dragon in that instant.
“W-we love you, Spike,” She sobs. “We don’t want anything b-bad happening to any of us, and you’re one of us,” She wipes her tears with her right forelimb, “Now look at what you did. I’m an emotional wreck because of you, and it takes a lot to make me cry, you jerk.”
“R-Rainbow…” Spike starts, but any words he tries to form die down in his throat. And so, he could only retreat back to a simple:
“I’m sorry. Truly, I am. There’s, there’s nothing I can say besides that….”
Rainbow Dash stares at him for what feels like an eternity for both of them. She rolls her eyes before removing herself from Spikes’s downed form. Spike tries to get up on his own, but the cyan pegasus offers him a helping hoof.
“Take it, moron. Let me help you up; then I’ll help you get some food into your stupid belly.”
The dragon nods and takes the appendage before getting back onto his feet with Rainbow’s aide. Grains of sand fell from his scales, and Spike rubbed the location on his left cheek where the pegasus had struck.
Spirit chuckles lightly, HLN-A nodding to the scenario before floating over to the duo. Nearby with the pterosaur, Fluttershy offers the flying entity some meat before shouting over her shoulder:
“It’s almost done, everyone!”
“Excellent! Keep up the good work, Fluttershy!” HLN-A responds, turning to the dragon before her, “And as for you, I dare say you deserve that bit of tough love from Rainbow Dash. But why did you hide this from us, love?”
Spike sighs, “Now that I look back on it, I really was being, well, stupid,” He sighs once more, “I just didn’t want to be another worry for us all on top of everything else.”
Rainbow Dash side-glances to the drake, “You do realize that you’re still a close distance to my hooves, right? I’ll hit you again for saying such a stupid thing.”
The dragon winces, “Yeah… I know that’s a fact. But, please… just please don’t make me eat meat,” He pleads as he clasps his claws together in prayer, “I just can’t bear it. Come on; there simply must be another alternative.” A thought comes to the dragon. “Oh! Wait, Helena, can’t you just go grab some more of those delicious gems? You did that for me two days ago, and I just ate the last of that batch yesterday morning.”
“Not anymore, Spike,” The AI responds. “Now that we know that Edmund’s managed to get an AI off of Aberration, not to mention the infection, I dare not to transport gems here. It’s simply too much of a risk, mate. And I can't always keep a supply of gems for you from other installations. We need a local resource.”
“Wait,” Rainbow Dash comments with a forehoof to her chin, “Didn’t you give one to Rarity, Spike?”
Spike’s eyes widened, “Yes! I bet she still has it in her-”
“Actually, no, mate,” HLN-A interjects. “You see, Rarity had it in her inventory when she died to those Leeches. But as we all know, when a survivor dies, they drop everything within their implant in that exact location, and they have a minimal timeframe to retrieve their fallen items. That’s typically under an hour, and that’s assuming you didn’t die in an inconvenient location, of course.”
“And, let me guess,” Rainbow responds with slight annoyance. “We ran out of time to retrieve it, didn’t we?”
The AI nods hesitantly, “Y-yes.”
“It wouldn’t matter anyway,” Spirit comments. “Forgive me for being straightforward, but even if she still possessed that gem, it’s only delaying the inevitable. Therefore, I suggest various possible food sources for you, Spike. Although I must insist that you condition yourself for meat consumption.”
Spike ignores that last part, although that doesn’t go unnoticed by Spirit, HLN-A, and Rainbow Dash. “Well, what other options are there?”
The UNI-CRN turns to HLN-A and nods. The AI starts to project two different objects and resources.
“I’ve told you about these before, mates, and it might be obvious, but what you’re looking at are Silica Pearls and Crystal.”
Spike’s eyes become hopeful. “So, then, I can eat them instead? This is great!”
“It’s only possibilities, Spike,” Spirit responds. “It’s not a guaranteed solution.”
“But it’s a chance that we’ll take,” Rainbow Dash comments before turning to the dragon, “Hear that? Now we can find you some food, so don’t you ever hide your hunger from us again, dummy.”
Spike nods, “I’ll never do it again. I promise—no, Pinkie Promise,” He performs the sworn oath of the great pink one, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Knowing that mare, she’ll hold you to that, mate!” HLN-A chimes in.
“Hmm, I’m unfamiliar with this action, but I assume it’s from Equus. Is that some kind of ritual?” Spirit questions.
“You don’t wanna know…” Spike answers with small fear before turning to Rainbow Dash, “Oh, and, Rainbow?”
“Yeah?” She responds with a raised eyebrow.
“Thanks. I really needed that butt-kicking. It helped me, and I’m sorry for hiding this from you all.”
Rainbow Dash looks to the dragon with a neutral expression before smirking, “No problem. But remember, I’ll beat you senseless if you do that again, ok?”
The dragon nods.
“There’s something else,” Spirit states. “I must tell you of this before you do any traveling around-”
“AAAHHHHH!!!”
A sudden female outcry shook everyone present. Pony and UNI-CRN ears perk up as Spike and HLN-A look around frantically. Even Vanellope is drawn to attention as the Raptor starts to emit a few growls, sensing a disturbance. But what was most particular about this scream is one glaring fact:
It didn’t come from anyone they knew.