//------------------------------//
// 5- A bumpy road 
// Story: Remnants of chaos 
// by L Morning Star 
//------------------------------//

SHIIIIIII*

The train brakes woke me up with a jump, I immediately regretted it my body protested the sudden movement after hours of being in the same uncomfortable position I could only lie on the ground and hope the cramps would stop

“Uh… are you okay?”

I managed to recover enough to be able to look at my new partner who was looking at me from the top of some suitcases

“Yes, everything is fine, just give me a few moments”

"Well if you say so"

"By the way, how long have you been awake?"

"Not much, usually get up a little before the sun rises"

Again I looked at him impressed, for someone who was never an early riser it was hard to believe that a child surpassed me

"But it's good that you woke up, we are very close to Appleloosa"

I decided to see for myself and jumped to one of the upper parts of the freight car where there were some windows where I could see how the train passed slowly over a gorge

“That explains the use of those damn brakes. How does it not bother you? When I was human I barely tolerated that kind of noise and now that I have these ears it's practically torture."

As I lay back and enjoyed the view I took a quick look at the little dragon who looked a little downcast.

We had had a couple of conversations once we managed to get on the train that was how I found out that he was a dragon among other things like the name of the train which I refuse to repeat as well as realizing how nice he could be , he was the kind of person you could easily have a conversation with about anything of course once you lost your fear, but from time to time he still looks at me suspiciously or gets lost in his thoughts

With nothing else to do I decided to copy it

“Why did I bring it?”

And this thought was the winner

"But seriously, why did I bring it?"

I was constantly wondering, in the library I could have easily disappeared while he was organizing things besides the obvious fact that he was up to something, I never believed his excuse to tag along but when he offered I couldn't help but feel happy

"Did I really feel so alone?"

While my time in Everfree wasn't too bad, I must admit it was a bit lonely at times, but I didn't imagine it would get to the point of forming an alliance with someone I didn't trust.

SHIIII*

"Are we there yet?"

I said subconsciously, but I realized that we had just crossed the ravine.

"Something is not right"

And as if on cue, Spike confirmed my suspicions.

"We still should have at least twenty minutes."

With my suspicions confirmed I camouflaged my fur with the environment and approached the front of the locomotive, although I didn't have to go that far when my eyes were blinded by a reflection in the distance.

I gave them a second to adjust to the light and finally I could see the flashy armor sticking out so much that as soon as I got out of the wagon jumped back in.

"Royal Guards"

At first I was very surprised when Spike told me that the most powerful nation in this world had no real army, just a few orders of knights, so to speak, which were few and although I admit they were more difficult to deal with. than the average citizen, none of them gave me a real fight, except for the unicorn captain

Apparently this world was much more peaceful than ours and less populated so there was no need for a real army, or it was until we arrived and everything went to shit, for the first time in almost a thousand years Equestria is arming a true militia, some believe that its golden age has come to an end

"What happened? Where did you go?"

“I went to see what was happening, it seems that there is a blockade, prepare yourselves”

“We are not going to fight with them”

I decided to walk over to calm Spike down as I put my paw on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll just take a little detour"

I said as Spike shivered slightly and his scales changed to different shades of green.

"But what?"

He said to himself while looking at his hands

"Don't worry, it's only temporary and don't let something hit you or it will go away faster"

After a moment of hesitation he nodded and we left the wagon through the back door where to my pleasant surprise there was no one watching.

"Even if they haven't had a real war in a thousand years, this is more than just a negligence."

Putting those thoughts aside we headed into the woods where we didn't dare to converse until we were far enough away.

"Looks like we'll have to follow a foot from here."

"I don't think so, before there were only patrols, but as we approached they have pressed and now we run into this blockade"

"Do you think it's something else?"

"You were the one who said that this was the best way to leave Equestria, maybe we weren't the only ones who thought of it, isn't there another way?"

Spike took the map out of his backpack and we reviewed it together, even if he couldn't read just a fool couldn't locate himself with such a detailed map

“Looks like our only option is to cross these dunes?”

“Those are not just dunes, they are badlands, even if it counts as equestrian territory, there is no supervision of any kind, literally anything could be hidden there”

I stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

"What?"

“Isn't that exactly what we're looking for? We are fugitives”

"Yes, but it is said to be infested with bandits, there are many who have tried to cross only to never be seen again."

"Well I don't see any other way unless you want to extend our trip a month or more"

He looked a little doubtful, but he nodded anyway.

"Okay let's go"

We followed the tracks until a detour and continued until we reached a place called Ciudad Dodge, but as we got closer we realized that there was also a blockade, with no other options we just went around it and kept walking, at some point I realized that we were going to It took a long time so I put Spike on my back while I transformed into a deer to pick up the pace and we kept going until we got near the badlands entrance where I needed to make a little camp since it was getting dark

“berries, bananas, a few mangoes, it never fails to impress me how abundant life is in this world”

I had just come back from gathering some food, even if I used supplies they were mostly from Spike and we couldn't just spend them without knowing how long the trip would be, although I refrained from hunting for the time being since Spike didn't seem to like the idea of ​​eating meat even if it was a predator

"What the hell? “

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a green flash behind some rocks, I turned to see the surroundings and I couldn't see Spike, fearing that something had hurt my partner I immediately ran behind the rock

Bung*

As soon as I crossed the rock I crashed into Spike who was now rubbing his forehead.

"ouch"

"Sorry I saw a green flash and I thought something had happened to you"

Suddenly Spike seemed to forget about his pain.

"Flash?"

"Eh yes, you don't know what it was or do you?"

"Eh? Of course not"

I approached him slowly without breaking eye contact it was obvious he was lying

"Tartarus saw me think of something quick"

"You know I wanted to ask you something"

I was starting to sweat a little which I didn't know was possible for scaled beings.

"And what could it be?"

I said without stopping to approach

"Um... are you... a boy or a girl?"

Before the unexpected asking the Zorua froze for a few seconds

"Well done Spike you just killed yourself"

The dragon could only suppress the urge to punch himself in the face as he closed his eyes in anticipation of his imminent end, but it never came.

"whatever I want... I guess"

"Sorry for asking such a silly question, but... wait, what do you mean by whatever you want?"

"I was afraid this question would come"

"The one who brought me here took many things from those I invoke, among them they are part of my memories, I cannot remember specific things from my home"

"What? So Discord doesn't believe you?"

"Of course not, I'd rather die than have that asshole for a father!"

At that Spike looked at me confused as if I had told him something that didn't make sense

“B-but then, where did it come from? There is nothing like you in Equus and you are far from one of the strangest summons I have ever heard of."

"That's... a long story, let's sit down and I'll explain it to you"

Once we were comfortable, Spike lit up a bunch of sticks with his fire breath proving that he is indeed a dragon, the green flames reminded me of how we started our conversation, but I decided to leave that topic for later.

"Cunning lizard"

I laughed inside seeing how a child manipulated me

"So if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"

"Well here goes"

I spent the next few hours explaining the basics of my world to him, sometimes we would get stuck on different topics but I made sure to explain everything to him patiently and in a way he could understand, however he still seemed quite hesitant. .

“And how do you know this is real? I mean, I know some of the things you said were logical and too detailed to be totally untrue, but you also said that you had trouble remembering things like your name and the names of people you know, as well as their faces, right? I don't think it's something..."

Suddenly he stopped and looked at me in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad"

I didn't understand what he meant until I ran my paw over my face when I felt something wet, I was crying realizing it, I was trying to hold back but I couldn't admit it, I had thought about that possibility, but decide to ignore it For the sake of my sanity, but now that someone else told me, I couldn't deny it anymore.

What scared me the most was that everything could be false and the worst thing is that it would make sense after all just seeing on Discord that everything I knew turned to shit, the laws of physics, mathematics, religion and sense common, all that. . I turned to shit when I came into this world

Spike didn't know what to do even though he was a monster, there were times when he seemed so normal and friendly, and now he was crying for him.

He slowly extended his claw and stroked her slowly at first she seemed to reject him but eventually she let go of him, he just sat next to her stroking her soft fur for the rest of the night until they fell asleep.



I woke up with the rays of the sun in my eyes

"Dammit"

I tried to get up, but I felt a strange weight on me, I turned to see what it was and I realized that it was Spike who seemed to be using me as a pillow I slowly remembered what happened the night before and I got depressed again, although not as much Like last night, after a few minutes I looked back at Spike

"Thank you idiot, another trauma on the list, and didn't you say you wake up before dawn?"

I thought about that and the fact that at least this time I didn't have nightmares and decided to wake him up, a very out of tune military trumpet appeared above his head and

TUTURUTUTUTU*

"AHHH"

"Hahaha"

Spike still hadn't recovered while I almost died of laughter, I expected some kind of anger or irritation, but surprisingly he only glared at me for a second before turning around and preparing things for the trip while ignoring me.

"Hey! the child here is supposed to be you”

After a quick breakfast of fruit something surprisingly pleasant at least for me

"Okay, we're ready"

I was surprised by how quickly everything was organized and without another word we started.

As soon as we passed the path between the mountains I was surprised by how drastic the change was I looked behind me again and then in front again it was strange behind there was life even in the distance you could see the forest where we camped but in front of us there was a desert, I just let it distract me for a few seconds and then I continued with Spike

Together we followed the path which was surprisingly well kept for a place that is not supposed to have any kind of supervision besides being little traveled, we had a good time until it suddenly got dark

"But what? Did Spike see the storm approaching?"

"No, it came out of nowhere, can you see the way?"

"Em I think wait there ¡hay!"

A piece of garbage got into my eyes, I quickly wiped myself and looked around to get my bearings, but I couldn't see anything the storm obstructed my vision almost entirely

“Something is not right here”

I could see the sand moving in the wind but it wasn't right, the wind wasn't hitting me hard and I couldn't even feel the sand which was weird considering enough that I just recently got a few pieces in my the eyes

“Do you notice something strange Spike? Spike?"

I looked around but found nothing

"SPIKE"

"Here I am!"

He said so close to me that I almost had a heart attack, in an instant I had already turned around to face him

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Me? Where did you go? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

He said in a way that I couldn't help but cringe at his anger.

“Now come on you are delaying us”

"O- ok"

“Why is he so angry? Besides, how do you know where we're going? can't see anything"

I looked at him again, he had something strange not only in his way of acting but also in his body, although no matter how hard I looked I couldn't find physical differences between the Spike of a few minutes ago and the one now, there was something strange, but no matter how hard I I thought I couldn't know what it was

I stopped and Spike turned to look at me.

"Something happens? This is not the time to sit still, ¡move!”

But I did not move the feeling of deja vu did not leave my mind and as soon as I remembered where it came from I did not hesitate

"No again"

"What did you just say? I don't understand you"

Without further ado I jumped on Spike and used [Bite] on his neck which broke on the spot he felt the blood run down my snout its taste was rancid it didn't look anything like pony blood

A few seconds passed as I slowly backed away and just looked at his body, a black chitinous body in the shape of a pony with a curved horn and insect wings.

A few seconds passed in which I only looked at the body and the green blood that covered me, although it was a weirdo it was clear that it was intelligent and it was the first time that it had killed since Canterlot, I shook my head energetically

“This is not the time for this! Where's Spike?

I looked around, but I couldn't see anything through the strange mist, I knew it wasn't natural not only because of the shape-shifting bug but also by instinct, something told me, but it was no use if I could don't go through that

"SPIKE"

I screamed out loud hoping that the sound if it could get through, but got no response.

"I'II have to make it harder then"

I focused on my illusions thinking about how to use them. I needed something specific and I had an idea. An illusion of sound. This would not be like the trumpet this morning. This illusion would be completely focused on creating sound and not on something that causes it, with the idea of ​​what I wanted to do ready I concentrated and shot the sound illusion in all directions

"SPIKE"

I immediately became disoriented to the point of almost falling. I felt my body somehow stretch like a balloon until it suddenly stopped about five meters away from me, except for one of the places to my right, which for some reason follow for a time. until it hit something I couldn't see again, I slowly refocused to try to understand what had happened.

I always had a connection with my illusions. I could feel what happened to them. The distance didn't seem to matter. Although it wasn't like they shared his pain, but he could still feel when they were destroyed and the cause, was strange but very helpful.

I decided to take a risk and let myself be guided by the strange sensations, so I immediately ran to my right, once I felt where I had collided, I launched another sound illusion.

"SPIKE"

I immediately jumped into the air as I felt the illusion collide with a moving point whose target seemed to be me.

BUM*

I saw another one of those bugs crash right where I was a second ago and I let the gravity go and used [Scratch] when I landed on its chitin which shattered on the spot where it was an instant kill.

"SPIKE"

I could feel more coming but it would take too long and I was already way behind, I didn't even know if letting these sensations lead me to Spike, so I decided to keep going without stopping, unfortunately one of them was in my way and seemed be smarter since instead of rushing into danger he fired a bolt of energy at me, I just gritted my teeth and resisted as I used [Quick Attack] to take him out of the way I could feel his chitin break, but I didn't stay to see how I was left alone to move on

"SPIKE"

I used the illusion again by going through all the bugs taking hits, dodging them when I could, and attacking anyone who tried to block my path.

I don't know how long I was like that until finally the mist cleared and I could see Spike, but my joy was short-lived when I saw that he was surrounded by a green aura and next to him the culprit was an insect similar to the ones that attacked me only that this one was bigger and you could tell it was female

I couldn't think of anything else as at that moment the other bugs knocked me down and hitting and biting me savagely, luckily none of them did any real damage to me and they didn't seem to think about using magic so I was able to concentrate enough to use [ Shadow Ball] which I immediately detonated

BOOOM

The explosion also hit me and sent me flying a few meters where I slowly recovered, I was not well I could feel my fur covered with sweat, I was short of breath and my head hurt so much I thought it was going to split

"It seems that the sound illusion ones spend much more energy than the normal ones"

I couldn't think anymore as the giant insect released a gigantic blast of energy at me that was a direct hit.

“MM mmm M”

I could see my companion squirming in the insect's claws, but he seemed to be holding him so tightly that he couldn't even speak.

"Finished! Now, do you want to tell me what part of that was difficult, Captain?"

The giant bug almost roared its words at a poor bug who was badly injured.

"I'm sorry my queen, but that is not a normal animal! He received our attacks like nothing and seriously injured almost a hundred of us not counting the dead"

"WHAT? You're telling me a wimpy dog ​​almost killed a hundred of my children! HOW CAN THEY BE SO USELESS?"

The poor creature shrank

"I'm sorry my queen"

Ignoring the rest of the conversation, I struggled to my feet. Whatever reason they wanted from has Spike, wasn't going to give it to them.

“Whoa? I must admit you were right about his resistance, even if I barely take him seriously and left him burned.”

I turned my head to see the damage and noticed that some of my fur was gone, you could even see bits of exposed skin.

GRRR*

I growled at him like he was just an animal, I couldn't help it, it was instinctive and the blow really hurt, I could feel the tears trying to escape.

"Well, I've seen enough ¡finish it!"

With his signal the other bugs began to pounce on my position, meanwhile I was running towards the queen, I was angry and I knew that even if I couldn't win at least I would give her a good blow that maybe if I was lucky I could hit her in a vital area , it wasn't like I knew his anatomy

But it seemed like I wouldn't even have a chance when some bugs blocked my way, but I didn't stop, I just kept speeding up and when I got closer I could see some kind of reddish smoke coming out of my body, which was weird. Since I didn't feel able to cast illusions, it also turned out that it wasn't an illusion as soon as I collided with the bugs I sent them flying, some of them I'm sure split in half and yet I kept speeding and spawning more smoke

"But what?"

The queen as soon as she realized how close she was, she generated another one of those bubbles, still, I decided to continue with my attack. I wasn't sure if I could use this ability again, besides going too fast to slow down or change my course

SHII*

Sparks flew as my attack touched his shield.

FISSURE *

“AGH DAMN LIZARD”

In a moment of carelessness it seems that I stopped concentrating on Spike enough for him to free himself and release his breath of fire, which allowed me to go through the shield and directly hit the insect queen, I could feel how his chitin was broken as well as hear the satisfying crackling sounds her body made and then I saw her go flying several meters

Immediately after I collapsed to the ground, I could barely breathe and my vision was blurry.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?!"

I looked at Spike to my right I couldn't answer because of the lack of breath, he was scared as he looked at me and checked the surroundings making sure that none of the bugs that surrounded us attacked us

"I think it's the first time he really acts like a child, I'm surprised he didn't run away"

I was finally catching my breath and my vision was clearing

"We have to get out of here before the bugs decide to attack"

"OF COURSE YOUR NOT"

I didn't have time to be impressed by the done that she was still alive or turn around as a green aura enveloped me and I got up only to slam to the ground and repeat

BAANG*

BAANG*

BAANG*

Each impact sounded like little explosions to me, I somehow managed to remain conscious as I watched the queen bug approach me, she had a nasty hole in her chitin from which a large amount of green blood was oozing.

"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?"

My body shimmered for a second think I felt something, but I wasn't quite sure and I barely managed to be conscious.

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A BROKEN BONE! How is that possible?!"

He no longer looked at me with blind anger but with genuine curiosity as he whispered something, but I couldn't hear what it was, then he turned to me with a smile that threatened to split his face in half.

“And I thought I was lucky when to find a baby dragon to make my pet, this is so much better! Oh the things we're going to do together little one just wait"

BAAANG*



Spike watched as his partner's body was carried from the small crater that had formed when he smashed her into the ground for the last time.

"Killed her?!"

Spike sighed seeing that he was still breathing it seemed that he was just unconscious

"My queen, what do we do with the lizard?"

The queen looked at Spike for a few seconds with some hatred sure for attacking her from behind.

"It's no use to me anymore, put it in a pod and leave it with the others"

The queen him rejoicing with the fear she could feel from the dragon as other drones subdued him and put him in a cocoon filled with a green and viscous liquid which got into his mouth when he could no longer hold his breath to Finally passing out, the queen enjoyed every moment until her second in command approached her.

"My queen if I may ask, why did you keep the dog instead of a dragon?"

The drone shrank before the queen's gaze, but luckily she was in a good mood despite the circumstances.

“The reason is simple, even if I managed to tame the dragon it would take decades for it to reach full maturity or it would have to affect its mind for its greed to take control which is not recommended, this is much better, after all what better pet than one created by chaos itself that dog as you call it is one of the remnants of chaos”

At the mention of the name the drone was surprised until it almost jumped

“Then it is not surprising that it will end with so many of ours”

"Exactly and it's just a breeding, imagine it when they grow up"

The queen licked her lips lustfully.

“It will be mine”