//------------------------------//
// 8- Taking it easy 
// Story: Remnants of chaos 
// by L Morning Star 
//------------------------------//

"Auch."

"Uh, sorry."

Spike put me on the ground a bit roughly, it seems that he hadn't realized that he was bigger than me, we had managed to get out of the caves almost unharmed, we only got hit by a few rocks on the way out, nothing serious luckily.

"Are you all right?"

The poor guy was looking at me almost lost he didn't seem to know what to do "Easy, just give me a few minutes."
It was an obvious lie, the cuts, burns, and traces of blood on my fur were visible even to me, but I managed to calm him down a bit at least.

Before I knew it I could feel his claw caressing me, I didn't like it, but it helped me deflect the pain so I didn't say anything.

BANG

Spike quickly turned around in a defensive position knowing I couldn't defend myself. SHIIING
Green lightning began to shoot out of the entrance of the now collapsed cave, Spike dropped to all fours as he held his breath, ready to release his flames, I could hardly identify him as the cute baby from a few days ago.

BOOOM*

Finally, the rocks that covered the cave couldn't take it anymore and from them, a swarm came out in our direction, Spike threw his flames, but they did little against the tide of insects he was quickly pushed back, I don't know if it was planned or just luck, but he fell on me and didn't hesitate to cover me with his body the insects passed over us I don't know how long, but luckily they didn't seem interested in us it seemed that they hadn't even noticed us.

"COME BACK HERE YOU COWARDS, NOW THAT I CAN FIGHT YOU ONLY KNOW HOW TO RUN."

Spike's eyes suddenly lit up. "Partner!"
"Spike! It's a relief to see you two are okay."


Quickly my childhood hero knelt in front of us, now that he was closer I could see him in more detail, it was Optimus G1 only much more realistic, you lucky bastard.

His gaze rested on me

"You and I need to talk, but we don't get a lot of attention here."

Without further ado, he just laid down on the ground and in a second he was already a truck. "Come on up."
The huge door opened inviting us in "W-wait, do you know each other?" I could hear Spike take a big gulp. "Are you a remnant?"
"I don't know what that is, but I'll go out on a limb and say yes." I saw that he was a little hesitant so I took his paw.
"Easy Spike it's okay."

My voice was soft, and I didn't have much energy left, he gave me a little look and soon got in the truck, Optimus didn't say anything right away, I think he started talking to Spike at some point, but I could barely hear them, the dragon legs and the leather seats were a good combination, I didn't take long to fall asleep.



They had been flying for a while and she could already feel that she was starting to get tired, but she could see that her friend was having a hard time, unlike her Shy never showed much interest in flying but when it was necessary, she could see the sweat on her fur and her breathing was very forced.

"Shy I think we should know par-" "No, we're still a long way off."
She said in a firm tone despite her obvious fatigue she didn't even let her finish, it was the third time she tried to make them take a break, but the pegasus had become very stubborn sometimes it was hard to recognize her, and after a few moments of intense mental debate, she forced herself to pronounce the words she swore to herself that she would never say.

"I say this because my wings still won't recover... I can't go on... I need to rest."

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow with her mouth open while she made a fake expression of tiredness, but luckily the mare was so shocked that she didn't notice it.


"Oh... how sorry, I thought I saw a flat field to the right hopefully we won't stray too far do you think you can make it?"

Rainbow tried desperately not to show her enormous frustration. "C- of course, I do, don't worry."
He said forcing a crooked smile which Fluttershy misinterpreted as him being on his last legs so he didn't hesitate to descend as fast as he could until they were finally on solid ground.

"Why did we stop?"

Said an orange mare with an accent as she leaned out of the window. "Sorry... Applejack... but Rainbow couldn't take it anymore."
He said with short breaths while he pointed to Rainbow who was breathing normally and nodded energetically, it didn't take him long to get the message.

"Well it's a good thing you stopped, it's already getting dark if you don't hurry inside you might catch a cold, right?"

He said hoping to convince the mare to take a real break and not just a five-minute stop. "Good idea AJ let's go let's go."
She insisted as she pushed her friend into the car which luckily had a mini fridge full of snacks since no one thought to bring anything at the time.

When they entered the first thing they noticed was Rarity next to Twilight asleep in one of the armchairs.

"Shh I just got him to sleep a little, you can't imagine how hard that was." "The truth is I think I understand perfectly."
Rainbow said in a whisper even lower than her friend's as she pointed to the other pegasus. "Oh dear, you look terrible why don't you eat something?"
"Thanks I think I could use some food."

As she accepted the food RD continued to talk to AJ "How's it been here?"
"Very calm and quiet"

He said as he looked at one of the windows where a pink pony was watching intently. "Has he been like this the whole trip?"
The pony didn't say anything, she just nodded which provoked a shared sigh, things hadn't been the same since Discord, not only for them but for Equestria everything had changed.


"How about you, does it still hurt?"

The orange pony slipped a hoof over her left eye where there was a terrible patch of scarred skin. "Just a little bit is nothing compared to what she's had to endure."
She said as she focused her gaze on her friend lavender. "I can't imagine losing a brother."
"You said so."

After a moment's hesitation, I asked what I really wanted. "Do you think we'll make it in time?"
Her friend stared at her for a few seconds considering what to say to her, but as an element of honesty she had only one option

"I hope so, but if we do I don't think I'm any better off than they are."

At his answer the pegasus could only grit her teeth, she didn't know what to do with all her frustration.

"Don't worry sugar cube as long as he's alive we can help him no matter how bad he is."

"I know it's just... before he left he talked to me and it wasn't the best of talks, I just don't want this to be the end."

He looked up again when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. "You'll see that everything's gonna be all right."
She looked at her friend for a while and nodded and then hugged her. TOC TOC* TOC
Their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door which put everyone on alert. TOC TOC TOC* TOC
It sounded again and the pony farmer was the first to react, she slowly approached until her hoof rested on the handle, she turned around to see her friends ready to support her no matter what and opened the door.

They were immediately greeted by a rotten smell and their eyes could distinguish the blood and debris that covered this creature.

"Hi, Luna told me you needed help."



I could hear the sparks crackling and a faint smell of smoke, I soon opened my eyes to see a green campfire and the remains of a purple snake impaled on it.

"Well, the sleeping beauty woke up."

I turned my head to meet the irritating giant robot and next to him my dragon companion. "How long did I sleep?"
I looked around and realized that it was already dark. "About six hours and twenty-six minutes."
As he spoke he stood up and pulled a piece of meat off the snake and placed it in front of me, it was almost three times my size.

"Eat, you may heal fast, but it's of little use if you have nowhere to replenish your energy."

His words were the push I needed just as he said I was starving and I didn't hesitate to eat my fill, I didn't even care how he got the meat or what it was from.

"You too, kid."

"Ehh... no thanks I think - "

He couldn't finish speaking when a piece of meat no smaller than mine was thrown right in front of him.

"We had a big fight and you got hurt too we can't afford to be picky eaters."

Before what he said I turned my attention away from my food to focus on the dragon, it had some darkened scales on the right hind leg where you could see some flesh due to some missing scales and something else I had overlooked.

"Spike, when did you grow up?"

At that, he looked at me in surprise "What are you talking about?"
"Haven't you noticed? look at you before we almost measured the same and now you're as tall as a pony and you're not even standing."

At that, he finally reacted and took a quick look at me, the way his eyes widened and I couldn't contain my laughter.

"BUT HOW?"

The poor man was incredulous

"Hadn't you noticed? The way you grew up was so timely that I thought it was your special ability." Said the giant tin


"Not at all since I broke the egg I had only grown a few inches in my first year since then I've been the same."

That was strange, but he didn't seem to notice, he was too busy examining his new body.

"All the more reason you should eat we don't know if your growth has stopped or you'll need more nutrients and there will be plenty if you keep growing at this rate."

At that Spike stiffened and looked at the piece of meat again, though with less hesitation this time. "Do you think if I eat meat I'll grow taller?"
"Is there something wrong with you? I'm beginning to think it's not the color you dislike."

Spike nodded

"I was raised by ponies so I've never eaten meat."

At that, the giant backed away it was not hard to imagine how difficult it must be for a predator to live among herbivores, even though I had my doubts when I met him

"So what do you normally eat?"

"Well mostly plants just like the ponies only now and then they also feed me some gems." "That doesn't make sense. How can gems replace the nutritional value of meat?"
To this I replied

"Hey, magic world are you forgetting?"

He just shook his head

"Equally it's like he said we can't be picky eaters and I'm sure you haven't eaten in days right?" Spike leaned back as he clutched his growling stomach.
"Yeah... I guess."

Slowly he approached the meat tempted by the smells, the needs of his body, and unknowingly his instincts, after a few seconds of doubt he closed his eyes and took a small bite, at first he bit it slowly, but then his eyes lit up and he began to eat greedily while I followed his example.

We both finished our portions, although Spike asked for seconds, when he was about to finish his second Optimus decided to screw it up.

"Ha ha ha get the world ready, a new predator has appeared!"

At that Spike stopped and his face turned green, I thought he was going to vomit, but he restrained himself and contrary to my expectations he kept eating only this time more savagely, instead of biting carefully he just ripped off the pieces with pure brute force and swallowed them so fast that I was worried he would choke.

"Did something happen Spike?"


He didn't stop to answer me nor did he look at me. "No, you're right I am a dragon I must act like one."
That was strange, he didn't use to act so... wild, I turned in the direction of the robot waiting for answers.

"The boy spilled blood for the first time and got his way."

I felt a knot in my stomach when I understood, all the guilt was eating away at me, he was just an innocent child and now because of my selfishness in bringing him here, he seemed ready to attack anyone who came near him without any warning.

"Spike"

He didn't pay attention to me he just kept going "Spike stop that if"
He kept eating as if he wasn't "Spike stop that!"
Finally, I had enough, with one blow I sent the piece of meat away from him and he didn't hesitate to pounce on me.

"GRRRR"

His right paw is on me he looked like he was ready to kill me right there. "Spike, you're not a killer, you're a hero."
That seemed to make him react "No... it's... true!"
Each word was said with a pause and a husky voice that scared me.

"But if it is you saved us, you saved me, you saved Optimus and you saved countless ponies from that insect witch's plans."

"He's right."

We both turned to look at the giant

"Before you arrived I had already given up hope even if they didn't kill me I was scared of having to spend who knows how many years locked up among the rocks and then you came along and got us both out of there never mind putting your life at risk and doing your best to make sure no one got hurt...for if you're a hero."

I could see her start to cry and shake.

"That's a lie I'm not like the ponies I'm not like Twi or Shining."

I took his claw away from me he didn't seem capable of fighting back


"They're your family?"

He nodded

"My brother one of them is gone... but when he died he died protecting the ponies, not like me, I just wanted to smash those bugs and I didn't care about anything else."

I hugged him tightly, even though he seemed to be trying to get out of my arms, I didn't let him

"I don't know what happened to your brother, but I'm sure he would be proud of what you did today even if it wasn't what you expected you did the same thing he did you saved lives."

He couldn't take it anymore and started crying on my shoulder, soiling my fur and crushing me, some wounds were still not completely healed, but I didn't move and I held on.

We were like that for a while until LA CHATARRA decided to ruin it again. "You two make a cute couple."
Spike and I immediately split up, blushing up to our ears.

"This guy's already pissing me off."

"What's your name by the way? You never told us and I refused to call you Optimus Prime." "Why, it sounds great."
"Innocent Spike is back!"

"Ha you heard the boy, but you're right it wouldn't be appropriate, though Zera doesn't seem to either, you don't remember him either do you?"

My mood soured a bit with that, not remembering your identity is distressing. "Yeah, I just said the first thing that came to mind."
"Well then let's keep it simple call me... Pax."

It took me a few seconds to make the connection "Orion Pax?"
"You do know!" "What?"
That gave me the idea I didn't have time to give my friend an explanation. "Hey, how much do you know about pokemon?"
"Huh? The usual I guess I played some games, didn't you? "

"I didn't just watch the show, sorry Spike, but I need to know this I'll explain later I promise." He just nodded, though you could see the confusion on his face.


"When I faced Chrysalis I released some kind of red mist and gave her the biggest lunge I've ever given in my life do you know what move it was?"

He seemed to think about it for a few seconds "I think it might be [foul play]."
Seeing my confused expression he decided to continue

"It's a skill whose attack power depends on your opponent's attack power."

My jaw went slack "That was cheating." "What?!"
As if reading my mind Spike I present my grievances. "I've never heard of anything like that."
Pax just shrugged

"So are the sinister type pokemon most of their abilities are based on hindering the opponent by slowing them down, making them weaker, or in this case using their strengths against them."

"What about you don't you have cannons or other things?"

"No, I'm afraid not only what I do with my own hands, though I did get smarter."

"What's a cannon?"

Spike tried to follow the conversation that constantly switched between talking about super-evolved beasts for combat and super-advanced robots, but he just couldn't keep up with them and eventually, he started to get sleepy and lay down near the fire to rest, one last thought went through his mind at that moment.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something. What could it be?"

And he fell asleep not knowing how much things would have changed if he had remembered to send a single letter.