//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Flurry Heart’s Story: Go North, Young Dragon 
// by AleximusPrime 
//------------------------------//

Spike and the kids made themselves comfortable in a nearby plateau outside of the main cave where his family lived.  Smite and Chara’s cave was decorated like a castle with large crystals on the outside and smaller openings that served as windows.  Spike had been given a tour of the inside by his siblings and was fed a special meal of tasty gems.  Stormy and Pound were spending time flying and racing with Scorch, while Chip, Annie and Pumpkin were bouncing on Singe’s belly like a trampoline. Flurry and Spike were sitting on top of a rock getting acquainted with Barb while Chara rested nearby, petting Buttercream.  Barb was telling Spike about the time the eggs disappeared and the search that followed after.
“So we heard there were rocs spotted flying around here that night and everyone started to panic,” she explained.  “There are some isles in the center of the four dragon continents where the rocs nest.  They usually go after large fish, but they sometimes go inland to look for dragon eggs or young dragons going through their molt.  We thought for sure that area was the answer to our questions, but we were too late.  There were over a dozen eggs missing and none of them were found.  We were able to find the shells to a few of the eggs on one of those isles, but you and Butter were never accounted for.  We had no choice but to give up the search and assume we’d never see you again, but lo and behold, the roc that took you guys was nesting somewhere in Equestria.”
“It didn’t think to go into Torch’s territory he had the migrators in?” Spike asked.
“I guess not.  The migrators might not have had any eggs or molting young at that time, but it could have also been living closer to Nordo Dracos.  Ah well, it doesn’t matter anymore.  What matters now is we’ve got both of you guys back.”
Barb put her arm around Spike as he smiled bashfully and hugged her back.  Buttercream could be heard giggling behind them as Chara tickled her belly with her index finger.
“I’ve had such a great time here with you guys so far,” Spike said. “And I’m learning quite a lot about my kind too.”
“Yeah, for the longest time we didn’t know about the four main species of dragons until Smolder told us a while ago,” Flurry added.
“Well the migratory dragons usually do their own thing and don’t associate much with the four main tribe continents.  Some dragons prefer to migrate every so often and join them. Due to intermingling, a lot of our traditions get lost in that group.”
“So what else is there I haven’t heard about my kind?”
“Well, Northerns have most of the same traits as the others: we breath fire, we have scales, and we grow to be really huge, but we’re unique in some ways.  First of all, purebred Northerns don’t grow any horns, but we have spikes down our heads and backs.  Second, we go through our molt and get our wings at a prepubescent stage.  Third, while we aren’t the biggest of dragons, a lot of us can get pretty huge.  It’s perfectly normal and even biological for some of us to grow round and fat like you, Butter and Singe.  It also helps us to stay insulated from the cold.  That’s why we thrive quite well up here.  Even the thinner ones have enough chub to help with it.”
“I see most of you guys also really love gems like I do.”
“Oh yeah.  Every dragon eats gems and His Elevated Eminence grows some really good ones here for us.  Northerns are known for their large appetites and we love having big feasts.  Another thing about us is we take long naps in adulthood.  Some dragons can stay asleep for a really long time.  See that guy over there?  He’s been napping for almost a month.”
Barb pointed to an elderly black dragon that was sleeping on top of a nearby cliff.  Several other dragons slept around him.
“Wow.  Somehow they still manage to look majestic even when sleeping.  So by the way, Mom, where did you say Dad was again?”
“There’s a dragon in rage mode that was spotted out by the ocean that he volunteered to wrangle.  Oh that’s right, you don’t know what that is yet.  Butter, you didn’t tell Spike about rage mode yet?” Chara asked her daughter.
“Oh that’s right.  Sorry, there’s just so much we have to tell him and I got so excited it slipped my mind,” Buttercream laughed.  “Why don’t you tell him, Barb?  You know way more about it than I do!”
“Hehe, that’s true.  Alright, Spike, let me ask you something: have you ever had this weird thing happen to you where you get a bunch of presents and it causes you to grow about a hundred feet and hoard away tons of things?”
“Yeah, that happened to me years ago when I’d been in Ponyville for about a year with Twilight.  Does that happen to all of us?”
“Sure does.  We call that ‘rage mode’.  Every Northern Drake goes through rage mode at least once in their life, usually at a young age.  In our society, we induce rage mode into a young dragon when they come of age.  That way we can get it out of the way and it doesn’t happen by accident at a really bad time.  We make preparations in case there’s any damage done to the land around. When we’re ready, we put the dragon in a safe zone and give them presents and food galore until they start growing.  Every one of us has been in rage mode before, including Butter.”
“It’s true!” said Buttercream. “I grew into a big, ferocious monster of mayhem!  RAAAAWR!”
Buttercream put her arms in the air in an attempt to look scary until Chara dangled a small gem above her.  She then got on all fours, wagged her tail and put her tongue out like a puppy dog.  Chara tossed the gem and Buttercream ran off to munch on it.
“So it’s called rage mode then,” Flurry said. “That happened to Spike some time before I was born.  How do you guys stop it?”
“That’s where wrangling comes in.  When the dragon is big enough, we wrangle them by wrestling them to the ground and holding them down.  They always put up a good fight and sometimes it requires two or more wranglers, but once they’ve calmed down, they start shrinking back down to their original size.  We then throw a celebration to congratulate the wrangler dragon and the young one for having gone through this rite of passage.”
“Is that why Singe and Scorch like to wrestle a lot?” Spike asked.
“Yup.  It’s a big part of our culture.  Pretty much every dragon here learns how to wrestle even if they aren’t going to become a wrangler.  Singe and Scorch want to be wranglers someday when they get big enough.  We have a lot of wrangler dragons here in Nordo Dracos, but our dad is the best wrangler there is.”
“Wow, our dad? That’s pretty awesome!”
“Yeah, except Butter’s story is a bit different. Butter, what happened to you again?”
Buttercream walked forward while licking gem crumbs off her lips and sat next to Spike to talk.
“Well I also got a lot more presents than I was used to, which made me all greedy and I grew huge, but Nightwatch actually managed to calm me down.  All he did was remind me about the times we had as brother and sister and showed me old photos of us as kids.  It was kinda too blurry for me to remember, but I guess that did it and I immediately shrank back down to my little bitty dragon form.”
“How uncanny.  That’s like almost exactly what happened to me!”
“Ooooooh!  Who helped you out, Spike?”
“Rarity.  She’s the unicorn girl that I had a crush on.  I kidnapped her when I was big and she had on the gem I gave her as a gift earlier.  I saw it and somehow that caused me to regain my senses, so I shrank.”
“Daw, you had a crush on her?  That’s so sweet, Spike!”
“Hehe, yeah.  It was kind of a kid crush sort of thing, but I still really care about Rarity.”
“So it happened to you too?” Barb asked as she stood up and stroked her chin.
“Interesting,” said Chara. “So rage mode can actually be dealt with by other means.”
“That’s quite a find, though not surprising.  It isn’t too hard to snap a dragon out of rage mode. Wrangling has always worked for us…well, except when the effect goes permanent.”
“Rage mode can be permanent?” Spike asked, cautiously.
“That’s another thing about Rage mode: if the dragon stays in rage mode for more than three days, they stay that way permanently and wrangling doesn’t work.”
“Oh no.  What happens to a dragon that goes permanent?”
“We banish them to Oster Dracos where the Westerns or ‘wyverns’ live.  They’re the nasty dragons.  Nobody ever deals with a Western.”
“Thankfully that hasn’t happened in generations,” Chara added. “We’ve always dealt with rage mode through the ceremony of wrangling.”
“Have you ever wrangled before, Mom?” Spike asked, looking up to his mother.
“Several times.  Your father and I wrangled all three of your siblings together.”
“You should’ve been there when Dad had to wrangle me.  I was a real pain in the tailbone,” Barb snickered.
“Are you guys talking about wrangling?” Scorch asked as he and Singe walked in with the kids following close behind.
“Did you tell him how I nearly crushed Mom when I went into rage mode?” Singe asked.
“Hehe.  Well, it was pretty close,” Chara giggled.
“Yeah, Singe was a pretty big one.  Dad had to do the old headlock like this to get him to stand still.” Barb said as she went up behind Singe to demonstrate how Smite took care of Singe when he was in rage mode.
“GAH!  EASY BARB!” Singe gagged while laughing.
“But after just a few minutes of keeping him down, it was all over.”
Barb then set Singe back down as the kids all laughed.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Barb!” Pound told the tough dragoness.
“She may not have my muscles or Singe’s chub, but she’s a tough one when she needs to be.  Show em how it’s done, sis!”
Scorch crouched in a stance and Barb did the same.  The kids all backed up and watched as they clashed. Barb was nearly overtaken by Scorch at first but managed to flip around him and lock his head in between her powerful legs.  Chip and Annie were shocked at first but could see this was a fun and normal thing for Northern Drakes.  Stormy was very entertained and pumped his hoof into the air, cheering Barb on with the others.  They had seen enough action in Super Dragon Warriors to be familiar with this sight.
“ALRIGHT, I FORFEIT!” Scorch gasped as Barb finally let go.
Everyone cheered loudly for Barb.  Scorch was a good sport though and gave his sister a big hug.
“Never underestimate Barb and her thunder thighs!” Singe said, playfully elbowing Flurry as she hovered next to him.
“That was awesome!” Stormy beamed.  “Is that what wrangling is?”
“Well wrangling happens when a young dragon grows as a result of their greed, Stormy,” Flurry told him.
“Cool!  Spike said that happened to him once!  Can we go see one now?”
“Easy there, little guy,” said Scorch, flying next to Stormy. “It only happens when a young dragon is ready.  That’s when they grow up real fast and get greedy from having too many gifts and go into what we call ‘rage mode’, so we wrangle them to calm them down.  We usually have it all planned out.  The next wrangling doesn’t happen for another two weeks.”
“Aw, darn it.  Mommy probably won’t let me see one then.  It’s probably too dangerous.”
“That’s alright, little Storm Streak,” said Chara, rubbing his head with the tip of her finger. “A protective mother is always a sign you are being raised right.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Stormy said bashfully.
“We’ll let you see a wrangling someday, little guy,” Barb told Stormy. “It’s quite a sight to behold.”
Suddenly, they were all interrupted by a low, rumbling sound in the distance.  It was not loud enough that they needed to cover their ears, but it had the effect of a deep bass noise and caused tiny stones on the ground to bounce.
“Whoa!  What was that?!” Pumpkin asked.
“That’s His Elevated Eminence!” Buttercream shouted as she went airborne.
“The mountain has awakened!” Chara said. “Spike, come with us. We’ll show you to him.”
The dragons all flew past the entrance to Smite and Chara’s cave and the kids followed them.  They made their way to a cliff and saw His Elevated Eminence yawning as the large crevice beneath his eyes opened wide.  The eyes finally opened to reveal empty holes much like his mouth with huge eyebrows above them.  Spike could not tell if he had any pupils, but two shiny green orbs eventually appeared inside the eyeholes and looked down in their direction.





“Chara and family, good day to you all!” he said in a deep voice that echoed around them.
“Greetings, His Elevated Eminence.  We are humbled to be in your presence,” Chara said, bowing down.
“Oh, but what’s this?  Is that Smite’s lost son I see next to you?”
“Yes.  This is Spike,” Chara said, lifting Spike in both her hands. “Buttercream found him in Equestria.  He’s been living there this whole time.”
“Ah, another dragon raised by ponies, much like his sister.  Come closer, child.  Allow me to have a look at you.”
Spike flew towards the talking mountain.  He was several hundred yards away from where they were standing with a small valley between them, but Spike flew till he was close enough.  The green orbs in his eyes moved around and examined Spike.  He began to smile.
“How delightful.  You look so much like your father.  I remember when I first saw Smite as an infant.  He grew to be a strong, dedicated king and a fine wrangler.”
“Do you watch the dragons when they wrangle?”
“Oh many times.  I usually see the dragons in this mountain range when they enter rage mode and are placed in a safe zone to be wrangled.  Sometimes they even do it up here inside of my summit.  Have a look and see.”
Spike flew up higher and saw that there was a wide crater in His Elevated Eminence’s peak.  There were also tiny gems that glowed many different colors.
“That’s pretty big!  So you let dragons wrangle in here?”
“It is usually a special place meant for wrestling matches and wrangling rituals.  Sometimes there are older dragons that enter rage mode a second time and have their wings, so they do not stay put.  In such a case, I use my powers to keep them at bay, but that hasn’t happened in centuries. With the power of my ‘heart stone’, I provide the Northern Drakes with warmth in the winter and I grow fine, healthy gems for them to eat.  They grow all across this land, but the most exquisite ones grow in that crater.”
“So that’s why the gems taste so good here.”
“Gems grow around the world, but the best gems are grown by magic.  I produce these gems so the dragons may have a healthy diet and grow strong like your father.”
“I still haven’t met Dad yet.  They said he’s out wrangling a dragon in rage mode right now.”
“He will return, and when he does, he will be so happy to finally meet you.  Oh! And do my eyes deceive me or are those ponies down there?”
Spike looked back to see everyone flying up while Pumpkin used her magic to lift herself along with Chip and Annie.  She gave them both to Spike to hold in his arms while the others hovered around him, waving to the mountain.
“Hello, His Elevated Eminence,” Flurry said, happily. “I’m Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire.  This is Pound Cake, Pumpkin Cake, Apple Chip, Annie Smith, and Storm Streak.  They’re my friends from Ponyville.”
“So wonderful to see you, little ones!  I haven’t spoken to a pony in over a thousand years!”
“We’re happy to see you too, His Elevated Eminence!” Pound replied.
“We’ve never talked to a mountain, but it sure is awesome!” Stormy added.
“Haha!  Such charming little children.  Much like the baby dragons of Nordo Dracos who come to see me every day.  Both species really are not so different after all.”
Spike then noticed some red gemstones all around the mountain range were blinking on and off.
“That’s Dad!” shouted Scorch.
“Smite is returning!” shouted His Elevated Eminence. “Everyone take Spike to the southern platform and show him to his father!”
“Quickly, Spike!” Chara said as Spike carried Chip and Annie to follow his dragon family.
They all flew to a cliff facing the south where Smite would be arriving.  Tons of dragons were gathering around there to welcome their king.  This would be a very special moment, as Smite would finally get to see his son he had been missing for so long.
“So what’s with the blinking red crystals?” Spike asked Barb.
“Dad wears a crown with those same crystals, and when he returns, they light up like that until he’s back in here.  We usually give him a procession and roar like crazy to let him know we’re glad he’s back.”
“Yeah, I can see everyone’s getting really excited.”
“Everyone’s heard about you returning, Spike!” Singe said. “They can’t wait to see him react to you being here!”
Everyone landed on a special part of the platform that was reserved for Chara and her family.  They looked out at the horizon.  Clouds covered the land below, but Smite would be above them any second now. Chara put her hand up to get the other dragons to quiet down.  They heard the sound of very powerful wings flapping.  Spike was trembling and his heart was leaping out of his chest.  His smile grew bigger as the flapping grew louder. Finally something appeared above the clouds.  The dragons started cheering, but they stopped as soon as they got a better look of what was coming toward them.
A colossal dragon appeared above the clouds that looked nothing like how Smite was described.  Instead of being purple with green spikes, it was an ugly, dark shade of green with extra sharp purple spikes and long fins.  He was the largest dragon Spike had ever seen and his wingspan was so long, it probably covered nearly a half a mile in length.  It was muscular like Scorch but its eyes were white with no slit pupils visible.  It was carrying the remains of a large sailboat with tons of treasure and other random objects stored inside.
“Uh…who’s that?!” Flurry asked as the kids all hid behind Spike.
“That’s…that’s not Dad,” Barb said, nervously.
The dragon got closer.  He opened his mouth and roared so loudly, some of the dragons had to cover their heads.
“That must be the dragon Dad was wrangling earlier!” Scorch shouted.
“But where’s Dad though?” asked Spike.
“Guys, look!  He’s got Dad’s crown!” Singe said, pointing to the stash in the dragon’s arms.
They all looked closer to see a silver crown encrusted with seven red crystals.  Chara put her hands up to her mouth in shock.
“No…what have you done to my Smite?” she said with tears forming in her eyes.