Smolder slowly stirred awake as the sun started to peak over the horizon. She stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and stretched, her joints popping as she did so. Looking down, she saw Garble still unconscious in his bed in the Crystal Empire’s medical ward. Ever since Ember took off to retrieve Spike, she had stayed by her brother’s side, watching for any change in his condition.
“Hope you wake up soon Gar Gar.” Smolder muttered to herself.
She walked over to the window and saw the denizens of the Crystal Empire moving in somewhat of a hurry, almost in a panic. At that moment, Cadence burst through the door looking around flustered and panicked.
“What’s going on?” Smolder asked.
“It’s Flurry Heart! She’s missing!” She answered in a worried tone. “You haven’t seen her have you?”
Smolder thought it over for a moment before a realization hit her.
“No, but I have a pretty good idea where she might be.”
“Come with me. We can discuss it with the others in the throne room.” Cadence said. Smolder took one last look over to Garble before following Cadence out of the room. As she left, Garble’s hand let out a slight twitch.
Meanwhile, Ember and Flurry Heart continued their trek into the desert as they made their way toward Klugetown, the heat starting to weigh heavily upon them.
“Why would Big Bro go to Klugetown though? What could possibly be there?” Flurry Heart asked.
“The Overmare. My guess is that her intelligence network could help him find Opaline.” Ember answered. After more time spent walking, the duo finally saw Klugetown over the horizon. As they made their way to the gates, they could more clearly see its damaged and disheveled state and creatures running around all over the place in a hurried manner.
“Hey, watch it!” Ember snapped as she narrowly avoided being knocked over by a guard who was rushing past. The guard simply kept moving, not even turning to acknowledge her.
“What in the world happened here? The place is a mess.” Flurry Heart stated as she took in the sights and sounds of Klugetown.
“Looks like an attack.” Ember said.
“You’re right about that.”
They both turned toward the source of the new voice they heard, and Ember recognized it as Luster Dawn.
“Opaline?” Ember asked.
“Sure was. That harpy apparently led an army of monsters to ransack this place. She stole my Scrying Eye.” Luster explained. Ember groaned as Flurry Heart tilted her head in confusion.
“You had a Scrying Eye? I thought they were all destroyed.”
“Almost all of them. The one I had was one of the last.” Luster answered.
“And where is it now?” Ember asked.
“I’m not exactly sure. But I know that Opaline is preparing a ritual somewhere to the northeast. She likely still has it on her. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to rebuilding Klugetown.” Luster answered as she took her leave. Ember and Flurry Heart flashed each other a look.
“You think that’s…” Flurry started.
“Where Spike is headed? Definitely.” Ember finished. “We’d better get moving if we want to catch him before he gets there.”
Meanwhile, Spike and Emziko continued their own journey towards Opaline’s ritual sight, talking casually about various subjects as they traveled.
“So you mentioned before that you didn’t grow up in the Dragon Lands either. What was it like for you?” Spike asked. Emziko tapped her arm as she thought it over.
“Well, I wouldn’t say my story’s anything special. It’s just the tale of a rotten kid who learned to survive on the streets.” Emziko answered.
“You certainly seem like you can handle yourself.” Spike said. Emziko rubbed the back of her head nervously as her face was flushed for a moment.
“Yeah well, since I didn’t really have parents or anything I took to stealing to make a living. Started brushing up against a lot of criminal groups who needed someone that was good at breaking into places.”
“It must have been hard growing up in that way.” Spike said.
“I got used to it pretty quickly. And you know you can’t trust criminals and all that. I gotta say though, traveling with you has been… refreshing. It’s nice not having to be on guard all the time.” Emziko said as she gave Spike a smile. Spike placed a hand over his heart.
“That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” He said sarcastically. Emziko gave him a swift punch in the shoulder, causing him to laugh.
“Yeah well, don’t get used to it. C’mon, we’ve still got quite a ways to go!” She said as she took off ahead of him. Spike chuckled to himself, though his smile faded slightly as he recalled memories from his past. He shook his head and pushed it down as he took off to catch up with Emziko.
Back in the Crystal Empire, Smolder and many other advisors were gathered in the throne room. Smolder had explained to everyone present where it was Flurry Heart may have disappeared to, and now Cadence was pacing back and forth nervously.
“Why would she just take off like that? What was she thinking?” Cadence asked to no one in particular, her worry for her daughter readily apparent in her voice.
“She seems like she’s gung-ho about getting Spike back. She really does think of him as a big brother doesn’t she?” Smolder retorted.
“Regardless, this stunt was quite reckless. The lands outside the borders of the Crystal Empire are quite dangerous, and without magic, she will be more vulnerable than normal.” Luna stated plainly.
“I can get a search party together in no time Your Majesty. Just give the word.” Benga declared.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary Benga.” Capper chimed in. “Think about it, she’s traveling with Ember, and she’s one tough dragon. As long as they don’t get separated, they should be okay right?”
“That’s a big if Capper. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with leaving my daughter’s fate up to chance like that.” Cadence responded.
“You don’t have to. I can meet up with them out there and get Flurry Heart back home.” Smolder said.
“Not without me you’re not.”
Everyone in the throne room turned and saw Garble standing at the entryway, still looking ragged but surprisingly awake.
“You didn’t think I’d let you do this on your own did you Sis?” He asked. He stepped forward to approach her but quickly collapsed as a pony nurse trailed just behind him looking quite frantic.
“Sir I told you that you need to take it slow. You’ve been in a coma for quite some time now.” She said as she tended to Garble.
“She’s right Gar. Maybe you should take some time to recover first.” Smolder said.
“I’ve been sidelined long enough. I’m going.” Garble shot back with a determined look in his eyes as he rose to his feet. Smolder was actually taken aback as she had never seen such determination from her brother before. The others were also surprised by Garble’s actions, but nonetheless accepted that he wouldn’t be deterred.
“Very well. We shall leave it to you then.” Luna decided. Cadence breathed a sigh as she looked towards the two dragons, still a bit worried.
“Just make sure all of you come back safe.” She says sternly, making sure she got her point across.
“Of course.” Smolder nods. She turns to Garble with newfound determination and asks, “Ready?”
“You know it Sis.” Garble answers as they both head out of the throne room.
The sound of dirt crunched underfoot as Spike and Emziko walked along an old earthen trail. It was about midday at this point and they had already been traveling for quite some time, having decided to stop and take a rest.
“Still got any of that food?” Emziko asked. Spike checked inside his bag and saw they still had some of the fish they had caught earlier that morning.
“There’s still plenty fortunately.” He responded as he tossed her one.
“Sweet.” She breathed a sigh of relief as she let out a quick stream of fire breath, cooking the fish as the delicious aroma permeated the area. Spike could feel his mouth beginning to water as he smelled the fish and decided to reach into the bag and do the same.
“Got really lucky with these didn’t we?” Spike said as he consumed his fish.
“Definitely.” Emziko let out as she swallowed the last of her fish. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, the sounds of nature continuing idly around them before Emziko asked “How much farther do you think we’ve got?”
Spike thinned his lips as he thought it over for a moment.
“I’d imagine not too much farther. We’re heading in the right direction.”
“Mind if I ask you something?” Emziko inquired. Spike raised an eyebrow before giving her a nod.
“Why do you want to do this so badly? This seems to be about more than just putting the world back together or whatever.” Emziko continued. Spike took a seat on a nearby log and thought it over for a moment. He wasn’t sure how exactly to explain to her what this meant to him but after a moment of thinking it over, he figured he owed her an explanation if they were going to be traveling together.
“It is. This pony, Opaline, she’s the reason that everything fell apart certainly, but there’s more to it than that.” He ran a hand across his face as he let out a heavy sigh. “When everything started, I wasn’t there when Princess Twilight needed me the most. I let her down. I let everyone I care about down. And now, it’s my responsibility to set it right.”
Emziko struggled to find the words as Spike finished his speech. She had a feeling this was personal for him but was shaken to her core when she found out just how personal.
“And when you say set it right, does that mean…” She trailed off, the hesitation in her voice carrying her point across all too clearly to Spike.
“I don’t know. And honestly, that scares me.” He whispered as he shakily exhaled. Emziko took a seat on the log next to him and put her hand over his.
“Hey. I may not entirely understand what you’re going through, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, I’m here for you.” Emziko soothed. Spike turned to face her and they locked eyes, the whole world seemingly freezing around them for that brief moment in time. They moved closer for but a second before Spike cleared his throat and pulled away.
“We should keep moving.” He stood up quickly and rushed on ahead, leaving Emziko alone on the log. She shook her head a few times before rushing to catch up with him as they still had quite the journey ahead.
Elsewhere, Ember held her communicator in her hand as she spoke with Smolder. A huge smile briefly leaped across her face as she heard Smolder’s news.
“Garble’s awake!?” She asked excitedly before composing herself. “That’s great to hear.”
“Yeah he’s here. Told him he needed to rest up but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Smolder responded as she stifled a laugh at Ember’s reaction to the news.
“I heard that Sis!” Ember heard Garble call from Smolder’s end, which got a laugh out of both her and Flurry Heart.
“So where are you guys at now? We’re gonna try and meet up with you.” Smolder asked.
“We just left Klugetown and we’re heading northeast. Spike is already about a day or so ahead of us, and if we don’t hurry, it might already be too late.” Ember responded.
“Gotcha. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
Ember hung up her communicator as she looked back towards Flurry Heart.
“Ready?” She asked. Flurry Heart nodded.
“Let’s get Big Bro back.”
Their resolve hardened, they continued towards their destination, hoping to catch up to Spike before they passed the point of no return.