//------------------------------// // Episode 32: The Hunting Arc; Part One // Story: The Drake Six // by JNKing //------------------------------// Though Twilight’s tree-library had been spared from Tirek’s wrath, that didn’t seem to stop it from getting an upgrade. As Spike discovered, when Twilight and the Mane Five’s yelps roused him from sleep.  As he pulled himself from bed, he discovered the reading table - where Twilight normally had books propped up against a carving of a pony head - had been replaced by a strange crystalline table. One with a holographic map of all of Equestria spread out before it.  “Whoa, Twilight,” Spike stammered, joining the girls. “When did you get this installed.” “I-I didn’t,” Twilight admitted. “It showed up just a few seconds ago.”  Spike got closer. “It’s incredible,” he murmured. “It’s got all of Equestria.” He pointed. “There’s Mount Aris where Jackknife’s people live…” He looked around and pointed again. “T-That’s Griffonstone - Swift’s old stomping grounds, and… is that the Dragon Lands?”  “Hi Mom and Dad,” Pinkie cheered, waving at a perfect holographic recreation of her rock farm. “But if this is Ponyville…” Fluttershy noted, pointing to a replica of their hometown, before drawing attention to six floating depictions of the Mane Six’s cutie marks hovering over a stretch of mountains. “Why are our cutie marks over there?”  Twilight rubbed her chin. “I don’t know. But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The tree… the chest… and now the map? I mean, how can we not follow it?”  “Y’know what?” Rainbow Dash admitted. “There’s a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!”  “Shoot,” Applejack noted. “I reckon yer right.”  “Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets,” Pinkie admitted. “But okay.”  Rarity sighed. “Very well.”  Fluttershy winced. “Maybe I’ll just stay here.”  “Good idea,” Spike said. “I can gather up the Drake Six and we can check it out for you.”  “Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold on, buddy,” Rainbow Dash said. “You guys have already had a lot of adventures. Meeting griffons and Storm Kings and sea ponies… let us have a crack at this.”  “O-On second thought… yeah,” Fluttershy admitted. “I don’t want to force Swift to go in my place. He’s still scared of Discord and someone locking him up in a cage again.”  Spike winced. “He’s still scared about that?”  Fluttershy looked down sadly. “It was a horrible experience for everyone.”  Twilight nodded. “She’s right, Spike. You and your friends have already done more than enough for Equestria. Take a break. We can handle this.”  Spike gazed at Twilight with worry. “Are you sure? I mean, what if there’s something…” “The map wants us to go,” Twilight insisted. “Maybe… I don’t know, maybe going there will help us understand why it’s here. Why it gave us the chest and everything. I can’t just foist all that onto you and your friends.”  Spike reluctantly saw her logic, but a part of him still shivered at the idea of letting Twilight go alone.  “I… haven’t been around to be your assistant…” he muttered.  Twilight went over to him and hugged him. “But you’re more than my assistant,” she said. “You proved that. Time and time again.” She smiled at him. “We’ll be okay. I promise.”  Gazing into her eyes, Spike couldn’t find it in himself to contradict her anymore. But his heart still fluttered with anxiety. Anxiety that only increased as he watched Twilight and her friends pack, board a train, and head off for adventure. Fluttershy’s words about Swift bubbled up to his mind, and Spike set off, curious to see if Swift needed his help.  He found the griffon-dragon hybrid back at Fluttershy’s cottage, singing some sort of duet with some of the birds. “Hey Swift,” Spike called. “You doing okay?”  Swift yelped as the birds scattered, with Swift himself ducking into the tree. He poked his head out to look at Spike.  “Oh! Spike. Sorry,” Swift climbed out of the tree with a blush on his face. “The birds and I were, uh… well, we, uh…” His feathers completely puffed out, and he whispered, “We were having a rap battle.”  The embarrassed look on Swift’s face was all that kept Spike from busting out laughing. “Seriously?”  “I know it doesn’t sound like it,” Swift admitted. “But… it’s kinda fun. And it doesn’t involve any combat.” He perked up as he heard twittering further away. “Oh, and it’s still on. Look, I’ll talk to you later; I know you can’t understand it, but I can’t let him tweet what he’s tweeting lying down.”  Spike could only stare in amazement as Swift took back to the trees again and started singing back.  What happened to the Swift I knew who cowered at the sound of a raised voice? Spike mused. Eh, then again, bird voices are probably nicer to listen to.  With Swift still too busy tweeting to give more of an explanation, Spike went off to try and find some of his other friends.  He soon found Night Fire - or Star Wing, as she seemed to be going by now - in the middle of a massive group of ponies, regaling them with tales of adventures. “So, my eyes flutter open,” Star said dramatically. “And there, hanging right over me, was a thestral. All ready to sink his fangs into my neck. But then he stopped. He saw that I was awake.” She chuckled. “I asked him, ‘Is this true love’s kiss or something?’”  As a smattering of laughter rang through, Spike paused, curious in her story.  “He says, ‘you can’t be that stupid, can you?’ And I reply, ‘Well, do you want a stake through the heart?’ Guess what I’ve got aimed right at his chest.”  Several of the ponies laughed, as Star noticed Spike.  “Oh, hey Spike,” Star greeted. “Join us; I was telling some stories about the adventures I went on while on the Roads.”  Spike glanced at the crowd. “Can I assume revealing who you really were is going okay?”  “Going okay?” Star laughed. “It’s going better than I thought it would. Here I was, fully ready to believe I’d get rejected again.”  “Oh, come on, Star,” one of her audience said. “You saved us from Tirek. Why would we reject you.”  Star grinned. “Well, now that you mention it…”  As she launched into another story, Spike decided to leave her to her fans and continued on his way.  He found Phoenix working with Astral, the two hammering out a set of armor together and too focused on their work to talk.  Jackknife was in the middle of an argument with some weather ponies about how he could make clouds rain. Spike almost ran in when Jackknife made one cloud rain on a particularly moody looking pony, only for the situation to defuse itself as the sea serpent and the pegasi all started laughing at the trick.  As Spike watched Jackknife and the pegasi laughing, he then noticed Scootaloo, who was watching him curiously before Sweetie Belle ran over with some paperwork.  My paperwork, Spike remembered morosely. Before I left Twilight. Abandoned her. Wincing at his thoughts, Spike turned away… and noticed Celine - one of Diamondback’s diamond dogs. Curious as to where the eldest of their group was, Spike followed Celine, and found himself climbing up the same mountain where the Mane Six had once evicted a dragon. Once again, the cave at the top was filled with treasure. But this time, Diamondback was sitting back, reading from one of her many books as her diamond dogs either counted gems or patrolled the cave.  “Spike,” Diamondback greeted as he approached. “Brilliant Spike…” she looked around. “Do you think the ponies will mind if I take residence here? I remember the last dragon to camp out here wasn’t nearly as welcome.”  Spike chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah, well, to be fair, that dragon almost covered the whole town in smoke from his snoring.”  Diamondback tsked. “It’s a problem with the sinuses, it is, love,” she said. “Not to worry; I take medication for that sort of thing. You won’t even know I’m asleep until you notice my eyes are closed.” However, she then noticed Spike’s downtrodden face. “What’s wrong, dearie?” She patted the treasure next to her. “Come. Sit. Tell me what ails you?”  Spike sat next to her, gazing out of the cave entrance to Ponyville below.  “Did I make the right choice, DB?” he asked. “Leaving Ponyville and Twilight behind? I-I feel like I should be happy with where I’m at.” He grinned up at her. “I’ve got you and the others… and Twilight’s doing okay without me… I think.”  Diamondback tilted her head. “You ‘think?’”  “She’s got the Cutie Mark Crusaders helping her,” Spike explained. “So, I shouldn’t have to worry about her not getting along without me. But…” “But you feel like it’s still your job, right?” Shiva asked, coming up alongside the two. Spike nearly jumped at her input. But he couldn’t deny the truth. “Well… yeah.” He looked back at Ponyville. “As fun as it is being with you guys… Twilight was… so many things to me. A mother. A big sister. A boss. A teacher.” he shook his head. “I left to find myself, but… what if who I wanted to be was right there at her side?”  Diamondback pondered his words, before gasping in realization. “Shiva, do we still have the book on Riders?”  Shiva scoffed. “With all due respect, Diamondback, how could we have lost it?”  “That ruffian Hawke’s attack on my person,” Diamondback offered.  Shiva shivered. “Good point. Give me a second.”  The Diamond Dog vanished behind some treasure, and for a moment, Diamondback and Spike were left to wait. However, all too soon, Shiva returned with a small tome featuring a dragon with a minotaur on it’s back.  Diamondback opened the book with a grin. “Yes,” she said. “It seems to me, dear, that Twilight may be your Rider.”  Spike blinked. “R-Rider?”  “Keep your mind out of the gutter,” Shiva warned. “It’s exactly what it says.”  “Indeed,” Diamondback agreed, showing Spike pictures of dragons carrying all sorts of creatures: minotaurs, griffons with broken wings… there were even an earth pony or two situated on the backs of dragons.  Diamondback turned the book back to herself. “Several millennia ago, a dragon named Soot formed a symbiotic bond with a griffon named Gust: the dragon had been blinded in a battle long ago, while the griffon had lost the use of her wings. Finding each other, the two found that by helping each other, they became a greater whole: Soot was able to carry Gust around, becoming her wings, while Gust became Soot’s eyes. Other dragons derogatorily called Gust Soot’s ‘Rider,’ but their excellent teamwork was an inspiration to many dragons who had been crippled. Before long, ‘Rider’ went from a derogatory term to an entire faction. Proof that friendship and cooperation could be even more valuable than many of the jewels beneath the earth.”  Spike gazed at a picture of a unicorn and a dragon together. “Wow…” he mumbled. “So… Twilight and I… she could be… my Rider?”  Diamondback flipped the pages, and grinned. “It seems to be that way: Solaris, the parent of Celestia and Luna, was inspired by the Riders. And though time and betrayal from outside sources dwindled and eventually led the Riders to become little more than mythology, Solaris still hoped to bring them back. Not wanting to stoop to deliberately injuring dragons, Solaris took to the practice of finding abandoned eggs, and having them be hatched and raised by ponies, in the hope that by having a pony and a dragon imprint on each other, they could bring back the Riders, and the proof that species who work together are far more capable than any species or creature who stands alone.”  Spike almost thought he was glowing with glee. Could it be possible; could he and Twilight bring back one of the earliest showings that friendship and camaraderie were the best weapons to wield against darkness?  Oh, how he wished he could talk to Twilight now; tell her what he had learned. At the very least, he knew where she’d show up again.  He held his talon out for the book. “Could… could I borrow that?” he asked. “I imagine Twilight would find that very enlightening.”  Diamondback smiled and handed the book to him. “You both are my treasures,” she promised. “I know I can trust you.”  Spike beamed at her… and before he could stop himself, he gave her a hug. “Thanks, DB,” he said. “Thanks for standing by me.”  She was bigger than he was, but she caressed him gently with her talons. “Anytime,” she promised.  Spike ran back to the library, his mind buzzing with thoughts and questions. What would Twilight think of these ‘Riders?’ Why had they not been brought up before in pony history? Diamondback mentioned betrayal from the outside, but who would have wanted such signs of cooperation destroyed? And, of course, was it wrong to look at DB the way he had looked at Rarity? Both were so much older than him. And yet both were also such beautiful and strong females. Shimmering like jewels in the sun. Maybe… Unfortunately, his thoughts about Rarity and Diamondback were soon chased from his mind. For as he entered Twilight’s library again, a strange glitching, flickering light caught his gaze.  The map was still up; Twilight and her friend’s cutie marks hovering over the mountains.  But they were flickering. Fading. And all of a sudden… went out completely.  The book Spike had borrowed thudded to the floor. As he turned to get the others, he failed to notice a passage in the book as it’s fluttering pages came to rest:  ‘What ultimately seemed to cause the downfall of the Riders was ironically their greatest strength: loyalty. A dragon who lost their rider would often die of despair or waste away to nothing. For without their rider, these particular dragons often have little to no reason to live.’