//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Gauntlet of Fire // Story: A Sparkle's Little Dusk IV: A Family Eternal // by Mister E-Nonymous //------------------------------// Chapter 5: The Gauntlet of Fire In the Castle of Friendship, in the dining room, Twilight, Dusk, Nyx, Daylight, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were all in the room for some tea. "I'm so glad you two could come!" Twilight said. "Of course," Princess Luna responded. "We so rarely get a chance to relax and just visit." "There's usually some crisis we have to deal with," Princess Celestia said. "Somepony always needs our help. But today..." Just then, the sound of Rarity wailing behind a closed door came to the five alicorns and Daylight. "Help!" Rarity's voice came from behind the closed door. Just then, the doors slammed open, revealing Rarity, messed up, wearing an orange miner's helmet with a blue bow, similar to Apple Bloom's, and was carrying Spike in her magic, who was glowing brighter than Rarity's aura. "Twilight! There's something wrong with Spike!" She levitated Spike to the table, moving the snacks out of the way to place Spike there. Spike was scratching himself during the glowing. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked. Spike then sat up and said, "I don't know! Nngh! All of a sudden, my scales just started glowing and... burning!" "Little is known about dragon culture, but this is a phenomenon we've seen before," Princess Luna said. "It is the call of the Dragon Lord." "Dragons glow whenever the Dragon Lord has need of them in the Dragon Lands," Princess Celestia added. "Great," Spike said, looking at the royal sisters. He then scratched harder. "H-How do I make it stop?!" "The only way to end the summons is to answer it," You must journey to the Dragon Lands and see what is expected of you." " B-B-But the Dragon Lands are full of... dragons!" Rarity said, very nervous about the Dragon Lands. "And they're ghastly creatures!" Dusk cleared his throat, getting Rarity's attention. He then tilted his head quickly towards Spike. Rarity then looked at Spike, remembering that he was a dragon as well. "Oh, oh, not you, of course, Spikey-wikey." She touched Spike's chin, cheering him up. But that smile went away after Rarity said, "But remember that rotten Garble?" Spike gulped and said, "How could I forget? He would have burnt us to a crisp if you weren't there." He then thought of something. "If I have to go to the Dragon Lands, would you five come with me?" Spike was referring to Twilight, his three siblings, and Rarity. "Ooh! Oh my goodness, I'd love to!" Twilight said, excitedly. "We are sadly lacking any information on dragon culture and customs. I could research them... maybe even write an article! This could be my chance to make a great contribution to the knowledge of Equestria!" She then looked at the others in the room, who were all giving her a deadpanned look. She then composed herself and said, "And be there for Spike, heh, of course." "Be very careful," Princess Celestia said. "The Dragon Lands are particularly dangerous for ponies. It would be wise to be discreet." "Ooh! I'm sure I still have the dragon costume we used the last time we snuck into the Dragon Lands!" Rarity said, clapping her hooves and giggling. "I think we might want something a little more practical this time," Twilight said. "Also, I don't think it's wise for Dusk, Nyx and Daylight to come into the Dragon Lands. They could risk us getting caught. So, it might be best if they wait in the forest outside of the Dragon Lands." "That's a good point," Dusk said. "At least it'll give us a chance to see Peewee again." Nyx smiled at that. "Who's Peewee?" Daylight asked. "Peewee was Spike's pet baby Phoenix," Dusk said. "Spike took care of Peewee until he made a mess in the library. Mom said that Peewee was too much trouble to keep around, so Spike had no choice but to bring Peewee back to where he came from." Spike sighed and said, "It was the hardest thing I had to do." "I still remember the Peewee back in the Equestria I came from," Nyx said. She then giggled. "I used to sneak him some treats while that Spike wasn't looking." Spike laughed and said, "I'm guessing you got caught by the other me?" "No," Nyx replied. "But that Twilight saw me doing it. Although, Spike must've overheard that night after we got home from performing that play." "Where you played yourself in a way," Dusk said, making Nyx nod in response. "I saw that memory," Princess Luna said. "It was funny how that pink filly playing my sister forgot her lines and accidentally modernized the words." "Diamond Tiara was still the school bully at the time," Nyx said. "I'm sure by now, she's changed for the better. Hopefully the Spoiled Rich of that Equestria is also arrested for embezzling." "That is if somepony got proof like I did," Dusk said. "He's got a point," Daylight said. "Anyway, we should get going as soon as possible," Twilight said. In the forest outside of the Dragon Lands, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight were walking through, searching for a certain something. They were looking up at any nests they could find. "I'm sure that Peewee's family nest is around here somewhere," Dusk said. "Are you sure he's nearby?" Daylight asked. "This place is almost kinda creepy." "Hey, look!" Nyx said, pointing at a nest. "That's the same next that Peewee was taken back to in the picture," Dusk said. "But where's..." He was then interrupted when something flew past the foals very quickly. They looked up at what flew by and saw another phoenix. "Peewee?!" Dusk asked. "Is that you?" The phoenix looked down at the foals, smiled at Dusk, and landed right next to him. He then nuzzled and pulled Dusk in for a wing hug. He then noticed Dusk's wings. "Yeah, I know," Dusk said. "You're not the only one who's changed since the last time we saw each other." He then looked over at his two sisters. "Oh, you should meet my sisters." Peewee looked towards Nyx and Daylight. "This is Nyx, and Daylight Savings." Peewee squawked and pulled the two fillies in for a wing hug. "Wow, he's so warm," Daylight said. "Phoenixes are practically fire birds," Nyx said. "In fact, they can regenerate themselves through fire once they go through a life cycle. You should ask Princess Celestia or Fluttershy about Philomena." "Wow," Daylight said. "That's gonna be a long day." Just then, Peewee looked off somewhere, and started flying away. "Hey, where're you going?!" Dusk called out to Peewee. Peewee was already out of sight from the three foals. "That's odd. I've never seen him fly off like that before." Just then, he tripped on a tree trunk, making him roll, heading down a hill, rolling and screaming all the way down, making him land on something. It was a table full of tea stuff. Nyx and Daylight ran down the hill to see Dusk on the table. "That wasn't so smooth." He then looked up and saw someone. "Uh... this isn't mine!" the orange dragon said. She then quickly took off the dress and tiara, and then rubbed the makeup off her face, pulled her legs in and gave a nervous grin. Dusk, Nyx and Daylight were all jaw dropped at what they just saw. Dusk then asked, "Do all dragons have secret hobbies and keep them to themselves." The orange dragoness then got a grumpy look and said, "You never saw any of that, got it?" Dusk, Nyx and Daylight nodded. "Good." She then realized something. "Wait a second. Three young ponies here, no adult pony in sight, all by themselves outside of the Dragon Lands? Why are you here?" "Spike, our dragon brother, has been summoned to the Dragon Lands for..." Nyx said before being cut off by the orange dragoness. "The Gauntlet of Fire?!" the orange dragon asked. "Oh, that's gonna be a tough challenge for a dragon who hasn't been raised in the Dragon Lands. Especially if that dragon doesn't have his wings yet." "Actually, I've been wondering about that," Dusk said. "How does a dragon get their wings?" "Meh, you might as well get some information about dragons and pass it onto your dragon brother," Smolder said. "It would be more understandable for a dragon to know how he's gonna grow up." "Like when Spike started getting bigger the day after his first birthday in Ponyville," Dusk said. "Oh, I heard of that," Nyx said. "Scootaloo told me that Spike tried taking her scooter." "Greed Induced Bigness," the dragoness said. "That's a common thing. And I'm guessing your dragon brother got his greed under control?" Dusk nodded. "Better him this big..." Dusk then motioned his left hoof to be as high as Spike's current height. "...than about sixty feet tall." "Wow," the dragoness said. "Now that's big. Okay, so he's a little taller than you three, and I'm guessing he doesn't have his wings yet." "No, he doesn't have wings," Nyx said. "Wait. Yet?" "That's the other thing when Dragon's grow up," the dragoness said. "They have to go through the molt. You should write this down." "That's a good call..." Nyx said, but then she remembered she never got the dragoness's name. "I'm sorry, I never got your name." "Right," the dragoness said. "The name's Smolder." "Well, Smolder, since we're gonna be here a while, we might as well get as much information about dragons as we can," Dusk said. "What better information about dragons than from a dragon herself." "Good thinking," Smolder said. "C'mon. Let's talk about this back in my home." She then picked up Daylight around her barrel and started flying off. Dusk and Nyx followed her. From the cave where Smolder lives, Dusk was waiting by the entrance, looking out at the Flame-cano, looking at the challenge going on through a pair of binoculars. "Wow," Dusk said. "That challenge looks tough." "Yup," Smolder said. "Too bad I wasn't involved with that." "Why not?" Nyx asked. "Only one member of a dragon family is allowed to attend," Smolder said. "And since this dragon brother of yours is the only dragon in your family... Let's just say I hope you said your last goodbye to him." "That's harsh," Daylight said. "Meh, that's just growing up dragon," Smolder responded. "Hey, you got as much information on dragon physiology." "That you know of," Nyx said. "True," Smolder said. "There are a lot of dragon things I don't know yet. I'll figure it out when I get older." "Hey, who's that dragon that Spike is riding?" Dusk asked. Smolder walked over towards Dusk and took the binoculars. "Which one?" Smolder asked. "Our brother's the purple dragon with green spines," Dusk said as Smolder was looking through the binoculars. "He's riding a blue dragon wearing armor." Smolder then saw Spike through the binoculars and the dragon he was riding. "That's Princess Ember!" Smolder said before removing the binoculars from her eyes. "She's the daughter of our current Dragon Lord!" "O... M... G..." Daylight said. "Yeah," Smolder said. "Hopefully Dragon Lord Torch doesn't find out about it or else he'd be dead. That is if your brother survives the Gauntlet of Fire." "Hopefully, Spike makes it out alive," Dusk said. "He'd be lucky to get out of there," Smolder said. "The Gauntlet of Fire is the toughest challenge ever for a dragon." Daylight then thought of something and asked, "So... how long have you been doing... what we saw in the woods?" Smolder blushed at that. She then sighed. "Since I was five," Smolder said. "It was fun at first. But when I got older, the other dragons started making fun of me. They said I was being too much of a girly girl. So... I started doing it all in secret, so none of the dragons made fun of me." "It's nothing to be ashamed of," Nyx said. "When I first started school, I was amazed by how much stuff I was able to learn. But on my first day, I may have made a bunch of the other ponies in class miss a few minutes of recess. They were mad at me for asking a certain question and keeping them from class. Especially the school bullies." "Pshaw," Smolder said. "You didn't know any better. But I can understand that." About an hour later, Smolder escorted the three foals back to the forest area to meet with Twilight, Spike and Rarity. Smolder then left them there right before Twilight, Spike and Rarity came up. "Hey, there they are!" Spike said. Twilight and Rarity ran up to the three foals. "I see you three hadn't gotten into any trouble with the dragons," Twilight said. "Oh, we've had one dragon notice us," Dusk said. "What?!" Twilight, Rarity and Spike asked in unison. "It's okay," Daylight said. "She's not so bad as how you described the other dragons." "In fact, we've gotten to learn about Dragon Physiology," Nyx said, holding up the notepad of what she learned about Dragons. Twilight took the notepad in her magic and read it. "Greed Induced Bigness," Twilight said. "That's basically what happened to Spike the day after his first birthday in Ponyville. That was a big mess to clean up." "What's this... Molt Effect?" Rarity asked after reading the next part of the notes. "Basically, it's dragon puberty," Nyx replied. "Although, it might be a bit messy than what ponies go through." "Well, looks like we'll have to prepare when that happens to Spike," Twilight said. "Let's go home." Then they all continued walking away from the area. Smolder was looking down from a tree. Just then, she was ambushed by Garble who gave her a hug. "Uh... Gar-Gar? What are you doing?" Smolder asked in confusion. "I... can't... tell you!" Garble responded.