//------------------------------//
// Spike the Tenacious 
// Story: Spike the Brave and Glorious 
// by Troyjan 
//------------------------------//

The intense light around Spike ceased once he fully rematerialized. Spike immediately noticed that instead of standing on his feet, he was a in a freefall at a considerable distance off the ground. Holding his bag which weighed several times the rest of his body, along with his armor, Spike desperately flapped his wings to slow his fall. Gravity hurled Spike into the ground after just a few seconds. Luckily, Spike’s armor absorbed the majority of the impact.
Picking himself off the soil, Spike looked around. The area he was in was vaguely familiar. Spike picked up his mace and shield, while leaving his sack containing Rarity’s ransom where it landed. Spike figured that if anything were strong enough to come and carry it away, Spike wouldn’t have any means of stopping such a force. Spike wandered around the vaguely familiar meadows, ponds, and patches of forest. Deciding that an aerial view would be helpful, Spike rapidly flapped his wings and flew upwards.
Once up in the sky, Spike was just barely able to make out the far outskirts of Ponyville in the distance. Turning around in the air, Spike saw a somewhat familiar looking mountain range in the distance. Spike let out a sigh of relief, as he confirmed that he was in fact where he thought he was. The teleportation potion had worked. Well, it worked well enough. Knowing that he was close to the target destination, Spike looked down at the ground. He began to scan the land for anything that could resemble a fallen, twisted, wooden log.
After flying around for several minutes, Spike homed in on a particular patch of trees that was relatively close to a dirt path. Looking closer, Spike spotted a fallen log lying on the ground on the opposite side of the grove of trees. Spike descended towards the log, and landed. Examining it further, the log seemed to be the remains of a long dead oak tree trunk. The wood seemed to have been deformed and twisted due to years of rotting, with algae and fungus growing all over it. Spike looked around the area, and then gasped. Near the log, was a deep hole in the ground that looked like it had been dug very recently. That had to be it. That had to be where the diamond dogs wanted Rarity’s ransom payment.
Spike took back to the skies, quickly flew back to where to originally teleported to, and spotted the sack that he left on the ground. Spike descended, and landed just besides it. While it was insanely heavy, Spike only had to carry it a relatively short distance. With some effort, he would manage. Second by second, Spike carried the massive load towards its destination. With just a little more effort, Rarity would be saved.
As Spike marched on, he could not help but feel uneasy about his situation. Getting late in the afternoon, the color of the sky was slowly changing towards the shade of orange of an early dusk. Shadows were stretching longer, and daylight was rapidly fading. Spike noticed how eerily quiet the entire area was. The things that Twilight had warned him about were finally settling in his mind. Spike was likely marching into diamond dog territory, all alone, possibly into some sort of ambush. And he also had no idea if giving away the gems and bits would actually help Rarity at all. Yet, Spike still marched on. It was up to him to save Rarity, and he would not let such things deter him from his important mission.
Spike made it to the log, and placed his bag down before letting out a loud exhale. With one last push, Spike carefully slid the massive bag into the hole in the ground, nearly filling it completely. Spike pushed the pile of loose dirt back over the hole, covering up his ransom payment and patting the dirt flat. Then, Spike waited. He continued waiting. Then he waited some more. Another several minutes gone by, but nothing happened. Spike looked around. As far as he could sense, there was no sign of any pony or dog anywhere in the area.
After several more minutes, Spike had had enough. He jumped up onto the log, holding up his shield and mace in his claws, with his helmet over his head. “COME OUT DIAMOND DOGS!,” he called out. “I’ve come for Lady Rarity. I have collected her ransom payment, as detailed in the note that you have left in her home. I wish to see her immediately. Come out if you want your gems and bits.”
Spike was only answered with silence. Spike stood in place, awaiting some sort of response. Then, Spike heard a strange sound. Turning his head, he noticed small disturbances coming from a small unsuspecting pile of tree leaves. The leaf pile was suddenly hurled into the air along with chunks of dirt, as three hairy bodies emerged from underneath. Rover, Fido, and Spot stood up, looked down, and scowled at Spike.
“YOU!!,” exclaimed Spike, immediately recognizing the three diamond dogs.
“The note said to leave all the gems and bits in that hole we dug, and to go away,” said Rover. “We will return Mistress Rarity later. We have no more business with you, dragon.”
“Yeah, beat it,” spat Spot.
“Get lost,” mumbled Fido.
“Now hold it right there,” said Spike. “How am I supposed to know that you even have Rarity, and that you will safely let her free?”
“We promise to bring her out when we are done counting the gems you brought. You have our word,” said Rover.
“You’ve taken Rarity twice now for your own selfish reasons. I have no reason to trust anything you say. Set Rarity free now, or you will not so much as touch these gems,” said Spike, standing over the filled in hole beside the log.
“No way!,” said Rover. “We need to take the gems and count them first.”
“Yeah, we need to know that you got them all, and that none of them are fake,” said Fido.
“Move aside dragon, or you’re not going to see your precious pony friend,” said Spot.
“In the bag buried beneath me, are 180 diamonds, 132 Amethysts, 96 Sapphires, 84 Pearls, 60 Rubies, 48 Emeralds, 24 garnets, and 12 Opals, along with 48,000 bits, everything you asked for. I promise you that it’s all in there. You have my word.”
“Pah, as if we would trust you,” spat Rover. “You’re a dragon who eats gems. You chew them up and swallow them, and they are all gone forever. Every day you destroy more precious gems, gems that we would love to have. We diamond dogs despise you dragon.” Rover stood upright, taking a menacing step towards Spike. “You better not anger us. Leave right now, or you will be sorry.”
“Gem Eater!,” snarled Spot.
“Greedy Pest!,” growled Fido.
Spike stood tall, not budging from the ground he stood on. “It seems that you three are not willing to negotiate,” said Spike. “You abduct Rarity, demand a high ransom for her, and now you threaten me for it. You monsters don’t deserve any gems. You dogs need a harsh lesson in common decency.” Spike lowered the front of his helmet over his face, and assumed a battle stance. “We shall settle this with a duel. If I am defeated, I comply with your terms. If I am victorious, you will set Rarity free, and I will take back her ransom.”
Rover barked in frustration. “You’re going to regret this dragon! Get him!,” ordered Rover.
“Bring it on,” taunted Spike. Immediately, Rover, Fido, and Spot lunged forward. Then Spike’s vision suddenly went black.

Spike soon felt himself lying on the ground. The front of his head was aching and throbbing. His shield and mace were not in his claws. Spike had his eyes clenched shut.
“Well, the dragon still looks alive,” said a voice.
“I hope so. It would be terrible if he had died,” said a second voice. “And imagine all the trouble we would be in.”
“I don’t like the dragon either. But you didn’t need to be so rough,” said a third voice.
“I didn’t mean to kill him. I thought he was tougher than that.”
“I know. You knocked him down in just one hit.”
“Yeah, I thought dragons were supposed to fight.”
“I think that maybe this dragon does not fight so well.”
Spike slowly opened his eyes as he regained consciousness. He was wearing his armor, lying down with his back in some mud. His mace and shield were on opposite sides of him, just out of reach. The front of his helmet was resting up, allowing Spike to see clearly. Spike quickly focused onto three familiar looking diamond dogs, who were hunched over, looking down at him. “What happened?,” asked Spike, holding his aching forehead. He felt a noticeably large and sensitive bruise on his scales.
“Do you remember dragon? You tried to fight us. You lost, badly,” said Rover. “I hit you once, and you fall asleep for a few minutes.”
Spike remembered that he had challenged three large, bipedal dogs to a duel for some reason. That last thing he could recall seeing was the three of them lunging towards him. Then everything went black. And now he woke up. Second by second, Spike slowly remembered why he was where he was, and what he was doing. The reality of what had happened began to set in Spike’s mind.
“GOSH DARN IT!,” shouted Spike in frustration. Taking his time, Spike slowly got back up onto his feet. He picked up his mace and shield, and lowered the front of his helmet over his head.
“You got a lucky hit. I won’t let that happen again. It’s time for me to get serious,” warned Spike as he got back into his battle stance. Suddenly, his head began throbbing again, as he stood up too quickly. Spike winced, and lowered his stance, trying to stay balanced. “Just as soon as I’m ready.”
Rover, Fido, and Spot looked at Spike questionably, and with a hint of empathy. “Do not try it,” said Fido, sounding more concerned than threatening.
“You will not last long,” warned Rover.
Spike let out a frustrated grunt. The humiliation of his previous defeat was already starting to set in, as he considered his circumstances. However, Spike had another plan ready. “I really didn’t want to have to use this now, but you leave me no other choice,” said Spike. 
Spike dropped his mace and shield, threw off his helmet, and quickly took off his armor. Upon removing his rear body plate, Spike reached behind him, and revealed a glass bottle. Within it contained a brightly colored, sparkling liquid, appearing to be some kind of potion. Spike uncorked the bottle, and quickly gulped down the solution. Rover, Fido, and Spot turned their heads, and looked at Spike in confusion. Suddenly, a bright light began to form around Spike, the potion working its magic on his body. Soon enough, the diamond dogs were about to find out about Spike’s backup plan.