Grumble banked around a cloud. It wasn’t in his way or anything, he just felt like it. He looped around the next cloud he came across. He slammed right into the next one, reducing it to so many falling raindrops. He flew like this for a few more minutes before getting bored and landing. Pinkie had given him the day off from the bakery, so he wanted to try to have some fun, but he was actually having more fun trying to make all the new recipes than he was goofing off around town. It didn’t hurt that the bold, drakish dragoness was completely unpredictable. She added an element of surprise to anything she was involved in, making everything a little more interesting.
Grumble looked around as he strolled through town. He had already checked out the shops, had lunch at one of the local restaurants, and stopped by town hall to arrange for a hunting permit. But now? He was bored and killing time until the evening. He found a few things he wanted to buy, but he had no treasure or markers at the moment. The restaurant was… eh, it’s kind of hard to judge that one. Grumble wanted to start his own, so he’s really picky when it came to food. On top of that, the hunting permit wouldn’t be approved until the day after tomorrow. Looks like this town really is boring after all.
“SPLAT!!” Something impacted the side of Grumble’s face. He stood there with his head tilted for a moment, realizing that it wasn’t just Pinkie that was unpredictable; it was the entire town. He started wiping away the ball of mush that was plastered to him. It wasn’t until a bit of it got in his eye that he figured out what hit him. He also started screaming.
“Scootaloo! Ya hit somethin’!” The voice came from a good distance away. “Ah told ya we shoulda pointed it in the other direction.”
“But the arrow pointed this way.” Grumble writhed on the ground in pain as two voices approached him. “Did Sweetie Belle paint it on wrong?”
“Ah dunno, maybe?” The voices were really close now. Through a haze of burning pain and blindness, Grumble did his best to assess the situation. The voices sounded young and feminine, so this was probably some sort of accident rather than a malicious attack. If it was an attack, it sure was an effective one. “Are ya ok, mister? We’re real sorry, bout hittin’ ya like that.” Ok, not an attack, but what was that stuff?
“Applebloom, do ya suppose, maybe we should’ve tried the catapult out with something besides peppers?”
“Ah dunno, maybe? But peppers are what we need ta plant next. Ah was hopin’ the plant-a-pult would give mah brother more time ta work on his next book.”
“Plant-a-pult?” Grumble struggled to get himself upright. “Peppers?” He blinked rapidly. His eyes still burned, but the blindness was starting to wear off. He could see fuzzy shapes now. Two of those shapes stood out from the rest; one was orange and purple, the other was red and yellow, both were very, very close. “What?!” Grumble continued to blink, vision clearing a little with every flicker of the eyelids.
“The Plant-a-pult!” The yellow shape moved as the accented voice of Applebloom shouted happily. “Ya mash stuff up and launch it and the seeds fall out over the field. Bam! Plantin’s done in half the time.”
The orange shape got a little closer. That one must be Scootaloo. “Dude, are you crying?”
“Crying?! Am I-“ Grumble bit down on his lip to keep from yelling at the two young dragons. “Of course I’m crying,” he ground out, “you two just splattered my face with pepper. Celestia herself would be crying right now.” The orange shape moved. Did she just shrug? “Get out of here Grumble,” he thought to himself, “just cut your losses and run before something else happens.” He backed up and turned to leave. Behind him, he could hear the two voices continue their conversation.
“Applebloom, he seems kind of upset. Should we try to cheer him up?”
“Ah guess. What’s it called when yer somedragon who makes somedragon who’s unhappy happy again?”
“I dunno, a shrink?”
“What?!” Grumble turned around. “I don’t need a shrink! I need to get this pepper out of my eyes!” His eyes had cleared a little more and he could make out the two young dragons a little better. They were following him. “Just great.”
“Ya know,” chirped Applebloom happily, “mah brother says that all the time.” Grumble could see her pretty clearly now. She had yellow scales and a red underbelly. She was a little bigger than Twilight, but lacked horns or wings. She had a red bow tied to her red spines. She walked on four legs, but her body’s shape suggested she could also walk on two. “Just, without the pepper part.”
“Hey, I know,” Scootaloo chimed in, “why don’t you head to the library and get some of those free cupcakes? That’ll make you feel better.” This one was thinner than Applebloom; wings and a slightly serpentine shape showed that she was a flying type, but her wings were a little small. Her orange scales contrasted wildly with the purple of her underbelly and furred crest. She had rabbit-like ears that could be folded back against the wind and no spines. When her wings get bigger, she’s probably going to be an amazing flyer.
Grumble didn’t say anything; he just turned and walked away, trying his best to put the unpleasant encounter out of his head. Free cupcakes at the library? What is Spike up to? Grumble’s eyes were still burning, but he could finally see well enough to make out his surroundings. He was only a short flight away from the library, but flying would probably just aggravate his eyes. With a sigh, he started walking towards the oversized tree, leaving the two dragonlings to converse among themselves.
“So, Applebloom, do you know when Sweetie Belle’s coming back from treasure hunting with her folks?”
“Ah think it’s tomorrow, but it might be the day after.”
There’s three of them? Great. Grumble kept walking, silently vowing to never have hatchlings of his own.
As he got closer to the library, a familiar smell reached his nose. Sure enough, there were cupcakes in the vicinity of the library. Not just any cupcakes though, Sugarcube Corner cupcakes. He picked up his pace. Pinkie was one of the best cooks he had ever met, if her food was being given away, it wouldn’t last long. He rounded the library to find a half empty table of cupcakes. Looks like he made it in time. He walked over to the table and examined the display. It appeared to be an honor system, so that meant he could only take one. He had to make sure it was a good one. Honor is very important to a dragon after all.
“Don’t cry,” said a voice behind him, “I know life can be unfair sometimes, but things get better.”
“What?!” Grumble turned around to see a brownish dragon looking up from where he was glued to the outside of the library. “What was it?” He asked with a smile, “lost your job? Dragoness left you? Lost your horde in a phony real estate deal? I’ve been through all of them, and trust me, things will get better. By the way, my name’s Caramel.” He tried to put a claw out for a shake, but found it stuck firmly in place. “Sorry ‘bout that, I forgot.” He forgot he was glued to a tree? The dragon took a sip of water from a bowl on the table in front of him.
“I got splattered in the face with hot peppers.” Grumble sat down facing the immobile dragon.
“Plant-a-pult?” The dragon nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Two weeks ago, it was the super express meat delivery system. That was a mess,” the brown dragon rolled his eyes, “and guess who had to clean it up.” Grumble just sat there, staring. After a few moments, the other dragon’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh, hey, you’re the guy who almost ate me, right? How long does this glue last for? ‘Cause I don’t have much vacation time saved and my boss is already pretty mad at me. If I don’t show up to work soon I’ll probably be fired again.”
Grumble shook his head. “Ok, I’m lost. Why were you attacking the library?”
The dragon’s eyes went wide. “Attacking the- No! No, that was the other guy. I smelled smoke and came to investigate. Then I got eaten.” He bobbed his head. “And spit up.” He bobbed his head again. “And glued to a tree.” He tilted his head to the side. “All in all, I suppose it could have been worse.”
“If you say so.” Grumble turned to walk away, but kept watching the dragon. “The glue wears off in about a week, but I can bring you some turpentine to dissolve it.” Grumble didn’t say he would, he just wanted to judge the drake’s reaction.
“Don’t bother,” he said with a pathetic flap of a claw, “I’m allergic, and a week stuck to a tree is better than the month of itchy scales the turpentine would bring.”
“Ah.” Grumble tapped a claw against the ground. It seemed like he was innocent, but it also seemed like it made no difference either way. “I guess I could bring you a book or something. You know, to pass the time.” Grumble glanced at the cupcake-laden table. “I could also bring you some food.”
“I’ve got a pretty slow metabolism,” the dragon said with a smile, “I’ll be fine for another month at most, but a book would be great. Um,” he looked at the sky and made small indecisive noises as his head bobbed around, “maybe something about art, or music, or sports, or… well, really, I’ll take anything.” Caramel nodded. “Oh, but don’t feel like you have to get it now. I’ll probably just sleep for a while, so tomorrow’s good, or, you know, whenever you get around to it.” Caramel nodded again.
“Uh, ok.” Grumble turned back to the cupcake table. He picked out a cupcake topped with a sprig of mint. “So, what is this job of yours?”
Spike walked back to the library with Twilight on his back. He had planned ahead this time and brought more books than she would be able to read. They would stay at the boutique, ready for the hatchling’s next visit. He and Rarity were able to work uninterrupted and there were no major mishaps or delays. Most of the armor was complete, leaving Rarity with only a few minor details left to work out.
Spike was contemplating what he should make for dinner when he felt Twilight start moving on his back. “Auntie Dash!” Spike looked back to see the hatchling waving towards the sky. “Auntie Dash! Down here!” Spike looked towards the sky. This “Dash” was obviously a flying dragon, unless Twilight was pulling a joke on him.
After a few moments of searching the sky, Spike turned his head to face the hatchling. “Twili-“
“There she is!” The little dragon pointed her claw at a spot in the distance. Spike followed the gesture until he was looking at an empty patch of sky.
“Twilight, there’s nothing there.” He was just about to continue walking when a rainbow formed in the sky, just formed, for no reason that Spike could discern. It was unlike any rainbow the unicorn had ever seen. First of all, it was a straight line; second, it was headed straight for them. Spike ducked as it passed over them. He followed its path as it started a wide loop up and around. Once the rainbow hit the top of its arc, it banked sharply downward and plummeted towards the ground. It hit the ground a short distance away from Spike and Twilight, causing a thunderous crash and a plume of dust.
A tall, lithe dragon stepped out of the dust cloud. She was just the right shade of blue to match the sky on a sunny day; scales and fur lined a crest of spectral-hued fur that ran from head to tail. A pair of smooth white horns framed either side of her face just above her long ears. She leaned down so her face was even with Twilight’s. “Yo, Twi! I see Rarity finally got you a proper pet.” She grinned at Spike, revealing a row of razor-sharp, pearly-white fangs. “Ooh.” She carefully patted Spike on the head when he didn’t flinch and looked back at Twilight. “He’s well-trained, isn’t he? So, kiddo, what’s his name?”
Spike merely rolled his eyes. If he had a treasure for every time a dragon mistook him for a common animal, he would be retired to his own private volcano by now. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. At the same time, a smile crossed his face and he glanced towards the evening sun. “Oh, Celestia, you’re rubbing off on me.” He did his best to force the smile back and started walking. He kept his face passively neutral as he started meandering around in a looping path. He stuck his nose to the ground and started sniffing around.
“Spike?” Twilight tugged on his mane, trying to get the unicorn’s attention. “What are you doing, Spike?”
Spike turned around three times and plopped down. Rainbow started laughing as Twilight struggled to hold on to his mane and stay on his back. “I guess he isn’t very well trained after all.” As the sky-colored dragon lowered her head to inspect Spike, he lifted a back hoof and started scratching at his ear. “So, your name’s Spike?” He tilted his head and gave her a blank stare as she carefully patted him on the head again. “Hello, Spike.” He closed his eyes and smiled up at her. She moved her nose in close to him, wanting to get a good look at the strange creature before her.
Spike carefully opened opened one eye just enough to peek at the approaching dragon. As soon as her nose was close enough, Spike patted it with a hoof. “Hello, Dash.”
“AAAAAUGHHH!!” She leapt back, tripping over her claws and tumbling in an effort to put distance between her and Spike. She sat on the ground for a moment, trying to catch her breath. “Whoa!” She stood up, shaking a little to dislodge any dust or debris from her coat or scales. “It talks? That’s awesome!” Recovering from her initial shock, she slowly took a step forward. “Where’d ya find that thing?”
Spike kept a straight face for as long as he could, about two seconds. Then he burst out laughing. “Of course I can talk. Um?” He pointed at her. “You missed a spot.”
The sky dragon blinked at Spike.
“Um, right there.” He pointed at the side of his face. She brushed a claw at the spot he indicated. Her eyes never strayed from his. “Little higher, almost got it,” she brushed a little higher, dislodging a clump of grass from her face, “there you go.”
“So, uh,” she tapped her claws together and glanced around, “not a pet?”
Spike shook his head. “Not a pet.”
Dash sighed, muttering a quiet, “awkward,” under her breath.
Twilight started giggling from her perch on Spike’s back. “He got you good, Rainbow Dash!”
The larger dragon let out a chuckle. “Yeah, he did, didn’t he?” She walked around Spike, sizing him up. “That means I have to get him even better.” She extended a claw towards the unicorn. “Welcome to Dragonspire, whatever you are.” Spike stepped forward with a smile and lifted his hoof to take hold of the offered claw.
“NO!” Twilight leapt from the unicorn’s back a split-second before Spike’s hoof touched the cyan claw.
Spike had enough time to register confusion at the hatchling’s sudden reaction before he realized the reason for it. The pleasant smile on Rainbow Dash’s face turned feral. He cast a hurried protection spell, but it was too late. Electricity arced from her claw to his hoof and started traveling up his leg. It fizzled out against his chest where the incomplete protection spell was forming across his body.
With a short yelp, he jumped back, keeping his hoof in the air. “What was that?!” Spike looked down at his hoof as the brightly-colored dragon rolled onto her back and started laughing. He didn’t feel any pain, as far as he could tell, the electricity hadn’t done anything. So why is she laughing? “What did you-“ Spike’s unfinished question was answered as soon as he tried to step forward. The leg that got zapped collapsed under his weight, planting the unicorn face-down in the dirt. Oh, come on,” he mumbled into the dirt before rolling over, “seriously?!”
Rainbow took a break from her rolling laughter to wipe a tear from her eye. “Oh, dude! You should have seen the look on your face!”
“Yeah? Well…” Spike got up and started hobbling over to where Twilight was furiously taking notes on a mini notebook, “you should have seen your face when I said hello.” He put aside the question of where Twilight had acquired the notebook in favor of a more practical one. “Can you make the walk back to the library?”
“Eh,” Rainbow rolled onto her side and gave one claw a dismissive wave, “give it a moment, it’ll wear off.”
“Seriously?” Grumble laughed heartily around the cupcake he was chewing on. “Oh, man!” He shook his head. “And she never found out?”
“No!” Caramel laughed. “And that’s the thing I don’t get, it was her idea in the first place.”
“That’s crazy!” Grumble licked a bit of frosting from his claws. As crazy as that pink dragoness may be, she is one fine cook. “So what happened to the-“ Grumble saw Caramel look at something off to the side. He followed the smaller dragon’s gaze to see two approaching figures. One was a dragoness he didn’t recognize. She was light blue, taller than he was, and moved with the grace of a trained athlete. The other figure was Spike, hobbling along like he had broken something. Grumble waved towards them.
Spike lifted a hoof to wave back, but the other one immediately gave out, landing his face on the ground in front of him. He struggled to his feet and started hobbling towards Grumble at a slightly increased pace. The blue dragoness tagged along beside him.
“Hey, Grumble,” Caramel pointed a claw towards the approaching figures, “that little guy’s the one that beat, what did you call him, Fire Flash?”
“Yeah.” Grumble pointed proudly at Spike. “That right there, is the only non-dragon in the draconican military. We joined up at the same time, even shared a bunker during basic training. Unfortunately, I mistook him for escaped livestock when we first met, but he got over it.” Grumble paused. “Mostly.”
Caramel let out a whistle. “He’s really a Centurion? After only two years? I never even made specialist.”
“Yeah, it’s surprising, isn’t it?” Grumble waved again, only to receive a glare from Spike who made no move to reciprocate the gesture. He could also see that it wasn’t two figures approaching, but three. The third was atop the blue dragon’s head, seated between the double sets of horns and holding on to the vibrant, furred crest. “If you get to know him, he’s even more surprising. Did you know, he’s stronger than any dragon his size? At least, any that I’ve met. And that magic of his doesn’t seem to have a type limitation like most dragons have. He’s got all sorts of spells, and I’ve seen him make up new ones on the spot.” Grumble shrugged. “Those don’t always turn out the best, but it’s still pretty neat how he comes up with different ways to use’em.”
“Hey, Grumble?” Caramel tilted his head to the side. “About that fight, what happened in between me getting eaten and getting stuck here?”
“Oh, that,” Grumble nodded, “well, you see-“
Twilight let out a yawn. She was sleepy, and just a little hungry. A smile formed on her face. Spike was going to start on dinner once they got back, so she would be able to take a nap and wake up to delicious food. That raised a question though, why was Spike doing all this? Why was he even here? She liked him, and she noticed that he and Rarity are getting along pretty well, but there was no real reason for him to be here. Maybe she should ask him about it before he starts cooking.
“Hey, kiddo?” Rainbow’s voice broke Twilight out of her train of thought. “We’re back, I’m gonna let you down now.” The hatchling grabbed tightly to the multi-colored hair around her as Rainbow lowered her head to the ground. Once it was down, she tilted her head to the side.
Twilight let go of Rainbow’s crest and slid down her long ear to the ground below. She landed on her rump with a slight bump and had to dust off, but she was otherwise untouched. She turned around as Rainbow lifted her head back to its normal height and waved up at her. “Thanks for the ride, Aunt Dash.”
“Heh, no problem, kiddo.” She flicked an opposeable claw at Spike. “I couldn’t leave ya hangin’ after I busted your other ride, what kind of Aunt would I be?”
Twilight looked over at Spike. He was still limping, but he was still able to walk on his own. He had even pulled ahead of them by a bit. She had to break into jog to catch up with him, but by the time she did, she could hear snippets of the conversation between the two dragons he was walking towards.
“It went wide-“ “didn’t even aim-“ “let it hit the town-“ “kick that fireball so high into the sky tha-“
“THAT WAS YOU?!” Twilight stiffened up. The voice had come from behind her, and she recognized it as Rainbow Dash’s. It was the voice she only used when she was really angry about something. The last time the hatchling heard this voice was because somedragon had insulted a member of the Wonderbolt Squadron of the Air Cavalry. She stood very still as Rainbow stomped past her and towards the hapless Grumble. “That fireball landed on my head in the middle of my nap!” Grumble started backing away from the angered dragoness. “Do you know what I had to go through because of that?”
Grumble backed up until he bumped into the cupcake table, dumping it over. He winced as the treats tumbled out on to the ground, but didn’t have time to worry about it before a snarling blue face filled his vision. He gulped loudly as he stared into Rainbow’s magenta eyes. “Um, no?” He could almost swear they were starting to turn red.
“Of course you don’t,” she growled, “you don’t have fur. I had to put up with Rarity’s fussing and whining for three hours while she fixed the burns in my crest.”
“Really?” Caramel craned his neck to get a good look at Rainbow’s mane. “She did a good job, you can’t even tell it was ever-“
The dragoness spun her head around to face the immobilized dragon. “You stay out of this!”
Grumble took advantage of the distraction to take a few more steps back. He moved quietly, putting his recon training to use in the riskiest manner any dragon could, to escape from an angry female. He moved to the side, carefully walking around the fallen table and treats. It was starting to look like he might get out of this with his hide intact.
“Crinkle.”
The sound came from something beneath Grumble’s hind-claw. He glanced back and lifted the claw. There, squished to the ground, was a cupcake wrapper, his cupcake wrapper. He looked up just in time to see Rainbow Dash snap her head towards him. Her eyes were narrowed slits of anger that cut Grumble to the core. He froze in place, tensing every muscle in fear. She took a slow step forward and he snapped. He launched himself forward and past her, spreading his wings and taking flight. He ran.
“Hey! Grumble! Wait!” Spike held up his front hooves to get his friends attention. Needless to say, it didn’t work, so he came up with a different plan. But different doesn’t mean smart. As Grumble flew past him, the pony grabbed onto the dragon’s tail. He screamed as he dragged along at a much faster rate than he was prepared for.
The hatchling that was standing beside him just yawned. “Did he really think that would work?” She started walking towards the library as a sky blue blur followed after Grumble and Spike at a speed few things could ever hope to match. The hatchling came to a stop at the door and opened it. “Caramel,” she called out to the drake glued to the library, “that Dragin Do book is due tomorrow, I’ll go ahead and renew it for you.” She went inside and shut the door behind her before he had a chance to respond. With a sigh, she headed off for the kitchen. “Now I’ve got to make my own dinner.”
The wind whipped past Spike’s head as he yelled at Grumble to stop. When that didn’t work, he started yelling at the dragon to at least slow down. It was about then that a rainbow colored streak shot past them. Rainbow Dash came to a stop in front of them. Grumble pulled up to arrest his forward momentum as electrical sparks started to dance across the hovering dragin’s form.
Grumble turned his climb into a half-loop and started heading in the opposite direction. It was pretty amazing to him that she was overtake him so quickly, but it was even more amazing how quickly she came to a stop. Even veteran air cavalry members would lose their lunch decelerating at that rate. He glanced back to see if she would continue chasing, but she just hovered there. For a moment, he considered slowing down, wondering if, maybe, she wasn’t as angry as he thought.
At that moment, she brought her wings together in front of her and stopped flapping. She started falling towards the ground as the electrical discharges started growing.
“Shoot!” Grumble Turned and flew for her as fast as he could. “I should have known. Nodragon can handle that sudden of a stop!” The electricity continue to grow until it formed a dancing, yellow aura around the falling form of Rainbow Dash. Grumble continued towards her. “This is gonna hurt, but I can’t let her hit the grou-“ Then he noticed something. She was falling headfirst, and she had been the entire time. There was no rotation, no flailing of limbs, nothing. She was falling perfectly. “Clever girl.” Grumble started slowing himself as the electrical aura suddenly collapsed in on her, and for a moment, the dragin glowed bright yellow. She continued her controlled descent, but started to slowly unfold her wings. Once they opened, she held them there. Grumble saw electricity arcing on each of the primary feathers, but nothing else. “What is she-“
She folded her wings and snapped them out faster than he could follow, faster than the speed of sound, creating a concussive blast of air. A loud crack split the air as the lightning formed into a defined shape, extending from each feather as if it were an extension of her wings. With a loud yell, she started flapping her wings, accelerating towards the ground. The lightning extending from the wings doubled their size, but Grumble couldn’t see any improvement in her flying. If anything, she was faster before. The yellow glow started to return as she neared the ground. She stopped flapping and held her wings out wide, letting her yell increase in volume as she got closer and closer to land. She glowed brighter and brighter as she fell. By the time it would have been too late for anydragon to pullout of the fall, she brought her wings down. That single flap brought her to a standstill. The ground beneath her was singed by the lightning trailing from her wings as she let herself land.
The glow still surrounded her as she looked up, wings spread as if she was preparing to lift off. Grumble circled, confused by the situation, but staying ready to retreat should the need arise. Rainbow folded her wings and Grumble saw a streak of lightning come down and hit her, causing an explosion of dirt and debris where she stood. When the explosion cleared, he saw no sign of her. It was then that he realized that he hadn’t seen lightning come down, he had seen her go up. He looked up to see her staring down at him.
The electric glow was gone and her wings were still folded. “Did she just jump?! She used the electricity to jump?!” He saw her take a deep breath and felt static on his scales. “No, the electricity’s still here.”
She flared her wings and let out a roar like thunder. At that moment, lightning solidified in the air around her, transforming her. Where there had once been a blue Dragin a bit larger than Grumble, there was now a terrifying image of a Dragon, one made of pure energy and large enough to give the Princess a run for her money.
Grumble screamed at a pitch that even the most talented soprano would have trouble matching and flew off at a speed he would likely never reach again.
The lighting dragon faded to nothing as the sky-blue dragin who created it slowly drifted to the ground in a fit of laughter. “Yeah! You better run!” Once on the ground, she started walking balk to the library. “That’ll teach him to mess with me.”
Still hanging on for his life, Spike saw the lightning-based image disappear from the sky even though Grumble didn’t. “Grumble!” No response. He cast a spell on himself to amplify his voice, something Celestia showed him. ”GRUMBLE!” Still nothing. The dragon didn’t even slow down. Spike groaned. Sure, he would never be as loud as Celestia, but Grumble should have at least heard that. The pony went over his options. He couldn’t stop Grumble’s wings without hurting him, they were too far up for him to just let go, and one leg was still numb, so he couldn’t climb onto grumble’s back. Spike looked forward to see where Grumble was headed. There didn’t seem to be any reason behind the direction he had chosen, but there was a large cloud directly in his path. “Perfect.”
He focused his energy on the cloud. He was going to use a simple spell, but he would have to handle it delicately. As the spell took effect, the cloud started to change color. Red started to seep from the cloud’s edges to the center, but parts of the cloud stayed white. Once the spell was complete, the cloud was a sign, a red sign with white letters that said, “Grumble! Stop!”
The dragon looked back after reading the cloud. He didn’t see any sign of angry Rainbow, but he did see Spike hanging from the end of his tail. “Hey! Are you crazy?! What are you doing?!”
Spike shot him an annoyed glance. “I oughtta ask you the same thing!”
Grumble slowed down and descended, keeping a close eye on his flight stability. He didn’t want to drop his non-dragon friend after all. “How did you end up there anyway?” Instead of landing, Grumble hovered so his tail stayed just above the ground, letting Spike get off at his own pace.
The pony was soon on his own four hooves again, well, three, his right front hoof was still pretty useless. “Well, uh- Where are we?” He started looking around, avoiding the question. “We seem to have made it a fair distance from town.”
“Yeah.” Grumble conducted a careful search of the sky above them. “But more importantly, we made it a fair distance away from that flashy, overly-violent Dragin. I mean, honestly, the fireball was Fire Flash’s fault, not mine.” He looked over at Spike. “What’s gonna happen to him anyway?”
“Well, that’s up to the town’s Military Liaison, but he’ll probably be shipped off for a court-martial and discharge.” Spike examined their surroundings. They were in a forest clearing near a river. There were small animals everywhere, and none of them seemed worried about the presence of a dragon in their midst. “Say, Grumble? Does something seem off to you?”
The dragon laughed. “What, are you getting freaked out by some squirrels? I can’t even beat you in a fight, what are they gonna do? Throw acorns at you until you-“ There was a rustling of leaves, and Grumble stopped talking.
“What is it? Do you see something?” Spike turned around. Grumble was gone. “Grumble?” Spike looked up to see if the dragon had taken to the air, but didn’t see any sign of him. “Grumble, you aren’t chasing anything down for a quick snack are you?” He started searching around, knowing full well that he wouldn’t find the dragon if he was hunting. “Grumble,” he said in a warning tone as he paced around the clearing, “you promised you were gonna help me make dinner! You better not be-“ There was another rustle of leaves and the ground opened up beneath Spike’s hooves and he found himself over a pit. “Oh, there better not be spikes at the bottom.” He had barely a second to contemplate what may be his last pun before he fell and his face hit the first stair. He had barely a second to contemplate the fact that he hit a stair before his face hit the next one. This process repeated itself several times before Spike came to rest on something surprisingly soft.
“Ugh, Spike? You there?” The voice came from just off to the pony’s left. “What happened?”
Spike pulled himself up. He had landed on some sort of furniture, almost like a cushion, but raised off the ground. It wasn’t like most dragon furniture, but it was undeniably comfortable. Now, what was it doing at the bottom of a hole, and why were there stairs? Spike hopped off the couch to the ground below. But, being below ground already, would that be the bottom of the hole?
For the bottom of a hole, it sure was nice. The ground was an even, polished hardwood floor, and the cushion-platform thing had a nice, pale-blue floral print. Judging by the size of it, the dragon that lived here was about half-way between Grumble and Rainbow Dash in size. Just beyond the blue, fabric piece furniture, Grumble was propped against the wall in a way that suggested his landing wasn’t as soft as Spike’s. In the other direction, there was a door. The size of it indicated that it was meant for the same dragon that the strange folded bed thing was for. The walls of the hole were stone, a sort of creamy marble. In conjunction with the furniture, it gave the place a rather inviting feel.
“Hey, Grumble? What is this place? Some sort of waiting room, or lobby?” Looking up, Spike saw something else on the walls. There were picture frames spaced out evenly along the walls.
Grumble pulled himself away from the wall with a groan. “I don’t know.” He stretched out his neck and rubbed at it. “It looks like it, but that would mean it’s a hospital or a business. But there wasn’t anything marking the entrance, it’s probably just somedragon’s home and they have weird taste in decorating.” Grumble looked at the door. “And that means we should probably go.”
“Yeah.” Spike wasn’t paying attention, he was looking at the picture frames. From where he stood, the glare on the glass made it hard to see what the pictures were, but he could make out glimpses of certain colors. “Hey, give me a lift, would you?”
Grumble looked at the pony. “Huh?” He followed Spike’s gaze to the frames on the wall. “Hmph. Curious?” He looked at the frame closest to him. The picture within was of a crimson red dragon with sturdy looking features standing beside a tree. “Why couldn’t I look like that? I’m so dull that I look like a Dragin.” He then realized that every Dragin he had met in this town had brighter colors than he did. With a sigh he looked at the next picture. It was of a little white rabbit sitting on something pink. Off to Grumble’s right, Spike cleared his throat. “Oh, right,” the dragon chuckled, “It does seem to be a sort of public foyer, there doesn’t seem to be any harm in looking.” He turned so his tail came to a rest in front of Spike and lowered his head so it was below the level the frames.
Using the tail as a first step, Spike climbed onto Grumble’s back, then onto the dragon’s head. He was level with the picture frames now, and since there was no glare, he was clearly able to see the pictures. Most of them were of animals, deer, rabbits, etc, but a few were of dragons, and most of those were of dragons he recognized. “Hey, Grumble, there’s a picture of Pinkie here. Think this is her place?”
“No,” the dragon responded flatly, “she lives at the bakery.”
“Really?” Spike smirked at the top of Grumble’s head. “The same bakery you’ve been spending all your free time at?”
“Yeah, Sugarcube Corner.” He tried to look up at his passenger. “Why?”
“Oh, nothing,” Spike said in a sing-song tone, then he put a hoof to his chin, “it’s just she’s a Dragin that’s the same size as you, shares the same interests, and has been spending a lot of time with you. You might want to be careful or rumors will start spreading.”
“Rumors?” Grumble fought the urge to shake his head. “What kind of rumors?”
Spike let out an exasperated sigh and leaned over to look Grumble in the eyes, well, in one eye any way. “You’re gonna make me spell it out? You like her, don’t you?”
“I don’t think any rumors like that are spreading, but if you’re worried about rumors, what about you and Rarity?” The dragon let out a short laugh. “You two have been practically inseparable these last few days, not to mention everything you told me at the bakery.” There was a gasp from the direction of the door and Grumble turned his head in time to see it finish slamming shut. He didn’t notice that Spike had tumbled off his perch, landing hard behind the floral-print cushion thing.
After a few seconds, the door opened up again and a dragon was tossed out. Grumble didn’t see what did the tossing, but the dragon bounced a little before coming to a stop. She was a little bigger than Grumble, but only a little. She had a mix of fur and scales and a furred crest, so she was most likely a flying type like Rainbow Dash. She was mostly yellow, but her crest, claws, and belly were pink. Her eyes were a light, vibrant blue, and they were very wide and fixed on Grumble.
After about two seconds of awkward silence, the yellow and pink dragon threw herself at the door. She started pounding on it and trying to force it open. “Let me in!” She wedged her shoulder against the door and pushed. “Please, Angel? I’m sorry I forgot your breakfast, but please, let me in!” She rammed her shoulder against the door a few more times. As big as she was, that door must be heavily reinforced to still be in one piece.
The dragon suddenly froze in place. She glanced over at grumble, then directed her gaze at the floor. “Oh, um, I’m sorry.” The long pink hairs of her crest fell over her face as she moved.
Grumble blinked. “What is she apologizing for?” He took a cautious step forward. “Um, Miss? Is this your home? I noticed the pictures, are you a friend of Pinkie’s?”
She tried to back up, but only bumped into the door. She mumbled something that Grumble couldn’t quite hear.
He took a cautious step forward to try and hear her better. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
She shrunk in on herself and mumbled something even quieter.
Grumble decided against getting any closer. “Didn’t quite catch that.”
She squeaked.
Grumble blinked a few times. “Well, look at the time! I think we should be going!” He turned towards the stairs. “Come on, boss, we’re obviously intruding so let’s be on our way.” Spike came out from behind the cushion thing, holding a hoof to his head from the pain of his landing. Grumble heard a loud gasp from behind him and had barely enough time to turn around before he was bowled over by a pink and yellow blur.
Spike looked up to see a bright pair of aqua eyes staring at him happily. “Oh, wow,” said the yellow dragon the eyes belonged to, “what is it? I’ve never seen a creature like this before.” The dragon’s voice was filled with excitement and wonder, and it was directed at Grumble. The pony’s ears drooped; once again, he had been mistaken for some sort of animal. “What’s it called? What does it eat? Is it a pet? Wait, it responded to vocal commands, so it must be a pet. That’s good, it’s too cute to be a food animal. You called it boss? Is that its name?” She started patting Spike on the head. “Hello, Boss. Oh, it’s so cute, I want one. And Boss is such a cute name. If I got one, I’d call it Boss too. Do they come in different colors? What about sizes? Ooh, a little one would be so cute! But then I would have to call it little boss, my little Boss. Or maybe a larger one would better? But then I guess it would be big Boss. What do you think?” She didn’t let up on the patting as she talked.
Spike groaned and put his hooves above his head to ward off the dragon’s affectionate petting. “I think you should stop doing that.”
The dragon let out a surprised gasp. “You can talk?”
Spike shook his head. “Why is everydragon so surprised by that?”
“Oh, sorry,” the yellow dragon lowered her head, “it’s just, I’ve never seen a talking pony before.” She quickly lifted her head again. “What do ponies talk about?”
Spike shrugged. “All sorts of things, what do you want to-“ Spike’s words trailed off and his eyes went wide. “Wait! How did you know I was a pony?”
“Hmm?” She looked off to one side. “I saw a picture in a book.”
“Where?!” He stepped towards the yellow dragon. “What book? What did it say? Where can I get this book?” A lead, for the first time in so long, Spike finally had a lead on information about his species.
Grumble, who had been sitting quietly off to the side, chose that moment to speak up. “If you knew he was a pony, why did you ask what he was?”
“Oh, well,” the dragon tapped her claws together, ”I thought he looked like a pony at first, but the book was about mythical creatures.” She continued tapping her claws. “And he doesn’t have giant fangs to suck blood with.”
Spike slapped a hoof to his face. “Don’t tell me, Mockmaille the Morose’s Musings on Myths and Monsters?” She nodded. “I thought so.” Spike shook his head slowly. “That book has no factual information whatsoever. The only thing it gets right are the names and pictures.”
The yellow dragon suddenly looked sad. “Aw, I wanted a Kamaitachi.”
“Well,” Spike scratched the back of his head, “they exist, but don’t believe anything that book says about them.”
She gasped and clasped her claws together. “Really, oh, now I’m even more curious. Thank you, Boss.” She glanced back at grumble, then looked at the floor before speaking in a much quieter voice. “Um, you too, Spike.”
Grumble lifted a claw to point at his pony friend. “I’m Grumble, he’s Spike.”
The dragon’s yellow face suddenly turned pink. “She never said you weren’t a dragon.”
Spike tilted his head to one side. “Who never-“
“Oh!” She suddenly slammed one claw into the other. “You’re the Spike that gra- I mean, um, I may have heard of you. I had no idea Rarity was in-“ She stopped and her face turned a deeper pink. “I mean, um, why don’t we go outside?” She forced an uneasy smile and started for the stairs.
Spike and Grumble exchanged confused glances before following her up. Once on the surface again, silence surrounded the three for while, until Spike decided to break the silence. “So, what’s your name?”
The yellow dragon brushed the strands of pink away from her face and offered the pony a smile. “I’m Fluttershy.”
Grumble rolled his eyes. “She wouldn’t even talk to me. It’s gotta be the bright colors Spike has.”
Fluttershy’s ear twitched and she looked up. She searched the sky for a moment before waving a claw in the air. Her next words sent a chill down Grumble’s spine. “Rainbow Dash! Down here!”
He didn’t wait for anything, he just took off running as fast as he could. Once again, Spike, either through a gross overestimation of his own strength, or a misfire of instinct, grabbed onto his tail. He was promptly dragged along. Unfortunately for him, Grumble wasn’t flying this time, but running through the undergrowth of the forest in attempt to avoid being sighted from the air.
Grumble’s frantic trek through the forest ended after several minutes. At one point, he had climbed into a tree and started travelling from treetop to treetop. It wasn’t hard, as most of the trees were quite large, even by dragon standards, and their canopies intertwined. The tree where Grumble came to a stop appeared to be a fruit tree of some kind; white flowers and small green spheres were scattered among the leaves.
Grumble peeked at the sky through gaps in the leaves. “looks like I lost her, but now where am I?”
“Sweet Apple Acres,” came the whispered reply.
“GYAAH!!” Grumble spun around to see Fluttershy perched on a branch beside him. “When did she-“ He lost his grip on the branch and fell to the ground below with a loud thud. He landed next to a larger dragon who was tending to the tree.
“What the hay?” The dragon saw Grumble laying upside-down and looked up to see the gap in the leaves where he had fallen through. “Ya alright Sugarcube? That was a pretty nasty fall.” The orange dragon adjusted her hat and moved a bit closer to inspect the visitor. “What were ya doin’ up there anyway?”
Fluttershy poked her head through leaves. “Oh, Applejack. I hope we’re not intruding.”
The orange dragon looked up. “Course not, Shy.” She gently prodded the prone form of Grumble, prompting a groan from the barely conscious dragon. “He a friend a’ yers? Ah thought ya were after mah brother.”
Yellow turned to bright red. “No! I mean, yes! I- I am, but um-“ Fluttershy disappeared from view. She re-appeared a moment later, holding Spike in her front claws. Her back claws were clamped down on the branches above, keeping her from ending up like Grumble. “This is Spike.”
Applejack stared at the two, blinking every so often. “Uh, Sugarcube? Ya’ll know that ain’t a dragon, right?”
Spike crossed his hooves with a slight huff. “I’d say that’s pretty obvious, so why is everydragon so hung up on that?”
The orange dragon’s green eyes went wide. “Shy, that thing just talked.” She continued to stare. “It just talked!” She lifted a claw towards the pony.
Spike batted it away with a hoof. “Really? Why is the first response always to pet me?”
Applejack’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “Wait one apple-pickin’ minute, yer that Spike! The famous Centurion!”
“Famous?” It was Spike’s turn blink and stare. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Yeah!” The orange dragon adjusted her hat. “Ah saw ya in the paper. Well, there weren’t a picture or nothing, but the article talked about this Centurion who wasn’t a dragon. Ya sure ya didn’t see it? It was in yesterday’s paper, page fifty-seven, under the farm reports.”
Spike let out a sigh. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t see it.”
Applejack chuckled nervously. “Right, Ah guess farmers are the only ones who read the farm reports.” She tapped a claw against the ground. “So, what are the three a’ ya up to up there.”
Grumble groaned out a response. “We’re hiding from a crazy dragin that wants to electrocute me.” With a loud grunt, he flipped himself over.
The orange dragon laughed as he shuffled stiffly towards the tree trunk. “Sounds like ya ran afoul a’ RD somehow. Ah wouldn’t worry ‘bout it too much, she’s prob’ly forgotten ya even exist by now.”
Fluttershy’s ear twitched and she looked up. “Either way, we’ll find out as soon as she lands.”
“WHAT?! HIDE!” Fluttershy followed Grumble’s command without hesitation, disappearing into the leaves with Spike. Grumble scrambled up the tree, following her, but paused for a moment to look at Applejack. “Please don’t tell her we’re here.”
“Ah got ya covered,” said the orange dragon with a wink. “But ya know, everydragon ticks her off at some point. Just think of it as a learnin’ experience.”
“Oh, it’s been an experience, all right,” muttered Grumble as he continued his climb into the tree, “one I’ll never forget.” He climbed up into the leaves and latched onto a vertical branch near Spike and Fluttershy. They were talking about something in hushed whispers.
Grumbles attention was focused on the ground below. Any moment now, Rainbow Dash was going to land.
He didn’t have to wait long. The rainbow-crested dragon swooped down and landed near Applejack. This time though, her landing was soft enough to not even disturb a stray leaf. “Yo, AJ?”
The orange dragon looked up quickly. “Ah ain’t seen’em.” Rainbow stared at her with her eyebrows scrunched together. Applejack just blinked. After a moment, a look of realization crossed over her face. “Aw, shoot! Ah got that wrong, Ah was s’posed ta let ya go first.”
Up in the tree, unheard by the two dragons below, two dragons and a pony slapped their claws and a hoof to their faces.
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. Then she took a deep breath. “SPIKE! GRUMBLE! RARITY’S MAKING ME APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT I DID EARLIER, SO GET YOUR TAILS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”
The addressed dragon and pony exchanged nervous glances.
“Rainbow,” Fluttershy put a claw on the multi-colored dragon’s shoulder, “if you’re going to apologize, you should be nicer about it.”
Rainbow jumped, but managed to keep from voicing her surprise. She took a few breaths and turn to her friend. “Flutters, have I ever told you how creepy it is when you do that?”
“Oh,” the yellow dragon pulled her claw away and looked at the ground, “I’m sorry.”
“Well,” the multi-hued dragon scratched at her crest, “I’ve said my piece, so I’m gonna go now. If you see a dull-looking dragon or a weird, purple, pet-looking thing, let them know that Rarity and Twilight are waiting for the dinner they were promised.”
“Dinner?” Applejack tilted her head. “What kind of dinner?”
Rainbow looked over at her. “I dunno. Rarity said this Gruble’s supposed to be some sort of super-chef, and that Syke’s not half-bad either.”
“Um, Rainbow,” said Fluttershy, “it’s Grumble and Spike.”
“No,” Rainbow shook her head, “Spike’s that purple thing that was with Twilight earlier. I’m talking about Rarity’s new-“
“Rainbow,”Fluttershy interrupted her, “it’s Spike.”
“Huh,” Rainbow looked confused, “so they have the same name?”
“Um,” Fluttershy pawed at the ground, “no.”
Rainbow scratched at her ears. “But, he’s not a dragon.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I know.”
“Wow.” Rainbow shrugged. “Well, ok.”
Applejack brought a claw to her chin and started scratching. “Just how good at cookin’ are they?”
Fluttershy brought her own claw to her chin. “That’s a good question.”
Rainbow thought about it for a moment. “Well, I don’t know all the details, but Rarity did mention he made some sort of vegetable dish the other day.”
Applejack scoffed. “Ain’t nothin’ special ‘bout that. Rares and Ah cook veggies all the time.”
Fluttershy lifted a claw. “So do I.”
“Sure ya do.” Rainbow laughed. “But, Rarity said that Twilight ate it without complaining.” Applejack and Fluttershy both let out surprised gasps. Rainbow smirked. “Not only that,” Rainbow lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, causing the other two dragons to close into a huddle, “but apparently, Twilight liked it so much, that she wanted more.”
Applejack’s eyes went wide. “No way.”
Fluttershy had a similar reaction. “Twilight liked vegetables?”
Rainbow nodded. “I know, hard to believe, right? But somehow, Spike managed to pull it off.”
“Say,” said Applejack.
“You don’t suppose,” said Fluttershy.
From the tree, Spike and Grumble could only watch as the three dragins in the huddle talked among themselves. They couldn’t make out their conversation, but they seemed very interested in whatever they were talking about. Every so often, Applejack or Fluttershy would glance towards the tree. This worried Grumble a lot more than it did Spike, who was used to dragons talking about him in hushed whispers.
After a few moments, Rainbow lifted her head from the huddle. “Oh, this is gonna be good.