//------------------------------// // Beginnings // Story: Dagon magic: The tale of Spike the Dragon // by Slick Dash //------------------------------// The night sky forked with lightning as the two travellers rushed up the soaking steps of Canterlot Castle, the sky was a perfect reflection of their predicament, dangerous, and hostile! The two's capes trailed across the floor, absorbing every drop of water on the floor they passed over. The largest of the two reached the enormous oak doors, quickly he glanced around him, scanning the area for danger. Had they been followed? When he was sure they were safe. He turned back and slammed a large scaled hand against the doors three times. On the third strike a rumble of thunder sounded, adding to the noise monstrously. From within the castle the guards jumped, backing away from the doors preparing for something to barge through them soon. One (A unicorn, his mane pure red and a coat of deepest black) Began to glow his horn, ready to cast a spell at the violent noise! He continued to back up, until his flank struck something. He glanced back, and found himself looking at Princess Celestia. "Y-your majesty!" He choked. "Y-you shouldn't be here! There's something out the-" "It's alright captain." The angelic ruler cooed, soothing his nerves slightly with her subtle authority. It made the unicorn feel safer, less nervous of whatever was on the other side of the doors. However his calm was broken by another set of three hard, loud knocks against the oaken panels. He turned back ready to fire upon the intruder, then... "Let them in." Celestia said quietly. "What?" The captain looked up and saw the serious gaze that the princess watched the doors to her castle. "Your majesty, with everything that's happened! I don't think it's right to..." "Let them in." Celestia demanded quietly, disarming the captain with a penetrating gaze. "Y-yes your majesty! My apologies!" The captain turned to his fellow guards. "Open the doors!" He yelled, if not a little shakily. The white and grey guards all looked as hesitant as their captains, but followed their orders. Turning, the unicorns began to pull open the doors. No sooner had a sliver of space opened up, the cloaked figure burst through, ramming the doors wide open. The pegasi guards cried out angrily and shot towards the figure. It threw up a scaly green hand, a glow not too different from a unicorn's began to flow from it. The flying pegasi were cast aside with ease. Each cried out as they were flung to the walls. The unicorns began to cast their offensive spells, but were cut short. "Peace!" It was Celestia. They looked from her to the enemy, unsure what t do. "Tend to the others!" She demanded, before turning to the throne room. "You on the other hoof..." She said, obviously addressing the figure in the centre of the entrance hall. "Will come to the throne and say why you are here!" Though she did not shout, the anger quivered in every syllable she spoke. The figure grunted, turned and beckoned to the second figure still waiting outside. It rushed in, stooping low, as though carrying something. It passed the taller creature, headed after Celestia. The larger one turned back and glanced over the chaos it had made in the hall, before swooping around and rushing inside. Celestia's horn glowed gold as it closed the doors to the grandiose hall. "My apologies." The larger figure grunted as he passed through the closing gap of the doorway. The princess continued to walk further down the long room, not even looking back as she spoke. "You apologise for almost killing my guards, or endangering my entire kingdom?" "Both!" The second figure began, raising a purple hand and pulling down her black hood. She was a dragon, slim yet curved. She had deep blue plumes and spines, which clashed beautifully with her deep purple scales. She undid the second clasp, which released the rest of her cape, letting it fill to the ground. "But we had to come!" Celestia glanced back, and spotting what she was holding. Her jaw dropped, as did her cold demeanour. "Oh... Andriel! My dear, dear Andriel!" She whispered miserably staring at the purple dragon egg clasped tightly to her chest. "I know what you are about to ask, and I cannot... I really cannot do it." "WHY NOT!" Shouted the larger cloaked dragon, who now burst from his cape, rushing to his wife's side. His spines were and angry orange, his scales bright green. "I cannot take it Zmaj! It would endanger my entire kingdom from what you're fleeing from!" The male grew angered at the denial he was receiving. "So when you need a commander to fight your sister, you fine to have a dragon with you! When their migrating to the mountains for a few weeks, fine. But the instant we need your help! I NEDD YOUR HELP, you turn away!" Celestia stood there, her face blank, but her eyes showed the heartbreak his words were causing her. "I WAS THERE FOR YOU! I HELPED YOU FIND THEM! THE ELEMENTS! I EVEN HELPED PUT LUNA AWAY! EVEN THOUGH IT BROKE MY HEART!" Celestia took a step back, a single pearly tear running down her cheek. "YOU WERE EVERYTHING TO ME CELESTIA!" His green hands were balled into shaking fists as he stared at the alicorn, whose eyes were beginning to show the first signs of true misery. "YOU WERE MY SISTER! YET YOU WONT EVEN PROTECT MY CHILD?!" Celestia's tears began to fall fully now, yet she kept her face blank. "Tia!" Andirel began, taking a few begging steps forward. "We have no one! We'd want it to be with our kind, but he's taken them all! Our friends, my family. They're all gone! We only have Zmaj's family left..." She bit her lip as Celestia's mouth opened for a moment, bordering on speech, before closing again. "We only have you left..." Celestia stuttered. "M-my people... they come f-first! Even if it's for... for..." Zmaj turned and punched the nearest column of the hall with a glowing green fist. The stone splintered and cracked, making Andriel and Celestia jump. The male dragon stood there, panting with anger and frustration, his fist still imbedded in the stone. "For family?" He eventually whispered, though quite, the words travelled easily over the quiet room. Outside another flash of lightning forked the sky, highlighting the water running off Zmaj's face, it wasn't rain water... "Zmaj..." Celestia squeaked, taking a step towards him. He put up his other hand, his head still hanging low, he was holding up his index finger telling her to stop. "Unless the words you're about to say mean you'll take it, then don't say anything!" "Zmaj... you know if I take it, I'll all of Equestria at risk!" "THEN WE'LL LEAVE!" Zmaj cried, pulling his fist out of the column, not through the hole he had made, but by simply wrenching out a fresh chunk of stone. "He doesn't know about it! We can go, lead him away, and he'll never know any better!" Celestia looked taken aback. "H-he doesn't know of it?" "NO!" Zmaj staggered forward, drunk from his misery. "It will break us to pieces to do it, but if it keeps him, and everypony here safe... then we'll leave, leave and never return!" Andriel nodded furiously, agreeing with her husband. Celestia was still unsure... "But if it were to learn, to search you out. It could cause unbelievably devastating danger, for it as well as Equestria. If it learnt you skills, your magic..." "We won't allow that!" Zmaj begged, tumbling to his knees. "He's already destroyed every tome we have! Almost every single one in existence! We know where the rest are! We'll destroy them ourselves. No books, no magic, no danger!" He rushed the last statement, though not saying it, he was begging with all his life with his old friend. His eyes streamed with tears. "Give it to a student, let it be raised with ponies, like me... just, just don't let him have my child! He's taken all else from me besides you!" His head fell into his hands, tears running through the cracks and flooding the tiled floor. "Tia... Celestia... your majesty... princess... queen, whatever you call yourself now! Your still my friend, my sister. Don't... don't turn us away... not you! Celestia stared at the crying dragon at her feet. So many times when they were young, he would breakdown, when he did something wrong, or forgot something important. She thought that side had been long gone when he joined his own kind, yet here he kneeled... begging her to take his only child away from danger... "Alright..." Celestia whispered. Andriel gasped with relief and Zmaj looked up in amazement. "Y-you'll take it!" Celestia nodded. Knowing that in her heart, the day was likely to come. The day she would regret it. ..... "'Dragon Magic?' huh, that's weird, I never heard of a dragon using magic before." Spike mused, mulling over the musty tombe. "Of course not Spike." Twilight said in her usual matter of fact tone, ruffling her newfound wings, still adjusting to their new weight on her back. "I never heard of it either, until Princess Celestia let me into the restricted areas of the canterlot library for my new studies." She frowned. "In fact, even in the crystal empire i didn't see a book about it in the library, so I'm guessing that the knowledge is very scarce." Spike nodded at the alicorn's words, then returned to staring at the book. "Go on then!" Twilight smiled. "OPEN IT!" She seemed more excited then Spike himself. "Why are you so interested?" Spike asked, his brow furrowing. "I want to read it with you!" Spike rolled his eyes. "Twilight, if this going to be like the last time I don't want t-" "No nonoononooooo, I promise it won't be, I can't read it without you. I mean I literally can't!" She came over and ran a hoof over the cover. "The title is the only line that's readable for a pony." She opened the dusty book, releasing a new cloud of spores into the air. Spike spluttered and coughed, his eyes stung as the dust attacked his keen eyes. Blinking hard he cleared his vision, save for a few cloudy patches were painful tears hung. He shook his head and when he next looked, his vision was clear once more. The pages were blank. "Huh? What's going on Twilight? Is this some kind of joke?" "No spike trust me!" Twilight moved over to the sofa, with a faint glow of her horn, she moved the seat away, leaving the living room of their library home clear and open. When she next looked to her assistant her face was serious. "Breath fire." "What? Like... really? Not just my usual letter flame?" Twilight nodded. "Yes Spike. You see, even that's a form of magic, you knew how to do it from the beginning. It's that magic that's going to help you learn the rest!" She pulled the book gently away, cautious not to tear the precious pages with her Magic. Placing it on the centre of the circular floor, she smiled up at the baby dragon. "Go on Spike, breathe fire above the pages and watch what happens!" Spike seemed cautious, fire? Over a precious and apparently rare book? "A-a-are you sure this is gonna work Twilight?" She smiled. "Of course Spike, Princess Celestia told me it would." Sighing with relief, Spike moved up to the centre of the room. If it was good enough for the Princess, then it was good enough for him. As he approached, he drew in a deep breath, it was the first time he'd ever done this inside. True, he had practised on the outskirts of Ponyville, seeing how far he could push his natural power, and he was getting good, but still he wasn't sure fire within the house made out of a tree was the best idea. Even as the thought crossed his mind, a transparent purple haze began to descend around the living room, he glanced over and saw Twilight -clearly thinking the same as he- casting a protective shield around the room. Much more calm now the house was safe, Spike sparked the flammable gas within his lungs. Emerald light exploded beneath his scales, tracking the fireballs progress from his chest, to his throat, to his mouth... With a strong roar, Spike released the flames over the top of the book. For a moment, the pages curled, and Spike panicked, thinking they would catch fire any second. However, as suddenly as they had moved, the pages flattened as the fireball died over the book. The small amount of smoke cleared, and once it had, Twilight released the barrier, letting it melt into nothingness. Silence rained around them. Spike approached the pages at the same cautious pace as his magenta friend. They moved, their gazes fixed on the ancient tome. It's old pages laying still and waiting. Spike reached it first, closely followed by Twilight, the two stared at the book for a moment, then up at each other. The blank pages of the book, now glowed with bright, shining, emerald writing, the exact shade of Spikes flame. As though it had stolen the very essence of the fire, even now it flickered and ebbed before strengthening once more. Slowly, Spike reached down and picked up the book, Twilight gasped, un able to help her protective instincts of books taking over. Slowly, spike read aloud the line on the first page of the open book. "'Aging spell' hmmm..." The dragon murmured, rubbing his chin, a plan already forming in his mind.