//------------------------------//
// Chapter 51 First light 
// Story: Spike the Knight 
// by vadram 
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First light






“Finally decided to join us?” the giant simian, Imamu, said looking at him with the corner of his eye.

Kirabo for his part was sitting cross legged with his hands hidden beneath his cloak atop Imamu’s shoulder.

“Preparations took a little longer than I have expected.”

Spike wanted to see him, to see his reactions, but the large, and hairy head of Imamu stood between them blocking his view of the little simian.

“Do you think she will be late?”

“Who, Adanna?” Imamu answered. “You know how she is, I am sure she is just making her final preparations.”

Imamu’s attention turned to a point in the tree line. Spike tried to look at the thing that caught the giants attention but managed only to see a white speck standing in front of background made out of shades of green, brown and black.

He continued to stare and barely notice Kirabo jumping from Imamu’s other shoulder, sliding down the simians hair before landing on one of his legs. From there he made his way towards his knee, fighting against the tangled mass of leg hair almost half his size. He stopped when he reached the end and waited.

From the tree line the speck of white became bigger and bigger until Spike could make out the somewhat familiar white and gray pony shape of a zebra. As she got closer more details were visible, she was now wearing her iconic jewelry, golden rings around her front leg and neck as well as a golden earing in one of her ears. These were the easiest to see their golden colors reflected the what little light was present in those few moments before the sun would appear.

Walking, or running, she was still too far to see, and the grass did not help at all, she got closer to them. From his place, high above the peaceful clearing that would soon become their dance ring, Spike could see Zecora. Tied around her waist were filly sized saddlebags that seemed be filled to the brink with stuff. Between the back strap that held the two bags together she had her trusted staff, and her mouth was moving, but she was not talking. She was chewing something and her cheeks seemed a little puff. She stopped a couple of feet in front of Kirabo, who looked down on her from his position on top of Imamu’s knee.

“Ayo to you Adanna Zecora.”

“And I must say ayo to you, 
Jelani Kirabo chipo Otieno.”

“I wonder what she would have said if he did not greet her first?” Spike’s mind wondered, but was snapped back in a second as the sun peeked from behind a mountain far in the east.

Kirabo jumped down into the grass and landed a few inches from Zecora, she did not even blink when he made contact with the ground so close to her. He said something about an old bet they made when Zecora was a filly- the first time she was one- to which she just smiled and nodded. The two circled each other and slowly the distance between them grew until the were a few feet apart. Facing each other, one side turned towards the slowly rising sun, and the other towards their crowd, and then stood silently waiting, waiting for the sun ray to appear in the corner of their eyes, marking the start of their little dance.

As the sun rose, and its light crept down the broad chest of giant simian, Imamu, whose eyes were focused at the two, spoke.

“Aren't you forgetting something?”

Nobody answered.

“Kid!” he said, his voice a little louder, grabbing dragons attention. 

Spike, for his part was staring at the two just like Imamu. After asking what he wanted from him, he listened as Imamu spoke again.

“Aren’t you a little small to watch this?”

“Huh? But you said I... Oh I see what you did there.” He paused and closed his eyes concentrating. 

“Spike wants.” Pain began filling his body as he changed.

He froze for an instant before his spine arched backwards pulling the rest of his body with it. He felt like he was pulled in every direction by an invisible force. After the pain of his freshly healed bones breaking and instantly being fused by together several times passed he recoiled from the arched position he was in and fell on all fours, and let out a short but loud scream. After stretching his body and tail he found the new position surprisingly comfortable.

“I did it,” he said patting. 

Imamu smiled but Spike did not see, he was instead busy finding a comfortable position for him to enjoy the show that was about to start. He found that by laying on his stomach, arching his body to one side so his tail could reach beneath his head, placing his arms on the tail and his head on set arms he felt very good. So good indeed that the tip of his tail was wiggling. Maybe it was moving because of how comfortable he was, or because of the excitement he felt, he did not know. He knew however it was happened to him, and he was not doing it intentional.

One more thing was noticed by Spike, if he focused a bit he could take a closer look at the two without moving. He did not know why, or how exactly he did it, but he could now see as if he was wearing a pair of binoculars if he wanted to.

Using his enhanced vision he looked at the two. There were only a few moments before the suns rays hit them when something caught his eye.

Embroidered onto the sides of Zecora’s bags was an odd symbol. It sort of looked like a heart, but it also reminded him of the cutie mark of a gray earth pony musician he saw a couple of times.

He did not dwell on it much, because shortly after making this observation as well as the instant connection to the ponies mark the first of the suns rays reached Kirabo’s eye and the battle had begun.