//------------------------------// // Going Over the Basics // Story: The Emerald Dragon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Spike awoke the next morning to a beautiful sunrise and the sounds of birds chirping. He looked out of the window from his bed to see the peaceful sunrise casting a golden glow on the town of Ponyville, where it was just early enough so that none of the ponies were in the streets yet, so there was no one to obstruct his view. It was a picture-perfect morning. But he was still miserable. Spike kicked off the covers and jumped out of bed, looking over to Twilight's empty bed, which reminded him that she was going to go away again. He sighed to himself sadly and slowly walked over to the stairs to descend into the kitchen. He found Twilight walking back and forth across the room, floating a checklist in front of her eyes as she went over a final check to make sure that she had everything. "Hey, Twilight," Spike said to her with as much enthusiam as he could muster, despite how he felt. "Good morning Spike," she replied with a warm smile before turning back to her list, and she started to mutter to herself about what else she might need to bring along to Canterlot. Spike's smile fell as he descended the stairs and looked at the table, noticing that there were no plates on it. He shook his head with a bit of a smile, realizing that she had forgotten to eat again. He opened the fridge and began to gather things to make a quick salad so that she wouldn't be late. Spike was quite the chef, despite being a bit lazy and had a nearly perfect salad for her with all of her favorite dressings on it. "Here you go, Twilight, one of your brain salads that you love so much," he called over to her as he placed the bowl down at her place at the table. Twilight snapped out of her list-checking and looked over at the table, a small smile forming on her lips. "Oh Spike, you didn't have to do that for me," she said as she sat down to eat after placing the list on the table. She quickly downed the salad, Spike raising an eyebrow at her eating habits. "Judging by the way you destroyed that salad, I'd say it's a good thing I did," Spike commented with a smile, but the smile fell when he saw her saddle bags all packed up by the door, the size telling him that she was going to be gone for a while. "Are you sure that I can't come along? We can find somepony else to watch the library. I'm sure that Rainbow Dash is free." Twilight looked at her assistant with sad eyes, her heart aching for having to leave him behind again. "You know that Rainbow Dash is away teaching young pegasi how to fly, and that none of my other friends can watch the library," she said as she walked over to him and wrapped a wing around him. "And I want you to come along, but I don't think that you would like it. All we're going to do for a few days is talk politics." Spike shrugged off her hug, still feeling a bit dejected. Twilight reflected on his sadness with a sigh. "Alright, how about this: When I get back, I promise to take you out for a full day of fun and we can go wherever you want. Deal?" she asked him with a smile as she saw his spines stick up a bit. Spike turned his head slightly and thought about it for a minute. "Alright, deal," he said with a small smile. Twilight grinned in return and pulled him into a big hug as the sounds of pegasi wings came to a stop outside the door. Twilight released the hug and immediatly went for her bags. "That'll be the guards who are going to escort me to Canterlot," she informed him as she quickly placed her bags on her back, whipping out the checklist one last time before leaving. "I need to get going now. I don't think I've forgotten anything," she muttered to herself. "Um, Twilight?" "Yes, Spike?" "Crown." Twilight swung her head to see that he was pointing at her desk, where her crown and also the Element of Magic was laying forgotten on the table. She let out a quick cry and levitated it over to her, placing it in her bag with a sigh of relief. "Thanks Spike, don't know what I'd do without you!" she yelled as she ran out the door with one last wave before slamming it, waking up some of the neighbors. Spike stood there with his hand still raised in one last wave goodbye as the sound of wingbeats picked up and got softer and softer. "Then, what will you do when I'm not there?" He sighed sadly and lowered his hand, walking over to the table to clean up after her. He lifted her plate and placed it in the sink, turning around and looking at the empty library. Since he had fixed it all up last night, he couldn't even clean up the library to try and take his mind off of the fact that he was left behind again. With nothing better to do, Spike slowly walked up the stairs and back to their room, sighing at the emptiness of it. He didn't mind Twilight being a princess and was happy that she had managed to achieve her destiny, but it seemed that now she had even less time to spend with him. He noticed that she had forgotten to make her bed before she had left, something that she often did when she was in a rush. Spike rolled his eyes and made it for her, making a mental note to remind her about it for the fifth time when she got back. He then noticed that he hadn't made his bed either. "Might as well make my own," he said as he walked over to his bed and began to fold his sheets. "Don't want to be thought of as a hypocrite." Spike folded up his sheets and placed them back on the bed before picking up his pillow to fluff it. As he picked it up, a small green ring fell out from under his pillow. Spike looked at it as he placed his pillow back down on the bed and bent over to pick up the ring. "That's odd, i thought that you were just part of a weird dream," he muttered to himself as he looked over the ring in his claws. It was a small green ring that had an odd shape in the center of it, like a circle with two lines above and below it. It gave off a small green glow, but it seemed much weaker than it had in his dream. Spike shrugged and slipped it onto a finger on his right hand, surprised that it fit so well over his finger. He held out his hand to look at it when a voice spoke to him. 'Spike of Frontier...You have the...to overcome great...Welcome to the...' "GAH! What the...?" Spike cried out as he looked at his arm, realizing that he now had a green suit covering it. In fact, when he looked down at his body, he saw that his entire body was covered in a green suit that hummed with power. Spike barely had time to register what had happened before it vanished in a flash of green. Spike looked down at himself and blinked, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he had not been seeing things. "Well, that was weird," he muttered to himself, looking back at the ring that seemed to have lost some of its light. He shrugged it off and figured that he was tired, so he went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. Once he was certain that he had woken up, he headed downstairs to make himself something to eat. He was passing by Twilight's most prized books when he heard a voice. 'Ring power at .5 percent.' Spike screamed as the voice reached his ears and backed up into the bookshelf, knocking a number of books off the shelf. Spike saw the books falling and dove to try and catch them, but he fell short. "Nonono!" he cried out as he stretched out his claw to try and catch them despite being too far away...but he still caught them. Spike looked forwards with widening eyes as he realized that a glowing green claw was floating in front of him, holding the books in the center of it. Spike backed away in fear and the moment he did, the claw vanished into thin air and the books fell to the ground. Spike looked around the room, panting in fear and confusion. 'Ring power at .5 percent. Recommend recharging.' Spike shrieked again and looked around the room, looking for whoever it was that had spoken. Unless Owliscious could talk, Spike was certain that he was alone in the room. Spike shakily stood back up and twisted his tail nervously. The voice rang out again and Spike's heartbeat shot up as he dove behind a table, nervously peeking out from behind it. "H-hello?" he asked weakly, looking around the room with fear-filled eyes. "A-anypony there?" Spike's eyes scanned the room, looking for any sign of movement. But now that he had a moment to think about it, the voice had said ring power at .5 percent. Spike looked down at the ring and realized that it was what was talking to him. "How are you talking?" he asked it in awe. 'Ring power at .5 percent. Recommend recharging,' it said again in an emotionless voice. Spike looked at it sitting there on his hand, terrified that it would try to kill him at any moment. 'Recommend recharge.' "O-okay then, where do I recharge you?" Spike asked nervously, not sure if this was a good idea. 'Use the power core.' Spike was about to ask what that was when the ring gave out another flash of light that temporarily blinded him. Spike rubbed his eyes to clear the green light and opened his eyes, which widened with shock when he saw what was now in the room. A massive lantern was sitting on the table in the center of the room, flooding the room with a powerful green light. Spike could feel the power fueling it, but instead of filling him with fear, it instead gave him strength. "So, this must be the power core," Spike muttered to himself as he approached it with curiosity. It was a massive green lantern, that shone with power that seemed to cause the ring on his finger to glow as well. It was big and looked larger than he was, but for some reason he felt like he would have no trouble carrying it. "Um...how do I use it? I don't see an 'on' switch or something." 'Hold the ring up to the lantern and say the oath as it charges,' the ring said to him. Spike looked down at the ring, confused by what it said and still by the fact that it was talking. "Um, what oath? I don't know any oaths," he said to it in confusion. 'Hold the ring to the lantern center,' it ordered. Spike sighed and held his hand up to the lantern, feeling strength flow through him as the ring touched the center of it. He could feel the lantern flooding him with power, inundating him with what felt like pure willpower coursing through him. 'Now say this oath: "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escaped my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, green lantern's light.'" "Is the oath necessary?" Spike asked the ring, thinking that the oath sounded a little silly. 'No, but it makes the charging process go by faster.' Spike didn't know if it was joking or not, but he did notice that the ring's light seemed to have almost gone out. So while he thought it was still a bad idea, Spike inhaled deeply and recited the oath that the ring had told him: "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, green lantern's light." Spike yelled as the lantern gave off a much more powerful glow than before, and his body was suddenly filled with power. He pulled his hand back as he felt his hand go numb, looking down at the ring that--unlike a few seconds ago--now glowed with a burning green light. 'Power level one hundred percent,' the ring said in a stronger voice. "W-what was that?" Spike asked himself as he looked down at himself again, groaning when he realized that the green suit was back. The suit was a combination of green and black, with green covering his chest and arms, while his legs had the black material covering them. Despite working with Rarity for days on end, Spike had never seen a material like this before. There were also veins running through his suit that had the same green light coursing through him. And in the center of his chest was the same symbol that he had seen on his ring. "What happened to me?" 'You are now wearing the symbol of the Green Lanterns,' the ring said to him. "Who are the Green Lanterns?" Spike asked it in a panicked voice, trying not to freak out over what was happening. 'The Green Lanterns are the guardians of all of space. The rings are the source of their willpower and the symbol of what they fight for. They fight for freedom and for the safety of all.' "Then how did I get one?" Spike asked it, thinking less about the fact that a ring was talking to him and a giant lantern was sitting on his table. 'Whenever a Lantern falls, the ring seeks out a new host that it deems worthy of wielding the power.' "And...I was chosen to wield this power?" Spike asked it in disbelief, never once thinking that he had done something to earn this power. 'No. The one who was chosen was the one called Twilight Sparkle. However, she rejected the power of the ring, so it chose the next best host.' Spike frowned as he heard the explanation, a little sad but not surprised. Twilight had proven time and time again that she was more than worthy for a power that was used to protect the galaxy than he ever was. "But now I have these powers, right?" he asked it with a bit of hope. 'Yes, you have been chosen.' Spike wasn't sure what he should do. Should he write Celestia that he found a mystical power ring that could talk to him and was giving him power beyond belief? Or should he keep it and see what this power could do? "Alright, so how do I use this power?" Spike asked the ring. 'Will.' "Can you be more specific?" 'The ring is channeled by willpower. If you will it, so shall it be.' Spike thought about that, not sure if he understood what it was saying. He had thought that the ring had been a magic source at first, with the way it glowed and all, but it had just said that it was fueled by something else. "So, if I were to imagine a giant emerald, it would..." Spike began as he thought hard about a giant green emerald. But no matter how hard he thought or wanted it, the emerald did not appear. "What the heck? I thought that you said that if I willed it, whatever I wanted would appear." 'Will it into being, don't want it.' Spike sighed and cleared his mind before trying again. This time he tried his best to flood his will through his arm and into his ring the best he could. But unlike his previous attempt, this time he felt something happening. Spike opened his eyes slowly, but they shot wide open when he saw that floating in front of him was the giant emerald that he had been longing for. His eyes widened and he started to drool at the sight of it. "It's the most delicious thing I've ever seen," Spike said as he wiped his mouth on his arm to stop the drooling. Spike walked over to he emerald that floated in front of him, taking a moment to appreciate its beauty right before he tried to sink his teeth into it. "AHH! Ow, ow that hurt," he moaned as his teeth almost shattered against the energy construct. 'You cannot eat a constuct. It is a representation of what you will, not what your stomach wills.' "Could've told me that sooner," Spike muttered as he rubbed his jaw, wincing in pain. The emerald vanished the moment he lost his concentration, leaving only him and his green ring. "And can't you do something about this suit? I don't want to really wear it right now." The ring flashed and the suit vanished into thin air. Spike groaned as he walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for himself, sitting down on it with another moan. "Can you do something about the jaw pain too?" 'No.' "Well then, what else can you do?" Spike asked the ring as he rummaged around in the fridge for an ice pack. 'I am capable of flight, shielding and anything else that the wielder wills.' Spike looked down at the ring with a massive smile when he heard it say that it was capable of flight. "How do I fly?" he asked it with glee in his voice, holding the ring close to his face with a toothy smile. 'Will yourself to fly.' Spike's smile turned into a frown as he started to hate the way that the ring never gave him a straight answer, or at least an answer that he could understand. But he really wanted to fly since he was currently a wingless dragon, so just as the ring had instructed, he closed his eyes and focused all his will into the ring. Even after what felt like ages to the little dragon, Spike thought that his feet were still on the ground. He was just about to consider giving up when he felt the top if his scales hit the ceiling. Spike's eyes snapped open and filled with awe as he realized that he was indeed flying...or at least floating at the top of the library. The sheer joy of the fact that he was flying was enough to make Spike whoop in happiness...which also broke his concentration. The green aura that had been the source of his levitation faded and Spike found himself hurtling towards the floor. Spike closed his eyes to focus again and re-engaged the green aura, stopping his descent right above the floorboards. "That was way too close," Spike said with a sigh as he used his other arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead, while the ring gently lowered him to the ground. "Okay, so I can fly. I think that's enough ring practice for today. On to my next problem," Spike grumbled to himself as he turned to the giant lantern that was still sitting on the table. "How am I supposed to get rid of this thing?" 'The power source can be stored in a pocket dimension that only you can access,' the ring told him before lifting his arm and covering the lantern in its light, leaving Spike to watch with wide eyes as the lantern simply vanished from his sight. If it wasn't for the green ring burned into the table, Spike might have believed that there was never a lantern there to begin with. 'The lantern will be accessible whenever you need it, just use your ring.' "I have to admit, if I didn't live with Twilight, this whole situation would seem really weird," Spike muttered to himself as he looked down at the ring on his finger. If what the ring had told him was true, he was now in control of a weapon of sorts that was fueled by his will and imagination, that was sent her by a larger organization that consisted of hundreds if not thousands of heroes that fought against evil. And now he had been chosen to be one of them. This was a lot to handle for a Tuesday. "I think I've had enough of this weirdness for now," Spike said with a sigh, walking over to Twilight's desk, where she had left a list of chores and ways to help keep the library standing. He picked up the list and smiled as he saw that the first thing on the list was to try and avoid sneezing inside. The next item on the list was one he hated. Reorganizing the books from the top shelves to the bottom. This was one of his least favorite tasks because his short stature forced him to use a ladder that seemed to hate him. "I really hate this ladder," Spike muttered as he opened the closet door and looked up at the rickety ladder that he had come to hate. He reached one hand forward and grabbed the ladder, pulling it out of the closet like one would a creature from its den. "Okay you, I don't like you and you don't like me," Spike said as he stared down possibly his greatest foe. "But both of us need to work together if we want to finish what Twilight left us. You wouldn't want to upset Twilight, would you?" 'You realize that you are talking to a ladder?' "I'm also talking to a ring. What's your point?" Spike snapped back, smiling when the ring didn't answer him. Spike slowly moved the ladder over to the first shelf, preparing himself mentally for the task that he had ahead of him. Spike placed the ladder up to the bookshelf and braced it firmly so that it wouldn't fall. "Okay, let's try this without me falling to my death," Spike muttered weakly as he placed one claw on the second rung, making sure that it didn't break. Spike then placed his foot on the rung below his hand, swallowing down his fear as he began to climb up. His confidence rose with each rung until he was pratically at the top. Spike looked over at the books that Twilight had left out of order in her hurry to pack and very gently reached out to grab the first book. "Steady Spike, steady..." Spike's claws were just a few inches from the book when the rung he was standing on snapped under his weight and dropped the dragon to the floor. Spike landed flat on his back and felt the wind leave his lungs upon landing. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head as he glared at the ladder. "I should have known that you coudln't be trusted." 'Suggestion. Why do you not use the ring to move the books?' "Wait, I can do that?" Spike asked it. "Aren't I suposed to use this power for like, good and justice?" 'You can use it for almost whatever you will.' Spike smiled at that line and pointed the ring at the ladder, willing the ring move it. The ladder was surrounded by a green energy sphere that shot out from Spike's ring and was lifted off the floor by the sphere. Spike smiled as he pointed the ring at the closet and watched with a grin as the ladder sailed into it. Spike willed the ring to take on the form of a hand and slammed the door with a smile. "So you can also lift items too. Let's see if you can lift multiple things," Spike said as he spun the ring towards the bookshelf and pointed the ring at the top of the shelves. He laughed out loud as the beam of green light encompassed the books that he had been trying to remove from the top of the shelves and pulled them out of their places. He then willed the ring to put them back in their right place, which it did to the letter. Seeing that the first attempt had worked so well, Spike then moved the ring to the shelf under it and performed the same trick, moving the books out of the wrong spots and putting them back in their right places. He moved to the other shelves to repeat the proceedure, getting faster and faster as he started to get the hang of his new powers. Once he was done with that bookshelf, he looked around at the rest of the library, a smile crossing his lips as he thought of something. "Alright, that was pretty cool. But let's see if we can make it even cooler." Spike lifted his ring hand into the air, willing all of the books that were in the wrong spots into the air and letting out a laugh as all the books began to circle around him. "Alright, you go over there," Spike muttered while pointing his ring at one of the empty spots on the shelf and sent the book to the correct spot. He then spun and sent another book flying into the right spot. He continued to do so until he had put all the books in the right place, doing a little dance as he did so. "Wow, I've never re-arranged the books so fast! This ring is awesome!" Spike yelled out in excitement. He looked down at the ring on his finger and stared at it like it was a gift from above...which it was. "Now that I'm done with that, what else did Twilight put on this list for me to do?" Spike pointed the ring at the list he had left on the desk and pulled it over to himself, grabbing it to see what else was on it. "Huh, she wants me to go shopping as well? But I can't carry everything she..." Spike looked back down at the ring, smiling to himself as he realized that there was no longer anything he couldn't do anymore. So as Spike ran to the door and threw it open to go shopping, he had a feeling that this was going to be a great day.