I made a mistake in the first chapter, which has been corrected. Spike is as tall as Shining Armor, not Rarity.
Now, DanvilleBengal has suggested making all of the characters anthro. Now, originally I planned on only Spike standing on two legs, like the Sangheili. (Fun fact: The ponies, dragons, AND sangheili have the same name for “Hell”: Tartarus.) However, if the readers want it, I will change some scenes (aka “raising a hoof to her cheek” becomes “raising a hand to her cheek” and so on) to fit the anthro bill.
Now, on with the story!
The train ride back was quiet. Now normally, this would be good for anypony, but these were six mares used to unordinary things happening, as well as an armored dragon battle-trained and hardened during his migration. Taken under R’tas ‘Kusovai’s tutoring, Spike was quickly brought up on all the teachings he would have had if his parents had survived.
R’tas, despite being his grandfather, was a hard taskmaster. He had to be, as Grand Councilor of the Earth Dragons.
Ignoring all usual training, R’tas threw his grandson into Honor Guard training instead of working his way up starting with Minor-Rank training. R’tas had already buried his son and daughter-in-law; he didn’t want to bury the last of his family as well.
Spike’s gaze trailed onto the six ponies he had known for most his life-the six mares he was tasked with protecting. He looked through the glass of his helmet, a Heads-Up Radar in the upper-right corner of his line of sight, an ammo count in the upper-left corner, a shield meter on the top of the sight, and a zoom-in feature built in to activate and deactivate with a thought.
Tired of the silence, Spike grabbed a book he had carried in under his armor. He had already read it multiple times, but was hoping Twilight would notice it. He had just opened the page when Twilight gazed on the book. Almost instantly at the sight of a book she didn’t recognize, a lilac glow surrounded it and it flew in front of Twilight Sparkle.
“Well, that was just rude Twilight.” Rarity admonished, earning a sheepish grin from her friend.
“No. I was hoping for that. I know how Twilight is around books.” Spike said; his ear fins twitching as he gazed out the window of the doorway to their compartment as a pony pushed a food trolley by.
Now this got everyone’s attention. What book did Spike hope she will read. All six mares leaned over and gazed at the title.
Earth Dragons: A History of Honor.
“Where did you get this?” Twilight asked, slowly opening the book as if it were made of glass, “There’s nothing like this in all of Equestria.”
“It was written by my Great-Great Grandfather to help Earth Dragons who migrated to the sacred land from elsewhere for the first time. In other words; it’s a guide for Earth Dragons about our species for those raised outside of the Battlecruiser.” Spike explained.
“In the entire draconic lineage, no dragon line has been as recorded and preserved as the Earth Dragons.” Twilight read out loud, causing the other ponies to look at her as Spike took a vigilant watch out the door.
“Descendants of the Sangheili, which can be translated to Latin as Macto Cognatus: or ‘I Glorify my Kin’ in Equestrian, the Earth Dragons follow the ancient code and beliefs as their ancestors. There is hope that one day their home-the Battlecruiser that crash-landed in the Everfree Forest would be repaired to return to the Sangheili’s home planet: Sanghelios, a planet whose last recorded population was 8.135 billion Sangheili.“ Twilight read.
“Oh! Think of how many dresses I could make there!” Rarity exclaimed, nearly falling over if it wasn’t for Spike’s arm shooting out and catching her. “I apologize for that un-ladylike fall I nearly took, Spikey-Wikey.”
Spike’s purple scales reddened around his cheeks, but he said nothing-not trusting himself not to stutter.
“Or parties. It would be the biggest party I’d ever thrown! It’d be the party to end all parties! Yes! Keep reading Twilight! I want to hear more so I can know what kind of food they’d want!” Pinkie Pie said, hopping all over the room.
“The Earth Dragons, like the Sangheilis, are first and foremost soldiers above everything else. An average Earth Dragon has the ability to live up to if not over seventy years-the age of a really long-lived pony.” Twilight read, trying to keep her eyes off the hyperactive bouncing pink pony.
“Or Granny Smith” Applejack said, thinking of her grandmother.
“However, due to their lifestyle, it is rare to see an Earth Dragon over twenty years old.” Twilight read, her ears drooping at the very line she read. “An Earth Dragon remains in an infant-form for many years without growing. If it succumbs to a greed-growth, the Earth Dragon loses the ability to speak-only roaring.” This brought Rarity and Twilight’s minds back to Spike’s “Birthday incident”, where as a ‘teenage dragon” the only words he spoke were “Spike want”, and could only roar as a giant, four-legged “adult”.
“After a while, if the Earth Dragon does not snap out of its greed-growth, instincts take it to the Battlecruiser-where it is killed in battle with the regular Earth Dragons. However, if it is snapped out of its greed, or it never succumbs to it, an Earth Dragon will stay in its infant-form until it is time to migrate. Symptoms of an oncoming journey back to the ancestral Battlecruiser will be nightmares-often of a battlefield. At this time, an Earth Dragon can be prone to violent reactions, as sudden movements or a flash of color in their line of vision can be registered in their minds as ‘enemy’. This is heralded up to their first phrase in their ancestor’s language-Wort Wort Wort-right before they run towards the Battlecruiser. This, translated, can mean Go, Go, Go, and was used right before a Sangheili’s charge on the battlefield.”
At this, Twilight looked up “Well that explains the erratic behavior before he ran off.”
“And that growl” Rarity said, “He caught sight of a pony’s blue tail and growled out that phrase before he took off.”
Taking a breath she didn’t know she was holding, Twilight continued narrating.
“Like the Sangheili, an Earth Dragon’s rise through the ranks is based on merit and skill. The lowest rank achievable is Minor. This is a stepping stone to the Earth Dragons, a learning tool. If the Minor-Ranked Earth Dragon does not earn a promotion to the next rank in its first combat mission, or receive a promotion from a spar before the first combat mission, it will…..” At the next words, Twilight’s voice died and her eyes widened in horror.
“Let me read!” Pinkie Pie shouted, grabbing the book. “If the Minor-Ranked Earth Dragon does not earn a promotion to the next rank in its first combat mission, or receive a promotion from a spar before the first combat mission, it will commit ritualistic suicide to retain his or her honor.”
The book fell to the floor, but remained open on the page. The ponies just stood there with looks of horror on their face.
Seeing as nopony was moving to continue, Spike himself picked up the book and continued reading.
“Earth Dragons are still very intelligent, and can easily learn to use any weapon available, as well as communicate with other species. They maintain a strong sense of honor and respect their comrades, kin, and superior officers. This sense of honor is what fuels the Earth Dragon-even more than food. Any foe who is skilled on the battlefield earns the Earth Dragon’s respect, the same way respect is earned with the Sangheili.”
The mares had shaken themselves out of their stupor, and were now listening intently to Spike.
“To an Earth Dragon, there is no higher honor than dying on the battlefield. Although many do not like seeing their kin die and may try to prevent it, losing your life for something greater than yourself is the most proper way to die. Even Earth Dragons captured by enemies will commit ritualistic suicide in order to keep their comrades safe and prevent any information that might endanger their family and comrades from falling into enemy hands, as well as retain honor.”
“To the Earth Dragons, family is very important. A gift of an item dear to the Earth Dragon is used as a marriage proposal. Infant-form Earth Dragons are encouraged to flee battle in order to carry on the blood of their family to the next generation, while older forms do not flee the battlefield, as it is dishonorable. The older dragons form strong bonds with their fellow soldiers, the males becoming like brothers to each other.”
Glancing at the window, Spike shut the book after placing a bookmark in it for Twilight. Glancing out the window, he saw that the train was slowing down-approaching the station. “We must get ready. The train will have stopped in a few minutes.”
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All across Ponyville, ponies were talking about the newspaper headlines all across Equestria.
New Allegiance with Earth Dragon Species
Of course, many had been present at the Canterlot wedding, and were describing the new appearance and outfit of “Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant”. An outfit that indicated that he was one of the Earth Dragons they were now allied with. Now, when they saw the six mares coming out of the train station with the armored Spike, it just added fuel to the fire. Ponies started talking in hushed whispers, while others kept coming up to try and get the autograph of the “hero who saved the wedding”.
Spike’s head swirled as different ponies talked at the same time, holding pieces of paper and other objects with quills as they pushed and shoved closer to him. “This is starting to become uncomfortable for me.” Spike said as he tried climbing out of the pile of ponies. “This is not what I wanted, even in my infant-form.” Panicking slightly, Twilight went teleported them-hoping to go to a random location they knew outside of town, like Fluttershy’s cottage or Apple family’s farm.
What they got was the inside of the Carousel Boutique, which was near the center of the town. “Well, beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.” Spike said, glancing at the surroundings before pulling his helmet off. “At least we’re out of the crowd.”
“Give it a few days, it’ll blow over.” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.
As the six mares talked with each other, Spike went over to Rarity’s red couch and sat down, placing his helmet on the ground by his feet and let out a loud sigh.
“When news got out of the alliance, I did not expect the ponies to react like this.” Spike growled out, talking in Sangheili in order to prevent himself from sounding like he was complaining. Rarity frowned at this, as she inwardly wondered what he was saying. She once was able to read Spike like a book, but now he could speak in a language nopony could understand and kept his eyes behind blue glass and his mouth in a slight frown when clad in his armor. It was like he was paranoid, constantly scanning for threats.
This unnerved her, to be honest. For him to rather die than allow anypony around him to be hurt from a careless mistake seemed unthinkable to her. Yet, there was the evidence staring her in her face with his stance alone. His right hand twitched every now and then, staying near the handle of the flame sword-ready to grab and activate it in a heartbeat.
“I’ll grab everypony some tea. Just wait here.” Rarity said, as she slowly walked to her kitchen and put some water in the pot and lit the stove to let it heat up. Putting some cups with a tea bag in each one on a tray, her eyes wandered to the stairway. The object that led to her conflicting thoughts sat just upstairs, in her bedroom.
Glancing at the pot and deciding that the short amount of time won’t hurt it, she quietly made her way up the stairs, avoiding everypony’s line of vision. Once in her room, she glazed at the box that container her most precious possession. Reaching in, she pulled out a gold necklace with a bright red, heart-shaped Fire Ruby on it. Spike had aged it and shaped it to get the most flavor out of it for his birthday, and he just gave it to her.
Smiling at the thought, she thought about his growth. Part of her wished that he was still in his infant-form. The innocent smile and look in his eyes with his cute, chubby cheeks was something anyone would find adorable-no matter how much he complained.
Still, she knew that he had to grow sometime. It was just his time. She sighed and remembered looking at him without the helmet. He knew how to smile, but he had lost the innocence in his eyes. Sorrow, rage, devotion, and pain reflected in his eyes. She knew the reason why, too.
He had been in at least one battle where he had to take a life.
She stared at her reflection in the glistening ruby and remembered Spike’s words. It had been this very day, yet it echoed like it was a distant memory.
“To the Earth Dragons, family is very important. A gift of an item dear to the Earth Dragon is used as a marriage proposal.”
She shook the thoughts from her head and clipped on the necklace-the ruby resting above her heart, and quietly moved downstairs back into the kitchen. Soon the water would be boiling and she could take it off the heat and serve it in the cups she set up and let the tea seep.
When she got into the kitchen, however, she came face-to-back with Spike, who was already pouring the water into the cups. His helmet was on the table next to it, apparently he brought it with him into the kitchen. “Spike! What are you doing here? I thought I had everypony wait until I served the tea.”
Spike didn’t look at her right away, his eyes staying locked onto the cup he was pouring water into. “The water was boiling already. We all heard it whistling. When nothing was happening, I figured you must not be able to pick it up for some reason and came to help, as well as make sure you were safe.”
She didn’t know what to think. Sure, she was flattered that Spike wanted to make sure she was okay, but had she really been that deep in thought for that long? Spike turned around and his eyes immediately locked-onto the Fire Ruby necklace she was wearing.
“Rarity! There are two ponies with Sweetie Bell here to see you.” Pinkie Pie said, sticking her head into the room, before bouncing out into the living room.
Standing up and levitating the tray of tea into the living room, she placed it on the table. Spike placed his helmet back on his head, and the glass that had receded once again slid out over his eyes. “Rarity, who are these ponies?” Spike asked, bringing his right hand to rest over the handle of his flame sword.
“M-mo….Mom?! Dad?!”