//------------------------------// // Dueling Dragons // Story: The Legend of Spike: Krazoa Island // by DiabloGuapo //------------------------------// “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” A larger teenaged dragon stood over Spike, sneering down at him as the purple dragon lay on the ledge inside the volcano. He had dark red scales with ear frills of a matching color. The plated scales of his underbelly were a pale gold and the webbing of his wings was amber. The webbed spines of his crest that ran down his head were orange as were the spikes that ran down his back and tail to the spade at the tip. From his mouth, large fangs protruded from his top jaw. “What are you doing here?” Spike asked Garble. The red dragon snorted black smoke from his nostrils and stepped onto the ledge. When Spike had joined the dragon migration years ago to discover what it meant to be a dragon, he encountered Garble and his gang of roughhousing teenagers. At first, Spike wanted to prove that he was one of them, but then stood up to them when they threatened to smash a phoenix egg. That had made the red dragon angry. In his own words, no one said no to him. Luckily, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash had secretly followed Spike to make sure he didn’t get hurt. When the dragons threatened to harm Spike, the ponies came to his aid. Though they were willing to fight to defend the baby dragon, Spike made a wise decision and led the retreat. “Some dog named Scar is paying me to keep this away from the dinosaurs.” Garble held up the yellow SpellStone in his claw. “Hey, give that back!” As Spike tried to stand up, Garble brought his clawed foot down onto Spike’s torso, pinning him to the ground. The stomp of the foot onto his chest forced the air out of Spike’s lungs and he grunted and coughed as he slammed back down. Even though Spike had grown since they had last met, so had Garble. It wasn’t as drastic of a change as Spike’s. Over the past few years, the purple and green dragon had doubled in height while Garble only grew about a foot. However, Spike’s limbs were still lanky since he was still in the early years of being a teenaged dragon and Garble was already long pass the point Spike was at now when they had met the first time. The red dragon was two feet taller than Spike and his muscles were much more developed. “When he told me you were the one causing him so much trouble, I couldn’t believe it,” Garble told Spike as he continued to press down with his foot. “How could the dragon that acted more like a pony possibly be a problem?” “Get away from him!” Garble turned his head and saw five ponies with a small Triceratops running up behind him. He recognized the light purplish one with the pink stripe in her hair and the bluish one with rainbow hair. Seeing the five little ponies and the baby dinosaur trying to act tough was too much for him and he nearly doubled over laughing. “Oh, what’s this? Spike, did your namby pamby pony pals come along because you were too scared to leave home by yourself?” Garble mocked as he looked back down at the dragon under his foot. “We came because we’re his family! Now, get away from my son!” Twilight yelled at the red and orange dragon, her horn glowing. “Yeah, leave him alone, you bully!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she hopped beside the angry Alicorn mother. This only caused Garble to laugh harder. “Your son?!” Garble managed to say in between laughs. “Oh man, Spike. I also knew you were pathetic, but this brings it to a whole new level.” “How dare you?!” Fluttershy shouted as she flew up into Garble’s face. She had been intimidated by the red teenager, but when she saw her friend was in trouble, she pushed aside her fear of dragons for the time being. Garble was taken aback when the little yellow pony started to fly in front of him and stared at him with her soul piercing eyes. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself! What gives you the right to…” Whack! “Fluttershy!” the group of on looking ponies cried when they saw the red dragon smack their friend with the back of his fist, sending her crashing onto the floor before them. They ran to her side and were relieved to see that she was okay. However, she was knocked senseless and there was a red mark across the side of her face. Tears of pain ran down her cheeks as she whimpered. “That does it!” Rainbow Dash declared as she was about to charge the dragon that had hurt her friend, but before she or any of the others could do anything, Spike grabbed a hold of Garble’s foot by the toes and heel and twisted it. Garble let out a yell of surprise as he tripped and felled onto the ledge beside Spike. The purple dragon rolled onto the red one and slugged him across the snout. Before he could punch him again, Garble grabbed the flying fist and tried to push Spike off of him. As the two wrestle on the ledge, their trashing caused the ground beneath them to crack. The ledge crumbled and the two dragons fell to the magma below. As they fell, Spike saw the SpellStone of Air falling beside him and reached for it. However, Garble punched Spike while he was distracted and grabbed the yellow gem for himself. He flapped his wings and stopped himself before he could take a lava bath. He grinned triumphantly at the stone in his claw and then looked back down to Spike. To his surprise, the purple dragon was flying up to him. “Well look at you. Little Spike finally got his wings,” Garble stated, almost impressed with the younger dragon. “Give that back, Garble!” Spike demanded as he flew up to the red dragon’s level. “No, I don’t think I will,” sneered Garble. “In fact, I think I’ll keep it for myself. Once Scar gets what he wants and pays me, I’ll take this and the other three stones.” “Don’t you know that this island will fall apart without the SpellStones?!” Spike asked in disbelief at the other dragon callousness. “Everyone here will die!” “Yeah, so?” Garble said in complete apathy. Spike growled in anger then shot a green ball of dragonfire at Garble’s face. Since dragons are fireproof, the attack didn’t burn him, but the impact did knock his head back. Garble snarled in fury at Spike, but then smirked. “Okay, Spike. If you want it, come and get it.” The red scaled teenaged dragon flew down a magma filled tunnel and Spike pursued after him. Garble would turn around midflight and mockingly wave the SpellStone at Spike. He would also shoot orange balls of dragonfire, knocking him back. The purple dragon growled in frustration and flapped his wings harder. However, Garble’s amber wings were more developed than Spike’s green wings. Each one were about as long as he was tall and Garble could remain airborne with a slow steady beat while Spike had to continuously flap to keep up. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash ran to the broken ledge, ready to fly after the dragons, but backed up when they felt the intense heat coming from the magma chamber. As they turned their heads away from the inferno, Twilight said, “It’s too hot! We can’t fly in this heat!” “Then what are we supposed to do?” Dash asked. “We can’t let Spike fight that guy by himself!” Spike could feel the burn in his wings and he landed on a rock protruding from the tunnel’s wall. Exhausted, he panted in a desperate effort to catch his breath. “What’s the matter, Spike? Tired already?” Spike looked up to the dragon that was hovering in the air above him, mocking him. “You know, this stone looks rather tasty. I might just eat it instead.” Garble opened his maw and brought the SpellStone up to it as though he was about to take a big bite out of it. He then heard the sound of rocks crumbling and looked down to see that Spike had ripped the rock ledge from the wall of the tunnel. With a yell, Spike lobbed the boulder at Garble and it smacked into the red dragon. Garble grunted from the impact and dropped the SpellStone. Spike swooped down and caught it before it splashed into the molten rock. The boulder had sandwiched Garble into the tunnel’s wall, putting the dragon between a rock and a hard place. Garble snarled and pushed the boulder off of him and roared at Spike. He kicked off from the wall and chased after the dragon that had the SpellStone. Spike was still tired from flapping his wings so hard, but the furious Garble was gaining on him. He flew around sharp turns, under stone arches, and around lava following into the river of magma in attempt to lose his pursuer, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t shake him. Looking ahead, he saw a low hanging arch. As he flew under the arch, he pounded against it with a fist, cracking it with his draconic strength. When Garble flew under the arch, Spike shot a fireball at it and caused it to collapse on him. The falling rocks trapped Garble underneath them, and he yelled in shock as they dragged him down into the magma He looked behind him to see if the trap work, but couldn’t spot Garble anywhere. He turned around and flew backwards as he tried to locate him. Believing he gave Garble the slip, he hurried down the tunnel to the main magma chamber. Back at the ledge near the top, he saw his friends. “I’ve got the SpellStone!” he called up to him. “Let’s hurry and get out of here before… whoa!” As he was about to land on the platform, Garble had burst from the magma and shot up the volcano to grab Spike by his tail. Dripping with lava, he yanked the purple dragon down, causing Spike to throw the SpellStone of Air upwards. As it fell back down, Twilight caught it with her magic and looked down the throat of the volcano. “Spike!” Garble dragged Spike by his tail as he flew down to the magma. He then threw Spike downwards, causing him to crash onto a rock island. As Spike tried to get back up, Garble dropped right on top of him. “So, you want to play rough, do you?” he growled at the purple dragon he was standing on. He stepped off of him, grabbed his head, and slammed it into the rock. “Just so you know,” he whispered into Spike’s ear frill. “After I kill you, I’ll take care of your ‘family’ as well, starting with your so-called ‘mother.’” Hearing this, Spike’s pupil became narrow slits. With a roar of fury, he spun around and slashed Garble across the snout. The red dragon roar in pain and grasped his snout with his claws, blood dripping between his fingers. Garble turned his head and snarled at Spike, his pupils also razor thin slits. This was no longer a fight between two opponents, but a clash between two feral beasts. Spike sped towards Garble and tackled him. He flew across the magma chamber with the red dragon and rammed him into the wall, causing a tremor. After hitting the wall, Garble raised his fists and brought them down onto Spike’s back. Spike landed on a ledge and Garble came down with a punch to the face. Spike spat blood onto the platform and stood back up. Garble whirled around and whipped his spaded tail at Spike’s side. Spike caught the tail under his arm and used Garble’s momentum to spin him around and slam him into the wall. Spike then pinned his body against Garble’s and started punching him in the back. Garble roared and flared his wings, knocking Spike off of him. The red dragon spun around and whacked Spike across the face with his wings. Disoriented, Spike stumbled a bit, giving Garble the opening to grab Spike from behind. He wrapped his strong arms around Spike’s chest, lifted him off the ground, and started to squeeze. Spike kicked his feet in the air and tried to break free of Garble’s grip, but couldn’t escape. His vision started to go dark from the lack of air. Desperate, Spike opened his mouth and chomped down on one of Garble’s forearms. The red dragon roared in agony and relinquished his grip on Spike. The smaller dragon reached up, grabbed the larger one by the neck, and tossed him over his shoulder into the ground. Roaring with hatred, Spike pounced onto the other dragon. From the ledge above them, Twilight and the others watched in horror as the two dragons slash, bite, and pounded into each other. They knew that Spike and faced many dangers and terrifying monsters when he was in Trotina. They knew he had slain Dracula not too long ago, but they never actually seen him in combat before. Twilight Sparkle watched as the son she raised from the time she hatched his egg slash and bite into another creature. Applejack watched as the little guy she once knew be replaced by a battle harden warrior. Pinkie Pie watched as the happy little dragon that used to laugh and smile roar and snarl with hatred. Rainbow Dash watched as her snarky and witty little buddy become filled with anger and rage. Fluttershy watched as the sweet innocent baby became what she feared most. They all watched and saw Spike for what he really was; a dragon. Spike and Garble locked claws and tried to out-muscle each other. Spike tried to hold his ground, but the other dragon was much larger and stronger than he was. His arms wavered and he slid across the rocky ground, Garble bearing down on him. No matter how much he had grown, Garble was still physically superior than he was. His draconic strength and rage wouldn’t be enough to save him. He would have to outwit the larger dragon. As Garble was starting to overpower him, Spike kicked Garble on the inside of his knee, buckling it. This caused Garble’s grip to loosen and Spike took advantage of it. He grabbed a wrist with both claws, pivoted around, and threw Garble head first into the ground. While Garble raised himself onto his knees, Spike came from behind him and lock his head in a sleeper hold. Spike pulled his arm closer to his body with his other claw, cutting of Garble’s air supply. The kneeling red dragon flailed his arm and his eyes started to roll back into his head. Soon, the flailing slowed and Spike kicked Garble in the back, sending him into the magma. Spike seethed in hatred as he marched towards Garble. He wanted to tear him apart for what he had done. He had threatened to smash a defenseless phoenix egg all those years ago. Just now, he tried to kill him. He wanted to steal the SpellStones, dooming everyone on the island. He also threatened to kill his friends. He threatened to kill Twilight, Spike’s mother. This monster desired to die. As he raised his claws to rip into the barely conscious Garble, he happened to catch something from the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw multicolored figures looking down at him. His pupils returned to normal as he looked at the horrified looks on his friends’ faces. He then looked at his raised claw and saw the blood on it. He then looked down at Garble, who was groaning as he floated in the magma. No, not like this, he told himself. He concentrated as he summoned his dragon magic and then took a deep breath. Garble awoke when he felt something cold blow against his face. He opened his eyes and saw that Spike was cooling the magma with his frost breath and using his dragon magic to form the hardening magma into a rocky prison around his body. When he was finished, only Garble’s head stuck out of the rock. Garble may have been bigger and stronger, but Spike had a master to train him. “Hey! Let me out of here!” Garble shouted as he struggled to break free. “That will hold you for awhile,” Spike said as he stood over him. “Don’t worry; the rock should melt in a few hours.” “You’re just going to leave me?” Garble asked in disbelief. To answer him, Spike turned his back on him and started to walk away. “Coward! If you were a real dragon, you would finish me off!” “No Garble, I am a real dragon.” Spike stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I’m just not like you.” Spike took off and landed on the platform which his friends were standing on. When he touched down, they backed off to give him space. He took a step forward and Fluttershy flinched as though she was about to take another step back. Spike looked at each of their faces and saw a mixture of worry and, to his dismay, fear. He then looked down in shame and saw the state his body was in. He was covered in scratches and bite marks. His face felt swollen and fatigue started to overcome him. His knees began to wobble and he fell to his knees. He heard the clip clop of hooves and looked up to see the face of Twilight Sparkle right in front of his. She looked into his green eyes and offered him a sad smile. The others joined her and the all nuzzled against him. Twilight then put herself under his right arm and then the others joined her in supporting him. He then realized they weren’t afraid of him, they were afraid for him. He then looked at his friends and gave them all a grateful smile, and not just for lifting him up. They had just seen the worst side of him and yet they still remained his family. He finally succumbed to his injuries and passed out. They then carried him out of Dragon Rock and back to the Great Fox. When Spike awoke, he was on the airship heading back to Krazoa Island. He felt a warmth covering his body that was accompanied by a magenta glow. He looked over and saw Twilight Sparkle sitting beside him. She was using her magic to heal his injuries. Fluttershy was sitting next to her with a bowl of water and some washcloths. He looked down at his scales and saw that they were clean. Apparently, Fluttershy had cleansed the blood from the battle from him while he was unconscious. He then saw the red mark on the yellow mare’s face and remember how Garbled had hit her. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern, pointing to the mark. “I’m fine, really” she reassured him while trying to hide the mark from his view with her long pink mane. She picked up the bowl and soiled rags and took them away. “Are you okay is the better question,” Twilight said to him. “Yes, I am. Thank you.” He then sat up, but Twilight placed a hoof on his chest. “You should rest,” she told him. “The sun has just set and you need to recover your strength.” Spike laid back down without any argument. Twilight gave his forehead a kiss and then went to talk with the rest of the team. He looked over and saw the SpellStone of Air. He had done it; he recovered all four of the SpellStones. Krazoa Island was saved. Now all that remained was finding the remaining Krazoa Spirits and free Rarity from her prison.