Chapter 7: The Fires of Friendship
Princess Twilight Sparkle was at a loss for words as she marched through Canterlot castle, with Zecora on her heels and Celestia leading the way. Minutes has passed, and Twilight’s mind was whirling with even more questions than ever. Celestia had looked so intense, so sure. But it simply wasn’t possible, was it? How could Spike going home to the dragon lands do anything bad to Equestria? What was Princess Celestia hiding?
Celestia led the way into the throne room, where a guard and one of the maids were chatting near the steps that led up to the throne itself. Celestia spoke in a soft tone, but one that left no room for questioning. “Thank you for your services, but they will not be required further for today.”
“Oh… um, yes, Your Highness. Good evening.” The guard bowed with a blush, the maid bowing beside him before they both turned to trot out past the three mares, letting the door swing shut behind them from Celestia’s glowing magic.
Celestia turned back to them, her eyes locking on Zecora. “I’m sorry, but I need to speak with Twilight…”
Twilight grabbed Zecora around the neck before she could move. “Zecora has saved my tail numerous times… you can speak just as freely in front of her as you can in front of my other friends.”
Zecora blushed deeply under her hoof, casting Celestia a slightly panicked look, but Celestia didn’t look angry. Instead she nodded in acceptance.
“I know this sounds strange, and very sudden, but you must believe this is the truth, Twilight. Spike’s presence in the dragon lands could cause a chain reaction that puts Equestria in jeopardy. You must bring him back.”
“Bring him back? You mean… by force?” Twilight’s eyes widened.
Celestia took a deep, shuddering breath. “By any means necessary.”
“Then I won’t.” Twilight surprised Celestia, Zecora, and herself by speaking immediately. For several moments the two princesses just stared each other down, until without warning the double doors to the throne room slid open.
“I am here, dear sister. You may retire now and I shall-” Princess Luna stopped when she saw the staring contest, looking back and forth between them. “And what, pray tell, is going on here?”
“Princess Luna…” Twilight finally looked away from Celestia’s eyes. “Do you know where Spike’s egg came from?”
“The egg? No. I don’t know where any of the dragon eggs have come from, actually.” Luna shook her head. “I suppose I have not given it any thought.”
“Any? You mean there are others?” Twilight blinked in surprise.
“Very special students within my academy are given dragon assistants, just like you.” Celestia interrupted, her voice wavering slightly. Given out like prizes, Twilight thought to herself bitterly.
“Where did they come from, Celestia?” Twilight demanded.
“I already told you, there is no answer I can give.” Celestia’s tone was soft, but her eyes were firm.
Luna cleared her throat and moved to step between them. “Clearly something has happened while I slept. Perhaps we should have a drink and try to calm ourselves before we go any further.”
“There isn’t time,” Celestia objected. “Every moment we wait is another step he takes towards the dragon lands.”
“And you’ve yet to explain why that’s a bad thing.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “He’s a free dragon, he can go wherever he chooses.”
“Twilight, please.” Celestia’s eyes were almost desperate. “You must trust me…”
Twilight hesitated for a brief moment, then took a strong step forward. “I’m sorry… but I can’t.” Luna and Celestia both fixed her with a wide, stunned gaze. “You’ve done so much for me over the years Celestia… it hurts me to say it… but Spike left me because of you. My closest friend in my entire life walked away from me as if he couldn’t bear to be around me, because you did something you wouldn’t trust me with. If you want me to trust you, then I need you to trust me, and tell me exactly what is going on.”
Luna bit her lip, then whirled to look up at her older sister. “What is this all about, Celestia? You must tell us.”
“I told you… I cannot.” Celestia lowered her head slightly. “I understand what you’ve said Twilight… but this is not my own decision.”
“Not your decision?” Twilight cocked her head worriedly.
Luna stepped closer to the larger alicorn. “Sister, are you under some sort of spell or coercion?”
“I cannot speak of it… that is all I can say.” Celestia took a step forward, her voice shaking as she moved past Luna, who stepped aside so she could approach Twilight. “If you cannot trust me… then you can go here.” Her horn pulsed with a soft light, a piece of parchment materializing in the air in front of Twilight and her companion. “This map will show you where you can learn the truth…”
“Fine…” Twilight narrowed her eyes slightly as her own magic took the map from Celestia. “But you better not send anypony else to retrieve Spike while I’m gone. Promise me. If we have to bring him back… I want to be the one to do it.”
Celestia nodded formally. “You have my word, Twilight. Nopony else will be assigned to bring Spike back in your absence.”
“Thank you…” Twilight took a deep breath and turned away from her old mentor, seeing Zecora quickly turn to match her stride towards the large double-doors. “I’ll move as quickly as possible, so that if things are as you say, we can bring Spike back before there’s any danger.”
“Thank you, Twilight. Good luck.”
Twilight didn’t look back until the double doors had closed behind her, guided shut by her glowing horn. Only when the doors were closed did Twilight allow her self-control to falter, her knees nearly giving out underneath her as her breath quickened. “Oh my Goddess… oh my Goddess, I just told off Princess Celestia…”
Zecora leaned up against her side for support and patted her shoulders with one hoof. “You did what needed to be done, regardless if she’s the master of the sun.”
“I hope you’re right…” Twilight gulps, leaning into the offered embrace for a long moment. “Wh-what do you think, Zecora? You have the sharpest mind of anypony I know. Do you think we can really trust all of this at face value?”
Zecora cocked her head thoughtfully for a moment before responding. “I think that if the princess is under some sort of spell, then what else it may make her do, nopony could tell.”
Twilight froze. She hadn’t even thought of that. If Luna was right and there was an enchantment on Celestia preventing her from doing something she wanted to do… perhaps it could make her do something she didn’t want to do too.
Twilight stood up straight finally and looked down at the map in front of her. It was a map of Equestria, with a brightly pulsing dot on the Eastern edge of the continent, nestled in the mountains towards the north. It seemed strange that despite such secrecy, she would have a convenient map pointing straight to whatever the secret was about.
“I don’t understand.” Zecora shook her head as she looked over her shoulder. “It’s nothing but a map of this land.”
“Nothing but a map?” Twilight blinked. “But there’s a big glowing dot right there.” She fixed Zecora with a startled gaze, only to be met with a look of confusion and a shrug. “You… you can’t see it? Only I can…” Twilight gulped. “This really must be big to involve such magic.”
“If Celestia’s words are true then we have no time to waste. Come my dear friend, and we will depart with haste.” Zecora turned to march quickly past her down the hall.
“We?” Twilight trotted to catch up with her. “You don’t have to come, this is my quest.”
“One I will help you see through, as your grateful guest.” Zecora flashed her a sideways smile as Twilight caught up to her.
Twilight blushed softly and moved to trot a little closer by her side. “Okay, Zecora… and thank you.”
Twilight and her companion left the palace, leaving the two alicorn sisters in their castle while they set off on a journey across Equestria. With all the secrecy surrounding this Twilight didn’t feel comfortable getting a guard to take her to the eastern mountain, and she could barely fly herself, let alone her zebra passenger, but they were in too much of a hurry to walk the whole way. She did still have her balloon; it would probably take no more than a day or two at most if she whipped up a strong wind with her magic.
Maybe she had plenty of reason to be cautious or scared… but that wouldn’t keep her from the truth.
___
Nearly a week had passed since Spike and Pyralsprite had left Ponyville. Plodding through forest, desert, marshland and grassy plain, the two little dragons talked and laughed the whole way there. Spike told stories of his adventures with his Ponyville friends, while Pyralsprite spoke of some of her own adventures with her great many bigger brothers.
“The life of a dragon can be pretty free and relaxed, but it’s far from dull.” Pyralsprite clicked her tongue from atop Spike’s shoulders, where she was curled loosely around his neck with her wings open to take in the last rays of the fading evening light. “I swear I thought my brother was actually going to eat me.”
“Haha, well if someone did that to me I might think about it,” Spike snickered. “You’re pretty mischievous.”
“I like to have fun.” Pyralsprite snickered right back with a teasing smile. “Are you saying you wouldn’t like to have some fun with me?”
Spike raised his eyebrow without missing a beat. “Well who wouldn’t like to have fun with you?”
He heard a soft purr from Pyralsprite’s belly pressed up against his ear, but she didn’t respond again. It was strange; a few days ago he would be blushing terribly from this kind of talk. The idea of flirting openly with a girl would have been scary and strange, but after doing it for a while, he found that he was enjoying it more and more. There was a world of difference between pining for an unobtainable pony and flirting with a very happy dragon girl who seemed to like him back…
He heard a sniff above his shoulders from Pyralsprite’s raised head. “Ah, we’re getting close to the ocean.”
“Really? You can smell it already?”
“Already? I think we’re there.”
Spike looked forward just as they reached the top of a grassy hill. Suddenly the two small dragons were overlooking a large, bustling pony port town of Fillydelphia, situated right beside the massive expanse of ocean just beyond. The sun was just setting behind the horizon at their backs, casting a fiery orange glow across the water and buildings alike. The glow did nothing to halt the ponies rushing back and forth across the streets on the last of their daily chores, of course. In fact the commotion showed no signs of slowing despite the imminent nightfall.
Spike marveled at the sight. “Whoa… this place is almost as big as Canterlot…”
“And it smells just wonderful.” Pyralsprite opened her wings to flutter off of his shoulders, marching beside him instead of riding the rest of the way towards town. “Though the ocean is kind of a problem. We’re gonna need a pony boat to get to the dragon lands, because there’s no way I’m carrying you all the way there.”
“Don’t sweat it; ponies are really generous and helpful at heart. I’m sure somepony will be willing to give us a ride.” Spike swept the worry away with a wave of one hand as they marched into the town towards the docks.
“The dragon lands? Uh… sorry, no.”
“Dragon lands? Are you insane? No!”
“You do realize boats are made of flammable wood, right?”
“I’ll go to the dragon lands when my boat can fly.”
“Hah! HahahAHAHAHAHAHAAHahahahahaHAAAAAAA!”
“That’s simply not going to happen.” Another in the long line of seafaring ponies shook his head. “A captain would have to be completely stupid to agree to take you a place like that.”
“Come on, somepony around here has to be willing to help!” Spike clutched his claws in front of him desperately. “Tell us what you want! Something burnt? Jewels? Er… something…”
“All the jewels in the world aren’t worth that kind of risk.” The captain retorted. “If you want someone who’ll go for something like that you need somepony less sane and more greedy than a law-abiding fishercolt. Probably somepony a lot more drunk too. Try the bar. Now if you’ll excuse me, we disembark early tomorrow, and I need my sleep.” The captain marched away from them towards the inn sitting just inland off of the docks.
“Yeah, generous and helpful my tail.” Pyralsprite turned toward spike with a grunt. “Looks like these ponies about gonna be about as helpful as a hemorrhoid.”
“They’re just scared is all… it’s not like they have no reason to be.” Spike sighed and turned to look towards a small pub nearby. “He is right though, maybe we need to look someplace a little bit different. Come on.”
“Sure, let’s follow the advice of Captain Cowardice and hire a drunkard, that can’t end badly.” Pyralsprite grumbled to herself, but turned to follow Spike towards the pub. The interior looked cozy enough, but the pungent smell of alcohol assaulted his nose, and the sight of the dour, sullied denizens sitting at their tables with their drinks assaulted his eyes. Part of him wanted to run screaming from the building. He was too young to be in here anyway… wait, no he wasn’t. Would he ever get used to that?
Spike approached the counter with his companion close by his side. “Excuse me, do you know if there’s anypony in here with a ship?”
“Lots of ponies in here own ships.” The bartender gave him a droll glare. “This is a dock, after all. Few ponies come here who don’t.”
“Er… yeah, I guess that makes sense… but any who would be willing to take me and my friend to the dragon lands?” Spike asked. The bartender’s eyes widened slightly, and Spike suddenly realized that the entire room had gone silent. He turned slowly to see all eyes on him and Pyralsprite.
“Tis a bold request you make so blindly, mate.” A voice spoke out of the crowd, with a familiar sound to it. Spike turned toward the voice to see a larger stallion sitting at the table near the back wall, circling a drink in front of him with one hoof. “The dragon lands be the most dangerous place in the world for a stallion of the sea. What business do ye have there?”
Spike moved toward the stallion in the booth, squinting to make him out in the dimly lit pub. That voice sounded so familiar. “We’re trying to get there because it’s sort of like our home… see, we’re…” Spike gasped when he saw the skull and crossbones cutie mark on the stallion’s flank, and looked up into a familiar eye-patched face. “Captain Hoofbeard?”
“Aye, do I know ye? Wait a second…” Hoofbeard squinted his unpatched eye for a moment, then broke into a broad smile. “Well if it ain’t Spike! The finest parrot ever to set foot on me ship!”
“Parrot?” Pyralsprite grunted.
“L-long story.” Spike waved off the question with a blush. “Anyway, I guess the details aren’t important, but what is important is that we need a ship to get to the dragon lands. Do you think you can give us a lift?”
“Aye, I could.” Hoofbeard nodded thoughtfully. “But I’ve yet to hear what be in it fer me.”
Spike heard Pyralsprite growl under her breath, but he stepped forward before she could speak. “We have some jewels with us, we brought them to eat on the way… but when you get us to the dragon lands, we won’t need them anymore. You can have all of what’s left.”
“What!?” Pyralsprite shrieked, then hissed under her breath. “Spike! Dragons do not give their jewels to ponies.”
“Why not? It’s true! We won’t need them!”
“That’s not the point! It’s a matter of pride!”
“Pride in what? Having jewels? How is that something to be proud of?” Spike asked. Pyralsprite’s cheeks reddened as if she was about to explode on the spot, but she fell silent instead, so Spike turned back to the salty sea captain. “Please, Captain Hoofbeard. Nopony else in the city will even think about helping us, but I know you have the courage to do it.”
“Mmm…” The captain nodded slowly, then tossed back the rest of his drink, slammed the glass to the table, and rose to his hooves. “Alright, mate. I’ll take ye to the dragon lands, fer what you and yer mates did fer me. We can set out come morning.”
“Really? Oh yes! Thank you, Captain!” Spike grinned.
“You and yer ladyfriend best be gettin’ your sleep. No pony nor parrot sets hoof on me ship without earnin’ their place, I don’t care what they be payin’. Meet me at the docks at sunrise in the mornin’ and we’ll set off for yer homeland.”
“Yes sir!” Spike saluted swiftly. “Come on Pyralsprite, let’s go get a room at the inn.”
Some of the other ponies in the pub watched them leave, but Spike didn’t mind. They had a way across the ocean, now all they had to do was lie down and wait. It would be a nice night. The stars were coming out in full force, the ocean was quiet, and he was going to spend the night with the dragon girl who’d whisked him away and was making him happy…
“I can’t believe you’re going to give him jewels.” Pyralsprite grumped as they made their way towards the inn. “Dragons don’t give away their hoard.”
“I thought you said before I didn’t need to be a greed-monster.” Spike huffed back. “It’s just a few gemstones, it’s not even a big deal.”
“It has nothing to do with greed; it’s just the principal of the thing! Dragons don’t give out jewels, they demand respect.”
“You keep using that word, but I don’t know if it means what you think it means. I mean, I don’t see how anything we said in there was disrespectful.”
“He called you a parrot!”
Spike blushed. “Okay, yeah, that seems kind of weird, but I don’t think he meant any offense by it.” Spike moved up to drop his last few remaining bits on the counter in exchange for one of the room keys, then turned to lead Pyralsprite into the back. “I’m just not sure you and I have the same definition of respect. Why don’t you tell me what it means to you?”
Pyralsprite marched into the bedroom once the door was open, approaching the bed to hop up onto the thick mattress. “Well, for a dragon, respect means earning loyalty and obedience. You make others want to listen to you, because you’re bigger and stronger than them. You can protect them if they make you happy, and make them wish they had made you happy if they don’t.”
Spike hesitated. “Yeah, I’m not sure I’d call that respect… that sounds more like domination.” He approached the bed to climb up beside her, sitting with his legs dangling over the side of the mattress. “I mean, respect is supposed to be a mutual thing. You respect each other, not just make others respect you.”
“Puh, what do you know?” Pyralsprite stuck out her tongue and crawled away from him to the head of the bed, plopping down with her head on one of the pillows. “Maybe I’m just bad at explaining it, it’ll be clearer when we get home and you can see for yourself how everything works.”
“Yeah, maybe…” Spike crawled further onto the bed and plopped down beside her with his own head on the pillow. “Do you think I’ll be able to get along with the other dragons?”
“It… may be an adjustment, but we’ll get you through it. You’ll learn what it’s like to be a real dragon.”
“But I don’t wanna change or anything… I still wanna be myself.”
“Oh Spike… it won’t change who you are.” Pyralsprite reached out to grip one of his claws on her own, giving him a comforting smile. “At least, I hope it won’t… I kind of like who you are. You just have some things to learn, that’s all.”
A soft blush lit up Spike’s cheeks as he returned her smile, returning the soft squeeze. “Thanks, Pyralsprite… then I can’t wait to get there and learn more about dragons.”
Pyralsprite grinned and opened her mouth, blowing a small burst of fire into his face.
It didn’t hurt, in fact it felt pretty good, but it left him confused. “Whoa… what does… that mean…?” Spike asked softly.
Pyralsprite blushed. “Oh… you don’t know… it’s… sort of like a kiss, I guess…? It’s an affection thing…”
“Oh…” Spikes grinned and took a breath, blowing his own emerald green fire across her cheeks. He jerked when he felt the girl twitch on the bed, her eyes shooting wide open. “Oh gosh, did I hurt you!? I’m so sorry!”
“N-no… it didn’t hurt…” Pyralsprite calmed down after a moment. “It felt… really, really good, actually… was that your fire?”
“Y-yeah, it was…”
Pyralsprite sat up on the bed. “Do it again…”
Spike looked up at her for a moment, then sat up in front of her and blew a slightly longer stream of fire over her head and torso. Pyralsprite didn’t twitch this time as the fire washed over her body, but when the stream died it almost looked like her scales were glittering in the soft light of the candle beside the bed.
“Pyralsprite?” Spike asked cautiously. “Are you okay?”
“Mmmhh… I’m wonderful…” Pyralsprite flexed her wings and foreclaws slowly. “I’ve never felt anything like that before… it didn’t even feel like normal fire…”
“Really? What did it feel like?”
“Magic.” Pyralsprite faced him fully with a look of awe on her face. “I think you’re breathing almost pure magic. I mean, all dragons have a little magic in their fire… but yours… it’s completely different.”
Spike rubbed his shoulder self-consciously. “Is that good?”
“It’s amazing. It’s almost unheard of, too. Only a couple dragons in history have ever had fire like that. The most powerful dragons ever known.”
“Most powerful? Gosh… I don’t think I’m anything special.” Spike blushed deeper.
“Well you are… you could be one of the most special dragons in the world today.” Pyralsprite flitted closer on the bed, her side brushing up against his front as one claw touched his shoulder.
“Wow…” Spike felt like his head was going to erupt, it was getting so hot. Both from the idea of being that important and how unusually physical Pyralsprite was getting. He’d carried her on his shoulders for several hours a day over the last week or so, but this was way different from that. She didn’t need to be carried, she just wanted to be close to him.
“M-maybe we should get some sleep…” Spike stuttered nervously. “After all, we’re kind of young for-”
Pyralsprite cut him off with a claw on his lips. “No, Spike… we’re not too young for anything.”
“Oh… right…” Spike took a deep breath. He still felt like a child looking at things that his mind could barely comprehend… but then, his mind had been what kept him like this all along. He saw himself as a child, so he looked and acted like one. Still, he felt like something was wrong, so he flashed the dragon girl an apologetic smile.
“You’re right… maybe I’m not too young… but it still feels weird to me right now.” He moved his claws up to her waist and leaned in to give her a soft peck on the cheek. “Let’s get some sleep for tonight and maybe we can think about this more later… when we’re across the ocean.”
“Alright, fair enough.” Pyralsprite moved back away from him, but blew him another bolt of fire that swept across his cheek. “Goodnight, Spike.”
“Goodnight, Pyralsprite.” Spike watched his friend climb into the bed, slipping sinuously under the covers and curling her body into a small coil, with her tail at her lips.
A small smile crept its way onto his lips before he slid to the head of the bed and slipped under the covers beside her. He scooted just a little bit closer to her before he settled in and closed his eyes with a deep, calming breath. He was still just a little bit confused… but he also felt like things were starting to come together nicely for him. Who knew what would happen once they reached the dragon lands, but at least he’d have her there to help him…
___
WTF? #%^& you you stupid n00b!
The rattling of gunfire and explosions echoed through the inner hallways of Canterlot palace for quite a distance, as nimble fingers danced across the console controller’s buttons. The explosions were mixed with the sound of uproarious laughter as the admittedly strange being rocked back and forth in his thick, comfortable easy chair. He didn’t care how strange he was, of course. He was just too busy having fun while the text glowing on the television screen screamed bloody murder at him.
OMG stop using the rocket launcher you #%^& idiot! You’re not supposed to do that!
Discord just laughed to himself with a wicked grin on his lips. “I must remember to thank Twilight for teaching us about these humans. They’re most amusing.”
“I’m glad to see that you’re continuing to make new friends.” Princess Celestia’s voice echoed through the chamber from behind him.
Discord’s left eye crawled out of its socket to look back at her. “Oh yes, we’re the best of friends, he and I.”
#%^& you #%^& you #%^& you #%^& you #%^& you!
Discord leapt from his chair, plucking his eyeball off the top of his head to tuck it back into place while his gaming gear blipped into nothingness. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this interruption, Your Highness?”
“I need you to do something for me. Spike, from Ponyville has departed towards the eastern edge of Equestria by himself. I need you to prevent him from leaving the continent.”
“Is that so?” Discord cracked a surprised smile. “Did my ears deceive me when you promised not to bring him back?”
Celestia shifted uncomfortably on her hooves. “First of all, I have asked you not to listen in on my private moments.”
“And I told you at that time that I was going to do it anyway.” Discord waved off her complaint with a swipe of his cat’s paw. “After all, I don’t have to do everything you tell me to do. That would just be slavery.” His grin widened.
“Second of all, I have not asked you to bring Spike back here, simply to find him and delay any departure he may be attempting. These are two different things.”
Discord appeared right beside her with a sharp laugh, laying across her back backwards. “Hahahahaha! Oh my word, Celestia!” Discord vanished and reappeared on her head the size of her horn, whispering into her ear. “You and I are more alike than I ever imagined… such clever deception…”
“This is no deception, merely a precaution.” Celestia shook her head, sending Discord tumbling toward the ground until he simply appeared again standing upright in front of her. “Spike cannot be allowed to reach the dragon lands.”
“Oh Celestia…” A smirk tugged at the edge of Discord’s lips. “Is that fear I hear in your voice?” He lifted off from the ground to float around the pony princess in a slow circle, turning in mid-air to float along on his back. “You, who have faced beings like myself and even more powerful… you are practically quaking in fear.” He vanished suddenly and reappeared beside her, draping his eagle’s claw over her back and leaning close to her head to speak in a low, but delighted tone. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
“I cannot give you an answer…” Celestia turned her head to meet his curious gaze.
“I see… your inability to lie is showing… or perhaps, your inability to break a vow…” Discord’s grin only widened further. “Now I’m even more intrigued.”
“Please, Discord… I may not be able to give you orders, but for the sake of your friends, and yourself, do as I’ve asked. It probably won’t take much… he’s still a little dragon, after all. Surely you can halt his progress somehow.”
“Very well!” Discord vanished again to reappears right in front of her, raising his arms grandly to the sky. “You have asked, and so I shall comply!” His hands jammed themselves into his eyes, plucking them both out of his head as he bowed deeply to the pony princess. A swarm of fluttering, leathery-winged yellow eyeballs streamed out of his empty socket, heading straight for the windows high up on the walls around them, and vanishing into the night.
Celestia took a breath and rolled her eyes. “Always such theatrics, Discord… such meaningless theatrics.”
Discord raised his eyeballs to the sky on his palms. “Life is but a stage, Celestia.” He brought his hands down with a flourish to shove his eyeballs back into place, where they spun around for several moments before focusing in on her horn. “All I want is top billing in this show.”
Celestia couldn’t keep a slight smile from crossing her lips. “Thank you, Discord… I will think of some way to properly reward you for this.”
“I await your reward with great anticipation.” Discord bowed respectfully to the princess as she turned to leave his room, her pulse of magic closing the door behind her.
Discord turned away from the door with a curious smile, stroking his chin with his eagle-claw. “Finally things start to get interesting around here…”
To Be Continued