//------------------------------// // taking flight // Story: Ponyville Generations: Spike's story // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Chapter five- Taking flight "Ugh, are you absolutely, terribly sure this is necessary?" Spike was standing in the park, staring at the front of the rainbow waterfall. He was unsure if this visit was a wise decision, and was currently wondering why he had been crazy enough to agree to it. He had been sitting in his study in Celebration Castle, reading a copy of the Ponyville classic 'Two for the Sky', a novel he had borrowed from the Ponyville library, when Razzaroo and Minty had come to him with an idea. "We should help you make even more friends, Yes Yes Yes!" The party planner pony exclaimed."It'll be fun for everyone!" "Why, whatever do you mean, my good Razaroo?" He replied in a regal tone... he figured he should play the 'posh servant of Royalty' part to the hilt, when dealing with these silly ponies. "What exactly do you two have in mind?" "A trip to butterfly island!" Minty replied excitedly. "You can meet the Pegasus ponies there!" "Hmmm, an interesting idea!" The dragon considered. "I would like very much to meet this 'Star Catcher' I've heard so much about!" "Great, we'll get things ready for the trip, yes yes yes!" Razaroo replied, galloping out of the castle. As Minty turned to leave, Spike noticed something... odd about the green pony. "Excuse me, Miss Minty?" Spike asked curiously. "But why are you wearing four different colored socks?" "Oh, that?" Minty giggled. "That's part of my sock collection! The purple one was a gift from Razaroo, the pink one a gift from Pinkie Pie, the Rainbow one a gift from Dash, and the Yellow one from Sunny Daze! Aren't they cool?" "Yeah, they're... colorful." Spike replied. dumbfounded. Once again, he was reminded how crazy these ponies were. "Well, she'd get along well with Princess Luna" Spike chuckled to himself, remembering one of the old tabloid rumors that had circulated about the Lunar Princess. After the green mare left, Spike combed his spikes, and readied himself to meet the Pegasus ponies. Now, as he was standing at the edge of the rainbow falls portal, the small dragon was having second thoughts. "Do I really have to jump across this gap?" Spike asked, nervously."Couldn't we just use a balloon?" "Skywishes needs all the balloons for the Windy Days festival today." Minty replied. "And this portal is the only way to get to butterfly island." "But we don't have to jump across, oh no no no!" Razaroo continued. "Star Catcher is sending some very special transportation over to the island for us!" "Oh, she knows we're coming?" Spike asked. "Will the Pegasus be flying us to the island?" In response, a flock of bizarre, otherworldly butterflies suddenly came through the portal. They began to swarm around the dragon and the two ponies. "Wait, what's happening?" Spike asked, as the swarm of colorful insects seemed to levitate him off the ground. "What's going ooooooon?!?" The butterflies picked up the three, and whisked them through the waterfall. Spike covered his eyes, afraid he was going to fall. But as they butterflies carried him high into the skies, the dragon worked up the courage to look. "Oh, my..." Spike muttered in amazement. The vastness of the ocean spread out beneath him... it's blue and endless waves. In the center of the endless blue, was a large island, shaped just like a butterfly. Large tents, obviously the homes of the Pegasus ponies, dotted the tree-filled landscape. And a large freshwater pond, with a lovely waterfall poring down from a large butterfly monolith, sat right in the center of the island. The dragon couldn't believe his eyes... this place was like something out of the fairy tales Twilight used to read to him as a baby! As the butterflies swirled around the island in a graceful arc, he got a full view of this tropical paradise. "Wow, it's really amazing!" Spike said in awe, as the butterflies brought him and the two mares in for a landing. "But... where are the Pegasus ponies?" "They... can be a bit shy." Minty replied. "They know us, but I doubt they have ever seen a dragon before!" "You''ll have to earn their trust, yes yes yes!" Razaroo agreed. "We won 'em over by singing a song!" Spike looked down at the container he was carrying... a large cooler that Kimono had given him to bring along on his trip to butterfly island. "When you get there, be sure to open this if the Pegasus prove to be too shy to talk." She had told him. Seeing that was the case now, he opened the container. and looked inside. "Wait, what?" He asked in confusion. "Why did Kimono give me a cooler full of ice cream?" "ICE CREAM?!?-Tweet!-" A voice yelled from the bushes, punctuating every sentence with a whistle. "Where? I love-Tweet- ice cream!" A flying blue blur suddenly whizzed by- nabbing the cooler, and nearly knocking Spike off his feet. The offending party then stopped dead in it's tracks, and proceeded to greedily scarf down the ice cream. "What in the world?!?" The dragon asked in shock. It was to his surprise, that he saw a blue Pegasus with a dark pink and yellow mane. The mare was greedily devouring the cooler's contents, until it was all empty. "Thanks, mister weird lookin reptile thing- tweet!- I really appreciate the sweet snack -tweet!-" The Pegasus saw the two earth ponies. "Oh hi Minty -Tweet!- Hi Razz -Tweet-! Good to see you both!" "Thistle Whistle!" Minty exclaimed. "Good to see you! We just thought we'd come for a visit!" "We brought our friend Spike here, yes yes yes!" Razaroo exclaimed. "He's a dragon, and he really wants to be all the Pegasus's friends!" "O -Tweet!- that's great- Tweet!- I'm really happy to meet ya Spike- Tweet!" Thistle Whistle exclaimed. "Hey everybody! This is a dragon named Spike -tweet!-, and he's not scary at all!" Spike soon found himself surrounded by a bunch of odd-looking Pegasus, who were all talking and staring at him curiously. The dragon could tell these ponies had mutated just as much as their earth pony counterparts had. Just as the earth ponies had evolved flexi-hooves, so the Pegasus had developed swirly feather and bone patterns at the base of thier wings. The flying mares each came forward, and introduced themselves one by one. "Hello, Spike!" A pink Pegasus greeted him. "A pleasure to meet you! My name is Coconut Grove!" "Heya, Spike! It's a blast to meet you!" A laid back purple mare greeted him. "Name's Island Delight! Welcome to our rockin beach!" "Aloha, Spike..." A timid foal slowly trotted forward, to greet the diminutive dragon. "My name is Honalu Loo. Our Ohana want to welcome you to de island!" "Thank you... all of you." Spike replied with a smile. "This is a wonderful island you've got here!" "Thanks, Mister Dragon -Tweet!- We do our best to keep it up. -tweet!-" Thistle Whistle replied. "Do you Pegasus control the weather?" Spike asked curiously. "I never see you around the skies of Ponyville moving the clouds." "What? Oh no!" Coconut Grove exclaimed. "The weather runs itself! We could never take over running nature!" "Clouds are scary! -Tweet!-" Thistle Whistle gulped. "I hit my head on one once -Tweet!- when I flew too high!" "She must of hit her head on the cloud barrier." Spike thought to himself. "Still, what a cowardly Pegasus, to be afraid of clouds!" "Besides, if we took care of nature, we'd never have time to chill and have fun!" Island Delight reached for a lemonade, and began sipping from the straw. "Don't misjudge us, brah." Honalu Loo finished. "Takin' care of de weather sounds like it would be shaka!" "A lazy mare, a whistling airhead, and an ethnic stereotype." Spike shook his head. It's a wonder anypony could keep there sanity here!" Spike was also put off by many of the small details he saw around the island- like the cutesy butterfly tents the Silly Pegasus lived in, or that creepy swarm of talking butterflies that seemed to obey the Pegasus ponies every command. What fools these Pegasus were, wasting their tropical resources on frivolity! Spike's draconic mind turned over what he could do with all of these resources if he possessed them! "Spike, we should take you to see our ruler!" Coconut Grove exclaimed. "Queen Starcatcher will be eager to greet you!" "Ja, we need ta take you to Star Catcher, she da big Kahuna on de island!" Honalu Loo exclaimed. "She da Akamai Pegasus of our ohana! Her hale is on top of de butterfly mauna!" "What Honalu Loo means is the queen's tent is on top of waterfall hill." Island Delight exclaimed. "We'll guide you up there!" ... Spike soon found himself at the top of the waterfall hill, where a particularly large butterfly tent stood. Thistle Whistle trotted inside the tent for a few minutes, before returning... with the most magnificent Pegasus the dragon had ever seen! She was the purest shade of white, with eyes of the deepest blue. Her mane was a colorful mix of blue, white, and pink... and her cutie mark was a large pink heart. A pink tiara adorned the top of her head, and an elegant line pattern ran along her body. "Greetings, Mater Kengrowth Heathspike." The Pegasus inclined her head. "I am Queen Star Catcher, ruler of the Pegasus tribe of Butterfly Island." The dragon was speechless. "I-it is an honor, your majesty." He said, regally bowing and kissing her hoof. This Pegasus... it was as if she were another Princess Celestia. Athlough she may have none of the magic that the ruler of Equestria had, in beauty Star Catcher was her equal... and in the aura of nobility this regal pegasus radiated, her superior. "Queen Star Catcher-" Spike Started. "Just Star Catcher, please." The white mare replied gently. "I prefer to think of my subjects as my friends... and my family.Though I am still proud to be their queen." "Star Catcher, then." Spike continued. "It is truly an honor to be in your presence." "I have been informed by Storybelle and Kimono that you wished to speak to me about... certain matters." The white Pegasus looked to a large dragonfly that flew around her head. "Thank you for delivering the message Gossamer, you'd best go back to your mistress, now." The large dragonfly flew off. "Yes, though I believe it best we speak..."The dragon looked around at the crowd of Pegasus. "Away from the ears that would not understand." "Agreed." She motioned for Spike to follow her back inside the royal tent, then closed the curtain. "So, you and the other two are planning to find us all a way out of our theme park prison?" "Yes... well, at least give all of you the ability to come and go as you please." Spike replied. "I understand this place is your home, and you wouldn't just want to up and leave." "That would be nice." Star Catcher agreed. "Although there is no barrier around the island, it is far too far away from anything to fly away from the island. Any Pegasus who flew too far out to sea would tire out and drown." "And Ponyville is the only location you can reach, and only then through the portal." Spike realized. "Exactly." The white Pegasus confirmed. "So the Ponyville barrier is our only way out, as well." "Well, we've been working on a plan..." Spike replied. "But we're going to need to find the unicorn settlement first." "My Pegasus scouts have been searching high and low in the regions outside Ponyville." Star Catcher told him. "Even if I have neglected to tell them exactly what they are searching for..." ... "This situation is rapidly getting out of our control." Just below the waterfall hill, two Pegasus, two earth ponies and two breezies met secretly, discussing the recent turn of events. The six conspirators were not pleased with the way things were turning out. "The dragon's awakening from his slumber, was an unexpected turn of events." The first earth pony muttered. "It has accelerated problems far beyond our expectations." "Things were already spiraling out of our control when the Ponyville ponies rediscovered the Pegasus community." The first Pegasus muttered. "Now the dragon threatens to unite the intelligent ponies, and undo all we sought to achieve!" "They must not be allowed to rediscover the unicorns of Unicornia." The two Breezies whispered in unison. "Or the contained world we have sought for so long to protect, shall be opened to the outside world!" "You all worry far too much." The second Pegasus whispered. "Our agents in unicornia, Brights Spritely and Garden Wishes, will ensure things stay in our favor there." "And I will make sure the dragon doesn't cause any more trouble in Ponyville." The second earth pony replied. "But the day will soon be coming that Kimono, Story Belle, and Star Catcher will have to be eliminated... permanently!" ... "Thank you for sharing this information with me, Spike." Star Catcher said with a smile. "It gives me hope for the future, and the future of my Subjects." "Glad to have been of help, Star Catcher." The dragon replied, bowing. "It is my hope that my plan, will be of benefit to all the ponies of the Ponyville region!" After Spike and the Pegasus queen had finished speaking, they came back outside to find several of the Pegasus with Razzaroo and Minty- dancing in a conga line. "Hey, Spike! Star Catcher! Come join the dance!" Minty laughed. "We're short two ponies in the Conga line! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Razaroo agreed. "I am not a-!" He saw Star Catcher's smile, and Sighed. "Aw, never Mind!" The two got in the line, and danced along with the others to the tropical beat.