Spike climbed out of the pile of leaves. Grumbling at his aching back as he picked up his basket and stick.
The dragon looked around and smiled as he saw a ruby, the size of a pencil, laying next to a rock.
"Finally!" Spike exclaimed as he picked the gem up and set it in his basket.
Suddenly, the baby dragon's eyes locked on a cave near him.
The cave's opening was big enough for a stallion to get through. Huge rocks that looked like spikes dangled from the ceiling. Spike tried to see how deep the cave was, however it was too dark to see anything.
However, the little dragon did see a sapphire in the entrance of the cave. He smiled and trotted up towards it. Once Spike picked it up, an idea formed inside his head.
"If there's a sapphire here," Spike looked into the cave's darkness. "Then there must be more gems inside here." He finished.
Then the little dragon relit the sick and started to head deeper into the cave.
After an hour of searching for gems, Spike happily plopped himself against the damp wall. He successfully was able to find five rubies, six emeralds, and six in a half sapphires. (The other half was in his stomach.)
"This place is amazing!" Spike shouted happily.
He dug into his basket and picked up the half eaten sapphire. Licking his lips, the little dragon popped the gem into his mouth and began to look around.
Because of his dull lighting, Spike was only able to see three feet in front of him. However, three feet was enough because Spike saw another emerald.
"I think I'm in heaven." Spike said dreamily as he trotted up towards the gem.
However, instead of picking the emerald up, something else caught his attention. Spike moved the burning stick in front of himself to see the object better. What the dragon saw was truly surprising.
In the corner of the cave stood a huge skeleton of a dragon. Due to age, it's bones were pale white and was cracked in multiple places.
Spike walked up to the skeleton and touched it with his claw. The carcase rattled and began to disintegrate into dust. Displaying a mirror that was hidden by the skeleton.
The mirror was five feet tall and two feet wide. It was covered in a layer of dust, however you could still see the little circles that made up the frame.
The baby dragon walked up to the mirror and wiped some of the dust off of it.
"Cool." Spike whispered under his breath.
Suddenly, the mirror began to hum back to life. The purple dragon took a step back as flashes of random pictures were displayed on the mirror.
Then the pictures stopped and a blinding light began to fill the dark cave. Making Spike having to shield his eyes from the glorious light.
"Finally!"
The baby dragon opened his eyes and gasped at his reflection.
"Are you okay?" A golden dragon with purple spikes asked. Her blue eyes full of concern.
"I-I'm fine. But who are you?" Spike answered.
His reflection smiled. "My name is Arrow. I'm the spirit of this Time Mirror." Spike's reflection explained.
The purple dragon raised an eyebrow. "A Time Mirror?" He questioned.
Arrow nodded. "It's a mirror that lets anything look into the past." The golden dragon informed.
"Cool!" Spike squealed.
"I know." Arrow said proudly. "So what do you want to see?" The reflection asked.
The purple dragon thought for a moment. He always wondered who Fluttershy's parents were, but that would be snooping! And one thing Spike wasn't was a snooper. However, there was something that has been pestering himself for awhile now.
"Well?" Arrow asked.
"I want to see my past." Spike answered.
"Can you be more specific?" The golden dragon pleaded.
"I want to see how Celestia found me as an egg." The purple dragon replied.