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// Bullies and Rainbows and fights, oh my! 
// Story: The Cryssaling pt 2 
// by storm the castle 
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Ch 4 Bullies and Rainbows and fights, oh my!
Sweetie Belle, Scootalloo and Apple Bloom were moseying about in the school house playground, discussing random things about recent experiences. Sweetie had helped Rarity design a ‘mini fashionista’ line for the school the previous night, Sootalloo had gushed to Rainbow about being a part of a dragon hoard just like her (same dragon even!), and Apple Bloom had helped with apple bucking and cooking today.
Oh yeah, and there was something about Spike being driven from the farm by racial slurs and feelings of inadequacy and all that somewhere in there too, so there was that. “Ah can’t rightly believe Granny’d go ‘n do somethin’ ta Spike like that!” Applebloom reiterated to her friends. As soon as Spike had left the house, Granny had received the verbal assault of a lifetime. Apple Bloom had been told to leave for school early, but had waited outside the door, curious as to what was going on. Amidst shouts of ‘that ain’t how ya treat a friend,’ ‘Apple’s oughta have better manners ‘n that’ and ‘eeyu-herk!’ (Mac was still sick as a dog, and being tied up didn’t help), Apple Bloom had decided that the only way to make Spike feel better was to get the girls together and help him find another job.
Miss Cheerilee was found to be more than willing to take the boy on as a teaching assistant (“PLEASE!!”) in his free-time, and now they simply needed to wait for school to end to tell him. Unfortunately, the day had only just started, and they hadn’t even had the first class of the day yet. It was still the arrival period, and the other kids were taking their sweet time.
And so, with nothing to do but wait, the conversation had turned back to Spike’s treatment, and some other things they should do. Scootalloo asked the other two “Is a dragon’s hoard supposed to protect him, too? Cuz I’m confused.” The conversation had turned to whether they should do anything at all, and the debate was still hot.
Sweetie responded “I dunno. I think the dragon is supposed to protect the gems and stuff, but I can’t really picture my sister just sitting back for that, so I don’t think I can either.” She shrugged, unsure of their role in the situation.
Apple Bloom, though, had a clear and defined plan. “We aint no gems, an’ Spike’s our friend too, so we gotta help him if he’s in trouble, hoard or no hoard!” She nodded in conclusion, sure of her decision, which was quickly mirrored by the others.
However, their moods took a swift downturn with the arrival of two more. “I don’t know who blank-flanks like you want to help,” sneered Diamond Tiara from behind, “but I think they might be better off alone.” Silver Spoon laughed behind her, an eternal source of encouragement for Diamond.
“Hey!” yelled Scootalloo, immediately irritable at the arrival of Tiara and her crony. “We can help Spike tons!”
Silver Spoon laughed at her. “Yeah, right!” she scoffed, “Anything you three touch always breaks or blows up! Unless he was trying to kill himself, I don’t think there’s much you could do.” She leered at them tauntingly.
“Ya’ll shut-up, Spoon!” Bloom yelled at her. “Only fillies with personalities get opinions, ‘n they don’t sell those at the jewelry store!” Silver Spoon blushed bright red in anger, and Tiara bristled as well. It wasn’t like them to respond like this, and if it continued, drastic measures would have to be taken.
“Yeah!” echoed Sweetie. “Spike’s our friend, and we’re part of his magic dragon hoard, so there’s nothing we won’t do for each other!” Soon, the three were standing off against the sneering bullies, a number of other students looking on and not a teacher in sight.
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Looking about himself a moment before remembering he had fallen asleep outside, Spike stood and looked again for his cloud. Luna had given him the tools to make his lightning work, and he’d be dipped if he wouldn’t prove it right then. Finding the cloud in the same spot he had left it, he once again took to meditating in search of his inner magic.
This time, however, he chose not to look directly for a pool of energy, but instead focused on his friends and his protective feelings for them. As he did, a familiar loving feeling welled within, something he always felt on such points of introspection. However, after a period of dwelling on these thoughts and the feeling they brought, forgetting entirely his purpose for summoning them in the first place and instead simply basking in his own love and desire to defend them with all he had, a new feeling surfaced. This one was different, and created a physically identifiable sensation within his body, a sort of tingling sensation that permeated his entire being. “Whoa,” he whispered, “is this how Twilight feels all the time?” He felt sure it was true, that this indeed was his own magic.
Instead of immediately attempting to harness it, he found himself examining the feel of the magic itself. While its presence brought with it physical sensation, closer inspection brought deeper, more emotional feelings and impressions, ones he realized must represent the magic he received from his friends.
Brash confidence for Rainbow Dash; sturdiness and strength for Applejack; freedom and cheer bubbling over which could only be Pinkie Pie; gentleness and overflowing empathy from Fluttershy; an incredible sense of self-worth and that of others from his beloved Rarity; an unfathomable intelligence and a desire for more knowledge from the indomitable Twilight; three of the energies seemed to intermingle and reflect each other, which Spike realized had to be the CMC, invoking the sensations of desire, acceptance as well as an unfinished aspect, one that knew it was ready for the biggest things the world could offer. Finally, there was a newer feeling energy, one that was deep and endless as space, cool and comforting as the night, but held the very deepest of scars, of regret, and even a touch of fear for what the future might hold. “Luna.” Spike spoke aloud when he felt the foreign energy. Each of these not only belonged to, but defined his friends, and now they in turn fed and defined him; His friends were a part of who he was now, and for the first time he felt truly blessed for that kind of connection.
Spike raised his eyes to the cloud above him, and now filled with the magic from those he held dearest he felt ready to try and make the lightning. The newly ordained drago stood and took a mighty and deep breath, willing the magic to his open maw and felt it tingle in the roots of his teeth and his lips. Releasing it all in one mighty push, Spike was nearly blinded when a searing white light escaped him, tingling and arching wildly in the direction of the cloud.
Thinking back, it would occur to Spike that he probably should have called up and checked to see if the outlying, stationary cloud might have held a resident. “YYYEEEE-OOOUUCH!!!!!” came a gravely, familiar voice. “Oh, you wanna play THAT game, huh?!” it asked, but Spike, stunned as he was by the light of his own magic did not register these damning words. “Well, let’s PLAY!!” and suddenly, Spike found himself tingling in a very different way, just before a shock of blinding light and white hot pain struck him. The cloud-born lightning sent him flying into the nearby bench, where he comically landed in a perfect sitting position, but was smoking profusely and was covered in black soot.
“Spike?!” asked Rainbow Dash, for it was indeed the cyan speedster, incredulously. “That was you? What’s the big idea, huh?!” she demanded with a hoof stomp. Just below her cutie mark was a singed patch of fur, smoking and steaming, beneath which a patch of pink hide could be seen.
Spike, though, continued to goggle about in a perfect imitation of the towns’ wall-eyed mailmare. It took him a while to answer her. “Wha-?” he asked, unsure of what had happened.
“You hit me with lightning, you jerk!” she answered hotly. “I wanna know why!”
Spike shook off the soot briefly, then spoke to her as fast as he could, trying as hard as he could to apologize. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow!” he told her. “I promise I didn’t know you were up there! I was just trying to practice making lightning like before, honest! I would never hurt you on purpose, I swear!” he began to panic. “Are you gonna be ok?! Ohmygosh, I didn’t hurt you bad did I? We gotta get you to a hospital, fast!” swiftly, Spike ran over in a panic and lifted Rainbow by placing two claws on her barrel and pushing, carrying her over his head like a sack of potatoes.
Rainbow however, was having none of that and flew out of his grasp and landed a short ways away. When he moved to try again, she waved him off and said “Whoa, whoa, it’s not that bad, kid! See?” she showed him her flank (not like that, you pervs) and displayed the fairly minor burn. “Just needs some ointment and a Band-Aid.” Spike still looked unsure, and also appeared to be on the verge of tears. Feeling bad, Rainbow told him “Ah, I’m sorry, squirt. I should’ve known it was an accident, and besides, I’ve given people worse for pranks, so I guess I might’ve over-reacted.”
Spike seemed to accept this and visibly relaxed. “O-ok, if you’re sure.” He gestured down the street where a large oak could be seen in the middle of town. “The library isn’t far, so I can get you a Band-Aid there if you want.” She nodded and flew after him slowly, and they reached the library in short order.
Once inside, she asked him “So, if you weren’t trying to hit me, what were you doing?”
Spike scuttled off into the library kitchen as he spoke. “Like I said, I was just practicing the lightning itself. Princess Luna gave me some tips in my dream that I wanted to give a shot.” He came back quickly with the first aid kit in claw, opening it at her side.
“Well, I guess we can say it worked.” Dash looked forlornly at her singed behind. “Oh booty, you will be missed.” (You will be AVENGED!!) “Can I ask what you wanted to make lightning for in the first place?”
Spike squatted beside her and started applying some burn salve to the injury. “Oh, yeah!” he said enthusiastically. “I decided to get a job yesterday, for a few reasons, and I thought that maybe I could make cheap lightning for the weather brigade.” He lost some of his eagerness, however. “Took a lot out of me, though. I don’t think I should, or even could do that more than once a day.”
Rainbow shrugged, and then briefly sucked in sharply on her teeth in pain as he pressed the bandage to her side. “Probably wouldn’t have worked out anyhow, seein’ as our lightning is free.”
Spike looked up in shock, and then swiftly hung his head in defeat. “Good to know it was all for nothing.” He said forlornly.
She grinned apologetically, before being struck with a thought. “Hey, I know,” she declared, “I bet I could get you a job at the gym! I’m a part time trainer for pegasi there. Since you’re really strong now, I bet they gotta have something for you to do!”
Spike perked up at her words. ‘That might be fun,’ he thought, ‘and it could help my physique.’ That could do nothing but impress Rarity more!
Suddenly, something inside Spike flared, sending him immediately into a state of vigilance. His eyes began to glow with a soft draconic light, and he felt his magic well within him, able to recognize it now. He recognized the energies of the CMC, and had the intense desire to defend them bring itself to bear, and realized that they must be in some kind of danger.
Rainbow misread the reaction as some sort of violent refusal, and got a bit miffed. “It was just an idea,” she said, “you don’t gotta be like that about it, jeez. See if I ever offer you a job again “she huffed.
Spike shook his head to clear it and responded “No, it’s the crusaders; I think they’re in danger!”
Immediately, Rainbow took on the same sense of alarm. She wasn’t sure how he knew, but Spike wasn’t one to joke about that kind of thing. “They should be at school!” she exclaimed. “Something could be wrong! Let’s go!” she lowered a wing to allow Spike to get on her back, then bolted out the door in a multi colored blur.
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The duo zipped swiftly between buildings, headed for the schoolhouse at breakneck speeds. In no time, it seemed, the school came into view, and they quickly registered the yelling and screaming of children, and began to search for its source before they had even arrived. In short order, they found a group of five fillies at the middle of the chaos, mucking about wildly; Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Scootalloo, as well as the local bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
Oh, there was about five or six timber wolves, too, but HEY! One group of troublemakers at a time.
“Rainbow!” Spike pointed to the wolves, stalking in on the fillies as they clumped together in fear. “You gotta get them outta there!”
“I can’t carry you all!” she told him, fearful for the girls fate.
“Let me worry about that, just get over there!” he yelled at her. She nodded, assuming he would add his wing power to her own to help them get away. Armed with this, she sped into their midst, bucking wildly at the wolves to scatter them for a bit while she could get away. But, when they got to the girls and she started to pick them up, the wolves immediately regrouped and ran for them, intent on not allowing their meal to get away.
Before they could get anywhere near, however, Spike hopped off her back and took a familiar position between them and those he held dear. (Tiara and Spoon probably didn’t deserve to get eaten, either.) He squatted low and began to growl, his wings flared to make him appear larger and his tail flicking menacingly. This time, though, he had smoke lingering from his nostrils and from between his razor teeth, showing he had more than enough energy to take them on.
The wolves paused to consider the challenger, and in the lull Rainbow exclaimed “Spike! What’re you doing?! We gotta get outta here!”
“Go, Rainbow!” he told her. “Get them out of here, I can handle this!” Rainbow looked hastily from the shivering fillies in her arms to the baby dragon, her loyalty telling her to stand and fight with him, but her rational mind knowing the best thing she could do now was to get the girls to safety. She gritted her teeth, then yelled at him “I’ll be as fast as I can, so don’t take any risks, ok?!” without waiting for an answer, she turned and took to the air, unable to get particularly high or gain any significant speed with her load, but still out of immediate reach of the wolves.
Enraged, the timber wolves bolted for the fillies and speedster, only to be stopped dead by a burst of emerald fire. Turning again to the challenger, they found Spike had not moved, save for to open his mouth in his attempt to torch them. When Dash had told him not to take any risks, she had failed to take a few things into account. First, he was now a dragon protecting his hoard, and nothing could restrain that kind of power. Second, he was a spear-and-dagger proof, fire-breathing, flying death machine against a pile of the world’s dumbest kindling. And unlike his prior experience with the monsters, Spike now had a sense of self awareness that told him he could, in fact, handle this.
“Mine.” He growled low, taking his stance once again. Unsure, five of the wolves looked to the largest of them, what must have been the leader of the pack, for guidance. It recognized the challenge, and took its own battle stance, one that mirrored Spikes own. Things had gone from a hunt to a duel, and it would not shy away with its pack behind it.
The two stalked around each other for a short period, daring each other to make the first move. Spike was first, and again spewed fire in the wolf’s direction, but was forced to close his eyes to the heat, which gave the wolf an opening. While every timber wolf had an inherent and deep-seated fear of fire, this one was either too confident or too stupid to run away, and so took the opportunity and ran around the burning torrent and lunged directly for Spike. The two collided and tumbled about, in a very literal dog-pile, as they both tried to find the others throat on sheer instinct. The wolf, though, was at a severe disadvantage against Spike’s smooth polished scales and his razor appendages. In no time Spike found himself on top of the alpha wolf, and sunk his teeth into the back of its neck, trying to break its neck on his draconic intuition.
Unfortunately it would not be that easy; since Timber Wolves were comprised solely of sticks and fallen branches, they had no bones to speak of, and this also afforded them an amorphous quality, in that they could disassemble themselves at will to avoid injury. This wolf did just that, and spike found himself biting nothing but air, before the tumble began again. This time, the wolf aimed to maim Spike, clawing at his eyes and the soft tissue of his joints. When its bark covered paw came for his left eye, though, Spike opened his mouth and hastily bit the creature.
Then, as it tried to shake him off and bite his neck, some hidden part of Spike awoke, and on impulse the drago sucked in sharply. For a second, nothing happened and the wolf continued its assault, but swiftly its foot began to glow a sickly green, and before it and all its pack, Spike began to drink in the wild magic that acted as it’s life blood. The wolf redoubled its efforts to remove the small dragon, trying to separate them in panic, but it was all for naught. In no time, Spike had taken in all of the magic it held in its body, leaving the alpha to fall into a pile of dead twigs and leaves. At the sight of their leader so fully and dreadfully dead, the other wolves literally tucked their wooden tails and ran for the Everfree forest at full speed.
It was not an uncommon ability among highly magical creatures to be able to take raw magic from various sources by biting them, and was in fact a trait several dark magic users, such as Nightmare Moon or King Sombra, had developed in order to maintain the massive amount of magic they needed to fuel their powers. (Hence, the fangs.) However, it wasn’t something many dragons were able to use freely, limited merely to their diet of gems which held small amounts of earth magic. Spike, in contrast, now needed a different way to gather magic in large quantities, and when the opportunity to take it straight from a source of wild-magic presented itself, spontaneous development had occurred on the atrophied ability in his time of need.
As he watched the remaining wolves retreat, the need to protect his hoard passed and Spike gradually relaxed, his duty done. All of a sudden, he was tackled by something purple and soft- and in his current non-violent state, Spike was unable to summon the same fierceness he had only just wielded, reducing him to squirming and yelling. However, The Purple did not pursue its assault, instead clutching him close to its wildly beating heart in fright. Spike looked up and found his attacker to be a certain mulberry schoolteacher, who was looking about fearfully, eyes wide, but none the less desperately trying to protect him.
“Spike!” yelled a voice from above, and soon Rainbow Dash descended into his view, taking a battle stance and looking about her for any sign of the wolves. “Spike, are you alright?! Where’re the Timber Wolves?!” she questioned frantically.
“Over- OOMPH- over there.” He gestured to the pile of dead twigs that were the only evidence that the monsters had been there in the first place.
There was a pause, in which the greatest Awkward Turtle in all of existence had to have been born, before the statement of “Whoa” made itself known.