//------------------------------// // The Wandering Land // Story: The Ancient Heart of the Everwood Dragon // by Grey Faerie //------------------------------// Spike squinted and rubbed his eyes. He rolled over on his back then looked around. Twilight was on her side lightly snoring. He chuckled and felt heavy as he heaved himself into a sitting up position. Spike stretched his arms up then swung his legs over the side. It seemed no one was awake yet. He grinned and snatched up his weapons. He ran for the door, stopping only long enough to leave the girls a note. The morning in the countryside was crisp and clear. He breathed in deeply and looked towards the training grounds for the forest patrol ponies. His bag of gems for lunch bounced on his hip while he ran. He felt so cool! His chest flooded with excitement as the forest raced by his side. But then, he stopped and stared. The path to the new fields. Spike looked over his shoulder to the horizon. He had time before Helden started his rounds in this town. The grey stallion started each day with a morning patrol of the town, then spent a few hours with Spike at the training grounds before going back on patrol after lunch. He stopped by the grounds for a while during dinner hours then did his evening patrol by the forest then went back to the town to meet up with the evening guards. Spike loved going on rounds with him after training. He felt so grown up walking with Helden. He never talked to him like he was young or looked at him like a child when he messed up. Zere is no reason for me to do so. If one treats a pony as a child zee pony vill stay a child. Spike remembered the words Helden told him when explaining why he treated him like a new recruit. That made Spike all the more sad to know Helden rotated what towns he patrolled. In a week's time, he'll be in the next town over. Which wouldn't be so bad if the towns weren't miles apart. Ugh, I might not even be here for a week! Either way, he was going to miss Helden. I should get an address so I can send him letters. The path to the field lands was well worn. The ponies had started it as a forest path but since the clearing happened, the dragged logs and plows gave it a wide berth from the meadows and small patches of trees. The morning sun was still weak but everything was lit up. Spike noticed a strange but familiar smell. Then he noticed the still whole barricade. Wow. The twigs scattered around snapped and crackled under his feet. The shattered barricade came into view. He now knew what the smell was. He shuddered. The clearing itself looked unremarkable. There were small young trees, there were big old trees, and some bushes here and there. His brow wrinkled. There weren't any vines here. Maybe it was roots they were talking about. He shrugged and walked on. His foot fell into a patch of loose dirt. He looked down and recoiled in disgust. The patch of dirt was red and caved in. He pulled his foot back. This must have been where the ponies had been dragged down. He gulped and watched where he put his feet. Wow, I see now why Fluttershy had freaked out. It is too quiet. Spike looked up at the trees. Nothing moved. He walked and turned to look at everything. The bushes stood there like they had always been there. He walked backwards a few steps and fell over a root. "Hey! Oww, of course I would fall." He got up and rubbed his backside. He turned around to face the forest. Was something moving? Fluttershy and Applejack had said they saw a bird. Hey! Maybe the animals are coming back. He should go see if they will agree to go see Fluttershy. They might know something new. Spike walked bristly into the main forest. He looked up at the tree tops. There was nothing to the plain eye to see. He had better eye sight than a pony but he wasn't train in tracking and hunting. Spike thought to himself that he needs to remember to ask Helden if he could train him in a little forest patrolling. He slid down a slope. The ground was covered in light brush and pebbles. Not a lot grew in the shade of the thick trees. There! Movement in the corner of his eye. He turned sharply and stared ahead. Darn, nothing. He relaxed. No use getting all worked up. Spike thought to himself but he couldn't shake the sudden feeling of being watched. He walked faster. "Oh, no. Come on, Spike. Get a hold of yourself! We're in here to look for movement. We need to find a bird or a chipmunk for Fluttershy. But, they had said they were going to lure it out." He stopped stilled. "Lure it out. Which means it has to be close right? It does have to be close. Otherwise, how would they lure it out. It's like a fish in a lake. It has to...be...here." Spike cringed and curled up into himself. He looked around with wide eyes. What was he to do now!? It could be watching him. "Hello, Helden." Twilight yawned and drank from her cup of coffee. She had gotten up early today so she had started going over the map of the area again. She stood hunched over the marked up map of the forest. "Hello, Princess. How is zee mission going?" He sat on the other side of the table. Twilight sighed. "I can't really say at the moment. It's both going and not going. I still don't know what this thing is or if it even is still in this area. Applejack had made a point that it had been weeks in between the sightings. We have a plan to lure it out by tearing up some trees." "Are you sure zat is vise? I vasn't zere ven it happened but all zee ponies claim a monster. I am here if you need any back up." Twilight smiled sweetly. "Thanks so much Helden, you have been a big help. But I don't need you there. We can handle it ourselves, and besides, I don't think Spike will forgive me if his favorite person in the world got hurt." Helden laughed. "Nov zat is not somezing you hear everyday. Are you absolutely sure? I vouldn't vant you girls going in vithout help. Vat if you got hurt? I zink zat could upset our young dragon even more." "No, no." Twilight shook her head more seriously. "This is now royal affairs. We Elements are going to take care of the problem and it wouldn't be wise to drag in others. I know each of my friends can take care of herself. We work well as a team. I don't want to chance distraction from an outsider." "You speak as if I am a civilian. But I do understand vere you are coming from. Royal matters." He nodded in agreement. "Vere is our young dragon by zee vay? Still asleep, hmm? He has been working so hard and it's only been two days!" He chuckled. "I vorry he might strain himself but he is much more durable zen he looks." Twilight nodded as she took another sip of coffee. "Hhmm ahh, he left a note saying he woke up early and went out to the training grounds." "Hmm, thank you. I vill go zere ven I pass by on my rounds. Good day to you." "Good day!" Twilight smiled and waved as he left. Spike unpleasantly felt his heart pound in his ears coupled with a knotted up stomach. He slowly backed away from the forest. He turned around to face where he had just come from. He gripped his hands to his chest. "Come on, Spike. Nothing's out here, not even any animals. It was just the wind." He walked as quickly as his fear stiffened legs would let him. He kept turning his head every which way so much it was obvious after the fact that he would eventually run into something or trip. His face proved it when it met the hard wood of a tree. Oww. Spike looked up as he rubbed his face. The brown bark was covered in moss and twisted around like it was made up of different vines pressed together. "Huh, how weird." It didn't look like any of the trees he had seen before. He would have noticed this one tree from the rest. It was huge, moss covered and not smooth like the others. To put it plainly, it stuck out like a sore thumb. The sound of chirping and rustling brought his attention to the tree top. "Hey! Animals." He grinned and laughed at himself. Getting all worked up over what turned out to be just what he was looking for. "Hi there!" His smile froze on his face. The tree moved. It creaked and shuffled over. He could now see three other tree trunks just like it. Sunshine fell on him when the wings folded in. He was standing in a clearing he remember passing earlier. A long fifth tree trunk curled down from the canopy of the true trees. It looked just like the face of a dragon. Two smaller trees crowned it as horns. He stared into what looked like a knot in the middle of a hollow. It was the eye of the creature. Spike gaped at the creature. "Aaaaahhhh... hi?" He waved stiffly. It looked at him. It shifted around until it was mostly facing him with its body partially wrapped around him. Its tail curled up on the clearing floor. Spike stood still watching the creature move. Should he run? He was afraid of what might happen if it decided to give chase. Its face seemed to regard him before shaking its head. Spike didn't know what to do so he simply stood there as still as he could. A loud snapping noise accompanied its grand mouth opening. Spike shut his eyes tight. He was ram rod still as the creature's breath wafted onto him. Creaking noise filled the air. "Aaaaeeeeeehhhhh." He peeked open an eye. Did it just talk? Groaning noises of trees being pulled sounded out. "Eeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhh." It seemed to prompt him. "Um, I'm Spike." He said awkwardly. The rustling of leaves was an odd sound to hear out of a mouth. "Ssssssssshhhhhhhhssssssss." "I'm a dragon." He added. The snapping sound of trees in winter entered the summer forest. "Kkkkkkccccccceeeeeeeeee." Spike felt so nervous his brain started to shut down. He found himself babbling on just to delay the inevitable. "I'm only about 12 years old right now. Actually, it's kinda complicated. I'm 10 years old but dragons age differently and I'm starting puberty so my mental age is going leaps and bounds beyond normal ponies." More creaking sound came as it moved its lips and tongue. "Cccccccceeeeee. Ddddddddddddeeeeeeee. Sssssssshhhhhheeeeee. Pppppppppaaaaaaaaa. Kkkkkccccccceeeeeeeee." "Yeah! That's my name. Spike!" He jumped up pumping a fist. He grinned ear to ear. It could talk! Maybe they could come to an understanding of some sort. "Who are you?" It took a few minutes for it to work out the syllables. Its mouth had been grown over by moss, vines, and other plants. "HHhheeeearrrtttaa. Wwwoooodddddeee." "Heartwood? That's cool." He looked around at it. It most definitely looked like a dragon. "Are you a dragon?" It nodded. "Really!?" Spike couldn't believe it. "How? You don't look like any dragon I know. Well, that I've seen. I went to the migration. There were all sorts of weird dragons but none that look like you." "AAAeeee aaammm Heeearrttewwoodde. Iiiee hhhaavvee seeccekconddd deeaatthh." "Huh? Second death? What does that mean?" He posed thinking. "Iii noootttee ffiirrrssttt death." "Well, your speech is starting to clear up." "Yoouu aareee Spike. Yoouu arree Arccanee." "Arccanee, arcane? Like arcane magic? Grr, I don't get it." He held his head in frustration. It laughed. The sound of laughter was like wind blowing through wooden poles. It still spoke in broken syllables but he could now understand what she was saying. Or at least it was sounding like a she. "That is what you are. Knowledge seeker. Hoarder of gems for archiving written and unwritten knowledge. You will become a library of stone one day. Much as I will be a mound in a forest one day." "I don't get it. A library of stone? It sounds cool and all, but what does it mean?" "You. Do you know your kind?" "No. I've lived with Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight all my life. They're ponies." "Ahhhh. Ponies." She nodded. "One time long ago, during my first life, dragons of all realms came together with young ponies. They each gave an egg in the name of peace. All peace between the races in exchange of the eggs. Many others had done so as well. Their children didn't grow. They were hatched only to die soon after. The hatching, only same magic make it grow. You survived from the energy of your mother. Her pure arcane magic reacted with your life. Her nature of knowledge matched your own. You hatch and you live." She stared at him. "Wow. That's... she isn't really my mother. Twilight I mean. She's more like a big sis. Or a mentor. I look up to her. But, I also care about her. She's my family." He chuckled and shook his head at the irony. "Who would have thought Twilight's eggheadedness would be what saved me. But what is all this? I've never heard anything about this." He put his arms on his hips. "Time. Time passes beyond us. I grow old. I die. Then I return to my realm and live till my second death. Ponies, small creatures. Yes, the same small creatures I had seen. Not seen them for so long. I forget all and everything. Small creatures die quickly. They die and leave nothing behind. All forget." "I can understand that. Ponies sure don't live very long compared to a dragon. Some dragons take hundred year naps." Spike shook his head. He hated where this was going. His heart felt heavy every time he thought about the differences in the races. He looked at Heartwood. Is this how he was going to end up one day? So old he would forget everything... and everyone. To look back and only feel he had known some ponies before yet can't remember their faces. To not even know what a pony is? He looked at her with wonder and the sadness of understanding. I don't think she even understands what she did. He huffed and rubbed his head before looking back at her. "Let's go back. Twilight and the others need to talk to you. You shouldn't have hurt those ponies like that." He waved a finger at her. "Now everyone thinks you're some sort of tree monster." She titled her head at him. She then lowered her head so he could climbed on top. The feeling of being elevated filled his stomach. Spike looked at the scenery. It was amazing! The bright canopy of leaves swayed out of their way. A sea of greens rippled on the horizon as he could see over the tops of the forest. Her back was covered in lush greenery and fertile earth. The smell of spring was strong here. Chipmunks scurried across between bushes. Birds chirped songs in hollows of open wood. Her flesh was wood. Her blood was a stream. To decompose into earth and layer onto yourself a hill of life. The body dies to become dirt so the grass can grow. So the animals can eat the grass so animals could eat animals. The roots of seedlings grew into her dead flesh. They sprouted leafs then raised up towards the sun. They were made tall by her nutrition. The strength of the trees gave her limbs the ability to stand. The roots and vines held the earth together. What had once been blood now ran clear. Wading into pools or stepping into streams, she replenished her supply. She was the earth. She was the greenery. The sun gave her system of greenery energy. The system grew. Spike felt a sense of awe and wonder as he sat atop this creature. He could understand now what she had been talking about. She had been like him at one time. Then she died. It was a first death all achieve but now she was alive again. She had returned to her 'realm'. He guessed she had been a nature dragon. She would live like this until her second death when she became a mount of earth in the forest. His brow furrowed. But what of him? A library of stone. Will he wonder around, knowing nothing until his body became stone? He shook his head. But what of the library part? I guess I'm just going to have to wait and ask her more later.