Gemstones
Chapter One
By: Lukas
Rain pelted against Spikes amethyst scales, as he reached up to his throat and removed a necklace. Spikes large claws fumbled with his most prized possession, part from sadness and partly due to the size of his claws; as he plucked the heart shaped ruby from it. The great hulking dragon lightly trembled, as he placed the gem Into a Heart shaped socket on the tombstone. Lighting tore through the sky, lighting up the drenched valley, as the writing on the granite marble headstone became visible.
'Here lies Rarity, |Element of |Generosity, Daughter, Sister, Dressmaker, and Friend. - Lived a long, happy life. Two hundred and ten years before she was called to her final resting place.'
Thunder shook the heavens as a scream echoed throughout the dimly lit library, causing a purple coated princess to drop her book. Princess Twilight Sparkle scrambled to get out of bed, and rushed to the sounds of Spikes' cries. "Spike?! Spike! Whats wrong?" She burst through the bedroom door, seeing the large dragon siting on the edge of his bed. Spike had grown considerably in his years in Ponyville. Spike had just turned eighteen a few months back when he had started to have the same dream for weeks now. He stood slightly taller then Big Mac, and he had put on some muscle. Spike was no longer the chubby little dragon, yet in this moment Twilight saw him as any mother would.; small, broken, and afraid. Upon looking at him Twilight knew what had happened, and he wasn't looking too good. The Last few weeks Twilight had noted Spikes lack of appetite, and his sarcastic attitude had faded as well.
"Spike..." Twilight made her way to his side lightly placing her hoof on his back, lightly rubbing it as she spoke. "Was it the same dream again?" only a slight nod came from the dragon next to her, as he tried to calm him self down. "Spike look at me." she spoke softly, as the dragon slowly turned to look her way. she could see the pain he felt through his eyes, she lightly nuzzled him. "It will be just fine, it was all just a dream, but...I believe I need to talk to Luna about this." She slowly kept rubbing his back, her voice full of concern. This wasn't normal, nopony or dragon should have the same dream two weeks straight.
Spike stood slowly. "I-I think I need some air, I need to clear my head" he choked out as he made his way to the door of his room, Twilight was hot on his heels. "You cant go out now, it's two A.M. and it's pouring out there." Twilight lightly stamped her hoof, her voice full of concern. Spike had been crying in his bed moments ago and now he wanted to go on a stormy night stroll? as his adopted mother and friend she wasn't going to have that. Twilight wiggled past him, and blocked off the door. Spike simply grabbed her around the waist and picked her up, lightly wiping his tears away with his other hand. "Twi I will be fine...I just...I just need to clear my head. I will be back soon, but don't wait up." Spike carried her up to her bed and set her down. Twilight felt like she needed to keep him close and safe but he was far to stubborn sometimes and it didn't help he was extremely resistant to her magic now so she couldn't just teleport him to his room any more. "Fine, but if you sneeze even once when you get back you're going to be reorganizing this entire library." Twilight sighed and picked her book back up as climbed back into bed. Subconsciously she knew he was going to be fine, but she just worried about him, and these dreams he kept having. as she watched him leave she noticed the nubs on his back had started protruding more so then before, maybe the dreams were just due to the pain of his wings coming in?
Once outside Spike heaved a heavy sigh as he felt the rain pelt against his scales, just as it had in his nightmares. Taking a few slow shaky steps Spike was soon lost in his thoughts, as he pondered just why he kept having these dreams, he stopped dead in his tracks. 'Rarity', her name rang like a bell inside his head, the mare he had a crush on since the day he, and Twilight had arrived in Ponyville all those many years ago. As Spike grew, so too did his crush on Rarity, as well as the bond between them It was now a full blown love, but he still had yet to open up to her. Everypony in Ponyville knew how he felt, he never tried to hide it, but he was never verbal about it to her or to anypony. Spikes' mind was flooded with fuzzy warm thoughts of his white angel and before he knew it he was on the move again as his feet carried him deep into the mountains outside Ponyville, past the spots where he would hunt for gems with Rarity.
Spike snapped his fingers, as he thought of something to take his mind off everything. Gem hunting! This would also give him an excuse to see Rarity after he collected the spoils from the hunt and share his find. He started digging, his claws perfectly adapted for it. Over the next hour Spike had made countless holes stacking up only the best gems to take back to his number one gem and eating the rest, finding his appetite. Suddenly he pulled his hand back as he felt a sharp pain. Spike carefully puffed out green flames to get a look at what he hit. It looked like a gem, but as he carefully dug around it he noticed it was fused to rock. Spike had never seen a gem like this before. It was as large as the fire ruby he had once given to Rarity, but it had what appeared to be its own light, and warmth! he...he wanted it, Bad. he dug around it and deeper and was able to get into the hole now, putting his foot on the odd rock and griping his prize he pulled with everything he had. breaking the odd gem from the rock, it was warm and seemed to have another gem inside the semi clear body of the crystal.
Spike felt odd, not like when the greed had took hold of him in his youth, it was more like finding this jewel was full of meaning. While it was true it did mean something, he wouldn't truly understand what he had found. not just yet, as a bolt of lightning crashed next to him bringing him back to reality. Spike decided that now was probably a good time to head back home. Taking a look around Spike found him self completely unaware of his surroundings, as lightning decided to strike twice, sending the teen dragon running to the nearest cave for shelter clutching the gem in his claws. He may have been nearly magic proof but, he was certainly not immune to the effects of a lightning bolt. Sitting down in the cave to wait out the storm, Spike was completely unaware of the eyes watching him from further inside the darkness. A few minutes passed before the scales on Spikes' neck began to itch, and he felt as though he were being watched. Slowly turning his head Spike thought he heard a shrill cry from inside the cave, or from out where he had discovered the rare gem he couldn't tell . Lighting flashed across the sky once more drawing his attention outwards from his shelter, he noticed two large shadows, confirming he wasn't alone.
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Twilight was starting to get worried, it had been nearly two hours since Spike had left the castle. She placed the book she was reading up on and researching just what Spikes' dreams could have meant down before marking her page she sat up and got out of bed. Heading down stairs she peered out the window looking for any trace of her brother, she was met with nothing but harsh rain and the sound of a thunder clash. The thunder even shook the tree its self, she lightly jumped back from the window.
"Oh, Spike..." The Princess lightly spoke to her self, worry heavy in her tone, as she moved back to the window. After a moment she decided to take matters into her own Hooves and write a letter to her fellow Princess; Princess Luna then she'd head out to find Spike. Twilight could feel her anxiety building back up. Moving away from the window she lit a nearby candle with her magic, then proceeded to write her letter and send it off before rushing out the front door. Twilight was sure Luna would still be awake at this time of the night, right? She pushed such thoughts from her head, as she quickly cast a light barrier over her to keep her dry from the downpour of rain. Her horn lightly lit casting light as she made her way through Ponyville in search of her dragon brother. However it seemed the Princess of the Night was very much asleep as the letter made it to her.
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The earth seemed to shake as lighting once more struck, this time hitting a tree igniting it almost immediately, knocking Spike off his feet and sending the odd crystal into the dark bowel of the cave. Spike tried to pick him self up off the ground, but alas his snout met with the cold wet ground as he felt the entirety of the cave shake. To his left the blazing tree lit the entrance of the cave, and to his right, deeper in he could see nothing. Spike attempted to stand a second time, this time catching him self as he was shaken down by the immense thunder, noticing rocks around him jump as well.
"What in Celestias' alabaster flanks is going on..." Spike spoke to him self as he finally got to his feet, looking outside of the cave entrance, and then back into the darkness. Then everything was silent, even as lighting continued to light up the cave, there was no thunder. In the flash of lasting light Spike finally realized thunder didn't make him fall. As he stared into a pair of large amber eyes, they were slit and void of feeling. A massive claw reached out from the shadows gripping onto the wall as its claws dug into the solid stone as the dragon pulled its self from the dark. Spike was clearly outmatched, he couldn't even run if he wanted. The dragon in the cave was jet black, and towered over Spike like a castle to a house. It stood slouched using the wall as support to hold its massive weight, but then letting go of the cave wall. Lightning flashed again letting Spike see something very curious, it's under belly was coated in what seemed to be solid topaz as if it grew on the dragon. but quickly Spike was pulled from such thoughts as 'why?' When a roar shook him to the core making rocks fall from the ceiling. The dragons chest started to expand puffing him self out, Spike knew what came next. He may have been fire proof, but the immense heat and power this dragon could likely produce would kill him...slowly. Black flames emitted from the corners of its massive maw, as Spike couldn't move he could only clench his eyes shut hoping for it to end quickly.
"Enough!" a voice boomed as light came from inside the cave, forcing Spike to open his eyes. The pitch black dragon seemed to be forced to swallow its own flames back down as smoke came bellowing from its nostrils, as he came down surprisingly lightly onto its forearms turning to the light. Spike had to pinch himself to believe what he was seeing, but sure enough Luna was walking to the side of this great dragon and stopped what easily could have been Spike's last night.
"Lulu, you're awake..." a oddly smooth and cool voice escaped the Dragons lips, as he turned to face her, lightly moving his head aside."Sorry I must have woken you...but it seems we have an intruder" The dragon turned again facing Spike,but it seemed as if life had returned to his eyes no longer filled with bloodlust. Spike was in total shock, as many questions flooded his reptilian mind.
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