=== BABW: Spike’s Gaiden ===[0]
=== Part I: Spike In The Badlands ===
[ March 25, ??? + 1 -- (Near) Dural-ga-Jafid, Eastern Dragon Territories ]
==========================================================================
Hot. That was the only way to describe the badlands the Dragons occupied and, by default, ruled over. Not only was it hot, but it was brutally dry, meaning that only a few hardy mammals could live away from the areas that bordered Equestria and some of the other nations and tribes.
Making good time for someone their first time out, Spike arrived in the general vicinity of Dural-ga-Jafid sometime in the early afternoon. He decided to spend a bit of time just taking in the sights around the city before entering, so he took a bit of a detour to a nearby outcropping that appeared to give a good look over the entire area that Dural was apparently governing.
“This is incredible. I would have never imagined…” Spike said as he sat in front of his braked cart, sitting cross-legged on the ‘hill’ as he looked down and across the expansive city-state, stretching for what had to be around 40 square-kiloLengths[1] across; roughly the size of a fair-sized Outsider city district, or a mid-sized Equestrian town.
The entire town looked like Ponyville in some respect, except all of the domiciles and businesses places were bigger (to accommodate the larger size of the bipedal-form Dragons); and he could see various large buildings that appeared to sit by themselves, figuring them to be the houses of full-sized ‘bestial’ Dragons. What he also noticed that the entire city was ringed by a rather thick-looking wall of black stone, most likely obsidian. Said wall, despite the constant sand and dust storms, appeared to glisten in the midday sun.
Something that Spike felt he needed to figure out an explanation for, as he wheeled his cart around and returned to the path to enter the city proper.
"Say, um, how exactly does this obsidian stay polished? Wouldn't that be a pain with all the wind and dust storms?" Spike asked of a pair of bipedal guard-dragons, both 20% taller and thicker than him; his goggles covered in dust and cloak a nicer shade of orange.
"Hrm? Oh, actually didn't notice you there. Well, hardly anyone ever asks us that… but seeing as we don't have anything else to do out here…" one of the guard-dragons said as he took off his dust-proof visor to find a nice out of the way section of the wall.
He then undid the armor around his forearms and hands, to reveal some very nasty looking claws. Which were promptly used to gash the wall with very impressive clawmarks, at least 3 inches deep.
Woah, that's crazy, he just tore through that solid stone like it was nothing…
"Now here's the trick to the whole thing… Egal Jourd [Stone Repair]!" the guard-dragon shouted, as he held his palm by the claw-marks. Within a few seconds, curved runes, similar to and yet different than the runes Spike saw from the human magic, appeared; and soon after the gash marks entirely disappeared, with the wall returning to its recent contiguous and polished glory.
"Cool, I didn't know magic could be invoked by speaking, or shouting…" Spike quietly said to himself, clearing the dust from his goggles as he ran a clawed hand over where the gash-marks once were.
The two guard-dragons looked at each other with some mild confusion, until they realized with what they were dealing with.
"OH! I see, you must have been raised outside of a Dragon territory. So where do you hail from, Canus Crystalis[2] perhaps? Maybe Vogelstad, I heard the Gryphon Dukes there were less paranoid than usual…" the second guard asked of Spike.
Spike fidgeted some while he looked around nervously. "Um, no. Actually I was raised in Canterlot with Princess Celestia and her personal protégé."
The two guard-dragons looked at each other again, before realizing what that meant.
"Oh… I see… I always wondered why she was so eager to 'adopt' unwanted Dragon eggs. Well, we personally nor professionally have a quarrel with anyone from Equestrian territory; although we can't really say the same for the residents. I would suggest you keep your head low and your cart close to you, until you find someone you can trust, more or less," the first guard said, genuinely concerned for Spike's safety if he went inside.
I guess that means stay out of trouble until I find that guide that Celestia was talking about… Spike thought to himself as he looked at one of the guard-dragons pull a lever to open the wrought-iron gate he was standing in front of.
"Um thanks, do you know where I can find a map or a layout of the town?" Spike asked, as he hitched his cart back to his person.
"The Visitor's Office about 250 Equestrian Lengths to your right after you enter the gates. Should have a currency conversion office and some maps there," the second guard-dragon replied.
Well… here goes nothing I guess… Spike thought as he and his cart passed through the gates into his first city of Dragons.
---=---
A few minutes later, after taking in a few of the initial sights and sounds, Spike arrived at the Visitor's Center, thankful that the Princess Celestia taught him simple Draconic Script in the week before he left.
"Hey there! A new face, welcome to the Official Dural-ga-Jafid Visitor's Center!" shouted a rather perky turquoise and chalk-white spined dragoness.
Spike turned around, and was immediately stricken with sudden extreme anxiety "Oh hello, um, I… I… I wanted to know where I could turn in these vouchers and get a layout of the city."
Oh man, I have no idea how I'm supposed to conduct myself around dragonesses…
"Sure, well let me look at those vouchers first…" the dragoness attendant asked. After a few moments of verifying their validity, she proceeded with her response. "Ok, these vouchers are valid, so just go over to the currency window to collect, and here is your map of Dural-ga-Jafid."
"Complementary? Do you just give these maps out or what?" Spike asked, still nervous in the presence of the perky attendant.
"Well, usually not… but I can't help giving out free stuff to cute drakes like you♥!" the dragoness replied with a wink.
Yeah… definitely have no idea how to act around females…
Spike took back the vouchers and the map with a nervous smile, and walked over to the currency window to turn in his vouchers for D-Coin, the Dragon territory common (more or less) currency.
"Hrm, I see, a traveler from Equestria. We don't get many Dragons coming through here from Equestria; the Ponies usually don't like dealing with us. Anyway here you go…" the rather large dragon said as he handed a sack of coins to Spike through the barred windows.
Hrm, rather impersonal compared to dragoness back there…
"Say, I was looking at the map, and I noticed there were several inns and hotels. Which one is the most friendly to outsiders?" Spike asked, hoping the full-sized dragon would actually turn him an answer.
The cashier-dragon stood in place for a few moments, and gave him his best answer. "Paquira Inn. Should be in the northwest sector of the city on your map. Usually the outsiders stay there so they can leave through the North Gates if there is any particularly nasty trouble."
"Great… thanks…" Spike said somewhat flatly, not taking to the cashier's attitude very well.
As the purple dragon turned around to leave the center, the large cashier could be seen quietly speaking into an enchanted seashell.
“Madame Rosethorn, your diplomat from Equestria has just passed through the Visitor’s Center and is on his way to Paquira Inn.”
“That’s good. I will make my way there in a few moments so I can assess him more… thoroughly,” the rose-red dragoness replied on the other side of the link.
I can’t imagine what she means by that, but I hope that drake is ready for her, regardless of what it is… the dragon thought as he sorted some papers to clear space for the next customer.
---=---
Another hour or so later, Spike was resting in his room at the Paquira Inn. He was glad he was able to keep his cart inside his room, minus the wheels of course. He ran his goggles underneath a faucet in the , and thought to himself about his near-term plans.
Alright, so I guess I got a couple of things I need to do while I'm out here. One, try and figure out if and how I can get an audience with the Dragon Elders. Two, figure out just what I'm capable of.
He saw the clock had drifted to 3 PM now, and wondered what exactly Twilight and the others were up to Earthside.
Knowing Twilight, she’s trying to figure out all the nuts and bolts of Terran Magic every waking moment she has available. I just hope everyone stays safe until I come back with some hopefully good news…
As Spike began to doze off, he heard a voice resound in his mind:
You have come here, to your ancestral home, in order make a plea on behalf of your adoptive parents and homeland. Find me, and you may find a sympathetic ear…
The voice was similar to Celestia’s, though with a bit more of a scholarly bent to it. It roused Spike from his half-asleep state.
“Right, I need to be finding that guide Princess Celestia hired for me, I can sleep when the night comes.”
--=--
Spike walked around town, marveling at how vibrant things looked, despite the use of mostly neutral colors.
"Such a cool use of stone and mortar, I really like how everything is built…" Spike said out loud as he looked around town.
He looked in at the various store fronts selling different armors and wares shipped in from other areas. What caught his eye though, was the library. Although he read that the Dural Library was nowhere near the largest in all of the Dragon-controlled territories, it was the most accessible to whelps and outsiders who knew the beginner levels of the Draconic Script.
"Well it looks like I'm not going to be able to get away from studying," Spike said as he walked into the library.
He walked into the library, and was once again struck by how well kept everything was considering the general conditions.
These records and books are in such excellent condition, Twilight would flip and demand they teach her everything about it…
"Excuse me, I'd like to know where the general history and beginner magic sections are?" Spike asked of the librarian sitting at a rather ornate desk near the entrance.
The brick red librarian let out a heavy sigh as he answered the purple patron. "Hrm, someone as old as you shouldn't need those sections, but you did ask so… let's see… general history is section five on the second floor. Beginner level Draconic Invocation is section eight in the basement. The policies on duplication of materials are posted in their relevant sections."
If he saw me a week ago he probably wouldn't have said that. Oh well at least I got my answer…
A half-hour of duplicating overviews of the recent history of the major Dragon territories, he made his way to the basement to the Invocation Practice rooms. After a few more minutes of peering and searching, he found a room with a tome that looked perfect for someone like him.
"'100 Beginner Invocations For Whelps'. Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers," Spike wondered as he set an adult-sized stool next to the podium where the tome rested.
Ahh, there he is. Just as cute as I thought he would be in the flesh. Nevertheless, now is not the time for indulging idle fantasy. Our dear emissary from Equestria has some business to attend to, and I intend to be a proper guide for our young dragon… Rosethorn mused, as she used the stealth spell Silentclaw taught her some years ago to keep herself hidden, for now.
--=--
"Let's see here, beginner offensive invocation #10, Proc Ural [Fire Ball], the basic fireball. I dunno if I can practice something like that here…" Spike said to himself out loud from inside of the rather spacious study/practice room.
"You know, the walls of the room are specially crafted to resist and repair itself after pretty much any attack made by someone that'd bother to use these rooms. Just try it and see!" the rose-red and teal-spined dragoness said, making herself known to Spike.
"Oh… um… o-o-Okay…" Spike stammered out, suddenly choked with nervousness; even worse than he had when he talked to the attendant at the Vistor's Center.
"Proc Ural…" Spike managed to say with a weak voice, and was rewarded with an equally weak fireball that petered out halfway across the room.
The rose dragon sighed at the rather unimpressive display. "Okay, lesson one about Draconic Invocation: The Power you put in your voice determines the overall strength of the spell. You have to speak with a full throat and heart to make the spell effective."
"Ah… I see… um… before we continue… can… I ask you your name?" Spike said, as he stood there, fidgeting before the taller dragoness like a teenager would before a stern teacher.
"Rosethorn, you can call me Rosethorn. Mother gave me that name after she saw my rose-scales after I hatched, at least that's what she always said," the dragoness replied, with a warm, matronly smile.
I wonder if he’s had enough time to read up on just who I am, yet, and just how important this little sojourn of his may end up being in the end? Rosethorn thought to herself as she pulled up another stool and took a role she was most comfortable with, that of teacher.
Spike rubbed a hand along the opposite arm, as he began to settle his thoughts in front of the now named dragoness. "Well, Miss Rosethorn, um, I'll try it again…"
Spike closed his eyes, and began to listen for his own voice. After a few moments, they flashed open again, bright green and sharp like daggers. "PROC URAL!" he shouted with full throat; and was this time rewarded with an impressively large and hot fireball. He saw the impact against the wall, scorching the marble facing… which was subsequently repaired by the persistent spell imbued across all the practice rooms.
"Woah, you were right. I guess I was kinda speaking too soft to use something like that…" Spike said to Rosethorn nervously, still not knowing how to properly conduct himself as a gentleman Dragon.
"Well, considering how new you are to this, obviously, you'll have to shout in order to use offensive spells properly. Eventually, you will be able to use the normal powered spells while speaking in a normal tone." Rosethorn said as she nodded sagely.
A budding young Draconic Magus if I ever saw one, if his naturally emerald colored flames are any indication. I am going to keep a good eye on him in more ways than one… Rosethorn thought as she began to plot out the best route to Karrak.
-- === --
"Ok, so do you have to follow me everywhere? I mean, won't people assume there's something between us?" Spike said as he pulled his cart with Rosethorn walking along side of him. The sun was setting over a nearby mesa, producing an extremely brilliant orange glow.
Rosethorn snickered at the adolescent immaturity of Spike. "Come now, I'm easily old enough to be your elder sister. We'll just say we're taking a nice family stroll."
"You're probably old enough to be my mother…" he said in a snide tone. A quick murderous glance by Rosethorn had him apologizing in short order though.
"Anyway… we'll also have to work on your social skills around other Dragons. I can tell by your nervousness, especially around beautiful dragonesses such as myself, that you have had limited to no interaction with other Dragons before now," Rosethorn said as her eyes scanned around.
She eventually found what she was looking for. "Ooh, and what better way to work on social interactions than at the local pub!"
Doesn’t surprise me a shameless flirt would want to hit a bar. What have I gotten myself into.. Spike thought to himself as Rosethorn gently shoved him in the direction of the pub.
A short while later, the two Dragons found themselves at a nice table out of the way of the main area of the pub. The place was more or less legitimate looking, the racks of various liquors and fruit juices behind the pair of bartenders, one charcoal black and the other a very pale gray.
"Say, why is there just as much fruit juice as there is alcohol here?" Spike asked, as he munched on and off on a basket full of quartz.
"You must have lived a very sheltered life…" Rosethorn replied, wondering how someone Spike's apparent age wouldn't have known.
"Like you wouldn't believe. Although, to be honest, about a week ago, there was no way they would have let me in here…" Spike said pensively, still gnawing on a piece of quartz.
Rosethorn chuckled internally at the thought. Yeah, any bar that’d accept a drake or, Tiamat-forbid a draka through its doors would be shut down in short order.
“So why would you say that, Mr. Spike?” she asked in her best inquisitive tone.
"Well, a week or so ago, I was in this… um… really far-away place… and I felt this weird pull of energy. Next thing you know, I'm almost three times as big as I was when I started the day," Spike said somewhat quietly, trying not to catch the ear of anyone besides Rosethorn.
That Magic that is flowing from Earth must be incredibly potent if mere exposure can trigger Flash Puberty. Though I would imagine once it settles down we won’t have to worry about drakes suddenly growing the second they set foot there… Rosethorn thought to herself.
"Hrm, Spike… are you planning on staying the night here, are we going to head on out of town and see more of the night sky on our way to Karrak?" Rosethorn asked, her eyes starting to bore a hole right into Spike's head.
"Ahhh… Paquira Inn… um… hah… ah…" Spike said, obviously not knowing at all how to react to the situation.
Rosethorn continued to lock in on Spike visually. "It makes sense, I mean, this is your first time in Dragon controlled territory after all. And I am sure we will have plenty of opportunity to discuss things in, private, if you will."
"P-pr-p-pri-private?!" Spike stammered out, shuffling around uncomfortably in his seat.
While Spike normally managed to keep calm and collected through the harrowing adventures he found himself in with Twilight, these types of (mildly) social interactions left him completely flustered and flummoxed. And his un-masculine chirps of anxiety grabbed the attention of a pair of ‘proper’ adult, and somewhat inebriated, male dragons a few lengths down the aisle.
"Now then, you sweet rose-scaled thang. Why would you want to have private discussions with this… whelp… who’s probably barely out of his shell?" said one of the male dragons; quite large and drunk on pineapple-and-rum.
"What I and the dear may have to discuss is clearly none of your concern," Rosethorn replied, obviously in no mood to deal with drunken males who were probably out looking for an easy score.
The second male decided to chime in as well. "Oh come on now, I'm sure that what we'd have to say would be far more relevant to your interests than anything he could."
Rosethorn just sighed as she turned away from the pair of drunk dragons and issued a fairly curt response. "No, I honestly don't think what you'd have to say would matter a damn to me."
"Come on now, baby. That's no way to talk to a pair of dragons ready to make the night very worth your while…" the second dragon added, as he placed a clawed hand on Rosethorn's shoulder.
Rosethorn, without even batting an eye or telegraphing any motion, quickly snapped the offending male over her shoulder in a takedown, right through the table she and Spike were sitting at. Spike managed to move his basket of quartz before the burnt orange offender went crashing through it.
"That… was so… fast…" Spike said; eyes wide at Rosethorn's incredibly sharp reflexes and brute strength.
"Come on baby. We ain't gotta be like th~" the first male started, before his snout was pressed against the back wall of the bar. Everyone sitting around Rosethorn and co. had cleared out, obviously wanting no part of her potential wrath.
"Now mister… I am really not a violent dragoness, but I don't take kindly to being propositioned by a pair, especially a pair that's clearly inebriated, while I'm trying to discuss matters with someone. I would kindly suggest you take your friend, and actually find someone that gives a damn," Rosethorn said, with the male pressed against the stone backwall and her foot firmly pinning his tail to the floor.
"Okay, okay, just let me go… I swear I won't bother you or anyone else tonight…" the male said nervously, the adrenaline clearing away the buzz he was feeling a few moments ago. He knew he was in no position to strike back, and it would be best to cut his losses.
A few moments later he was released, and picked his dazed friend up off the broken table.
"Lady, you know you're gonna have to pay for that table right?" asked the pale gray bartender, the situation not really being all that surprising to him.
"Yes, how much?" Rosethorn inquired, as she reached for a sack for Spike to put his leftover quartz in.
"Seven D-Coin. Be glad you weren't in a booth, otherwise it would have been thirty." the charcoal bartender responded.
Rosethorn sighed heavily as she materialized her coin-purse in order to pay for the food and the broken furniture.
Somehow I keep finding myself coming into bars, even though half the time the night ends like this… she thought to herself.
I really hope this isn't how most nights in Dragon-run bars end… Spike thought to himself, praying that nothing else crazy would happen before he fell asleep for the night.
---- === ----
It was now a good while into Luna's night. Rosethorn was still upset her bar night was cut so drastically short; but given the situation she now found herself in, well, things couldn't be helped.
She sat in a chair near the door while Spike laid in his bed, goggles hung on the bedpost. "Given everything you've told me, it seems that your recent experience with Flash Puberty has prompted your journey so far."
"Yeah. Like I said, about a week or so ago, I was only a third of the size I am now. I felt this weird energy surging through my whole body, and after a rather painful process, I was easily taller than everyone else I had spent my life with up until that time," Spike said as he looked out the window at Luna's Moon, half his mind wondering what the Princesses and Twilight and the others were all up to.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were the circumstances of your hatching originally?" Rosethorn asked, reasonably confident in the answer she was going to receive back, but wanting to hear it from his mouth.
Spike thought for a few moments: should he answer this lady he just met not a few hours ago? He eventually resolved to indeed answer her and see where things went afterward as it came. "Well, if what my friends say was true -- I was hatched by a massive outburst of Unicorn Explicit Magic. It was so massive, that it earned my surrogate sister, I guess you could call her, her Cutie Mark."
He was hatched by a Pony?! Only the Alicorn Sisters should be capable of a feat like that… but I remember there are only two fully-realized alicorns and one candidate in Equestria… What could this mean… Rosethorn thought as her memory was starting to fade her a bit in her surprise.
"According to most of the sages employed by the Dragon Elders, only their Princesses should possess enough raw power to cause a Dragon Egg to hatch without assistance. Just who is your 'surrogate sister' as you call her," Rosethorn asked, staring intently at Spike now.
"Oh, she is a recent graduate from the Gifted School For Unicorns, Twilight Sparkle. The rumors are abound that the she is most likely the most powerful Unicorn under 30 years of age in all of Equestria. Given some of the stuff she's pulled in recent years… I'm starting to believe it myself," Spike replied, face full of pride he had a direct line to so many powerful Ponies.
A 'normal' Unicorn hatched him? She must have an incredibly powerful ability to draw mana…
"Hrm, so was she also the reason you underwent Flash Puberty?" Rosethorn then asked, wanting to know more and more about the purple and green-spined young 'man'.
"No. I think it was something her friends did while we were… in that far away land. I just remember the sky going black, and I was suddenly filled with this insane desire for power. Even now, I can't really explain what I felt, but I just felt this surge of power through me. I guess that is what triggered me growing from a whelp to, well, what I am now," Spike replied, still staring out in the night sky.
A power heralded by a black sky. Not sure where exactly I remember that from, but I believe it’s starting to confirm my of the exact nature of that Magic on the other side…
Rosethorn got up from her chair and slid it back under the table. "Anyway, before I leave for my hotel room, can I ask one last thing?"
Spike finally turned over to look at her. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Your Princess went out of her way to send a, I might add very beautifully written, request for me to be your guide on the road to the capital. But I am asking you, as your own dragon: do you accept me accompanying you on this journey?"
Spike was once again stricken with a massive bout of anxiety as he contemplated the long journey with such an attractive, older dragoness. "I… I… I… ahh… um… I… accept?!"
"Oh good! Well, we can leave tomorrow afternoon… if that's fine with you, of course." Rosethorn said, voice a lot more chipper when she was now more sure that Spike would accept her as a travelling partner for his own sake and not just because Celestia arranged it.
"Yeah… tomorrow afternoon sounds… just… great…" Spike replied, worrying already with what he'd just committed himself to.
Who would have thought… the emissary from Equestria is a Dragon hatched by an Equestrian Magic prodigy… curiouser and curiouser this story develops…
******* ===== *********