//------------------------------// // Equiferus // Story: The Life of a Dragon // by pononymous //------------------------------// I have no imagination, just ask my friends Mac and Blue. This chapter has the Official Rainbow Dash Seal of Approval Birthday Arc Part 2: Equiferus "Sooo Twilight, I think you forgot to tell me where we're going next." Spike said as he absentmindedly scratched his itchy green scales. "I've already checked my list twice now Spike, but I'll go through it again." Twilight answered his implied question while pulling said scroll from her saddlebags, and levitating in front of herself while they walked. "First, wake up, check. Second, brush my coat and mane, check. Third, brush my teeth, check. Fourth, wake up Spike," she said while grinning slyly at Spike. "Check" Spike stated grouchily. 'That is definitely going to be the worst part of this day, but today will certainly be better than last year. Nothing could be worse than that.' "Fifth, go to Rarity's for breakfast, check. Sixth, don't be tricked by Spike into spoiling his surprises today, check." Twilight finished, while rolling up and putting away the list. Aww, c'mon Twilight, just a little hint, pretty please?" He asked, while making his lip quiver, and tucking his tail around himself. "Well... okay Spike I'll give you a hint if you can answer my question from your studies last week." "Lay it on me Twilight, I can handle anything you give me!" Spike nearly yelled, excited as he was. "Just give me a moment to think...hmmm... should it..no, that's too easy. Maybe I should ask you about...hmm I don't think you reached that far in your lessons yet. How a bout... no pony anatomy is a bad choice. I'm not sure you actually speak Latin, so that won't work. Spike, have you learned any Latin yet?" "Twiliigghht" Spike whined, realizing she was just stalling. "Okay Spike, I was just teasing you. Here, you'll need this." Twilight said while handing him a blank scroll, quill and a small hoofheld calculator. "Aww, I hate math." Spike's complaint went unheard by Twilight however, and she proceeded withh her question. "Remember when Rainbow Dash performed her sonic rainboom while rescuing Rarity and the Wonderbolts?" "Of course Twilight, I don't think anypony there could ever forget that." Twilight grinned, "Okay then, since her Mach Angle was measured at 21 degrees, what was her speed, in miles per hour?" Spike began his scribbling on his sheet of parchment, and tucked the calculator above his ear-scale. ' Hmmm, well, her Mach would be 1/sin(x/2). So it would be 1/sin(10.5).' Spike grabbed his calculator while sticking the end of his quill in his mouth. Spike typed in his completed equation on his calculator. ' Okay, her Mach is 5.487 (switch tools and scribble), so what's her speed? The speed of sound is about 767mph so Rainbow Dash should have been going... ' "Rainbow Dash was going about 4,200mph!" Spike answered with glee. "Very good Spike, now for your hint." Twilight said as her magic sparkled around the things being put back into her saddlebags. "Our next stop is in a place surrounded by animals and trees." Spike waited for more, but none was forthcoming. "Really? That's it? But, that's like, all of Ponyville!" Spike grumbled in frustration. He really wanted to know what was going on. "You know Twilight, when you said it had trees and animals, I was thinking about Ponyville Park, Whitetail Forest, Fuscus Lake, or even Fluttershy's home. Everfree is definitely a surprise." Spike said, while trying not to focus on the eyepatch covering Twilight's left eye again. Pinkie Pie had shown up as they were headed out of town, wished Spike a happy birthday, and then given Twilight the eyepatch. Pinkie Pie had claimed that her 4th molar twitched a minute ago, so Twilight should wear an eyepatch until she returned to Ponyville. He was still a little wary of the forest, but it was the only way to get to Zecora's. "Are you sure you can't teleport us there?" "Spike, the spell I use must have the target destination coordinates within my mind. If I try to teleport like I did after the dragon migration, I'll just be teleporting in that general direction, since I haven't memorized the way to Zecora's yet. I'm sure you don't want to go visit any random place in the forest we've never been to before, do you?" "Nope. Definitely not. How about levitation then?" "Sure Spike, I bet a one-eyed horned, flying, purple, ponies are wholly unappetizing to anything that might want to eat me." She deadpanned. "Okay, let's just get to Zecora's as quickly as possible, I can't wait to find out what she has planned." "WHEN I SAID AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, I DIDN'T MEAN THIS!" Spike shouted. Both Twilight Sparkle and Spike were rushing through Everfree forest as fast as they could, mostly because of the Tiger and giant Python that were chasing them. Spike and Twilight were weaving in between the trees and bushes, trying to avoid their lunch date with the Grim Reaper. The tiger was bounding through the bushes and saplings, leaving a crushed trail in his wake, but had to slow slightly in order to manuever around the thicker trees. The python would glide through the canopy above and spring across from branch to branch. Twilight would turn her head around and let loose a few blasts of purple magic, but since she was galloping at full speed, she may as well have aimed in front of herself. Spike just ran faster. Twilight saw something on the ground and snapped it up with her magic as she galloped. She didn't know what would happen, but she was sure her plan couldn't make things too much worse. "There it is!" Twilight shouted over to Spike. "It's only another 30 yards Spike!" "I see it, just keep running! " he replied frantically, while jumping over a bush, and slicing a branch into the way of the tiger with his little claws. The tiger jumped over the branch, but landed in one of the python's loops dangling between the trees. Spike hurried into the clearing surrounding Zecora's hut and noticed Twilight holding a pile of blue powder in her magical thrall. Panting he asked "What *huff huff* are you doing *huff* with that?" "Saving our tails." she replied, narrowing her eye. As the tiger and python came out in to the clearing, she through the powder into their direction and watched as they coughed and hacked violently (she later realized that snakes shouldn't be able to cough) as they inhaled her biological weapon. After they had both settled down, the two animals looked at eachother with resigned faces, as though expecting what was to come. First, the tiger's tail zipped backed into it body like a tape measure, snapping against it and causing it to let out a yowl. Then it's orange started turning black as the snake was coiled up like a slinkie, with it's head stuck out the top. Suddenly, both were surrounded by a small puff of blue smoke and were replaced with green eyed, black shelled beetles about the size of a foal. "What are you doing to my two friends? Now I will have to make amends." Came an African accented voice from behind them, startling both Twilight and Spike, who jumped in the air and turned toward the zebra they had come to see. "Hey, Zecora, I think we've come up with a new way to use Poison Joke as a non-lethal weapon." Spike said with a grin on his face, while Twilight blushed a little. "Hello Zecora, and I didn't even know that would work; I just thought that inhalation would distribute the chemicals and magic in a faster way. If it hadn't worked we would have been in huge mess and left Zecora with these two beasts." Twilight replied, while turning to look at the two beetles. They seemed to be watching Zecora, and weren't trying to run away like she expected. Zecora just walked past them both and stepped toward the beetles, stunning Twilight and Spike. "Zecora what are you doing, they could still attack you, even without claws and fangs!" Spike shouted, while running with Twilight to help Zecora. "Spike, pythons don't have fangs, they kill by squeezing their prey." Twilight corrected him, she was never one to let ignorance go unanswered, even if they were rushing to save their friend. "Both of you are wrong," Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Zecora kept going, "these two beings here wish none of us harm. If you allow me to explain, you have no cause for alarm. Please, Novus, Alida, do not hold a grudge against this pony. As you well know, hate can often cause catastrophe. Please, do wait right here, while I make the cure." Zecora finished as she turned back to her hut and left the four alone. "So, umm Novus..." Twilight spoke slowly, trying to determine who was who. The beetle on the left, the one that used to be a tiger, let out some clicking noises and blinked it's green eyes rapidly. It turned to the other beetle and let out some more clicks. They proceeded to click, and buzz their wings a few times, but neither Twilight nor Spike knew what they were "saying" to eachother. They seemed to reach a decision though and Novus, or so twilight assumed, moved a small rock in front of itself and began tapping it and dragging it's front, right forleg on the ground. "What is it doing?" Spike asked in a whisper. "I'm not sure, it seems like it's... Ohh, it's clop code!"Twilight said in surprise. "It's used by mute ponies to communicate." Twilight stated, still very surprised that the beetles, no wait, the tiger and python, knew this. What in the heck was going on here? "Could you please start over, I didn't catch all of that." The beetle seemed to nod and started over ".... . .-.. .-.. --- / - .-- .. .-.. .. --. .... - / ... .--. .- .-. -.- .-.. . / .- -. -.. / ... .--. .. -.- . --..-- / -- -.-- / -. .- -- . / .. ... / ...- --- .-.. ..- ... / .- -. -.. / - .... .. ... / .. ... / -- -.-- / ... .. ... - . .-. / .- .-.. .. -.. .- .-.-.- / .-- . / .- .-. . / -... --- - .... / ...- . .-. -.-- / ... --- .-. .-. -.-- / .-- . / ... -.-. .- .-. . -.. / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.-" After a moments pause, "Well, we forgive you both, don't we Spike?" Twilight said while staring at Spike. "Oh, umm, of course. Twilight I don't really know what they're saying." Spike whispered the last part. "That's okay, I'll fill you in on any important parts." She turned back toward Novus and Alida and asked, "So, how did you meet Zecora?" then she realized something else, "First, tell us how you knew our names, no one has said them since we got here." she said while glaring at them slightly. Alida looked frightened for a second, but Legere offered her some comforting clicks and responded to Twilight ".- .-.. .-.. / -.- -. --- .-- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / -. .- -- . / - .-- .. .-.. .. --. .... - / ... .--. .- .-. -.- .-.. . --..-- / .- ... / - .... ./" he paused, unsure of what to say. He asked Alida a question and then continued ".-.. . .- -.. . .-. / --- ..-. / -.-. . .-.. . ... - .. .- .----. ... / --. .-. . .- - . ... - / ..-. --- .-. -.-. . --..-- / .- -. -.. / -... . .- .-. . .-. / --- ..-. / - .... . / . .-.. . -- . -. - / --- ..-. / -- .- --. .. -.-. .-.-.- / --.. . -.-. --- .-. .- / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. / ..- ... / .-.. .. ...- .. -. --. / .. -. / - .... . / .-- --- --- -.. ... / .- -. -.. / .... . .-.. .--. . -.. / ..- ... / .-.. . .- .-. -. / - --- / ... ..- .-. ...- .. ...- . / .. -. / - .... .. ... / ..-. --- .-. . ... - --..-- / .- ... / .-- . .-.. .-.. / .- ... / ..-. . . -.. .. -. --. / ..- ... .-.-.- / ... .... . / .... .- ... / - --- .-.. -.. / ..- ... / .... --- .-- / -.-- --- ..- / .... . .-.. .--. . -.. / .... . .-. / .-- .... . -. / ... .... . / ..-. .. .-. ... - / .- .-. .-. .. ...- . -.. / .... . .-. . .-.-.-" "So, Zecora told you about how she first met us?" She said aloud for Spikes sake. They both nodded, sort of, their bodies rocking back and forth. "I have prepared the cure for the Poison Joke. Both of you should find a pond and take a soak." Zecora rhymed as she came back out of her hut, with the mentioned bottle in her saddlebag. Alida turned toward Zacora and coded "-- .- -.-- / .-- . / ... - .- -.-- / .- -. -.. / - .- .-.. -.- / .-- .. - .... / - .... . -- / .-.. .. -.- . / - .... .. ... / .. -. ... - . .- -.. --..-- / .. / - .... .. -. -.- / .. - / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / -... . / ..-. --- .-. / - .... . / -... . ... - .-.-.- / .- - / .-.. . .- ... - / ..- -. - .. .-.. / .-- . / --. . - / - --- / -.- -. --- .-- / - .... . -- / - .... .- - / .. ... .-.-.-" Twilight was curious as to why they would want to stay beetles, but she realized they would probably have to go all the way to Ponyville to use the spa instead of a pond in the Everfree, which isn't the best idea. Before anyone could say anything else, Spike spoke up "Zecora, Twilight, Novus and Alida, could we please go inside and eat some lunch?" His stomach growled on cue, as if it was voting for lunch as well, "All that running made me really hungry." the beetles made some clicking noises that sounded like laughter.