Today was a special day for Spike, the only dragon resident living in the town of Ponyville. In fact, he was the only dragon living in any populated town. It was morning and Spike was up and standing in front of a mirror inside the throne room of Twilight’s castle checking himself over and making a few poses while talking to himself.
“Oh yeah. Looking good, Spike; looking real good. Gotta look your best for when you arrive at the Crystal Kingdom.”
Twilight was out doing some morning errands, and Spike was doing this since he was alone at the time; except for Owlicious who was lightly shaking his head watching the young dragon. But Spike didn’t notice that Twilight came back sooner than he thought; and she saw him and smirked as she said…
“Having fun talking to yourself, Spike?”
“T-T-Twilight!” shouted Spike as he fell back after hearing her behind him, “Heh, I-I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”
“It was just out for a few errands, Spike; and you were asleep when I left. So it's not like I went out for too long.”
After coming in and setting her stuff down, Twilight mentioned to Spike, “I’m all happy for you, Spike; but… you really shouldn’t let this kind of thing get to you.”
“I know, Twilight; but can you blame me. It's one thing to be known by a whole kingdom as a hero. But having a fan club that’s dedicated to you… now that’s something to be proud of!”
“I bet it is,” said Twilight with a light chuckle.
“I made a good impression on them the first time, so I need to make sure that I take things up a notch when I go there today. Can’t let my fans down!”
Twilight just shook her head as she said, “All of that is fine. All I’m asking is that you don’t get a big head. Trust me, it never ends well.”
“Don’t worry, Twilight; you know me. I would never let anything like that happen to me.”
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the front entrance door,and Spike quickly rushed to it. “I’ll get it!” Once he opened it, two stallions of Celestia’s Royal Guard were standing outside with a carriage awaiting for Spike’s departure. “Looks like my royal cohort awaits.”
“Are you ready to depart, Sir Spike?” said one of the guards.
“You know I am! Just need to grab a few more things.”
Spike rushed back into castle and then came back with three whole suitcases full of belongings. But before he could carry them out, Twilight brought them back with her magic as he told him, “I don't think all of that is necessary, Spike. You’re just going for one whole day. Besides, Princess Cadence will provide everything that you need back at her castle.”
“Heh, alright,” said Spike as he suddenly grabbed one of the suitcases, “I’ll just take this one. It has some of my favorite comics and a few other little things to help bide some time.”
“Sounds reasonable enough to me,” Twilight chuckled.
Spike took his baggage and then hopped in the carriage ready to set off to the Crystal Kingdom. The guards spread their wings and took off into the sky. Twilight called out to Spike to remind him, “Have fun, Spike! And remember…”
“Don’t get a big head and think that you're the king of the world,” Spike stated, “I know; I promise that I won't! But if others shower me with praise, you know I can't ignore it!”
Once Spike and the two guards were out of sight, Twilight just shook her head knowing that Spike had a point. She went back inside her castle to attend to things while as she was wondering of what Spike was going to do with his fans this time.
“Well I'm glad that Spike has his own fan club that admires him. Better for him than me I'll say. That whole ‘Twilight Time’ thing was getting way out of hand.”
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After more than an hour passed, The two stallions escorting Spike were finally reaching their destination. Spike could see the kingdom up ahead and he was already getting ecstatic.
“And there it is; the Crystal Kingdom! I never would’ve thought that I would end up saving this kingdom not just once, but twice! I'm still considered to be a baby dragon and yet I was able to to pull off such an amazing feat! It's crazy, am I right.”
“It is definitely… unusual, sir,” said one of the guards.
“Heh, but that's enough thinking about me. It's time to think about something much more important… my fans!”
The two guards couldn’t help but look at each other and rolled their eyes.
As they reached the Crystal Palace, the guards came in for a smooth landing on the castle grounds. Princess Cadence was there waiting for him to show up; and Spike bowed as he came out of the carriage.
“Welcome back to the Crystal Kingdom, Spike,” said Cadence as she bowed back, “It's nice to see you again.”
“Good to be back, Princess Cadence,” said Spike as he began to walk with Cadence, “After all, I have a major duty to perform!”
“And by duty you mean… pleasing your fan club?”
“Well… yeah! Making sure that fans still love for everything you do is very important! But… you know, I'll try to keep it professional; you know, play it cool.”
Cadence then brought up a very important topic, “Just keep in mind that you shouldn't let all of this attention go to your head. Remember the last time when your fans convinced you to reenact the moment when you protected the Crystal Heart with a fake one? Thank Celestia for that.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that,” said Spike sheepishly, “Didn't mean to miscalculate my jump and give you a backache for a week.”
“Well… that’s all water under the bridge. Just don’t give in again, okay?”
“Will do!”
Cadence eventually led Spike near the edge of the castle grounds where Spike’s fan club was laying in wait. They were all so excited to finally see him here.
“Everyone, look; he's here!”
Spike stepped forward towards the cheering fillies and colt feeling honored and proud to be looked up to; but he soon broke the news to them. “Hello, everypony! It's nice to be here, and I’m sure you’re all looking forward to hanging out with me. But just to be clear… there will be no more re enactment of my awesomeness from now on.”
All of the foals groaned in disappointment wishing that he didn’t say that.
“Yeah, sorry; order from the Princess. But don’t worry, isn’t hearing about my feats and hanging out with me and giving me your own opinions about things enough?”
They did all agreed to that though and understood that his only excuse came from Cadence. But suddenly, Spike noticed a certain filly in the group that he never saw before.
“Oh… what’s this? It's seems like we have a new member in this club.”
However, she seemed to be a bit more hyper than the rest as she suddenly got very close to Spike. “Hi, Mister Spike! My name is Loopy Lola! Ever since I learned of what you did, I’ve become a big, big fan of yours! I know who you’re friends with, I know almost everything you have done… through inside sources of course, and knowing you has made me become interested in knowing more of your kind!” Then out of nowhere, she pulled out two plushies that looked very familiar. “Plus, I made a homemade plushie of me… and you; and I pretend sometimes that we kiss and get marry and one day have little pony/dragon babies!”
Spike and the rest of the foals were at a loss for for words staring at weird acting filly. Spike backed up a bit while hesitantly saying, “Whoa… major red flag springing up all of a sudden.”
“She’s a friend of ours,” said one of the other foals, “She can be a bit… weird about you sometimes.”
“You seem nice and all, Loopy Lola;” said Spike, “but… you might wanna tone down on the loopy just a little bit. You can start by putting those away... and giving me some personal place… please?”
The young filly suddenly jumped back and threw away the plushies as she smiled and stated, “Sure! Anything for you, Spike!”
“Okay then!” said Spike with slight relief, “That was easier than I thought. Now how about we get this day started! What do you foals wish to do first?”
“Spike, you just got here,” Candace chuckled, “Don’t you want to get yourself settled down first and maybe have a little something to eat? And since they’re here, I guess I allow them to follow and join you as well?”
Spike suddenly felt his tummy rumble and was reminded that he never did have anything to eat this morning before he left Ponyville. So he agreed, “Sure, why not!”
And all the other foals cheered knowing that they were going to be able to explore Cadence's Palace with Spike. Suddenly, Spike found the loopy filly close to him again and lightly pushed her away as he asked Cadence, “But, uh… do me a favor and keep an eye on that one for me? I love any fan of mine that comes forth, but she’s obviously named Loopy for a reason.”
“I’ll do my best, Spike,” Cadance chuckled.
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From that moment, Spike was in for a huge day with his fan club. He showed them his possessions that he brought with him… in which Loopy Lola loved really much, toured the palace, played tag in the crystal park, hung out with Shining Armor and much more. Spike’s fan club didn’t get to spend time with him often; so when they do, they want to have as much fun with him as they could. Spike was used to it now, but having that new member around proved to be a little troubling. He knew that she was going to be one fan that he was never going to forget.
After spending almost a whole day with his fan club and said goodbye to them, Spike was wiped out and crashed onto the bed that Candace had ready for him in her palace. Well… first he had a few gems to tie him over, and then he crashed. There, he slept through the night. The next following day, Spike slept in about 3 hours after 7am before he finally got up from his slumber. He slowly walked through the halls until he came to the room with the dining table where his breakfast was made and all ready for him. He sat down and began digging in before Cadence suddenly walked in and noticed him.
“Morning, Spike. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Like a baby,” Spike replied with a stuffed mouth, “Man… yesterday was so tiring. Wonderful and great, but tiring. Who would’ve thought that it would be so exhausting to be adored so much.”
“Trust me, Spike,” said Cadence, “us Princesses know exactly what you’re feeling; and sometimes we feel like it's like that almost every day.”
“Yes, well… as much as I would love to experience that much dedication every day, I don’t think that I would be able to handle it. I’ll just leave that to the pros.”
As Spike sat there continuing to eat his breakfast, Shining came in unknowing that Spike was in the room and went over to his wife. “Morning, Cadence.” He then gave her a little kiss on her cheek and placed his hoof across her shoulders and said, “I sure hope I made your night a… loving experience.”
Blushing from embarrassment, Cadance said, “Um… honey?”
She pointed behind Shining at the table. He turned around only to find Spike sitting there chewing while arching his eyebrow and waving.
“O-oh… Spike, y-you’re up! I almost forgot that you were… here. Heh… this is awkward.”
Spike just shrugged and said, “Hey, she’s your mare. Don’t let me stop you.”
After Spike finished his breakfast, he spent a little time relaxing and reading some of his comics before gathering his stuff to leave for Ponyville. Cadance accompanied him outside where she had a couple of her royal guards (who were actually the same two from before) waiting for his departure.
“Make sure that he travels back to Ponyville safely, okay?” said Cadance, “Twilight wouldn't be happy if something bad happened to him.”
“Of course, Princess Cadence;” said one of the guards, “we will protect him with our lives.”
“Whoa whoa…” said Spike slightly freaking out, “Heh; I appreciate the dedication to keep me safe, but… no need to go that far. However… there could be some nasty creatures out there who wouldn’t care for the well-being of a baby dragon like me; so I guess protecting me would be good… just don’t lose your life over it.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” said Cadance, “but I’m sure you’ll be fine overall on the path back to Ponyville. What I said was just a… cautionary necessity.”
Once they were set, the pony guards took off in the air; and Spike was waving at Cadence as he went off. “See ya, Cadence! Thanks again for the hospitality!”
“Sure thing, Spike!” Cadence shouted, “And tell Twilight that I might swing by her place for a visit sometime soon!”
“Will do!”
Shining Armor soon appeared behind Cadence as they watched Spike go off in the distance. He said right beside her ear, “So… he’s finally gone… isn’t he?”
Cadence chuckled as she pushed his snout back and responded, “Don’t even think about it, Shining; I have royal duties to attend to… and so do you.”
“Right right,” said Shining nervously, “But anyway… you wished Spike safe travel back to Ponyville, right?”
“I did, but I don’t think he has anything to worry about. It should be smooth sailing for him.”
As Cadence walk off back into the palace, a certain thought came to his mind that made him curious. ‘But wait… doesn't their path go nearby the… nah! Cadence is right, there’s nothing to worry about.’
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Spike was laying back and relaxing in the chariot enjoying the ride back to his home in Ponyville. However after more than 10 minutes went by, Spike remembered something that was on his mind for a while ever since he was brought to the Crystal Kingdom. He leaned over the front of the chariot and got the guards’ attention.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask… do you two ever smile?”
The two guards looked at each other with arched eyes. Of them then answered, “What kind of a question is that? Of course we can smile.”
“Well… can you two show me one… please?”
“S-s-sorry… Mister Spike,” said the other guard, “but… we can’t. We need to keep a professional profile look at all times.”
Spike then rolled his eyes as he fell back in the chariot complaining, “Ugh, seriously? Do every member of the Royal guard never smile? Isn’t that kinda part of the whole… harmony and friendship deal around here? Sometimes I think you ponies take your job a little too seriously. Who says you can’t smile and look professional at the same time? The only time you should really look professional is when you know for sure that there’s some kind of danger around. A danger like…”
“DRAGONS!” shouted one of the guards.
“Well yeah, I guess dragons would be a good example; but… maybe that’s going a little too far.”
“No, I mean… dragons… right in front of us!”
Spike suddenly got up and looked forward only to see an actual group of dragons flying in their path. Although, they seemed to be facing away from them. “Whoa, that’s a huge group of dragons. It's not already time for the great dragon migration, is it?”
“Defiantly not,” said one of the guards, “These dragons must just be flying off somewhere; and we’re just here at the wrong time.”
Suddenly, one of the dragon sensed them and alerted the others as they turned around and were about attack them. Now Spike was worried.
“Sweet Celestia,” shouted one of the guards, “they’ve spotted us… and are headed straight for us! Hang on to something!”
Spike began screaming while holding on tight to one of the sides of the chariot as the two guards were dodging and maneuvering through the oncoming group of dragons, They were attacking from all sides, but the guards were skilled enough to avoid their attacks.
“Almost out of it! Just a little more…”
But suddenly, one of the dragons made a huge blow from one side so strong that when it connected, it caused the guards to lose control of their flight and began plummeting to the ground.
“Mayday! Mayday! We’re going down!”
They crashed near the edge of a nearby cliff side and tumbled across the ground. After Spike got up, he was wobbling a bit from dizziness.
“Why is everything spinning so much?”
Once he got his bearings, he looked up and saw the group of dragons that attacked them flying off away from them rather than going back at them while they were down.
“Why aren’t they continuing to attack us? They must’ve just wanted to knock us down to have a laugh at our expense. Jerks.”
“Mister Spike, are you alright?!” shouted one of the stallion guards as he came towards young dragon.
“Not to worry, I’m just fine. But you might want to ask him that question.”
Both of them saw the other guard still down on the ground. One of his hooves was majorly swollen and sore for him to walk on. He was trying to not to show any expression of discomfort, but he couldn’t help but lightly groan in pain.
“Your hoof… it looks really banged up from the impact of our landing.”
“D-don’t worry,” said the injured stallion, “it's just a little sprang.”
“A little?” said Spike staring at the swollen hoof.
The injured stallion tried to get up without stepping on his injured hoof, “It's not that bad. But at least I can still fl… AAAAUGH!” But suddenly there was as harsh crack sound when he tried to spread his wings. One of them had snapped and was now broken. He fell back on the ground groaning in pain.
“Ooh… that didn’t sound good,” said Spike.
The other stallion came up to him and looked over the broken wing and noticed what had happened. “Your left wing is banged up as well. Great now what do we do?”
“I-I-I’ll be fine, just remember our objective. Princess Cadence instructed us to make sure that Spike gets back to Ponyville safely. You must finish that objective!”
“Are you sure you’ll be fine out here on your own?”
“Of course I will, now get going! I’ll be waiting right here when you get back.”
Spike couldn’t believe that this happened. He almost felt responsible for this seeing that it was because of him that they ran into those dragons.
“Very well then. Mister Spike, I’ll be taking you the rest of the way back to…”
“No,” said Spike suddenly.
“What was that?”
“I said no! This dude is seriously hurting even if he’s trying to not show it much; and who knows what could happen to him out here!”
The two guards looked at each other with arched eyes after hearing what Spike said. The one still standing questioned, “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying… you go back to the Crystal Kingdom and get help; and I’ll stay here and keep this one company to make sure he’s safe like the noble dragon I am.”
“But… we can’t,” said the injured stallion, “Orders from the princess…”
“The Princess didn’t take into account for this!” Spike protested, “She’ll understand.”
“You think so?”
“Of course! Um… as Princess Twilight’s royal assistant and the Hero of the Crystal Kingdom, I order you to go and get help while I stay behind! Understand?”
Spike felt kinda proud taking charge of the situation and the two stallion were a bit surprised to see the young dragon give them such a strong order. But then they agreed as the non-injured stallion flew up and started heading back towards the Crystal Kingdom.
“Well… I guess you make a good enough point. I’ll come back as soon as I can!”
“We’ll be waiting right here!” Spike shouted.
After that stallion left, the injured one looked back at Spike and gave him his thanks. “Thanks a lot, Mister Spike. You...could’ve said nothing and just let him take you back to Ponyville, but you didn’t.”
“Yeah, well… I only did what I thought was the right thing to do. Twilight did always tell me to not always put myself before others; but I think I would’ve chose to do this regardless. Besides, it's not like I’m in any hurry to get back.”
Spike then walked over to near the edge of the cliff to stare down a huge forest land down below. But suddenly, a piece of memory came to him as he remembered… “Hey wait a minute… I think I recognize this place.”
“You do?” the guard questioned.
“Yeah. That forest down there… I remember trekking through it when I was traveling to the dragon lands to find out who I was. No wonder we ran into those dragons, the dragon lands must be nearby here.”
“Well that’s was a bit unfortunate that we didn’t realize that… going to and coming from the Crystal Kingdom.”
Spike was just standing there at the cliff’s edge enjoying the brisk breeze that went by overhead and spreading his arms out, “Well no worries. As long as I’m here, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
But unfortunately for him, he didn’t seem to notice that the foundation under him was starting to crack and give away. The injured stallion did notice but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get to him in time. So he tried to shout out to him.
“Mister Spike, look out! Get away from that ledge!”
“Huh? What was that you said?”
But it was already too late as the ground underneath Spike broke and crumbled down on the cliff side below. Spike suddenly noticed and said, “Oh, that’s what you were talking about.”
In an instant, Spike fell down and out of the stallion’s view; and he began tumbling down the cliff side.
“Mister Spike, no!”
The stallion guard couldn’t do anything to help since he was too injured and he felt like he failed mission. Meanwhile, Spike was continuing to tumble down the cliff side and not enjoying the constant scrapes and bruises he was receiving.
“Ow! Ow! This hurts… so much… more than… I thought… it would!”
Spike was hoping that his rough ride was going to be over; but it was soon going to be as his body bumped against the hump on the that sent him flying through the air and straight for a huge rock. He couldn’t avoid the upcoming impact.
“Whoa, that’s a big rock!” “This is going to hurt!”
The last thing Spike would remember would be smashing into the giant rock head first before completely blacking out into a state of unconsciousness. After that… who knows.