Breath of Fire

by Shahrazad

Breath of Fire chapter 1

Written by: Shahrazad
Edited by: Level Dasher
Cover art by: TheNoodleFace

Breath of Fire, chapter 1

~~~~~

squeak

“SPIKE, I’M HOME.” Twilight Sparkle walked into the Golden Oaks Library making a mental note to add “oil the hinges of the front door” to her checklist. “SPIKE?” She was glad this day was almost over. She had spent the morning helping Applejack with apple bucking and Pinkie Pie reorganize the sweets in Sugarcube Corner in the afternoon. The morning ended with sweat and a depleted magical reserve, but the afternoon session with Pinkie Pie was much worse on her brain. Getting Pinkie Pie to reorganize something was like trying to push back the tides with a broom. Just thinking about it caused the headache to return so Twilight did her best to forget the afternoon and just be glad to be home before it was too late for dinner.

Twilight hung her saddle bags on the hat rack near the door when her ears swiveled forward. She detected a faint bubbling sound, and her nose told her something was cooking. It was a powerful scent even at this distance from the kitchen, and it was making her mouth water. She trotted over to the kitchen and opened the door.

Cough Cough

A powerful, spicy smell assaulted her nose, causing her eyes to water as much as her mouth. She blinked away her tears and tried to see through the steam filling the room. Spike was standing on a stool over a bubbling pot, holding a wooden spoon. He was sweating like he was in the local sauna, dripping into his pink apron. She stifled a giggle; the pink apron still didn’t look right on the boy even after all this time, but she didn’t want to offend him so she kept that to herself.

He was stirring feverishly, trying to keep three different dishes on the stove while reading from a large cookbook. It was very difficult as he had to move the stool around to reach everything he needed. “Oh Spike, are you making dinner? That’s very thoughtful of you.” Twilight tried to keep any tears from forming in her eyes but the overpowering spice was making that a losing battle.

Spike whipped his head around, his brow furrowed and his mouth arched downward. “Um, just wait, I almost have dinner ready.” He continued to stir with one claw while reaching for the dishes with the other. His stature made the task impossible and Twilight was hungry so she levitated the dishes out and set them on the counter. “STOP! I CAN DO IT MYSELF! I mean-” Spike looked at her, Twilight’s brow went up and she backpedaled. “I’m sorry, please don’t be mad. See, I’m a good assistant. I’m making dinner, it’ll be ready in a jiffy.” Spike smiled showing his teeth but his eyes still showed concern and he began to sweat even more.

Twilight smiled, "It’s ok Spike, I’ll wait in the dining room.” She trotted out, thankful to be out of the kitchen and its overpowering smells. She propped “A Guide to Advanced Astrology” on the dining table and began to read. She studied the diagrams of the most modern star charts known to ponykind. She had read a full chapter when her stomach growled. Her ears perked up and she rubbed her stomach with a hoof. “Hmmm, he sure is taking his time.” She glanced up at the clock on the mantle; it had been an hour since she had arrived home. “Maybe I should-“

Ding ding ding

Spike came into the dining room pushing a cart with several steaming plates. His tongue was hanging out and watering. He was ringing a small dinner bell and making quite a fanfare. He stopped the cart beside the table and with a flourish set two place settings. Twilight watched with a smile on her face but kept silent for the moment. Spike seemed to be going through a ritual of some kind that she didn’t want to disturb. He set down warm bread and butter, a pitcher of water and another with carrot juice. He then set out a large steaming pot with a spicy smell emanating from under the lid along with several smaller dishes. There was even a pair of apple tarts for dessert. “Spike this is so-”

“Hold that thought,” Spike ran back into the kitchen and returned with a pair of metal salt and pepper shakers. “Sorry, I almost forgot these,” he began to serve himself with a hungry twinkle in his eyes.

“Spike, what’s the occasion? You could have just made sandwiches.” Twilight poured herself a small amount of the stew. It had carrots, asparagus, and some small diced red things she couldn’t yet identify. It smelled delicious, but also a bit dangerous. She used her magic to serve herself buttered bread and plenty of iced water in the event the stew was too much for her. Spicy food was not something she generally preferred - that was more Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie’s arena. But Spike had put so much effort into the meal she was determined to at least try it.

Spike watched her with his brow furrowed and his claws rubbing together. He could hardly keep his eyes on her. “No occasion, I’m just hungry and I wanted to make something for my best friend Twilight. Is that so wrong? I didn’t think so. I’m a big boy now I can do what I want, and I want to make dinner. You want to make it a capital offense?” He spoke so fast his words almost jumbled together. Twilight’s eyes went wide.

“It’s O-K Spike, I was just wondering if I had missed a holiday or something.”

“So do you like it?” Spike’s eyes looked like those a puppy dog would use to get adopted. Twilight wore a sheepish grin and levitated the spoon.

The liquid was still hot when it hit her tongue, and now she could identify those diced red bits. Habanero peppers, without a shadow of a doubt. Many peppers had died to bring this soup to Twilight Sparkle. Their deaths were not to be appreciated by the mare as her entire body flushed with heat. She started to sweat and stuffed a wad of the bread in her mouth. To her surprise the bread was freshly baked. Now that I think about it, we ran out of fresh bread yesterday and I didn’t give Spike any bits to go grocery shopping. She still felt a burning sensation in her mouth so she gulped down half of her glass in one go.

“Well?” Spike prodded again.

“Oh it’s…very good,” she tried not give away how hot the soup was but her body was betraying her. Spike just smiled and shoveled the soup into his mouth. It wasn’t long before he refilled his bowl for a second time. Twilight wasn’t even halfway done with hers before she had to refill her water. Spike was making loud, slurping noises, but Twilight was mostly silent. She decided that some conversation might distract Spike from the fact that her soup was likely to remain uneaten.

“What did you do today Spike? Besides cook dinner of course.”

“I did my chores. Honest! I didn’t eat too many gems either - I just had four to help me wake up and six more for lunch, that’s all.” He spoke between mouthfuls of soup and bread. “I even helped Rarity in her Boutique. I know I didn’t tell you I was going but that’s ok, right? I mean, I should have asked for permission-,” his frown and quivering eyes appeared so suddenly Twilight blinked twice to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. “It’s ok though, I’m a big boy.” He was crying, sloppy tears leaking down his face. He was talking so fast his words almost slurred together and Twilight’s brain was having trouble keeping up. Now he was crying; it was so sudden all she could do for a moment was blink.

“I-It’s ok,” she managed to stammer out. “What’s wrong Spike? You’re not in trouble I promise.”

“R-really?” his tears were slowing to a trickle but his sobs still made his words sound like a broken record. “Y-you’re not g-going to ki-hick me out? Y-you d-don’t hate me?”

“Of course not Spike, how could I hate my number one assistant?” She used that particular title when he was feeling blue, and his outburst certainly warranted it now. “You’ve done such a good job - why don’t you let me do the dishes and you can go to bed.”

“NO! I can do it!” He sprang up, his tears gone. He snatched the dishes and piled them onto the cart so fast Twilight felt like she was caught in a whirlwind. The final dish he scooped up was Twilight’s still half full soup bowl. At the sight of it he burst into tears again, wailing about his poor culinary skills, his uselessness as an assistant, and how much he wanted to stay. All the while he kept munching from the remaining scraps from dinner while Twilight tried to comfort him.

“It’s alright Spike, I promise I won’t kick you out. Dinner was great and you are not useless.” He continued to shudder with wet sobs and the weeping took its toll on him. He began to yawn in between his tears. Twilight continued to reassure him for another hour before his eyes drooped and he fell asleep on the kitchen floor, still clutching a dirty plate.

“Finally,” Twilight breathed out. While it pained her to see Spike like this she was thankful it was over. His behavior was so odd. He was manic one moment then crying the next. She finished cleaning the dishes and used her magic to lift Spike upstairs and put him into bed. “Urrrg, Spike you ate too much - you’re getting heavy.” The strain on her magical energy was greater than she would have guessed from Spike’s size. It was as if he were made of lead. No, not lead, my little Spike just has a heart of gold. She smiled as he finally floated into bed. She pulled the cover over him gently, not wishing to rouse the dragon and face his wild emotions again.

SKNNNXXXX

Twilight’s mouth hung open; he was snoring already! He had only been asleep for a few minutes, and his snoring was loud, much louder than it had ever been before. This is going to be a long night.

~~~~~

Teehee hee

The sound of her voice made him smile; it was so soft, so melodic. He could listen to it forever. It was nighttime, and his stomach was growling. But he wanted to follow that rare voice. He walked downstairs, his footfalls making no sound on the wood. He ran a claw over his head, preening his scales. His claw came back damp. It was warm in here; it felt like a great dragon was breathing down his neck, but he was alone. His stomach growled again when he spied a pile of gems sitting on the table. He couldn’t resist.

Crunch crunch

Teehee hee

“Rarity?” That laugh pulled him away from the gems but there weren’t many left anyway. His stomach growled again. He exited the Golden Oaks Library, the starless night breathing warm air on him as soon as he stepped outside. “She must be at Carousel Boutique.” He looked down the street to see an unfamiliar Ponyville. The buildings were in the right place but something about them just didn’t seem quite right. Maybe it was the way they warped and twisted like they were made of dough, or maybe it was all of the bushes that looked like a foal had drawn them with an oversized paint brush and just made green blots. “Hmmm…that’s odd.”

Rarity’s laugh echoed from the Boutique; he just knew it was her. He literally floated towards it far down the lane. The door opened by itself and he floated inside. “Rarity?” He found a huge chest filled to the brim with glittering gems sitting in the middle of the room. His stomach growled again when he caught sight of her.

She was so beautiful, just the way he imagined her. She smiled at him and folded her legs to relax next to the chest of gems. “Is my Spikey hungry?” She plucked a large ruby out of the chest with her hoof and used it to beckon him closer. Spike floated forward and plopped down in front of the two things he wanted most in life: Rarity and gems. The room grew warmer still.

She kept giggling and feeding him gems. In no time at all, the chest was empty. His belly was so full it felt like it would burst. She leaned in closer to him. His heart beat faster but he felt so tired. It was getting downright hot in the room, and he kept sweating. The heat made him tired, and before he could lean in to get just what he had always dreamed about his eyes closed and everything became fuzzy and dark.

~~~~~

Twilight awoke the next morning still exhausted. Spike had kept her up for hours with his snoring and when he finally stopped she fell asleep instantly. She couldn’t tell just how long she had been asleep, but it wasn’t long enough. She glanced into Spike’s little basket from the mirror while brushing her hair and did a double take. She whirled around with the brush still hovering over her head. Spike was gone.

Dropping the brush, she galloped downstairs taking the steps three at a time. She bounded into the main hall. “SPIKE!” she yelled, looking around wide eyed. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard snoring. She found Spike curled up into a little ball near the pantry. Her heart was still racing but the sweat that was soaking her coat began to dry. Just like the previous night she used her magic to gently put him back to bed. She took a bath to get herself clean and release her anxiety. When she turned off the water her heart had finally stopped its work as a jackhammer on the inside of her ribcage. The lack of sleep was wearing on her mind but the morning’s little scare prevented any thoughts of returning to bed. It was only now when she began to think of her schedule did she heave herself out of the comforting bath to start the day.

She spent the morning reading “An Advanced Guide to Astrology.” She opened the library late but caught a lucky break when no pony came in for any library services until mid-morning. Her stomach told her when it was lunchtime so she checked the schedule again. Lunch with Rarity at her Boutique. She trotted upstairs, “Spike, I’m going out to lunch with-,”

SKNNNXXXX

She face-hoofed, still? It was nearly noon, and while Spike sleeping late wasn’t unusual she couldn’t recall him sleeping this long since he was a baby. She wrote him a note and left it on the dining table. With luck he would get it and start his chores before she returned. Shaking her head, she left the Golden Oaks Library.

~~~~~

Rarity was sitting in the middle of the Boutique on her haunches when Twilight arrived. Her face was sagging, as if it were melting wax. She was staring at an empty chest. “Is everything alright Rarity?”

“No, everything's NOT alright. Some ruffian broke in here last night and stole all of my gems!” She sniffled once and sucked in another breath. She stifled a tear in her eye and let out a slow breath before the normal Rarity appeared again.

Twilight gasped, “Did you report it to the guards?”

“Yes, I did. They weren’t really valuable gems, so it’s not a huge loss, but I needed them for a project later this week. It isn’t the value of the gems it’s just the thought that somepony broke in here and violated my home.” She shuddered, but her business mind took over rather than allow her to wallow in sadness, “I know Spike is busy but can I borrow him this afternoon? We need to go gem hunting again.”

“Absolutely, Rarity. You work harder than I do and I have two assistants, while you don’t have any unless Sweetie Belle tries to help you.” Rarity’s face darkened at the thought of Sweetie Belle as her gem finding assistant. “I’ll send Spike over after lunch, I’m sure he won’t mind.” The two mares trotted into the kitchen.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Dash as well.” Rarity said while she began lunch. Twilight tried to help by chopping a carrot but Rarity gave her a harsh look and said, “I let my sister help with the garnish, what chance do you think I’ll let a guest do anything at all?” Twilight backed away at that point and waited patiently at the table, deciding conversation was the better part of valor.

“No, I would love to have Rainbow Dash here. I sort of need your opinion on something and I wouldn’t mind hearing her opinion as well.” Twilight’s stomach rumbled, the lunch Rarity was making smelled almost as good as the dinner last night and it had no dangerous, spicy aromas.

“You can ask me anything, dear.” Rarity continued to prepare her soup with sliced carrots dropping into the pot making it bubble. Twilight was vigilant for any habaneros, and thankfully Rarity wasn’t using any.

“Last night Spike was acting…weird.”

“How so?”

“Well, he was making dinner. That’s not so unusual but he didn’t want me to help at all.”

“That’s alright isn’t it? Foals often want to do tasks themselves. Spike really isn’t so different than a colt.”

“Yeah, but the dinner he made was kinda nice. Like something you would get at a five star restaurant. And during dinner he kept stuffing his face.”

“Well if I made a nice dinner I would want to enjoy it.” Rarity said with a grin as she craned her neck to look at Twilight. “Was it any good?”

“Yes, but it was way too spicy for me. I tried to eat some of it but I just couldn’t stuff down more than a few bites.”

“Oh dear, I hope he wasn’t offended.”

“Well he was crying one second and almost angry the next over…dumb things. I know he’s afraid I’m going to kick him out but it’s a groundless fear. I tried to tell him but he just wouldn’t listen.”

“This was all because he thought you didn’t like his dinner?”

“That’s just it, he was crying before he realized I hadn’t eaten everything. After that he just fell to pieces, going on and on about his flaws and how I was going to kick him out and every horrible thing that just isn’t true.”

“Did you notice anything else?”

“He kept eating even while collecting the plates to put the dishes away. I swear he ate three times as much as I did. I didn’t think it was even possible but I saw it with my own eyes.”

Rarity blushed a bit, “Promise me you will not repeat this…ever.”

“I promise, cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She did the appropriate motions. Careful with that kind of promise, Rarity thought as she looked about for anything pink bursting out of any containers. Nothing happened today however.

"I once had a bit of a problem with-"

“TWILIGHT”

Kisshhh tinkle

Shards of glass made little chimes as they skipped across the kitchen floor. Rainbow Dash had entered via the window. A closed window. Rarity’s mouth was open for a second but her brow narrowed at the rainbow colored mane before the last of the glass had finished its rendition of a skipping stone on a pond. “TWILIGHT THANK THE GODDESS YOU’RE OK!” Dash hugged Twilight swiftly and fiercely, a single tear was squeezed out from the corner of her eye.

“Umm, yes, I’m ok. Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?” She lowered her voice so only Dash could hear, “Rarity is making a good lunch, I promise. We don’t need an excuse to skip out to save her feelings.”

“WHAT?” Dash backed up and pulled the volume of her voice down, but not much. “Twilight, the Library is ON FIRE!”

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Spike's hitting puberty and he's getting mood swings. Twilight probably would know that if she looked through her books but then dragons are different from ponies.

[APoeticHeart]

Oh, no. Please don't let Twilight be angry with Spike too much if she feels that he done it, even by accident.

[Cold Spike]

Oh geeze, odd story. MOAR!

[OmniFox]

It's hope to fly not hope to die.

[John The Dragon]

Why is spike acting like he is pregnant?

[Shahrazad]

2731791

You're right, I got it confused with the original . Fixed now.

[Grahf]

darn when i read the title i was hoping for a "Breath of Fire" crossover, but still not bad I'll have to keep an eye on this

[Shahrazad]

2732841

YES! Someone else has played that game! I was half way through writing this when I came up with the title and I was like "why does that sound familiar?" It's only been like 15+ years since I played it.

[Grahf]

i only played like 3 and 4 but i really liked them

[Bico]

Well, I'm sold. I do agree with 2732374 that the caps shouting would probably be better substituted with italics, though I'm not really concerned about the characterization. Spike's a little nuts, but he was a little nuts when he had his greed-growth thing, too, even if it was in a slightly different way. Still, it's important to take care even when a character is acting OOC for a justified reason. His behavior does pass hormonal teenager and right into legit bipolar territory on a few occasions.

[Shahrazad]

Just about to hit the hay and I'm looking at all of the bronies adding this to their favorite list . Nope, no pressure on me .

If you liked the story, upvote, comment, favorite, or follow (or all of those if you're really nice) . I'd like to hear what I'm doing right.

If you didn't like the story, well , downvote and comment anyway. If there is something you didn't like about the story I am open to criticism. I'm still pretty new as a writer and I always welcome feedback.

I don't want anyone to worry that this story will just leave you hanging, Breath of Fire is already finished. I plan to post the next chapter on Saturday.

[Traveler7]

Breath of Fire was an awesome series. Never did beat four, sadly, and never got the chance to even try Dragon Quarter. Obviously favoriting, and it may or may not happen, but rooting for Spike Twilight on this end.

[SparityLoveisForever]

Alright. You hooked me I'm hopeful for Sparity and not Spilight/Sparkling Spikes. But it's your story and you know what you're going to do with it. Looking forward to reading more.

[Ignaltus]

Oh, pony. It is so good. Please, another chapter, yes?

[ParadigmShift]

Saw Title.

Thought this was a crossover.

..I play too many games.

[ThePinkShadow]

“Twilight, the Library is ON FIRE!”

...
looks at title.
reads story description.
...it was obviously going to happen

[Kickback]

Spike didn't start the fire...it was always burnin' since the world's been turnin'

[Hard-Pressed Scribe]

The biggest irk I have with this story so far is the actual chapter names. You don't go though the effort to even name them.