The Legend of Spike: Krazoa Island

by DiabloGuapo

Saving the Prince

"Is anybody there?” Captain Pepper called out as the team descended into an underground chamber that was previously sealed behind a stone slab. Inside, there were torches that lit the security bunker. Lying on the floor was an EarthWalker with a purple frill and golden bracelets. Spike was initially excited to see a ceratopid, but then noticed that her eyes were closed and she looked as though she was in pain. Seeing that the Queen EarthWalker was in distress, the three ponies and the young dragon rushed to her side.

“Are you okay?” Spike asked as he knelt down beside her. Peppy and Slippy began to examine her for injuries and for any clues concerning her condition. “My name Spike, and this Captain Pepper, Peppy, and Slippy,” he introduced his team, gesturing to each mercenary as he named them.

“You must be the Queen EarthWalker,” the light brown Unicorn addressed the queen. The female dinosaur began to mutter in her native tongue. Her voice came in as a pained whisper and she couldn’t even open her eyes.

“Uhh… Your Majesty…” Spike tried to interrupt since they couldn’t understand her. Apparently she was so ill that she couldn’t concentrate enough to speak Equestrian. Spike tried to get a word in, but she kept on whispering in the dinosaur language. He then gave up trying and rested his chin in his hand as he waited for her to finish.

Among the queen’s delirious ramblings were the words, “Fhadso Khasbo… Taumedt Tewj… Aso Meidkuad…”

Spike, Pepper, and Peppy stared blankly at her before the captain looked over to the mechanic and asked, “Did you get any of that Slippy?”

“Just a second,” the bright green Unicorn said as he was looking through the Dinosaur to Equestrian Dictionary. “Uh… okay, I think I’ve got it. We’ve got to go the ice mountain and rescue her son, the Prince Tricky.”

Hearing the name of the prince, Spike raised an amused brow while smirking and said, “Nice name.” I hope he isn’t the Great and Powerful Tricky. “Okay lady, we’ll bring your son back to you. Can you give us some directions?”

Again, the queen said a few words in the dinosaur language, including the phrase, “… Nuhf Jkedo…” Again, the team looked to Slippy for the translation.

“We’ve got to talk to that big stone pony. She called him a ‘Warp Stone’.”

“That’s all I need to know,” Pepper announced. “Spike will be back soon Queen. Don’t worry.”

Pepper then turned and started to head back out of the bunker with the rest of his team in tow. As they walked, Spike ran up to walk beside the stallion wearing the red cap. “What did you mean that ‘I’ll be back soon’? I’m going by myself?”

“That’s right,” Pepper confirmed. “Don’t forget, that’s why I hired you. Peppy’s too old for adventuring and Slippy isn’t a combatant. I would go with you, but my injuries wouldn’t allow me too. That’s why we’re a team. I’m the pilot, Peppy navigates, Slippy is the mechanic, and Mac Cloud was our adventurer. Well, that is until he retired.”

“Great, so I’m going up an ‘ice mountain’ all by myself,” the dragon grumbled, not pleased at all with the situation.

“Don’t worry,” Slippy tried to encourage him. “You can do it. Besides, you won’t be completely alone.” The green pony then pulled out a bracelet with a glowing blue stone set in it. “You’ll have this communication stone. We’ll be able to talk to you at any time.”

“Gee, thanks,” Spike sarcastically said as he placed the bracelet on his left wrist. The team was now standing in the valley by the river, looking upstream at the large stone pony up by the top of the waterfall. “Now we have to go and talk to this ‘Warp Stone’ guy.”

“I’ve been talking to the natives, and they said that he won’t cooperate unless he’s given an offering,” Peppy explained to them.

“What kind of offering?” the captain asked the white maned earth pony.

“A gift of some kind,” the navigator responded. “Apparently, hardly anyone uses him for warping anymore and he gets very lonely. The only way to cheer him up is to bring him a present.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll take care of it,” Spike said to Peppy. “Give me the money bag. You said there was a store nearby. Maybe I’ll find something for the big guy.”

“In the meantime, we’ll stay with the queen,” Captain Pepper told the dragon as he passed him the bag filled with scarabs. “We may not be fighters, but someone needs to be there if the Diamond Dogs come back.”

After a brief farewell, Spike separated from the group and headed to the large building across the river as the others headed back to stand guard over the Queen EarthWalker’s shelter. When the purple dragon crossed the river, he found an opening that led into the building. It was a dark tunnel, but there was a warm light coming from around the corner. When Spike rounded the corner, he saw a curtain in a doorway and moved it aside as he entered the store. It was a round room lined with torches and it had smaller rooms branching off of it with curtains separating them from the lobby. As he walked into the lobby, Spike was greeted by a strange looking dinosaur. It wore a purple cloak and it had bright green scales. Its face looked like a predatory dinosaur, but he couldn’t identify it. The strangest part was that it had no legs, just two arms, and it was floating in the air.

“Welcome to my store. Feel free to look at many wonderful items within these walls,” whatever it was greeted Spike in an excellent Equestrian. It was useful for a trader on an island to be able to speak many languages. It waved a claw behind itself to the other rooms, “I have food, special goods, and many maps. And if you like to play games, then enter the ‘Scarab Room’, yes.” It then pointed behind Spike and bluntly said, “Oh, and that’s the exit.”

“Uh, okay. Thanks,” Spike said, briefly looking back over his shoulder, unsure what to make of this weird thing before him.

“Now, if you find something you like, we’ll discuss a price. Is that clear?”

“Well…” Spike started to speak, but then was cut off.

“Good! Now, hurry and choose something, or get out!” the shopkeeper rudely pressured the customer.

“Okay okay, fine,” Spike complied. “I was looking for something to give to the Warp Stone.”

“Ah yes, follow me,” the floating creature beckoned the young adventurer to follow him into one of the adjacent rooms. Inside, there were tables with various knickknacks and oddities: a red ball, a lantern, a strange rabbit-like animal, and a stone tablet which the storekeeper led Spike to. “Ah, here it is; rock candy.”

Spike almost face palmed when he saw the tablet was carved to look like a giant piece of candy, but relented when he figured that a giant stone pony must like giant stone candies. “Okay, I’ll take it.”

“You pay ten scarabs,” the storekeeper told Spike.

“Ten? For a rock?” Spike asked, astounded by the price. “Five scarabs should be more than enough for a rock…um…a piece of candy.”

“No, that’s too low! Eight scarabs,” haggled the storekeeper.

“Six.” Spike smirked, seeing that the storekeeper was flexible with the prices.

“I don’t need business from cheapskates! Seven scarabs or get out!”

“Deal,” Spike said with triumph and forked up the seven scurrying bugs to the floating dinosaur. He then picked up the rock and carried it under his arm out of the store. Once back outside, Spike headed up the trail that led to the top of the waterfall. At the top of the hill, there was a wall that enclosed the Warp Stone’s spring with a sleeping ThornTail just outside the gate. Spike guessed that he was supposed to be the guard. Seeing that the guard wasn’t going to be a problem, he walk right inside the archway and saw that the Warp Stone was sitting on an island in the middle of a pool of water that fed the waterfall. The Warp Stone was a large statue, about the size of Cerberus, but was just the torso, forelegs, and the head of a pony. Where its hind legs should have been was a base that anchored the statue to the island on which it sat. The Warp Stone had a collar and a cap decorated with jade set in it.

Spike made his way around the spring and crossed a bridge that led to the Warp Stone’s tiny island, passing by a cave where a mother ThornTail had taken residence with her clutch of eggs. When the dragon had approached the giant stone pony, it didn’t seem to notice that it had a visitor.

“Nobody ever brings me gifts anymore,” the living statue whined in a heavy Shetland accent.

“Hey big guy!” Spike called up to the Warp Stone. It looked down and saw a purple dragon waving the rock candy before it. “I’ve got a present for you!”

“Ah, A lovely sweetie!” the statue excitedly said as it popped the stone tablet into its large mouth. It savored the flavor for a moment then remembered that it had a visitor, most likely having need for its services. It cleared its rocky throat and put on its “Mighty Warp Stone” persona. “Who dares to bother the mighty Warp Stone?! A thousand years I’ve been left alone to rest! What do you want?!”

A thousand years? Why is it always a thousand years? First Nightmare Moon, then the Crystal Empire, and now this guy. Was it just a popular year or something? Spike wondered to himself, before answering. He wasn’t intimidated by the giant’s booming Shetland voice, because he could tell it was putting on an overly dramatic act for the effect. “Um… Well, can you help us?”

Maintaining its “I’m so powerful and important that I can’t be bother by the likes of you” image, it bellowed with laughter and said, “Help you?! No!”

“But you’re a Warp Stone. You’re supposed to help!”

“Ah, right,” the statue conceded, dropping the over the top act. “Sorry, it’s just that it’s been so long since I’ve had my last customer.”

“A thousand years, right?”

“Actually, nine-hundred ninety-one,” the Warp Stone confessed. “But a thousand years sounds more dramatic.”

Spike rolled his eyes and slightly shook his head. Getting back to the present matter, he asked, “I need to get to Ice Mountain, can you send me there?”

“Ice Mountain? That’s over in SnowHorn Wastes,” the statue said as it pointed to the northwest. Spike followed the Warp Stone’s hoof and saw a large snow-capped mountain. “Alright then, little dragon, if you want to go to Ice Mountain, climb up onto my hoof and I’ll warp you there.” The Warp Stone reached down with a large stone hoof and Spike climbed onto it. The Warp Stone raised him up and asked, “Are you ready to warp?”

“I’m ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Spike shrugged. As soon as Spike had said those words, a blue light surrounded the dragon. He then found himself floating in what resembled outer space. As he flailed his arms uselessly around in a vain attempt to balance himself in the weightless dark void, he could see tiny lights dancing around him. His body felt as though something was spinning him around and dragging him through the ether. The dancing lights he had at first mistaken for stars suddenly grew in intensity and once again obscured his vision in a blinding flash.

The blue light faded and Spike could see again. The first thing he noticed was the cold. His breath came out as a fog and Spike shivered from suddenly going from a warm tropical environment to wintry cold one. He looked around and saw that he was in a cave standing on a circular altar that was glowing with blue light. Seeing daylight coming from the mouth the cave, Spike headed towards it and stepped out of the cave. He found himself near the summit of Ice Mountain. To the southeast, he could see the lush green valley that was ThornTail Hollow in the distance. Just to the east, Spike could see a shorter mountain with a crater on its top. Seeing smoke rising from it, the dragon figured it must be a volcano.

Before he could do anymore sightseeing, Spike heard the roar of an engine and he jumped back into the cave to hide. Peering up to the sky from the cover of the cave, he saw a Diamond Dog airship approaching overhead. It lowered to a clearing not too far from the cave, and Spike saw a hatch open on the ship. Two Diamond Dogs walked out of the ship, dragging a small EarthWalker behind them. Seeing the small dinosaur, Spike realized he just found Prince Tricky. The prince tried to break free from the dogs’ grasp, but couldn’t escape their paws.

The EarthWalker’s captors became annoyed by the dinosaur’s struggling, so they threw him down into the snow and one of them smacked the prince with their club. Spike growled in anger when he saw the Diamond Dog assault the defenseless child. The prince whimpered and the Diamond Dogs continued to drag him across the snow to a base that the dogs had set up on the mountain. Spike sprung from his hiding spot and followed them to their bunker. Inside, he could hear the dogs tormenting the poor dinosaur.

“You know what our boss wants,” one of the dogs said to the prince.

“Tells us where they are!” the other ordered. All the small ceratopid could do was to cower in fear. When he didn’t speak, one of the dogs struck him across the face with his club.

“Talk!” the angry dog bark. Spike couldn’t stand it anymore and rushed in to stop them.

“Xocf mo…” the prince whimpered as the dragon ran up behind the dogs.

“Hey dog breath, pick on someone your own size!” Spike challenged the Diamond Dogs. The two thugs quickly turned around in surprised when they heard the dragon.

“What do you want?” one the dogs asked, both surprised and angered to have been interrupted in his interrogation.

“I am Spike, member of the Star Fox team,” the dragon declared, not intimidated by the brutes for he knew he could easily take them on. While Spike was announcing who he was, the prince took advantage of the distraction to sneak pass the dogs and out of the cave. “I’ve come to bring the prince… back to his… home?” Spike noticed the EarthWalker sneaking away, losing focus on the two Diamond Dogs in front of him. Also noticing that their prisoner was running away, one of the dogs knocked the distracted Spike over with his club. Spike groaned as he got back up just to be knocked back down by the other dog as both of the dogs jumped on magic powered snowmobiles to chase after the escapee. “Hey, wait!”

There was a third snowmobile still in the bunker and Spike hopped on it. Activating the magic crystal that powered the vehicle, Spike sped out of the base and down the mountain in pursuit of the prince and his pursuers. As he rode down the slope of Ice Mountain, he could see the fire and exhaust coming from the dogs’ snowmobiles up ahead. Spike pressed on the accelerator, trying to catch up with them.

As Spike caught up to the dogs, he tried to pass them on the outside. However, the dogs took notice and one of them shoved Spike’s vehicle with their own, knocking the dragon off balance. Spike fell back behind and saw that a dog was about to drop something behind him. Sensing danger, Spike swerved his snowmobile out of the way just in time to avoid the explosion of a bomb. As they approached a bunch of trees, the dog threw another bomb at a tree, causing it to fall over right as the Diamond Dogs passed by it. To avoid crashing into the fallen tree, Spike made a sharp left turn and was now riding along a ridge that overlooked the wooded area.

From his elevated route, he could see that the dogs had been slowed down by the trees, giving Spike the opportunity to speed ahead of them along the ridge. As the woods ended, Spike rode down the ridge and back onto the trail with the Diamond Dogs far behind him. Spike laughed as he looked over shoulder at the frustrated dogs, but then gasped when he looked forward again. His snowmobile was headed for a cliff and he was going too fast to stop in time! The vehicle and the dragon went sailing over the edge and Spike shouted as gravity and momentum took over his body.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the cliff, the young EarthWalker prince watched as a teenaged dragon splashed into a pool of steaming water and his ride crashed on the other side. The dragon gasped as he surfaced the water, which to his surprise and relief was warm. He swam to the edge of the water and looked up when he heard the sound of snowmobiles. The Diamond Dogs stopped at the top of the cliff and growled in anger down at the dragon and the dinosaur, shaking their fisted paws at them. The dogs sped away and Spike relaxed knowing that they have given up, or at least would have to find another way down.

“Oei uhe cisbo kxuk nuj u xek jfhadw eh oei neict ro vheqod ro den,” the young dinosaur laughed.

Spike raised his claws in confusion and asked, “What?”

“Oei uhe cisbo kxuk nuj u xek jfhadw eh oei neict ro vheqod ro den,” the dinosaur repeated.

“I-I can’t understand you!” Spike explained.

“I said ‘you’re lucky that was a hot spring or you’d be frozen by now’,” the EarthWalker translated and then laughed again at the dragon.

“Why you little…” Spike seethed and raised an angry fist when he realized that the dinosaur was laughing at him.

“Hey, I wouldn’t if I were you!” the prince cautioned as he backed away from the irritated dragon. “My dad is a King EarthWalker and he’ll bash you up!”

Spike immediately calmed down when he realized that the prince was unaware of the situation. He took a knee in front of the child and explained with a sympathetic tone, “I don’t think he’ll do any bashing. He’s been captured. That’s why I’ve been sent to rescue you.”

“He’s been captured!” the child repeated, shocked by the dreadful news.

“That’s right,” Spike confirmed as he stood back up. “It was your mother that sent me to find you.”

“Is she okay?” the prince asked, fearing the worst. Spike looked down at the prince’s troubled face and thought of what to tell him.

“She’ll be just fine,” Spike reassured the worried child. “But we need to get you home.” Spike looked over at the snowmobile he had commandeered from the Diamond Dogs. Unfortunately, it was demolished during the crash. “Looks like we’re walking. Do you know how to get to ThornTail Hollow from here?” The dinosaur looked around the environment, finding his bearings, and then nodded in confirmation. “Good, then lead the way.”

The dragon followed the EarthWalker away from the hot spring and down a trail that would lead them down the mountain. Spike shivered from once again going from being somewhere warm to somewhere cold. He looked up to sky and noticed that Celestia’s sun was headed towards the western horizon. That meant it would be getting colder soon. Spike hoped they could get down the mountain or at least find some shelter before nightfall.

Comments

[DARKPHANTOM13]

I looks like Spike made a friend. Though I wonder what happened to Rarity?

[Sir Spike]

I'm really loving this story keep up the good work.

[Wolfe The Destroyer]

Interesting