The Legend of Spike: Krazoa Island

by DiabloGuapo

DarkIce Mines

“This is awesome!” Tricky cheered as he looked over the railing of the Great Fox. The airship was flying northeast from ThornTail Hollow and over the Snowhorn Wastes to the piece of the island that was now floating in the sky. The ship weaved in-between the smaller chunks of floating rocks as they approached what used to be DarkIce Mines. While the smaller rocks and boulders circled Krazoa Island in the sky like a storm of earth and stone, the four landmasses that were the sacred lands from which the SpellStones were forged remained relatively in the same place. DarkIce Mines was the sacred land of the SnowHorn Tribe and somewhere on that floating island was the SpellStone of Earth and Spike had to find it somehow.

As the Great Fox flew over the large chunk of floating land, Peppy pulled out a telescope. The gray Earth Pony scanned the area in search of any signs of life and structures. Captain Pepper slowed the ship as they did a sweep of the island. Spike stood beside Tricky and they both looked down at the terrain. Like the rest of the SnowHorn Wastes, DarkIce Mines was covered with snowy mountains.

“I see a camp down there!” the navigator announced. The rest of the Star Fox team huddled around Peppy and looked down to the area he pointed out. “That will be a good place to start. There’s also a clearing not too far from it.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” the stallion with the red officer’s cap said as he steered the ship down to the settlement. The airship made its descent over the clearing, which turned out to be an abandoned part of the mines. The ship landed on a platform that was suspend over a pit of lava. Spike and Tricky headed down the ship’s ramp and onto the platform. The dragon looked about and saw narrow rock brides connecting to the platform. The bridges were twisted and precariously spanned over the magma.

“Alright, Tricky and I will head to the camp,” Spike announced.

“Be careful, Spike,” Slippy called down from the ship.

“We’ll look after the ship,” Captain Pepper added. Spike nodded and stepped onto one of the winding carved bridges. He didn’t take two steps before a burst of steam shot out right by the dragon from the pit. Startled, Spike flinched and looked back to Tricky.

“Stay close to me,” Spike urged his partner. Tricky nodded his head quickly in agreement. As the two walked carefully across the bridge, Tricky couldn’t help but to look over the edge as they rounded each of the bridge’s many twists and turns. He could feel the rising heat and could see the glowing orange magma bellow. The yellow and purple dinosaur gulped but continued to press onward.

Spike placed one foot in front of the other as softly as he could. The bridge was rather thin at parts, and he didn’t want to test its stability. They were about twenty feet from the other side, and they started to feel relieved. With the end in sight, Spike’s confidence strengthened and he started to speed up the pace. As Tricky ran to keep up, the bridge gave out from underneath him! He started to scream, but Spike quickly grabbed him and pulled him off the bridge. Tricky landed on the snow and they both looked back down to see the fallen pieces of the bridge sink into the magma.

“That was too close!” Spike commented.

“You’re telling me,” Tricky responded. “You’re fireproof, I’m not.”

After recovering from the scare, the two saw that they were on a path that led to the camp. They followed the snowy trail out from magma chamber and around the corner of a hill to see a SnowHorn mining camp. From the cover of their hiding place, Spike and Tricky could see a few mammoth-sized huts. Chained to posts were the SnowHorns with Diamond Dogs watching over them.

They then heard the moaning of a mammoth, and they saw a bunch of Diamond Dogs pounding a SnowHorn with their clubs as it lay on the frozen ground. The dogs laughed at the SnowHorns’s moans of agony as they tormented it. One dog looked on as the others did the work. He had light brown fur and wore a gray vest and a studded collar. Spike recognized him as one of the Diamond Dogs that had kidnapped Rarity years ago. If he remembered correctly, he was one of their leaders.

“Stupid mammoth,” the short dog named Spot gloated. “This is what happens to trouble makers!”

“Hey!” The mammoth’s tormentors turned around to see a purple dragon charging towards them. “Leave him alone!”

“Who are you?” Spot demanded. “Wait… I know you. You’re that wimpy dragon that’s friends with that whining pony!”

“My name’s Spike, and I’m here for the SpellStone!” the dragon declare.

“This will be easy. I remember how we beat you before. Get him dogs!” At their superior’s command, the pack of dogs ran towards Spike, barking and growling. Spot sneered as he watched the dragon get dog piled by… well, the dogs. He started to laugh, but then gawked in confusion as he saw the pile of dogs get thrown off of the dragon.

“I’m not so wimpy anymore,” Spike smirked. He then landed an uppercut on the nearest dog’s jaw, knocking him over. Two more dogs tried to tackle him, but he evaded their attack. He grabbed both of their heads and knocked them together, causing them to see stars. Before the other dogs could join in the fight, Spike unleashed a flash of green flame into the air. Not wanting to risk getting burnt, the Diamond Dogs fled, leaving Spot behind.

“Come back here!” Spot shouted as he stomped about in anger. He then turned around to come face to chest of the now much taller dragon. Realizing that Spike wasn’t the same baby he once knew but a teenage dragon that meant business, Spot sheepishly looked up to Spike. The teenaged dragon had his arms crossed and was scowling down at the vertically challenged Diamond Dog. Every so often, he would tap a claw impatiently.

Spike held out a claw and only said one word, “Keys.” Spot pulled the key ring from his vest and dropped it onto the outstretched claw and bolted away, yipping in fear. With the keys in claw, Spike freed the SnowHorns, who had been cheering him on during the fight.

“Thank you stranger,” said the mammoth that had been assaulted as he stood back up. “I am forever in your debt.”

“You’re welcome,” Spike said back to him as Tricky ran up to them. Spike looked down and saw that the mammoth was also chained up like the others. “Hang on a second; I’ll free all of you.” Once he had unlocked all of their shackles, the SnowHorns gathered around Spike and Tricky.

“Thank you for releasing us,” a female SnowHorn said to the dragon and the others all nodded in agreement. “If you’re heading down into the mine, then please look out for Belena Te, our Chieftain’s daughter. She didn’t mean to get us into this mess by telling Scar about the SpellStone. She did what she thought was right. Please help her!”

“Okay lady, I’ll keep a look out for her,” Spike reassured. “But first, we need a way into the mine.”

“I can help you there,” said the mammoth that the dogs were attacking. “Those mutts have built a fort on the other side of the river, covering the entrance of the mine. Hop on my back, we’ll bust down those gates!”

Spike liked the attitude of this SnowHorn. Spike hopped on top of the mammoth’s shaggy back and he started to march away from the camp on towards the river as Tricky ran along side of him. They crossed over a small wooden bridge over the icy river and could see the fort on the other side. The fort was surrounded by a trench and the path led around it to large gate with double doors. As the mammoth marched forward, the branches of the evergreen trees shook with each heavy footstep, causing the snow to shake of the limbs.

“Let’s smash those gates!” the SnowHorn shouted as he lowered his head and rushed across the bridge. Spike held on tight as his ride bashed the doors with his tusks and trunk. The doors burst open and they crossed the threshold of the fort. Inside there was a barracks and a cannon mounted on a tower. The look on the Diamond Dogs’ that were stationed at fort faces was priceless. Spot had been gathering more dogs to retake the camp. While he had been briefing the dogs on his battle plan, a large SnowHorn had burst through the doors right behind him. He turned around to see Spike riding atop of the mammoth. Needless to say, he was intimidated. The mammoth trumpeted and the dogs scattered about like cockroaches in the light.

“Get to the cannon! Get the dragon! Get the mammoth!” Spot shouted over the noise of the confusion.

“The cannon!” Spike exclaimed as he saw a dog run up the tower to the arm the cannon. “Hold them off while I take him out! Tricky, take cover!”

Tricky did as he was told and hid behind the SnowHorn. The mammoth trashed his tusks about, swatting the dogs away as they advanced. Meanwhile, Spike ran across the fort to the tower. He could see that the dog was taking aim at the mammoth and he had to act fast. He flapped his wings hard and flew to the top. He reached the cannon in time to shove it so that it would be off its mark. The cannon fired and its projectile flew across the fort and smashed into another gate that led further into the mountains. Before the dog could react, Spike grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and banged his head against the cannon, knocking him out.

“Retreat! Retreat!” Spot ordered as he fled with his subordinates into the mountain pass. With the unconscious dog in claw, Spike landed at the base of the tower. He could feel the burn from using his wings too much.

“That way leads to the mine,” the SnowHorn explained as he pointed his trunk down the way the dogs had run. “You’ll want to stay close to me. The winds can be rather strong through the pass. It’s easy to get lost in there.”

“What about him?” Tricky asked as he came out from behind the mammoth. Spike looked down to the dog at his feet. “It’s too dangerous to let him run free.”

“He’s just one dog,” Spike stated. “He can’t do much now that the SnowHorns are free. But I suppose something has to be done about that cannon.” Spike took a breath and set the tower on fire. “There, now that’s out of the way, let’s head to the mine.”

Spike hopped back onto the SnowHorn and Tricky followed as the mammoth headed into the pass. Immediately the wind started to pick as soon as they entered through the gates. Spike squinted his eyes as he tried to see through the frigid wind and falling snow. Even with his draconic eyesight, Spike couldn’t see much. His vision blurred as the freezing wind caused his eyes to tear up. He rubbed his eyes, but it didn’t help much. For the most part, all he could see was a white blur. He could barely make out the images of tress and rocks. He would have trust the SnowHorn to know where he was going.

“Tricky, stay close!” Spike called over the howling blizzard. “I don’t want you to get lost!”

“I’m alright!” Tricky called back. As long as he could see the large walking mass of brown hair in front of him, he was fine. However, a pair of light brown paws came out of the blizzard and covered his mouth as they pulled him into the storm.

The mammoth was approaching the end of the pass and Spike could see the glow of two torches through the snow. As they drew closer to the lights, Spike could see the entrance of DarkIce Mines. The dragon dismounted the mammoth and looked at the opening.

“Okay Tricky, it’s time to…” Spike started to say as he looked behind, but he didn’t see the Prince EarthWalker. He franticly looked about and called out into the blizzard, “Tricky? Tricky!”

“Your friend will turn up. They usually do,” the SnowHorn tried to reassure him. However, Spike wasn’t comforted. “Before you head inside, remember to watch out for the Galdon; a horrible monster we uncovered while mining deep into the mountain. We’ve managed to trap the beast, but I don’t know if they have discovered it yet. I will stay out here and look for your friend. You go and find the SpellStone.”

“Thank you,” Spike said before running into the mine. Spike could see a large cavern illuminated by the glow of magna. He heard a rumbling noise and could see that there was a conveyor belt carrying stones to a rock crusher. Powering the machinery were giant wheels with SnowHorns inside them. Spike could see collars around their necks with chains anchoring them to the walls. To the side, he could see a staircase leading down from the overlook down to the enslaved mammoths.

“Help me!” Spike heard Tricky’s voice. Looking down from overlook, Spike could see Spot leading another Diamond Dog that was carrying a struggling Tricky to a prison cell. They threw Tricky into the cell and pulled a lever on the opposing wall, locking the dinosaur inside. “Let me out!”

Ignoring their prisoner, the two canines walked away. Once they were out of sight, Spike ran down the stairs and made his way to the cell. Along the way, Spike stopped to pull out the keys had received from Spot. He headed towards the SnowHorns in the wheels and undid the locks on their chains.

“Oh, thank you,” one of them said to their rescuer. “Give me the keys. I know where they have taken the others.”

“Good, then I’ll get the SpellStone,” Spike told them as he placed the keys on one of their trunks.

“Is anyone there?” Tricky’s voice echo through the mine. Spike ran over to the cell and could see the young ceratopid on the other side of the bars. In the back of the cell next to Tricky’s was a smaller SnowHorn who was lying in the back with facing away from Spike. “Spike, those Diamond Dogs grabbed me in the blizzard and threw me in this cell!”

“Hang on, I’ll get you out,” Spike told him as he pulled down the lever on the wall. The bars slid open and Tricky was freed. The small SnowHorn turned looked over its shoulder when it heard the doors being opened and stood up.

“Who are you?” the young female mammoth asked as Spike and Tricky entered the cell.

“I am Spike and this is the Crowned Prince of the EarthWalkers,” the dragon introduced. “We’ve been sent by the SnowHorn Chieftain to find the SpellStone. Do you know where it’s hidden?”

“My name is Belena Te. The Chieftain is my father. Did he send you to rescue me?” she asked hopefully.

“I’m sorry, Belena, but he feels that you have betrayed the beliefs of your tribe,” he told her, remembering the shamed yet heartbroken look in Garunda Te’s eyes. “We were only sent to find the SpellStone.”

“The old fool!” Belena growled. “I had to save the tribe! If it wasn’t for my father being the guardian of the SpellStone, none of this would have happened in the first place!” In an indignant rage, she trumpeted and charged into the cell’s wall, breaking through it and into an adjacent tunnel. Her ruckus caused the ceiling of the tunnel to collapse behind her. Spike and Tricky’s mouths hanged open in shock as they looked to each and then back to the tunnel.

“Belena!” Spike shouted as he ran to the cave in. “Are you there?!”

“Listen carefully,” she responded, much to Spike’s relief. “Find a way to the bottom of the mine. I’ll meet you there!”

“Why couldn’t she just break herself out in the first place?” Tricky whispered. Spike just shrugged and they headed back out of the cell. The followed the way that Spot had went and they saw a doorway that lead to a tall winding ramp that took them further down into the mine. As Spike and Tricky reached the bottom of the ramp, they met up with the other SnowHorns.

“Have you found the SpellStone?” one of them asked.

“No, but we’ve found Belena Te,” Spike told them.

“Oh good, where is she?” another asked. To answer the question, the wall behind them cracked and then Belena broke through the wall.

“I’m right here,” she told them.

“Belena!” Spike exclaimed when he saw that she was safe.

“You’ve made it.”

“Yeah, we decided to take the stairs,” Spike joked. “Now where’s that SpellStone?”

“I’m not sure, but I know Scar must have hidden it somewhere close. Look carefully. I’m sure you and your little friend can find it.”

“In the meantime, we’ll take back our land!” one of the adult SnowHorns declared, causing all the mammoths to trumpet in agreement. They stamped their large feet and charged into the next room. Spike followed after them to find a large quarry filled with conveyor belts, pillars, wheels, and other machinery. Spike could tell that this must be the heart of the mine. Since the floor of the cavern was dotted with magma pits and geysers, it also must be deep into the mountain.

The Diamond Dogs yelped as the SnowHorns swatted them off the platforms with their trunks. The dogs tried to regain control of the mine, but without their more advanced weaponry, they were outmatched by the SnowHorns’ overwhelming size and strength. During the battle, Spike located Spot in the distance. If anyone knew where the SpellStone was, it would be him. The purple dragon ran to the smaller dog and lifted him up by his collar.

“Where is the SpellStone?” he demanded. The dog struggled and kicked his feet about. “Where is it?”

“I’ll never tell you, dragon!” Spot declared. Spike frowned and then flicked on the nose. “Ow!”

“Tell me,” Spike calmly demanded.

“No!” This resulted in another flick to the nose. “Ow!”

“Tell me.”

“No… Ow! Stop that!” Spot rubbed his nose after Spike flicked it again.

“Only if you’ll tell me,” Spike told him and mockingly cheery voice and then flicked him again.

“Ow! Stop that! Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, okay! No more! The shiny stone is through those doors!” Spot pointed to a large barricaded set of wooden doors.

“Thank you,” Spike said as he dropped Spot to the floor. The small dog stood up, rubbed his poor nose, and then sneered as he ran away.

“Good luck, dragon!” Spot snarled to himself as he and the other dogs fled from the rampaging SnowHorns. Spike and Tricky stood before the door. It had been boarded up with large planks. Using his sharp claws, Spike pried the boards off one by one until the doors were cleared. They opened the doors and headed inside a dark cavern. Belena Te saw Spike and Tricky heading into the formerly barricade door and gasped.

“No! Don’t go in there!” she tried to warn them, but they had already gone inside. The doorway led to a cavern that was devoid of any mining equipment. Aside from a few geyser and dripping stalactites, there wasn’t much in the chamber. The only thing noteworthy was a large chunk of ice sitting in the middle in the room. The duo walked up to the ice mass and they could see something green sticking out of the ice. Embedded into the ice was a green gem surrounded by a stone frame. It six sides, but it was wider at the base and taller at the top, almost like a teardrop.

“There it is!” Tricky cheered.

“Alright, stand back,” Spike warned as he prepared his fire breath. The dragon’s emerald flames flowed over the ice, causing steam to rise as the ice melt. However, the retreating ice revealed that there was chitinous hide underneath and a large clawed hand was gripping the green gem. Spike and Tricky took a step back and watched as a huge insect-like creature uncurled itself. Chunks of ice fell off its dark green exoskeleton as it stretched out. It rose higher and higher until it stood over twenty feet tall. It stood on its back four legs and held up its front two like arms. In one of them was the stone.

“He’s got the SpellStone!” Tricky shouted. The creature opened its beak-like mouth as shrieked at them and then spat out a nasty green glob at them. The two jumped out of the way and the ground sizzled as the green slime ate away at the floor. The creature, which they realized must be the Galdon roared again and then swallowed the stone.

“Well, he can keep it! Move!” Spike shouted as he pushed Tricky away from another shot of acid spit. The dragon and the dinosaur ran around the Galdon in attempt to get of its range, but it turned to follow them. It clicked the six mandibles that surrounded its mouth in fury and shot another glob of acid at them. Spike stopped in time to avoid being hit by the acid, and he and Tricky switched directions. They ran back to the door, but a large stalactite came crashing down in front of it with green acid sizzling on top of it. The Galdon had eaten the SpellStone and now had blocked their escape. They had no choice but to fight.

“What are going to do Spike?” the frightened dinosaur asked. Spike looked at the fallen stalactite and smirked.

“Tricky, I want you to distract it,” Spike ordered.

“Are you crazy?!” Tricky protested. “I’m not going near that thing!”

“Just do as I say! I’ve got a plan!” Spike shouted as he ran along the side of the room. Tricky groaned but did as he was told.

“Hey! Look at me, ya smelly giant cockroach!” Tricky goaded the Galdon while he wiggled his rump at the beast. It growled in anger and roared. It then started to build an extra large glob of acid especially made for the Prince that was mocking it. What it didn’t notice was that Spike had sneaked around it and flew up to a large stalactite. Spike clawed away at the base and then rode the falling stalactite down on to the Galdon’s head. The creature shrieked in pain and collapsed to the floor.

“Yeah, alright!” Spike cheered, but then the Galdon rose back up. It shook its head and glared down at Spike. It snapped its head forward and gobbled the young dragon up and swallowed him whole!

“Spike!” Tricky cried in despair. The Galdon snarled and started to advance towards the EarthWalker, but froze with a confused look on its ugly face. It cleared its throat and patted its chest as though it was having some indigestion.

Deep within the bowls of the beast, Spike landed in the Galdon’s stomach. He gagged in disgust as he wiped off the stomach juices from his purple scales. As he was brushing himself off, he saw something glowing nearby.

“The SpellStone!” he happily cheered as he picked it up out of a pool of smile. It was so large that Spike had to hold it in both claws. He then looked around the pulsating prison he was in and thought of a way out of there. “Alright ugly, it’s time for some heartburn!”

Meanwhile, the Galdon was stomping around clutching its chest. Smoke was rising out of its mouth and it shrieked in agony. It started heaving and then it opened its mouth to belch out green flames. It continued to gag and then it vomited out Spike onto the floor in a wave of bile. A sickening gargle could be heard coming from the Galdon and it collapsed to the floor dead.

“Spike, you’re okay!” Tricky cheered.

“And I’ve got the SpellStone!” Spike announced as he held up SpellStone of Earth in triumph. He looked back to the dead Galdon and quipped, “Looks like he bit off more than he could chew.”

Once everyone was back at the SnowHorn camp outside, the SnowHorns trumpeted in applause as the Diamond Dogs flew away in their airship. Spike walked along side Belena and Tricky with the green SpellStone secured in his backpack. Waiting for Spike and Tricky along with the freed tribe was the rest of Star Fox.

“You must forgive your father,” Spike said to the young SnowHorn as they walked. “You must work together to lead the SnowHorn Tribe against Scar instead of fighting each other.”

“I will Spike,” she said gratefully. “Because of you, my people will no longer live as slaves.”

When Spike noticed that the others were waiting for him, he quickly said, “Okay, we’ll see you soon. We’ve got to get the SpellStone back to the island.”

After that brief farewell, Spike ran after the others and board the Great Fox.

*****

“So this is Krazoa Island, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked as the five ponies got out of the purple hot air balloon. They had landed in a lush green valley near the center of the island. “Spitfire has been trying to get me out here for awhile now. I guess I finally have a reason to be here.”

“Boy howdy,” Applejack exclaimed as she hopped out of the balloon. “It sure is humid here.”

“That’s because Krazoa Island is a tropical island,” Twilight Sparkle explained.

“Okay, I say we should split-up. We can cover more ground that way,” Rainbow suggested.

“I don’t think so, not yet at least,” the Alicorn declined. “We need to gather information first.”

“Oh yeah, and where exactly do you expect to find some information?” Rainbow impatiently asked.

“How about we ask those guys over there?” Pinkie Pie optimistically asked as she pointed with her hoof. Everypony turned their heads and saw a bunch of ThornTails grazing on the vegetation by the river.

“Wow, real life dinosaurs!” Twilight marveled at the sight. Pinkie Pie started to happily bounce over to a ThornTail but Applejack pulled her back.

“Are ya nuts Pinkie?!” Applejack scolded.

“No, I’m a pony silly,” Pinkie giggled.

“You can’t go wanderin’ up to something’ big like that! It could’ve eatin’ you!”

“No it wouldn’t Applejack. It’s an ankylosaur,” Twilight explained.

“An ankylo-what-now?” the farm pony asked.

“Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the order Ornithischia…”

“In smaller words, Princess Egghead,” Rainbow Dash teased.

“They’re plant eaters,” Twilight translated as she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, well that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous,” Applejack countered. “Who knows what could happen if the decided to…”

“Excuse me, sir?” they heard Fluttershy say. They quickly looked over to see the yellow Pegasus talking to one of the ThornTails and their mouths dropped. “But have you seen a white unicorn with a violet mane or a purple dragon with green spines?”

“Why yes, I have,” the ThornTail politely answered, much to the other ponies’ amazement. “I saw a purple dragon head northeast to SnowHorn Wastes.”

“Oh really? Oh, thank you! Thank you very much!” Fluttershy sweetly thanked the helpful dinosaur.

“I am very glad to help,” he said back.

Fluttershy walked back to the others and said, “He says that Spike went this way.”

“B-but… How did you do that?” Twilight stammered, still in awe of what just happened.

“Oh, he looked like a nice fellow,” the shy mare tried to explain. “So I went over and asked him if he had seen Rarity or Spike. Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, never mind,” Twilight brushed it off. “Let’s just move on. Let’s see if we can find a map somewhere.”

Comments

[DARKPHANTOM13]

Spike's first official boss fight in this story and he wins hands down. Look like the rest of the mane six has finally arrived on the scene. Though they will probably be a step or two behind Spike and the gang until near the end of it.

[The-DerpSide]

I can imagine Twilight helping unlock the way to the Walled City

[AtTheCrimsonFckr]

3649049 They should do something similar to this in legend of zelda

[bronyvamp]

“Alright ugly, it’s time for some heartburn!”

spider-man would be proud at that