Tale of Two Dragons

by Kind of Brony

Chapter 18

Spike was awakened by bright beams of sunlight piercing his eyelids and flooding his vision red. Straining slightly to open his eyes, both in reluctance and because of the crust that had formed along their edges in his sleep, the young dragon reached up to rub them clean. Had this been any other morning, he probably would have done so, looked around blearily, and then dropped his head down, pulling the covers up to shield him from the light. This time however, had him thrust into wakefulness as he felt his weight shift backwards and gravity grab a hold of him.

With a startled yelp, Spike’s claws scrambled for purchase and he barely managed to wrap his arms around something to keep from plummeting to the ground. At the same time, he heard a grunt and cough followed by a strangled, “Oh, you’re awake.”

Being bounced forward into a more steady position, the young dragon was greeted by the sight of large green spines directly to the right of his face. “Amy? What’s going on?” he asked, now fully alert and trying to settle the pounding of his heart.

“Well, I’m walking, and I think you’re trying to choke me… but maybe that’s just the sleep deprivation messing with my perceptions or something,” slurred the dragoness before she let out a huff of strained laughter. “You mind letting up a little there, bro? I’m starting to see spots… more anyway.”

Looking down, Spike saw that he had indeed wrapped his arms tightly around his sister’s neck in his frenzied attempt at not busting his skull open, and loosened his hold with a quick apology. With a gasp, Amy responded, “it's fine, I was starting to doze off anyway, so I appreciate the wakeup call.”

Looking out at the outcroppings of scraggly stones all around them, Spike said, “Okay… why are you carrying me again?”

“Because you needed more sleep, and I wanted to use the cover of night to put as much distance as I could between ol’ stripey and us… Figured that, unless he got some of those bat ponies since last time I ran into him, his pegasuses wouldn’t be able to spot us too easily.” With another chuckle, she added. “Sure, dragon eyes aren’t that much better in the dark, but it’s more than worth a few stubbed toes here and there to leave those idiots in the dust.”

As the dragoness spoke, the memories came back to the young dragon as he vaguely recalled the order of events from last night. He remembered that, after the impromptu potty break, he and Amy retrieved the tablet fragment the elder sister entrusted to him and then he led her to a set of two big stones seemingly leaning against each other. The space between them was cramped with both dragons squeezed underneath, but it hid them from all directions but that of the entrance and served well enough as a place to rest.

At this point, Amy pushed him in and sat, legs crossed, at the opening, telling him to rest. At first, he was confused, and then upset when she told him that she’d make sure no one would sneak up on them. He had argued that she was the one who needed to sleep more as she had been the one doing all the fighting, but she shot back that she had slept enough while stuck to the pole and he was the one who had suffered through Zariba’s spell.

Spike had been about to point out that he too had slept during that time before realizing he did feel abnormally weak and tired. It was at this point that Amy shared her theory that, with his inner fire under the effects of the zebra’s magic, he would most likely not be feeling anywhere near one hundred percent until it was dealt with.

Still not liking the idea of getting to rest while she stood watch, the dragoness assured him she wasn’t just going to be staring into the distance. Amy explained that she would be entering a meditative state that, while not as effective as sleep, would allow her to recuperate while still keeping an eye out for danger.

Looking at her now however, told Spike that his sister must not have meditated nearly enough before rousing him a few hours into his slumber to inform him that they would soon start moving again and that she'd be carrying him. At the time, he had been too groggy to argue as he was flopped onto her scaly back, the warmth of her body preferable to the fireless sleep, both inside and out, he had been enduring before, and his eyes slid shut soon after.

In a way, the younger dragon was somewhat impressed that Amy had pulled off the trek with one arm holding the fractured tablet to her chest while the other was behind her back to prop him up, staff and bag held awkwardly in claw, but he also felt guilty as she wobbled slightly back and forth. “Hey, maybe you should take a break now that the sun’s out.” Spike suggested.

Slowing, Amy looked to the brightening horizon and spoke, “Yeah… maybe. Not like we can use the cover of night when its morning.” Stopping completely, she absently asked, “You see any more hidey-holes like that one last night, Spike? My arms are killing me.”

Figuring that was probably an understatement and feeling somewhat ashamed for having allowed her to lug him around half the night, Spike scanned the terrain for a place where his sister could finally take her turn to rest. “I think I see a good spot over there. It looks like pegasi won’t be able to see us under that.”

Following his finger, Amy’s tired eyes landed on a spire of stone sitting a few dozen yards away at quite the angle against the rising sun, its length casting a long shadow along the still-cool ground. With a small smile, the dragoness chuckled, “That’ll do. Good eyes Spike.”

Just as she took her first step in that direction, Spike’s voice caused her to stumble. “Uh, hey, you don’t have to carry me there, I’m good to walk.” He hoped he didn’t sound ungrateful, but he really didn’t want his sister to strain herself any more than she already had, and was glad when she didn’t seem to mind, bending her knees to let him off. As soon as her arm didn’t need to support his weight any more, it went limp, the laden end of the sack bouncing off the gravel with a thud.

Blinking at the dead arm, Amy casually said, “Huh, guess I pushed myself harder than I should have… That’s going to be sore tomorrow.” Glancing up to Spike, who was staring at her limb guiltily, she continued. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine once I’ve gotten a few hours of sleep. I can heal real fast when I want to, after all.”

He was about to protest that she shouldn’t have to heal fast to begin with, but decided against it, figuring she’d probably disagree with the sentiment that she didn’t need to carry him last night. For as much as she put herself through, the fact that Zariba had messed up his internal fire seemed to really worry the dragoness.

“Yeah, sure… How about I carry that for you?” he finally decided as he pulled the length of dark wood from her slack fingers. Before she could protest, the young dragon turned away and made for the large stone. With a grunt, he heard his sister get up and follow behind him and the two soon flopped down in the shade. In truth, without the heat from his sister’s back, the cold morning air was causing Spike to shiver, but he did his best to hide it.

He didn’t do well enough however, as Amy placed the segmented slab next to her and grabbed her younger brother before pulling him to sit in the crook of her crossed legs, his back against her stomach and chest. “H-hey! What are you-!”

“You’re cold, gotta keep you warm,” mumbled the dragoness as she rested her chin atop his head. Spike fell silent at that and blushed slightly, though it intensified when, after a couple of minutes, his stomach growled. Amy chuckled. “Hungry?”

“I-I guess so… I’m not used to skipping breakfast.” He heard another growl and felt the body behind him stiffen a little, getting a little laugh from him this time. “Sounds like you aren’t either.”

“Well, yesterday was pretty hectic; I’m kind of surprised it took my stomach this long to say something… Luckily we have the perfect thing to fuel a couple hard-working dragons like us.” Amy reached for her staff and pulled the bag off of its end, causing her brother’s eyes to go wide.

“No way, you mean we’re going to eat-”

“Yep, it’s said that just a few of these can feed a full-grown dragon for an entire day, so I’m guessing it can keep us going for a while.” Spike salivated at the sight of the large sugar diamond and, when Amy peeled off the plastic wrap, he began to openly drool as the tantalizing scent reached his nostrils. If the sudden drops of drool on his cranium were any indication, the delicacy had the same effect on her, though, at that moment, Spike couldn’t find it in him to complain.

“You’d really share it with me?” he inquired with amazement in his voice.

“As much as I would love to devour this baby all by myself… of course, silly. What kind of big sister would I be if I let my baby brother go hungry?” She answered, some of the exhaustion leaving her voice as they both gazed upon the flawless facets of the dazzling diamond in front of them as it seemed to take in every ray of light and send it out twice as bright. “I get the first bite though,” She added as she quickly brought the treat over the younger dragon’s head where he heard a crystalline crunch.

Straining his neck, Spike saw a look of utter bliss upon his sister’s face as she sat perfectly still, body frozen in flavor-induced rapture. A few seconds later, her jaw finally started working, the sound of gems being ground by impossibly strong teeth filling the air before she swallowed with a moaned, “So good…”

When she finally opened her eyes, she looked down to Spike and lowered the diamond to him, stating, “You have got to try this.”

Taking the treat with no small amount reverence, the young dragon was surprised to see how much of it was left. With how long she took savoring the first bite, Spike assumed it must have been a fairly large one, but only a small divot was missing from the side. Not wanting to look like a hog by comparison, Spike suppressed the urge to take half the gem in one go and instead matched his sister’s nibble.

Instantly, his taste buds were nearly overwhelmed by the intense flavor of the resplendent crystal and he moaned through his full mouth. Geting to eat something so amazing after such a long stint without food had the dragon’s eyes rolling back, and part of him almost feared the flavor that would be released once he actually started chewing. He prevailed of course and worked the scrumptious crystals into a dust that practically melted on his tongue.

“Wow, did I take that long with my first bite?” Amy said, causing eyelids Spike hadn’t even noticed sliding shut to snap open as he swallowed.

“Huh? What’s that now?” he asked as he looked around before dropping his gaze back to the sugar diamond in claw. “Sweet Celestia, you weren’t kidding, that is good. Not even the stuff the royal chefs make stands up to this,” Spike commented before letting his mind wander. “Makes me wonder what they could make with something like this.”

“Probably beyond mortal comprehension,” his sister joked as she retrieved the gem to take her second bite. “I’ll have to find another one someday to find out.”

The two passed their shared meal back and forth, shaving off layers of diamond, and feeling energy return to their bodies. By the time they decided to wrap the rest for later, there was still half the sugar diamond left and both felt satisfied. “Phew, these things are really filling,” Amy breathed as she finished tying the little sack back to her staff. “Now if only we had some water we’d be set until Bedville.”

“Bedville? what’s that?” asked Spike.

“Huh? Oh, that’s right, I haven’t told you about that yet, have I?” the dragoness began, setting her chin to rest atop her brother’s head. “Last night while you slept under those rocks, I was thinking about what our next course of action in getting out of this mess would be. At first, I thought that maybe we could go straight back to Ford Junction, but then thought better of it. That’s exactly what Zariba would expect of us. Even if he doesn’t head back there himself, he’ll probably send a flyer to round up anyone working for him within the city to wait for us.

“Honestly, I don’t know exactly how far his influence reaches or how many are loyal to him, but I know not every one of his lackeys go with him on his expeditions. I think he has some sort of information network setup or something, because he always seems to be the first to know when something big has been discovered. I swear the bastard has shown up at least a dozen times to my own jobs to steal my discoveries.”

Spike interrupted her ramblings with, “Um, you were saying something about Bedville?”

“Hmm? Well, like I was saying, Zariba would expect us to head back to the city, so we’re gonna go to a small mining town in the mountains instead,” she revealed, voice both proud and tired. “See, that way we can send a message out by courier with less chance of running into trouble… Plus the only thing we have that’s worth anything on us right now is the sugar diamond, and as much as I hate the idea, there’s a lot of folk there that we can sell pieces of it to for some cash. The bits we have left from Lorey are practically gone, after all. From there… I haven’t really put much thought into it. We can probably move with a caravan back to Ford Junction or buy some supplies and make the trip ourselves… I’m sure we’ll figure it out on the way… I just need to rest my eyes a bit first.”

The younger dragon turned what she had said around in his head before he questioned, “Send a message to who exactly? The princesses or Lore?” He waited for a response, but when one didn’t come, he turned slightly. “Amy, are you all right?” This time, he heard a light snoring sound, and he soon realized his sister had fallen asleep on him. Smiling slightly despite the situation and having his head be used as a pillow, Spiked worked to get comfortable and set his eyes forward.

If she had watched over and carried him while he got his sleep the night before, then the least he could do would be to keep his eyes peeled while she caught up on hers. How hard can it be? I just have to make sure I don’t nod off until she wakes up. He remained still, the area quiet save for a light breeze blowing in his ears and Amy’s snores. Eyes working back and forth revealed the same dull landscape in all directions with nothing but the occasional cloud of dust being kicked up by the wind. The little dragon frowned. Okay, this may be just a little harder than I thought… Hold in there, Spike, for Amy’s sake. If Pinkie could watch paint dry for her friends, you can do this.

><

Glaring sunlight stabbed through Phantom’s eyelids, causing him to hiss obscenities at the burning orb. He’d barely gotten three hours of sleep to rest his sore wings after Zariba had the entire camp fruitlessly scouring the surrounding area for the escapees. Combined with the mild hangover he was now suffering, this morning was quickly driving up the list of his worst ones.

“Damned dragons, I knew they’d be causing me nothing but trouble if we brought them along,” he grumbled as he picked himself up off of the ground, the clouds in the area not being stable enough to safely sleep on for any extended period of time. Tentatively, the pegasus wiped away the coarse sands and pebbles that had embedded themselves into his scars while he slept and looked around.

Much of the camp was in a similar state of exhaustion, with many members not even bothering to rise with the sun, but the one exception soon changed that with a bellow of, “Get up you lazy good-for-nothings, it’s time for to fix your mistakes!”

Stomping from his tent, Dr. Zariba’s eyes were redder than usual, either a sign of intense anger or that he himself had not slept peacefully, and a stern scowl marred his skeleton grin. “Those bound to the earth start searching for tracks to discern in which direction the dragons went! Pegasi will fly clockwise and outwards. Dogs better start putting those noses to work!” he barked orders, hoof shooting about as he did. “I want Amethyst and her brother found today!”

Glad to have an excuse to move away after what the boss had said to him the night before, Phantom was just about to take to the skies before his tail was seized in a crimson aura. “Not you, Phantom, I have a special job for you.” Zariba said lowly, reeling his subordinate in painfully. Turning his head, he shouted, “You! Bring me Citrus Spritz!” The heavy-set diamond looked around before giving a sloppy salute and running off.

The scarred pegasus remained quiet for the next three minutes, having been glared into silence when he had tried to open his mouth, until the diamond dog returned, dragging a frantic mare through the air behind him. “R-really, I need to get to work on breakfast; can’t go dragon-hunting on an empty stomach after all. And the hangovers! We can’t have those getting in the way! I’ll whip up a cure in no time!”

“Oh, I think going hungry and suffering the after-effects of alcohol consumption is a splendid start to this group's punishment,” Zariba said, causing the orange mare to cease her rambling. “Wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Spritz?”

Wings frozen, Citrus fell on her belly before jumping to her hooves and spinning around. “Ah, that seems extreme. I mean, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?” Punctuating the statement with a nervous laugh, Citrus noticeably cringed as the zebracorn simply stared, unamused.

“… I’m sure they can subsist off of uncooked provisions,” Dr. Zariba eventually began, a smooth smile lifting his lips. “I’ll even allow you and Phantom here to take some apples for your respective journeys.”

Phantom piped up at this. “Uh, journeys, sir?”

“Oh yes, you see, you two have a very important job to do,” explained the zebra as he turned to the scarred pegasus. “I have little doubt that Ms. Thistle will want to return to Ford Junction as soon as possible, and so, I need somepony there to intercept her. I have acquaintances who will be glad to help and that need simply to be informed of the situation.”

It was Citrus who spoke up next. “You want us to fly all the way back to the city? But we’ve already spent all of yesterday and last night flying with barely any time to rest our wings! We’re nearly a day’s flight from Ford Junction.”

“And whose fault is that, mare?” Zariba seethed as he rounded on his chef. “Had you not found it prudent to whip out the whisky, this bumbling band of morons may have actually been able to do more than stumble over themselves while our would-be prisoners escaped!” Continuing to glare at the mare as she nearly sunk into the dirt, the boss snorted and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking again. “You are right to question the notion that I’m sending both of you to Ford Junction however, as that task goes to you alone.”

Turning from one confused pegasus to the other, Zariba explained. “Phantom here will be flying to Bedville for a similar task. Though my name holds meaning to fewer individuals in that community, there are still those who will be willing to lend aid.”

“Bedville? I thought you said they’d be going to the city?” Citrus asked once she'd mustered up the courage.

“I predict as such, but that alone does not make it fact, and it’s better to prepare for multiple possibilities than to run the risk of the two getting away. Amethyst Thistle holds vital information that we need to accomplish our goals here.” Looking the two over, he commanded, “Follow me, I have to prepare letters and give you directions to find the recipients.”

Slightly unnerved by Dr. Zariba’s sudden flip from angry to blasé, Phantom followed nonetheless, Citrus Spritz doing the same a few seconds later. Slowing his pace to match hers, he sent his own glare at the already shaken mare. “I hope you’re happy, Spritz. You can be an alcoholic for all I care, but your pushing booze on the rest of camp has gotten us all in a load of plot pies!”

Though she winced at the accusation, Citrus steeled her features and met the other pony’s eyes. “Is that how it is? If I recall, you didn’t put up much of a fight until the doc showed up with a face like he sucked a lemon. Actually, I’m pretty sure I saw you knocking back a few even after Dr. Zariba left.” It was Phantom’s turn to avert his gaze, getting a vindictive sneer from the mare.

“That was different,” he muttered. “I can practice self-control and stop after a few bottles unlike most of these dogs. Besides, there was no way of knowing those beasts were going to be able to escape; the boss tied them up himself, and he doesn’t make mistakes like that… They shouldn’t have been able to get out of those ropes.”

The scarred pegasus found the other pony’s reaction odd when she stammered, “H-hey, that’s not really a good excuse you know. I mean, I have no idea how they could have escaped either, so I didn’t see any harm in drinking a little.”

Turning back to her with scrutinizing eyes, Phantom was about to question why she had become uncomfortable, but was interrupted by Dr. Zariba’s shout of, “No amount of dragging your hooves is going to get you out of this, so I suggest the two of you get over here already!”

Inquiry forgotten, Phantom hastened his pace to reach his boss, the zebra holding the entrance to the large, burnt tent open for them. Even as he passed under the veil, the scarred Pegasus made sure to create a mental note to interrogate the orange mare on his tail. He could have overlooked her strange behavior as merely a response to the impending doom that was Dr. Zariba’s punishments had this been the first time, but she had behaved similarly the night before, and that was the beginnings of a pattern.

Even so, seeing the fury directed at them burning beneath his employer’s cool expression merely from believing that the dragons’ escape was a result of just their bad decisions made Phantom truly hope Citrus Spritz hadn’t had any part in the Hoofdini act Amethyst had somehow managed. He’d never say it out loud, but the green-maned mare was one of the only other members of the team that he didn’t have to actively force himself to endure the company of and he didn’t want to see her turned into marmalade because of those beasts. Especially because no one else in Zariba’s employ could cook to save their lives.

Author's Note:

Big thanks to Bemmo for going through this chapter on his own while Courage Fire was out sick.

Comments

[Kind of Brony]

5454454
Nope, this is the only one. It's always weird having new readers come to this as it reminds me how much my writing has improved since the first chapter. Hope you like it.

[beirirangu]

I wonder if Spike will notice the pegasis flying overhead to the very town they were headed towards... either way, still a great story

[Raven]

Soooo wanna see Celestia go Mamma Bear on that Doctor...

[Kind of Brony]

5456816
I have no idea; it's not doing that when I check it.

[Cold Spike]

Good chapters, I ma reading your other story by the way.

Also, I would gladly read a story about Nyx going to a canon verse, so long as it's interesting. You're good at writing interesting tales, but I mean so long as there is real conflict.

[djthomp]

Stomping from his tent, Dr. Zariba’s eyes were redder than usual, either a sign of intense anger or that he himself had not slept peacefully, and a stern scowl marred his skeleton grin.

Enjoy your non-peaceful sleeping! Here's hoping that Luna sends some extra nightmares your way!

Though speaking of Luna, I wonder if she can make contact with an arbitrary dreamer, and if she could use that to track down Spike and Amy.

[More Dakka]

Ok I caught up… Man that took a while.

Really likening how this is playing out and I only have two real concerns at the moment

-Amy suddenly being all chummy with the princesses again (though that may waver depending on how much they help in her in getting out of this mess)

-And Amy somehow winding up blamed for this to whatever existent. When she had that little moral dilemma I got a little nervous for a second….

On a final note- The bit with the princesses in the last chapter was very satisfying, but I do wonder why Celestia and or didn't have a single thought about Amy in any sense when she realized something was wrong with spike. (Weather that be concern, curious pondering, or even suspicion.)

At any rate, looking forward to the next chapter.

[Kind of Brony]

5514381

I do wonder why Celestia and or -Luna- didn't have a single thought about Amy in any sense when she realized something was wrong with spike.

...

Dagnabbit! Now that you say that I'm thinking of a bunch of things I could have put in there. I guess the best explanation I can come up with is that they simply haven't had enough time to think about her yet, if that makes sense. Like, they have a greatly-loved child in danger, so their focus is entirely on him at the moment, but once they start trying to put together a course of action, laying out what they know and discussing the situation, Amy will come up fairly quickly.

Looks like there's going to be another interlude-esque chapter coming up sooner than expects.

P.S.
I'm kind of sad you caught up because I'm still settling in after a move and am still job-hunting, so progress in this story has been slowed recently. I know that, as a reader, I hate when I catch up in a story, only for it to go on any sort of hiatus right at that moment.
I will do my best to resume my normal writing schedule as to reduce your waiting time, good sir.

[Kind of Brony]

5520399
Of course it will be addressed as the answer is actually fairly simple; Zariba didn't do his research. Basically, he hasn't realized who Spike is yet as he isn't an Equestrian citizen and doesn't go out of his way to keep up on their current events. He has heard of the little dragon from Equestria, but his work so rarely overlaps with that kingdom's goings-on that he doesn't really think about.

You may rememberAmy mentioning that, because of its peaceful and stable nature, archeologists interested in the discover and study of lost civilizations and the like don't have a lot of business in Equestria. Really, Zariba not recognizing Spike is equivalent to how most people don't know about the happenings outside of their own countries in the real world. You may know Australia has a prime minister, but would you be able to recognize him from a photo?

Besides, in my head canon, though very rare, Spike isn't the only baby dragon in Equestria; the fact that dragons are allowed to live and sleep within its borders (such as the one in Everfree or the one that was in the mountain) can easily suggest as much. Is Zariba really that much of an idiot for not realizing the newly discovered little brother of his nemesis is also a borderline celebrity?

Also, the Crystal Empire (The only event Zariba would have taken real interest in that Spike was also involved in) was from some odd 1000 years ago, so it's not like they had photos and newspaper's depicting Spike and company posing with the crystal heart. The Crystal ponies were to busy celebrating and putting their lives back together to do as much, anyway. Even after the fact in Equestria, Spike's part was probably glazed over and stock photos of Cadance, Shining, and the Elements were used in any articles written about what happened.

All that being said, Zariba will find out his error eventually and will very much regret his actions, not for the wrong he committed, but for how much it will have complicated his life.

Hope this all makes sense to you and happy reading !

[Nameless cow]

5520612
Give me a photo of a monkey and I'll recognise our glorious leader

[KvAT]

5900964
I'm surprised, since that wouldn't narrow the list of world leaders down too much.