A Dragon's Duty

by CalebH

Chapter 8

Author's Note:

Well I was going to have a screengrab from Robin Hood: Men in Tights where Cary Elwis is saying "prepare for the fight scene!", but I couldn't find one to save my life. But have this picture of Worf instead.

Anyways there is a fight scene in this chapter and some other content people might find objectionable so be warned.

High above the Everfree forest the red dragon glided along. His sharp golden eyes scanned the sea of green below him for any spot that looked likely. Although dragons often possess an ancient cunning the red dragon was driven purely by instinct. At around two centuries he, like any other dragon, abandoned his territory and began searching for somewhere he could build an even bigger hoard.

He had already been driven off of a few caves large enough to begin his adulthood in. Either an older dragon had already claimed the area’s wealth, or some other beast large enough to give the dragon pause had claimed the territory.

Now at the far western edge of the forest his senses began giving him good news. There was a dragon but one younger than him. A cruel smile spread over the dragon’s lips. There was only one dragon that age that would voluntarily live so close to pony lands. Whatever pony friends the purple wyrmling did have would have died by now. Whatever fantastic wealth the red dragon sensed would be his. It would be like taking candy from a baby.

“Garble want!” the red dragon chanted as he flew on and greed began filling his body with power.

---

“Corporal Star Sword reporting for duty.”

Spike raised an eyebrow at the pony before him. The chariot had come to return Shimmer to Canterlot and to everypony’s surprise a pile of skin and bones wrapped in armor had tumbled out with a sword nearly as big as him.

“What duty?” Spike asked.

Star puffed up proudly, very nearly coming within two sizes of the pony the armor was made for. “Princess Celestia herself ordered me here to assume command of this castle’s guard.”

Spike gave shimmer a questioning look. She responded with a shrug. Even when there was a garrison in the castle it had been an extension of Princess Celestia’s guard. They were only privy to the personnel decisions she decided to share and apparently this wasn’t one of them.

“Right so I’m gonna deal with you in a minute.” Spike said.

Shimmer couldn’t help but giggle at the look of terror that crossed Star’s face. She paused on her way to the chariot to whisper in his ear, “Have your orders ready, I hear he doesn’t like the taste of paper.”

He barely noticed the crystal princess passing by, the gryphon butler loaded with baggage following her or the chariot take off and carry the princess away behind him.

He could only watch in frozen terror as the dragon settled onto it’s belly before him, it’s fang filled mouth still reaching twice his height.

“This is the second time you’ve broken protocol in front of me,” Spike said.

“S-sir?”

“Oh don’t worry, Princess Luna isn’t gonna come yell at you again but you really should give me your transfer orders.”

“Sir!” Star yelped as he frantically dug out his papers.

Spike took the bundle of parchment and expertly broke the wax seal. After a minute’s reading Spike brought a claw up to rub his forhead.

“Star Sword you said?”

“Yes sir!”

“Have you ever tried telling a princess and bringer of the sun that they are not half as funny as they think they are?”

“no sir.”

“Don’t bother it’s a waste of breath and borderline blasphemy depending on who you ask. So here’s the rundown, the princess wants you to be in charge of the guard here but there hasn’t been a guard here in about forty years and Greg can only dust so fast so the barracks isn’t going to be ready for a bit. We can always put you in a guest room so that’s not much of an issue but it certainly isn’t particularly funny as far as jokes go. The second thing is actually a little bit funny, she wants me to give you “whatever rank I see fit” but the problem is I can only give you one rank that means anything to her guard. The catch is that that it involves a lot more than just being an enlisted pony and certainly doesn’t come with any of the privileges of being an officer.”

“I-if it is for the good of Equestria I will g-g-give my all.” Spike heard a small rattle as the stallion shivered in his armor.

“Kneel.”

As Star trembled on his knees Spike drew the greatsword from the sheath across his back. In Star’s hooves the weapon was comically oversized but in Spike’s claws it seemed to be little more than a long dagger.

“I Sir Spike the Dragon, Steward of Friendship Castle dub you Star Sword as my squire. Until you shall take your name as a knight I am responsible for all of your actions. I pledge myself to teaching you in warcraft so that you can stand strong to protect the weak. I pledge myself to teaching you in the ways of chivalry and valor so that you will stand strong in the protection of the weak. You said that you will give your all, when I am done with you there will be much more to give. That is my promise.”

One after another Spike tapped the stallion’s shoulders with the flat of the sword. “Rise Star Sword, as my squire and as my student.”

Star Sword rose to his hooves, he still shook with fear in armor that was several sizes too big, and he still held a sword that he could barely lift, much less fight with but Spike saw something more than that. He saw another member of his house and another part of a circle that was being drawn wide and wider still.

“Get settled in and have Greg show you around for today. I’m going back to my cave for the night so I can actually stretch my wings without knocking down any walls but tomorrow we’re going to start your training.”

---

Spike regarded the boulder thoughtfully. Normally any excess rocks the acquired could be crushed into gravel and scattered along the path but Spike didn’t have any hope of getting his mouth around this rock that was as big as him. Spike definitely counted it a lesson learnt about sending Princess Luna anything sticky. Getting out from under the boulder had been a gruelling task all on it’s own. He had just landed outside his cave when the boulder had appeared above him and pinned him to the earth. After minutes of struggling and straining he had finally gotten it to roll off of his back but now it had taken a position of prominence right in the middle of the path.

on the other claw it was a sizable hunk of Canterlot Marble and a statue would really liven up the place. Spike walked a slow circle around the stone, examining it from every possible angle. Every once in awhile he would stop to scrawl out some ideas in the dirt. He had just finished a sketch he particularly liked of the Cutie Mark Crusaders when a dark shadow passed overhead.

Spike’s eyes shot to the skies, scanning for anything big enough to cast the shadow. Finally he saw a dragon, descending in a sharp spiral towards him. Spike struggled to fight down territorial instincts that spread his wings and bore his fangs. He would welcome the dragon with a light snack and calmly explain that he was an Equestrian citizen and protected under no less than thirty treaties. If he could just get his lips to cover his fangs again the whole thing would be much more convincing.

By the time Spike had ducked into the cave and pulled from his stock of eating gems the red and gold dragon had landed with a triumphant roar. Spike walked outside to find his sketches scattered to the wind and the enormous slab of marble moved to the side in what he could only guess was the new dragon’s pile of plunder.

“Hello there, my name is Spike,” Spike said with a cheerful smile. “Care for some rubies?”

“Garble,” The red dragon growled breathily.

“Well that’s about par for the course,” Spike muttered to himself.

“Garble want!”

Faster than Spike could blink Garble had reached out and taken every last ruby from his grasp. Spike watched Garble throw the rubies in with the bolder. His golden eyes darted around, looking for something else to take.

“Look Garble, I’ve got some diamonds I’ve been saving for a special occasion. What do you say I break them out and we reminisce about that time I belly flopped into a pool of lava.”

“Garble want!” Garble began moving towards the entrance of Spike’s cave before Spike stepped in front of him.

“Woah there buddy! Let’s just talk for a bit,” Spike said speaking at a mile a minute. “Now I’m an Equestrian citizen, I know mamby pamby pony princesses and all. But that means if you go into my place you’ll be violating at least two dozen laws. Now I’ve seen the royal guard training with ballestas and I don’t want that for you. So why don’t you just sit tight and I’ll get you some diamonds.”

“Garble take!”

Once again Garble tried to push through and into the cave but this time Spike pushed back.

“MINE!” The word came out of Spike’s mouth as much fire as voice and before he knew it Spike was fighting for his life.

---

Princess Luna took to the skies around Canterlot. It was not uncommon to see her in the skies around the capitol. Princess Celestia had her gardens that she would walk in the cool of the night and Princess Luna had the open and endless skies that she flew as the sun set.

Shimmer wanted her to help make a short list of potential suitors. She had tried to be diligent with the task but for every name put forward Princess Luna only heard the name that it was not. So now she flew, trying to clear her head filled with purple scales and green eyes.

The world stretched out below her for miles in every direction. She could see the shadows of mountains slowly growing across the countryside below her. To the west she could see scattered clouds painted vibrant pinks, reds, oranges and yellows in the light of the setting sun. Even the column of smoke rising from the Everfree was transformed into something beautiful in the day’s fading light.

Princess Luna blinked. It had been millennia since Equestria had seen a forest fire. The sheer weight of earth pony magic snuffed out flames before they could lead to any real damage. But in the wild Everfree forest the magicks were not nearly so reliable and the resulting cloud of ash could strangle any of the small towns that surrounded it.

The princess pushed herself as she flew towards the endangered forest. wind peeled her mane and tail back and watered her eyes. As she pushed herself faster and faster the wind pushed back against her, tearing at her wings and forming a wave of pressure before her.

Luna caught herself and slowed her flight. It wouldn’t do to get to the fire too exhausted to put it out.

As she flew Luna watched the base of the smoke column for any growth. There was a constant orange glow as the trees within burned. Luna assured herself that the sheer quantity of puffy white smoke meant that the fire was burning through wet wood and would not be particularly fierce but then she caught a green glow against the wall of smoke. a bloody red glow responded with a bellow of rage and pain drifting up on the wind.

Princess Luna tilted into a dive and began putting on more speed. Spike was fighting something and whatever it was made him struggle enough to lose control of his flames. Another pained bellow drifted up on the wind, causing Princess Luna to redouble her speed.

“Please be okay,” She whispered as she flew.

---

Spike slammed through the tree with a sickening crunch. The flaming tree fell over hitting Garble with its foliage. Faster than Spike would have liked the red dragon shrugged off the blow and was upon him. The two dragons struck at each other with claws, trying to tear away the diamond-strong scales that covered them.

Spike shot a torrent of green fire and flared his wings out. His right wing went to its full length in what would have been an impressive display if not for its broken counterpart. Spike filled the air with his roar of pain.

“Garble TAKE!” The red dragon seemed to swell another size as he shouted his response.

Without bothering with any more territorial displays Spike leapt at the now much larger dragon. Spike’s rear claws dug in and dislodged some of the scales at the base of Garble’s neck while the red dragon’s claws failed to find purchase across Spike’s hindquarters and tail.

Spike felt himself fly across the clearing they had made. He barely had time to get his bearings when Garble was on him, fangs going for Spike’s neck. Spike brought a claw up in defence only to have Garble latch onto it. Spike roared in pain as fangs pierced flesh and scale. he moved his claw, gouging the other dragon’s mouth and causing it to let go of his wrist.

Garble withdrew to spit out a glob of Spike’s and his own blood. While garble was doing that Spike rose to his feet. The two dragons began circling each other. Spike was careful to keep his right side facing Garble as the two dragons went around each other.

“Do you think that greed makes you powerful?” Spike asked only to get a low growl in response.

“You were always like this.” Spike continued. “You think that just because you can’t be stopped that you have the right to take whatever you want, to do whatever you want.”

“Garble hungry.” The red dragon said in a low, feral growl as it licked its fangs still stained red with Spike’s blood.

Spike shivered with revulsion. “You make me sick to be a dragon, you know that? Your nothing but greed and arrogance at your own power. Well let me tell you a thing or two about power. I was hatched from a dead egg in a flare of magic powerful enough to grow me a hundred feet tall in a second. I studied under two princesses and learned breath magic that even most ancients don’t know, and when the element of magic herself decided something was too dangerous, too corrupt, too powerful to exist anymore she fed it to me. I’ve seen, I’ve felt, I’ve tasted more of what you would call power than you can ever imagine. Even if I was fighting alone do you think for a minute that greed would be enough to beat me?”

Garble gave a low and threatening growl in response. It lasted a few seconds until his feral mind processed what Spike had said. By the time he had turned his head Princess Luna had slammed into his back.

Garble turned and struck like a snake at the mare on his back. His teeth pierced through the ethereal blue plates that made up her armor, only just breaking skin underneath. The brief moment it took for Garble to redouble his crushing bite on the mare was all it took for Spike to pounce.

Princess Luna could see the exact moment Garble’s scales gave way to Spike’s fangs and for the first time in his life the purple dragon tasted blood. She watched his pupils all but disappear as his emerald eyes were replaced by something cold, green and feral. She heard his heavy breathing devolve into short panted growles.

The red dragon turned slowly over, careful not to jostle Spike’s death grip on its neck and exposing his belly in a silent plea for his life. With a snort of green fire Spike violently shook his head. Any lesser animal’s neck would have snapped like a twig.

As garble began moving the lower half of his body away in an attempt at retreat Princess Luna ran over and put herself directly in Spike’s vision.

“Spike,” she called out to him only to get a threatening blast of fire in response. as Princess Luna hesitated Spike brought a claw up and put it under Garble’s chin, pinning the larger dragon to the ground and stretching its neck out before him.

“Spike let him go, please. There will be no turning back from this once you start.”

Spike pulled back, ripping several of Garble’s protective scales away and exposing bloody flesh underneath.

Princess Luna rushed to put herself between Spike and his prey. At his low growl she could feel the hair along her back stand on end and her knees start to tremble. “S-spike, I know you are still in there. You must fight this. You must come back to me. Please…”

Slowly Spike’s eyes closed. His violent and short breaths released green sparks and even short tongs of fire as he waged his internal war. Princess Luna stood defiantly between him and Garble’s exposed neck as the red dragon waited for his fate to be decided.

“Luna,” Spike finally said. He lifted his claw off of Garble’s neck, allowing him to run. “Get away from me,” Spike growled.

He slowly padded away, regarding the destruction around him with sad eyes. Without two dragons giving it strength the forest fire had all but burnt out on the wet wood of the Everfree. Not without a price though. The curtain of trees that separated Spike’s cave from Ponyville had burnt down, leaving nothing but a few charred trunks where there once a sunny little grove.

The bloody stains and stench of rage from the fight would linger for weeks. The grove would take decades to recover.

“Spike,” Princess Luna said beside him.

“I told you to get away from me,” Spike growled.

“Spike if we don’t set your wing you may not fly again.”

“Good,” Spike said grimly. “I can do less of this if I’m grounded.” Spike gestured to the charred and trampled forest around him and to a small pool of blood nearby.

“Do not do that to yourself. Do not try and protect everypony around you from yourself. That is not a happy story,” Princess Luna said as Spike approached a blackened stream.

At the sight of his blood covered reflection in the fading firelight Spike gagged. He dipped his head into the riverbed, coming up with soot and sand falling in clumps from his mouth. He brought both claws up to his mouth and scrubbed frantically. After a minute of desperate scrubbing Spike spat the unpleasant mouthful out in a gob of green fire.

“I can’t get the taste out,” he said brokenly. “And I can’t help but think how hungry I am.”

“Drink this,” Princess Luna said, handing Spike a bottle of clear liquid she had summoned.

Spike tossed the whole bottle into his maw and crunched down. With a startled shout he spit the substance onto the ground where an errant spark caused it to burn with a near-invisible blue flame.

“What the hay was that?” he demanded as he spit out more of the offending liquid.

“My last bottle of moonshine.”

“Eugh you drink this stuff on purpose?”

“Very occasionally. It is one of the few liquors in the world that can affect me. It is also a powerful solvent and a vile substance in its own right. If anything can get the taste of dragon out of your mouth that is it.”

Spike brought a clawful of silt up to his mouth and began scrubbing again. “Yeah but how do you get the taste of it out of your mouth?” Spike asked around his claw.

Princess Luna stifled a laugh. “Sister’s preferred method is a disgustingly greasy breakfast. Coffee of extremely poor quality is generally what does it for me though.”

Spike gave her a wide-eyed stare. “I still get hay nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs sometimes.”

After a peal of laughter Princess Luna spoke in a somber tone, “I do wish you would have swallowed, it would dull the pain and make you less tense.”

“Wha-AGGGH!” With a loud snap the blue glow around Spike’s broken wing pulled the two halves of the broken bone apart and realigned them. Spike pounded the earth below him and his other wing beat frantically in agony until a splint of wood and vine tied itself around the joint and he was released.

Once he was released Spike walked away, huffing fire and snapping at the air as he paced a circle. Finally after three passes Spike calmed himself.

“You’re bleeding,” he said to Princess Luna.

“It’s just a scratch.”

“Come on, I’ll get the first aid kit,” Spike said with a weary roll of his eyes as he started towards the cave.

“The wounds will heal on their own in a day at most.” Despite her protests Princess Luna followed after Spike into his cave.

Inside Spike pulled out an old battered metal box, with only remnants of a red cross painted on the front telling of its function. He gestured to a pile of nearby cushions and with a long suffering sigh the princess obliged. Spike settled beside her and chuckled as he began pulling supplies out of the well stocked box.

“What is so funny?” Princess Luna asked.

“You princess types,” Spike said, “Twilight refused to set hoof in a hospital after her ascension and she was always stubborn about letting me bandage her too. Come to think of it I was pretty much the group medic for all of them. This’ll sting just a bit,” Spike warned before disinfecting Princess Luna’s wounds.

She hissed through her teeth as the the wounds were cleaned. “I never thought they came to any harm on any of their missions.”

“They always bounced back pretty quick,” Spike said as he began unrolling a bandage. “And Twilight was always good at keeping up appearances even if she did attend a few meetings with invisible bandages.”

“When I saw them fight, their battles always seemed to be more spiritual in nature. I never imagined they would come home wounded.”

“They were spiritual, It’s just that sometimes they had to take a few hits before they did the orbital friendship laser thing. Other times they would just stand and take whatever the villain dished out while they convinced them to give friendship another shot. Those were the worst, they would come home beaten black and blue, smiling about how they had made a new friend.” Spike gave a far off chuckle. “They always made the best of it. Sleepovers at the castle until the bruises faded enough for makeup to cover. I remember one time Pinkie broke a leg and I had to put her in a full body cast just to keep her still long enough for it to heal.”

While he was talking Spike had finished bandaging Princess Luna’s wounds and began running a claw along where the bandages wrapped around her shoulder to ensure her coat would lay down properly under the bandage.

She gave a pleased hum, resisting the urge to lean into his touch. She flinched slightly when he began combing her mane by running his claws through it.

“Everything was so much simpler back then,” Spike continued. “I just helped Twilight. I enjoyed being her number one assistant and I was good at it too. It’s almost like she was my cutie mark. I didn’t have to worry about if I could find more ponies for the elements or even if we would need the elements again. I never worried about anything because I knew that she would always be there to help me out. I was never afraid of myself because I knew that she could keep me in line.”

Spike drew a trembling breath. Princess Luna could feel the claw running through her mane stop and shake slightly.

“I’m terrified of myself without her. If you hadn’t stopped me I would be cannibalizing Garble right now. I would be trapped inside, screaming at myself to stop. I’m so scared because I’m one half sentient and one half feral, and whenever something new comes up I can never know which half is going to respond.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Princess Luna said. “At least not as much as you think. Any sentient being will make mistakes, especially when they are forced to react without thinking. The mistakes are a passing thing, and forgivable. What truly matters is who we are after the mistakes are said and done. Your first thoughts are always for the safety of others. You ensured that the fire would not spread and you insisted on treating my wounds, even if they were nothing. That vigilance, that Loyalty is who you truly are Spike, and that is something to be proud of.”

“Not Loyalty. I don’t think I’m any of them but I know I’m not Loyalty.”

“Then Kindness or Generosity. Give whatever word you want to the goodness inside you but do not deny it.”

“Can- can we just talk about something else please? I don’t like this discussion.”

Princess Luna turned her head away and gave a huff. tentatively Spike’s claw resumed combing through her mane.

“Why did you turn Shimmer away?” Princess Luna could feel Spike’s claw tense, scratching her scalp lightly as he made a few startled sounds and devolved into a coughing fit.

“You just love sensitive topics don’t you?” Spike asked wryly once he had recovered.

“You’re avoiding the question.”

Spike sighed. “No chance I could get you to drop this question too is there?”

“When I adopted her as my niece I swore I would protect her from all things. It is my duty to ensure that you had a reason for turning her away and hurting her.”

“She’s mortal,” Spike said hollowly. “She’s mortal and I’m a coward. I’m too afraid to ever let myself feel that for a mortal ever again.”

“So you would spend the rest of eternity alone for fear of pain.”

“You princesses seem to manage. Hay, in another couple of centuries I may see Discord as a brother. Plus I’m the steward of friendship, it may not be the most romantically fulfilling gig in the world but it’s anything but lonely.”

“So that is it? The grim resignation that you will never know a lover’s touch.”

“You can be a real downer sometimes Princess.”

“Shut up and keep combing.”

---

The next morning ponies gathered at the edge of their small town. It had been a troubled night’s sleep at best. They had heard the angry bellows of dragons fighting for hours the previous night and now in the bright light of day they saw the true extent of the damage. The sight of Spike brought up a rampant wave of whispered speculation. Even the Night Princess giving him a friendly farewell before flying off to Canterlot did little to curb it.

The sight of large puddles of dragon blood and trees that had obviously been knocked over before fire had consumed them was all the proof many in the small town needed.

By midafternoon Dizzy flew out to Spike’s cave on heavy wings. Officially whenever the town passed a new ordinance they would be required to make a copy for every household within Ponyville and a few for various archives around Equestria. Really they had needed only one.

“I’m sorry Spike,” Dizzy said sadly as she landed beside the dragon. “We did everything we could but they were just so scared they passed this without even thinking about it. I’m sure it’ll get overturned once anypony in Canterlot sees it. It has to go against every discrimination policy there is.”

“Dizzy,” Spike said. “Just… what does it say.”

“Dragon’s aren’t allowed in Ponyville anymore.”

Spike blinked in surprise. That was really the least of what he expected. He had already thought through several different caves throughout Equestria. Everything from the relative luxury of Canterlot’s dungeons to a spartan offshoot of the Pie family’s quarry.

“We’ve already started fighting back. Gilda, Star, ad Fruit are rearranging the library so that local histories are up front and everyone will know what a big hero you are. Gregory is already writing to everypony in Ponyville. Once I get back I’m going to deliver them personally.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Spike said. “If they don’t want me in town then I won’t go in town. With Gilda and Greg in the castle I don’t need to anyways.”

“Spike you have rights just like anypony in Ponyville. They can’t do this to you!”

“They can’t,” Spike agreed. “One letter and I could get that ‘no dragon’ policy overturned and a few of them even brought under charges. If they push it any further I just might. But they’ve made it pretty clear that they don’t trust me to be in Ponyville and I’m not going to put a claw in the city limits if they don’t.”

“Fine,” Dizzy said in a huff. “If you want to give up before even trying that’s your decision but at least send this to one of the princesses so we can get this overturned on paper.”

“Dizzy even if I did go to town with this ordinance in place who would enforce it? Star is the only guard in Ponyville and as of yesterday he is squired to me. Even if he raised his sword to me I would just eat it and go around. This is all just on paper. I’m the only one it affects and I’m the only one that seems to realize that it doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t be so selfish Spike! This means I can’t go with you to get muffins anymore. This means that Fruit doesn’t have anypony to yell at and threaten.This means Greg has to fly all the way out here if he ever wants to ask you something. This means Pit Boss loses his most profitable day and Ponyville loses one of it’s favorite traditions. This means that Ponyville becomes a place where you can just get away with running somepony off. Now get off of your lazy butt and help us because this is about more than just you.”

Spike blinked in surprise. Dizzy was always the first to treat any situation with humor. Spike half expected her to come and laugh at the situation with him like it were some bad joke. Of all the things Spike expected the absolute last was for Dizzy to be legitimately angry.

It took Spike a moment to find his voice and ask Dizzy to write a quick note on the back of the paper, asking Princess Celestia to pass a copy to Princess Luna and Discord.

“I thought you didn’t like Discord,” Dizzy said.

“Not really,” Spike said. “But if Ponyville is special to him too and if they’re going to start telling creature’s they aren’t welcome he deserves to know.”

“Plus,” Spike added as an afterthought, “if I’m going to start touting connections I might as well use them all.”

Comments

[ponies r awesome]

I can't wait for more!

[Snowdrifter]

Whatever should i do with this 'like' I found? Meh, I'll just leave it here.
Four mustaches and a yay.