Surrender Dragons

by Brass Polish

4 Hungry for Answers

Spike shook his head. “No way.”

Twilight shook her own head. No way.

Spike looked at the two dragons before him. He could see there was a likeness. Both Wrecks and Sinomen had no wings. Wrecks had green eyes, and Sinomen had green spines. Although neither of them had purple scales. Wrecks did have the same triangular point on the tip of his tail. The end of Sinomen’s tail had five long green nails, almost like a claw.

“Our first egg was taken from us by some unicorn stallion,” said Sinomen. “In this very cave.”

“I’d have thought he’d steal our gems as well, but clearly you’ve reclaimed them,” grinned Wrecks. “Good boy.”

Twilight was looking for a gemstone she could see Spike’s reflection in, and when she finally saw one, she was disheartened to see that he looked happier than she’d ever seen him.

“I finally know where I came from!” he cried. “Now I know who I am! My life’s complete! Yes! I found them! I found my parents!”

He charged towards Wrecks and Sinomen and hugged the two of them. Rarity couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

“Oh, Spikey-Wikey?” she spoke up tentatively. “They only said you might be…”

“Don’t call me Spike!”

It seemed that even the sight of Rarity could make Spike remember his true colours.

“From now on, call me… uh… what is my real name?” he asked Wrecks and Sinomen.

Neither of the invasion’s leaders answered right away.

At last Wrecks said “Unfortunately, you were stolen from us before we could even name you. And he sent us packing to the alternate world right after that.”

Spike growled. “When I find out who stole me from my parents…!”

“We could help you find him,” grinned Wrecks.

“Will you join us, Spike?” asked Sinomen.

“Yes!” Spike almost screamed.

Twilight started to sweat. Her hooves were shaking. Every bit of her was screaming at her to run around the pile of gems and stop Spike from leaving. Sunset and Trixie knew that she’d be playing into Wrecks and Sinomen’s claws, and kept their eyes on Twilight in case she tried to show herself.

“Spike, don’t you know who your friends are?!” cried Rarity.

Spike glared at Rarity. “Get away from my jewels.”

Rarity was horrified at the tone Spike just took with her, but she quickly backed away from the emeralds she was standing a little too close to.

“Guess we oughtta leave these gemstones alone,” chuckled Sinomen.

“No, no, you take what you like,” said Spike. “You collected them for me even before I was born.”

The pit of Twilight’s stomach was aching.

“Let’s just make this our secret stash,” smiled Wrecks. “We can come here whenever we like and stuff ourselves ‘till we drop. How’s that sound?”

“I’ve never been so excited!” Spike began to bounce.

The crate manufacturer’s document wafted towards Sunset, who got an idea to make this situation slightly less problematic. She grabbed a Blue Giant and a sharp gem, and quickly wrote a message to the prisoners in the Crystal Castle.

“Let’s had back to the Crystal Empire,” suggested Sinomen. “It’s late and we really need to be there in case anyone tries to escape from the castle.”

“Sure, Mom,” said Spike, who could have fit the whole of his gem collection in his smile. “I finally get to call someone Mom!”

Sunset looked in the same gemstone Twilight had used to view the reflection of the abrupt reunion. As soon as everyone had turned around, she magiced her rolled up message into Rarity’s mane. Rarity didn’t see or feel a thing. She was desperately trying to think of something to say or do to change Spike’s mind about switching sides. She’d attempted to charm Wrecks and Sinomen earlier, but since she’d been gem hunting for them all day, she knew by now that even giant Spike wouldn’t be swayed.

Trixie and Sunset peeked around as Wrecks and Sinomen led Spike back to the way they came. Twilight didn’t want to look. She only listened as the three dragons were talking animatedly. Slowly but surely, the happy voices faded away.

“Well, there goes our shield,” moaned Trixie.

Twilight and Sunset ignored her.

“He was stolen… from his parents… by a unicorn,” Twilight was mumbling. “Is that… how they get eggs… for the entrance exams?”

“No, it isn’t,” Sunset spoke up, sitting down in front of Twilight. “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier. It’s my fault. I’m the reason Spike came to the school.”

“What?!” spluttered Trixie.

“And I got help from the pony you’ve been living with,” Sunset said to Trixie.

“Huh?!”

“His name is actually Smokescreen,” continued Sunset. “He was one of Celestia’s guards. He specialized in subduing large creatures. He was probably the best match for a dragon because he could make a good shield spell, and he could turn himself into smoke and be completely unharmed by fire. Anyway, back when I was Princess Celestia’s pupil, we met at a formal event and…”

Sunset paused.

“We became friends, I guess,” she said. “He was sure I’d become something amazing. But then when I started complaining that I wasn’t getting anywhere fast enough and Celestia dismissed me as her student, I told Smokescreen and he was just as disappointed as I was.”

Twilight had only been half-listening up to this point, but Sunset’s story started sucking her in.

“I’d heard rumours that he fought dragons on a daily basis,” Sunset went on. “I don’t know if it was every day, but he definitely took on dragons because when I came to him freaking out because there was a unicorn filly looking to enter the school with a really good oral entrance exam, he showed me a dragon egg and told me to leave it to him.”

Twilight looked up. “A really good oral exam? Was it me?”

“Yeah, it was,” nodded Sunset. “I was worried about somepony outshining me and when I snuck into the room where the applications were and saw a score better than mine, I was worried you’d take my place as Celestia’s student. So when I complained to Smokescreen, he said he could sabotage your practical exam by subjecting you to an illegal test.”

“An illegal test?” Trixie interrupted. “How did nopony catch that?”

“I felt really lucky at the time. There was a staff strike shortly after the headmaster at Celestia’s school scheduled Twilight’s entrance exam,” Sunset explained. “All the ponies who were watching were scabs. And they must’ve heard the rumours about the crazy magical experiments that go on in that school because apparently they didn’t bat an eye when someone rolled a cart with a dragon egg on it into the room.”

Twilight said nothing, but her look told Sunset to carry on with her story.

“Well, you know how your practical exam went,” said Sunset. “Smokescreen fled after Celestia saw what you’d managed to do with your magic, and so did I. I found the Mirror Portal and the alternate world, but I didn’t know where Smokescreen went until we ran into him at the Blue Giant farm.”

This same story was being told by Princess Celestia when Rarity was returned to the Crystal Castle and had jabbered on about Spike becoming enormous and joining up with the invading leaders because they might be his parents. Her only audience was Rarity, Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who were all in awe.

“Mind if I ask why you never told anyone this?” asked Fluttershy.

“I assure you, I did,” Celestia insisted. “Spike had sent me a letter during the dragon migration a while back asking me if I could tell him anything about where he came from. And you can take my word for it that I sent him a reply shortly after receiving his questions telling him everything I’ve just told you.”

Then Rarity and Rainbow Dash remembered what had happened during the belching contest in that volcano.

“Your highness,” said Rainbow Dash, “he didn’t get that message. A teenage dragon he was hanging out with grabbed it and threw it into a lava puddle after it came out of his mouth.”

“Oh,” Celestia said slowly. “So this whole time, he was completely in the dark.”

“That must be why he’s so willing to take Wrecks and Sinomen’s word,” said Luna. “He surely would have ached for answers despite what he’d learned from his experiences with the migrating dragons.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Have you read our letters too?”

“Some of them,” Luna answered. “It’s a shame my conversation with Twilight was interrupted. I’ve lost my chance to ask her how she, Trixie and Sunset Shimmer were trying to boost their magic. I could have warned her that Spike might be vulnerable if she let his inherited greed take hold of him.”

“You’ll just have to wait until she’s asleep again,” said Celestia. “If sleep manages to find her.”

“What’s that in your mane?” Fluttershy asked Rarity.

Rarity looked and found a rolled up sheet of paper. She magiced it out of her mane and unrolled it.

“Oh, my!” she gasped. “I think Twilight, Sunset and Trixie must’ve been in the cave when we found Spike.”

She showed them the message. It had clearly been written in a rush, but it was pretty blunt. Sunset was asking Fluttershy to try and get the dragons on the ponies’ side.

“How can I possibly do that?” shivered Fluttershy.

“She says they’re really just dogs,” said Rainbow Dash, tapping the writing on the paper. “And I know you’re not scared of dogs.”

“I am when they’re scaly and over twenty feet tall and burp fire and wanting to throw everypony out of Equestria,” she said.

Princess Celestia approached Fluttershy. “Remember when I singled you out when I asked you and your friends to reform Discord?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I know we are dealing with one of your biggest fears, so I will not do that this time,” Celestia finished. “It’s your choice.”

Fluttershy looked towards a hazy window. She walked as close as she could to it without being burned by the heat of the Horeb Fire, and looked out at the Crystal Empire. She gasped.

“I think she’s made her choice,” sighed Rainbow Dash.

“It’s Applejack!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Celestia and Luna joined her and looked out of the window.

“They caught her,” groaned Rarity.

Pinkie Pie had been devoting her time to keeping up Cadance’s and Shining Armour’s spirits as they worked their respective brands of magic. She was just in the middle of a witty limerick when they heard the thunderous sound of castle doors opening and closing. Pinkie went out into the hall to see what was going on while Cadance and Shining carried on with their spells.

“AJ!” Pinkie cried.

There was Applejack in the corridor pacing around and not looking very happy. Pinkie Pie bounced up to her and it was clear that whatever was bothering Applejack didn’t ruin her mood for a hug.

“It ain’t no fun getting captured,” said Applejack, “but at least I get to be with my friends.”

“Well, it’ll just be me, Shining Armour and Cadance,” Pinkie blurted out. “Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and the Royal Sisters are separated from us in this castle. And Twilight’s still on the run.”

Applejack threw her hat to the ground and sat on the floor in frustration.

“So how’d you manage to stay hidden for this long?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Well once we in the Fillydelphia community center knew that dragons had invaded Equestria, the curator and some other staff members sent me to a hiding spot right away,” Applejack explained. “But I was in the middle of a class when it happened, and there was a sheep there when I was escorted out. I spent a whole day in the community center basement and ponies were visiting me with food and news, but then this snakey dragon comes down and carries me out the basement, out the community center, and outta Fillydelphia.”

“How’d they find you?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Those darn sheep turned me in!” growled Applejack. “Jeez! Ya try and make an effort to learn to be gentler and less rough with livestock, and where does it get ya?!”

Sunset understood why Twilight had been so silent after she’d made her confession, but she certainly hadn’t expected a hug to be the response.

“You gave me my first real friend,” Twilight was trying not to sob.

“Well, I wasn’t trying to…” Sunset stammered.

“I know, I know,” Twilight let go of Sunset’s shoulders. “I just wish I’d appreciated him more. I always thought he made a good companion, but I got so absorbed in my studies, I started thinking of him as just my assistant. I couldn’t possibly have been any kind of replacement for parents. I wasn’t even old enough to be a mother.”

“So why did Princess Celestia let you have Spike?” asked Trixie.

“Well, I felt really proud of making Spike hatch after everything Celestia offered me,” Twilight looked down at her hooves. “I guess I wanted him around so I’d never forget my accomplishments.”

She buried her face in her hooves.

“Sometimes I wish I hadn’t learned so much about friendship,” she moaned. “Because I keep remembering how little I used to know and what a shut-in I was.”

Sunset looked around at the mountains of jewels.

“We should probably find another place to hide,” she said. “The dragons know about this place now and we shouldn’t risk staying.”

Trixie sighed. “Where to next?”

The three ponies thought for a while about where they should go, bearing in mind that it had to be guaranteed to be empty. Twilight considered using the pit where the Mirror Pool was at one point. Trixie, who knew the stories, liked the idea and suggested making clones of themselves so as to really stand a chance against the dragons. But Twilight knew that it would only end in confusion whether or not they succeeded. So when the Mirror Pool idea was discarded, Sunset thought perhaps they ought to try and get to the Crystal Empire and go through the portal to the alternate world. This way, they could be hidden and alert the Canterlot animal shelter on where to find the escaped dogs when they are eventually returned. Twilight and Trixie knew it was risky because the Crystal Empire would be heavily guarded and Twilight hadn’t seen where exactly the Mirror Portal had landed.

“How about somewhere in the Everfree Forest?” asked Trixie.

Twilight thought about it. Zecora’s hut might do, but there was no guarantee it’d be empty, so teleporting into it would be dangerous. The Blackout Shelter had collapsed, which was really disappointing to Twilight, as it would have been the perfect place to hide. The Castle of the Two Sisters would surely be empty, but it stood out like a purple squirrel.

“I know!” Twilight burst out. “The pit beneath the castle where the Tree of Harmony is.”

Nopony had stood before the Tree of Harmony since Tirek’s defeat. But now, there was Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, one punctured Blue Giant, and two intact ones.

“So what now?” asked Sunset once Trixie stopped bragging about their successful teleportation. “Our action plan’s out the window now.”

Trixie yawned. “It’s still night-time. Perhaps we should go back to sleep.”

“Oh! Yes,” said Twilight. “I just remembered what was going on in my dream before you two woke me up. Princess Luna visited me and we were exchanging information.”

“Alright, maybe we should go back to sleep,” agreed Sunset.

However, within minutes of lying down, Trixie and Sunset could tell that Twilight would have a hard time getting to sleep no matter how tired she was.

“Try not to think about Spike,” said Trixie.

Sunset looked around and got an idea when her eyes found the Tree of Harmony.

“Maybe those will give you some pleasant thoughts,” she said, pointing to the fruit the tree bore.

Twilight looked up at the Elements of Harmony. Many happy memories came back to her about the adventures she and her Ponyville friends had shared, but also the realization of how little she used to know about friendship cropped up again. Despite this, Twilight managed to settle down, and after Trixie and Sunset drifted off to sleep, she was not too far behind.

Soon a dream spread across Twilight’s closed eyes. She was somewhere dark. It was either a cave or an old, abandoned castle. She couldn’t tell. But she could see a shadow ahead coming from around a corner. She walked forward and her heart raced when she saw the shadow’s source. It was Spike. He was the way Twilight remembered him. Small. Roughly as tall as Apple Bloom. They stared at each other for a while.

“Twilight?”

The alicorn princess’ face lit up when she heard Spike’s voice was not deep.

“Yes. It’s me,” she said softly.

She held her breath as Spike took a step towards her. But then he quickly turned tail and ran in the opposite direction. Twilight had sensed a disturbance behind her and spun around to see what had caused Spike to flee.

“I must apologize for this,” said Princess Luna. “I’m sure you would like nothing better than to reunite with the Spike you know and love.”

Twilight sighed. “It’s alright, Princess Luna. I know we have a lot of important things to discuss.”

Twilight was sorry to hear that Applejack had been captured, but was impressed to hear that Fluttershy had resolved to take Sunset’s suggestion to try and get the dragons on the ponies’ side. She hadn’t done anything yet, but she had gone around the castle looking for things giant animals could play fetch with, and she asked Rarity to use her pony signal as a laser pointer. They would be implementing these in the morning after they’d gotten themselves a decent amount of sleep. Twilight was also happy when Luna told her that Impulsoria, the Crystal Dragon who lived in a cave close to the boarder, had not consented to join the invading dragons, but was forced to ration out her gemstone collection. She had been confined to her cave and was being guarded just like the ponies in the castle.

“Next,” said Luna, “I would like to know if you have any ideas where Discord might be.”

“Discord?! He could easily help us send those dragons back to the alternate world,” said Twilight. “I should’ve sent him a message too.”

“So I take it you have no guesses where he’s gone to?”

“I’m afraid not,” sighed Twilight.

“Never mind,” said Princess Luna. “I’ve covered everything I wanted to say. Is there anything you wish to tell me?”

“Yes. I have a question for you,” said Twilight. “Have you ever heard of a vegetable called Blue Giant?”

“Yes, I have,” nodded Luna. “It would be a sufficient way for a unicorn to power up their magic ability if it weren’t for the health risk.”

Twilight gulped. “Health risk?”

“Blue Giant contains a virus that gives one third of ponies who catch it a form of pneumonia,” Luna told Twilight. “I take it by your expression that you’ve come across some of these outlawed vegetables and that was the method of boosting you magic you spoke of.”

“I didn’t know!” Twilight insisted.

“You needn’t worry about being charged,” Luna assured her. “But if you and your two unicorn friends have been eating Blue Giants, one of you will surely be unfit for battle when the time comes.”

“Well, Trixie’s been eating Blue Giants for months now,” said Twilight. “So it’ll be either me or Sunset who’ll get sick.”

“Either way, I would strongly recommend that none of you eat those vegetables anymore,” said Luna.

Twilight sat down. “I hope…”

“You hope what, Twilight?” Luna pressed.

“Well, I… I hope Sunset hasn’t got that virus,” said Twilight quietly.

“You would rather you had it?” asked Luna. “But if you get sick, you will not be able to make your contribution to the Rainbow Connection when the time comes.”

“I know… but Sunset hasn’t made much progress with our training,” said Twilight. “I’m really worried that it’s an early onset of the virus.”

Luna knelt down to Twilight’s level. “With the information you’ve given me, I must suggest that you and your companions endeavour to make your way to the Crystal Empire well before midnight tomorrow night. It would be better if you got to the castle and reunited with your friends before the virus takes hold of one of you.”

Twilight felt something poke her foreleg. She looked to her left. There was Spike again. Small, big-eyed, and looking really pleased to be there.

“Twilight?” he asked.

“Yes,” Twilight gave him a smile.

“Are you…? Am I…? Do you…?” Spike seemed to be having trouble asking what he wanted to ask.

“What is it, Spike?” asked Twilight softly.

Spike shuffled. “I just want to know if you want me back.”

“W-- Of course I want you back, Spike,” breathed Twilight.

Spike beamed and jumped into Twilight’s hooves. Twilight choked back a sob.

“You’ll have to excuse me, Princess Luna,” she said, shutting her eyes as Spike nuzzled her. “I want to enjoy this dream for a little while.”

“You’re not dreaming, Twilight,” said Sunset.

Author's Note:

Boy have I been taking liberties.