Spike Quits His Job and Goes on Numerous Quests

by B_25

92 – "Buddy, I Haven't Had a Meal since the Zebras and I Had Some Special Grass – If You Know What I Mean."

~ 92 ~

"Buddy, I Haven't Had a Meal since the Zebras and I Had Some Special Grass – If You Know What I Mean."

“Do you have any idea just how worried I’ve been?!” Celestia brought her long muzzle before his, her sparkling magenta eyes clashing against his trembling emerald ones. He rose his palms in the act of surrendering to soothe her anger, but she quickly batted them away and stepped closer to him. “Not once did I receive a letter from you telling me how you were, that there was something happening back in Ponyville so grave as to make you run away!”

Spike swallowed the throbbing in his throat as his mother began to pant. For whatever reason, her every breath seemed strained against her chest, and she even closed her one eye to concentrate on breathing. He took this moment to gaze over his shoulder, seeing too that the black dragon had finished roaring, and was now whispering in some tongue he did not quite understand.

Spike closed his eyes as she clenched his fist, inhaling deeply and exhaling all the same. By the time he opened his eyes again, his mother had done the same...only with an open mouth.

“Being lost for quite some time, so well hidden as to be concealed under the sun and moon’s gaze,” Celestia said in a quiet voice, one imbued with a sad emotion the drake could never hope to explain, and hurt his heart far more than any shouting could. “Then you just pop back in at a time like this.”

She rose her hoof into the air, it's trembling catching the emerald eye following it by surprise. Spike felt her hoof recoil when it came in contact with his facial scales, causing him to clench his eyes, until he felt the hoof touch the new addition to his face.

“This shouldn’t be possible,” Celestia said with a wheeze, her head falling to the side, a smile gracing her lips. “My boy is far too young to be getting anything on his face. And your height – just when did you get so tall?”

Spike looked at her with lost eyes, looking down as he spoke. “I had a growth spurt before I left home, but...I guess I can’t really blame you for not noticing.”

“Oh…” Spike felt her hoof leave his face as it plummeted to the ground, causing him to look back to her with finally clear eyes. He had just seen a heavenly white blur before, but now, he could see the blood that marred her alabaster coat, the gravel and grime obstructing her natural face, and the exhaustion that made her body collapse to the right.

“Mom!” He didn’t waste a second to fall to her side and catch her falling from, his coat swaying upward by the movement as he held a claw to her neck and another on her back, holding her close against himself. “Wha...why are you…”

“Your...left eye…” Celestia mumbled in a daze, trying to raise her hoof, though it did not move. “It looks like something blew up around it, and around your shoulder, why do you have a guitar case?”

Spike didn’t reply, eyes trailing over the deep cuts and swelling bruises of his mother’s chest.

“Spike?”

“I got the burn mark before I left town,” Spike said as he returned his gaze to hers. “The guitar case I got afterward. But that doesn't matter...tell me, please, what happened to Cantorlot all the years that I was away."

“Years?” Celestia said with confusion upon her face.

Before the drake could continue the conversation, he heard a concerned scream emit from the crowd of ponies across the platform. It came from a Royal Guard who had fallen to his flank, pointing a shaky hoof at the purple drake.

“T-There a-another one!” He cried and shivered, trying to crawl back from the beasts. “Another dragon, here to pick out the ones who try to run away… he’ll feed the Princess to the bigger one...”

Spike rose his head to the guards, an intermixed look of confusion and sadness adorning his features. He pulled his mother away from his body, which caused her mouth to go agape, as he set her down on the ground.

“...then he’ll do the same to us...he’ll feast upon those that black beast doesn’t like!”

‘It’s just like the burnt villages all over again,’ he thought as he offered his mother one last smile, before starting his into the palm of his claw. ‘Ponies don’t know that friendly dragons exist, and from the looks of here and especially back then, their fear of dragons is well placed.’

Spike clenched his claw into a fist at the very idea he was viewed like most of his kind, closing his eyes as he listened to their terrified murmuring, before returning to his full height. The ponies were silent and so was he, as the wind continued to blow, and the black dragon continued to chant.

‘I just gotta prove 'em wrong,’ he thought as his eyes flew open. ‘I just gotta show em’ friendly dragons do exist, no matter what.’

With a deep breath, the drake stretched his lips into a grin, and exposed the glint of his fangs to the ponies around him.

“Oh come on! I know I’m not that good looking, but you can’t compare me to that freak of nature.” Spike began to walk over to the dragon, whose eyes were trained on him as he continued to study him. “And eat you? Buddy, I haven’t had a straight meal since the zebras and I had some special grass – if you know what I mean.”

Another gust of wind rode over the scene. Those who held faces of terror now just held one of confusion, their squinted eyes making the drake feel even more of a fool.

‘As much as I hate looking like an idiot,’ Spike thought to himself as he stood next to the black dragon, feeling the heat of its flaring nostrils, ‘I’d rather that than them looking at me in fear.’

“He lies!” Another guard yelled, coming in front of the masses and drawing his polearm in defense. “He seeks to delude us in mockery to make us susceptible to his tricks. We’ve already fought the other dragon enough to know that these dragons are all about illusion.”

“And how would you like it if I compared you to a unicorn, huh?”

“Those are entirely separate matters!” The guard yelled as he brought his weapon’s butt onto the ground. “Dragon’s are the incarnation of evil, and we’ve seen enough of their destruction to know this is the truth. Surely, you have the Princess under the spell you used on all of us from before!”

“Geeze you talk weird,” Spike said before giving a huff, looking back at the black tar surrounding the other dragon, almost swearing he saw it move. Then, an idea struck. “Look, I just got here moments ago, so I don’t have any clue on what’s happened to you pony folk. I’m not sure what year I’m in anymore, but I owe a great deal to your Princess, and I want to help you.”

“Why would a dragon ever want to help a pony?!”

“Well...because I’m a good dragon, I guess.”

“There’s no such thing!”

“But there is!” Spike said as he came to the muzzle of the other dragon, placing his claw on either lip, and opening the maw much to the other dragon’s surprise. His truth was enough to keep the mouth open. “I’m going to show you the way to tell whether a dragon is good or not. Because it’s not about what they say or do, nor what their ideals may be.”

The ponies leaned forward as their breaths held in their chests.

“The way to tell...whether a dragon is good or evil...depends entirely on their teeth!” Spike pointed to inside the maw of the other dragon, where jagged teeth were stained with yellowness, as the foul breath could be smelled by those even across the platform.

“Do you know how hard it is to make a toothbrush out of nothing?” Spike said as he stretched his mouth into the biggest grin he ever wore, his pearly white teeth glinting in the light.

The ponies only gazed in silence.

Spike spoke again.

“But see? I have white teeth, so you know I’m a good dragon!”

Comments

[B_25]

I've recently started growing my hair and facial hair out.

It's weird how not shaving can make you feel a bit savage. But besides that, I've come across another problem – my hair grows upward and my facial hair looks like something a 14-year-old would grow!

Oh well.

Does chapter 92 make you want to try growing your hair out?
~B_25

[Inugami]

SPIKE
you can't just say that Dragons with bad teeth are bad

[He23t]

Well that's one way your not a bad dragon.

[RadicalDishonesty]

Because dragons that don't brush their teeth are just savages. How prejudicial.

Anyway, it's definitely becoming clear it has been more time for Spike than everyone else.

You know, it's a little surprising that he wasn't allowed got talk about the relationship with Celestia even to Twilight, but being sent to another town with what is basically instructions to ignore their relationship does explain why he sorta just stopped writing. Not strong encouragement to stay in touch.

[B_25]

8290622
I've never heard my prose so beautifully summed up before.

[terrycloth]

8290065
When I shave my 'beard' it grows back in a little grayer. This means I should either shave more often or never shave again, I think.

[B_25]

8291181
Hmm.

Fuck it. Do the latter.

[Moonlight Blitz]

This is getting real good now, i can't wait for the next one dude

[B_25]

8292324
thanks maaaaang.