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Spike3,286 words
Ember3,884 words

Spike

“So, uh… How did this start again?”

“Ask this incompetent fool of a man.”

“Okay… Sunburst?”

“I don’t know what happened. It happened so quick… A-All I did was call her ‘Miss Abigail’—”

“Shut up, you twerp.” I sighed.

“Zecora?” I asked, looking at the woman in the corner of the room. She looked as if she was concentrating until I called her. “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened here, would you?”

“Sunburst speaks the truth,” she answered. “He did indeed call Ember by ‘Miss Abigail’. She lashed out at him, and it resulted in the situation before you.”

“Ah…” I turned back to the middle of the room where Ember was glaring Sunburst into a corner. I slowly made my way to Ember and put my hand on her shoulder. “Could you do me a favor?”

“W-what?” she asked, not making eye contact.

“Could you let him go just this one time?” She glanced from Sunburst to me, then stormed off towards her bed, sitting down with a bounce.

“Just this once, okay? And only cause you asked me.” Sunburst sighed in relief.

“Finally, I’m safe—”

“Don’t push your luck, twerp,” said Ember.

“N-nevertheless, thank you, Spike.” He got up and dusted himself. “Now if I remember, when you came in, you seemed very excited about something. Could I ask what it was?”

“Oh yeah!” I was filled with excitement, remembering the important thing I had to share. “I’m going on a mission!”

“What is so special about this mission?” asked Zecora, turning her complete… er, as far as I could tell, attention to me. “We’ve been on a few others before.”

“Yes, but this one is special,” I said, nearly bouncing with joy. “I was asked specifically by Starswirl to collect some gems for his research! And if I just so happen to collect too many gems...”

The room was silent. Ember coughed, and Sunburst scratched his chin, with no reaction.

“I don’t think we can share your enthusiasm,” said Zecora.

“W-Wha? Really?” I turned to Ember. “What about you, Ember? You’re a dragon too.”

“I can understand your excitement,” said Ember. “But doctors say that eating gems can give you some negative side effects.”

“I don’t know how something so good can be so bad,” I said sadly. I licked my lips just thinking about the shiny rubies I could find. “Anyways, I’m going on a mission!”

“Why only you?” asked Zecora. “You’ve been saying that you’re going on a mission, so I must assume you are going solo.”

“Well, I’m a dragon Faunus,” I answered. “We are really good at this sorta thing.”

“Then am I coming?” asked Ember, voice slightly shaken. “Just the t-two of us?”

“Oh, no,” I said, with a laugh. “I’ve got it. I could use your Digbot, though.” She looked sad as I finished my sentence, so I quickly added “But you can come along next ti—” She got up, retrieved a small black box from her drawer, then shoved it into my chest.

“It’s not like I wanted to go with you anyway,” she said, venomously. After she looked away, I gave the rest of my team a small smile.

“I should be back in a few hours,” I said, heading for the door. “Try not to stay up too late for me.” I opened and shut the door, taking in a deep breath.

My first mission alone. I wasn’t going to waste this chance to prove how ready I was—how ready we were for the Vytal Festival. After this, I’d have to be a candidate to compete!

You better watch out Twilight. Your cousin is coming back!

Eating gems was the best. Some were harder than others, and some were soft. Some had intense flavors, while others had milder ones.

Gem collecting wasn’t so fun.

For the third time, I hid from a Deathstalker roaming its sandy home. The hot sun beamed down, shining way too brightly. What kinds of gems would be out here anyway?

Shade Academy. A giant umbrella of a city. Atlas technology allowed Shade to be protected from the sun’s heat and deadly rays. Outside of the school, there were small settlements here and there, where people would shelter and live their lives in relative peace. That is if you could escape the Deathstalkers.

After ducking under a sand dune, I crawled out of the ditch behind it, holding onto the box Ember gave me. It’s technically called the Excavation Assistant, but I just call it the Digbot. It was too large to put anywhere, so I had to keep it in my hands.

Finding gems as a dragon is easy, as long as you know what you’re doing. I took a good sniff, smelling something a little ways down.

“Down there…” I looked down, where the smell came from. I fiddled with the box and pressed a red button on top. I threw it into the sand and it turned on.

“Initiating digging protocol...” said the box. Two blades came from its sides, and the top opened up. Once it was finished opening, it spun really quickly, spraying the sand from the top as it dug into the sand. I covered my eyes as it dug.

After a few minutes, the Digbot hit something hard, made a clunk sound, then beeped twice really loudly. I looked down the hole the Digbot had made, and saw a black plate made of metal.

“Metal?” I asked myself. I definitely smelled a gem. The Digbot beeped loudly again, meaning that I had to retrieve and restart it. I jumped down the sizable hole, and landed on the metal with a thud. Immediately afterwards, the metal collapsed and I fell farther into the ground.

It wasn’t that far of a fall. Once I hit the ground, the wind knocked out of me, and I groaned. I rolled over onto my knees before pushing myself up. Under me, I could feel the box, possibly broken. Ember would probably kill me if she found out. I turned and watched as the hole I fell through filled with sand.

“Not getting out that way,” I said with a sigh. I looked around. It was like an underground hallway, leading both ways. I scratched my head. “Did I stumble on something secret?”

“Hey buddy!” said a voice down one side of the hallway. “What’re ya doin’ down here!” It came from a Faunus with grayish skin and silverish hair. His ears were large and floppy.

“Uh, sorry!” I yelled back. “I accidentally fell down here! Where am I?”

“The wrong neighborhood,” said the faunus. “Eh, boys! We got ourselves a little lost lamb that needs some guidance if ya know what I’m sayin’!” More footsteps thundered in from both directions. I could realize that I wasn’t exactly in the best of places to be.

“Look, I just wanted to find some gems, alright?” I said, my words drowned out by the footsteps. “If you guys let me go, I could be on my way!” Finally, everything in the corridor came to a silent halt. I looked around.

“We know what you and your kind do,” said the first Faunus. “You can only be here to clear out our vault, eh? You think we Diamond Dogs are dumb or somthin’?” There were howls that echoed through the small space.

“I didn’t mean to invade, or anything,” I explained. “I just got wind of some gems. If they’re yours, you can keep them.”

“And if they not?’ said the Diamond Dog leader, I think. “What’chu gonna do about it?” The Faunus moved ever closer to me, pulling out weapons like bats and switchblades. I sighed and raised my fists.

“If you guys aren’t going to show me out…” I flicked my wrists downwards, three-foot long steel blades came from each hand. All of the Faunus in the room paused for a moment. “Then I’ll have to show myself out!” I took note of how cool I sounded right then. I’d have to keep cool tabs on myself.

“W-Whaddya guys so scared for?” asked the leader. “This guy’s just being’ flashy. Beat him down, guys!”

First wave of Faunus. It shouldn’t be too hard. When the first two approached me, I jumped up into the air, cradling my legs as close to me as possible, then shot them out, each one hitting a Faunus in their nose. Before I fell to the ground, I flipped upside down, digging the claws into the floor. I twisted my body clockwise, hitting both of the Faunus in their faces with the heel of my foot. When they were both disoriented, I pushed myself into the air, sending one foot forwards and one backwards, smashing either Faunus into the wall they were closest too. Once the Faunus slumped to the floor, I looked around me, then back at the Faunus on the floor.

“Think about that,” I said. “I didn’t even use my claws that time. You want to go again?”

“Okay, maybe this guy ain’t so bad,” said the leader. “B-But we got numbers, right? He’s only one guy!”

“You guys know I’m a dragon…” I took in a deep breath and blew out some ash. “If there’s one thing we dragons know how to do, it’s throwing around flames.”

“B-Boss!” yelled one of the Diamond Dogs. “W-we betta get outta here!”

“This guy’s j-just bluffin’,this time,thier” said the leader. “Come on guys! Let’s take this him down!”

“You asked for it,” I sucked in a bunch of air, and made a small ring with my index finger and thumb. I aimed it at the mass coming at me from the leader’s side. “I’ve got the air… just need the aura to turn to fuel…”

“See? I toldja this guy was—”

“NOW” I let all the air go, and blew the green flames all through that side of the hallway, when I was sure I heard the leader scream in terror and run away, I turned to the other side, scorching both sides of me in green flames. Finally, when I was out of breath, I gasped for air, allowing my lungs to fill again. Once I was sure I was fine, I walked over to one of the Diamond Dogs who fell over and picked him up by the shirt.

“N-No, please,I-I didn’t mean to—”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “The flames don’t hurt unless I wanted them too. If I went all out, there wouldn’t even be ash.” I exaggerated so that he would freak out some more. “Anyways, where is your treasure room?”

“So you really did come here to clean us out…” said the underling.

“Not at first. Then you guys put the idea in my head,” I explained. “And so I thought I should.”

“It’s that way,” he said, pointing to my left. “Down that hallway, and around the corner, third door down. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” I said, dropping him to the floor. “Hope you didn’t lie to me.” I ran off in the direction he told me, the scent of gems getting stronger as I approached the door he told me was the treasure room. I took in a deep breath and sheathed my claws. I slowly twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open.

The scent filled my nostrils and my mouth watered. I slowly floated over to a vein of unmined rubies, uncut and completely original, I was thinking about taking a chunk to test its flavor.

“A dragon, huh?” The voice startled me, and so did his three throwing knives. They dug into the ruby I was staring at, creating cracks in its surface. “A good dragon, too.”

“I guess you’re the real final boss,” I said, unsheathing my claws. “It’s a good thing you use throwing knives.”

“Oh?” asked the boss, coming down from his position. “And why is that?”

“My partner,” I said, rushing at him. “She uses something similar.”

“Ah, I see,” I swiped the claws at him, but he blocked them with almost no effort. I jumped into the air, and dropkicked, but he glided out of the way before my feet could connect, sending me falling to the ground.

“Oof…” I scrambled up and tried to return but this time, he was onto me. His slashed only used one hand, and he attacked diagonally. Whenever I got too far, he’d use his other hand to barrage me with knives until he could get close again.

“One thing you should know about me,” started the leader, “is that I—” I swiped my claws at him, breaking the knife in his hand.

“—Talk to much?” I managed to grab the sides of his head and rocketed my knee towards his stomach. When it connected, he lurched forward and let me flip him over onto his back. I held him down with one arm and jabbed downwards with my claws with the other.

Suddenly, my claw took a swerve and dug into the ground next to him.

“If you would let me finish,” he said, bringing his legs up to my stomach. He tilted me forward, put his hands underneath me, and pushed me up, sending me crashing onto my back. “I was going to say that I have the ability to bend certain thingtheir will. For example, your claws.” He brought his hands up and placed them above my claws. Suddenly, the metal bent backwards, making them unusable.

“Why are you telling this to me?” I said, getting up. When I was on my feet, he smiled at me creepily.

“There’s no harm in telling a dead man my secrets.” He said, taking out a throwing knife. “Sadly, that would be you.”

“I’m not down with dying,” I said. “Plus, I’m not done yet!” He tossed a throwing knife—faster than before, this time—and I ducked to avoid it. His Semblance was tricky, and I technically had no weapons. I had to beat him using smarts.

“It’s useless.” He tossed two knives, one slightly above the other. Then, one titled downwards and smacked one below it. The one below it ran right into my face, cutting it. “You have nothing to oppose me with.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, a smile popping up on my face. I grabbed one of the knives he had thrown and showed it to him. He smiled back.

“Oh this is rich,” he said. “Oh wait, did your teammate teach you how to throw these?”

“No,” I answered simply. “I don’t need to know how to throw them,” I pulled back my arm and hurled it in his direction. As I thought, the knife sailed over his head, not at him. He glanced up as it flew over his head.

“You could’ve had good future in knife throwing if I weren’t going to end it here!” He laughed. Very loudly.

“Gotcha.” I flicked my wrist down, the bottom of it facing outwards. A tether sailed from it and latched onto his stomach, locking itself in place.

“What?” He asked, glancing at the cable. “I suppose you forgot about my Semblance?” He placed his hand over it, but nothing happened.

“I suppose you didn’t notice my Aura?” I said, mocking his voice. “This cable isn’t a cable at all! It’s Aura. You can only control objects that are physical, can’t you?”

“Well, well,” he said. “Aren’t we clever?” In fact, I wasn’t. I based that completely off of luck. Good thing it worked, though.

“And you see this?” I showed him the motor that the cable was attached to. “This can string along a Beowolf on a good day. A human? No problem.”

“You seem to have eeeeverything set up, dontcha?” He said. “Well, If I kill ya first, everything will be for naught, won’t it?”

I brought the tether back, sending the leader zooming back towards me. Just when he was in reached, he swung his knife, and I jumped.

“You…”I kicked him in the face. The force from being flung towards me and my kick was enough to break his jaw. I released the cable and sent the poor guy sailing right behind me. “Lose.”

“So that’s how your claws broke?” said Sunburst. “Shame.”

“No, not really,” I said. “My new equipment’s is on its way.”

“This would never have happened if you brought me with you…” mumbled Ember in the corner.

“Think on the bright side, Em,” I said. “You can come with me next time. Then, for sure, nobody will stand a chance.” I onIy wanted to cheer her up, but I think I saw Ember blush before burying her face in her knees and returning to her aggravated glare.

“Yeah, w-whatever…”

“It is fortunate that you came back unharmed,” said Zecora. “For it would be very difficult to find a leader with your aptitude whose name starts or ends with S.”

“The way you say that makes me sound expendable…” I replied.

“I did say it would be difficult,” she said, with a smirk.

There were a few knocks at the door, which stole the attention from everyone in the room. I was the closest to the door, so I walked over and opened it.

“Uh, I’ve got a special delivery for Spike Sparkle.” A mile-wide smile spread across my face as I took the large box from his hands. He handed me a clipboard, which I signed on top of the box before returning it to him after closing the door, I set the box down on the floor.

“What’s that?” asked Ember, leaning in to see from the corner of the room. I chuckled a bit before answering.

“It’s my new gear! I mean, I expected it to come a lot later, but I’m not complaining!” I basically ripped open the box, revealing the interior to be a soft cushion after opening it up, the two beauties came into view.

They were more like gloves with sharp claws coming from the fingertips, just like real claws. They were shorter than the old ones, but these ones seemed to be sturdier. At the wrist, the aura tether device wrapped the whole thing together, making it feel snug on both hands. I showed them to my team.

“That’s something all right,” said Sunburst with a curious glare. Zecora nodded in agreement.

“Those look really cool, actually,” said Ember, dropping her aggravation. When Ii smiled in gratitude, though, she didn’t return it. “But not that cool.”

“With these, I can do a lot more,” I said. “I could just get us into the Vytal Festival.”

“Do not count on them too much,”said Zecora. “There are many other teams here at Shade who are thinking the same thing, but may not be so good-hearted as you.” I nodded and clenched my fist, bringing all the claws together.

“I know that,” I said, with a large smile. “And that’s why I am so determined. If we can make it past all of the others, we can be the best!” The rest of the team gave me a smile, and even Ember nodded in agreement.

Team Saber is heading for the top and isn’t slowing down for anything.

Author's Note:

So, RoE is finally back after I don't know how long. This time, we're at Shade academy in Vacuo with four different characters. Both this chapter and the chapter of Remnants of Equestria: ASSD on Chillbook1's page are up, so read 'em both if you get the chance!

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