Journey to the past

by Dianabel

Chapter 5: Answers

The chimera strolled through the forest, limping due to the pain from the fight with Scorpan.

“That guy´s too strooong!” the goat complained. “This wiiill take a week to heaaal!” it said, looking at her leg.

“You think that´s bad?” the tiger asked upset. “He doesn´t have any claws, yet he managed to scratch my neck!” It pointed the scratch with her eyes.

“I think the worsssst part of all of thisssss wasss the humiliation.” The snake sighed. “At leasssst I have my two fangssss.”

“I´m sooo hungry! This caaan´t go oon like this.”

“Why can´t we get a huge feast?” The tiger asked desperately.

“Because you´ve always been a fused trio of idiots.” A new deep voice said.

It came from the darkness. Suddenly, a pair of yellow red eyes appeared. The chimera quickly adopted a defence pose. But as soon as it recognized the creature coming out from the darkness, it gasped in surprise.

The creature was an enormous blue ram demanding for respect by his frowning glance.

“Is that-“ the tiger tried to ask, but the shock didn´t let it talk.

“Our great emperor and creator?” the snake finished the tiger´s question.

Grogar nodded.

“Youu´ve been around the forest aaall this time?” the goat asked. “Then whyyy didn´t you attack soooner? Youu could have wipe away all thooose ponies a long time ago.”

The goat would have gone on speaking but Grogar interrupted her by raising his hoof. No matter how small and insignificant his gesture was, the Father of Monsters would always provoke respect in his subjects.

“Gusty left me very weak. It took me thousands of years to recover and gain magic. Conquering Equestria before was very tempting, but one of my most powerful tools is my patience. Besides, I didn´t and still don´t have my Bewitching Bell. But now, I am so close to take back my kingdom.” He explained while looking at the horizons, a smile appearing in his face.

He turned his head to stare at the chimera, making it feel a bit intimidated.

“Perhaps you could be of some help. Tell me, do you know where the Tree of Harmony is?”

The three fused creatures looked at each other.

“Do you mean that crystal thing at the Castle of the Two Sisters?” the tiger asked.

“Mhm.” Grogar affirmed.

“You can reach the cassstle going to the North. But it will take you sssome daysss to arrive.”

“I don´t mind. Like I said, I´m a patient ram. Thank you for your help.”

Grogar was going to leave, but the chimera stood in his way.

“What are you doing?” he asked upset.

If there´s one thing you should be afraid of is one angry glance from the Father of Monsters. He didn´t have to yell at you to let you know that you´re in danger. It was just enough with his look.

The chimera started to sweat and had nervous smiles on its faces.

“We would like to ask you a favour, great creator.” The tiger said as she and her sisters bowed to Grogar.

“I created you to serve me not to be served by me.” Grogar answered.

He tried to keep forward, but the chimera was still blocking his way.

“Maaaster, please!” the goat begged. “We haaaaven´t eaten in days.”

“That´s not my problem!” Grogar said in a menacing tone, making the chimera jump back.

“We´ve been trying to hunt for weekssss. We´ll do anything for you if you help usss!” the snake yelled.

Grogar stopped walking.

“Do you really wish to serve me?” he asked as he walked towards the chimera.

“Yesss.” the snake confirmed while nodding its head.

“You´re one of the very few creatures with intelligence I created. Limited, but it´s still intelligence.”

The tiger and goat raised an eyebrow confused, while the snake held her head high. Grogar stood silent, thinking to himself. The chimera anxiously waited for a response.

“What were you trying to hunt?” Grogar finally asked.

“A zebra filly and a little dragon.” replied the tiger.

Grogar widened his eyes in surprise.

“What did the dragon look like?”

“Weeell… He was small, buut he had groown wings. Hee was purple with green spiikes. Whyy are you interested on that?”

“Because that´s Twilight Sparkle´s dragon, you fools! Those two were an easy target, yet you failed miserably.”

“We almost won!” the tiger replied back. “If it hadn´t been for that monkey…”

Grogar´s ears perked up.

“A monkey you say?”

“Well, it wasssn´t a monkey per sssay, he wasss more like a mixture of a lion and a monkey.”

“That´s a gargoyle, idiots! And I´m pretty sure he´s Tirek´s brother.”

That gave him an idea. Grogar turned around to think clearly and conjure up a plan. The chimera knew what was going on. Everytime he had an idea, he´d always do that. After some time, he turned around and finally spoke.

“Listen up! I have something important to tell you. Come here.”

The chimera walked towards Grogar.”

“That dragon means so much to Twilight Sparkle. And that gargoyle, is also meaningful to an old enemy of mine. If something happened to them, it would be so unfortunate for the poor ponies, wouldn´t it?” a smile full of malice appeared on Grogar´s face. “You will be assigned that mission.”

The chimera gasped.

“You waaant us to beat that thing?”

“I´m not messing with him again!”

“Never again in our livesss.”

“SILENCE!” demanded Grogar, his eyes shining slightly.

The chimera obeyed in fear. Grogar´s bells flickered and so did his eyes. He smirked in satisfaction. Then, he took out a necklace with a ruby embedded from his bag.

“A few days ago, I found this on my cave. I was keeping this for later, just in case. It´s not as powerful as the bell, but it´s enough for your task.” he said while attaching the artefact to the tiger´s neck. They watched it in awe.

“What isss thisss?”

“This is an old artefact of mine. Treat it carefully!” he warned while slapping the tiger´s paw, since it playing with it as if it was a toy. “It will grant you enough power to defeat the gargoyle or any creature who stands in your way.”

The three fused creatures smiled at each other, showing malice in their faces.

“If you´re successful, you may join me in my future army of monsters, and I promise you´ll never go hungry again. But if you fail, you´ll suffer the consequences.. Understood?”

“Pft! With this thing, I´m sure we will win!” the tiger said smugly.

“Yeeah! Let´s goo for that monkey!” the goat exclaimed.

“I´ll wait here. Come to me when you´re finished and tell me how it went.”

“Yesss, master.”

The chimera left while smiling at Grogar´s artefact.

“I wouldn´t be so confident, if I were you.” the ram advised quietly.

---

The sun set and was replaced by the moon, initiating the night. Scorpan landed in some part of the forest to stretch and rest.

“Oof! I haven´t flown this much in a long time.” Scorpan said as he stretched his wings.

“Well, this was my first flying in the sky.” Punja shrugged. “I guesss there´s always a new experience to try.”

Spike got off Scorpan after Punja.

“How is your wing?”

Spike looked at it. He tried to move it slightly. It hurt a little, but not as much as before.

“I think it´s better. But I´ll follow your advice and not move it for a long time.”

Punja nodded.

“That´s right. I´ll go get some herbs and something to eat now that the moon and the stars are bright.”

“We´ll come with you.” Said Scorpan. “Due to what happened before, I think it would be wise to go with company.”

“I´d prefer to go alone, since I know where to find what I´m looking for in the unknown. But… I´ll feel safer. But if you don´t want to lose my sight you´ll have to go faster!”

Punja left Scorpan and Spike running. Scorpan rolled his eyes and massaged his temples, sighing a bit in frustration.

“This kid… She will never accept help.”

“What happened to her parents?” Spike asked curiously as they followed Punja.

Scorpan shrugged while shaking his head.

“I´m not so sure. I remember hearing the crying of a baby. I followed that sound, and what I found next… was not a beautiful sight. I saw the corpses of two zebras, with some pieces of flesh absent. My guess is that some Timberwolves must have attacked them. Miraculously, their baby survived. It would be irresponsible to leave a baby alone in the forest, so I took her under my wing.”

“Did she ever wonder about her parents?”

“There was a time she did. I told her when she was older. But she never really thought about them that much. She´s quite happy with me. The only thing, though, is that she´d like to meet another zebra.”

“Yeah… I know how that feels.”

“What´s your name kid?”

“Spike.”

“Spike, were you raised by ponies?”

Spike was genuinely surprised by the question.

“How did you know?”

“Well, firstly, you know a lot about Equestria´s history, almost as if you were by ponies! Secondly, you know Starswirl. Not many non pony creatures know him. And because…”

Scorpan inspired and expired. Spike thought he was about to cry.

“Are you ok?”

Scorpan took some time to answer.

“From the first moment I saw you, I knew it. I didn´t know if whether to ask you this or not. I didn´t want to overwhelm you. But now that we know each other a little, I think it´s time.”

Scorpan looked at the stars.

“Let me tell you a story. Thousands of years ago, some time after I betrayed my brother, my father died. So, I had to take his place. Days after my coronation, my mother died. At the time of my rule, I was in a very vulnerable state and had very little confidence in myself. I had lost all my family and was left to rule alone. I always had the idea in my mind that no matter what I´d do, it would always backfire But I tried my best and followed my father´s teachings, since it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, none of them prepared me for what that dreadful day brought. A satyr king known as the Storm King came to the Kingdom of Midnight. He came with the intention to conquer it. He gave me two options: If I surrendered, none of the citizens would be hurt. If not, he would take it by force. I had very little time to choose. I remember the citizens telling me not to worry about them, for they were willing to sacrifice themselves for me. I wasn´t willing to let them die, but I didn´t want to handle my father´s hard work to some king. I was paralyzed by fear and very indecisive. The Storm King grew impatient, so, he ordered to attack. I tried to protect everyone and do what a king would do but… Everything happened so fast. In just the blink of an eye, the castle was destroyed. Thousands of dead bodies were lying on the ground. Nobody survived. I was the only one standing alive. The Storm King could have decided to kill me at that moment and end all my pain. But he thought it would be more humiliating if I stayed alive. So, he turned me into one of his slaves.”

Spike was speechless. He felt really bad for Scorpan. He must have been very alone for a really long time. Spike couldn´t bear being alone for more than one day. He imagined the pain of being alone for a thousand years…

“Wow, Scorpan.. I- I am so sorry for what happened.”

Scorpan put his finger in Spike´s mouth.

“I´m not finished yet. And this isn´t about me. It´s about you.” he explained while pointing at him.”

“What?” Spike asked in surprise and confusion.

“During the time I was a slave, some of the guards laughed at me calling me “king”. Some slaves reproached me or wondered what kind of a king would let this happen to himself. Because of that, I started hating myself like I never did before. I hated myself for what I did to Tirek, for not being a good king… I even started to think that life didn´t make sense! Fortunately, two rays of sunshine gave me hope…”

He looked at Spike tenderly. Some tears formed in his eyes.

“I can see both of them in you.”

Spike raised an eyebrow confused.

“One night I was crying alone, outside the slaves´ chambers. Without expecting it, I heard a feminine voice asking what was wrong and if I was ok. I couldn´t see anything, only a pair of emerald eyes. At first, I didn´t want to talk about it and I told her, but she insisted on me to tell the truth. So, with no choice I told her all the story. When I finished the pair of eyes came closer to me, finally revealing her whole form. It was the most beautiful sight I´d ever seen. She was a tall purple female dragon with green spikes. Like yours.”

Spike gasped. His eyes got watery.

“Was she- my- mother?“

Emotions made him choke in his words, but Scorpan understood what he wanted to say. He nodded in response.

“Her name was Barbara. She looked so intimidating yet nurturing at the same time. She wrapped her wing around me and comforted me. Suddenly, another dragon appeared. He was a bigger dragon than Barbara. Like her, he looked very intimidating. But he also looked so majestic and noble. His name was Firestone. Apparently, he was looking for his wife. After Barbara explained to him what happened, he also offered me his support. From that day on, we became very good friends.”

“Was he tough and rough?” asked Spike.

“He was tough and rough.” Scorpan replied while rubbing the young dragon´s spikes.

Spike laughed. But his smile dropped quickly when he realized that his parents were slaves.

“Why weren´t they in the Dragonlands.?”

“Some dragons were taken by force by the Storm King. He wanted them to be part of his army, for he thought that they were the fiercest creatures. They were big, they could burn villages… The perfect destruction tool! Of course, he couldn´t take the biggest ones. But he could take small ones, according to dragon standards. Unfortunately, Firestone and Barbara were small…”

“I see..”

“And that was no the only thing! Dragon eggs were truly valuable. Many creatures took dragon eggs to sell or give them to the richest rulers. Fortunately, in my kingdom that was illegal. But there were others which didn´t forbid it…”

Spike was beginning to understand why dragons were so aggressive against other creatures. Stealing an egg from them is basically stealing a child! Those poor dragons…

Scorpan´s voice made Spike come back to reality.

“When they got enough trust in me, they decided to reveal me a secret. I couldn´t tell anyone, if the Storm King found out… he would take it away from them. They took me to their chambers. There was a cloth covering something with an oval shape. I had my suspicions of what was. They were confirmed the moment Barbara uncovered it. Can you guess what it was?”

“My egg…” Spike said softly, full of emotion.

Scorpan nodded slowly.

“I felt happy and scared for them at the same time. Happy because they were about to be parents. Scared because the Storm King could take their future child from them. I promised them to stay quiet. I wanted to see that baby dragon with his parents. Besides, I also wanted to be an uncle figure to that baby. I remember taking care of it along them!” Scorpan smiled at the memories of being beside that dragon egg. Then, he sighed sadly. “Unfortunately, it never happened.”

Spike got nervous. Something awful must have happened to them if they aren´t with him now, because they seemed to love him so much. He gulped and inspired before asking what happened next.

“What happened next?”

Scorpan inspired and expired.

“Apparently, someone discovered us. So, without expecting it, one day, the guards broke out in the chambers, trying to get the egg. By that time, I was working outside. But I stopped immediately when I heard Barbara scream. What I saw when I entered to their room…”

Scorpan looked at Spike, doubting if he should tell Spike everything. But the little dragon was begging him to continue with his watery eyes.

“Please…” Spike said softly. “I want to know the truth…”

Scorpan looked down.”

“I saw Firestone lying over a pound of blood. Your father died trying to protect Barbara and you.”

Spike gasped in shock.

“Their next victim was going to be Barbara, but she was determined to fight until the end. She blew fire at the guards, keeping them away from you. I had to do something. So, I tried to keep them away from her. The fight was long and hard. We were about to win. But then…” Scorpan stopped again. This was very hard for him, but he kept going for Spike.

“An arrow hit her. I remember yelling her name and holding her in my arms. Before she died, she asked me a very important favour: She asked me to protect you and take you somew. After that, she gave out her last breath.”

Spike stayed quiet. He couldn´t say anything. He just felt so bad for his parents. He broke down in tears. Scorpan noticed it and wrapped him around his wing.

“I´m so sorry. It´s very hard, I know. What happened to them was awful. They didn´t deserve to die.”

Some tears streamed down Scorpan´s face. One of them fell on Spike. Noticing his pain, he put his claw on his wing.

“It´s not your fault.” Spike said while caressing his wing.

Scorpan sniffed. He dried his tears and went on with his story.

“At that moment, I just felt so bad. I failed every loved one. My brother, Starswirl, my kingdom, your parents… But I was not going to fail you. It was the only thing I could do for your parents. I saw a guard taking your egg. I don´t know how, it just came out of me, but with only seeing it, a fire inside me travelled around my back and made me kick the guard so hard that I left him unconscious. I took your egg before it fell to the ground, and I flew away as fast as I could.”

“You were a slave no longer.” Spike said.

Scorpan shrugged.

“Yeah, but I was a fugitive.”

“How long were you with my egg?”

“For some time. My main priority was to take you to somewhere safe. So, I thought that the Dragonlands would be a safe spot. The problem was it was too far from where we were. Besides, your egg was getting cold. And normal fire couldn´t replace dragon fire.” Scorpan rubbed his forehead. “Oof, I spent entire nights trying to warm you up, singing you lullabies...”

“You talked to my egg?” Spike asked between laughs.

Scorpan blushed while looking away from Spike.

“Yes… It didn´t work either.”

“That´s why your voice was so familiar…”

“Huh?”

“When you and Punja found me, I heard a familiar voice telling me it was gonna be ok. That was you, right?”

Scorpan nodded.

“Smolder told me that sometimes, when baby dragons are inside their eggs, they can hear their parents´ voices. I guess my parents died before I could hear them.” Spike said sadly. But then he looked at Scorpan and smiled warmly at him. “At least I had the chance to hear you.”

Scorpan also smiled warmly at him.

“Your parents´ voices were very gorgeous, you would have loved them. Anyway, one night I camped at a forest. It was a very cold night. I was so worried about you. I knew if a dragon egg got too cold, the babies inside would never get out of their eggs. But suddenly, I saw something sparkling in the ground. It was a magical blue crystal. As soon as I watched the crystal, I got an idea. I wasn´t sure if it was going to work, but it was worth to try. I took the crystal and attached it to the branch, making a staff with it.”

Spike gasped.

“The staff of Sacanas?!”

Scorpan widened his eyes in surprise.

“How did you know?”

“It´s a long story…” Spike replied as he scratched his back.

“I used the staff to warm you up. Fortunately, it was as warm as dragon fire. That´s how your egg made it to the end.”

Spike smiled. Then, he got reflexive, thinking up a very serious question.

“Scorpan, why didn´t you keep me?”

“What?”

“You seemed to love me a lot. You could have kept my egg easily and raised me. But instead, you gave my egg to the ponies. I´m not asking because I don´t love them, they´re my family! I just ask because if you had kept me, you wouldn´t have been alone for so much time. Why?”

Scorpan breathed some air before answering.

“I did think about it, to be honest. But it couldn´t be possible. Not so long after I ran away, the Storm King´s guards almost caught us so many times. Not only that, other creatures tried to steal your egg from me! It wouldn´t be safe to keep you. Besides, I wasn´t so confident at that time to raise a child myself. I only got confidence when I found Punja.”

“I understand…”

“I couldn´t afford to keep you for so long. And we were still very far away from the Dragonlands. It was then that I saw a familiar castle far away. I realized that was the Castle of the Two sisters, which meant we were in Equestria! After thinking about it, Equestria would be a great place for you to live in. Ponies were warm, kind and cheerful creatures. Just like your parents! At first, I went to the Castle of the Two sisters, but it was destroyed. I didn´t know about the Nightmare Moon incident at the time. But fortunately, I saw a pony carrying a carriage. After asking him where he was heading to, he told me that he was going to Canterlot. I did want to reunite with Celestia and Luna, but I wasn´t sure if they wanted to see me. So, I asked him to take you to Celestia. And that´s how you ended up with ponies.”

At that moment Spike had so many emotions. Sadness for his parents´ fate, happiness because he finally knew they loved them, and satisfaction because he finally knew what happened to his parents.

“After all these years… I finally got what answers about them.” He hugged Scorpan. “Thank you much, Scorpan.” he thanked in tears.

Scorpan returned the hug. They were interrupted by Punja´s pants.

“Punja!” Spike exclaimed. “Did you get what you were looking for?”

“That´s not so important when the same thing that tried to eat us is roaming around!”

“Uh oh.”

Scorpan left Spike on the ground.

“Did he try to eat you?” he asked concerned.

Punja shook her head.

“If your first impulse is to attack, you should replace that thought by staying back. It has a weird jewel that can do magic! If you confronted it, your fate would be tragic.” Punja begged Scorpan.

“Wait. What?” asked Spike confused.

They hid after they heard three voices. They came from the chimera. They spied on it, making sure it didn´t see them. Punja was right. The chimera had a weird-looking ruby on its neck.

“I still don´t get how to use this thing!” the tiger exclaimed frustrated.

“Weeell you have too! We have to get that moonkey and draaagon.” The goat replied back.

Spike and Scorpan looked at each other. The chimera is looking for them? But why?

“Thissss isss ssso frussstrating.” the snake said.

“Haaaave you tried doing thiiis?” the goat asked, touching the ruby by the left side.

Suddenly, a yellow and black ray o magic went direct towards a tree, destroying it in the process.

“Huh! It worked.” the tiger said, genuinely surprised by what just happened.

“Indeed. With thiss deadly artefact, we´ll be able to feassst on thossse two.” the snake added, licking her lips and wearing a malicious smirk on her face.

The goat nodded. The tiger didn´t answer. It was busy smelling something.

“Whaaaat are you doing?”

“I smell something.”

At that moment, Spike, Scorpan and Punja hugged tightly, praying that the scent the chimera was smelling wasn´t theirs.

“I think it comes… from ponies.”

“Poniessss?”

“How maaaany do you smeeell?”

The tiger sniffed again.

“Thirteen. And there´s another familiar smell too. Hey, I have an idea. What about we feast on all those ponies? We´ll have plenty of food for days.”

“But what about the monkey and dragon? It´sss our missssion, after all.”

“He can wait! Like he said himself, he´s very patient. We´ll go after.”

“He? Who´s he?” Spike wondered in his mind.

“Weeelll. Considering weee haven´t eaaaten in days… Iii think iit´s a good idea.”

“That was close.” Punja said, sighing in relief.

“What are thirteen ponies doing in the Everfree?” Scorpan wondered.

“I don´t know.” Spike said. “But they´re in danger. We should warn them.”

Scorpan and Punja nodded in agreement. They left the bush they were hiding it running.

Author's Note:

I thought I wouldn´t make it for this week! Oof!

Comments

[TheClownPrinceofCrime]

Thank you for bringing the real Grogar in. Ah, it’s always refreshing to see him within a surprise, unlike Discord’s Grogar.

[Dianabel]

10226140
You´re welcome. He´s a very fun character to write.