Dragon Quest
Normally I put my notes at the end of the chapter, but words of warning are needed in this one as there is disturbing imagery ahead. And when I say that, I mean stuff that is incredibly out of place in the pony world. This has been a warning, don't say I didn't warn you. Also, I'm going to leave this. It's relevant.
Koops out!
"C'mon, Fluttershy, it'll be fun!
"There's nothing fun about dragons! Scary, yes! Fun, no!"
After Cali and the others came back from Appleoosa, things were calm for a while. There was an incident while they were gone involving a donkey and Pinkie apparently and Twilight being paranoid a few days after they returned, but neither really got too scary or serious (in the humans eyes at least). Most of them were more busy with their own jobs anyway to do much. Cali especially since she started to dig deeper into cooking. Today however everyone took off as Twilight told them about a special event known as the dragon migration. Now as some of the group was digging out a trench for safety, Twilight, Rainbow, Xavier, and Jasmine were trying to convince Fluttershy to join. Well, three of them were, Rainbow was trying to drag her out.
"But Fluttershy, the great dragon migration happens only once in a generation!" Twilight mentioned. "Do you really wanna pass up a chance like that?"
"Now that you put it that way, yes!" Fluttershy replied as she was wedging herself in the door as Rainbow pushed with all her might.
"M-maybe we shouldn't force her to join us?" Jasmine suggested.
"Yeah. She really doesn't seem like she wants to join us." Xavier added.
"We just don't want her to miss out." Twilight explained.
"Miss out on what? Dragons? Big, scaly, fire-breathing dragons?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Well... yeah!"
"Thanks, but... no thanks!" Rainbow finally let up and looked her in the eye.
"Look, Fluttershy, I watched that boring butterfly migration with you, so now it's your turn to watch the dragon migration with me! You owe me!"
"I... said... no!" In a desperate attempt, Fluttershy vaulted off the door frame and into Rainbow, knocking the wind out of her. Before long she was out of sight leaving a dazed Rainbow to recover.
"Okay, I guess I'll let you off the hook this time."
"I told you guys she wouldn't want to join." Xavier said as he helped Rainbow up. "You should just give up on inviting her along when dragons are involved."
"I get it, I get it."
"Well at least everyone else is ready to watch." Jasmine said with a smile. "Speaking of, I think the others should be finished with the trench."
"You're right. Let's go."
Later
Within the trench dug out by their friends, the group donned some tactical camouflage outfits and sat waiting with binoculars (Except Xavier with his telescope) It was both exciting and tense as they waited.
"I don't see any dragons." Twilight said, not noticing one in the sky with her binoculars.
"Me neither." Applejack nodded.
"Me neither neither." Pinkie added, though her binoculars were backwards.
"Shoot!" Rainbow cursed, feeling extremely angry and worried at the same time. "You don't think we missed them, do you?"
"No, I don't think so. We're just a little early, and I'm glad we are." Twilight said shaking her head. "This way, we can watch every moment of the migration without bringing any unwanted attention to ourselves!"
"That's good." Huston said.
"Yep, I've had enough close calls with dragons in a lifetime." Cali said, waiving her hand.
"Well try not to attract attention if you want to keep it that way." Zenix said with a grin and a chuckle.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cali said as she closed in on the merchant.
"Close calls, huh?" Alex pondered as he looked up to the sky. He was no stranger to those, but for some reason this one left something in his mind...
It wasn't long however as the sky darkened. At first Alex thought that the dragon migration was starting, so he turned to face his friends.
"Ay lads-" To his surprise however, not only was his friends no where to be seen, but he wasn't in the trench anymore. Instead he was standing in a city, but it was much more run down with broken windows, falling debris and overgrowth on some buildings. As Alex looked around the ruins, his eyes locked onto some glowing lights around the corner. He ran over to take a look, but when he did he was shocked to see a humanoid figure running at him. The thing about it though was that it was glowing and see-through, almost like a ghost. Alex went on guard seeing it run at him, but that changed to confusion as it ran right through him, literally. Alex watched it turn the corner, wondering why it was running. At least until he heard a loud, wed thump from the direction the figure came from.
He was unable to get a good reading on it due to it being so dark, but when it entered the light of a broken street lamp his heart practically stopped. What was coming closer was some... thing crawling with a large, grotesque arm that had chunks decaying enough to see the bone and a black substance dripping from it. As it dragged itself into the light, Alex could see that it's body wasn't doing as well either, as it looked like a grey rock with some grey muscles and bone exposed. It's face was a disturbing mix of a dangling eye and a mouth that was about as wide as it's own body. It also had bones sticking out of where it's right arm and left leg were. It's entire being was enough to send shivers and chills down his spine. But before he could react any further-
"Yoo-Hoo!" Alex snapped back to reality when he heard a loud bang, and looking up he saw confetti flying as Rarity showed up wearing a flamboyant outfit and walking down a red carpet. "Well, what do you think?" Rarity asked as she posed smoothly in her outfit. "Aren't I the toast of the trench or what?"
"You'll be toast alright, when the dragons see you parading around in that getup." Applejack said as she and the others looked at her with different expressions.
"You look very nice, Rarity, but could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?" Twilight suggested as she used her magic to clean up her entrance.
"Nice is an understatement. I look fabulous! Who says camouflage has to be drab?" Rarity declared. As the group was distracted by Rarity, Cali and Xavier noticed Alex in the background, and they were a bit concerned as he looked pale.
"Hey Alex, you okay?" Cali started, getting Alex's attention.
"Yeah. You look like you saw a ghost."
"I-it's nothing." Alex answered, though he didn't exude confidence like he normally did. The two wanted to ask more, but-
"Ahoy, maties! Dragons ho!" They heard Pinkie say in a hushed tone. True to her word, the sky was filled with hundreds of dragons, all of them different sizes and shapes. And with the perfect vantage point, everyone took their binoculars and looked up into the sky in awe. One of the dragons even did a loop.
"Wow, amazing!" Twilight said in awe. Rainbow however looked a bit unimpressed at the trick.
"Pfft, pretty lame move. Is that all they've got?" As she bragged however she never noticed that the same dragon got bumped into by another dragon. Most would give an annoyed look, maybe even shout profanities. The dragon however took it another step and spewed fire in the culprit's direction. The same way the trench was as everyone save Rainbow ducked.
"Well how 'bout that move? Lame enough fer you?" Cali asked smugly as he looked at Rainbow who was a bit charred.
"Uh, not so much. The word 'fierce' comes to mind." She said with a bit of fear in her voice.
"And formidable." Rarity added.
"And super-duper scary!" Pinkie also added, though she was cowering inside the trench after the recent blast alongside Jasmine and Zenix.
"Very much so..." Jasmine agreed, Cali crouching down to comfort her. At least before a cupcake was offered to her via the town's resident dragon, wearing an apron and pulling around a cart of baked goods and tea.
"Yeah. Us dragons are definitely a force to be reckoned with." Spike said with pride, at least until he heard snickering from Rainbow.
"Yeah, right, Spike. That's one of the scariest aprons I've ever seen!" Rainbow snickered upon seeing him before going into full-blown laughter with Pinkie, Applejack and Alex joining in.
“What’s wrong with wearing an apron?!” Spike demanded, feeling upset about it. “You won’t be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales- erm... Feathers… that’s one tough stain!”
"One tough stain against one lame dragon." Her laughter was cut short alongside the others via the other humans giving them hard bonks to the head.
"Alright, that's enough out of you." Xavier said with a glare. "There's no need to insult him like that. Didn't we talk about that?"
“Indeed!" Rarity agreed. "Spike’s style is unique! He doesn’t have to look like other dragons!”
“Or act like them.” Twilight stated. This however started to make the dragon feel a bit bad about himself.
“My little Spike-wikey is perfect the way he is.” Rarity said, ruffling his spines while Spike started to get upset.
“I don’t…act like other dragons?” He asked, confused and hurt.
“Oh no even close!” Pinkie answered with a bright grin.
"But why would you want to, Spike?" Applejack asked.
"Yes. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of." Rarity declaired, getting some hope out of Spike.
"What's that?"
"The cutest widdle chubby cheeks! Ooooo!" She answered, smushing his face between her hooves. This however added embarrassment to his current emotions.
"Uh, I think you're going a bit far." Huston tried to say with worry. The other humans save for Alex were sharing these thoughts, though none of the ponies noticed.
"Cute?! Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?"
"Oh, sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red. It is most becoming." As all the ponies looked at him in glee, Spike finally became fed up with it and growled.
"Rrrgh!" Hopping out of the trench, Spike stormed off in rage as his friends watched him. Half were worried about him, though the other half were watching him like he was a puppy.
"Oh, isn't he adorable when he waddles off in anger?"
"Waddle?! Rrrrrggggh!" Once Spike was out of earshot, the humans looked at their pony friends with confused offense
"You guys think you went a bit too far with the teasing?" Cali asked.
"Oh we weren't teasing him, darling. We were merely complimenting him."
"Well you guys didn't seem to see that he hated your 'compliments'." Zenix said, putting air quotes around compliments.
"Oh he's fine." Twilight said. As they were talking, Xavier noticed Alex leaning at the edge of the trench, watching the dragons with an empty gaze on him.
"Hey, you okay?" Xavier asked as he walked over.
"Hmm? Oh, 'tis nothin'." Alex answered, though he seemed distant.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Ay just... zoned out fer a while."
"That's not like you, Alex." Xavier mentioned, though he sighed and turned. "Well if you need to talk to anyone, you can come to me."
"...Ye've changed quite a bit, ye know?"
"Eh, I guess Jasmine's rubbing off on me."
"In more ways than one?" Alex asked with a smirk, Xavier's face growing red.
"Shut up."
Night, Alex's Room
After watching the dragon migration come and go, the sun was setting in the horizon, so everyone went home. After a nice dinner cooked up by Cali, the humans all went to bed. The thing is though that one didn't get a good night, and the unfortunate one was Alex. His room was on the second floor next to Huston's. In the room was a dresser with a sizable hamster cage for Pepper, a stack of comic books, a few toy models of things like robots and monsters from said comics, and a bed with a metal frame. On it was Alex, though he wasn't having a peaceful slumber as he tossed and turned with a uncomfortable look on his sweating face.
"Mmnn... Noo..." He muttered in his sleep, his tone one of discomfort. "Staayyy... Baccck..." His tossing and turning only amplified as he slept until he hit a breaking point. "Noo... NO!" Sitting up in a panic, Alex woke up gasping and sweating. His eyes were wide with fear as he looked around his darkened room.
"W-what even was that thing?"
Morning
Like every day it was a bright and shiny morning, and as everyone was waking up they began their daily schedule. Even the humans as Cali cooked up some breakfast, though they were missing a certain athlete.
"Anyone getting an odd case of deja vu?" Xavier asked.
"Oh yeah." Cali said with Huston and Jasmine nodding, leaving Zenix in the dark.
"I'm sorry, what's happening?"
"Well before you and Alex got here, Jasmine once hid in her room due to sad memories." Xavier explained. "I wonder if he's-"
"Mmorn..." Turning to the kitchen's entrance, they all became concerned when they saw that Alex joined them, though he was definetly not okay as he has some serious bed head and a look of tiredness.
"Whoa, you okay man?"
"Nngh, not really..." Alex admitted as he walked over to the coffee machine and began to make some. "Let's just say last night was pretty horrible."
"Did you get some nightmares?"
"Ye don't know the extent, lassie." Alex said as he finished pouring the water. As he was about to hit the power button however, Cali stopped him.
"No you don't. What you need is sleep, not coffee."
"Aw c'mon lassie." Alex complained. "Ye really think ay can sleep now?"
"Well I'll help you. I have a day off today, so I can do that." Cali said as she grabbed Alex's wrist. "You guys have a good day."
"It's unlike you to play the caretaker, Cali." Huston said."
"Well I know it's better than coffee." Once Cali left the kitchen, the others resumed their breakfast.
"So... Did anything happen yesterday?" Zenix asked.
"Well me and Cali did notice that Alex looked pale a few moments before the dragons arrived. But when I asked, his answer avoided the topic, so I gave up."
"That's... unsettling." Zenix said.
"Well it's Alex, so it should be fine." Xavier said.
"You're avoiding the topic quite a bit..."
"Well knowing Alex he would rather not have us worry about him. He'll tell us his problems when he feels like it."
"I'll have to agree." Huston added. "He's like Applejack in a sense. They both are proud and stubborn to the pointo f trying to handle problems themselves."
"Eh, whatever you say." Zenix shrugged. "So, anyone got any plans?"
"Well I was planning on going over to Twilight's place." Huston admitted. "I wanted to ask her about any books that involve the arts here in Equestria."
"I was actually planning on heading over soon as well." Zenix said. "I wanted to pick up a good book to read."
"Well don't think about any 'Daring Do' books." Xavier said. "I'm pretty sure Rainbow checked all of them out after that crazy chase."
"Well I was never a fan of that genre."
"Well I want to go over as well." Xavier said after a pause. "I wanted to check up on Spike after yesterday."
"Sounds like we're all going." Jasmine smiled. "I also wanted to check on him."
"Right then. Let's clean up and head out."
After cleaning up and telling Cali where they were going, they set out for the library for their own reasons. They didn't know however the extent of the things around them, as in the library some drama was going on. And they heard it when they got close with a loud "WHAT!?" that caused them all to pause.
"W-what was that!?" Huston questioned.
"It came from the library." Xavier said as he took his sword and ran to it along with the others. Once they got there they burst through the door ready for a fight. "What happened!?" What they saw was no fight but instead a mess of books and Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow looking at Spike in disbelief.
"Spike want's to join the dragon migration!" Rainbow yelled.
"He want's to what!?" Jasmine questioned as Spike began to pack for the trip.
"Spike, that's nonsense talk!" Rainbow said turning back to Spike as he was placing a sandwich onto a cloth alongside a stick. "I know that you're a dragon, but those dragons mean business! They're big, and tough, and scary-"
"And I'm small, and meek... and I like to wear aprons." Spike countered as he tossed his apron to the floor. "See? This is exactly why I need to spend time with them."
"All I'm saying is that you could get hurt."
"Darling, this time I really do have to agree with Rainbow Dash." Rarity added as she began to rub his head. "I don't want those big, ugly, nasty dragons to hurt one little scale on your cutesy-wutesy head!" Spike wasn't having any of it however as he slapped her hoof off of his head and finished tying the cloth to the stick.
"I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind." Spike said as he began to walk to the door.
"Oh, uh, quick, do something! Stop him before it's too late!" Rarity cried to her friends. Rainbow took the initiative and flew over to Spike, grabbing his sack and tried to pull him back.
"Ngh! Hey! Give it back!" As this was happening, Twilight and the humans all watched from the sidelines. Now though Xavier and Huston reacted.
"That's enough!" Xavier yelled as he pushed Rainbow off of Spike and Huston pulled on the sack to help Spike. Unfortunately their grips slipped and the sack flew over to Twilight. As she took the sack into her magic, she closed her eyes and sent it over to Spike.
"Don't tell me you think he should go?" Rainbow questioned.
"Yes, Spike." Twilight encouraged. "I couldn't answer your questions. My books couldn't either. I understand why you want to look elsewhere. I truly believe you need to go on this quest. And we have no right to stop you." She finished her sentence with a bit of aggression to prove a point as she turned to her friends.
"I suppose not." Rarity admitted.
"I still say you're nutty, but hey, I've done lots of nutty things." Rainbow said.
"We know." Everyone said, getting a glare from the pegasus.
"I still don't know what's happening." Zenix wondered with a raised eyebrow.
"Same. Can we get some context?"
"Last night, Spike and I went through the library to find some information on dragons and where Spike might have come from. Unfortunately there was no information because-"
"Dragons are not only hard to find but are also hard to talk to since they scare ponies." Everyone looked at Zenix strangely. "I wanted to get some information on the different species here in Equestria. The only thing I learned is that other races are incredibly hard to get along with without a motivator."
"Anyway, because there is no information on dragons, Spike want's to join the migration to learn more about being a dragon."
"That makes sense." Huston said with understanding. "I get where he's getting at."
"You do?" Spike wondered.
"Everyone has thoughts of leaving the nest once in their life." Huston mentioned.
"He's right." Zenix agreed. "Let him go for a while. He'll find his way sooner or later."
"Well then, I guess this is goodbye, Spike." Twilight said as she hugged Spike. "We can't wait to hear about it when you return."
"Yeah, we hope your trip–"
"Quest."
"–your quest answers some of your pesky 'Who am I?' questions." Rainbow farewelled as well.
"Thanks, everypony. I know it will." Spike thanked as he turned and left the library, with everyone waving goodbye.
"Goodbye, Spikey-wikey!"
"Good luck out there!"
"Go get 'em, big guy!"
"Stay safe buddy!"
"We have faith in you!" After Spike got a good distance away from them however, Rarity spoke in a more hushed tone through her smile.
"We're following him, right?"
"Of course."
"Wait, you were planning on following him!?" Xavier asked with concern.
"Well, yeah." Twilight admitted. "I want him to learn more about himself, but he's still a baby."
"Plus these are dragons we're talking about."
"Dash, he's also a-" Xavier stopped himself after realizing something. "Oh now I get it."
"What do you get?" Jasmine asked.
"Well he's a dragon that was raised by ponies in comfort. Dragons in this world live like the ones in stories in our world." The other three humans thought about it for a moment, but they also got the idea with some "Ooohhh..." "Alright, we'll follow him. Just let me get some things."
"What are you getting?"
"Something that will be useful in staying hidden."
"Okay, I didn't mean like that..."
After Xavier grabbed the things he needed and told Cali their plans, the group all headed out to follow Spike. What confused Xavier however was that Huston had a backpack that was quite large, though he didn't dwell on it. It was tough for the group to keep out of sight of both Spike and the dragons overhead, but they managed to stay hidden. As they got close to the dragon lands as they were called, the group took a detour in the forest to reveal what was in the backpack. It was a costume made by Rarity, though it was nothing like the dragons of this world as it was covered in gems and the eyes weren't straight. The ponies were getting into it, though many were unsure. and Rainbow was the first to speak up.
"I'm telling you, we'll never pass for a real dragon!"
"Oh, pish-posh! This costume is fabulous, one of my finer creations." Rarity retorted.
"No offence miss Rarity, but it might be 'too' fabulous." Huston mentioned.
"Looks more like a cheap Halloween costume made for some kids." Zenix mentioned.
"Well whatever works." Xavier said as he reached into his pocket, pulling out three earpieces. "Here, put these on.'
"What are they?" Twilight asked as she complied. It was then that Xavier pulled out his holo-scope and turned it on.
"They'll allow us to stay in touch." Xavier said into the device, his voice coming out of the earpieces.
"Whoa, that's cool." Rainbow admitted. "But wait, how are you going to see things?"
"With... this." Xavier said as he pulled out another device. Looking at it, everyone was surprised to see that in his palm was a metal orb the size of tennis ball with a large, green lens and the four joints that he got from Hearth Warming. The "spider" blinked once it saw the light of day, it even gave a wave. "This here is the 'Spy-1-drone'. Or, 'S.P.1.Dro' for short."
"...It's a spider robot..."
"No, a spider is hairy, makes webs, and has many more legs and eyes!" Xavier shouted, one part defensive and another part scared. "This is even better."
"How so?" Upon Rainbow's question, Xavier turned the holo-scope's screen on. Once it was on, Sp1Dro began to crawl up Xavier's arm, and as it did the screen showed footage of what it was seeing.
"I linked it up to my scope so that anything it see I can as well." He explained as it finished on his shoulder. Once it stopped, everyone looked impressed.
"Okay, that's actually awesome."
"Yeah, it's quite the feat." Xavier said with a bit of pride. Even the drone looked pleased when Xavier picked it up and put it onto the costume. "Just let it sit on you in a hidden spot and we'll be able to see everything. And if the costume doesn't work, just put the little guy into a place that won't be found and we'll know what's happening."
"Right." The ponies said as the finished putting the costume on. Once they did they walked towards the heart of the dragon lands, the humans gathering around Xavier and his holo-scope. True to his word, they were able to see the ponies moving closer to the large crater where the dragons were resting in.
"Wow, you've really outdone yourself this time." Zenix complimented.
"Thanks. Now let's see what's happening." Up at the top of the crater, everyone saw how vast yet barren the dragon lands truly were. There wasn't much around outside of the red rocks and lava pits other than the dragons that littered the land. Although seeing the amount dragons alone was both impressive and scary, they had a mission and looked around to find Spike. "There, I see him." Sp1Dro pointed into the crater where Spike could be seen alongside some dragons around the size of a human adult.
"Good eye. Let's go." Clumsily sliding into the crater, the ponies got a better look at what was happening. When they did, everyone saw that the dragons were teenagers as they watched two wrestle. At least until Spike interrupted.
"Um, excuse me? Uh, hi. I'm Spike." He greeted, the teenage dragons all staring at him confused.
"You sure your name is Spike and not Shrimp?!" At least until a purple and yellow dragon stepped up with a rude comment, leaving all the other teenagers to laugh at him.
"No, it's Spike!" He defended, though he wasn't looking so confident. "I'm not, I mean, I'm sure about that..."
"You look more like a Peewee to me." A brown dragon added, rousing even more laughter.
"Hey guys, c'mon, seriously." A red dragon said calmly as he walked over. "Leave him alone or he might fly away." It was then he grabbed Spike by the tail, lifting him up as he smiled. "That is, uh, if he had any." As he dropped Spike and laughed alongside his fellow teens, both the humans and the ponies were already upset.
"Grr, these guys are really getting on my nerves." Rainbow growled.
"Well hold it together. If you defend him you'll only draw attention." Zenix said.
"What? You don't want to help!?"
"He's got a point." Xavier said. "Remember that these are dragons you're facing with. And you're in the heart of their home. Unless you want a repeat of the first one I would cool it." Despite being hesitant, Rainbow held back.
"You fly in on your mommy's back during the migration?" The brown dragon mocked.
"Not exactly..."
"No, no, can't you see baby Spike just hatched? I bet he still sucks his claw at night!" This roused even more laughter form the dragons.
"No, I haven't sucked my claw in months!" And Spike only made it worse as he admitted he did once, the dragons laughing even harder.
"Well, if you weren't just hatched, how come we haven't seen you around before?" The red dragon questioned, confused and suspisious of where Spike came from.
"Oh, well, y'see, I live in Ponyville and–"
"Hahaha! Ponyville? That explains it!" The red dragon exclaimed, going down to Spike's level and crawling up to him intimidating. "I knew there was something vaguely pony-ish about you! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were part pony!"
"Who, me? I'm not part pony! I'm all dragon, see? Raar!" Spike's small roar caused a pause amongst the dragons.
"Or maybe you're a pony in a dragon costume." The red dragon taunted, the crowd laughing at the idea.
"A pony in a dragon costume...!" The purple dragon laughed, ironically leaning against the dragon that was actually ponies in one.
"Aheh... yeah... hilarious."
"At least we know the consume is enough to fool them..." Jasmine noted, though she felt bad about the whole thing.
"Nnh, I am a real dragon!" Spike defended, though his confidence continued to betray him.
"Oh, yeah? Prove it."
"Well... how?"
"By acting like one!" The red dragon exclaimed, turning to his fellow dragons. "Who's up for a little belching contest?" The teenage dragons began to cheer. Soon some of them lined up like an army, only they were about to do something vulgar. Each dragon stepped up, giving a loud belch that lest fire forward, each one going different distances. At least until the brown stepped up, releasing a belch that went far and hot enough to burn the eyebrows of the pony's costume. The dragons cheered, though the non-dragons weren't impressed.
"This is entertaining?" Zenix questioned. "What is this, the dragon lands or a frat house?"
"I wish I could tell you..." Xavier muttered as the red dragon leaned down.
"You think you can beat that, Peewee?" The red dragon asked smugly, letting Spike walk up to the line to try. When he did however a familiar sensation overwhelmed him as his cheeks bulged and he clutched his stomach. A moment later he burped out a scroll, confusing the dragons as the red dragon took hold of it.
"From the desk of Princess Celestia. Dear Spike, please te– Ha! Get this, guys! Spike's pen-pals with a namby-pamby pony princess!" He read out loud, stopping to make fun of Spike as he crumpled the scroll and tossed it. Right into a pool of lava that the ponies were standing next to.
"How can he just throw that away?! That letter could be something important!" Twilight said with annoyance and anger.
"We can't worry about that now, Twilight. We're here to help Spike!" Rainbow mentioned.
"She's right. Don't do anything rash." Xavier added.
"I know, I know!" Twilight commented leaning down. "There's no reason to disrespect Princess Celestia that way!"
"Maybe tail wrestling is more your speed." The red dragon wondered, though Spike didn't exactly know what to say. The other dragons however loved that idea as they cheered again. Two dragons, a skinnier grey dragon and a larger purple dragon, stepped up and grabbed each other's tails with their own. The red dragon stepped up and put his claw onto the point the two tails met, making the ordeal look like arm wrestling. "Ready... GO!" The two dragons began to tug one each other's tails, hoping to pull their opponent down. After a bit of struggling, the purple dragon gave a mighty pull, sending the grey dragon to the floor. "The winner!" As the red dragon raised the purple one's tail high and the grey one cradled his sore tail, Spike held his own in concern.
"Good old tail wrestling..."
"We can't let little Spikey-wikey wrestle one of them! He'll get clobbered!" Rarity said with concern.
"Let's go!" Twilight declared, confusing everyone as the ponies walked over. "I challenge Spike to a tail wrestle!" She said with a deeper voice, trying to sound intimidating and manly, though their presence confused the dragons.
"Who's this weirdo?"
"I think he's Crackle's cousin." Looking over, everyone saw a dragon that strangely looked exactly like the costume.
"Oh, that would explain it."
"And yet it raised even more questions..." Xavier sighed, knowing he would never get his answers. With the ponies walking up to challenge Spike (And a bit of struggle getting the costume's tail into Spike's grasp) the two were ready to start.
"Ready? Go!" Predicably, the only one fighting was Spike. What wasn't was that Spike was struggling to pull on the costume's tail, leaving his friends in confusion and disbelief. So much so that Rarity and Rainbow silently and collectively decided to just flop over and let Spike win to keep his pride. "The winner!" The red dragon announced, lifting Spike by his tail for a moment before dropping him. This time however the teenage dragons cheered for him rather laughing at him. "Nice going, little Spike! Maybe you are a dragon after all!"
"Yeah! Maybe I am!" Spike said, his confidence returning to him as the girls walked off to the side.
"Rainbow Dash, I can't believe your silly plan actually worked." Rarity said, one part complimenting and one part insulting. The insult earned a kick to her side. "Ow."
"I wish you didn't though..." Xavier groaned, his hand on his face.
"What? Why is-"
"Alright, who's next?" Spike asked confidently."
"Getting a little cocky, huh? I like that. So how about you wrestle... him!" Pointing to the other dragons, everyone looked at a small green dragon, Spike feeling confident that he could win. At least before the others moved, revealing that their bottom half was basically the size of a small table and a tail about as long as some of the teenage dragons. It didn't help that it could retract and extend plenty of spikes around said tail. "Go!" The outcome was predictable as Spike flew through the air.
"Give Spike a inch he'll take a mile. And give frat boys an opportunity, they'll take it as a challenge..."
"So, Spike, you haven't exactly proven yourself as a dragon yet, have you?"
After the red dragon grabbed Spike from the distance, his friends saw that his mood fell once again, still unsure about what it meant to be a dragon. Right now though he was being carried up a mountain of gems, putting him down when they reached the top.
"But... I get an A for effort?"
"Huh, maybe. Let's see how you do in this next contest." The dragon said with uncertainty. Right before pushing the baby dragon down the pile, sending him straight to the bottom. "King of the hoard!" Suddenly the other teenage dragons rushed the pile, climbing up and wrestling with the red dragon on the top, many being tossed off. As those dragons recovered and tried again, Spike began to slowly clamber up the pile, some determination in him.
"This is my chance." He told himself, focusing on proving himself as he closed his eyes. He was so focused that he didn't the dragon that was rapidly crawling at him.
"Not so fast!" At least before they were rammed by a certain "dragon".
"I really don't know what to say about this..." Huston said under his breath.
"I know what you mean." Zenix said. "These guy's make Rainbow look peaceful."
"I heard that!" As everyone was talking, they watched as Spike managed to reach the top where the red dragon was wrestling against the brown. They never noticed that Spike was there, and Spike didn't notice that his spines were aimed right for the red's bottom, pricking him enough to knock him off balance and send him and the one he was fighting down the pile. Once he opened his eyes he saw that he was the only one who wasn't on the ground dazed, giving him a sense of pride as he stood proud.
"King of the Hoa- Woah!" Suddenly his foot slipped, sending him tumbling down the pile again, landing right in front of the feet of the red dragon.
"And he was so close too." Jasmine noted sadly.
"Looks like this is another fail for you, little Spike. Can't wait to watch you fail at lava cannonball, too."
Perched up on a tall rock pillar, the teenage dragons, Spike, and the ponies were looking down at a pool of lava.
"Whoever makes the biggest lava splash is the ultimate dragon! Geronimo!" The red dragon announced, jumping into the pool below. All the other dragons followed suit, each one hitting the lava with a tall splash.
"CANNONBALL!" The last one was the brown one, and he landed with a splash that rose even higher, some of the lava hitting the rock Spike and the ponies were standing on. Each of them cringed, but the girls were the most worried.
"I think Spike's on his own here." Xavier sighed.
"Unless you three want to try your luck getting boiled." Zenix mentioned, everyone shivering at the thought.
"Sorry Spike..." Twilight muttered as she and her friends snuck off, leaving a worried Spike looking over the edge. His vision blurred as he peered over, and his bravery shattered, dashing backwards and shaking.
"What's wrong, Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?" The red dragon taunted, the dragon-filled pool erupting in laughter. This laughter sparked something in Spike however, and his eyes narrowed as he stepped back to the edge. Taking one last moment to gulp his nerves down, he took the leap off the edge.
And did one hell of a bellyflop onto the lava's surface. As he sank in even the teenage dragons cringed at the impact. At least he rose to the surface to face the awestruck teenagers. "Ugh... was I... that bad?"
"No, dude, that was awesome!" The red dragon praised with awe, surprising Spike. "No pony could live through a belly flop like that! You're one tough little dragon." The other dragons gave their own agreements, Spike finally feeling like he made it.
Later
Leaving the lava pool, the teenage dragons all prepared for "initiation". Soon enough, Spike was at the end of a "hallway" of teenage dragons holding their tails up like soldiers, letting Spike walk through to the red dragon.
"Spike, by belly flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy." He declared, raising his tail to pat Spike on his shoulders. "I hereby dub you 'rookie dragon', and will now perform the initiation ritual." Picking Spike up, he gave the baby dragon a noogie, leaving him dazed. "Now let's party dragon style!" The dragons cheered as they began to dance around and eat the gems around the crater. They kept this up until the teenagers were all on the ground tired.
"Man, was that a great party." Spike sighed.
"Great? Huh, maybe by Ponyville standards." The red dragon said, not impressed as he punched Spike's shoulder. "Stick with us, Spike. We still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon."
"I'm not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out with you guys forever." Overhearing the conversation, his friends were all shocked to hear.
"Forever?!" They uttered in shock.
"Spikey-wikey is going to stay with these awful dragons? Forever?" Rarity wondered with horror.
"This is terrible!" Jasmine panicked.
"I should've stopped him back at the library when I had the chance!" Rainbow said with regret.
"No, Rainbow Dash, this is all my fault! I encouraged him to go!" Twilight said.
"Are we sure this is bad?" Xavier asked, the humans staring at him and the ponies looking at Sp1Dro (The robot looked a bit nervous)
"What do you mean?!" Rainbow asked.
"Well, we decided to let him go so he could learn about being a dragon. If this is what he wants, who are we to say he shouldn't."
"But-"
"I'm just saying that he'll return if he wants. If not, we'll just have to say goodbye. Not every friendship lasts forever..." As Xavier's sentence trailed off, the group noticed that the dragons were getting up.
"Y'know, Spike, I think you just might be ready for a real dragon raid." The red dragon mentioned, the other dragons cheering, hyping Spike up. "There's a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby, and we're gonna swipe 'em!" But once he heard the objective, his smile faded into a frown.
"Aren't you totally psyched to go on this raid?" The brown dragon asked, giving Spike a flick.
"Oh yeah, I'm excited. I mean, I'm psyched."
"Alright then. Let's fly!" The red dragon announced, spreading his wings alongside the brown and yellow-purple dragons, flying off. Spike looked behind him and smiled, knowing he couldn't fly himself.
"Uh, sorry, guys! I guess I'll meet you back here at the crater! After the whole raid thing's over? We'll totally hang then!" He called, trying to feign sadness. At least before the brown dragon swooped down and grabbed him.
"Oh no, they took Spike! We've gotta go after them!" Rainbow yelled, running forward and trying to fly. Unfortunately she couldn't and ended up only dragging the girls along in panic. It was then Twilight and the humans noticed that Rainbow was dragging them straight to a lava pool.
"Rainbow, stop! You can't fly!" Xavier shouted.
"And you're ruining my fabulous costume!" With everyone telling her to stop, she complied to see that she was just about to fall straight into said pool.
"I'm sorry, but we gotta help Spike!" Rainbow yelled.
"Don't worry!" Xavier said, pushing a few buttons on his holo-scope. "I'll follow with Sp1Dro so we know his location."
"You're doing quite a lot for someone who didn't want to help."
"I never said I didn't." Xavier retorted, piloting Sp1Dro to follow the dragons. "I just know that there is potential danger when dealing with phoenixes." He stood up alongside his fellow humans. "You guys should head to the edge of the forest. We'll meet you when we confirm Spike's safety." He said as him and the humans ran to intercept the dragons. What they didn't notice however that they were missing a certain backpacker.
Later
"Alright, the nest should be around here." Xavier mentioned, looking at his holo-scope. "Stay quiet so we don't alert anyone."
"I hope's alright..."
"I hope so too. I lost him a while ago, but the nest is their target, so we can find him." As they were walking, they overheard cheering. The began to run closer, slowing down and crouching as they got close to see the dragons. The teens were cheering at Spike who was holding a bright colored egg, and they all wanted him to smash the egg. Spike looked at the egg, thinking about his options. But he made up his mind as he rose it up.
"No!" Right before tucking it away to protect it. "It's just a defenseless egg, like I was! And I'm not gonna let you hurt it!"
"What did you say?" The red dragon question irritated.
"I said no."
"No one says no to me." The red dragon began to close in on Spike, the baby looking worried. But before he could lay a claw on him, a tornado nailed his head. It wasn't enough to hurt, but it was enough to daze him as him and the other dragons looked at the humans all of them looking ready for a fight.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Xavier growled, holding his sword close.
"Guys?!" Spike spoke with confusion. Unlike many who saw them for the first time however, the dragons didn't look confused at meeting a human.
"Really? And you're going to stop us?" The red dragon questioned.
"If you even attempt it." Huston said in a low tone. "It would be best for you to walk away.
"Yeah right!" The red dragon yelled, rushing the artist as his flunkies aimed for the others. Even though the dragon was aggressive in his attacks, Huston kept his guard up, blocking and dodging his swipes. The red dragon got fed up and aimed his fire breath at Huston, but he weaved by it and closed in. With amazing agility, Huston used his ankles to grab the dragon by the neck and with a powerful twirl he send their head into the ground, knocking him out.
Jasmine was dodging around the brown dragon's attacks. It was fortunate that he was slower than her, but she wasn't exactly attacking rather than panicking as she dodged. The dragon got fed up at her and used his wings to ram her. She reacted by creating a cloud wall in fount of her. This didn't slow the dragon down as he flew right through it. Straight into a large tree. Head first. As the dragon slid down the tree dazed, Jasmine peeked out from behind it, a sweat drop falling down.
Unlike the others, Xavier was delivering quite the offense to the yellow and purple dragon, delivering light blows with the blunt side of the blade as he blocked. While these strike would be nothing more than slaps to most, the dragon was lanky enough that it did sting quite a lot. It slowed him down enough to allow Xavier to get behind the dragon and strike him with the hilt, knocking the dragon out. With all three dragons unconscious, they all went over to Spike.
"Are you okay Spike?" Xavier asked as he patted the baby dragon to make sure he was fine.
"Y-yeah. But what are-"
"We can talk about that later. Let's get out of here before more come or they wake up." Xavier said, Spike complying and following the humans to the edge of the forest. After a bit of walking, Spike resumed the questioning.
"So why are you guys out here."
"We... kinda followed you to make suer you were safe?" Jasmine said hesitantly, upsetting Spike.
"What?! Why would you do that?"
"Well... no offence but you're not exactly like the other dragons." Xavier said bluntly. "I'm not saying that as an insult. It's just that you were raised like a pony rather than a dragon, and we all saw firsthand how aggressive they can be." Spike's attitude lightened up as he thought about it. Looking at the egg in his arms, he smiled.
"Yeah, you're right." Spike said. "I may have been born a dragon, but I was raised as a pony. I'm proud to be raised as one, and to call Ponyville my home."
"Looks like you found your answer. I'm glad." Huston smiled. After a bit more walking, they made it to the edge where the ponies were waiting with a discarded costume.
"You came too?" Spike asked.
"We're sorry, Spike." Twilight apologized. "We-"
"I get it." Spike said, cutting his friend off. "And don't worry about it. You're my family, I can't get mad at you." Hearing him call them his family, the girls all went over to him and gave him a group hug, the guys smiling at the display.
"Shall we go home?" Xavier asked, everyone nodding. When everyone was about to leave, Huston noticed something that caused his blood to run cold despite the dragons nearby.
"Hey? Where's Zenix?" His question caused everyone's eyes to widen as they looked around.
"Where'd he go!?"
"He came too?!" Spike asked concerned.
"Yeah! But where could he have-"
"There you guys are!" Looking into the forest, they saw the familiar silhouette of Zenix and his massive backpack waving at them.
"Zenix! Why'd you run off like that!?"
"Sorry, but I had to see something."
"What could you have possibly had... to... find..." As Zenix left the forest and entered the open, the group all looked up to see another silhouette behind him, and everyone just looked at it with many mixed emotions. "Okay Zenix what in the actual fu-"
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11686561
Hate to say it, but if you're resorting to things like these to spy on your boyfriend then your relationship is already over. Either A: He's cheating and you aren't just being paranoid, or B: He's not cheating, and you're being incredibly paranoid and are unfit for a relationship.
But either way, breaching the trust and privacy of your boyfriend is an incredible red flag on your part, whether he's being sketchy or not.
Also who the heck are you even responding to? Are you just a bot? I don't see anyone in the comment section or chapter you're replying on who is having relationship issues, lol.