The Drake Six

by JNKing

Episode 6: Greed

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay on this one; I completely forgot to upload.

Hopefully, the wait will be worth it.

Hope you enjoy. 👍

“Canterlot’s under attack!” Spike cried out as they re-entered Diamondback’s den.

“You should’ve seen the place, guys,” Night Fire stammered. “It was like one of those nobles kicked over a hornet’s nest - only the hornets got frisky with ponies. So now these hornet-pony hybrids are all over them!”

Diamondback gasped. “Changelings…” she muttered.

Jackknife growled. “Changelings…” he copied her mutter, before glancing at Spike. “What the heck are those?”

Diamondback swept into her library, and withdrew a scroll. She unfurled the scroll, displaying some of the strange insectoid ponies they had seen.

“Also known as aufs or oafs, as I like to call them,” Diamondback read, “They are succubi-like creatures that feed off the love of others. To that end, they’ve adapted to be able to change their appearances to match that of the ones you love.”

“Ah, hence the name,” Jackknife noted.

“B-But why are they looking like insects?” Swift asked. “Shouldn’t they be trying to make themselves look like whatever the ponies in Canterlot love?”

“If that’s the case, then they should make themselves look like gold,” Night Fire grumbled. “That or the noble’s own rear ends.”

Spike gave her a surprised look, but didn’t have time to ponder it, as Phoenix limped up.

“It must be a dominance display,” Phoenix noted. “The changelings are letting every other species know that Canterlot belongs to them now. They can’t do that in disguise.”

“But it doesn’t belong to them,” Spike insisted. “It belongs to the princesses.”

Diamondback gave him a look that Spike found very ominous. “What are you talking about, Spike? You lived there; were you the only dragon that Celestia hatched?”

Spike blinked. “I, uh… I think so.”

“Well, then the answer is obvious.” Diamondback’s grin widened. “Canterlot belongs to you. Not the princesses, and certainly not the changelings.”

Spike blinked in shock at her claim. He then felt fire bubbling inside of him. A very familiar fire.

“Oh, no…” Spike mumbled. “The Greed…” He clutched his chest as his muscles started to expand. “I-I can’t think like that! I…”

“Spike?” Night Fire whispered, holding him close. “Don’t focus on it! You’re not ready for the Greed.”

“Indeed he’s not,” Diamondback agreed. “But that’s why you became my friend.”

Spike barely managed to focus through the rush of emotions the Greed was causing him. “W-What are you talking about?”

“Since you’re one of my treasures,” Diamondback noted, the others stepping back as she started to grow. “Then your treasures are mine by default. And that means Canterlot is mine too.” Before Spike could protest, she gave him a disturbing grin. “Thus, by trying to lay claim, the changelings are stealing from me.”

Even the diamond dogs backed up at the vicious tone that had entered Diamondback’s voice.

“And I will not let them take what is mine.” Diamondback turned to her dogs. “Prepare for combat, my friends. The changelings wish to lay claim upon my land? They will see just what kind of hornet’s nest they’re dealing with.”

##

Spike didn’t know what to do.

On the one hand, Canterlot and Equestria had been his home for several years. Alongside Twilight and Shining Armor, he had been raised there. Twilight Velvet, Night Light and Celestia had worked together to give him and his siblings a home, an education, delicious gems and a purpose in life.

And now was he about to pay them back by letting a dragon lay claim to their land?

Granted, Diamondback didn’t seem like a bad sort of dragon. She had welcomed him into her home; taught him about his race. Given him friends and a home as well. And the Diamond Dogs who already worked for her seemed to like her well enough.

But then he remembered how Rarity had gotten along with Diamond Dogs. Could he count on such rivalries being quelled by Diamondback? And what if Celestia opposed the idea of Diamondback ruling? What if in trying to help his old home, Spike only brought more conflict and maybe even ruin to it?

None of his pondering was helped by the Inner Greed. He could feel the monster he had become, churning inside him at the thought of owning all of Canterlot.

“All of Equestria,” The monster grumbled. “All mine! Diamondback deserves none of it. She will take it all for herself! She is a threat! She must be fought!”

But Spike would not lose himself. He had caused enough destruction by giving into his greed once. He could not do that again.

As he writhed and struggled, Night Fire, Phoenix, Jackknife and Swift watched over him. Though all of them were similarly stumped on what the right decision was.

“Maybe it’s for the best,” Night Fire noted. “I mean, from what I’ve heard, Celestia doesn’t do much to curb the behavior of some of the nobles of Canterlot. Maybe Diamondback can whip them back into shape.”

“It doesn’t feel right though,” Swift noted. “Dragon’s Greed is a very addictive feeling. Can we trust Diamondback to handle having an entire nation?”

“I saw the look in her eyes,” Jackknife growled. “That kind of power’s gonna drive her mad. We can’t let her go through with it.”

“If we do nothing,” Phoenix noted, “The changelings will take Canterlot. They wouldn’t be showing their true forms if they weren’t certain that they could stake a claim.”

“No…” Spike moaned. “C-Can’t let them…”

The others immediately went to his side.

“Spike, stay with us,” Night Fire warned.

“If you let the Greed take control,” Swift noted, “You and Diamondback will come to blows. You can’t save Canterlot by fighting each other.”

“But if he doesn’t fight,” Jackknife noted. “Diamondback will assume he’s giving Canterlot over to her. Not even she can handle the kind of Greed that’ll produce.”

“I can… barely handle it… myself…” Spike moaned.

Night winced, tending to Spike… only for the sound of paws to draw their attention.

The group turned as the diamond dogs - led by the silvery wolf Kodo - came to them. Axes in hand.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Phoenix asked.

“Diamondback’s orders,” Kodo replied. “She doesn’t trust Spike to handle the Greed. She wants him chained up so he can’t get in the way.”

Jackknife rose threateningly. “You mean so he can’t push his claim to Canterlot and Equestria.”

Kodo tightened his grip on his ax. “Don’t make this difficult, man,” he warned. “Diamondback’s been good to my family. I can’t risk angering her right now.”

Swift reluctantly stepped up to Jackknife’s side. “And we can’t risk Diamondback becoming just as bad as Sunny.”

The dogs growled at the comparison, leading to Night Fire jumping between them.

“Whoa-whoa-guys, come on,” she said with a practiced laugh. “Maybe there’s a way we can… work this out so everybody wins.”

“I ain’t seeing that happening, Night,” Jackknife noted.

“Me neither,” Kodo growled.

As Night Fire tried to hold the group at bay, Phoenix pulled Spike to her chest. “Trust me,” Phoenix whispered.

Spike groaned, his Inner Greed struggling to push past his willpower. “Don’t… have a lot of… choices…”

Before Phoenix could respond, chaos broke loose.

“Jack-KODO NO!” Night Fire screamed.

But Jackknife and Kodo launched at each other, the diamond dogs attacking the dragons. Swift leaped backward, grabbing stones and chucking them like a professional buckball player.

“Sorry-sorry-sorry,” Swift stammered as he dented helmets and knocked dogs to the ground.

Night Fire, meanwhile, was stuck in a three-way fight with Jackknife and Kodo, as the two brawled each other out.

With Swift providing cover fire and the leader occupied, Phoenix was barely able to sneak her way out of the den, Spike in tow.

“Okay, Spike, we’ve gotta set some ground rules with Diamondback,” Phoenix said. “This is getting out of hand.”

“It’ll… get out of hand…” Spike whimpered, as his inner Greed threatened to break loose. “...anyway…”

Phoenix gazed ahead, as she saw Darius getting thrown into a cell by Shiva.

“All I said was that I hope Diamondback knows what she’s doing!” Darius protested.

“We have to have faith in her,” Shiva said. “Otherwise we’ll be joining you.”

Phoenix winced and limped away from the dogs. But then Spike’s Inner Greed gave a particularly bad lurch, and he cried out in pain.

“Phoenix?” Shiva asked. “HEY, PHOENIX!”

Phoenix broke into a run, but she was still a very battered, old dragon. And it wasn’t long before the dogs started to close in on her.

As they reached the library, Phoenix groaned and threw Spike into the library.

“Think of something, Spike,” Phoenix yelled as she gripped the edges of the cavern. “You’re smart. Focus on your brain! I know you can think of something!”

“Phoenix…!” Spike pleaded, reaching out for her.

But with strength that looked like it was agony to utilize, Phoenix pulled down the cave opening, caving it in and trapping herself with the dogs.

Spike was alone. With a mountain of knowledge behind him.

“A mountain of knowledge that’s MINE!” His Inner Greed roared. “ALL MINE!”

“NOOOO!” Spike screamed, stumbling over to the books as his form bubbled and swelled, growing in size… and strength.

He could feel his mind fading into the Greed. He wasn’t going to win this! As his form swelled from a tiny hatchling to a full grown dragon, a stomping sound drew his attention, as Diamondback entered.

She had changed as well; she was bigger and more muscular. An insane light shined brightly in her eyes.

“I knew it,” she snarled. “You’re going to take what’s rightfully mine, aren’t you?”

Spike snarled, his mind slipping as the Inner Greed took over. “Equestria is MINE!” He indicated the library. “ALL OF THIS IS NOW MINE!”

Diamondback sneered, crouching into a feral combat pose. “Prove it!”

Spike roared and charged her, the two slamming their heads with a BOOM that shook the cavern.

Spike recalled the destruction he had caused to Ponyville. He viciously beat at the inside of his mind, even as his body pummeled Diamondback’s.

But the dragoness wasn’t called Diamondback for nothing. And though Spike’s fists had destroyed buildings of Ponyville, they didn’t even dent Diamondback’s scales.

“Is that the best you can do?” Diamondback mocked, before biting at his neck.

Spike roared in agony as his spikes broke under her teeth.

“Pathetic.” Diamondback threw him at her treasure trove, sending coins and scrolls flying into the air. “Equestria can’t be yours. You’d lose it in a fortnight!”

“No!” Spike’s no-longer-inner beast roar. “NO! I WON’T LOSE!”

“Lose… lose?” In the depths of his mind, Spike recalled.

Reading over the scrolls with Diamondback. In the very cave they now fought in. They had come across the history of dragons.

Spike had been ecstatic. “Diamondback, is this true?” He showed her a picture of dragons standing protectively over towns. “Dragons used… to be guardians?”

Diamondback had taken the scroll, eyes filled with pride. “Indeed we did,” she noted. “We were the protectors of the realm. Naturally inclined to protect that which we cared about, we safeguarded the nations from any threat.” Her eyes grew sad. “Unfortunately, what we considered ‘under our protection’ mutated into us thinking it was ours by right. ‘Protectiveness’ was lost to ‘Greed,’ and Greed corrupted our kind.”

Spike blinked, returning to the fight, as Diamondback straddled his Greed form and beat at his face with brutal hammer fists. “This isn’t right,” he realized. “We weren’t meant to be greedy tyrants. We were meant to be…”

“Guardians!” He lifted his arms and blocked Diamondback’s next blow, guarding his face.

“I need to guard my body!” Spike realized, catching Diamondback’s head before she could headbutt him. “I need to guard my friends!” He felt his mind syncing with his Greed, as he forced Diamondback off him. “I need to guard my home!”

With both his mind and his Greed in sync, he forced Diamondback to the ground, straddling her as she once straddled him.

“Diamondback,” he called out. “I know you’re still in there.”

Diamondback snarled and writhed under him, but he kept her in check.

“You said that as dragons, it was our duty to protect, not just claim.”

“Stop talking!” she roared, blasting fire at his face. But he countered with flames of his own.

“Equestria is mine to protect!” he said. He shut his eyes. “But I can’t do it alone.”

Diamondback paused, staring up at him. Spike felt his Inner Greed start to fall out of sync. But he spoke fast.

“Help me,” he pleaded with Diamondback. “Help me save Equestria. Not so that you can own it, but because it needs your protection. Just like I needed your protection. Just like Swift did. You told us once that not all treasure was in silver and gold. And that treasure needs to be taken care of.”

Diamondback started to shrink, as did Spike. The voice of the Inner Greed grew quieter. Emboldened, he kept going.

“You can’t ‘take care’ of Equestria by ruling it,” Spike insisted. “We just need to protect it. Let the Princesses worry about ruling. As long as it’s protected, it’ll be okay.” He smiled. “Because that’s what dragons do. We protect what we care about.”

The light of Diamondback’s soul returned to her eyes. She had shrunk back down to her normal form. “S-Spike…” she mumbled. “I… you’re right.” Her head looked down in shame. “How could I have let myself become so blinded? I…” Her eyes widened. “What… happened to you?”

“Huh?”

Spike looked down. Though he had shrunk from his original monster form, he wasn’t back to being a hatchling anymore. He stood at least as tall as Princess Celestia, with broad shoulders and honed pecs.

This is what I’m supposed to be, Spike realized. A guardian. A protector.

At that moment, Jackknife and Night Fire ran in.

“Alright, DB, enough with the…” Jackknife paused, staring at Spike in shock. “Whoa!”

“Spike!” Night Fire stammered. “When did you get a growth spurt?” She looked between him and DB and turned pale. “Tell me you didn’t…?”

“Get your filthy mind out of the gutter!” Diamondback sneered at Night Fire, pulling herself up and brushing herself off… before sighing and sinking into a bow. “I let myself go,” she admitted. “Spike brought me back. He reminded me of what I had always hoped: that dragons were more than just greedy tyrants.”

Jackknife and Night Fire exchanged a look with each other, as Swift and Phoenix flew in. “So…” Jackknife asked. “Does that mean…”

“We’re going to Canterlot,” Spike said, stepping up. “And we’re going to save the ponies. Not so that they’ll belong to us… but because it’s the right thing to do.” He smiled. “It’s what dragons do: we protect what we care about.”

Jackknife grinned while Swift gave Spike a thumbs up. Phoenix and Diamondback exchanged grins, while Night Fire shook her head with a grin of her own.

“Alright then,” Night Fire noted. “Let’s get ready to kick some changeling plot.”

##

Twilight and Princess Celestia,

We saw the changelings begin their invasion. Hopefully, by the time this letter reaches you, we’ll have helped you repel them.

I’m sorry it took so long for us to get there; we had an incident where the Greed got away from us: tried to convince me and especially Diamondback that we deserved a very hefty reward for saving you. A reward beyond what I feel you’d be comfortable with giving.

After all, not all rewards are in the material gains. Sometimes, the mere act of being generous can be reward enough. Especially when it reminds you of who you really are.

Because dragons were never meant to be just greedy hoarders. We were meant to be Guardians.

Protectors of the Realm.

And we’re going to prove that.

See you soon.

Your best friend and guardian,

Spike

Comments

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

This was a grand chapter! And seeing some history on Dragon's passion was truly amazing.

[JNKing]

11522622
Thank you. Really happy you enjoyed. 👍

[Comickook]

Thanks immensely for getting this next chapter up. Really liked the work that went into the exchanges, action, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Really appreciated the show of how difficult it was to control the Dragon Greed, but Spike didn't just manage it by focusing the instincts on protection rather than claiming, but also by calming Diamondback down and reminding his new friends about that protection AND helping them learn a little more about pony culture. One of the other dragons knowing about Changelings already was another great touch.

Definitely looking forward to more of this.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11522662
All is good, can't wait for the next chapter.

[AstralFlare42]

WHOOOOOOOOO!!!! CHANGELINGS BETTER WATCH OUT!!! THE DRAKE SIX ARE ON THEIR WAY!!!

[JNKing]

11522691
Glad you enjoyed, especially with the build up to the ending part.

Very excited to share more soon.

Until then, thanks for reading. 👍

[JNKing]

11523048
Darn right they are.