Episode 65: Fire and Blood
Fair warning: we got a few more darker themes coming up. Nothing too bad - there is some inspiration from Avatar: the Last Airbender in there, if you can spot it. 
Also, Fox Fire is another one of my OCs, and a chance for me to explore an idea I had regarding her original character, Fox Hound. I'm not sure if she'll just be a one-off character or if she'll continue to make appearances. Please let me know what you think of her and where I should go with her.
Thanks as always for reading. 
Back at the United Species Academy, the time had come for the hippogriffs and the sea serpents to explain their culture. Specifically how the sea serpents and the hippogriffs had come to work together.
“I gotta admit,” Silver Stream was saying, “I don’t know where we would’ve been without the sea serpents.” She paused. “Okay, I think I know where we would’ve been, but I don’t like thinking about it.”
Jackknife, who was lounging in a corner, mouthed ‘Storm King’ to Diamondback, who smirked as she stroked a diamond dog in her lap like a Bond villain.
“And tell me,” Diamondback asked, her ice blue eyes flicking down to the dog in her lap. “What kind of difference was there between sea serpents and diamond dogs?”
“Well,” Silver Stream said tentatively, unnerved by the odd light in Diamondback’s eyes. “We considered it a symbiotic relationship. The sea serpents helped us learn how to breathe underwater…”
“And what did you give them in return?” Diamondback asked.
Silver paused again, scanning Diamondback’s scales, which were a tad darker than usual. “Well… that’s a little more complicated. But one of the skills we taught them was how to live on land.”
“Except you guys didn’t like living on land,” Jackknife noted, his own voice rougher and more bitter than usual. “With the Storm King floating around, you guys preferred hiding out under the water.”
Silver gave Jackknife a surprised look, before Diamondback tsked.
“Taking one skill and repaying with a useless skill?” Diamondback asked. “Sounds more like a parasite than a symbiote to me.”
The diamond dog in her lap stood, ears perked, while the others stared at Diamondback in shock.
“Just cuz you managed to get a bunch of diamond dog pets that don’t steal your treasure,” Smolder growled. “Doesn’t mean they can’t be parasitic too. At least it sounds like sea serpents were able to actually give some pretty cool abilities.”
The diamond dog in Diamondback’s lap - Shiva - gaped. “And finding you guys more gems isn’t cool?”
“The last diamond dogs I relied on to find gems scammed me,” Smolder shot back.
“Girls, please!” Twilight interjected, looking around for Spike. But the dragon was absent.
Her heart skipped a beat - she remembered that he was still off looking for his mother. But… hadn’t Diamondback gone with him? And didn’t Jackknife follow them?
The Jackknife before them stood up with a smirk. “It’s too bad ya didn’t have some of the magic we sea serpents can use.” He huffed. “Then again, our own leader restricted some of our best stuff.”
Silver Stream backed up from Jackknife, her skin going pale under her pink feathers. “Jackknife… please don’t tell me you’re considering…”
“Ain’t this about sharing?” Jackknife asked, as his dark blue scales took on an ominous red tinge. “I personally want a second opinion on why we sea serpents didn’t use the greatest weapon we had: a weapon that would’ve assured hippogriffs were clearly servants rather than deluding themselves into thinking they were ‘partners’.”
Smolder and the Young Six started to gather close. “Jackknife,” Ocellus whimpered, “You’re really starting to scare us.”
Jackknife had a frightening grin. “You should be afraid.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “How dare you talk to your fellow changeling that way.” She fired a changeling revealing spell… and gaped as it washed over Jackknife without even affecting him.
Everyone’s jaws dropped. This evil version of Jackknife wasn’t a changeling! “But…” Twilight stammered, “What…?”
Jackknife glared at where the spell had hit him. “Was that supposed to hurt?” he demanded, before thrusting his arm at Twilight.
Twilight tried to cast a shield spell, only for her horn to tilt upward against her will. She yelped as she felt something churning under her skin. Forcing her up to two legs, and locking her forelegs at her side. “What’s… happening…?” she whimpered.
“Just showing our greatest weapon.” Jackknife smirked as Smolder and Gallus rushed him, only for Smolder to freeze as he pointed at her as well. “Blood-bending,” he hissed with glee, right before Gallus lunged to slash at him with his talons.
##
Meanwhile, just outside the Dragon Lands, near a place Spike remembered being called ‘The Peaks of Peril’, Spike and Diamondback were making their way back home when they spotted a familiar bright blue tinge of scales.
“Jackknife?” Spike pondered, tucking his wings and diving. “What’s he doing out here?”
As they drew closer, Spike’s heart started to race: the trees and rocks around the area had been scorched, many still hissing with steam like Jackknife had just put out a massive forest fire. Jackknife himself was searching around with an angry expression, his watery form bubbling the way it did when he was livid about something.
“Jack?” Spike asked, landing behind him.
Jackknife almost sent Spike flying into Diamondback with a blast of water, but restrained himself at the last second. “Sorry, bruh,” Jackknife said, glaring back at a tree that was steaming as if he had just put out a fire on it seconds ago. “But there’s something out here.”
“What is it?” Diamondback asked, looking around at the scorched earth. “Dragons?”
Jackknife shook his head. “Worse.”
Spike and Diamondback exchanged a shocked look, before a crackling, burning sound drew their gaze. On the edge of the battlefield, another bush was going up in flames.
Jackknife raced over and started putting out the fire with a beam of water. But just as the flames started to die down… a creature of living flames leaped from the bush with a roar of rage.
For a minute, Spike couldn’t tell what he was looking at: it was vaguely pony-ish - possibly a mare - with a unicorn-like horn. But it was bathed in bright blue flames, it’s body an ashy black. It’s eyes were white and filled with pure fury, and it opened a jaw filled with sharp canines and bellowed in rage, blowing fire that threw Jackknife back.
Not wasting time, Spike lunged forward, combatting the creature’s blue flames with his own green flames. Briefly worrying that he might transport the flames right into Celestia, Spike rolled under the creature’s next blast and caught her in a bear hug.
“Calm down!” he pleaded, his scales thankfully protecting him as the creature thrashed and wriggled in his grip.
“Suppressors,” the creature snarled. “Blind fools! DESTROY THEM ALL!”
The fire burst from her form - brighter and hotter this time - but Spike’s dragon scales held firm, and he managed to keep his grip on her.
“That’s it, buddy!” Jackknife said. “Hang on!”
Spike turned, and saw Jackknife pointing his water cannon at them.
“Jack? Wait-WAIT!” Spike pleaded, only for his next protest to get cut off with a mouthful of water.
Jackknife sprayed them with a blast of water, leaving Spike sliding across muddy ground.
“No-no-NO!” the creature next to him screamed. But when Spike rolled to his chest, he once again blinked in surprise.
The creature had changed; where there had once been bright blue flames, she now had a dark red - almost black - mane that ran down her head - spiking in the middle like a faux hawk hair style - and gathered at the neck like a lion. A silvery-blue patch of scales ran down her back, the middle of her face, and topped off the points of her hooves, contrasting the cherry-red fur that dominated the rest of her body. She had a long tail topped with more black mane hair. And interestingly, Spike could faintly see black stripes running along the sides of her cherry red fur.
She scrambled for dryer ground, desperately scrapping her hooves against each other, like she was trying to make a spark. Her black eyes were wild and desperate, like a cornered animal. “Come on, come on,” she pleaded. “Reignite!”
“Darling!” Diamondback barked. “How about instead of ‘reigniting’ you just tell us what’s going on. We’re not here to hurt you.”
The creature huffed. “Tell that to the water boy over there. He was putting out my flames!”
“Cuz yer flames were setting the forest on fire!” Jackknife protested, indicating the smoldering trees. “Yer a freaking arsonist!”
“I AM WHAT I AM!” the creature roared back, her mane sparking as it struggled to ignite again. “Nobody’s going to take that away from me, you hear? NOBODY!”
Spike spread his arms wide, sensing another fight incoming… when a voice shouted.
“WAIT! STOP!”
The three dragons turned as another one of the creatures ran into view. This one, however, looked kinder, with nice golden eyes, a warm brown mane and a creamy body contrasted with light green scales.
“Fox Fire, please!” the creature claimed. “There’s no need to fight! We figured it out!”
“Autumn?” the creature - Fox Fire? - asked. “What are you talking about?”
The brush rustled again, and Spike’s heart leaped as Applejack and Fluttershy came out.
“Applejack?” Diamondback stammered.
“Flutters?” Jackknife looked between them. “What in the name of everything good is going on here?”
Applejack stood between the two fighters. “If y'all be willing to lower yer weapons, we can tell ya.”
##
“They’re called ‘Kirin’,” Fluttershy explained, as the group sat grouped around one of the more untouched boulders, a tea set having been set up with refreshments, though Fox Fire regarded the tea set with suspicion. “And their fire form is known as ‘Nidrik’.”
“And let me tell you,” Fox Fire growled. “It’s a good thing.” She pointed at Autumn. “Don’t let Rain Shine and her deluded followers fool you. You knew how foolish they were to give it up.”
“Fox, please,” Autumn placated. “They still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Fox glanced at Spike and his dragon friends, before sighing in frustration.
“I can tell them, though,” Autumn noted, her voice gaining a singing quality. “IN SOOOOOONNNNGGG…!”
“NO!” Fox barked, her flames briefly coming back up. “No. Just… let me tell my side.”
Autumn slumped down, looking depressed enough that Fluttershy tried to comfort her, while Fox turned to Spike.
“It goes like this,” Fox explained, “Kirin have an alternate form; the Nidrik.” Briefly, she let the flaming creature Jackknife had been fighting show before returning to her normal self. “It makes us stronger. Let’s us wield fire that burns away wickedness and foul deeds.”
“But it also comes with a massive temper,” Autumn added. “So, when hurtful words are said… flaring tempers get inflamed…” her voice became more musical. “And destruction quickly spread!”
“Hey!” Fox barked.
Autumn sighed. “I seriously don’t get why you don’t like rhyming. Wasn’t your dad a zebra?”
“THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT!” Fox Fire took a massive breath, as her nidrik form was showing again. “Anyway, where were we?”
“Destruction quickly spread,” Jackknife replied, looking rather ponderous for once.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Fox agreed. “Anyway, our leader let one accident like that be the reason why we should NEVER use the Nidrik form again. So…
“Into the stream of silence,” Autumn sang happily. “We stepped in as a crowd. The water cooled emotions, and peace was soon restored!”
Fox glared at Autumn for a solid minute before turning back to Spike. “But it was a peace that oppressed us. Cuz…”
“Cuz rainbows won’t light up the sky,” Autumn sang. “Unless you let it rain.
And shiny apples come with worms! No you can’t give up your laughter, cuz you’re scared of a little pain. It’s a lesson the Kirin never learned…” She gave a breath right as Fox looked ready to go Nidrik mode again. “...until today.”
Fox paused, her form faltering. “Huh?”
“Yeah,” Applejack said. “We were talking to em about it, and we agreed that being a nidrik isn’t bad, as long as y’all don’t use it to hurt any pony.”
Fox gazed at her flames ponderously, before the last voice Spike expected to hear in agreement spoke up.
“She’s right,” Jackknife said. “Some people say power corrupts. But actually… it just shows who you are underneath.”
Spike stared at him. “You… know about that?”
Jackknife gazed at him with pain in his green eyes. “A long time ago,” Jackknife said. “There was a sea serpent. Kira. She discovered that sea serpents could manipulate more than just water. We could manipulate rain, ice, things that melt…” He looked down. “Unfortunately, she then discovered that even bodies are made of water. Water that we can control.”
Spike felt a chill down his spine. “You don’t mean…”
“Blood-bending,” Jackknife whispered, his voice sounding haunted. “With it, Kira became a monster. She could control innocent creatures and force them to either do what she wanted, or…” Jackknife actually looked nauseous enough that Diamondback offered him a doggy bag, though he waved it off. “After she was finally taken down, Queen Sapphire didn’t want any sea serpent to go as crazy as Kira did. So she banned blood bending from the entire species. Any sea serpent that even entertained the idea of using it was to be considered a threat.”
Fox hesitantly scooted next to Autumn, who held her close in comfort. “But…” Fox whispered. “What does that have to do with the Nidrik form? I-I mean… no Nidirk would want to be… that… hurtful.”
“Because then Saph got too paranoid,” Jackknife replied. “She started fearing that any sea serpent who started getting too eager for battle would risk Kira’s path. So she pretty soon forbid fighting of any kind. And that led us to the hippogriffs.” He sighed, looking down. “She… thought that they could protect us… even though we needed to protect them first.”
Spike gasped. “So that’s why you guys saved them from the Storm King. Why you taught them to breathe underwater. So they’d protect you in turn; keep you from having to fight.”
Jackknife nodded. “And that’s why I left,” he added. “I didn’t want to ask the hippogriffs to fight my battles for me. I wanted to show that someone could still want to fight without becoming a freaking nutjob.”
When Fox spoke, her voice was soft. “And you can,” she whispered. “Y-You can.”
“You didn’t show that today,” Spike noted. “When we met, you were running around like a berserker.”
Fox looked down in shame. “I just… didn’t want my nidirk form taken…”
Autumn hugged her. “Hey, it’s alright. The others realized it now; anger is always going to be within us, but it’s our choice as to how we let it out.”
Fox smiled sadly. “Thanks, Autumn,” she said. “But it’s clear I need to work on how I let my anger out.” She looked at Jackknife. “I… don’t suppose you know of a way.”
Jackknife and Spike glanced at each other.
“Well,” Spike offered. “We do have an academy where different species can learn and bond with each other.”
Autumn gasped. “That sounds amazing!”
Fox lifted a hoof. “Maybe… I can check it out… and report back to Leader Rain Shine. Tell her what I found… and how it helped me learn to be more careful with my Nidrik form.”
Autumn’s smile would’ve lit up the sun. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
“We can show you the way,” Spike noted, looking to Diamondback and Jackknife. “Right guys.”
Diamondback smiled. “Of course, darling.”
Jackknife nodded, though he gave a curious look to the North. “And, uh… after we drop her off,” he noted to Spike. “Do ya think we can also stop by Mount Aris? I… Queen Sapphire and I have some things that we should’ve talked about a long time ago.”
Spike pat Jackknife’s shoulder. “Always, brother,” he promised.
##
However, to their surprise, Queen Sapphire was already at the academy. As was Queen Novo and several hippogriff guards.
And unfortunately, when they caught sight of Jackknife, the look in their eyes made Spike fear that they didn’t care about how Jackknife had developed.
“Seize him!” Novo barked, as two hippogriff guards came forward.
“W-What?” Jackknife stammered as they closed in on him.
“What’s going on?” Spike asked Twilight as she ran over.
“Jackknife used blood-bending,” Twilight said, panting in terror. Spike’s eyes widened in horror as he saw several strange scars under her fur; like the blood in her veins had been pushed up against her skin for too long.
“He just… took control of our bodies,” Silver Stream added on. “Threw us around and then ran for it the second Gallus managed to get a hit in.” She paused. “Or… y’know, slithered for it, since… he’s got the tail and…”
“Either way,” Queen Novo cut off. “He used a technique that is forbidden among sea serpents,” Queen Novo added angrily, glaring angrily at Jackknife, who had gone as pale as ice.
“And then had the nerve to run away like a coward!” Queen Sapphire added venomously.
“But… no!” Jackknife stammered. “I-I was with Spike and Diamondback. W-We found Fox Fire here!” He indicated Fox, who was looking around in complete confusion.
Dots connected, and Spike turned to Novo. “Wait!” he protested. “There was a changeling. W-We thought there was a changeling - maybe a Chrysalis loyalist that had infiltrated…”
“It wasn’t a changeling,” Ocellus said softly.
Spike’s heart skipped a beat. “W-What do you mean?”
Ocellus’ words seemed to die in her throat, but Twilight stepped up.
“I used a changeling revelation spell,” Twilight said. “One I had developed after Chrysalis’ second attack.” She shook her head. “Whatever the Jackknife that used blood-bending was… he wasn’t a changeling.”
“Which means we have a lot of questions for the Jackknife we currently have,” Sapphire hissed, glaring at a dumbfounded Jackknife.
As Jackknife was taken away by the hippogriff guards, Spike’s entire world flipped upside down. If it wasn’t a changeling that he had been seeing… then what had gotten into his school?
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Hey there. Again, really good job on the dialogue, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up. Yeah, appreciate the warning on the darker themes. Yeah, sounds like Jackknife's clone has been really busy with some nasty stuff while Spike and the real Jackknife were helping out Applejack, Fluttershy, Autumn and Fox Fire over at the Peaks of Peril. And, yeah, the set-up for Spike to begin the investigation to clear Jackknife was well foreshadowed.
REALLY looking forward to more of this.
Been having a thought of Smolder having a fear of feeling weak/being viewed as weak, due to insecurities about her secret interests but also having to be a tough dragon for so long.
The thought popped back up after Mean Jackknife used his bloodbending on her too and beaten her quite a bit too.
Wonder how she be feeling and looking aftewards.
Didn't expect that the Bloodbending from Avatar would show up here too.
11882624
So happy you enjoyed.
The next episode is going to be the Season Eight Finale, where Spike and the others are going to need to take on the Really Dirty Dozen and keep them from causing the group to turn on each other out of sheer suspicion.
Jackknife's clone has definitely caused a lot of trouble with his actions, and Spike's going to need a lot of help if he hopes to clear Jackknife's name.
Looking forward to sharing more soon. Until then, thanks for reading.
11882686
That's a perfect idea.
The dragons do place a lot of pride in themselves as being tough and strong, so Smolder wanting to live up to those expectations and feeling insecure about potentially failing is a great story arc to follow. Especially after Mean Jackknife trounced her the way he did.
I do still want the Young Six to have their moment to shine like how they ended up saving the day in the Season Eight Finale. Here's hoping I can deliver an episode adaptation that gives them a proper role to play and lets Smolder and the others show their own development.
Yeah, it's a bit of a crossover, but conceptually, I based Jackknife and his breed of water dragons (or aqua-drakes, as I call them) that I have in my standalone novels on the water benders from Avatar.
That show inspired a lot of my story and characters.
11882751
Can see Spike helping her with that.
Given different perspectives he has but also the fact he dealt with a similar scenario such as with Diamondback in a way.
11882774
Exactly. Since he has that previous knowledge, he'll know where she's coming from and be able to help her understand her own feelings and come to terms with them.
Thanks for this; I feel like your advice is really helping me shape these adaptational episodes; making them better. I always appreciate your feedback.
👍
11882970
You're welcome \ovo/
I sincerely hope they stop being stupid and take two things into account
1) Jackknife was away the entire time during the attack
2) He doesn't have whatever wound Gallus gave him during his attack.
Should be pretty open and shut case due to that. Last I checked Sea Serpents don't have a healing factor like Wolverine or Deadpool.
11885897
It should indeed.
In fact, the main conflict going forward is less about proving Jackknife's innocence, and more about finding the one who actually attacked the students.
Will finding the actual criminal be as easy as proving Jackknife didn't attack anyone? Well, I look forward to sharing that.
Thank you for reading and providing your input. It's always good to hear from you guys. 👍