1/3: Descent
An airship had gone down in the gorge near The Dragon's cave two days ago. It bore an insignia of two alicorns. More importantly, it bore a great quantity of topaz and sapphire in its hold. The Dragon had praised his good fortune when he found it, and had made several trips back and forth, carrying as much as he could.
The find was not his alone, though. Several other dragons had picked up on the feast, visiting the gorge at intermittent intervals. Most of them were older than him, and he did not wish to start a confrontation, much less risk one of them stealing his cave and its contents. So this was his last trip. He had made a good haul and was content to let the others pick the bones.
The Dragon flew into the mouth of his cave – one of many jagged holes in the rockface. Hard to find unless one knew what one was looking for. A hundred metres or so deeper inside was his hoard, onto which he unloaded the topaz from his crop. He stepped back to admire the addition.
The pile, top heavy from his newest addition, shifted under its own weight. A portion crumbled into a tiny avalanche of gemstones. The Dragon sighed, momentarily filling the cave with smoke, and pushed the gemstones around a bit. Doing so dislodged something from beneath the pile. Something that was not a gemstone.
He picked up the object and examined it. It fit easily in the palm of his claw. It was flat, rectangular, made of wood that bordered glass. It looked like something he could barely remember. The Dragon stared at it for a little while longer. Of course. It was an image, lying just underneath the glass. The image was of two creatures: A pony and a dragon whelp.
The Dragon put the object down and lay on his hoard, disquieted. He was motionless for several minutes, trying to contemplate his riches, but the object – a photograph, he recalled – would not leave his thoughts. Giving in, he once again picked it up and looked at the image. Quietly, under his breath, in a language he barely remembered being able to speak, he said, "...Photograph..." And then, "...Rarity..."
He lay there, trying very hard to remember how the object had come into his possession, but without success. At some length, consciousness trickled away as the uneasy, semi-awake state that dragons spent most of their time in overcame him.
***
"Alright, girls," said Twilight, giving them all a stern look. "And Spike." She unfurled a map covered in numbers, squiggles, and a list, every item of which was ticked thrice. "I've got this all planned out, so you needn't worry. This is going to be simple, by-the-book, organised–"
"Candyfloss! Over there! Whee!" said Pinkie, bouncing away.
"Gah! Pinkie! We–," started Twilight.
"Come on, we gotta find the dodgems!" said Rainbow Dash, dragging Applejack along with her. "I told Scoots to meet us there. I'm sure the candy apple stand can wait. Besides, I bet you're the only pony in this fair who can give me and the kid some decent competition!"
"Rainbow Dash!"
"Yes, Twilight, I know. They opened the Daring Do coaster, you said it, like, a dozen times already. I'll meet you there at some point, okay?"
"Augh!" Twilight stared at her map in dismay.
Rarity kneaded the ground uncomfortably. "Twilight, darling, don't fret too much. Now, I really must find the less obstreperous side of the fair. I recall there being a nice little park with stalls selling some delightfully unique Zebraharan trinkets. To the northeast, yes?" she said, batting her eyelashes.
Twilight, looking defeated, checked the map. "Yes, yes it is... Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy, trying to slink away, froze.
Twilight's expression softened. "Remember there are some cute animals by the pond in the east, too, okay?"
"Yes, Twilight. I will. Thank you" said Fluttershy, smiling sheepishly.
Twilight sighed. "I guess it's just you and me, eh, Spike?"
"Well, actually..." Spike paused, trying to think of a way to justify himself. "How about you give me that list, and I'll check and see if everypony's doing what we planned? You go and have some fun and stop worrying about it."
"But if you have the list, I won't know–"
"Twilight, you wrote a spare list just in case, didn't you?"
Twilight looked at her forehooves.
"So, we can both have a copy of the list, you'll know what the steps to having fun are, and I can take care of the rest. Number One Assistant, remember?" Spike beamed.
"Okay, okay! Here," Twilight gave Spike the list and pulled the spare out her saddlebag. "You're going to check on everypony, and not just spend the whole day with Rarity, right?"
"Uh... Yes, of course! What makes you think I'd forget about my responsibilities and do something silly like that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Basic empiricism?"
"Empi-what-ism?"
"Never mind. Go on!"
"Thanks Twilight! Bye-eee!" Spike scampered off.
Spike ran through through the fair, alternating between bipedal and quadrupedal gaits. Over the past year, his forelimbs had become stronger and his spine had shifted slightly, making it easier to walk like a pony. He wondered who he should see first. He had taken on a responsibility, and absolutely had to stick to it. No screwing around. Now: Rainbow Dash and Applejack were on the dodgems, which would make them difficult to talk to. Pinkie was Pinkie, which would make her difficult to talk to. He didn't want to risk scaring away any new animal friends Fluttershy would be making. Which left...
Which left...
...Rarity! Well, that settled it. Responsibility absolutely demanded that he go and make sure Rarity was having fun in the less obseb... Opstre... Oppro.... In the quieter part of the fair!
Having left behind the sound of cheerful hubbub and whinnying for the quieter rustling of trees and soft spoken chatter of a dozen different species, he eventually found the stalls set along either side of a gravel path. He'd been right to come here, after all. Even if he couldn't find Rarity, many of the things sold came with delicious-looking gems. In particular, a sapphire brooch caught his eye. Spike fumbled around in his satchel, searching for bits.
"Oh, goodness, have you ever seen such a resplendent piece! How did you get the nacre and jet to whorl together in such a way?"
That was Rarity! Sapphire forgotten, Spike scampered towards her, tripped over his feet, faceplanted, got up, and attempted a rather more suave tetrapodal walk until he reached her.
"Alas, miss, I don't know," said the bespectacled quagga on the other side of the stall, looking at the pendant Rarity was holding. "I just transport the things from the natives who carve them. But I daresay you're right, this piece is unique!"
Spike looked behind him to the stall opposite, which displayed an identical black and iridescent whorled ornament.
"Oh, Spikey-wikey! You must come with me! You absolutely have to see this!" said Rarity. With the pendant forgotten, she dragged him a few stalls to the left to show him various ornaments she'd seen before he arrived.
Both pony and dragon moved slowly through the park, stopping on occasion when Rarity found something particularly notable. She was mostly observing and occasionally forking out a few bits. Most of her comments went over Spike's head, but to see Rarity being so passionate made the time wonderful nonetheless.
At length, they came a stall displaying all manner of intricate embroidery. By the side of it, eyes closed, with a long, tapering tail and splayed legs with carnivore's claws, basking in the sun, about the size of a pony, lay–
"A dragon?" Spike was a little taken aback.
"Not quite, no," said the creature in a feminine, lazy drawl, eyes still closed. "A perentie, actually. We'd like to say we're rather more cultured than such hoarding tunicate-wannabes. We'd be lying, mind." Scales of reticulated black against a background of cream, she made an odd match with the zebra behind the stall. She opened her eyes, grinning. Her tongue flicked out, and she looked at Spike. "You, however, are a dragon. How tremendously–"
"Varani!" snapped the zebra. "Please don't trouble the customers."
"Hmph," said the perentie, smirking. "Feel free to browse our wares."
"I'm sorry," said the zebra, now addressing Rarity and Spike.
"Not at all," said Rarity, smiling. "Varani, yes? A friend of yours, mister...?"
"Zakras," said the zebra. "Varani is my... Lover."
"Charmed! My young friend is Spike, and I am Rarity. Now, tell me, these pieces. Are they your own work? They're absolutely wonderful."
"They are, indeed," said Zakras. "Well, mine and Varani's; she has the dexterity, you see."
Spike was entranced, watching Rarity work her magic. Charming, sincere, full of joy and wonder for all things beautiful.
Varani tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, kid," she said quietly. "Got a bit of a crush there, don’tcha?"
"No, of course not!" Spike protested.
"Worry not, I won't go blabbing. I must say, little tunicate, you've made a good choice there. Did you see, when mister xenophile there mentioned our relationship, that she didn't bat an eyelid? Not many ponies would have let such a remark slide without the slightest hint of opprobrium."
Spike didn't understand half the words she used, but he got the meaning: Rarity was amazing. Moreover, she had not the slightest issue with interspecies relations. The two reptiles watched in silence and adoration as the two ponies stood chatting about their art.
Varani gave Spike a conspiratorial smile. "I think there's something I can do for you." She turned to Zakras, who was still excitedly expositing about recursive spiral motifs. "O' darlingest darling of mine, I hate to interrupt, but since you're using this opportunity for networking rather than sales, might I suggest a photograph for these lovely creatures?" And, addressing Rarity, "How about it, my dear? One and a half bits for a copy. The two of you look so nice together. His scales perfectly complement your mane, I'm sure you'll agree."
"Oh, yes!" said Rarity. "That would be wonderful! What do you say, Spike?"
Spike mutely nodded, taken aback by the invitation. Rarity excitedly pulled him to her side while Varani dug the camera out from a slot behind the stall. Spike shivered a little. Rarity was right beside him. Her mane brushed his cheek. She gave her best in-the-spotlight smile; he didn't need to try.
And – click – it was over. Rarity moved away. Varani vanished behind the stall for a moment, waving an imagestone over some paper, and then popped back up. "You two look spectacular. Here, see." She showed them.
"Oh, yes, spectacular!" said Rarity. She moved to pay. Spike stopped her.
"No, miss," he said, wishing he had a fedora to doff. "I insist. My gift to you."
Rarity let out a little squeal of delight. Zakras smiled. Varani gave Spike a subtle nod, and returned to the grass to bask. Spike felt as though all was right with the world.
***
The sound of plodding claws and rumbling breaths snapped The Dragon out of his reverie. He was not alone in his cave. He dragged himself to full alertness and looked around. There was a shadow cast on the wall near the exit to the chamber.
Something was trying to be subtle; something was failing badly. The Dragon stood stock still. Silent. Waiting. At the exit of the chamber emerged another dragon. The Other Dragon was older and larger than The Dragon. Fortunately, The Dragon had the element of surprise. He lashed out immediately, catching the Other Dragon on the muzzle, leaving four bloody streaks. A metre higher and he would have taken its eye out, but he did not want to do that.
The Other Dragon retreated momentarily, taken off guard. The Dragon took the opportunity to attack again. He avoided the jugular, the throat, the eyes. He only inflicted shallow wounds to show that he would not go down without a fight. This time, the Other Dragon retaliated. It was less forgiving, aiming for his eye. It missed by inches.
This was bad. If it came down to a true fight, The Dragon would almost certainly lose. There was one option left. Risky, but it would end the battle immediately if it worked. He leapt forward, hoping the Other Dragon wouldn't expect this, or would treat it as a feint, and sank his teeth into the Other Dragon's right shoulder. His bit down, hard. He felt muscles tear beneath his grip. Blood filled his mouth. It was horrible. A claw opened a wound on his back. But he held on while the Other Dragon thrashed.
After a few seconds he released his grip and retreated back across the chamber. The Other Dragon snarled at him, but retreated and left the chamber. Its forelimb was out of action. It would not risk further combat with such an injury.
The Dragon snorted. His back was sore, and his mouth tasted vile, but he was otherwise unhurt. He lay down again, and took a mouthful of gems to drown out the taste of blood.
He had been lucky. He had come close to losing his hoard, and his eye. The thought of losing anything, especially to such a brash, thieving competitor, made him nauseous.
***
"Debonair Carnation," said the stallion. "And yourself, miss?"
"Rarity," said Rarity, fluttering her eyelashes.
Slow, meandering, and vacuous melodies from piano, cello, and harp filled the great hall. Rarity, Twilight and Spike stood by the table hors d'oeuvre, the latter two puzzling over the polysyllabic smorgasbord before them and wondering what to eat first. Spike was slightly bigger than the two mares now, and almost fully tetrapodal. Twilight had been talking excitedly about the geode in Applejack's bolo tie when this pompous-looking pony had waltzed onto the scene, brandishing manners and etiquette like a prissy sabre.
"Delighted to make your acquaintance, Miss Rarity. Might I trouble you for the next dance?"
"Oh, but of course!"
The two trotted off towards the dancefloor.
"Spike," said Twilight.
Debonair – Really? Really? His bow tie was lopsided. Spike's was balanced perfectly. Debonair's pocket square did not match his boutonniére – which was, in all defiance to his name, a gardenia. Neither matched his grey coat. Spike's pocket square and boutonniére were both emerald to match his spines. And Debonair's shoes–
"Spike!"
Spike jolted. "Yes, Twilight?"
"You're stabbing your claw with your fork."
Spike looked down. Twilight was right. He pulled the fork out, put it on the table beside him, and smoothed over the scratchmark on his scales with his embroidered handkerchief. Then, feeling a little self-conscious, he fiddled with his bow tie to make sure it really was balanced perfectly.
"Are you alright?" asked Twilight
"Yes, yes. I'm fine," Spike said, distracted. And, barely concealing a sneer: "Did you see his shoes?"
Twilight gave him a puzzled look and then grinned. "His shoes? I'm afraid I'm not quite the connoisseur that you are on such matters, mister upper-class."
Spike was silent.
Twilight's expression softened. She put a hoof on his shoulder. "I thought you'd got over all that."
Spike studied the ground. "I thought I had, too."
Twilight gave him a quick hug. Spike fixed his bow tie. She regarded him silently for a moment. "You know, you should go ask somepony for a dance. I'm sure there are loads of mares who would love to be asked by such an immaculately dressed dragon!"
Twilight had not gotten any better at reading ponies, but she had improved tremendously at reciting feel-good platitudes. They both knew that was false. Enlightened Equestria may have been, but at a gathering such as this a good portion of the partygoers would secretly sneer behind the back of any Earth pony who dared turn up, Element of Harmony bearer or not. Octavia was exempt, sometimes being patronisingly referred to as an honorary unicorn. Here, where the vile side of social hierarchy was so ingrained, a dragon had no chance.
"It's okay, Twilight," Spike mumbled. "I'll be fine." He looked at the dancefloor where Debonair and Rarity were twirling. Debonair's dance moves were so immaculate and polished that even Spike couldn't find fault with them. Rarity was beaming. Sincerely, Spike could tell. Not her smile of politeness and charm that could fool many a pony. Her teeth were perfect. Her eyes were... (Spike searched for an adjective that could do her justice)... Transcendent. Her mane was... Well, if such a word existed that could truly describe Rarity's mane, even Twilight didn't know it. Spike sighed under his breath. Oh, Rarity, he thought, I love you.
He was not fine. Seeing this felt like a punch in the gut.
***
"Tell me, Spike darling, how are things with Lyra?" Rarity asked a few years later. She was, once again, taking Spike's measurements in Carousel Boutique. He was not significantly bigger, but he had recently started to develop a third limb girdle which had made all his previous clothes unwearable.
"Oh, alright, I suppose," said Spike. "I haven't seen her for a few days."
"Hold still for a moment," said Rarity. She checked the length between the stubs just under his scapulae, and stood silently in thought for a moment. When she wasn't speaking, she held a row of pins in her mouth even though she didn't need to. Spike still thought this to be an adorable affectation.
"Right," she said. "Twilight thinks these are going to keep growing, continually thwarting our efforts to make you look dapper. But fortunately, I have the perfect solution! Some buttons under the seam here, and I can make this pad detachable so we can upgrade easily whenever it starts chafing!" She made a cheerful whinny. "So, you were telling me about Lyra, yes? She's such a sweetheart! So exuberant! I'm really quite jealous."
"We might be going bowling... At some point this month," said Spike, lamely.
Rarity stopped what she was doing and stood before him. She put a hoof on his jaw and raised his gaze to meet hers. "Things aren't going too well, then, Spikey?" she said, eyes glistening.
"No," he said. "Lyra's a great mare and all, but..." But she's not you. "...her obsession with my dexterity is getting a little wearing."
"Oh, Spike." Rarity pulled him in for a hug. "You've been so morose, lately. I don't know if it's an adolescent dragon thing or if you've got other troubles going on. But I do hope you'll get through it. In fact, I know you'll get through it." She released him and smiled. "Zakras and Varani will be at the wedding, you know. And, if things take a turn for the worse with Lyra, I'm sure Varani will insist she be allowed to introduce you to all the mares she can. Being the absolutely wonderful dragon you are, and with this splendid suit, I'm quite certain you'll have your pick of the litter! Speaking of which, I think I have everything I need." She coiled the tape measure and put it on on a nearby stand.
"Thanks, Rarity," he said.
"Think nothing of it." Rarity smiled. "And Spike? I, uh, appreciate that you're coming to see me again. What I mean to say is... Well, it means a lot to me that you would choose my service for fittings. Especially for a suit to wear to my wedding."
***
***
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
977 users online
1,392,054 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Good sir, this chapter was as fine as fornication, and I am desirous of additional content in this wise.
Translastion: F***ing awesome! Moar please!
A few shameful, shameful typos to be rectified, here and there. Pacing/events could suffer additional elucidation. Some circumlocution to be avoided. And, uh, explicate the apocryphal nature of the original characters? Or something. Pffft, yeah. Am just joshing. Excellent work. Impressive vocabulary finesse and usage. As a similar recent fanfic writer, find the beginning of this tale enthralling. Moderately disheartened that Spike is once again shafted in fandom. That poor lad was somehow engineered as the proverbial punching bag, intentionally or otherwise. In any case, wunderbar. Will await the next entry of this seemingly tragic tale with great anticipation.
all I can really say is that it is a good story, it has ideas that, frankly, I want to read about... though there are some issues I have in preference to my opinion, but that's just my opinions... but the one major question is: what's with the blank spot at the end? did you forget to write a part?
Oh my, I really liked this, although this just confirms one of the things that makes me like Sparity as better pairing for both Rare and Spike. I really hate when Rarity falls for a fancy guy, it's just like, come one, she's a Rarity, so if she just choose another Blueblood or Fancypants (even when he's a nice guy though) it would be like an obvious thing and it shows she keeps being the superficial pony that she seems to be. I think Rarity is more than tghat,and falling for Spike would show she really loves somepony for what he is inside, not only for his appeareance or his status. Although I will keep reading, I really wonder what happened to Spike.
Thank you, all of you. I'm really pleased to have such a positive response to my first attempt at producing something decent. Now all I have to do is follow up with something just as good. (Ye gods, the pressure). Now, on to individual concerns:
2201777
Kudos, my good man, for use of the word "fornication."
2202592
Haha, yes, circumlocution indeed. I'm constantly trying to reconcile the fact that I dislike florid prose with the fact that I really friggin' love fancy words.
I must admit, I see where you're coming from about screwing over Spike. He does seem to get the short end of the stick way too often. In this case, though, I can assure that it's mostly because I suscribe towards the Whedon Principle of emotionally tormenting all the characters, and Spike just has the misfortune of being the main character here. That said, I would quite like to write a lovely, innocent, non-angsty fic for both Spike and Scootaloo to make up for how the fandom treats them. I'm just not sure if I'm capable of coming up with anything that's actually cheerful.
2203184
Well, don't worry; all opinions are welcome.
The space is there so one needn't be distracted my author's note wittering at thge last paragraph of the story. It's a very minor thing, but it feels good to include. Hopefully it's not serving as a distraction in itself.
2203721
I agree, Rarity is a lot more than that. She's a strong contender for being one of the deepest and most interesting characters on the show. And I do find the idea of her and Spike together to be absolutely adorable. However, to defend what happens in this chapter: I think Rarity would be initially impressed by a cultured, high class pony. She wouldn't, however, fall in love because of that. For love, she wouldn't care about a pony's* background; she'd look for more important traits like decency, compassion, wit and the like. Presumably, Debonair showed some of these traits when they got talking after the dance. but the fic's not about him, so they're not shown.
It's a good point you bring up, so I hope that explains my choice in the story somewhat.
*(Or dragon's, obviously)
2204071
well, to me it's not so much of a distraction as a weird blank spot because I actually read stories as 'html's and in that format, it only has the story, so it was just a blank spot at the end
and my opinion is basically, "Spike is best pony and I want things to go his way." but it's a bit more complicated than that, but that sums up most of it fairly well
Well, I would like to tear it down, but I'm not so analytical. I'm just loving it. Most stories about an aged Spike focus on the sadness of outliving all his friends, but you've taken that old trope a step further by immersing us in his history with Rarity more than his current state.
My biggest problem is that the concept itself is ridiculous. Even if dragons do have a lifespan that puts ponies' to shame, I have a hard time believing that the nature of Equestria would allow something so heartbreaking. Spike grew up with a fast-paced, stimulating environment, learned about himself and the world, fell in love, and now he's forgotten it all and has no life. It's an ugly scenario, but I have faith it's not set in stone.
so spike is attending rarity's wedding spike must be in such a depressed state stay strong spike stay strong
Huh. I'm conflicted, but not for an interesting reason.
I have no doubts to the quality and effort involved in this story: I enjoyed it. Combining the more mystical aspects of being a dragon with the comfortable slice-of-life flashback was a great choice for the plot. I can say I was particularly happy when The Dragon maimed The Other Dragon, instead of killing him, because of how well the flashbacks reminded me of the Spike we know from the show.
One quibble to be had with the story may or may not just be a pet-peeve, I've never been able to decide. Obviously, you posses a marvellous vocabulary. That's something to be proud of. Especially when it enhances the reader's experience by way of accurate diction. Of course, however, an overdose of anything is still an overdose. I think for most of the time, you've chosen your words carefully, but now and then, it feels as though the word-choice is a bit gratuitous. For example, Twilight wryly remarking that she could easily predict Spike's behaviour with "basic empiricism." Past experience. It seems to me it could be said in simpler terms- which would avoid the hang-up for readers like me who had to make a note of the word to look up in the Dictionary later. You seem educated enough to know that intelligent diction is only so when it clearly and precisely communicates it's point.
Of course, I also have to take into account that I've never had a knack for accurate diction myself. It could just be jealousy. I haven't come to a final conclusion about it yet, but I thought the reaction might be worth mentioning.
The pacing felt a bit odd in the beginning but seemed to smooth over as the story progressed. Other then that I think what u have here is a good idea, next chapter HOOOOOOO!