Close The Case

by The Rainbow Blunderbolt

Chapter One

Chapter One

Spike was awakened by the train hitting a small rock that was left unattended on the tracks. The little dragon coughed softly as the last remnants of his peaceful sleep were forced away by the harsh reality of the sun’s rays beating down on him. And the fact the train was travelling Celestia knows how fast didn’t help his sleepy situation and just woke him up even more, to his eternal displeasure.

With a yawn, his blurry vision became clearer and he could finally see the scenery just outside of the window. The rolling hills were the same as last night, but the dust and sand that was sprinkled around various parts of the landscape were new additions to the scene. He raised an eyebrow and fumbled to take the map out of his small pile of belongings. Sure enough, he found that they were approaching Dodge Junction, and from the looks of it, they had just left Appleloosa. The thought lifted a small weight off his chest. He didn’t miss his stop, and he was still on track. That was good, and he could relax.

After a few more minutes of sitting around and waiting, the train finally pulled into the station without a moment to spare. Spike eagerly grabbed his things and made his way to the front of the train. It was much easier to get off the train than to get on the train, and that made his life a whole lot more relaxing. When he stepped off the stairs and onto the dusty ground beneath him, he saw the train racing back down the tracks carelessly, heading back to Appleloosa, seeing as this stop was at the end of the line. But, Spike could care less.

Looking around, he saw, to his surprise, nothing of interest and nothing that caught his eye, begging for his attention. Then again, perhaps that was a good thing. He wasn’t exactly here for sightseeing, after all. Seeing no pony he knew around, he quickly flung his bag over his shoulder and got out the map once again. Even though he had memorized it, he argued that it was always better to carry it with him. Much better to be safe than sorry, Spike told himself easily.

Locating his position on the map was rather easy, as was figuring out where he needed to go next to get to the dragon lands. The hard part would be the journey itself. For a fleeting moment, he wondered how long this would take. When would he get back to Ponyville? When would he get back to his friends? He had no way of accurately knowing. But, nevertheless he hoped that with his being away to find answers, some normalcy for Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and the rest of their friends would be able to resurface.

Celestia knows they needed it.

Taking a deep breath, he lifted his knee, and was soon on his way. It seemed almost automatic the way he did it, but it got him to where he needed to go, and soon enough, Dodge Junction was behind him, much faster than he anticipated. It was a rather small town, so that was probably why the time seemed to fly by. And when the town was fully behind him and he entered a forested area (most likely the Hayseed Swamps, from what his map was telling him), he could already feel the danger peeling from the bark of the many trees that surrounded him in an organic cage. His senses heightened as the large canopy above him sent his world into darkness, and every noise seemed to ring in his ears as he grew more and more paranoid. Was he ever this jumpy before? Maybe in the Everfree Forest, but then again, he had some pony with him, even if he wasn’t aware of it at the time. Now, even though he knew that the statement coming up was kind of getting old, he was alone.

The first few minutes of his venture into the forest was fine enough. Nothing seemed to be crawling about, waiting for just the right moment to prance up and eat him. There were only a few harmless animals running around his feet, and the occasional branch that snapped from behind him, but he learned not to turn around. That was the number one way to get killed, or so the many horror movies he watched with his friends had told him. It was only when he reached a small clearing, where the sun was visible once again, that he heard a low growl coming from behind him.

Right behind him.

He froze in place, muscles stuck taut and unwilling to move. The dragon took deep, ragged breaths, barely daring to do anything else.

“It’s okay, Spike,” he said quietly to himself. “Nothing’s there…it’s probably just the wind. Yeah, that’s all it is…the-the wind…”
Another growl, this time much louder than the last rang out in his eardrums. If he didn’t know any better, he would say that the creature behind him, if there even was a creature, was mocking him, pushing his buttons, seeing just how far he could push Spike into a terrifying defeat. But, Spike was braver than that. No matter what, he would not give in to the current situation.

Even if he was absolutely mortified.

Gulping loudly, he finally willed his shaking legs to move, eager to get out of here and leave whatever it was that was following him behind him. Unfortunately, the creature had other plans. For every step Spike took, the creature’s breath matched his steps exactly, and the growls grew louder and louder each time he tried to escape. After a while, he was pretty sure that whatever was behind him could smell the fear radiating off him at a rapid pace. Then, with another growl, and another few steps, Spike had finally had enough.

“Hey!” he called out into the darkness. “Why don’t you stop hiding like the coward you are and come out! I’m not afraid of you!” At the time, he was sure that he meant what he said. He wasn’t afraid of whatever dragon-eating beast that was surely going to tear him limb from limb and save him the mercy of a quick and painless death. But, what were the chances of that happening?

Apparently those chances were quite large.

A large brown paw shot out of the bush right in front of him.

Spike’s last batch of courage snapped and he took off, running blindly through the trees, not caring what his destination was. His instincts took over, screaming at him to get away from whatever it was that was putting him in danger. So, there he went, screaming and running down the pathway of the forest in an almost comical fashion, thinking that the monster was right on his tail. He could almost feel its foul breath on his shoulder…or maybe that was just the wind.

What he didn’t know was the beast wasn’t chasing him. It wasn’t even interested in him, the thing that held its interest was its nap being interrupted by a loud screaming sound.

Harry the Bear blinked blearily as the strange cry knocked him out of his dream. He moved his head from side to side as he pulled his paw back in towards his body, hoping to keep it warm. Wasn’t that crying sound coming from that little dragon Fluttershy played around with sometimes? And why was he running? It was such a nice day. Ah well, Harry figured. His loss. Without a second thought he closed his eyes and drifted back into his earlier state of sleep, not caring about anything whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Spike was still in ‘Oh-Celestia-what’s-chasing-me-I-don’t-want-to-die’ mode. His feet tore at the ground, digging up dirt as he ran mercilessly through the forest, snapping twigs and whatever unlucky pieces of nature were unfortunate enough to be in his trampling path. He felt his heart pound against his ribcage as the adrenaline from before began to wear off, and common sense began to set back in. Why was he running from something that was probably more scared of him than he was of it? There was a good question, and one that he was not exactly determined to answer. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to slow down, his frantic sprint coming to a close until he stopped entirely. He turned around very carefully, once again holding his breath in case something really WAS there. Luckily, there was no such thing.

He was safe.

He was also a pretty big scaredy dragon.

Ignoring the urge to slam his palm into his forehead, he observed his surroundings carefully, trying to figure out where in the wide world of Equestria he was. It was easy to tell where he had come from, if he looked at the torn branches and upturned dirt just behind him. The hard part was figuring out just how far he had run. Without a second thought, he took out the map from his bag and looked at it, trying to trace back his steps. It would only take a second, he told himself.

Seconds slowly trickled into minutes.

This was taking far longer than he thought it would.

By his calculations, he should still be in the forest, but he was currently in a swampy area. That couldn’t be right, he thought as he tried to trace his finger over his path again and again, not willing to believe that he was wrong and that the map was just faulty. Then he realized that he was just being stubborn. Sighing, he took another look at the map and made another plan. He would find the shoreline that was right beside the swamp and travel to his destination from there. The first thing he needed to do, however, was get out of this swamp.

There was something about this swamp, he thought to himself as he glanced around over his shoulder and in all directions, something he didn’t like. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he had a strange feeling that something bad was going to happen, and if he stayed in one place any longer, then something bad would happen. With that thought in mind, he kept moving, his pace turning into a slow jog as he headed to the left, hoping that it would get him out of here.

He had no idea how long he had traveled, or for how long, but when he looked up at the gaps in the canopy he saw that the sky was getting darker and darker as time went on. Before long, the ground below him and his surroundings became almost invisible, shrouded in darkness. His mind began to grow panicked. What if he got lost? What if he was here in this swamp forever? What if he got eaten? What he got lost then eaten?

Then he would surely be here forever.

Before another thought that formed a worst case scenario popped into his head, he finally saw an opening in between two large trees. His eyes lit up in anticipation. There it was! Freedom from this horrid place! And just in time too. Now, he could barely see anything around him, much less predators that were silently stalking him in the night. It was good to finally see something other than trees and the murky darkness clouding around his feet.

Sprinting now, he finally crashed through the trees and was on the other side of the swamps and on the coastline separating the sea from the land. Taking a deep breath in through his nose, he practically smelt freedom, and some salt that was coming from the ocean that cleared his sinuses as he breathed in. He, come to think of it, had never been to the ocean before. The water was foreign to him, but at the same time it was more than inviting, the salty sea air encasing his nostrils and refusing to relinquish its grasp. Luna’s moon reflected down on the water, making the water sparkle in the moonlight above.

He looked back at the forest behind him, and wondered how long he had been in there, stumbling aimlessly about. However, that thought didn’t last very long. If there was one thing he didn’t want to think about right now, it was that swamp. The creepy feeling from before was slowly ebbing away, and the way he saw it, there was no reason for him to bring it back and psyche himself out about it again. Taking one last look at the dark swamp, he strolled down to the white sand that lined the ocean and decided to walk along that, just for a change in scenery, and what a change it was from the dark dreary swamp. He would love to sit about and watch the moon slowly roll through the sky, but he had a job to do, and he was determined to see it through.

Feeling better in the open space, he quickly turned down the shoreline and began walking. Spike wanted to get to the border that separated Equestria from the dragon lands soon, and judging from the map in his mind’s eye, that would only take him a couple more hours. The moon was still fairly low on the horizon, and he could still see delicate streaks of orange, pink, and yellow darting across the open sky. It was dark, and it would get darker. That thought kind of unnerved him, but he felt better now that he was in an open space, and not in that creepy swamp.

Looking ahead of him, all he saw was the sandy beach stretching as far as his eyes could see. He would have looked on the map to see how far it went exactly, but it only stretched to as far as Equestria was, and cut off somewhere along the beach, rendering it useless now. That meant he would have to find his way on his own. But, he could get by, he told himself as he kept walking, hoping that he would get where he needed to go soon. There was no telling what would come out of that forest at night. Still, who would pick on a dragon, right?

Perhaps he should have worded that phrase differently.

A lot of things would pick on a baby dragon.

Still, he was determined not to let his fear get the best of him and continued on.

It took a few hours, as he expected, but he finally saw a lone harbor with a shack in the distance just in front of a large forest filled with pine trees. The shack and harbor themselves looked small and rickety, but at least it was reassuring to know that there was still some civilization around him. Almost immediately, his tired legs began to go into overdrive, pushing his pace into a slow run until he began to near the harbor. When he did, and the intricate details of splintering wood and rusting nails began to become clearer to him, he came to a halt.

“Umm…hello?” he called out.

A low growl answered him, much like the one from before. But this time, he was determined to keep his cool, and not freak out like a little baby. So, he tried again as he walked up the rickety steps.

“Is there anybody here?” he asked into the darkness.

“Who’s there?” a scratchy voice called out.

He jumped when he saw a dark head pop out from the cabin. It was almost reptilian and had huge yellow eyes that had black pupils narrowed into thin slits. Other than that striking feature, he couldn’t make out anything else from the creature. Frankly, he wasn’t sure whether to be scared or curious. He would’ve liked to get to know this individual, but then he remembered that he still had things he needed to do.

“Uh, hi,” he said, closing the distance between him and the figure. Now that he was closer, he saw that it was a dragon. A very small, thin dragon. “I’m Spike, and I was just wondering if you have a map. You see, I’m just looking for…”

“Spike, eh?” the creature laughed, interrupting him. He, judging from the voice he possessed, walked out into the open and circled around Spike. “You’re certainly a little thing, aren’t ya?”

“Hey, I’m not little!” Spike protested, crossing his arms over his chest.

The dragon laughed.

“Sure you’re not,” he chuckled, patting the baby dragon’s head. He was bipedal, and had very thin arms with claws on the fingertips, not unlike other dragons, but still keeping a unique feature. “So, what brings you out this way, Spike?”

“I’m just looking for a dragon,” Spike answered cautiously, not willing to trust this eccentric stranger just yet.

“Well, there’s a lot of dragons, kid,” he said. “You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific.”

Spike grunted. He tried to remember the details Rainbow Dash had given him about the dragon that attacked her. Unfortunately, it seemed in the midst of him being terrified the majority of the day, he had forgotten some of it. Tapping his foot, he searched his mind for the details.

“If you ain’t gonna tell me, then I ain’t gonna help ya, and I’m assuming that’s what you need,” the dragon said, his lips curling into a deep frown. “I don’t got a lot of patience, ya know.”

“I could tell,” Spike replied. “I’m just trying to remember. Look, I’m finding the dragon for my friend; he attacked her and…”

“Wait…attacked ‘er, you say?” the strange dragon interrupted, reaching down to Spike’s meager eye level.

“Yeah, do you know anything about it?” Spike asked hopefully.

He snorted. “I’d be surprised if anyone hasn’t heard about it. It’s been the talk around these here dragon parts for months…I would ask why you haven’t heard about it, but seeing as how you came from them pony lands, and you’re asking about it, I’m assuming you’re new.”

Spike laughed nervously.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he chuckled wearily. “So, can you help me?”

“To an extent,” the dragon muttered. His tone piqued Spike’s interest.

“What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.

“If I tell ya everything…let’s just say I won’t be here to help you next time,” came the bitter reply. “The stuff about the attack is very hush-hush. Even though practically everyone knows about it, behind the scenes is still telling us to shut up and forget it. Why? I couldn’t tell you if I tried.” By the end of that, the dragon had a strange look in his eye Spike couldn’t understand.

“Huh…” Spike said slowly, his gaze not wavering. “Well, can you at least tell me how to find him?”

It seemed that the offer came as a surprise.

“Didn’t you just hear what I said?”

“Yeah, I heard it,” Spike answered, “But this is really important! It could mean life or death for my friend!”

“So, you’re friends with the pony that got the short end of the deal, eh?” the dragon assumed suddenly.

“Uh…yeah?”

“Well…” The dragon’s expression grew into one of thoughtfulness, and left much up to Spike’s imagination. He could only wonder what was behind the stoic poker face and what emotions were concealed from the outside world. “Alright…but if you see my head on a pole here mounted in the dirt next time you come around, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The sentence was simple, but sent chill running gown his spine all the same.

“Let’s see…the dragon who hurt your friend is probably west of here by now, seeing that they banished him for…whatever reason…this is harder than I would have thought. I suppose that all you need to do is ask around for the ‘exiled one’ and someone’ll give you an answer sooner or later,” the dragon answered cryptically.

“Wait, can’t you lead me to him?” Spike asked urgently. “You seem to know a lot.”

The dragon simply laughed.

“Sorry, kid,” he answered. “There’s only so much I know, and so much I’m allowed to do. Tell ya what though, I’ll point you in the right direction, and then leave you on your way. That sound good?”

The dragon’s offer was inviting. At least this way he would still have some guidance on his journey. Who know? It might benefit him in the long run.

“Sure, I’m in,” Spike replied.

“Great,” he answered. “But, I’m gonna leave you once you’re in the right direction. So, don’t think that this is a long-term deal. Got it? Good.” He turned away from Spike without waiting for a reply. Flicking his narrow tail, he switched something in the shack before stalking off into another forested area just behind them.

“Hey!” Spike called out, running to try and catch up with his strange new guide. “Where are you going?”

“You want to find that dragon, right?” he asked once Spike caught up to him.

Spike inhaled heavily, trying desperately to catch his breath. He would be the first to admit that he wasn’t in the best of shape, and all those gems Twilight gave him on weekends as a treat certainly wasn’t helping him in anyway. Spike made a mental note to tell Twilight to stop doing that, no matter how much he would miss it.

“Yeah…” he said after several deep breaths.

“Then we have to get moving,” his guide told him sternly, swerving his head in every which way. The dragon was antsy, that much was clear to Spike, but from what? “There’s no telling what’s watching us around these parts.”

This put Spike on edge. His body became hyper sensitive once again as they walked through the carboniferous trees, aware of almost everything that was going on around him. He swore that something was following him, and it was a very scary feeling. Looking up at his guide, he saw the biped had on a stoic but thoughtful expression. Once again, Spike wondered what the mysterious dragon was thinking.

“Uh…” Spike started, getting fed up with the silence that now surrounded them. “So…”

“So,” the dragon replied.

“How’s the weather around here?” Spike asked casually.

The dragon kept staring forward.

“Pretty mild,” he replied, his voice devoid of all emotions.

“Mild season, huh?” Spike laughed warily. He had to keep this conversation going. If not for this strange dragon, then for his own sanity.

The dragon, to his surprise, stopped and turned back to him, his yellow eyes amused, but annoyed.

“Look, kid, we’re not friends,” the dragon said bluntly. “And I can tell that you don’t want to talk to me. Frankly, I don’t really want to talk to you. You’re just lucky that I’m doing this, and that I’m in a good mood.” Without a second look, the dragon turned his head back so that he was facing forward once again. Then, he took off at a slow run. This took Spike by surprise, and didn’t help him keep up at all. As the time went on, he was more certain of his dislike for this guide than anything else.

“Hey! Stop running!” Spike demanded when he finally caught up.

“Can’t,” the dragon replied simply.

“Why?” Spike wanted to know.

“They’re watching.”

Spike’s eyes widened. The rest of the trip was silent, and hopefully that was enough for them to go unnoticed by whatever it was that the guide was talking about. That silence, however heavenly the strange dragon thought it was, was becoming a weight on Spike’s mind as they walked for what seemed like forever. Finally having enough, he opened his mouth to speak as they came to a large clearing. But, he was unable to even start his sentence when his guide stuck his fleshy tail into his mouth.

“Hush…don’t talk,” the dragon whispered. “Understand?”

Spike nodded as best he could with the tail in his mouth.

“Good.” Without hesitation, the dragon removed his tail from Spike’s mouth and knelt down to the little dragon’s eye-level, speaking in a hushed tone. “Do you see that mountain in the distance; just ahead of you?”

Spike looked. Almost immediately, the large gray blob in the distance caught his eye. And it perfectly lined up to where his tour guide was pointing.

“Yeah, I see it,” Spike replied.

“You need to get to that,” his guide told him. “Once you do, climb to the very top; there’s a cave up there. You’ll find what you’re looking for there. Now go. There’s no time to lose.” With that, Spike was pushed forward again and again.

“Wait, what about you?” Spike asked innocently. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

The dragon laughed bitterly.

“I almost wish I could.”

The silence welcomed itself back in between them. It wasn’t until there was a loud snapping sound coming from their right that Spike was encouraged to get going.

“You better go, kid,” the dragon told him.

Spike turned around to leave. But before he did, he looked over his shoulder and back at the dragon.

“Will I ever see you again?” he asked innocently.

“Maybe…don’t worry about me,” the dragon urged.

“What’s your name?” Spike prompted, trying to get a solid answer.

“That’s for another time,” the dragon sighed. “Just go. Be careful, Spike.”

“I will…thank you.”

“No problem.”

With that and a small nod, the baby dragon was off, running as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

The dragon watched him go in defeat. He had missed his chance. Again. And there it went, running off into the distance and soon enough it turned into a bright green blob before it disappeared from sight completely. He was alone again.

Or so he thought.

He didn’t have any time to react before something rushed into him, knocking him to the ground and effectively pushing all the air from his lungs. As he lay there, moaning and kicking at the ground for air, he saw…something that was similar to a dragon waltz up from the gloom of the forest behind him, as well as several other things that were most likely accompanying him. Well, there they were. They had found him.

“You knew the deal,” the lead dragon growled, not wasting any time with giving him a distinct backhand to the cheek, snapping his head back.

“So what?” the dragon spat, his raspy voice still not completely back.

“You knew what the consequences would be if you told any outsiders about the…incident,” the intruder growled, taking his face in his claws and pushing the razor sharp tips into his cheeks. The dragons eyes widened as he felt trickles of blood drip down his face and land on the ground, forming a small puddle underneath him. “And now, you will face them for directly disobeying our orders.”

“You mean his orders,” the dragon spat out.

“Shut it, you wretch.”

He had no time to speak as his head was slammed against the forest floor again and again. The pain was almost unimaginable as he felt his skull cracking under the pressure, the hard bone softening at the blunt trauma it was forced to endure. When he looked down, he saw the small puddle grow even larger. Still, it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to, so he just took it silently, trying to detach himself from the torture his head was currently being put through. The ground below him was hard, but his will was much harder. There was no way he was going to show weakness around these idiots. He would stay strong. And it seemed he would have to be, for these dragons seemed to take pleasure from his pain.

Eventually, the torture was over. The dragon’s vision was fuzzy as he tried to regain his bearings, to get up, to get away, but a strong claw held him down.

“You’ve out-lived your usefulness,” the lead dragon said emotionlessly. “Any last words?”

The dragon laughed before spitting out a glob of blood.

“Go to tartarus.”

A stream of blood spewed out from the newly detached head that rolled across the forest floor.

The leader looked at his kill proudly, licking the blood off his stained claws in long slow strokes.

“Are we going after that other one?” one of his men asked.

The leader stayed silent for a few moments, then he turned back to face his troupe.

“No,” he told his men. “He can have a head start. It’s more fun that way.”

Comments

[The Rainbow Blunderbolt]

So, after a week or so of waiting, I finally got this thing done. And you all thought I cancelled it.

24.media.tumblr.com/b9646d2a4d99a45e179176aad03a7888/tumblr_mg4bwdw2bn1s26tcfo1_500.gif
Guess what new show I found?
BBC'S SHERLOCK MUTHAFUCKAS. Benedict Cumberbatch is so perfect I can'tnbslkagdl\askfgdksaj\ncblkjszgfclk\asbhf

Also, I love writing gore. It's so much fun. I should do it more often. In fact, I plan to...this is what I get for watching Elfen Lied, Higurashi, and Umineko. Hahahahahaimgoinginsanehelpme

Anyways, enjoy.

[ocbaker]

loved it! This makes me interested to find out what is going on and what Spike is going to go through. I know he comes out ok at the end but I'm still scared for the litt.. *thump* for the guy.

[Bairiko]

Damn, you killed him off quickly didn't you? Ah well, can't wait to see Spike kick their asses somehow.

[Biker_Dash]

Yes, this story is definitely gonna get more and more interesting, I can tell.

[For The Plot]

What he got lost then eaten?

You missed an if.

You should also use different words than blob and glob, they seem very...childish.

[BrackMadar]

Elfen, Higurashi and Umineko? good animes, and quite the good inspiration for this story as dragons where portrayed as savages in the show

the conspiracy is strong in this one and i love it
rest in piece dragon whose name we don´t know this seems apropiate so i´ll just leave it here...

[Slip Kid]

This is interesting so far, I look forward to seeing where you take it.

[Aasha]

2367749 Spike is a child though. "Blob" and "glob" sound like words he would use anyway.

Also this chapter feels a bit off. It's certainly interesting, but it feels like the story totally changed themes on some level here.

[Xarsor]

In this chapter, a dragon gets himself killed for no apparent reason.