Ponyville never had a good history with show ponies. There had of course been Trixie, twice. Later they'd had Flim and Flam that basically did their best to ruin the entire apple family business. So yes, this small village didn't exactly have an open mind to wandering show ponies.
But of course, the one closing in on the small village couldn't know that.
He was large, incredibly so, close to being the size of Big Macintosh. But of course you had to be reasonably large to carry around a personal wagon. He was a golden brown with a darker brown mane. His wagon had green banners on the side with a small gold purse serving as the cover on a red book. Their colors matched those of his clothes, which was green cloth with white trim that was draped around his shoulders and chest.
"Another day full of opportunities." He said to himself, looking towards the small village.
"Another village, more money."
"Spike, get over here, quickly!"
The tiny dragon noisily woke from his sleep. Twilight was standing by the window that faced the town square, enthusiastically waving the small dragon closer.
He responded by rolling onto his side and attempted to fall asleep once again.
Twilight stared at him with eyes half closed. Her horn lit up and the tiny bed frame was enveloped in a lavender glow and was carried to the window, where the dragon was unceremoniously dropped onto the ground. Spike quickly recovered and got to his feet.
"This is one of the reasons why your reputation as sister has received some hairline fracture." He growled, rubbing the back of his head to make the numbness disappear.
She rolled her eyes, "nevermind, I wanted you to see this." She pointed a hoof out the window. Spike, still rubbing the back of his head, walked over with tired eyes, and was met with the sight of an all new carriage standing outside. It had golden and green banners on the sides, and a rather large stallion was busily preparing........ Something, with the large construct.
"You're seriously dragging me away from my beauty sleep to look at some old stallion setting up a weird scheme?" He raised an eyebrow in fake disbelief before dragging his bed back to its place, "sometimes Twilight........ Sometimes........"
"He isn't a show pony Spike, he's a salesman."
Spike stiffened like a board, as if he'd died and rigor mortis had activated about 10 hours sooner than it should. This, however quickly stopped as he hurried towards his own drawer, where he took out one of his most valuable possession. His piggybank.
"I've been waiting an eternity for an opportunity like this." Spike was on the point of almost giggling as he smashed the porcelain piggybank into the floor, the coins were strewn across the floor, as was the small pieces of what was once a whole doll.
"I know you have." Twilight smiled, this was why she'd presented it to him in the first place, he'd saved up for months. Not for anything specific, but because he'd been waiting for an opportunity, and now one presented itself on a silver platter.
"One, two....." Spike was counting carefully, dragging the bits into a small pile on his right, with the chunks of porcelain going to his left. "73 bits." He proudly announced, picking up the coins and showing them to Twilight.
"Hurry down there then," she pushed him forward. "Before all the good stuff is taken!"
Spike needed no more encouragement than that, he ran down towards the door as fast as his legs could carry him. Twilight smiling the entire time, slightly amused, but moreso happy for his excitement.
Spike almost ran the door down, running towards the town square without closing it after him. Soon he could see the salesman clearly, he was wearing what Spike could recall Twilight calling a tabard. It had a red book with a small bag of money on its cover on the chest, with green silk and a white trim covering almost his entire body. He had a small green fez on his head, tilted slightly to the left. Spike clutched the small amount of bits tensely, watching the stallion pulling at ropes to set up the stand. He walked carefully closer, trying his best not to interrupt him.
"Umm, excuse me sir?"
The stallion immediately let go of the rope, making a wood panel flap down and cause something inside the wagon to make weird noises. The stallion turned around and looked frantically around him, before Spike poked at his shin, making him look down.
"Oh dear, you scared the life out of me little one." He laughed heartedly, "tell me, what can I do for you thats so important?"
"I-I-I......." Spike stammered, his intention hadn't been to scare the stallion. Panic was striking down, almost like when Twilight started freaking out. What if he won't sell me anything now? What If he's angry? What will Twilight think?
"Come on now, speak up, I don't bear a grudge, everyone makes mistakes now and then." He lowered his head so he was eye level with Spike.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't want to startle you." Spike managed to blurt out.
The stallion blinked a few time in confusion before flinging his head back and roaring in laughter. Spike jumped a few steps back, this hadn't exactly been the expected reaction. The stallion finally finished laughing and started wiping away the tears. "Well, I'm sorry for worrying you so much little one." He choked out in between small spurts of laughter. "What did you want?"
Spike blinked twice to get his mind back on track, and once he had done so he couldn't help but hide a smile. It was nice to meet a showpony who wasn't an arrogant snot head. "I just wanted to get a look at your wares." Spike said, extending his money filled claw. The salesman eyed it with amusement, and perhaps a little guilt.
"Well come on in, let's see if I've got something for you." He smiled again, waving a hoof for the dragon to follow. Spike was more than happy to obey. The salesman opened a door in the side of the wagon, he scuttled inside, soon followed by Spike. The dragon could so absolutely nothing, as it was completely pitch black dark.
"Just wait, I've gotta light my lamp." The salesman said, rumbling through the large piles of stuff strewn all across the floor. "Where is the blasted thing?" He grumbled under his breath, until he felt something collide with his forehead, "ah, here it is." He exclaimed, and soon after he'd twisted the small button on the side, Spike could see.
And boy, what he could see.
Exotic wares lined the walls, some things spike could recognize, like different gems -of both the familiar and unfamiliar variety. Different types of clothing. Huge ornate weapons that looked far too alien for any normal pony to use. Staves, books, even glowing orbs that would make Twilight giddy with excitement. There was even different types of food hung up on a long piece of string. On shelves there was potions and salves that covered the entire color pallet.
Spike could feel the money burning a whole in his claw, they wanted to be spent.
"So," the stallion hung up the lamp on the string alongside the different foods, "does anything here peak your interest?"
"Everything does....." Spikes whispered, turning to the salesman, "how do you have all this stuff?"
"Traveling and connections little one..." The salesman looked towards the roof with slightly blank eyes. "Too much traveling, and slightly unfortunate connections." He quickly shook his head, escaping the sort of dreamlike state he'd been in, "but never mind that, how much spending money do you have?"
Spike proudly presented the small pile of bits to the salesman, "73 bits." The dragon smiled, "I've been saving up for ages."
"I'm sure you have." The stallion nodded, "anything particular that might interest you?"
Spike had his eyes firmly fixed on a beautifully cut red gemstone. It seemed to have some sort of weird light flowing inside it that sparkled and glowed randomly. "How much for this?" He asked, grasping the red gem. He could feel it spark in his claw, this was no ordinary gem.
The salesman smiled apologetically, "I'm afraid you don't have quite enough for that little one." He bit into the gem and gently took it from the dragon, placing it on its original stand. "It's about 300 bits."
Spike couldn't even get his head around that kind of number. It was a special gem to be sure, but for 300 bits you could buy a single pony trip to Zebrania for about five months, five star hotel, touring and special events included. That much for a gem was ridiculous.
"Well," Spike said, obviously disappointed, "how much for that one?" He pointed towards yet another of the gems, this one was a light pink, and he felt stronger even holding it.
"50 bits." The salesman said. "Is this your choice then?"
Spike shook his head and placed the gem back on its stand, "that's just too much in my opinion." He looked at the ground, feeling the tears well up in his eyes. "Thank you for showing me around." He started walking towards the door, wiping his eyes free of the wetness.
The salesman put a hoof on his shoulder and turned him around. "Today I will be hosting a show right here in ponyville. If you can be there I promise you that the most prized artifact in this shop shall be yours."
Spike lit up in a smile, "when is it?"
"Tonight." The salesman smiled, "tonight little one."
Spike could see it, the booth was ready, the sun was about to set. It was about to happen, the show would start and afterwards he'd get his present. The most amazingly awesome thing that the shopkeeper owned was about to be his!
If Twilight would go ahead and hurry up.
"Come ooon Twilight, can't we just go? It's a show down at the square, not the Grand Galloping Gala!" Spike groaned. He knew that Twilight had a certain peeve with everything being orderly and neat, but she'd spent an entire hour getting ready, and by Spikes standards that was at least 57 minutes more than what was required.
"It's not me who wants to go and see this show, you could just go there yourself you know." Twilight answered back rather snakily. She was busy making sure she'd brought everything along, or rather checking if she did for the fourth time.
"I can't go by myself, you have to see this place. It's amazing!" Spike said, throwing his arms into the air and letting himself fall into their couch, where he then took a peculiar liking to staring at the ceiling. "It's...... Almost unbelievable."
"I got that the third time you told me." Twilight said, sighing. She took a few quick steps and stood in front of the sofa. "Now, you gonna come along or what?"
"With pleasure!" Spike answered, doing a impromptu jump into Twilights back. The two set off from the library towards the square, and were immediately met with the sight of an entire wall of ponies. Presumably those that had come to see the show.
And of course among those, were the rest of Twilights friends."
"Hey guys!" Spike shouted, catching the attention of the five of them, alongside some bystanders who waved but then just turned around. Those who the greeting had been aimed towards however quickly walked towards them, each of them wearing smiles as large as their faces would allow.
"Hey Twilight! Hi spike!" They said in almost perfect tandem.
"You guys here to watch the show too?" Spike asked. To which Applejack nodded. "Yeah, or rather i was nagged down here." She said as Applebloom walked casually out from behind the mares, alongside Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
"We would've never heard the end of it if we'd stayed at home." Rainbow sighed. To which all three of the fillies grinned. Somehow these three devils in ponies clothing had an amazing talent for getting whatever they wanted, no matter what means had to be taken in hoof.
But then they were all interrupted by a sudden burst of light.
"Mares and Gentlecolts. If you would please direct your gaze to the stage?" A smooth and suave voice proclaimed, and It had everyone's attention. "I have something extraordinary to show you!"
On the stage was now an enormous cloud of smoke, and out of it walked a large brown stallion clad in green garments. He was taller than anyone present, partially by being on a stage as supposed to on the ground, but even then he seemed to tower over anypony present.
"Often i am asked, what does a hero truly need?" He asked the crowd. "Much depends on the hero." He turned around to a large chest, from which he pulled forth what looked to be a gem carved into a very strange shape. "Would you be swift?" He hung the strange necklace from his neck, and was soon out of sight, moving so quickly that even Rainbow had trouble keeping up. "Then for you i have speed beyond measure."
He zoomed back to the chest, where he carefully placed the gem back into its safe bounds. But from the same chest he pulled a rather large axe that looked like it was made out of red stone. Aswell as a rather large rock.
"Would you be strong?" He asked the crowd, carefully placing the rock on the stage. He lifted the axe high above his head. "Then i can grant you the might, to overpower any foe!" He said as he brough the axe down, completely obliterating the rock and sending small pebbles flying everywhere.
He opened the chest once more, and from it he pulled a large branch with a flaming red tip. "Would you be wise?" He asked. He pointed the branch directly into the crowd and it shot a bright red beam into an already prepared bonfire, which caused it to light up in a matter of seconds. "Then come closer and i will unlock your inner cunning!"
He jumped off the stage, and walked towards the bonfire. As he got there he threw some strange looking powder into the fire, causing wild images to appear. Of strange creatures doing battle in the air, on the ground, and below the water.
"What does a hero, truly need?" He yelled.
The flames completely died out, safe for the rod which he had held onto. This was the only source of light, and it served to illuminate half of his face.
"That, is for you to decide."
The crowd was silent for a moment, but then the clapping began. Enthusiastic hooves expressing their approval of the show they had just witnessed. And what a show indeed, this was unlike anything Ponyville had ever seen before, and most likely would see ever again.
"Mares and Gentlecolts," The stallion said. "The Secret Shop is now open for business! You can inquire my assistant for more information at the stall, but remain calm and collected." After this had been said he turned around and walked off the stage, out of everyone's sight. And soon after the entire crowd started stampeding toward the booth, leaving the ten remaining ponies standing with their mouths agape.
The silence hung low for a long while before finally someone decided to speak up. "Did y'all see that?" Appleblooms squeed excitedly. "That guy was all over the place."
"He was so strong." Sweetie belle said in awe.
"And he shot fire! And he doesn't even have horn!" Scootaloo said, shrugging and trying her best not to seem excited or impressed.
"Have you ever heard of any pony besides unicorns using magic Twilight?" Rarity asked her friend. If there was anyone who'd have an answer it was of course her.
"It's not exactly unheard of, but lighting things on fire is pretty advanced. That there wand had to've been made by some pretty skilled unicorns." She said. The others didn't do anything else but nod, when it came to magic nobody dared question what Twilight said, lest they'd get educated on the history and working of magic for hours on end.
"Why don't we have a look at what this guy is selling?" Pinkie suggested, just as hasty to get there as spike was, if not more.
"I like the sound of that." Spike said with a huge grin. He jumped off Twilight's back and ran towards the cart as quick as his legs could carry him, which wasn't that fast in comparison with the rest.
Spike eventually reached the cart, or rather the crowd of ponies blocking him from reaching it. He started pushing his way through, slipping in where others couldn't thanks to his tiny size. He heard ponies complain, groan and curse. But he had a single goal, to get to that damn wagon and find the shopkeeper.
But all he found once he'd finally pushed through the crowd was a small bird sitting on a pole.
It was a very strange looking bird granted. It looked to have scales running down it's back, and it's beak was enormous. It's eyes were bloodshot and sticking out of its head to the point that they looked like they were about to roll out.
But it wasn't the shopkeeper, that was for sure. Unless he had accidentally transformed himself.
Spike thought about it, the stallion had said that they'd be speaking with his assistant if they were to go here. He pushed his way back through the crowd of ponies, completely forgetting everything about his friends, and if they'd even caught up with him.
He found the door that lead into the cart itself. He pushed it open slowly, and if it had been made his much noise when he first got in here he certainly didn't remember it. The door made a loud wheen noise as he pushed it, and immediately caught the attention of the shopkeeper.
"Hey there little one, what can I do for you?" The shopkeeper asked. He was busily sorting different canisters and flasks on a shelf. "I'm a little busy right now."
"I- uh, I was just here to get that present you promised me." Spike muttered. He was looking around the room, searching for what his present was, as if he could find out by heart. He saw the same things as he had the first time, and some new things as well.
"Well, can you give me a minute little one? I am a little busy right now." The shopkeeper said, grabbing a hold of several gemstones and weapons before walking out the door to the booth. "Just don't touch anything."
Spike nodded before looking around again. He saw thousands of trinkets that looked far too alien to be Equestrian. There was a staff with a blue orb at the tip, a small dagger, and a rather large axe. In the corner was a glowing green sword with a black handle. He touched it quickly, and he felt I thrum in its hand. He felt the urge to take the sword and bring it home. His hand brushed the blade, and he was repulsed by the very idea of even holing the weapon. He quickly let go and backed away from the sword as quickly as he could.
He was then tapped on the shoulder, and a familiar pair or voices said. "Hey there Spike."
Spike jumped forward again, knocking over the sword. It somehow got stuck in the floor, and spike felt absolutely no desire to try and pick it up. He turned around to face the three fillies that had apparently followed him here. "What're you three doing in here?"
"We should ask you the same question." Applebloom said accusingly. "This is a private area spike, you're gonna get in trouble!"
"Well as it happens I was invited here by the shopkeeper himself." Spike said, blowing on his nails in a sort of gaudy and arrogant gesture. " he's gonna give me a present for helping him earlier."
"Is it this thing?" Scootaloo asked, looking at what was a very beautiful sword. It looked very intricate, and was early made of platinum and gold. She moved closer to it and stared at it in awe.
"I don't know, he said it was the most rare and unique item in his entire shop." Spike said. Scootaloo didn't really listen however. She was busy inching closer to the sword. She moved her hoof ever closer. Waning to touch the hard and cold surface of the weapon.
"DONT TOUCH THAT!"
Scootaloo stumbled back as the shout rang through the cart. The shopkeeper was standing in the other end of the cart, carrying two very large bag of bits. He was staring at Scootaloo with a horrified expression on his face. He dropped both of the bags and ran towards her, grabbing her hoof and pushing her back lightly.
"Don't ever. Touch. That. Weapon!" He said, clenching his teeth and speaking through them.
"Relax dude, it wasn't as if I was going to steal it." Scootaloo said, walking away from the shopkeeper. She was startled, something she wasn't exactly used to.
"If you'd touched this blade you wouldn't have had a choice. It would be bound to you, and there'd only be one way to solve it." The shopkeeper said, as soon as he finished he drew his hoof across his neck. Scootaloo swallowed a lump that had gathered in her throat. She now looked at the weapon with fear and caution.
"Now, all three of you, get out of my cart before I throw you out myself." The shopkeeper said grumpily, "And you little one, follow me, I promised you a gift."
Spike looked at the three fillies with a smug smile. They recounted by blowing raspberries before they exited the cart. Spike turned around from the door and followed the shopkeeper. The stallion opened a small door which lead into a tiny cabinet.
With a small pedestal, and a scroll lying on said pedestal.
"Take it." The shopkeeper said, giving the dragon a small shove in the direction of the pedestal. Spike carefully picked up the scroll and unwrapped the blue ribbon that kept it closed. He rolled it out, and in stead of finding text there was merely a large circle drawn in black ink with various alien runes on the edges of it.
"Place your hand in the center." The shopkeeper said.
Spike did as ordered and carefully placed his palm in the middle of the circle. He felt how his hand was stuck to the paper, and now matter hi much he pulled he couldn't get free.
"Relax, and do as I say." The shopkeeper said. "What is your greatest wish?"
Spike breathed in and calmed down. He relaxed and thought deeply, "I...... I want to be a hero, adored by all and renowned throughout the lands."
"Repeat after me Bring me Home!" The shopkeeper said.
Spike breathed slowly and repeated the words. "Bring me home!"
As soon as those last words left spikes mouth he felt something stir inside him. He felt his entire body tingling. And soon a bright blue circle started glowing at his feet. It spread upward until it had enveloped his entire body, and a second or so thereafter spike the dragon had disappeared.
In his place was the scroll, now the blue circle in the middle no longer being empty. In stead there was a picture of spikes face, with a smaller empty circle below it.
The shopkeeper bowed down and picked up the small scroll. He rolled it out and stuck It to the wall of the cart, where a bunch of similar scrolls where hanging, although with different pictures.
"Yet another one joins the ranks." The shopkeeper sighed. "Hopefully this one survives."
Among the trees of the dense Shoken forest there were many a creature to find. Those of tiny build that skittered along the ground, and those large enough to push the trees aside with ease. This was not a place for those faint of heart, or weak of build. But in a small glade was an unfamiliar sight.
A bear.
Now you might ask yourself what's so strange about a bear. To that I'd answer, nothing in particular. But this particular bear looked odd. With tufts of fur missing and weird markings drawn on it with what looked to be berry juice, or something alike it. This bear was trudging through the forest, smelling everywhere for signs of something out of the ordinary. So far this little furry guy had found nothing special, just trees, trees, and more trees.
But as he moved into the glade he saw something that was indeed out of the ordinary. In the middle of it in the rays of the sun was a little purple body. Not much smaller than that of a keen child. It was scaly and lizard-like, with claws and fangs and a tail. The bear started sniffing it, to try and find out if there was any danger. Eventually the big guy decided that there wasn't anything wrong, band that he might need someone else to look at it.
He bit into the tail of the creature with his gums, careful not to hurt it, and started waddling back to his master.
The master in question was a rather old man sitting by a campfire. He was wearing quite heavy leather armor with what looked to be leaves and branches as decoration. He had a braided beard and almost no hair on his head. He looked immensely tired, as if he hadn't slept in days or weeks.
In truth, old Sylla hadn't slept in millennia.
Sylla, or The Lone Druid as he was known in legend, wasn't like any normal keen. He was more tuned to the nature, he saw things that others did not, he could communicate with the animals themselves.
And he was a doomed man.
Sylla had once been one of many, a whole clan of Druids that like he worshipped the nature in all it's glory. He had been the most renowned of them, the wisest and most skilled of them, and that had been his demise. As he had been chosen by his goddess to carry out a task no one should have to do. He had to watch his tribe go mad as their animal instincts overcame them, he had to watch as his family, friends, and comrades were wiped from the face of the earth. He had to watch as he, the sole survivor of the Druids, were to carry out the task of holding the fate of nature in his hands, in the form of a single seed.
He was oh so tired of it all.
And yet, at this moment he felt a little better. As his best friend and companion returned to him he felt as if a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. But when he noticed the little purple lizard hanging from the jaws of his friend he sighed, maybe he could get to relax some other time.
"What's that you've got there old friend?" He asked the bear, not expecting an answer. The bear didn't, it merely plopped down the lizard unceremoniously and sat down next to the campfire. "You're still as lazy as you've always been Shiln." Sylla said, sighing again. There was no malice in his words, only the joking that happened between good friends. He turned his attention from the bear to the lizard. I certainly looked sort of familiar, it seemed to have the build of a dragon, but it was bipedal. So if it was a dragon it was not one from this plane.
Sylla reached into his pocket and pulled out a small green bottle. He proceeded to pop the cap of it and poured the content into the mouth of the lizard. A few seconds after the bottle was empty and the lizard started coughing. It's breathing became stable, slowly but surely, and soon it opened its eyes and looked around frantically.
"Relax youngling, you are among friends." Sylla assured it, assuming it was yet another animal he could communicate with as he did with Shiln. The little guy nodded and looked around again. As soon as he caught sight of Shiln he pushed himself back away from the campfire. Scared to hell by the bear sitting there looking at him.
"You need not fear Shiln, she would not harm a fly unless I told her to." Sylla said carefully. The lizard was still staring at the bear quaking and shaking with fear. But if you were staring directly at a bear about three times your size, how would you react eh? Nevertheless, the lizard crept closer to the campfire, eventually his dislike for the coldness of the night overcame his fear of being eaten. The little guy was now sitting in the foetal position next to Sylla, resting his head on his knees and carefully watching Shiln.
"So, what's yer name youngling?" Sylla asked the lizard. It looked up at him as if trying to decide whether to trust the old guy or not. Eventually it spoke up.
"Spike, my eh- my name is Spike." It said. Sylla was surprised, not only did he not have to speak with an animal, as the thing spoke perfectly good keen. But it was also fairly intelligent despite its outwardsly appearance looking fairly beastial.
"Well spike, whatever you are I assume you need sleep. So get yourself some rest." Sylla said, patting the ground next to him. The lizard wasn't exactly slow to follow as he immediately laid down and started snoring loudly. Sylla himself was pondering. This creature, he had communicated with the very land itself for hours upon end, yet it had nothing to tell him about this strange purple lizard. Now where it came from, what it was, or even how old it was.
And then he heard something behind him, he turned quickly, and faced the one thing in the world he hated the most.
"Natures prophet..." He said between clenched teeth, "what do you want from me?"
"You are in no place to speak to your master in this way Lone Druid, or I might decide that the Druids have outlived their purpose." The tall green figure said. He hadn't been there a mere second ago, but that was how the prophet of the goddess worked, he was everywhere at once, whether you wanted him to be or not.
"That is not your right." Sylla said calmly but sternly, "We both know that my task is not yet complete."
The Natures Prophet shook his head. "I am not here to bicker with you you mongrel." The prophet said, "I am here because of him." He pointed at spike with his large branch staff.
Sylla looked at spike with confusion. "Why?"
"The goddess is disturbed by his appearance, he is not part of the cycle of life, he moves outside of just like you and me, and the rest of the Radiant." The prophet said.
"What do you propose I do?" Sylla asked, now no longer annoyed by the prophets presence, moreso curious and nervous about this little lizard. Apparently he was more special than he'd first anticipated.
"Take him to the city, and present him before our lady, she will decide what needs to be done." The prophet said, before Sylla blinked and he was gone. The Druid stared at the lizard. This tiny little thing was important enough to demand the attention of the high lady herself?
He shook his head, it was not his place to question his goddess. So he stood up and carried spike to Shiln. He placed the lizard on the bears back, and headed in the direction of Capital City.
His rest, he thought to himself, would have to wait for another time.
Spike honestly couldn't remember when he'd last had such an unpleasant dream. Or when he'd last slept so poorly. But both of these things had apparently happened, seeing as he could both vividly remember the dream, and feel the incredible pain in his back, and how his bed was moving.
Wait, moving?
Spikes eyes opened immediately and he hurried up without thought. Causing him to drop onto the ground and roll around before finally he was lying still. He really didn't want to get up, his entire body ached and he was fairly certain that what was beneath him was dirt, and not floor paneling.
He felt someone grabbing carefully onto his shoulder and rocking him lightly. "Come now little one, it is not yet time to rest. You have done so for a while now." Said someone spike couldn't really remember hearing ever before, only in that dream. And that's when he thought of something that terrified him, what if it hadn't been a dream?
What if that bear was real, what if that old guy had been real? What if he really had been sucked into that weird scroll the sales pony had shown him? What if he wasn't currently lying on the floorboards in the library, the voice just being Twilight with a really sore throat, and his bed just moving because of some magical spell?
The answer to all these questions spike concluded was; he didn't know. And he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. But it didn't seem like "Twilight" gave him much of a choice, as he was once again shaken lightly to rouse him, even though it was unnecessary.
"Come now little one, you will accomplish nothing by staying here like this." The voice said again. Spike still didn't move. He just wanted the voice, whoever it was, to go away and leave him alone for at least a little while.
The voice sighed. "If I have to carry you then I will." It said bluntly, "Or at least Shiln will." It said thereafter, causing something next to them to huff in obvious disagreement.
Spike finally breathed out, only now realising that he'd been holding his breath the entire time since he'd heard the voice. He rolled over and sure enough, both the bear and the old guy, as well as the leaves of the forest from his dream were all there. Well, it wasn't exactly a dream he corrected himself, this was reality. But what reality still remained to be answered.
"It is good to see you are awake yet little one." The old man said, smiling through his braided beard. "Sit up again, we are to move out as soon as possible."
Spike slowly got up, and the old man grabbed him by the arms and lifted him into the large bear. Spike only now noticed that the old guy had what looked to be claws on his arms, right by the wrists. They looked exactly like those the bear had naturally, and Spike wondered how he'd gotten them, and why he even had them strapped to his wrists.
Spike felt slightly more at ease than he had earlier, mostly because he hadn't been fed to the bear yet, and he finally got a really good look around the place he was in. It was a forest, that much was obvious, but It looked like no forest he'd ever seen. The leaves were a dark green, almost so dark they bordered on being completely black. The branches were crusted and blackened, and looked ready to break as soon as somebody whistled in their direction. The ground and grass was almost the same color, a lifeless gray that looked like it had all energy sucked out of it.
"What is wrong with those trees?"
The old man looked where the dragonling was pointing. His brows furrowed, before his expression softened and he sighed. "They have been touched by the curse of the dire."
"Curse of the dire?" Spike asked, curious as ever.
"The dire represent the other side of the eternal conflict, one that has been waged for as long as any can remember. They fight to uphold chaos, pride, and the belief of power through tyranny. Whenever they gain foothold in newly conquered territory, the first thing they do is sap the land of life, ensuring that their Ancient must never go without sustenance."
Spike scratched his head. There we're quite a few words in that explanation he didn't quite understand. Apparently the dire we're evil, and the old guy clearly wasn't a big fan of them. Spike wasn't sure what to think, but from the Discord incident, he'd learned that plants that were black weren't generally a good thing.
"What's an ancient?" He asked as his next questions, his curiosity had been fed, but it had grown even hungrier with every word the old man had said.
The old man looked at spike with a confused expression, seeming surprised that the dragon didn't know of the ancients, before he shrugged it off. "The ancients are a thing of mystery to many. They appeared millennia ago, soaring from the sky and smashing into our world. They are beings of immense wisdom, but they only speak to some, those that are considered true heroes."
Spikes ears grew about tenfold as soon as he heard those last words. "How do you become a hero?"
The old man smiled at the dragon and patted him lightly on the head. "I am sorry to tell you youngling, but to become a hero one must be destined to. I, alongside my brethren of the radiant, have all had our destinies told, and therefore we were chosen by our fair lady."
"Fair lady?" Spike asked, but the old man seemed absent minded now, and instead of answering his question, he merely looked up at the sky.
"It is getting too dark to continue, if we do ambushes are sure to happen this deep within Dire territory." The old man mumbled to himself, just loud enough that spike could hear him. "We set up camp here for the night, we should arrive at the capital tomorrow."
The old man turned around and kneeled down so he was on eye level with spike. "Can I ask a favor of you little one?"
Spike nodded, he was longing to do something other than walk and ask questions, and in all honesty he did feel in debt to the old man. "Whatever needs doing!" The young dragon said with no small amount of enthusiasm.
The old man giggled slightly before he nodded. "That's the spirit. If you could go and fetch us some firewood, that'd be lovely. I need to go out and find something to eat for both you and Shiln, and I doubt I can carry all too much by myself."
The dragon nodded and saluted. "Consider it done!"
"Thank you, youngling." The old man said.
"Spike, just call me spike." Spike said, getting slightly tired of being referred to as young one, or dragonling.
"Well then I'd prefer if you would call me Sylla." The old man said, reaching his arm down for a handshake. Spike grabbed it, and shook it with vigor, before he turned around and walked quickly towards the woods.
"You know, he reminds me of you when you were a cub." Sylla said to the bear, to which Shiln huffed. "Oh shush, you can never take a joke can you?" He said, as he and his companion walked to where he could smell fresh prey.
Spike meanwhile was busily picking up fallen branches and sticks for the fire. He at this point had his arms full, but he continued onwards, not wanting to disappoint Sylla.
He moved further in, but as he did he thought he heard something in the distance. At first it just sounded like meaningless noise. But suddenly he heard the sound of roaring laughter. He looked around to try and locate the noise, and sure enough he saw light in the distance. He walked towards it, curious as ever, to see more of this strange place.
Once he got close enough he could see what looked to be the tip of a large cart. He moved in closer, ever so slowly as to not alarm whomever was laughing. Soon enough he could see the rest of the cart.
In front of it were several small furry creatures. They were about spikes height and looked to be doglike humans. Much like the diamond dogs from Equestria, but smaller and a lot furrier. They had primitive spears strapped to their backs, dripping with what spike could only guess was venom.
Then there were some slightly bigger ones. These things were ratlike in their appearance, long snout and a long hairless tail. They had small completely red eyes, and each one of them had a crossbow in their hand.
Then there was one last thing. It could've been mistaken for Spike, if spike was fat, blue, and drunk. The thing was lizard like and had a rather ornate sword, at least ornate compared to the dogmen's spear, strapped to his side. He was busily drinking from a goblet of wine, while the rest of the weird things were drinking what spike thought was beer, at least it smelled like it.
But the sad thing was there were more than that. Spike could see that one of the dogmen was sitting on a corpse, using it as a makeshift chair. The corpse had a crossbow bolt sticking out of its back, as well as several wounds that looked like they'd corroded around the edges, no doubt from the dogmens spears.
"Oi lads, I say we make a toast for dis 'ere raid, best one in weeks I say!" One of the ratmen said, raising a mug into the air. The rest of the things cheered alongside him, raising their mugs In a similar fashion.
"Ey Mulp." One of the dogmen said, bopping one of the ratmen on the shoulder. "Betcha ye can't hit that tree there, ya spaz!" He said, laughing in the ratmans face.
"Can too your rancid pile'a dung, watch'ere." The ratman said, his voice slurred by the ale and the herbs they'd been eating. He picked up his crossbow and aimed with shaking hands right at the tree. "Watch dis ere shot you shorks!" He said, pulling the trigger and letting the bolt fly.
Straight into the tree spike was standing next to, missing the original target. The small dragon yelped in surprise. Causing the bandits to get up from their seats. "Someone's 'round here boys!" One of them yelled. Spike, as accustomed as he was, dropped his firewood, and clamped his hands over his mouth, causing yet more ruckus.
One of the ratmen came hurrying towards spike, who found himself unable to move even if his whole body felt like it. The ratman pushed the branches away, and pointed the crossbow right at the dragons forehead.
"Don'tcha move now boy, or dis ere bolts goin' right through yer head." The ratmans said. "Come outta there, and keep yer hand were I can see em!"
Spike slowly moved out, keeping his hands above his head. Every single one of the weird creatures were staring at him with unblinking, beady eyes. The ratman poked him in the back with the crossbow, which sped up his speed slightly more.
"Who're ye, and why were you spying on us?" The lizardman said, taking another sip from his goblet, and wiping his mouth with his hand.
"I don't want any t-trouble....." Spike said nervously, trying his best not to quiver. Just after he'd said it every single one of the bandits started laughing maniacally, all except the lizard.
"Well, you didn't want no trouble, yet you're 'ere spyin on us. Seems to me like he wants trouble, don't it lads?" The lizard asked the rest of his gang. To which they started cheering; "Trouble! Trouble! Trouble!"
The lizard pulled his sword from his sheath, which Spike just not noticed wasn't actually as much a sword, and more of a really long kris. "Let's see how many holes we can poke in yer before you bleed out." The lizard said, grinning evily.
Spike was shaking his head, closing his eyes as tears were rolling down his face, this was not what he wanted. If only Sylla was here.
Spike waited, waited for the pain he was almost certain was on its way. But after a few seconds passed he opened his eyes and saw an arrow, perfectly placed right in between the lizards eyes.
From out the cluster of trees sprung a woman clad in bright green garments, her hair was a flaming red and she wielded a bow, firing arrow after arrow towards the bandits. She wasn't alone however, both Sylla and Shiln were besides her, Sylla throwing sickles towards the bandits, severing off limbs left and right.
The bandits started scattering, apparently without their leader there wasn't much they could do. Some stayed to fight, but most of the ratmen and dogmen left scarpering towards the thick cluster of trees, hoping to escape without losing their life or any limbs.
It didn't take long, as the very last dogman was killed with an arrow to the chest, Spike felt like he was about to collapse. Luckily, Sylla was there to grab him as he fell over.
"It is okay Spike, you are safe, they are gone." The old man said, his voice softer than earlier. Shiln walked over, the bear licked spikes face carefully, trying its best to nurse the wounds that weren't there.
Spike nodded, and with the help of the old druid he was able to stand by himself, no less terrified than he had been before.
"Thank you," Spike said. "To all three of you."
Sylla nodded. The red headed woman bowed slightly. "Think nothing of it, a Rangers job is never over, and this only made it easier."
Sylla walked over to the woman and put a hand on her shoulder. "Spike, this is the most lovely Lyralei, Windranger of the radiant, and one of the protectors of the woods." He said, before he walked over and placed a hand on spikes shoulder. "And this, my dear Lyralei, is spike. An anomaly within our world that I have been tasked to take to our fair lady."
Windranger nodded and smiled a warm smile to Spike, causing him to become slightly fidgety. "It's good to meet you spike, it was certainly brave risking your life to spy upon the bandits."
Spike nodded, she didn't have to know why he even did it, although spike was fairly certain she had bore witness to both his capture and everything that had followed.
"It was lucky I found more of their prey during my hunt." Sylla said. "They had killed some of the deer in the area, but the venom from their spears had spoilt the food, so they dared not eat it." Sylla huffed, the idea of hunting for sport made him mad beyond belief. "That was when I found Lyralei, she has been tracking these vile things for a week or so, but they're a slippery bunch the Gold-Tooth Bandits, capable of getting out of the stickiest of situations and then remain hidden for ages......"
"What we're these things?" Spike asked, nudging the lizard with his foot.
"They're the Gold-Tooth bandits. A ravenous bunch that attack our caravans and everything else they can get their hands on. They consist mainly of Kobolds." Sylla said, pointing at one of the ratmen, "Gnolls." He said, pointing at a dogman. "And their leaders, the Scalelings." He said, bending down on one knee next to it. He pried its hand open and took the kris it had been holding. "I think this belongs to you mi'lady." He said, flipping it and handing It over to Lyralei.
She looked at it, letting her hand run up and down the wavelike blade. She looked down at spike for a second and nodded. "A ranger must always pay her debts, if you hadn't kept the, distracted I would have never gotten them. I hope this will do as payment until I can pay you back properly." She handed spike the kris, and the dragon took hold of the black wood handle. It fit perfectly in his hand.
"Thank you." He said, nodding and extending his arm. The windranger shook his hand. She bowed first to spike, and then to Sylla. "I must go, I need to track the rest of the vermin down, lest they escape me again." She then zoomed off, rivalling applejack in her quickness, and hopped gracefully into the woods.
"A lovely female that one is." Sylla said. "Let us have a look at what these vermin have done shan't we?"
Spike followed Sylla towards the wagon, it was in fairly good shape, except for how everything had been pulled out to rummage through by the Gold-Tooth. Spikes looked at one of the corpses, this one had a dagger poking out of his side, right where spike knew his heart was. He instinctively clenched his fist, knowing that could've been his fate hadn't Lyralei and Sylla shown up.
"Most of it is destroyed." Sylla said, not sounding all too pleased. "It seems these people had no money, no doubt they were on their way to the city to sell their goods." He rummaged through the mess of broken bottles and tattered cloth, finally making a surprised, "Hmmh." Sound. "It is surprising that the Gold-Tooth would not consider this worthwhile....." He said, lifting a rather finely crafted ring. It was made of pure gold, with a singular red gem on the top. "This here Spike, is a ring of regeneration. An enchanted ring with magical healing properties, very pricy, and very rare."
Spike looked at the ring, it certainly looked pretty, but spike couldn't see anything magical about it. Sylla noted his lack of understanding and waved him closer.
"Let me show you." Sylla said, he took one of the claws strapped to his back, and slowly let it rip the skin on the palm of his hand. Spike grabbed hold of his hand and moved it away, stopping the druid from harming himself.
"What are you doing?!" He said, voice higher than he'd wanted it to be.
"Allow me to demonstrate." Sylla said, at the same time amused and heart warmed by the dragons care for his well being. He placed the ring on his finger, and while it happened very slowly, spike could visibly see the wound closing. Slowly but surely the bleeding stopped, the skin was whole once more, without even a scar to show for it.
"These things are valued all across the land." Sylla said, he then grabbed hold of spikes hand, and placed the ring on the dragons thumb, that being the only finger he had large enough to keep it in place. "Consider this a gift."
Spike looked down at his hand. The ring was shining, and he could now see it glowing slightly, a warm comforting sheen that filled him with calm. "Thank you Sylla."
"Bah, don't mention it." The Druid said, giving Spikes shoulder a kind squeeze. "If I were you I'd recommend taking that Scalelings belt, carrying that Kris around in your hand is gonna make you look like a criminal."
Spike walked over to the dead Scaleling, the arrow was still poking out from its head, and it's eyes had never been closed, causing it to stare blankly up at the leaves. Spike took hold of the claps that kept the belt together, and tugged it off. There was a rather large puch on it, which after looking in it spike found out was full of gold coins. At first he tried putting the belt on normally, but the Scaleling hadn't had the most slim of waists, so spike decided that the better way to do it was to simply have it hang over his shoulder, with the sheath on his belly.
"Come spike, firewood won't be necessary, the Gold-Tooths bonfire will serve as our warmth for the night." Sylla said, both him and Shiln already sitting and lying next to it respectively. Spike laid down, getting ready to sleep, but not as soon as he had did Shiln come over and cover him in warm fur, it felt almost like a blanket.
"It would seem she likes you." Sylla said, laughing heartily.
"No complaints," spike said, placing his head on the Bears belly, as a makeshift pillow of sorts.
"Good night spike, may you sleep well." Sylla said, preparing himself to yet another sleepless night filled with those dreams he oh so dreaded. He soon heard the sound of the dragon snoring.
"Tommorrow we will take you to the fair lady, and from there you are on your own."
Sylla could never remember sleeping as well as he had done tonight. He woke up, for once not feeling tired. He felt well rested, he didn't wake up shivering from the terrible nightmares. He looked over to Spike and Shiln, seeing only the young dragon. Apparently the bear had left before he'd woken up, it wouldn't have been the first time.
The Druid rose from the ground and arched his back, stretching to get the feeling back into his limbs. He looked around, and strangely enough most of the corpses were gone. However, when he looked down at the ground he saw several scratchmarks in the dirt, the leaves were swept to the edges of the small glade. All of this pointed to Harpies having taken the corpses for food.
The better clue was the half eaten corpse hanging from the branches.
Sylla frowned. He respected all beings of nature, he even understood the necessity of the dire, no matter how little he liked it. But harpies worried him. If they were close enough they might try and attack Spike, the woman-bird hybrids being known for attacking smaller, or incapacitated foes.
It wasn't a surprise to see them here however. The Dire had always had a pretty good relationship with the corpse-eating ladies of the sky, especially because it meant cleaning up was left to somebody other than themselves.
Sylla sighed before he went down on one knee and gently shook spike to wake him from his sleep. At first the dragon just kept on snoring happily, contempt with using the dirt as his mattress. However, the second time the dragon started slowly opening his eyes, squinting as the sunlight struck his eyes.
"I hope you've slept well, for we have quite the walk ahead of us." Sylla said. Picking himself up from the ground starting to walk towards the east.
Spike pushed himself off the ground, barely noticing that his pillow from the night before had left. He felt a slight poke as he got up, causing him to wince in pain. He looked down and saw that the kris had poked a small hole in between his scales, a small drop of blood seeping down towards his legs.
However, it didn't last long, as the pain slowly receded. Spike could see the red glow from the ring working it's healing magic on his small wound. Soon he could wipe the blood away and barely even see where the wound had been.
"Are you okay?" Sylla asked, noting the blood that had been running down Spike's midriff.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Spike said, wiping the rest of the blood off on the grass. "Just not used to having this thing strapped to me at all times." He said, grabbing hold of the kris and directing the tip away from his scales.
"It was foolish to sleep with it, you have no use for a weapon when you're in the realm of dreams." Sylla said, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms as a disappointed parent would.
Spike shrugged. "No real harm came of it."
Sylla sighed, this was the kind of recklessness that would get greater combatants killed. "Come along, if we are to arrive before the sun sets once more we'd better hurry on."
Spike nodded and let go of his small weapon. He picked up his pace to make sure he was walking alongside Sylla. Soon both the dragon and the Druid were walking at a nice speed, making sure they'd arrive at their destination in due time.
Sylla was still worried. He had not told the dragon of this as he did not desire to make Spike more afraid than he had been yesterday. He was constantly looking towards the treetops, smelling for anything strange, and doing his best to ensure that nothing was closing in.
"What's wrong?" Spike asked, looking towards the treetops as the Druid was doing.
Sylla sniffed slowly before putting his hand down onto the dragons chest, stopping him immediately. The Druid slowly turned and spied around the surroundings, still sniffing the air. His right hand dropped to his waist, to the small enchanted sickle hanging by his side. He whipped the sickle in a smooth motion towards the treetops, it whistled as it sliced through the air. Before there was a small squeak from the trees, and the sound of smoothly cut flesh.
The sickle dropped down again, but this time there was a squirrel sitting on the end of it. It's fur was a chestnut brown, now slightly coated with a dark red. Sylla huffed, perhaps his senses were not as sharp as they had once been. He walked over and took hold of the sickle, before pulling the critter off it.
Spike was slightly confused. He understood why the Druid would be on alert, spike had been so ever since his clash with the Gold-Tooth yesterday, but he wasn't quite sure how the Druid had even known the small squirrel was there. Or perhaps the better question was; why the Druid had thrown the sickle at the small creature in the first place.
Sylla ran his fingers along the edge of the blade, wiping off the blood from the weapon. He brought his fingers to his mouth, licking a small amount of the red liquid before frowning. Blood was pungent, iron-like in its taste. This was without taste, nothing at all. He smothered his fingertips together and saw the blood slowly dissipate, this was not blood, rather water and something else.
"Let's keep going." Sylla said, rising up and walking past Spike. "False alarm."
Spike looked once at the squirrel before he turned around and walked alongside Sylla. Spike was doing his best to spot anything abnormal. Checking any bush they walked past, being on the lookout for anything rustling the leaves, listening for anything.
Pretty soon Spike noticed the trees becoming fewer and fewer. Pretty soon the grimy dirt and moss of the forest was replaced with bright green grass. Soon both the dragon and the Druid were standing on the outskirts of the woods, looking over an incredibly large field with a gleaming city in the distance.
The city in question was built on the side of a mountain. The walls being a half circle going out from the mountainside. A castle was built into the side of the large monolith, spires reaching so high they almost poked holes in the skies. Funnily enough, spike noted, there were a total of three large buildings at the base of the castle, a rather large tower with a glowing blue eye at the top. The second was a rather ornate building which looked to be made entirely of wood. The last was the entrance of the castle, it had a rather militant feel to it, much different from the rest of the castle, which looked very much in tune with the land around it.
"That there is capital city." Sylla said, pointing towards the humongous city in front of him. "It has no name, although some has taken to call it Grand radiance."
Spike nodded, he had found something new to fix his interest on. Dotted around the expansive fields of grass were large stone monoliths hovering with a blue aura emitting off them. They had several glowing runes carves into them, and they hummed with a soothing and calming noise.
"Those are the towers, massive constructs of radiant stone made to protect the grand capital city. Anything that gets too close will immediately get eviscerated by bolts of energy." Sylla said, noting where the dragons gaze was directed. "Shall we get going?" He asked, tapping the dragon on the shoulder and directing him forward. Spikes daze was immediately broken as he darted forward, before slowing down and walking at a steady pace.
But then Sylla noted rustling coming from the trees, as well as the smell he'd sensed before.
"Don't move." He said to Spike, causing the dragon to immediately halt. Sylla turned around, baring his unusually sharp teeth in a snarl. "I am unsure exactly who you are, but know that you tread upon radiant ground, facing the fury of nature itself. If you have anything to say then reveal yourself this moment."
At first nothing happened, it was as if the Druid had only spoken to the trees. But then there was a sudden giggle, and something dropped down from the branches. The thing in question was thin and lanky, only barely escaping being labelled skinny because of the rather large muscles it possessed. It's skin was yellow and it had an abnormally long nose, as well as a rather pointy chin. It had a bandana wrapped around its forehead, and fingerless gloves on its hands. On its sides were rather large urns of..... Something, spike wasn't sure what, but he was almost certain the stuff wasn't pleasant to be near.
"Heeeeey, Sylla! Long Time no see!" The thing said. It's accent was rough and gave off the attitude of a daredevil. "You got yourself a new mascot."
"Batrider." Sylla said simply. "You're intruding."
"Oh yeah shit dude, that's right, you see....... Those bandits y'all killed, they was kinda my posse, my chums in arms if you will. You know, until you and that fiery redhead showed up." The Batrider said, Making an impressed whistling noise. "But'ya see, I chased down one of thems there gold tooth that you all ripped apart, and ones of em told me about a certain lil Scaleling that you'd brought witcha." The Batrider said. "But I think he musta been hella dumb cause that there don't look like no scaleling I ever seen."
"Batrider, this still does not explain why you are here." Sylla said, his voice still cold and hard as steel.
"Well, Ya'see here." Batrider said, putting his palms together and pointing at Sylla. "The plan was that I was just gonna steal the shit youse guys left behind at the caravan. But I think that I could catch a whole lot more gold by capturing this lil fella you got with ya." Batrider said, pointing at spike instead. "So if you wanna get outta here with your life intact old man, I'd suggest you scarper off."
Spike looked up at Sylla, not really knowing what to think. This creature, whatever it was called, wanted spikes head, and it seemed quite confident it'd get it. Sylla in turn looked down at the dragon before nodding. He looked back up at the Batrider, "Over my dead body."
Batrider flashed a smile filled with yellow teeth. "That can be arranged." He said. He clapped three times before he jumped up from the ground. Spike caught a flash of something black swooping past, and soon he saw why Batrider had the name he did. He was now sitting atop a gigantic flying bat, holding what looked to be a bomb in his hand.
"Let's ride boys!" He yelled, and from the treetops flew several Harpies. Small, large, there were about 20, and suddenly spike understood what Sylla had been looking for this entire time.
"Run! Run for the gate!" Sylla yelled as he threw his sicke towards one of the harpies, it severed off its wing, causing the creature to fall to the ground before the sickle returned safely to Sylla's hand.
Spike didn't need to be told twice. He turned around and darted towards the huge city walls. He was sprinting so fast he was almost certain he was about to lift off from the ground.
The Batrider however, was the only one of the flying combatants that noticed the dragon running off. "You boys take care of the old man, but the dragon, he's mine!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Sylla roared, his face becoming wider and his nose and mouth fusing as his features became more beast like. Soon the claws strapped to his wrist fused with his hands, his skin grew a light brown fur that soon covered him for head to toe. Soon the Lone Druid had taken on his bestial form, and where once had been a man was now a three meter tall bear. "You wouldn't dare!" He yelled once more, his voice now much deeper than it had once been. A single foolish harpy darted towards him, clawed talons at the ready, but the winged beast was met with a paw colliding with its midriff, causing it to fly backwards and roll across the ground.
"Oh I would dare old man, you know I would." Batrider said, he yanked on the reigns of the bat and turned it around. He kicked it in the sides, making the creature dart forward as quickly as it could. It didn't matter how fast the dragon could run, there was no living creature on this world that the Batrider couldn't catch.
He grabbed hold of one of his urns, tossing it towards the dragon. It shattered on the ground next to Spike, causing him to be covered in a sticky black tar. It stuck everywhere, and he found himself growing slower because of it. The Batrider smiled as his hands dropped to the rope hanging on the saddle.
"C'mere boy, let's see how good you are at dodging!" He said tauntingly, he swung the lasso above his head multiple times, until he threw it towards Spike. It wrapped tightly around Spikes chest, restricting his arms. Batrider lit the rope on his end, causing the flame to slowly burn down towards the dragon.
"Enjoy the burn kiddo, cause it's the last thing your gonna feel!" Batrider screamed maniacally as the fire got closer and closer to spike. Eventually it reached the dragons tar covered scales, and tar being as flammable as it was, soon both the dragon and the area around him was set ablaze.
Batrider smiled smugly as he ordered the bat downward. "It doesn't matter how much of a fight they put up, when facing me they drop dead sooner or later."
Soon the fire died down, but as the small amount of fire was still left, a purple blur leapt out of it, kris raised above its head. Spike jumped towards the bat, slamming the kris into its head. It sunk in with a small amount of resistance, but it didn't stop the dragon from impaling the bat. The creature screamed in agony for about a second before it almost immediately stopped. It flopped to the ground, with Batrider only jumping off just before it landed.
"You...." He said through clenched teeth. He kneeled and placed a finger on the bats neck, feeling absolutely no pulse. "I don't know how that didn't kill you, but I can assure you, you're not getting out of here alive!" Batrider yelled, grabbing hold of a bottle with a rag. He threw it towards spike, who threw himself to the sides. As the bottle hit the ground it exploded and pushed spike further away.
Batrider meanwhile had thrown even more of the tar around, creating a ring of the stuff. He threw one of the firebombs at one end of the large ring, causing the entire trail to light up in a huge blaze. Soon both Spike and Batrider were trapped in a humongous ring of fire.
"Catch this!" Batrider yelled, throwing one of the firebombs towards the dragon. It exploded right next to Spike. The fire licked across his scales, but did nothing. Batriders eyes widened and his breath grew uneasy. "So that's how you survived. Fireproof eh?" Batrider said, giggling slightly before he tensed his muscles. "Doesn't stop me from breaking your neck!" He yelled before he darted forward, he kicked the dragon in his stomach, causing Spike to lurch backwards clutching his midriff. Batrider took hold of Spikes head and threw him a few feet away.
Spike coughed a bit before he felt his ring working its magic, soon the cramp in his stomach was replaced by a small stinging feeling that he could at least deal with. He pushed himself off the ground, he could by now visibly see Batrider sweating because of the heat, but waiting for him to dehydrate wasn't gonna work, and while running through the fire could work, he was fairly certain that his opponent would get to him before he made it that far.
Spike readied the kris again, holding it in one hand with the other extended in front of him. Spike ran forward and stabbed at Batrider with the kris, however, this only resulted in him grabbing onto the dragons arm. He threw him around, but as spike felt his entire body get tossed around, his free hand caught onto something. He grabbed hold of it, and made sure not to let go. As he was thrown away for the second time he felt whatever he'd grabbed onto follow him, he looked down at it, and saw the exact same flask Batrider has used to push him with.
Batrider was at this point fuming with rage. Spike could see the blood running from his hands onto the ground because his nails had dug so deeply into his palm, his teeth looked ready to crack, so hard he was biting down on them. "You're so dead, I'll pull your head off!"
Spike breathed in and exhaled, calming himself. He grabbed the kris and placed it in front of him, holding the flask with the other. He stared at Batrider, waiting for the opportune moment he knew was coming.
Batrider charged, fist raised and readying a punch. As he got closer Spike threw the flask downwards. Causing Batrider not only to be pushed back but fall over. Batrider quickly regained concentration and looked around for the dragon, until he felt something land on his chest. He quickly looked up, just in time to see Spike, stabbing the kris into his throat.
Spike was breathing harder than he ever thought he could. Batrider was still clawing at him, trying his best to get his revenge before he breathed his last. Soon his movements stopped, and he went limp, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Spike let go of the kris, feeling his arms go completely limp, alongside the rest of him. He dropped down from Batriders chest and decided that here, was as good a place to fall asleep as ever.
The last thing spike saw was the fire dissipating, and Sylla alongside some weird treelike creatures running up, and he felt himself getting lifted off the ground. Then the world around him became black, and he felt himself losing contact with the world around him.