Ember tapped the cold hard stone of her table with an index finger in rapid repetitions. The constant clang clang clang her claw made with each hit created a small echo in the lonely illuminated cave.
“This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have send that letter.” Ember muttered to herself with a scowl adorning her face. “Maybe it’s not too late! If I hurry I can-”
“Yo, Ember, you in there?” She was cut off by Spike’s jovial voice.
Too late, Ember sighed. “I’m here, Spike.” She called from her seat. A few seconds later she saw her purple scaled friend walk into the ample room. He stood at nearly two meters tall, a couple of inches taller than her actually. Like always, he was slim and slender with no trace of extra fat or bulking muscles adorning his physique. His crest was rounded and smooth, while his scales looked polished and clean. He wasn’t wearing any clothes or armor, since dragons had their genitals hidden at all times. And although female dragons had breasts, they were almost imperceptible unless aroused.
Ponies and their clothing are so weird, Ember thought before noticing her friend was carrying a small straw basket covered with a small sheet.
“Sorry for the delay, he he. Twilight teleported me a few mountains away from here and I kinda got lost for a moment. Your dad was kind enough to point me on the right direction.” Spike said with a sheepish smile as he sat on the other free seat.
“It’s okay. I forgot to put in better directions, I guess ‘Two hundred meters to the left from the Lava Fountains and then six hundred steps north from the Needle Rocks’ aren’t good enough.” Ember smiled at Spike’s chuckle.
“Here, I brought you some gems. They’re mostly Emeralds and Amethysts though,” Spike said passing her the basket.
Ember groaned in approval while she licked her lips in anticipation. “My favorites! Thank you, Spike, you shouldn’t have!” She removed the sheet to see at least four dozen of said precious gems.
“Hey, what are friends for?” Spike smiled seeing Ember lean in to whiff the gems a couple of times. “I thought you might need them. Your letter sounded rather urgent, Ember.”
“Ah yes...the letter.” Ember pulled back covering her gems with the sheet again. Her smile faltered.
Ember sighed before looking up to Spike. “There’s going to a be tournament in a week from now. It’s a tradition that goes back to the first Dragon Lord’s reign.” Ember stopped for a moment to see Spike looking at her intently. “The tournament is held to pit the best and strongest dragons against each other. And the winner…” Ember took a deep breath. “The winner becomes the life-mate of the new Dragon Lord.”
“...” Spike stared at her for a few solid seconds before he glanced around the room. “So that’s why you wanted to met me here instead of your cave?” Ember nodded. “Ember, you’re the Dragon Lord, can’t you just, I don’t know, oppose it?”
Ember shook her head in defeat. “I can’t. There are only two things a Dragon Lord can’t do anything about. When the time to step down comes, and the tournament held to find a life-mate.”
“Okaaaay. Then why don’t you pick a random dragon or a friend to be your mate and then divorce?”
“It doesn’t work like marriage do for ponies, Spike. When a dragon finds a life-mate that bond is forever.” Ember confessed narrowing her eyes. “My mother won the tournament when my dad won the title of Dragon Lord. Heck, my dad never liked my mother and it took them centuries to actually mate for once. My mother died in an accident a year or so after laying my egg.” Ember closed her eyes for a moment.
“Sorry about your mom, Ember. So what you’re trying to say is that you have no choice in the matter, huh?” Spike said crossing his arms. After a minute or so of chilly silence he spoke up again. “Then how do you think I can help?”
Ember blushed and clenched her fists. “Spike...you’re the real Dragon Lord.”
Spike did a double take. “Come again?”
“During the Gauntlet of Fire, you were the one who reached the scepter first. That technically makes you the Dragon Lord! All you did was hand the scepter to me, but you’re the real owner!” Ember said without looking at Spike.
Spike looked at the trembling Ember before him for several seconds. “You just made that up, didn’t you?” Spike asked in an understanding tone. Ember didn’t respond. “Are you that afraid, Ember?”
“I...I just….I just don’t want to end up like my dad and mother. Or like any of the previous Dragon Lords. I’m not ready to have a life-mate, Spike. And if I’m ever ready, then I want to choose who my life-mate is going to be.” Ember looked up to Spike with teary eyes. “I’ve tried everything I can, but there’s nothing I can do to prevent the tournament, unless I step down as the Dragon Lord. And I can’t do that. Those boulder heads need me to lift us from the ground and return the Dragon Lands to the glory of the Ancients.”
Ember closed her eyes letting two thick steamy tears trickle down her scaly cheeks. “I know I’m being selfish, but I don’t want to be tied down by a stupid rule that decides with whom I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. I don’t know what to do.”
Spike stood up after several moments of silent watch and walked next to her. He then sat down at her side and cleaned her tears away. Ember looked at him with a mild blush. “The purpose of that tournament is to find the strongest, most fearsome dragon around, isn’t it?” Ember nodded. “That’s a brilliant strategy. What dragon is going to oppose the Dragon Lord and it’s mate when they are the two most powerful dragons in the Dragon Lands?”
Ember nodded. “That’s the idea.”
Spike smirked. “I think I can help you, Ember. But I need to know the rules of this tournament to be sure my plan can work.”
Ember sniffled, an ember of hope burning in her heart. “The rules are simple. Any dragon is allowed to participate, but the age range must not pass a twenty year difference compared to the Dragon Lord. Then, a day before the tournament starts, the Dragon Lord must place a simple test to elect the thirty two best candidates that’ll fight in the tournament.”
“What kind of test are you talking about?”
“Running or flying speed. Potency of one’s fire. A display of strength. Things like that.”
“You have anything in mind?”
Ember chuckled. “After I sent you the letter I...I came up with a test. It’s a junior high school math and logic test. My mail lessons with Twilight are paying off.”
“HA! They’re going to flip with that!” Spike laughed bringing a momentary smile to Ember. “Anything else?”
“There are no restrictions about what the competitors can do during their battles to achieve victory. But the use of magical artifacts is forbidden. Also, the battles are meant to be fought one-on-one, so no outside help. The battle ends when one of the fighters is knocked unconscious, dies, or surrenders.”
“So killing is okay, huh? Doesn’t surprise me.” Spike commented under his breath.
“Using weapons or armor is also allowed, although it’s frowned upon because the fighters are expected to use only their natural abilities. Aside from that, there’s nothing else.” Ember said as Spike stood up once again, his expression reflecting he was in deep thought.
She waited for a few silent moments that seemed to stretch out for millennia. Causing the embers of hope inside her heart to dwindle more and more.
“I got it.” Spike suddenly said before looking down at her with a huge pearly fang filled smile. “I know how to help you, Ember!”
“You do!?” She screamed flapping her wings to leap into the air and hug her friend with all her might. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She repeated over and over. “What is it! Tell me, what did you come up with?” She asked after several seconds of gleeful thanking.
Spike, smiling at Ember and glad he was out of her euphoric death grip, winked once before replying.
“Whoa...those are a lot of dragons.” Spike commented watching from the grades of the massive mountain carved stadium where the tournament was going to take place in. From his elevated position he could see an open field easily six times or more bigger than a hoofball field.
“Indeed. This is the second greatest gathering after the migration.” Ember, standing at his side, said looking at hundreds upon hundreds of dragons of all sizes searching or fighting for a seat. The smaller and younger dragons that wouldn’t be participating had their place closer to the arena, while the biggest and oldest ones took the upper positions.
“Are they seriously going to spend the entire day sitting there?” Spike asked with mild amusement. “Seems a bit stupid to be so possessive about a place to seat. But then again…” Spike mused remembering how violent the hunt for the best seats on the stadium could get during hoofball plays.
Ember giggled which causes Spike to chuckle. A few moments of silence between the two later, Ember took a hold of Spike’s right hand. Spike looked at Ember with a raised scaly eyebrow.
“Spike, you don’t have to go through with this, you know that, right?”
Spike grinned. “I’m doing this because I chose to help you out, Ember.”
Ember’s grip on his hand tightened. “Even so...Spike, I thought about it better. If I’m not willing to commit a sacrifice then-”
Spike cut her off by pressing a finger against her lips with his free hand. “Shhh, don’t say anything, Ember. You asked for my help. I’m here to help you. Now just lay back, enjoy the show, and leave everything to me, okay?” He then pulled his finger back.
“But you--!”
“Don’t you trust me, Ember?” Spike asked smiling slyly.
Ember looked at his green emerald colored eyes for several moments. She then sighed before pulling him into a tight hug. “Of course I do, Spike.” She said resting her her head on his shoulder.
“That’s more like it!” Spike said ending their short-lived hug. “Okay so...How is this going to work exactly after your test?”
Ember took a glance to the rest of the stadium before answering. “It won’t be long before my father starts the announcement. After that, I’ll deliver my test and proceed with the selections of the thirty two best candidates. Once they are selected, they will be presented and the bets can begin.”
“Bets?” Spike asked crooking an eyebrow.
“It’s kind of like a tradition of it's own. The dragons that are not allowed to fight or were discarded by the test, can offer gold or gems as payment to predict who the winner of the tournament will be. It works more or less the same way pony bets do, the only difference is that if many dragons end up betting for the winner of the tournament, then they have to share the collected hoard.” Ember crossed her arms and chuckled. “Dad says that during his run, my mother’s victory almost started a war for having half of the dragons present betting for her.” She chuckled shaking her her in disapproval. “I guess that’s what happens when you’re a favorite.”
Spike frowned. “Wait, hold up a moment there. The rules didn’t mention anything about favorites. And why didn’t you tell me any of this last week?”
Ember slapped her forehead. “Ugghhh! I knew I forgot to tell you something! Okay, look. As the tournament approaches, some would-be candidates gain enough attention for their power and talents. These dragons are the ones the elders expect to see during the final fights of the tournament and are expected to win in the end. Being a favorite doesn’t mean you get a free pass though. The number of favorites during my dad’s time was seventy three, but only ten made it to the selected roster.”
“And this time around?”
“Thirty eight.”
Spike hummed grabbing his chin. “Do you know any of these so called ‘favorites’?”
“Spike, I’m the Dragon Lord and this tournament is held for me. Of course I know who these guys are.” Ember deadpanned. “And I don’t like any of them.”
“Point taken, that was a stupid question. But what about their abilities? What makes them stand out so much for any of them to be considered the most likely to win?”
Ember stayed silent while she crossed her arms again and shifted to face the stadium and the arena below. “Most of them are nothing but brutes that only seek the power and authority that being the life-mate of the Dragon Lord gives them. The rest just want to prove they are the strongest by winning the tournament.” Taking a quick glance at Spike, Ember found he was paying her his entire attention. “But they really mean business.”
“Some of the top favorites include a wyrmling named Grunkle. A hulking beast of a dragon named Goliath. A shady and tricky dragon named Flamethrower. A sea serpent and siren hybrid named Sluriasma. A thunder dragon named Raiga. A fearsome, four armed dragon named Hirador. A dragon named Zhaitan. And our old friend Garble.”
“Greaaaat.” Spike groaned.
“Imagining him winning the tournament is almost enough reason to make me want to step down as Dragon Lord.” Ember shuddered. “But he’s no joke. Garble has grown stronger over the years, Spike. He’s far stronger and more resistant than many dragons out there. And his fire breath is as strong as an adult’s.”
Spike nodded. “What about the other favorites?”
“Grunkle--”
Ember began, but was cut off by a mighty roar. Both of them looked at the only cleared section in the middle of grades at the other side of the stadium to find Torch land followed by several other dragon about a quarter of his titanic size.
“WELCOME, DRAGONS ALL!” Torch shouted making the rest of the dragons roar back and cheer.
“Looks like it’s starting.” Ember said, barely loud enough for Spike to hear her. “I’ll see you later, Spike.”
Spike nodded. Ember spread her wings, but before she could flap them, Spike pulled her into a tight hug. “You can count on me, Ember. I’ll win this tournament for you no matter what.” He said in an uncharacteristic serious tone. Almost instantly, Ember returned the hug and they stayed like that for several seconds.
“Spike, promise me that, if at any moment you think you can’t win a match, you’ll surrender.” She whispered next to his ear fin.
“...I promise,” Spike whispered back. “Now go!” Spike called after he broke the hug. They shared a short final glance, and then Ember flew away. The moment Ember flew off, the crowd cheered even louder at the sight of their Dragon Lord flying to her private seat. Spike turned to the side and began making his way to the arena.
Meanwhile, the roaring and the cheering had almost died down by the time Torch lifted a claw. Ember landed at Torch’s side and sat on her throne.
“Alright you squirts, listen up! We are gathered here in accordance by Dragon Law, fifteen years after the naming of the new Dragon Lord, to find who is the less pathetic among all of you through the Tournament of Bonding!” Torch told earning another short burst of cheering. “Contestants, enter the arena!”
On queue, several dragons of many different shapes, sizes and forms came flying out of the stone entrances located around the stadium. The crowd cheered, roared and breathed fire to the skies as hundreds of contestants filled the arena. Moments later the last contestants arrived at the arena.
“Not since my own tournament have I seen such a lowly collection of weaklings!” Torch laughed joined by many older dragons. “Now, before the Dragon Lord imposes her selected test to choose the best among all of you. I’m forced to remind you knuckleheads the rules of the tournament, so you better listen well cause I’ll be brief:
One.-The fights will be one on one!
Two.-You win the fight if your opponent surrenders, is knocked unconscious, or dies! Flying away from the stadium counts as surrender!
And Three.-The use of magical artifacts is forbidden, but you can use armor and weapons... if you’re cowards!
“The thirty two selected contestants will stay tonight in the barracks below the stadium and prepare for their fights tomorrow! May the most ferocious, strongest, and powerful dragon win!”
The crowd roared while Ember took a hold of the Bloodstone Scepter and hit the ground with it’s base. A thunderous sound followed suit, silencing the cheering and diverting all eyes to Ember.
Ember hit the ground twice in quick succession with her tail, and soon a horde of dragons came flying from the entrance behind her carrying boxes.
Meanwhile on the arena, Spike had a shit eating grin already knowing what Ember’s test was going to be. His grin turned massive when one of those dragons landed practically next to him, opened the box, and gave him a sheet of paper and a pencil.
The test ended...fast. It was no surprise to Spike and Ember that many dragons gave up halfway through solving the test, while others not even bothered to try. Those that fulfilled it however, were more than what both of them had predicted. It seemed that the few schools for dragons Ember had set to work near the borders with Equestria were actually working, much to her pleasure surely.
So now Spike was forced to wait alongside more than three hundred dragons to see which ones made it to the last thirty two candidates. Almost an hour had passed with Ember and a few of her chosen helpers to qualify and score the tests. None of the dragons around him were chatting, they were waiting in silence just like he was.
Suddenly, several small dragons flew to the left end of the stadium and began to breathe fire. It took countless moments as everyone watched, but in the end they all could see a giant fire-made board with the names of the thirty two selected dragons. It was also divided in rows, the fighters already divided and set up against their first opponent.
Almost every dragon groaned in defeat before flying away from the arena until only thirty two remained. Spike was surprised to see his name in the penultimate row out of the sixteen since he was sure he had answered every problem right.
So the placement is randomized, huh? Alright, let’s see who else made it, Spike thought as he read through the names of the other thirty one finalists. He frowned and his tail began to wag from side to side while he read through the names.
Sluriasma...Ptolomeo...Xinzhaya...Brutus...Goliath...Garble...Crackle? Spike shifted his gaze from the fire screen from a moment to find the strangely shaped dragoness. Spike shrugged before continuing to read. Hirador...Zhaitan...Raiga...Komanfausheer...Jaggedteeth...Damn, it seems many favorites made it to the last thirty two. Let’s see, my first fight is going to be against… Grunkle.
Spike looked down from the screen once again to search for his possible opponent. It didn’t take long for him to find Grunkle, since he found him first.
“You must be Spike, the friend of Dragon Lord Ember!” Grunkle said with a loud, deep, thunderous voice. The dragon was almost three meters tall and was built with muscles over muscles. His scales came in different shades of earthy brown, while his crest was deep green, almost muddy, and his wings were tiny in comparison to the rest of his body. His arms were thick and long, his torso ample with bulging pectorals and a hard set of abs. His legs, equally as imposing as his arms, were covered by fragments of gray colored looking scales. His head was big just like the rest of him, his lower jaw was bulgy, ample, and slightly elongated with a series of fangs standing up like stalactites. His eyes were of a warm, deep amber color.
“Your friend Garble helped me find you!” Grunkle said handing a massive claw to Spike. “My name is Grunkle, nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too, Grunkle.” Spike replied with a smile before shooting a glare at Garble, who was looking at him with a mocking grin. He accepted Grunkle’s hand and both shook it. At least he’s a friendly one.
“I’m going to crush you like a rock tomorrow, Spike!” Grunkle said with a friendly smile.
The almost deafening roars and cheers all around the stadium resounded with thunderous vigor. It didn’t pull a certain wingless purple dragon with green spikes attention away from the fight in the middle of the arena.
Damn it all. I couldn’t get any information out of anyone yesterday. And with Ember rooted to her throne I can’t even get near her until after the tournament. Everyone here is either cautious or unfriendly. I’m willing to bet on the latter, Spike thought before letting out a frustrated sigh, yet his eyes never tore away from the two dragons currently fighting.
The one good thing that came from having to spend a night nearby the rest of the competitors was that he was now able to identify all of them by name. Currently the two fighters were the silver color scaled four-armed dragon, Hirador, against the bulky yet surprisingly lean Komanfausheer. The former had long, strong arms and two equally powerful legs and tail while his wings didn’t present anything outstanding. The latter, however, had ample wings that in combination with his lean physique made him fast and agile in the air. His scales were a two shaded aquamarine tone and from his head two small horns rose.
Both combatants were on the ground panting heavily after a tremendous aerial battle in which Hirador managed to injure one of Komanfausheer’s wings but not without taking a nasty bite to his left thigh that refused to stop bleeding.
Suddenly, Hirador roared and charged using his four arms for support and moved with surprising speed. Closing the few meters that set them apart, Hirador slammed head first against his opponent bringing them both to the ground.
“Idiot.”
A voice at his left side made Spike take a momentary glance. Spike’s eyes widened a bit when he saw a black scaled dragon a head taller than him standing next to him with crossed arms and a stern look on his face. His snout was elongated, similar to Ember’s but rougher looking with a few pointy fangs showing every inch or so, and his eyes were sky blue. He also noticed that the dragon was not bulging with muscles, but instead had a more leaner, athletic body. His wings, large and beautiful with a rosy shade, made the perfect contrast with his almost completely black scales.
Spike only now noticed that the dragon had two gray horns that erupted from each side of his forehead and travelled behind his skull all the way down to half his neck. A whip like tail swayed from side to side behind him in slow motions. The look on his eyes, however, was what caught Spike’s attention the most. They were cold, calculative, and stern. Yet he could also see a hint of disappointment in them.
Looking back at the ongoing fight, Spike smirked.
“You noticed it too?”
“Of course. Anyone with eyes could see what that idiot of Hirador just did.” The dragon replied taking a step closer to Spike until he unfolded his arms and sat next to him. “A pleasure to finally meet you, Spike The Dragon. My name is Zhaitan. Zhaitan of the Blackwings Clan.” He introduced himself without looking at the purple drake.
“The pleasure is all mine, Zhaitan.” Spike replied whilst Hirador grabbed onto Komanfausheer with his four arms making him roar in pain while he tried to get away from his powerful grasp.
“If I may be so bold, and pardon if I sound too offensive, but you are quite underwhelming for a dragon of your reputation,” Zhaitan smiled. “At first glance at least, Spike.”
“My reputation?”
Zhaitan took a glance at Spike. “Feigning ignorance is unfitting of you, I think.” Zhaitan smiled when he saw Spike smirk and take a glance at him. “But to answer your question, you are quite famous for those that care to listen. Personal friend of Dragon Lord Ember ever since the Gauntlet of Fire. The Hero of the Crystal Empire. The Guardian of The Element Bearers of Equestria.”
Spike chuckled. “Yup, that’s me alright. Such a shame I don’t know anything about you or anyone else here today. Aside from Garble and what little I have seen that is.”
“Ah, the red brute? I’m quite surprised he made it past the test of Lord Ember.”
You’re not the only one, Spike thought in silent agreement. “Oh, before I forget, congratulations on winning your first match.”
Zhaitan shook his head. “Drul’h. My opponent wasn’t up to par with my skills and expectations. It was a shameful display for everyone.”
“If you say so.” Spike shrugged. “Hey, Zhaitan, mind if I ask you a question?” Spike threw a quick glance at the black dragon to see him nod. “Where were you guys during the Gauntlet of Fire?” After a couple of seconds of silence he took another glance at Zhaitan and found him looking at him with a questioning look. “For what I’ve seen so far most of the participants, you included, could’ve won the Gauntlet while blindfolded and wings tied. Ember and I only won because we teamed up.”
“I don’t know or care about the others, but in my case I was undergoing my clan’s rigorous passing rite. By the time I finished my rite the Call had ended. Not that I had any interest on being Dragon Lord to begin with.” Zhaitan hummed seeing Hirador drop Komanfausheer on the ground, the latter unmoving while the former roared in triumph. A moment later a dragon wearing a white coat approached the fallen combatant and then raised his arms up his head making an ‘X’. The stadium roared again in unison at the victory of Hirador.
Hirador then flew away from the arena while the coat wearing dragon dragged Komanfausheer away. Torch roared silencing the crowd following by calling the names of the next two contendants: Raiga and Thorn.
“Then you’re here because you want to prove you’re the strongest?” Spike asked watching the two dragons fly to the partially destroyed arena. There were scorched spots and several rocks destroyed all over the field from the previous fights. Still, a good portion of it was still untouched.
“I care not for such silly things. I’m here by order of my clan.” Zhaitan smirked. “And because I want to test my abilities further against the best.” The black dragon then looked at Spike. “Why are you here, Spike? You live in Equestria, this matters shouldn’t concern you. I mean no disrespect, of course.”
“It’s cool, dude. I’m here because I’m helping out a friend.” Spike said turning to see Zhaitan with a broad smile.
Zhaitan squinted his eyes and returned Spike’s smile with a wide smile of his own. “You are definitely not what I expected. That is a good thing. There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent, don’t you agree?”
“Absolutely.” Spike replied.
Zhaitan then stood up. “I wish you victory on your first fight, Spike. And if I’m lucky and fate wills it, we shall face each other in the arena. Var’ kinyaal Shurrrr’ Fraut.” The black dragon turned to leave. “It means ‘May our paths meet again’. Farewell.”
“Right back at you,” Spike replied with a friendly tone. Meanwhile on the arena, Raiga was roaring loud and powerful while he beat up his enormous chest with one fist while Thorn stood silently waiting for Torch to give the order to fight. His gaze shifted to see Hirador landing on a nearby stall panting harshly while he tried to grabbed onto his injured thigh.
He’s done for. Not only he gave away the severity of his injury but he also showcased his Ace-card by using his arms that way. Well, good news for me, one less competitor for me to worry about, Spike thought before he saw Zhaitan land on the grade right in front of him filled with other similar looking black dragons. Spike let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll have to keep an eye open for him.”
Spike returned his attention to the arena when Torch roared signaling the fight to begin. He watch Thorn, the tall and bulky dark orange scaled dragon, charge directly at Raiga opening his impressive large maw. Raiga stood his ground and grabbed the jaws of Thorn stopping him before he could bite down. With a quick spin Raiga tossed Thorn to the sky with brute strength alone.
Spike observed Raiga for a moment. His scales were of a electric blue while his underbelly was silver colored. His legs and tail, while looking a bit short for his impressive two meter and a half stature and muscular build, were thick and did their job to keep his balance perfectly. His wings were also wide and crystalline looking. His face tough was another thing entirely. It was the first he had seen a dragon with actual hair growing out of them.
Raiga had a long white beard that looked smooth as silk that run down all the way to his chest. Spike noticed he didn’t have any kind of crest or spikes on his head or back, but he did have several small bumps all over his back and eight short horns on his head growing above his short white hair.
Thorn stabilized on the air and shot a firestream at Raiga.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my old friend Sparkle Warkle.” A too familiar and over obnoxious voice called.
With a defeated sigh Spike replied. “Hello to you too, Garble.” Spike took a quick glance to see the red dragon approaching with a mocking grin. He didn’t noticed anything different from Garble, except for him being two or three inches taller and having more defined and rough characteristics and some bulging chest and forearm muscles under his thick scales.
“What’s this? No whimpy ponies to watch your back this time? Or did they let you out of your leash?” Garble mocked landing a few steps away at Spike’s right.
“Says the dragon that can’t be apart from his goons.” Spike said casting a quick glance behind Garble to see Fizzle and Matchflick hovering a few meters away. “What do you want, Garble, I have better things to do than listen to your insults.”
“Sounds like you’ve grown a maw since the last time I saw you, Spike. Do you want to know the nickname everyone is calling you?”
“I’m dying to know.” Spike answered with fake enthusiasm.
“The Wingless Disgrace.” He said loudly causing his two companions to laugh. “I think it fits you, Sparkle Warkle. Those whimpy ponies have ruined you. Just look at you! The only dragon without wings and a weak, pathetic chump that has to live with namby pamby ponies! I’m surprised the Elders let you enter the tournament at all.”
“And I’m surprised you passed Ember’s test. I always believed you lacked the sufficient cerebral process to take information and interpret it into inventive and logical ideas via the meticulous ways of investigation and study.” Spike paused for a moment and took a quick glance at Garble’s confused expression. “And why wouldn’t I be allowed to participate? I’m a dragon and every dragon under the rules of the tournament are allowed to enter. They couldn’t say anything about it, Garble.” Spike said without looking at the red dragon as he watched Thorn dive into the firestorm he had created. “Just like when I participated in the Gauntlet of Fire. Speaking of that, did you enjoy your task going back home?” Spike said ending with a smirk that only Garble saw.
“...If Grunkle doesn’t sweep the floor with you, I will.” Garble hissed before turning back. “Let’s go guys, this loser will learn his place soon enough.” With that said, Garble and his goons left Spike all alone.
Spike didn’t pay attention to the trio, for he was busy watching the fire die down to see Thorn fly out with some blood running from his snout. With a flap of his wings, Raiga cleared out the rest of the fire to reveal him standing still with his maw open wide and looking at Thorn. His hair was standing up as lightning bolts emerged from his mouth.
“What the hay?” Spike muttered before Raiga roared and a stream of lightning shot out from his maw directly at Thorn. “What the hay!?” Spike shouted standing up from his seat with wide eyes. As the stream of electricity surged through the air he could hear the cracking it made in its pass. He watched as Thorn moved to the far side a moment before the stream hit him. To Spike’s and everyone’s surprise the stream didn’t continue it’s straight route, it instead did a perfect ninety degree angle turn in an instant and followed Thorn.
Thorn evaded the stream again only for it to turn at his direction once more. Thorn panicked and began to fly at random directions with the stream getting closer and closer to him following without stop in zigzag motions. Desperate, Thorn dived down and hid behind a great rock at the other side of the field when the stream was a meter or so behind him. Instead of hitting the rock like he hoped, the stream cornered the rock and struck Thorn.
“AAARRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!” The pain filled scream of Thorn was heard across the entire stadium for a few seconds until it finally stopped and Thorn dropped to the ground unceremoniously.
“Holy guacamole…” Spike whispered while he saw the medic check on Thorn, luckily confirming he was still alive, while Raiga roared and boasted his might and power. Okay, so instead of fire he breathes electricity. And for some reason he can control the velocity and the movement of it at will. Thunder dragons are scary as all Tartarus if all are like him, Spike thought before regaining his composure and jumping down his grade onto the ground down below. He landed softly and slowly made his way to the arena.
Let’s see, out of the fourteen winners so far ten are the serious threat. Hirador, Mok Bal, Krudo and Ballista are practically out of the tournament thanks to their injuries or for giving away their trump cards. Zhaitan won without much effort and is fast, agile, and strong as far as I have seen. He also didn’t use his fire once or flew to win his match. Raiga is strong, has high stamina, a higher tolerance to dragon fire than most, and that lightning attack is like nothing I’ve seen before. Garble is by far the one with the highest endurance and surprisingly quick reflexes, he is also way stronger than most dragons I’ve seen so far. I thought for sure the hulking Brutus would win, but Garble won with little effort.
Ptolomeo can momentarily manipulate his fire to create fire whips and somehow solidify it to create a short lived shield. Sluriasma, despite having no legs, is the most agile of the bunch and her lightning fast movements and quick reflexes give her an advantage, plus that venom she spits is no joke. Crackle may look dopey, but she’s rather strong and her body makes it impossible to make her lose her stance and balance. That and it looks like she can predict enemy movements in a similar manner to Pinkie and her Pinkie-sense.
Spike stopped his train of thought for a moment when he walked past Raiga, the thunder dragon carrying himself with an air of obvious superiority. So much so that Raiga didn’t even bothered to look down at Spike. Spike was able to see him up-close and noticed that his yellow eyes were small compared to his rough, robust face.
Jaggedteeth is a tricky one, that with the natural oilish substance covering his scales and his large claws on both feet and hands, he doesn’t have a good sense of balance but he makes up for it with a long tail that he uses like a whip with two horns growing at the tip. Goliath is a simple minded fool with a straightforward technique of keep attacking no matter what. The problem is that he is the biggest contestant, even bigger than Grunkle, and is by far the most resistant to damage out of everyone here. Flamethrower is one sly bastard, she may not look like it but she’s pretty smart and resourceful. Not to mention the range and volume of her fire breath, her real strength comes from her ability to camouflage. And lastly there is Drybone and his unusual ability to eat up the fire of others, and while he’s not exactly fast or strong, he can dig in a way that puts diamond dogs to shame, plus he is an agile flyer.
“That only leaves Grunkle, Ajax, Xinzhaya and me.” Spike whispered watching his opponent enter the arena. Grunkle had a friendly smile on his face as he descended waving at everyone. Spike felt his heart beat up fast while hearing Torch roar to silence the crowd. Grunkle landed with a loud *thud* and placed his left hand over buried boulder that had a part of it sticking out of the ground.
“On my right we have Grunkle, The Smasher!” Torch announced causing an uproar in the crowd while Grunkle roared to the sky followed by a thick stream of orange fire. “And on my left we have Spike!” Torch announced causing the roars of the crowd diminish to an almost tangible silence, except by the few roars of approval here and there.
Spike didn’t roar, instead he looked up to where Ember was sitting with a cheeky grin and a single thumb up.
“I promise to crush you quickly, Spike!” Grunkle said making Spike look at his opponent. Grunkle took a more serious and firm stance.
“We’ll see about that, Grunkle!” Spike called back while he cracked his knuckles and neck. He then took close guard stance with both hands turned to fists and partially protecting his face.
“Alright you worthless whelps! One my mark! Ready!” Torch then roared signaling the start of the fight.
Not a second later Grunkle pulled the enormous boulder out of the ground and tossed it to Spike.
Spike's eyes widened, surprised by the readiness of Grunkle. With a grunt, he fell backwards to the ground barely avoiding the projectile. Using his tail he began to lift himself up in time to see Grunkle descending on top of him ready to strike him down with one of his colossal fists. Thinking quickly, Spike used his position to push himself to the side and avoid the attack right before Grunkle landed. The impact creating a small dust cloud followed by the sound of the previously thrown boulder smashing onto something far away.
Spike used his hands to push the ground and lift himself up in a single move. He then jumped to the side in time to avoid a thick stream of fire. So he’s really freaking strong and fast despite having a body built like a walking fortress. Not good for me. Also, he’s pretty clever and resourceful. Also not good for me, but I gotta admit that's impressive, Spike thought before Grunkle emerged atop the dust cloud with two rocks the size of his head in each hand. Grunkle then tossed one rock followed by the other at him. Instead of just dodging the rocks, Spike decided it was best to just run away to avoid the attack altogether.
He heard Grunkle roar in anger and gave a quick glance at his back to see the wyrmling chasing him while he dived to tackle with the intention of tackling him. Spike smirked as an idea popped in his head. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for Grunkle to caught up with him, and thanks to the sun's position Spike was able to see his massive shadow right behind him with open arms with the clear intent of catching him and pull him into a deadly hug.
Spike waited until he could hear Grunkle's breathing behind him and then jumped. Spike flexed his legs up and saw Grunkle spin midair to try and catch him, but with his advantage gone, Spike kicked Grunkles face. Hard. Combining the force of his kick and the speed Grunkle was traveling and without any sufficient resistance, Spike watched as Grunkle crashed down onto the ground and then collided with a boulder twenty meters away or so crumbling it instantly.
Spike landed on the ground, spun around to stop his momentum, and breathed out a fire stream right against the destroyed boulder. A few moments later Spike sensed something and abruptly stopped; ducking before a fireball cut through his own fire. You have got to be kidding me, he can shoot fireballs too? Spike thought watching Grunkle walk out of the dust cloud with a boulder in between his jaws. With no effort at all the wyrmling crushed the boulder turning it into pebbles.
The purple dragon watched Grunkle smile, unable to notice a single scratch on his body or face. Spike narrowed his eyes when he saw Grunkle take a mouthful of air before shooting another fireball at him.
Spike moved to the side avoiding the rapid, deadly projectile. Spike felt a sudden shiver travel up his spine when he saw Grunkle charge at him with open arms and with a speed that seemed unreal for a dragon his size and weight. Forget walking fortress, he's like a flying train express going at full speed! Spike thought thinking on what to do. His answer came when he saw Grunkle open his mouth ready to shoot another fireball. Spike's lips curled into a mischievous grin before kicking a small rock near his left foot directly at Grunkle’s wide open maw.
Spike watched as Grunkle eyes widened and his wings stopped flapping much like a bee's would, before he came crashing down to the ground, coughing and grunting loudly with fire spewing out with every cough. Spike took this chance to run up to the wyrmling and kicked him on the face sending a piece or two of the wyrmling's scales flying and making him flip on his back. With a graceful backflip, Spike landed in between Grunkle's feet and then proceeded to grab him by the tail. Spike let out a grunt of effort as he began to drag Grunkle around and then lift him a few inches from the ground. Spike spun him three full circles, each of them with increased speed, before sending him crashing against another stuck out boulder.
Sweet Luna, he's heavier than I thought, Spike thought, panting while he waited silently for several seconds to see what Grunkle would do next. His answer came in the form of an anger filled roar. The roar was so intense that it cleared out the dust cloud the now destroyed boulder left behind. Spike half-closed his eyes watching Grunkle's angered expression before he shot three fireballs while at the same time he charged head on, but this time going in zigzag. Learns quickly from his mistakes I see, let's see what he thinks about this, Spike thought as he dodged the fireballs by jumping from side to side before shooting out a fireball of his own at Grunkle once he was less than three meters away from him.
Spike watched as Grunkle was momentarily surprised by his attack, but did not dodge it. The green fireball hit Grunkle in the chest, taking no damage whatsoever and without stopping the charging wyrmling. Spike grunted before moving forward to close the gap between the two. Spike heard Grunkle roar again in defiance and, with a quick spin that caught him off guard less than a meter apart that managed to dodge his own slashing claw attack. Spike then felt the ridiculously strong grip of Grunkle around near the tip of his tail.
Spike suddenly felt himself being pulled back, painfully stretching his tail before he was lifted up allowing him to see the clear blue sky above him.
"Gaaaahhh!" Spike grunted loudly in pain as he was slammed against the ground. His vision blurred by the small dust cloud that formed after the loud, powerful impact. Much too soon he felt he was being lift up again.
It's just like I feared then..., Spike thought with grim resolution. As he was being lift up, he shot a fireball at Grunkle’s face hitting him cleanly and managing to draw a pained yelp from the wyrmling. This didn’t stopped Grunkle's actions, but it did made him weaken his grip, which allowed Spike to pull his tail out right before Grunkle tried to smash him against the ground again.
Despite his successful escape, Spike wasn’t expecting for Grunkle to spread his wings and do a quick spin managing to hit him in the face with one of his legs sending him to the side. Landing on the ground, Spike only let out a pained grunt and stood up, waiting for Grunkle to descend and clear the smoke and fire from his face.
Spike watched Grunkle clear out the remaining smoke that hindered his vision with a loud snort. The two of them eyed the other for several seconds until Spike took a more serious expression. Spike watched as Grunkle's own expression shifted from anger to slight confusion.
“Are you going to surrender now that you see you can’t win against me, Spike?” He asked in a less friendly tone, but one that wasn’t tainted by mockery or spite.
“No.” Spike’s response was short and cold, a perfect match for the current look on his face. “After all the fights I’ve seen I knew I couldn’t take any of you guys lightly. But I had to test it out first. I could defeat you without getting serious-”
Spike smirked a little watching Grunkle frown while his amber colored eyes watched his face intently, trying to figure out if he was bluffing or not.
“-but that would take me too much time and it would put my winning chances at risk, and I can’t have that.” Spike then snorted a thick and intense green fire from his nostrils causing Grunkle look shocked for a moment. Spike then took a crouched position with his two fists at each side. The next instant he lunged at Grunkle leaving himself wide open.
Spike saw Grunkle smile in confidence followed by taking a quick safe guard position, readying himself for his attack. But much like Spike had hopped by leaving himself wide open, Grunkle stepped forward with his arms extended with the intent of catching him with a death hug. Spike then used his tail to throw his own balance off and fell back onto the ground avoiding Grunkle's arms and forcing him to look down with an expression of pure astonishment. As he was sliding through the earth, Spike passed in between Grunkle’s legs and grabbed his ankles. He then used his tail as an anchor and pulled Grunkle’s legs back making the hulking dragon fall to the ground with aloud *thud*.
Followed by an irate growl, Spike saw Grunkle roll to the side, but it was too late for him. Spike moved to the side and threw a punch aimed for Grunkle's stomach. In a swift movement Grunkle managed to cover his stomach with one hand.
“ARRRRGGGGGHHH!” But then screamed in pain as his hand was broken in an instant. Spike looked into Grunkle's eyes seeing his shock and surprise, clearly not able to believe what had just happened. Those feelings were quickly replaced by pure wrath. With adrenaline and anger serving Grunkle as a pain killer, the wyrmling managed to hit him in the face with his right fist as hard as he could sending him a few steps back. Spike shook his head and saw Grunkle get up with the aid of his wings. Spike felt Grunkle's death glare upon him, but his confident and stern expression made the hulking dragon snarl and showcase his fangs. Spike then licked a dribble of his own blood running down his left nostril and smirked.
This caused Grunkle to be blinded with rage and then charged at him with a mighty roar. Spike lunged forward again when Grunkle shot a massive fireball at him as he charged like a berserk minotaur. This time Spike had no intention on dodging the fireball. Once Spike inches from the fireball, he breathed out a steady stream of his own green fire right in the middle of the fireball until he passed through it completely unharmed. He looked directly at Grunkle's eyes and watched Grunkle's expression change from a winning smirk to shock once again. Grunkle roared and threw a powerful punch at him.
An echo followed by a small shockwave the moment Grunkle’s punch made contact with his scales. Time stood still for several moments until the fire and the dust cleared away to allow Grunkle to see his punch had been stopped by his hands an inch away from his head.
"What--?" Grunkle muttered in disbelief.
Wasting not another moment, Spike moved away his left arm, did a quick spin by shifting his stance and elbowed Grunkle’s stomach creating an equally resounding echo and following shockwave.
Grunkle’s eyes went wide-open as did his maw; slobber and spit cascading down slowly.
Spike let go of Grunkle’s fist and stepped back.
He watched as Grunkle, using his right hand to press the spot he had struck, began to stumble forward. His eyes were wide and he tried to say something, but the only sound that left his mouth were weak groans and wheezing. Grunkle took several steps before he fell down, face hitting the ground first, not even a meter away at Spike's feet. Spike then turned back and began to walk away.
Soon after, the medic landed at his side and after a quick inspection raised his arms forming an ‘X’, signaling that Grunkle was unconscious.
The silence of the arena was instantly replaced by loud roars and ample cheering that called Spike’s name.
Meanwhile, Spike walked out of the arena rubbing his left elbow. Once he was about to leave it, he stopped and looked up to Ember, whom was watching him intently, and smiled at her offering another single thumb up.
Up in a grade filled with nothing but black scaled dragons looked at Spike with interest, but only one was smiling.
-----------------------*********************
Up on her throne, Ember let out a sigh of relief while she watched Spike walk away from the arena.
"Most impressive for a dragon with no clan, blood name, or wings."
Ember heard one of the elders say behind her back.
"Indeed. Grunkle was no match for him it seems. We shall see how he fairs against his next rival."
"What do you think, Lord Ember? We know he's your... friend, but do you truly believe he has any chance to win your claw?"
"Especially with such impressive and strong candidates still left."
Ember tightened the grip on her scepter before replying. " I know he'll win." Ember replied with a secure tone before her father called in the final competitors of the first round of the tournament.
Ember was paying little attention to the fight between Ajax and Xinzhaya, for she was putting all of it into watching Spike sit at the edge of a lower grade watching the fight intently.
His fight against Grunkle made her heart beat fast and hard. She was worried for his safety despite knowing Spike was more than capable of defending himself; although her reasons were justified. If he were fighting against some run of the mill dragons she wouldn’t even need to worry, but these competitors were some of the best young prodigies the Dragon Lands had to offer and then some.
She was certain that if Spike lived in the Dragon Lands he would fit into that ranking no problem. Perhaps that was his greatest advantage: his opponents knew next to nothing of his abilities and power. She had hopped for Spike to win his first two or three fights without getting serious, but those hopes were dashed away after seeing Spike take down Grunkle.
“Maybe no one noticed.” Ember whispered to herself, extinguishing any and all relief she had felt for his first victory. “Spike… arrrgg! Why did I ask for your help? Why did I agree to your crazy plan? I should’ve known you’d do something stupid like this!”
Her attention was dragged back to the arena when she heard her father roar announcing the victor. Ember saw Ajax being carried away in a stretcher while Xinzhaya gloated in his victory. The roaring crowd was silenced by another mighty roar of her father before he looked down at her and give a small nod.
Ember closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Let’s get this over with, she thought before hitting the ground with her scepter, the impact sent a red wave of light all around the stadium.
“Congratulations to the sixteen winners of the first round of the tournament, your Dragon Lord is pleased!” Ember said, her voice resounding all over the stadium. “In short moments the bracket for the second round shall be displayed. Fight well and fight hard!” Ember ended her short speech and her scepter stopped glowing.
Ember casted a quick glance behind her to see the elders drawing the concealed numbered spheres, marked with the name of a competitor written on them, from a stone square at the side of their table.
Please let it be one of the weak ones. Please let it be one of the weak ones, Ember pleaded turning to watch Spike still sitting on the same spot. She couldn’t see him well due to the distance, but it looked like he was watching at her direction. It was then confirmed when he raised an arm over his head and waved it. She wanted to wave back at him, but she couldn’t show any kind of favoritism for the competitors now that the tournament was underway.
As she waited for the bracket to be announced, Ember focused on Spike once more and couldn’t help but chuckle. During the fifteen years since they met and became friends, both had changed and grown in many ways. Of course, the one that had changed the most had being Spike. And not just physically. At first, when they met, she had thought of him as a weakling runt with a big heart and a loud mouth, and that was pretty darn accurate during their run in the Gauntlet of Fire. But all of that changed through time, and even though her visits to Equestria, either for diplomacy or just doing a friendly visit, were few she saw first hand Spike’s arduous growth in power.
Heck, he was even given the title of ‘Guardian of the Element Bearers’ by Celestia because of it. It was mostly an honorary title since the six mares carrying the power of the Elements of Harmony were the ones doing the saving at the end of the day; plus, they could defend themselves just fine on their own. But that doesn’t mean the title is completely empty, oh no, far from it. Having grown up as Twilight’s assistant and as little more than a sidekick surrounded by countless powerful beings ranging for Alicorns, all-powerful villains, raging monsters, Discord, and many, many more had spurred him to not sit on the sidelines any more once his growth spurt finally hit him.
She knew of his numerous training regimes, all of them either self-imposed or taught by the likes of Shining Armor. And Spike was anything if not dedicated. Only his friends and those that had seen him in action knew that underestimating him was a terrible idea. Many had suffered because of that error.
Ember was pulled away from her thoughts once again when her father touched her tail with the tip of his massive one. Looking behind her, she saw the eight elders nod at her direction. Ember then raised her scepter and hoped for the best. Her heart aching for dragging her friend into this mess.
The stadium went silent and all eyes were glued to the dragon flying to the end of the arena ready to write in the sky the next second bracket of the tournament and the fights soon to come.
Mere moments later, the flying dragons were done with the bracket diagram and moved to write down the names of the competitors in match order.
Spike watched with a stoic expression while his heart beat faster than what he would like. He closed his eyes for a moment and did the same exercise Cadance had taught Twilight to control herself. Reopening his eyes, he saw the first names were being written.
“Garble VS Jaggedteeth.” Spike whispered. “Their fight is going to be interesting.” He then waited for the second match to be written.
“Hirador VS Ballista. If that wound he got gets worse or if Ballista takes advantage of it then Hirador is going to lose no doubt.” Spike whispered. A couple of moments later the third match was written.
“Crackle VS Drybone. Mmmmm, Crackle has the weight and the strength advantage, plus that Pinkie Pie like sense. But Drybone trumps everything else. Wait and see, I guess.” Seconds later the fourth match was written.
“Goliath VS Krudo. Free win for Goliath. Krudo almost broke his left arm in his match and got himself exhausted.” Almost after he finished his sentence the fifth match was written.
“Sluriasma VS… Spike.” Spike whispered before looking for the yellow dragoness below. He soon found her looking around for him no doubt. It took her a couple of seconds to look up to him and when she did she smiled at him with an admittedly pretty smile.
The dragoness had shining yellow scales with darker, almost orange underbelly scales. A pair of baby blue fins, similar to his own but clearly suited for aquatic purposes, adorned each side of her head. She also had longer and more elegant fin that acted like a regular crest traveling from the top of her head all the way to the tip of her tail. All four and a half meters of her incredible length. Her elongated snout reminded him to Garble’s but with a clear feminine look that fit her well, at least in his opinion. Her eyes were pure green like his own. And her body was adorned by colored lines running at each side of her long dorsal fin in a mix of red, blue, orange, white, and green bright colors that changed every few centimeters.
Spike smiled back before looking at the bracket to find another match had been written.
“Zhaitan VS Ptolomeo. Another interesting match. And hopefully an informative one.” Spike whispered to himself stealing a glance at the grade filled with black scaled dragons. An instant later the seventh match was written.
“Flamethrower VS Raiga. Looks like Raiga will have a difficult match against Flamethrower. Then again, Flamethrower might be hiding something in store.” A couple of seconds later the eighth and last match was written.
“Xinzhaya VS Mok Bal. Another free win if Xinzhaya exploits Mok Bal’s weak lateral perception, his injured wing and stays far away from his claws.”
Spike whispered to himself before Torch’s roar dwarfed all the other roars throughout the stadium. The bracket disappeared and the first to competitors were called into the arena.
Spike felt something hit him in the back that nearly made him fall from his seat. Regaining his balance, Spike shot a glare at Garble whom was looking back at him with a cocky smile adorning his face.
Repeating the calming exercise, Spike returned his focus on watching the matches before his own came.
The first match lasted little over ten minutes, it ending with the hard fought victory of Garble. From the get go, it was clear that Jaggedteeth was no match for Garble’s strength and endurance, but he made up for it with speed and his natural oil that made grabbing onto him almost impossible and gave him an edge over every punch, kick, and slash Garble gave out. His tail also did a great job to keep the red dragon at bay when needed.
The match had been the definition of a tug of war until Jaggedteeth made the huge mistake of relying too much on his tail for attacks. Garble saw his opportunity and grabbed Jaggedteeth by the horns on his tail and, thanks to his superior strength, proceeded to slam Jaggedteeth on the ground all over the place until the metallic blue scaled dragon was knocked unconscious.
Garble had won, but it did cost him a few scars, a broken fang, and a nasty hit to the left eye that would force him to rely on his right eye for the next match. Maybe even the tournament. Spike hoped to be that lucky.
The second match ended in the span of the first two minutes with the surrender of Hirador halfway through the fight due to his injury.
The third match went in a similar direction that Garble’s fight did. Crackle was simply too heavy and her scales too tough for Drybone to overcome with brute force alone. But Crackle’s lack of offensive arsenal couldn’t take down Drybone either, for he was faster than her. In the end Crackle lost when she exhausted all of her fire and fell unconscious because of it.
And now Spike was watching the nearing end of the fourth match with Goliath taking his sweet time to tire out Krudo. Knowing that the two meter tall green scaled dragon had no chance to defeat the hulking four meter tall beast of a dragon that didn’t flinch against his hits, fire or anything that was thrown at him. Why Krudo didn’t surrender was anyone’s guess.
“Maybe he’s expecting to pull a suckerpunch on Goliath. Though that beast knows he doesn’t have to do much to win; he just has to wait.” Spike whispered to himself. With the match being pointless, Spike decided to search for Sluriasma and found her in the same spot.
Spike rubbed his left shoulder while he watched her talking to another pink dragoness.
Damn, my arm’s still itching and hurting. Grunkle’s torso scales were tougher and sturdier than those in his arm and face. I’ll have to be careful to not use my arm much during this match, Spike thought. Not that it matters anyways, since I’ll be spending most of the time dodging her I think. Okay Spike, recap. She’s way faster than me, she’s ridiculously agile, has fantastic reflexes, what I guess is a great sight, a venom that can melt rocks upon contact, and to top it all she may be able to strangle me just like an anaconda would thanks to her length and powerful body.
On the plus side I’m far stronger than her even without Amplitude. My scales are sturdier than her’s since during her match she used her agility and speed to avoid any kind of damage. She can’t breathe fire but still holds virtual immunity to it and high temperatures. Then there’s the fact that she doesn’t have wings, which will make our match a ground battle. So at least I don’t have to worry about that. Now, if I’m lucky, really lucky, then she’ll get cocky and try right away for a frontal attack, Spike thought eyeing the dragoness.
Fat chance after how I defeated Grunkle, but I still have that hope. I think she’s going to use her mobility and speed advantages over me to strike with fast hit and run attacks. I don’t know what her venom can do if she injects it to me and I don’t want to find out. I also don’t know if she can produce venom from her claws or fins; gotta be careful of that. At the very least I know for sure she can’t have an unlimited supply of it. Spike frowned seeing Sluriasma laugh alongside with the other dragoness. What really worries me is that I doubt that venom is her best trick. I’ll have to be on guard for any suspicious movements she makes.
She shouldn’t be too difficult to beat if I play my cards right. Spike closed his eyes and breathed slowly performing the relaxing exercise several times. If she DOES become too much of a problem, or I can’t keep up with her speed, then I’ll have no other option but to use Amplitude again, Spike thought before reopening his eyes, shifting his gaze to the rest of the remaining competitors one by one. That would be… troublesome.
Spike then returned his attention to the match in time to see Krudo fall flat on his ass completely spent with Goliath standing in front of him like some sort of unsurpassable obstacle. A few moments later Krudo surrendered. Torch roared a second later announcing the victor.
Spike leapt down from his seat and landed without making a sound. He then made his way to the arena while some dragons, including some of the competitors took an occasional glance his way.
“Feeling nervous?”
A voice asked at his right side. Spike turned his head to see Sluriasma walking -errr- slytherin in a similar fashion a snake or a naga would next to him, careful to match his height. Now that he had a closer look of her, Spike came to a conclusion. Wow, she’s actually quite beautiful. “You could say that.”
Sluriasma smiled while she played with her index fingers. “I’m pretty nervous to tell you the truth. Hey handsome, go easy on me, pretty please?” She asked doing a cute pout and flashing her eyelashes several times, her voice similar to Lyra’s but more delicate and easy going.
Spike smirked. “Sister, that won’t work on me. I literally grew up surrounded by cuteness and adorableness, so now I’m immune to it. Pouting and trying to hit on me won’t do you any good, beautiful.”
Sluriasma made a disappointed gesture and huffed. “At least I tried, you flatterer you.” Sluriasma then extended a hand. “My name is Sluriasma, pleased to meet you.”
Spike eyed her hand for a moment before accepting it with a short shake. “Likewise, my name is Spike.” He let go of her hand after she finished the sentence. “May the best dragon win.”
“I plan to, Spike!” She replied as they both entered the arena.
They continued to move towards the center of the arena until Sluriasma stopped and Spike continued to walk for ten or so more meters. He then casually wiped his snout with the hand he had greeted Sluriasma with and took a short sniff followed by a deep one a moment later. I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary, but I can never be too cautious, Spike thought before breathing out a short burst of fire to cleanse his hand.
That should put a nice gap between us, Spike thought turning to face his opponent and taking a low hand guard position while Sluriasma coiled her body around and used some of it to sit in a relaxed position. Spike narrowed his eyes. That’s totally different from her first match, what is she planning?
“On my right we have Spike!” Torch announced, and this time there were a lot more roars of approval and cheering for him. “And on my left we have Sluriasma!” Torch announced followed by joyous roars and cheering from all over the stadium chanting her name while she waved with one hand from side to side.
Spike took the moment to look up to Ember and offered her a quick wave with his right arm. He then returned his focus back to Sluriasma, seeing she had done the same the moment Torch began to speak again. Everything around him was silent and the only thing that existed was the dragoness before him.
Then Torch roared signaling the start of the fight.
Spike waited for Sluriasma to make the first move, but she didn’t change her position. Letting out a groan, Spike began to circle Sluriasma whilst keeping his distance from her. Spike soon noticed that Sluriasma slowly rotated in her position in accordance to his movements so that she would always be facing him.
She knows I’m dangerous or at least a threat. Good for her, bad for me. I hope she doesn’t realize I have no idea what to do now, Spike thought letting out a chuckle. Think you idiot, think! If I go near her she’s going to A) Back away. B) Prepare to fight. Or C) Do nothing and let me continue until I fall on whatever trap she has in mind. Creating a dust or flame cloud would put me at a disadvantage more than her. And there’s no telling what she’ll do if I back away; I am not taking that chance, Spike thought while he continued to stare at the calm and smiling dragoness. Wait a second...I have an idea.
Spike stopped in his tracks and breathed out a fireball directly at Sluriasma. The dragoness dodged it with ease and grace, never tearing her eyes from him. Spike then shot a series of seven fireballs; three aiming for her torso and four to her coiled body. Spike watched Sluriasma stretch her body and move from side to side to evade his fireballs without losing sight of him.
He then rolled to the side, grabbed a couple of small rocks and then tossed them hard at Sluriasma. Let’s see what you do against faster projectiles, Spike thought and then watched as the dragoness recoiled her body and spit some venom that hit the rocks instantly reducing them to purple goo.
Spike hummed before he began to run around Sluriasma without losing sight of her. While he ran, he used his tail to pick up rocks to then throw them at the dragoness. He watched as Sluriasma dodged most of the attacks, those that she didn’t she turned into goo with her venom or deflected them with a quick swat of her tail. Spike followed his strategy for several seconds until Sluriasma, began to counterattack by spitting venom to the ground in front of him.
“Dodge this!” Spike shouted jumping over the venom. He then landed a few feet past the venom with a loud smack. He was chest down to the ground while he faced Sluriasma, noticing she was looking at him with an amused expression. Spike opened his mouth and then roared while at the same time a torrent of green fire created a carpet that approached his target. Fast.
Spike glared watching Sluriasma coil her body but then his eyes went wide when he saw the dragoness launch herself at blinding speed directly at him. SHIT!, Spike cursed. Thanks to his own quick reflexes he ended his attack and avoided the open, dripping fangs of Sluriasma. Seeing his opportunity, he tried to punch her but found himself sent flying several meters away by an unworldly powerful blow to his right side.
“UURRGGGH!” Spike roared before landing on his back. Using his momentum, he spun on his back with his legs wide open before impulsing himself with his arms to stand up. Spike’s eyes widened when he saw Sluriasma was coming his way again. With a low grunt, Spike took a solid low ground defense position with his legs serving him as an anchor and his tail extended and impaled in the earth behind him for support. His arms were partially covering his face while his claws were extended and in a position ready to catch and tear anything in front of them.
His eyes went wide again when he saw Sluriasma stop abruptly and practically shoot herself to the left before continuing her attack, this time from his unprotected left.
“You’re wide open, handsome!” Sluriasma taunted with wide smile.
Spike smiled before dropping back to the ground a split second before the dragoness could bite him. Perfect, Spike thought before using both hand to catch the following whiplash from her tail and at the same time, with his tail still impaled to the ground, used his newfound balance and acceleration of the dragoness to rotate on his spot and send her crashing against a nearby wall of the stadium.
“And you’re not the only one who knows how to use a tail, beautiful!” Spike shouted seeing the dragoness stir up and glare at him. He then took the low hand guard again while he let out a pained groan. She may not be physically strong compared to a regular dragon, but she knows how to use her momentum and combine it with her speed, agility and that ridiculous acceleration and shift in movement she just did to deliver a single and powerful blow. She caught me off-guard and almost broke my scales.
Okay, what do I do now? Maybe I should use Amplitude for a moment and throw a rock or something at her. Doubt she’ll dodge that. Spike gave a second long glance to his left where the remaining competitors were watching the fight. Then again, I rather not if I can help it. I don’t want to kill her nor show it for a second time. And using Fire Jet at this moment is absolutely out of the question. Dammit all, this is like fighting a squadron of Shadowbolts all over again! Spike gulped but also found himself smirking. Heh, though her speed kinda reminds me more to the sparring matches Rainbow and I have from time to time, Spike’s eyes widened and his lips curled into a grin.
“Is that all you have, gorgeous? I’ve fought ponies waaaaaay faster and agile than you!” He shouted, his grin widening when he saw Sluriasma stand still.
Up from her private grade, Ember sat at the edge of her throne watching how Sluriasma moved in to attack Spike once again. Sluriasma moved from side to side with quick movements and sharp turns until she was near Spike.
Spike moved to the side in time to avoid her and Sluriasma recoiled her body to dodge a series of upward kicks from Spike. Ember gasped seeing Spike crouch before he started to run with the aid of his arms at incredible speed, much like a manticore or a dog would. She was confused why he was running until she noticed a small patch of purple venom and gas emerging from it in the spot he had been.
Sluriasma followed after and thanks to her superior speed she caught up with him in seconds. Ember gripped her scepter tighter seeing Sluriasma spit venom at Spike, forcing him to dodge and change direction as she pleased. Spike retaliated by shooting fireballs at Sluriasma, whom dodged them effortlessly.
The entire stadium was lit with roars and cheers chanting the name of Sluriasma while said dragoness and Spike continued to run around the arena trading attacks.
Ember’s eyes widened when she noticed what Sluriasma was really doing with her poison. She then clenched her fangs tight when Sluriasma slowed down for a moment, coiled her body, and then slingshot herself directly at Spike with blinding speed. Spike, thanks to his own quick reflexes, managed to dodge being tackled and biten by the dragoness. In the air he managed to grab her tail once more, but Sluriasma tossed him away with a forceful whiplash.
Ember swallowed a mouthful of spit seeing Spike and Sluriasma come to a halt and face off each other once more in a standstill.
“Spike…” Ember whispered his name. At the start of the match she didn’t know why he was holding back on Sluriasma. From a practical point of view, Sluriasma wasn’t as dangerous to Spike compared to Grunkle. Ember knew Spike had used his Amplitude technique on Grunkle to win the match quickly, but questioned why he wasn’t using it to catch up and maybe even surpass Sluriasma’s speed and reflexes, taking her by surprise and end the match.
The answer came to her in that same question. Using it again would put Spike at risk against his would be remaining opponents. Most of which would be putting two and two together if Spike used it again so soon. She came to understand he wanted to keep the element of surprise for the later matches, him using it against Grunkle to secure a quick and crushing victory had sent the message that he was not one to be trifled with. A good strategy especially when taking into account the plenty of powerhouses still left.
Garble, The Fire Fist. Vanishing Zhaitan. Goliath, The Colossus. Drybone, The Tunneler. Raiga of the Thunder. And Flamethrower, The Witful, Ember thought with worry, not for her sake, but for Spike’s safety. For a dragon, a title was something defining of one’s power, abilities or characteristic and, unlike many other countries and kingdoms around the world, had immense value as they were extremely difficult to achieve. Only the most powerful of dragons, no matter if they were young, adult or ancient, could hope to get one.
Spike had already defeated Grunkle, a title bearer himself, but what about the others?
“I don’t care if you win this stupid tournament anymore, Spike. Just come out of it alive, please.” Ember whispered while the arm holding her scepter trembled a little.
This isn’t good, Spike thought while he panted and watched Sluriasma pant the same way. She’s been cornering me with her poison, Spike took a quick glance to his right to see a dozen or so puddles of venom emanating a deadly gas. She must know that cornering me is a double edged sword, but also realize that she has the upper hand by limiting my space to move freely. I wonder how much poison she has left? Spike thought while watching Sluriasma intently.
Spike steeled his position when he saw Sluriasma relax and start to giggle. With only five meters in between them he could hear her despite the cheering crowd.
“What’s so funny, beautiful?” Spike asked with a smirk.
“Not funny, handsome. Amusing. I know who you are, sort of. Your friend Garble was ever so kind to tell me you live among ponies. I could hardly believe it after seeing how you defeated that oafish fool of Grunkle.” Sluriasma said.
“You’d be surprised what ponies can be capable of, gorgeous.” Spike retorted.
“Dear me, I’m sorry if I sounded offensive. I personally don’t have any problems against ponies, in fact I have a few pony friends myself! It may be simple ignorance on my behalf, handsome, but I never thought a dragon as strong or as intelligent as you could live among them.” Sluriasma replied.
Spike chuckled. “For many years you would’ve been correct. But then I reached a point when I decided to become strong, and many of my friends and family helped me. I’m strong because of them and for them, beautiful.” Spike said and saw Sluriasma giggle in response.
“You are an odd one, handsome, and full of surprises.” Sluriasma said and Spike noticed her smiling mischievously.
Spike changed his position by moving his legs apart and crouched until he was practically squatting, he moved his arms to the side, flexing them with his hands formed into fists. He then stared at her eyes for several seconds until he noticed a glow in them.
Moving on instinct, Spike covered his eyes by moving his arms upward in sideways to block direct eye contact and still keep an eye on the rest of her body.
Then he heard low, almost whispering tune that soon gained volume. A second later he heard the voice of Sluriasma starting with a hum and rapidly escalating into a melodious tone.
She’s harmonizing? Spike questioned before the tone changed again. What the-? I can hear four...no, five different voices and tones mixed in. What the hay is she doing? Deciding to see what was going on he slightly parted his arms to see what was going on. But when he did so, the volume of the tone and the voices harmonizing increased ten fold and transformed into full blown opera style singing.
“Sssshhhhccciiitt!” Spike cursed falling to his knees and using his hands to avoid falling face first to the ground. Looking up, he saw Sluriasma looking at him while she sang. Guh! I forgot Ember told me she’s half siren! By Discord’s beard, it’s like hearing several soprano and a contralto singers at the same time! Spike yelled in his head. No good, no good. I’m such an idiot! I have no choice but to use Amplitude now!
Spike closed his eyes and tried to focus on his ability. After a few short seconds he grunted looking up to Sluriasma. It’s no use, I can’t concentrate! Her voice it’s so… beautiful… she’s… the most gorgeous…, he thought seeing a shimmering light seemingly glowing around her. Spike suddenly closed his eyes and shook his head repeatedly.
“Fake…!” He grunted out. He then reopened his eyes to see Sluriasma looking at him with curiosity and amusement.
“You seem to resist~” She sang with an angelic voice, despite this the tone and the other voices never stopped or were disrupted by her talking. “Are you fighting back against my song~?” She asked with a different yet equally angelic voice.
“I’ve… Heard…. Better!” Spike shouted while he struggled to stand up. He then saw Sluriasma slither towards him slowly. She can’t---Guh!---attack and sing at the same time? Spike shook his head. Come on you idiot, think of something! Spike yelled in his mind trying to suffocate Sluriasma’s voice while he looked at her again.
“Don’t you loooooove me~? Adoooooore me~?” She sang with yet another angelic voice while she caressed her torso, waist and hips with her hands.
“Spot… Already... Taken!” Spike shouted watching Sluriasma approaching uninterrupted. He felt his legs tremble and quiver as they struggled to keep him standing. Nnnngh! All I can hear is her song! Where is the roaring when you need it!? Spike thought before taking a glance to the side. There he saw the dragons that could hear the song looking at Sluriasma like drooling zombies.
“Surrender to me~” She sang.
“N-Never!” Spike shouted back seeing Sluriasma nearing him ever so closely; he could even see a drop or two of her venom coating her fangs. Th-there’s only one thing I can try to do… besides using Fire Jet… Overpower her song… with another one, Spike thought. I don’t know if this actually works outside of Equestria, and I swear on my mother’s name that if this works I’m going to buy Pinkie the biggest, most delicious, most expensive cake I can! Spike thought almost falling to his knees again. But why is that the only song that comes to mind!? Spike screamed inwardly before seeing Sluriasma less than two meters away from him. No time left, here’s goes nothing!
Spike looked up directly at Sluriasma before snapping his fingers. “HIT IT!” He shouted. A moment later a weak beat of drums came clashing with Sluriasma’s song and voice. The drums soon began to sound louder until it was soon joined by guiro and trumpets. The music coming out from nowhere really causing Spike to smirk.
Feeling the tremble in his legs diminished, Spike struck a pose following the growing rhythm of the music. His smirk turned into a smile while seeing Sluriasma looking around searching for the source of the music with a confused expression. His smile then transformed into a shit eating grin when he started to dance at the rhythm and tempo of the music.
While he danced, he never tore eye contact with the completely confused but still singing Sluriasma. Seconds later he saw her move her shoulders in accordance to the catchy, upbeat, festive sounding music. He saw her noticed it before taking a short intake of air.
“They call me Cuban Pete~!” Spike began to sing at the same time the music changed from trumpets to maracas and wind instruments. “I’m the king of the rumba beat! When I play the maracas I go chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom~!” He sang swaying his hips from side to side causing Sluriasma to do the same, much to her obvious confusion.
With his body free to move as he pleased, Spike decided to go all-out. “Yessir I’m Cuban Pete. I’m the craze of my native street~! When I start to dance everything goes chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom~!” He sang doing his absolute best to dance in an over the top fashion. All the while watching Sluriasma stare at him with absolute confusion, yet she still continued to sing.
“The señoritas they sing and they swing with terampero- It’s very nice, so full of spice~! And when they dance in they bring a happy ring that era keros~!” Spike, taking advantage of his position, turned around and bend over to shake his butt at Sluriasma while looking back to see her reaction. He saw her blush and move back bringing her hands to her chest.
Turning upfront, Spike resumed his dancing following the rhythm of the music. “Singin’ a soooong, all the day looooong~!” Spike then began to move towards Sluriasma. “So if you like to beat, take a lesson from Cuban Pete~! And I’ll teach you to chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom~! Spike kneeled in front of her and waved his fingers at her.
“H-He’s a really modest guy~!” His smile turned massive seeing Sluriasma join in, much to her own shock no doubt. She brought her hands to her throat trying to stop herself, but couldn’t. “Although he’s the hottest guy~! In Neighbana~! In Neighbana~!” Spike saw whatever confusion or shock in her suddenly evaporate as she joined in full to the song.
Spike moved at her side and took a hold of her hands while looking directly at her face. “Si, siñorita, I know that you would like to chicky-boom-chick~!
“It’s very nice~! So full of spice~!” The chorus resonated all over the stadium, composed by it’s current occupants.
“I’ll place my hand on your hip, and if you will just give me your hand~!” Spike sang before receiving two playful slaps from Sluriasma while they dance. “Then we shall try - just you and I. I-yi-yi~!” Spike sang, somehow managing to spin Sluriasma around. “So if you like the beat, take a lesson from Cuban Pete~! And I’ll teach you to chick-chicky-boom, chick-chicky-boom~!”
The music came to an end and Spike ended up embracing Sluriasma close to him. He saw she was blushing profusely and had a smile on her face. It quickly dropped in favor of a confused expression and a more intense blush.
“W-what just happened?” She asked with a quiver in her voice.
“Equestrian magic, gorgeous.” Spike said taking a gentle hold of her head. “Sorry, but I win.” The instant those words left his mouth, he saw her eyes widen, but it was too late for her. His grip turned fierce, turned her head slightly to the left, and then proceeded to let out a mighty and loud roar.
“SSSHHAAAAAAAAA!” Spike heard Sluriasma screech loudly while she gripped his shoulders as hard as she could. For several seconds this went on until he felt her body go limp and saw her eyes roll back.
Spike ended his roar and gently put the outcold Sluriasma down on the ground. He then began to walk away from the arena. A moment later a medic dragon landed next to Sluriasma to confirm that she was indeed unconscious. There was no roaring or cheering for his victory this time since everyone in the entire stadium were asking themselves what in the name of Tartarus had just happened.
“What was that? I thought he wasn’t a hybrid.” An elder said rubbing his head.
“I thought the same. Lord Ember, do you have an explanation? If not, we’ll have to eliminate that disgrace for using a magical artifact!” Another elder said.
“You shall do no such thing!” Ember called back without even looking at the elders. “That was not the effect of any sort of magical artifact or relic, although he did use a magic inherent and used commonly all around Equestria. They call it ‘Musical Harmony’. It’s a complete mystery to the ponies, even to Celestia and Luna themselves. Not even the Lord of Chaos can explain it.” Ember finished explaining and looked back at the elders to see them looking at each other.
“...Very well, Lord Ember, we shall permit this one use of such a power. However, Spike must be informed that he is forbidden from using it again or he shall be eliminated. He must fight with his own power and abilities alone, and not rely in those belonging to… inferior creatures.”
Ember didn’t reply in words. She instead raised her scepter and watched Spike begin to glow. He stopped to look at her while two dragon about her size descended to get him.
“Elder Kroxus.” Ember called.
“Yes, Lord Ember?” The elder in question asked.
“If you ever call Spike, my dearest friend, a disgrace in front of me again, I shall have you removed, understood?”
“...As you command, Lord Ember,” the elder replied with a neutral, cautious tone.
Spike was sitting at the edge of the grade the dragons tasked with carrying back to the arena left him on. The very same grade had been sitting on before his fight against Sluriasma. He was now currently watching the last match of the second bracket, although it was hardly a fight seeing how Xinzhaya did his absolute best to stay away from Mok Bal’s enraged state until the later tire himself out. What did surprise him, however, was how Mok Bal could still fly despite his injured wing.
After his second victory, he had been summoned by Ember to tell him that by order of the Elders, he was forbidden from using the ‘lowly pony ability of singing’ again or any other pony related tricks or risk disqualification. He complied, of course, and was returned without further interaction aside from a gentle smile and a fast thumb up from Ember. And after a quick yet massive torrent of fire from Torch, the arena was cleaned from the venom Sluriasma left behind.
Right now, although he was watching the current match, his focus was on the two previous matches victors: Zhaitan and Raiga.
“Vanishing Zhaitan,” Spike whispered to himself. He had been wondering why the black dragon carried the title of ‘Vanishing’. The answer came during his match against Ptolomeo.
Ptolomeo proved to be a fierce, tricky, and an absolute terror in battle. His previous display of fire control had been but a ruse as it was nothing compared to the level of control and finesse he showed during that match. The fight had started with both of them trading blows that never once hit home and by showcasing their flying capabilities. Both of them searching for a possible advantage over the other.
Then the real fight began with a blast of purple fire coming from Zhaitan and an overwhelming fire shield from Ptolomeo that bounced back the fire of Zhaitan. They then landed and Ptolomeo created four whips of intense orange fire to relentlessly attack Zhaitan. The black dragon could barely dodge the attacks of Ptolomeo, and when he was able to close the gap between them, Ptolomeo would create a fire shield or a fire sphere around himself and move away; all the while the whips continued to attack his opponent.
Zhaitan was struck by several strikes that he was unable to dodge; the speed of the whips and the random patterns Ptolomeo used proved to surpass the black dragon’s incredible agility and reflexes. For a moment it looked like Ptolomeo would win the match, but then Zhaitan stood still allowing the whips to hit him freely. And the whips were torn apart the moment they made contact with his scales. Ptolomeo roared before creating more whips, several more whips, and hit Zhaitan with a seemingly never ending tide of whips, but all of them had the same result when hitting their mark.
And then Zhaitan did as his brand title indicated: he vanished.
A moment later Ptolomeo was sent flying back across the stadium for more than a hundred meters. Meanwhile, Zhaitan had reappeared in the spot Ptolomeo had been. Enraged, Ptolomeo created an armor of fire around himself before he took to the air and charged at Zhaitan with a fire sword in each hand. Zhaitan, for his part, waited until Ptolomeo closed the gap between them at incredible speed before he vanished yet again and reappeared an instant later a few meters behind Ptolomeo.
Ptolomeo forced himself to stop and spin in mid-air, he then launched himself at Zhaitan. This time Zhaitan didn’t vanish, he let Ptolomeo hit him with his swords but like the whips, they dispersed upon contact with the black scales of Zhaitan.
Fury took over Ptolomeo, so he attacked over and over again with his fire forged weapons; all of them proving to be next to useless against the dragon that simply withstood every attack sent at him. In a surprising move, Ptolomeo created a sphere of fire around Zhaitan and launched it up into the sky with a geyser of fire. Ptolomeo then created a massive pincer before he crushed and sliced the sphere with it. Much to his surprise and dismay, Zhaitan emerged unscathed with his wings flapping to keep him from falling, and then the black dragon vanished yet again.
A large shockwave was heard and a dust cloud formed in the spot Ptolomeo had been. Moments later Zhaitan emerged through the dust cloud without losing his step, ignoring the few bleeding scars and missing scale or two the first attacks of Ptolomeo caused him. A short few seconds later the dust cloud cleared out enough to reveal a small crater with Ptolomeo lying unconscious in the middle of it. His fire armor provided no protection against his foe.
The medic wasn’t even necessary to declare Zhaitan’s victory. Although Ptolomeo had his two arms broken, several scales were missing, a snapped wing, and would probably need months to recover from all the damage he received, he would live.
“You didn’t vanish,” Spike whispered eyeing Zhaitan on the grade with his fellow black dragons with both awe and fear. If living with Twilight for so many years had taught him anything thus far, that would be to be perceptive of everything. He felt a sudden thrill mixed with nervousness as he smirked. “You just moved really, really fast. Somehow.” He said turning his gaze to one of the small craters Zhaitan had created after vanishing during his fight. “Still, that doesn’t explain why you didn’t take damage from Ptolomeo’s attacks when they were working so well at the start of the match.”
“And speaking of not taking any damage…” Spike whispered shifting his gaze to Raiga.
Spike saw the thunder dragon watch the match with apparent disinterest while he was leaning against a wall with his arms folded.
During his match, Raiga did his absolute best to do nothing but laugh, taunt, insult and push back at Flamethrower. At first, it had no effect on the dragoness, she stuck to her own plan of attacking Raiga with her fire from the distance with short but intense streams of fire. When that failed, she began throwing rocks as hard as she could. When that proved fruitless against the thick and tough scales of Raiga, Flamethrower tried to provoke Raiga into attacking her.
But Raiga simply laughed at her attempts with his thunderous and potent laugh. He then did the unthinkable act of offering her a free strike on him without repercussion. He even closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. This act angered Flamethrower to the point that she flapped her wings to get off the ground and then charged with all her might at Raiga. When she was about to reach him, she began to spin and then hit his neck with her tail.
A shock wave followed the powerful hit that would’ve broken his own neck easily without the protection of Amplitude. And even with it, he would’ve been seriously injured, Spike mused.
Raiga laughed again to the shock of Flamethrower. But the dragoness didn’t back down, she quickly stomped his chest to gain some distance, the push didn’t make Raiga move an inch. Landing, Flamethrower did a spin to kick dirt at Raiga’s eyes as he was now uncovering his face. The dirt hit Raiga but he was impervious to it since Flamethrower, thinking he was momentarily blinded, went for his left leg with a powerful bite.
What followed was nothing short of shocking, no pun intended. A veil of electricity covered Raiga’s body at the same time Flamethrower bit him, sending her body to convulse in agony.
It ended soon but Raiga wasn’t finished. He grabbed a dazed and stunned Flamethrower by her tail and tossed her into the air. This caused the dragoness to snap out of her electrical daze and regain her balance and flight before she hit the ground.
But it was too late. Raiga was about to fire a stream of electricity like he had done previously. Flamethrower panicked when Raiga shot it a second later and flap upwards to avoid it. She moved quick and fast, doing sharp turns and zig zagging all over the sky. Like in Raiga’s previous match, the stream of electricity followed the dragoness everywhere she went catching up to her by the second. That is until she dived zig-zagging all the way directly at the unmoving Raiga.
Her intentions were clear: force Raiga to stop his attack or let his own attack hit him.
What she didn’t expect was an electric sucker punch that sent her flying backward… straight at Raiga’s lightning stream. Flamethrower screamed for several seconds until she finally fell to the ground unconscious. Raiga immediately roared with all his might. Flamethrower was taken away by some miracle not dead.
Spike glared at Raiga while he gulped feeling the same way he did towards Zhaitan and his mind raced. “You did the same thing against Thorn. Now I know you’re showing off with that attack. Your main attack if I’m not mistaken.” His glare intensified. “Your control over electricity is ample and effective.” Spike sighed.
“You really are a disgrace to us true dragons, Spike.”
Spike turned to the right and saw Garble hovering about two meters away from him.
“You’re so weak and pathetic that you have to use cheap pony tricks to win?” He asked not with an insulting or mocking tone, but with an angry one.
Spike eyed Garble up and down for a moment finding he had some minor injuries and that his injured eye had swollen to the point it blocked most of his vision. “How I win my battles doesn’t concern you, Garble. I didn’t break the rules, it’s not my fault those Elders are so ignorant and self-centered on their own stupid pride to not know anything outside their own species.” Spike spat.
Garble snarled. “Those sissy, wimp ponies have ruined you, Spike! Look at you, they have turned you against your own kind! You even dare to insult the Elders.”
“I don’t answer to them or you or any dragon for that matter.” Spike snarled back. “I get that most dragons don’t like ponies, but why do you hate them so much, Garble?” Garble glared. “You wanna know something funny? After Ember became Dragon Lord, I spent months digging up clashes, disputes and other possible negative events between ponies and dragons over the past five hundred years. I did it to help improve the relations between Equestria and the Dragon Lands.”
“Do you know what I found? Three events. Three. And none involving anything too serious. Hay, the worst one was about that dragon that crossed the border without permission and wanted to take a nap near Ponyville.” Spike took a more firm stance while he traded glares with Garble. “I don’t know how or why, but you can read Equestrian like you did during the Dragon Migration. So, tell me, why do you hate ponies so much, Garble? What have they ever done to you to despise them so?”
“You sound like my father,” Garble groaned. “ ‘Ponies are nice’, ‘Ponies are friendly’, ‘Ponies are my friends!’, ‘We can learn a lot from Ponies’. He’s wrong! Ponies are weak and puny and sissy and liars! My father forced me to learn how to write and read them when I was a hatchling because he wanted me to like ponies.” Garble spat with venom. “Look at them, hiding behind their namby-pamby pony Princesses because they’re so weak and pathetic that they can’t even protect themselves. They make me sick.” Garble flew closer to Spike until their snouts were mere inches apart. “And you’re just like them. You stinking Wingless Disgrace. You no good Kin Traitor.”
Spike and Garble stared at each other’s eyes for several moments until Spike closed his eyes, backed away and sighed. “Celestia saved me from death. Twilight hatched me. Ponyville is my home. Equestria is MY home. Ponies are my friends and my family; they love me and I love them back. I know I’m not a ‘true dragon’ even among my family and friends, but you know what? I’m glad I’m not. I’m my own dragon, Garble. Maybe you should try to do the same when you finally take your head out of your tail hole.”
“I hope you die in this tournament, Sparkle Warkle.” Garble spat before flying away, moments later Flizzle and Matchflick appeared to greet him once Garble was out of his hearing range.
“Now that last comment was unnecessary.” A familiar voice said.
Spike turned to the side and saw Sluriasma moving towards him. She stopped about a meter away from him.
“Hello again,” Sluriasma greeted with a gentle smile. “Good match, Spike. Congratulations.”
Spike turned to face her. “Sorry about that.” Sluriasma tilted her head. “About roaring right at your ear.” He said with a sheepish, genuine apologetic tone.
“No hard feelings, Spike. It was a fight and I had a lot of fun in the end!” She smiled while clapping her hands.
Spike chuckled returning her smile. “The Elders think otherwise, though!”
“Bah, the Elders, who cares about them?” Sluriasma hissed playfully. “Looks like the last match is almost over.” She said tilting her upper body to the side for a moment or two.
Spike looked back at the arena and saw Xinzhaya standing on top of Mok Bal while the latter was unmoving. “Looks like it.” He said turning his attention back to Sluriasma.
“Uhmm, my friends are waiting for me, I only came to say hi and to wish you good luck, Spike,” Sluriasma said making a short bow with her head. “Good luck!” She then closed the gap between them catching Spike by surprise.
Spike felt a pair of scaly lips against his right cheek for five full seconds before Sluriasma retreated.
“I’ll be cheering for you, handsome. Bye~” Sluriasma gave him a parting wink before slithering away in a hurry.
Spike watched her go for a couple of moments, then he chuckled and turned back to watch the arena. What he saw was Mok Bal being carried away and Xinzhaya walking away while the crowd cheered.
It didn’t last long since Torch’s mighty roar silenced them all. He looked up to Ember’s private grade and saw her getting up followed by a wave of red light that covered the stadium.
“Congratulations to the eight winners of the second bracket of the tournament, I salute you all!”
Spike heard Ember’s voice loud and clear thanks to the magic of the scepter. The crowd cheered with roars. The roars died soon after.
“The third bracket shall be displayed shortly. However, I would like to take this chance to personally congratulate the eight of you for giving us thrilling match after thrilling match. All of you are powerful in your own way and a living testament to the innate power of all dragons! May the bravest and most honorable amongst you win!”
The crowd roared their approval to the sky.
Meanwhile, Spike looked at Ember and noticed she was looking at him a moment before she returned to her throne. Spike smirked while he shook his head a couple of times.
The roaring began to die down moments later when a few flying dragons went to the furthest edge of the stadium to write the newly selected bracket.
Spike took a quick glance at each of his seven would-be opponents. Not one of them he liked to face in combat now, except for Ballista.
I hope Zhaitan and Raiga face each other now, without one of them out of the way my odds increase a lot. Goliath is also a problem, out of the eight of us he’s the one that has won without even breaking a sweat, faced any sort of injury or show off anything special. Raiga is a close second, though, Spike thought looking at the three he considered as the biggest threats to him. I hope to be lucky enough to fight against Ballista or Xinzhaya or even Drybone, hay, I’d even take Garble at this point.
Spike felt his heart pound against his chest as he saw the flying dragons had finished with the diagram and were now writing the names for the matches.
“Ballista VS Goliath, The Colossus. Are you kidding me? How lucky can this guy get?” Spike groaned reading the first match combatants, uncaring that now those that had titles had them added to their names. A few seconds later the second match was written.
“Vanishing Zhaitan VS Drybone, The Tunneler,” Spike whispered. “Talk about a fight between polar opposites. I’ll be cheering for you, Drybone.” A moment later the third match was displayed.
“Xinzhaya VS Garble, The Fire Fist,” Spike said feeling a cold shiver run down his spine. His heart was beating fast and hard, his entire body slightly trembling. “Then… that means.” Spike whispered, watching in slow motion the fourth and last match of the third bracket appear in the sky.
“Raiga of the Thunder VS Spike,” Spike whispered before gulping. He then shifted his gaze to where his opponent was. Spike found Raiga still leaning against the same wall, only this time he was looking up at him with a look full of disdain and a cruel, mocking smirk.
“Great pony feathers, buck me…” Spike cursed. He heard Torch roar and the diagram disappeared. Soon after the first competitors were called to the arena, but before they even entered it Ballista surrendered. There was a momentary stadium-wide silence before Torch announced Goliath’s victory and called forth the next competitors.
Spike watched Zhaitan and Drybone descent to the arena. Spike closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Alright Spike, recap, Raiga is absurdly strong and resistant, has a lightning breath that he can control at will in both direction and speed, and if I had to guess in intensity, too. He can create an electric veil around himself for extra protection and create a similar veil around his fists to deliver an overcharged electric punch. He’s like a walking dreadnaught that shoots electricity. Buck me to Tartarus.” Spike cursed again.
“On the plus side, he’s not on the fast or agile side. He can fly, but I doubt he’s a graceful flyer. Still, I’ll have to take care of that if I see my chance. It takes him a few precious moments to charge up that lightning breath attack of his and he can’t move while he’s charging it. He also can’t move much when he’s firing it, shift around a little at best maybe. And as far as I can tell he needs to keep a visual contact of the target he’s going to strike, although I may be wrong given what happened with Thorn.”
Spike looked at the arena where Zhaitan and Drybone were taking positions to start their match. With a groaning sigh, Spike began to walk away.
“I’ll have to take this time to plan on how to beat that monster of Raiga. I’ll have to use Amplitude against him, there’s no way around it. Let’s hope I don’t have to resort using Fire Jet.” Spike sighed. “Now… where’s the armory again?”
********Thirty minutes later*********
Spike came out of the armory in time to watch Garble beat Xinzhaya to a pulp. From what he could see, Garble had taken his fair share of punishment, although it was mere scratches compared to what he was doing to Xinzhaya. Garble stopped his assault and ended it all with a mighty kick and a thick stream of fire. Xinzhaya’s scales were left scalding hot and glowing with intense heat.
The medic dragon came a moment later to confirm Xinzhaya was knocked out and signaled Garble’s victory. The crowd chanted Garble’s name with loud roars after Torch made official his well-earned triumph.
Spike closed his eyes and did a few repetitions of the calming exercise. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul, Spike thought before opening his eyes. He heard Torch call in the next combatants to the arena. With a final strong and decisive huff, Spike climbed to the edge of his grade, jumped down and landed softly. He then made his way to the arena, uncaring for the looks almost every dragon was sending at him.
When he entered the arena, he saw Raiga land at the center while looking at him. His eyes now reflected nothing but contempt. It took him a couple of moments to reach the center of the arena, standing about six or so meters in front of Raiga.
Geez, Ember wasn’t kidding with the weapons and armor thing, Spike thought taking a glance at the curved, serrated blade in his right hand. He had spent more time than he had hoped searching for a useful weapon to use against Raiga, but he found it in the end. It was a bizarre sword. A strange hybrid between a kukri knife, a Saddle Arabian scimitar, and a dented Equestrian broadsword. Although, calling the meter and a half long piece of heaping metal a sword was a mistake.
The ‘sword’ was heavy, incredibly so. Not to mention large, bulky, difficult to handle properly, and ugly. Crealy esthetic appeal wasn’t in the mindset of the forger. Just like every other weapon and the mismatched armor sets stored in the armory in the lower parts of the stadium were. But what it lacked in some minor areas, it more than made up in every other aspect.
It was also sturdy, masterfully crafted, and made with the sole purpose of being crude, effective, versatile and intimidating. With this ‘sword’ he could tear, rip, slash, crush, split, pierce, shred, gnaw, and impale an enemy all at the same time. It lacked a properly covered handle and pommel (like the ones the Equestrian swords have), favoring instead a single elongated and thick handle piece. Meaning that the weapon was forged and carved from a single, solid, unique piece.
There was no doubt that it was forged and intended to be used only, by dragon claws.
Spike took a grip of the sword with both hands, he then moved it until the tip was the only thing touching the ground while he held it in place in front of him.
“On my right, we have Raiga of the Thunder!” A thunderous roar of approval overtook the stadium, even more so than previous times. “And on my left, we have Spike!” Most of the roaring shifted from approval to booing and insults.
Spike eyed Raiga closely while he continued to stare at him with the utmost contempt. Then Torch roared signaling the start of their match. The entire stadium went silent.
“Surrender,” Raiga ordered with his echoing, brass, thick voice that held immense power behind it.
“No can do,” Spike replied with a stern expression.
“Save yourself the pain, Wingless Disgrace. I rarely offer mercy to my opponents, you should be wise to take it while you still draw breath.” Raiga said with dreadful seriousness. His larger body and stature a testament to his power, a living mountain that only moved to its own volition and command and no one else's.
A presence of might that Spike knew could deliver on the threat to take his life or any other one for that matter. “Thanks, but I ain’t taking it. You can surrender if you’re so eager to get this over with.”
Raiga grunted. “Your words and taunts are as empty as the honor you lack, Disgrace.”
“Says the brute that boasts like a rabid fool over his victories. Victories, may I add, in which you take pleasure in showing your power and humiliating your opponents. I think that’s even worse than having no honor at all.” Spike said, unchanging his stern expression.
Raiga grunted again. “I can only hear cries and senseless blabbering coming out of your pony loving maw, Disgrace,” Raiga said, ignoring his comment. “I offer you salvation one last time, Disgrace. Surrender now or I shall end you in front of your precious Lord Ember.”
“Oooooohhhhooohhhooo, scary~” Spike mocked. Damn, trying to anger this guy is impossible with mere taunts and insults, Spike thought while watching Raiga’s expression morphing to one of disgust.
“Fine, have it your way then,” Raiga took in a deep breath. “I PLAN TO KILL THIS LIVING DISGRACE TO ALL DRAGONS, FOR HE INSISTS ON FIGHTING ME, RAIGA OF THE THUNDER!” Raiga shouted with all his might without breaking eye contact. A good portion of the crowd roared and cheered in approval, calling to see the blood of Spike staining the dirt of the arena.
Spike gulped. “Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul,” Spike whispered before taking a deep, slow breath.
“Go on, show me,” Raiga said taking a step towards Spike.
“Show you what, exactly?” Spike asked lifting a proverbial eyebrow.
“Your masterful ability with that sword. Do try to impress me.” Raiga said with a smirk, the slimy tone in which he said it didn’t elude Spike.
Spike took a quick glance at the sword and the looked up at Raiga again. He lifted the sword for about two inches, he then brought it down to the ground again. “Tadaa?” Spike smiled.
“...Do you even know how to use a weapon?” Raiga asked with some amusement.
“Of course I do! The pointy end goes into the opponent.” Spike explained.
“...” Raiga stared at him for several seconds in silence doing only an occasional blink. “HAHAHAHAHA!”
Spike flinched at the volume of Raiga’s thunderous, bellowing laughter. Whatever bad things I’ve said about Thunderlane’s laugh, I take it back. I take it ALL back. This… this is one horrible laugh, Spike thought.
Raiga stopped laughing a few moments later, now looking at Spike with something the purple dragon could only describe as a mix of pity and disdain.
“You don’t even know how to use a weapon? By the Gods, you are pathetic. Killing you will be mercy upon us all.” Raiga mocked.
“We shall see,” Spike replied. I hope this works, Spike thought before he jumped in the air about two meters, sword held steady. When he began to fall, Spike did a quick spin with the sword held tight and facing down the earth. Spike then landed, impaling the sword into the ground until two-thirds of it disappeared below the surface. Spike then let go of the handle, rose up, and took four steps forward.
Staring at Raiga's face, Spike saw him smile showcasing his fangs, he could even see a few electric sparks coming out of his beard.
“Hoooo? Now that’s more interesting, Disgrace.”
“The name is Spike, Raiga,” Spike said taking a crouched position.
“The mighty care not for the names of insects and the dead, Disgrace,” Raiga said with a cruel smile. Spike saw several more sparks coming out from his entire body.
“Before I beat your sorry scaly ass, you will say my name, Raiga,” Spike said in a louder tone, his maw partially open to show his fangs.
“You are welcome to try, worm!” Raiga called back taking a solid stance.
“That’s the idea,” Spike whispered before he snorted a stream of green fire through his nostrils, he crouched a bit more before he lunged forward; the impulse of his legs creating a shock wave and a small dust cloud behind him.
Spike watched how Raiga’s expression changed from cockiness and sadistic overconfidence to one of surprise at his sudden display of speed. Spike crashed against Raiga’s stomach with a powerful punch. The impact of their scales created a loud shock wave, the punch was powerful enough to slide Raiga backward for about three meters.
Spike took this moment see his right fist, noticing it had a few sparks of electricity around it. He then looked at Raiga and saw his expression was one of anger. His electric field has limits and can’t protect him well if I strike fast enough. His scales are also a lot less sturdy than what I thought, they’re not even as sturdy as Grunkle’s. But look at him, he obviously felt pain, but it doesn’t look like he took any physical damage at all. That can’t be right, Spike thought narrowing his eyes. His right fist ached, but it didn't hurt him anywhere near like during his fight with Grunkle. Only now he noticed the entire stadium had gone silent.
“You’ll pay for that, Disgrace,” Raiga hissed spreading his wings.
Spike didn’t reply, instead, he lunged at Raiga once more. Despite his superior speed, Raiga was able to dodge him by flying. Spike stopped himself by punching the earth and used his tail to turn around with a sharp turn in time to see Raiga almost on top of him with his fists surrounded by a veil of crackling electricity.
Leaping to the side, Spike managed to dodge Raiga’s fists, he was, however, unable to avoid his tail in mid-air. Spike felt a searing pain as electricity traveled through his body, an instant later he was pushed back with brute strength sending him rolling on the ground for a couple of meters.
“Ugggghhhh,” Spike moaned. It’s just as bad as getting hit by a pegasi lightning--Oh buck! Spike thought before opening his eyes. Once they were open they went wide and he screamed in his mind seeing Raiga falling on top of him.
Spike’s expression turned stern, he then went belly down, dug his claws into the ground, snorted a thick stream of fire through his nostrils, and met Raiga’s right fist with an upward double kick of his own. Another jolt of searing pain crashed through his body, but his powerful kick sent Raiga backward with a pained roar of his own.
Spike shook his head and got up a bit shakily at first. Once on his feet, he turned to see Raiga up in the air looking down at him with jolts of electricity coming out of his maw.
“Like Tartarus you are!” Spike yelled before picking up a pair of stones. He then tossed them at blinding speed to Raiga, both of them hitting him square in the face. The impact of the stones almost made Raiga fall down. Spike watched Raiga regain his stability, he was ready to throw another stone when Raiga looked down at him, his eyes reflecting nothing but anger. Spike threw two more stones at Raiga, but this time the thunder dragon stopped them with his arms.
One moment later Spike heard Raiga roar followed by a stream of lightning shooting out of his maw directly at him.
Spike smirked before turning back and began to run away.
Sitting at the edge of her throne, Ember watched Spike running away from Raiga’s attack at an impressive speed aided by his Amplitude technique. Despite that and his constant zig zagging, Raiga’s lightning stream was closing in by the second.
She honestly didn’t know what was going through Spike’s mind or what was his strategy, she only hoped it to be a good one. Although, angering Raiga after he had promised to kill him during the match was the very definition of a bad idea.
Raiga of the Thunder, the dragon that never misses his target, Ember thought with dread. A dragon who was known far and wide for his power and equal cruelty against those he considered weak. It was obvious to her that Raiga saw Spike weak, and to be proven wrong by her purple scaled friend as soon as the fight began was a direct insult. And that made him more dangerous than he already was.
“Whatever you’re planning better be good, Spike,” Ember whispered gripping her scepter tight. She felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw Spike stop, turn around, and openly receive the impact of Raiga’s lightning.
“AARRRRGGGGHHHH!” Spike screamed in agony for several seconds. When it all ended Spike was still on his feet, she could clearly see a bit of smoke coming out of his body. She dug her left-hand claws deep into her throne unable to do anything for her dear friend. Her eyes moisten when she saw him fall to his knees and then forwards hitting the ground creating a paltry cloud of dust.
She then saw Raiga land a few meters in front of Spike, roaring a boasting on his victory to an equally cheering crowd that called his name.
Ember focused on Spike, ready to interrupt the match when she saw something she didn’t notice before. His tail was wrapped around the handle of the sword he had impaled on the ground. Wiping away her tears, she clearly saw his tail moving and all the dread and fear in her heart was replaced with solace.
“You and your crazy ass plans,” Ember whispered knowing that the match was not over yet. And that Raiga was about to have a nasty wake up call.
----------------------*********************
Spike watched with one eye Raiga’s towering figure while he boasted and roared, throwing his arms up to showcase his power and body. He removed his tail off of the sword’s handle, pretending it was falling to gravity’s will. I am never doing that again, I’m glad it worked, but that still hurt as all Tartarus, Spike thought watching at Raiga intently. A second or two later Raiga turned around to continue boasting with spread wings.
Spike’s eyes widened and he snorted another stream of fire through his nostrils. He got up on all fours and then launched himself against Raiga’s back.
“RRRRWWWWAAAAA!”
Spike smiled hearing Raiga’s pain filled scream the moment he hit his back making him fall forwards onto the ground. Unlike Spike had expected, his feet claws couldn’t penetrate Raiga’s scales, but he was able to snap Raiga’s wings in two. With his momentary superiority, Spike began to punch Raiga’s back over and over again, each hit creating a shock wave and tearing a scream of pain from Raiga.
Spike jumped to the side when he began to hear the crackling of electricity. He landed right next to Raiga’s head and snorted another stream of fire through his nostrils. He took a firm position that he had learned over the years to heart. The loud stomp causing Raiga to turn his head to see him.
“Apple Bucking Kick!” Spike shouted before kicking Raiga in the face with his right leg as hard as he could. The sheer force of the kick sent Raiga flying back for more than ten meters.
Meanwhile, Spike felt a blush appear on his face. Horseapples, I said that out loud! Spike thought embarrassed. He forgot about it the next moment when he heard a mighty roar coming from Raiga. Looking at him, he saw the dragon was up on his feet again, his broken wings hanging limply on his back, and shooting him a death glare of intense hate.
Spike took a half-second long glance to his leg and saw it wasn’t stained with Raiga’s blood. Looking back at Raiga, Spike frowned. I hit him as hard as I could while using Amplitude and he’s still standing without a single scale out of place or a hint of blood? Spike questioned himself before taking a look at the useless wings while Raiga shook his head a couple of times. But I was able to break his wings, and it shows that the impact of the kick had an effect on him. What the hay is wrong with this guy?
“H-How!? How are you still standing!?” Raiga shouted taking a step forward and almost stumbling. Raiga shook his head again while a thick curtain of electricity surrounded his body.
Can’t get near him now… unless…, Spike thought taking a low guard position. “What’s wrong, Raiga? I thought you were going to kill little old me! Your lightning was little more than ticklish!”
“I WILL END YOU, SPIKE!” Raiga roared.
Spike grinned. “HA! Didn’t I tell you that you were going to say my name!” Spike yelled back. His grin increased when he saw Raiga’s expression change upon the realization of it, and then it morphed to an even angrier face. Spike could see Raiga’s hair and beard upright, moving from side to side as electricity danced all around him.
Spike’s eyes widened when he saw Raiga open his maw once more, the amount of lightning coming out of it more than twice of his usual lightning stream attack.
If Amplitude isn't enough, then I have no other option but use Fire Jet, Spike thought with grimly. Spike closed his eyes for a moment before they went wide open. His entire body trembled for a few short seconds and then he came to a halt. He began to breathe, each exhalation sending out a short puff of fire through his nostrils.
“DIE!” Raiga roared with all his might, loud and powerful enough to create waves of gushing wind on all directions. A thick stream of lightning shot out of his maw an instant later.
Spike watched how the stream, thick as one of Raiga’s arms, didn’t go directly at him, it instead went from side to side, up and down in perpendicular directions. The most distinctive aspect of this stream was that the spearpoint of the attack had the form of a dragon with its maw open wide and ready to bite. It, nevertheless, was coming at him.
Spike felt time itself around him come to crawl while he stared at the lightning stream of death coming towards him. Spike stood still, to anyone watching from the sidelines it seemed as though Spike had accepted his fate. When the stream was mere inches away from his face, uncaring of the brilliant light the stream emitted, Spike tilted his head to the side and ducked evading the deadly attack.
He then impulsed himself forward going below the body the stream had created in its path. In mere instants he reached Raiga, the thunder dragon looking at him with an intense death glare. Spike then saw a supercharged fist coming his way to push him back to the lightning stream. Spike used his tail in company with his momentum to shift and spin upside-down. Spike hit the forearm of Raiga’s right arm with his left knee sending the massive fist crashing to the ground, forcing Raiga to drop to a knee to keep him from falling over.
Spike then kicked Raiga with his right foot under his chin, making him close his mouth and end his attack. Using his momentum again, Spike spun back up in time to watch Raiga directly at on wide open eye. He could see many things reflected on that eye: hate, anger, shock, surprise, unbelief, contempt, fury, and many more things. But in the depths of that eye, he could also see another thing.
Fear.
Green fire came out from the thin space his scales on his right arm had. His claws were ready and in a position to strike.
“Fierce Claw,” Spike whispered.
He then struck down at the right side of Raiga’s abdomen. His claws tearing away his scales and flesh with a brutal force faster than the blink of an eye.
Spike stopped and saw Raiga roar in searing pain while he dropped on all fours. The stream of lightning disappeared into the air, its crackling noises turning to silence along with it. The entire process had taken less than five seconds, but the fight wasn’t over just yet. Spike snarled, green fire erupted from his nostrils, and he took once again the traditional Apple Bucking position of the Apple Family.
“APPLE BUCKING KICK!” Spike shouted to the four winds without a trace of shame this time around. His kick connected directly with Raiga’s wounded, exposed and bleeding side with tremendous force. With the use of Amplitude, the contact made a great shock wave, causing him to hear a couple of somethings crack inside of Raiga. This time Raiga wasn’t sent flying away, but it was strong enough to make Raiga roll to the side a few meters followed by another roar of pure, unadulterated pain.
Once on his back, Spike watched Raiga cough up blood then look at him from his downed position.
“I… Raiga… de-defeated… b-by you?” Raiga asked while wheezing.
Spike didn’t reply, he merely watched Raiga for a couple of seconds before the eyes of the thunder dragon rolled back, his hair and beard went limp, and he fell motionless.
Spike then took his chance breathe out and use his knees for support while he caught his breath. A few moments later he saw the medic dragon land at Raiga’s side.
“Wait a moment,” Spike called making the medic stop. “Could you please check if Raiga has any kind of hidden amulet or ring?”
“Every contestant was checked before the start of the tournament if you remember.” The medic replied.
“I know, but could you please do it anyways?”
“What is your justification?” The medic asked crossing his arms.
“I don’t like to brag, but I can hit pretty darn hard if I want. It looked awfully strange to me that despite taking several of my hits, Raiga never bled. If you recall my fight with Grunkle, I broke his hand in one punch, Raiga withstood several without a problem but still felt pain because of them.” Spike explained. “Humor me, would you kindly?”
Spike stood as the medic dragon stared at him for a couple of seconds before sighing. “Fine, but after I check if he’s still alive.”
“Thank you.” Spike waited until the medic finished his check and rose his arms above his head in an ‘X’ shape. Then, a group of dragons arrived ready to carry Raiga away but they were ordered by the head medic to search Raiga for anything suspicious.
After a minute or so, one of the medics said he found something in Raiga’s beard. A moment later he pulled it out revealing a small smooth rock attached to a dark twisted metal strap, the rock had a rune carved on it. The head medic took it to look at it closer.
“He said this is a memento for thunder dragons and a sign of their clans and has no magical properties. We confirmed it was the truth,” the head medic glared at the rock. “But I wonder…” He gripped the memento tightly and his eyes went wide.
“You, hit me,” the head medic ordered to his subordinate next to him. “Do it as hard as you can.”
The dragon medic looked confused for a moment but did as told and punched the head medic on his upper left arm. The hit was strong enough to make a loud impact and make the medic wince and rub his pained fist.
“I barely felt a thing.” The head medic said. “Take this to Lord Ember and the Elders, inform them that contestant Raiga brought a defensive magical object. The rest of you, take him away. See to it that he doesn’t die until he faces the consequences of his dishonor.” The head medic ordered before turning to Spike and hand over the memento to one of his fellow medics. “Why didn’t you say anything before, Spike?”
Spike shrugged. “I didn’t have any proof and was nothing more than a mere suspicion. Glad I was right!” Spike grinned.
The head medic grinned back for a moment before leaving.
Suddenly, the stadium erupted in roars and cheers calling out his name. Spike jumped in surprise but recovered soon, he then walked up to the place he had impaled his sword and pulled it out.
Spike smirked. The reason he had taken so long searching for the weapon wasn’t because he was picking a deadly one, he was looking for one made out of the right materials.
“Forged from pure iron with traces of aluminum, gold, and bronze. Exactly the lightning rod that I needed.” Spike said to himself as he walked away from the arena. His right arm ached and he could still feel residual shocks from Raiga’s electricity. “Time to put you back where you belong.”
Before he left the arena completely, Spike looked up at Ember’s grade with a frown, a moment later he walked continued on his way.
----------------------**********************
“I can’t believe he defeated Raiga of the Thunder!”
“I can’t believe Raiga was cheating the entire time. Voltika won’t be pleased.”
“That was an ingenious way to use a weapon, I’ll give Spike that.”
While the Elders chatted among themselves, Ember relaxed on her throne seeing Spike walk out of the arena and down to the armory.
“I swear I’m going to punch you once this is over, Spike.” She smiled. “But I’m glad you won.”
“He has become stronger since the last time I saw him.” Torch said while looking down at his daughter.
“You saw him last week, dad.”
“Before that.” Torch cleared his throat before raising his head and roar demanding silence. Once he was done he looked down at his daughter again. “It is time, Ember, make the announcement.”
“Do you think he’s going to win, dad?” Ember asked standing up.
“No. I don’t think he’s going to win. I believe he’s going to win.” Torch said with a smile.
“I believe so, too.” Ember then cast the spell that allowed her to project her voice across the entire stadium.
“We are nearing the end of the tournament, my subjects! And we have been blessed with amazing battles to witness this day. Now, only four competitors remain, all of them mighty warriors, but only one shall win my claw in bonding! Each four of you have my blessing to perform at your best during the semi-final bracket.” She deactivated the spell and looked back she saw the Elders already finished with the new selection.
Raising her scepter, the flying dragon tasked with writing in fire the diagrams flew to fulfill their duty. Looking down at the Arena, she saw Spike had returned without the sword. She looked at the almost finished diagram due to its size. The first match was soon after written.
“Garble, The Fire Fist VS Goliath, The Colossus.” Ember read out loud. A moment later the second match was written.
“Spike VS Vanishing Zhaitan.” Ember read feeling her heartbeat increase. She looked down at Spike and found him looking up somewhere. Following his gaze, she soon found that he was looking at a grade filled with the infamous black dragons of the Blackwings Clan. She noticed one of them was standing at the edge of the grade looking down at Spike. She immediately knew that was Zhaitan.
Using her scepter to look at them closer, she found both of them were smiling.
Spike was watching in awe at the fight between Garble and Goliath. There were no strategies or an actual plan in it. It was the purest form of a brawl in a pub filled with drunken stallions. The two dragons had spent the best part of ten minutes punching, clawing, spitting fire, and kicking at each other; whether on the ground or in the air it did not matter.
The entire stadium was filled with roars and cheering for both sides, pushing them onward the savage exchange of power between the two brutes. And neither side showed any sign of backing down anytime soon.
Goliath is struggling more than I thought against Garble. Even with his vision partially blocked and his injuries, Garble is swifter, faster, and agiler than Goliath. But Goliath is more than twice his size, way heavier, tougher, and stronger, Spike thought seeing Goliath connect a terrible punch to Garble’s gut and sent him crashing into the ground. Before he could hit the ground, however, Garble spun mid-air, landed on his feet, and breathed out a massive torrent of flames against the charging brute above him. Goliath was unable to dodge it in time and was engulfed in it.
Garble is way more impervious than I gave him credit for, or maybe he’s just that stubborn, Spike thought after seeing Goliath emerge from the flames only to be met by a powerful uppercut that created a loud shockwave and sent him crashing to the side. Shaking his head, Goliath was able to regain enough of his senses to block a fierce kick from the red dragon, and thus the fight continued.
Spike closed his eyes. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul, Spike chanted in his head taking slow, calm breaths. This went on for several seconds until he felt his racing heart return to normal. Re-opening his eyes, Spike looked up to see Zhaitan for the umpteenth time. He was still standing at the edge of his grade, looking at the fight currently ongoing. An instant later, the black dragon looked down at him and smiled once more. Spike returned the smile. A few moments later they returned their attention to the fight.
Spike saw how Garble managed to surprise Goliath with a fireball to his face. It distracted the hulking beast of a dragon long enough for Garble to deliver a mighty tail whip to Goliath’s throat sending him to his knees while he hacked and coughed. Immediately after, Garble flew behind Goliath and with a bit of an impulse kicked him in the back of his head. The hulking dragon hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, but Garble wasn’t done yet.
Garble landed behind Goliath and grabbed his tail. With a roar fitting of any adult, fully grown dragon, Garble lifted Goliath and smacked him against the ground. He then jumped on top of the dazed dragon. Landing on his chest, Garble proceeds to beat his face with punch after devastating punch. Each punch managing to create not only a loud shock wave but also make an ever expanding crater below Goliath. After several punches, Goliath was able to deliver a hit of his own to Garble with enough force to toss him away. Goliath got up, his face bloody and with two or three fangs missing, shook his head and looked over for Garble. Unfortunately for Goliath, Garble was coming his way as fast as his wings allowed him and headbutted the hulking dragon.
Garble landed on the ground, trying hard to maintain his balance, while Goliath simply fell back and stopped moving. Moments later the medic dragon landed to check on the fallen Goliath. A quick inspection later confirmed he had been knocked unconscious. Dragons roaring and shouting Garble’s name filled the stadium after Torch announced his victory.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Spike began to make his way back into the arena. He took a glance at his right arm, feeling no sort of discomfort whatsoever. He smiled a little as he clenched his hand into a fist. He soon walked past Garble and stopped to look at him walking out of the arena with a slight limp.
He’s trying to conceal his pain, but it’s obvious Goliath did some serious damage to him, he may even have a few fractured bones. Still, right now Garble is the least of my worries, Spike thought looking up to Ember’s grade. He soon resumed his walk until he reached the middle of the arena. Moments later the black dragon that was to be his opponent landed not three meters apart in front of him. Spike raised a proverbial eyebrow at his action. What is he doing?
“On my right we have Spike!” Torch announced followed by hundreds of dragons roaring their support. “And on my left, we have Vanishing Zhaitan!” Despite his growing support, the cheering for Zhaitan dwarfed his by several times over.
Spike looked at Zhaitan’s calm yet stoic face while he looked directly at him. Yet neither of them took any sort of stance or precaution.
He didn’t notice Torch was speaking until he roared signaling the start of the match.
The slightly taller dragon sat on the ground, inviting Spike to join him a moment later.
Spike, although slightly confused, took a few steps until he was less than a meter in front of Zhaitan and sat down. Both dragons taking a lotus position.
“Congratulations on your victories, Spike,” Zhaitan said with a small smile.
“Thanks, you did awesome during your matches. Too bad I couldn’t see your match against Drybone though,” Spike replied, his lips forming a smile of his own.
“Understandable given Raiga was your opponent and your rather unorthodox methods of combat. In more ways than one, might I add, Spike,” Zhaitan said before bowing his head. “I must thank you for exposing that honorless beast Raiga. I’m certain his clan leader shall make his punishment a fitting one.”
“Huh, word travels fast, I see.”
Zhaitan shrugged. “It happens when you put several thousand dragons together in one place,” Zhaitan chuckled. “The reason I thank you is because you saved me from the shame fighting Raiga would’ve cost me. To think I was looking forward to facing him in battle. Disgraceful.”
Spike tilted his head a little and scratched the back of his head. “No need to thank me, Zhaitan. Raiga was my opponent so I had to defeat him. Besides, we’re going to fight each other after all.”
Zhaitan nodded. “That is true, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be friendly about it, now does it?” Zhaitan chuckled again showing a fanged smile. “Spike, I’m glad you made it this far and that I have been granted the opportunity to face you in battle.”
“Can’t say the same thing, sadly. As a matter of fact, I’m a bit anxious about fighting you, dude,” Spike replied seeing for the first time a glimmer of nervousness in Zhaitan’s eyes. It lasted only for a second, but it was enough for him to realize Zhaitan was passing through the same inner turmoil.
“I can relate, my friend, for I feel the same way. Your capabilities and unusual strategies are outstanding. Foremost is that technique you use to increase your strength, toughness, speed, and reaction time by several times over for a limited period of time,” Zhaitan said scratching his chin. “The downside is that it takes you a fair amount of time and concentration to use it.”
Spike smirked. “Yeah, in a way is similar to your ability to vanish, Zhaitan. I can’t tell what you do exactly, but it gives you a powerful defense and a terrifying offense at the same time at the cost of taking a long time to pull it off.”
Zhaitan nodded. “You are correct, and while similar in results and drawbacks, my technique belongs to my clan. The clan leaders say I’m a prodigy. I say my strength is the result of arduous training,” Zhaitan said with a huff. “But you, a dragon with no clan or blood name, not to mention your lack of wings, must have learned that on your own.”
“How can you be so sure that a pony didn’t teach me that technique?” Spike asked with that same smirk on his face.
Zhaitan shook his head twice. “I can’t say for certain, but I believe you use your fire to enhance yourself from within without harm, somehow. No pony could do something similar.”
Damn, he’s good. He saw right through Amplitude. Well, at least he didn’t notice Fire Jet… I hope, Spike thought before answering. “Yeah, more or less. Although they did teach me several fighting techniques, poses, tactics, strategies, and help me build up my senses, instincts, and reaction speed. Actually, pretty much everything I know they taught me, except for what little I came up with on my own.”
“Now that you mention it,-”
Oh shit.
“- that other ability of yours was far more intriguing. Although I couldn’t see it for more than a few seconds, I can safely say it is far more dangerous than your first technique, Spike.”
“...You have a keen eye, Zhaitan,” Spike replied seeing Zhaitan smile widely.
“Spike, what say you if we fight at our full potential?”
Spike did a double take at his question. Unable to answer in words, Zhaitan continued.
“Think about it. We can let ourselves go and fight like we desire at the top of our abilities without something to hold us back. I know you want this, for I want it too. We shall fight for glorious, honorable victory and see who is the fittest to advance to the final match and take Lord Ember’s claw in bonding!” Zhaitan said with clear eagerness in his voice. “Do you accept?”
Spike didn’t move for a few moments. Then he smiled and got up. Spike offered a hand to Zhaitan and he took it without hesitation.
“I came here to fight for her sake, not for personal gain,” Spike took a quick glance at Ember’s grade. He could see she was at the edge of her throne, surely wondering what the two of them were doing. “But I accept, I too want to test my abilities against the best now that I have the chance before another villain shows up in Equestria wanting to conquer the world or something.”
Their mutual grip became tight. Emerald green eyes met icy blue eyes without blinking or squinting. Both waiting for the other to make the first move.
After untold moments, Spike decided to be the first to take action by throwing a kick at Zhaitan’s hip. The black dragon pulled back and blocked the kick with his shin. Spike then saw Zhaitan spread his wings, but before he could do anything more, Spike unleashed a torrent of flames directly at Zhaitan’s face. From the corner of his right eye, Spike saw Zhaitan’s tail coming toward his side. The attacks forcing them to relent on their grip.
Spike jumped back taking a low-crane stance. He heard a pair of wings flapping, immediately followed by seeing Zhaitan come on top of his flames while he rotated coming right at him. Forced out of his defensive stance, Spike had little time to react but manage to block with his arms a powerful spin-guillotine dropkick from the black scaled dragon. Spike grunted as the impact was strong enough to dig his feet claws into the ground.
From his limited viewpoint, Spike was able to see Zhaitan spread his wings again. This time instead of backing away, Spike feel to his knees throwing Zhaitan off-balance for a moment. Using his tail as a support, Spike then balanced himself on it to grab Zhaitan’s tail. But his opponent countered by flapping his wings to back away, not without using his tail to hit him in the face.
Spike shook his head and jumped to his feet in time to see Zhaitan charging against him again. Spike frowned and took a low-guard stance when Zhaitan threw a forward claw strike against his head. He dodged it and grabbed the black forearm with his right hand, did a half-spin, and tossed Zhaitan over his shoulders using his momentum against him. He then ran up to the fallen Zhaitan and jumped sideway, hitting him in the chest with both feet. The impact was strong enough to pull a pained groan from the black scaled dragon before sending him back again.
Having gained a momentary upper hand, Spike continued his assault by charging at Zhaitan, who was still getting up from his previous attack. Performing a short leap, Spike tried to hit Zhaitan with a slash from his claws, but the black scaled dragon dodged and his claws met the dirt. Spike immediately followed up by a sweeping kick, yet Zhaitan jumped evading him. Spike barely dodged a fireball from Zhaitan, followed by an open claw grip attack that he also dodged.
Using his hands and claws like anchors, Spike did a spin-dash managing to push Zhaitan back long enough to impulse himself away. When he landed, Zhaitan was already charging against him once more. Spike dodged a claw swipe, quickly followed by another, and another, and by several more. With each swipe, Spike was forced to back away with short jumps while Zhaitan continued with his relentless attack.
Having had enough, Spike managed to do a roundhouse kick which Zhaitan dodged by stopping and jumping back a little. Spike charged again throwing a small fireball that Zhaitan backhanded out of existence. He then threw his open claws at Zhaitan’s throat with the intent of grabbing him but the dragon ducked at the last second. Spike then felt an elbow hitting on his stomach powerful enough to bend him forward while he let out a pained groan.
Before he could do anything to defend himself, Zhaitan used this moment to deliver three quick jabs to his face followed by a rather strong tail-swipe to the face that forced him to turn back. Spike then felt an arm cling to his neck before Zhaitan tossed him over his back to the ground.
With most of his senses regained, Spike used his feet and arms to cushion his landing. He noticed Zhaitan had taken a knee while he used his other leg for support right next to his head. He decided to grab his leg with his tail. He then dragged it to the side making the black scaled dragon lose his balance, and his grip on his neck, long enough to give him the time needed to stand up with an impulse from his arms. Before Zhaitan could regain his balance and stand, Spike hit him across the face with a tail swipe of his own that made Zhaitan turn back and land on the ground on all fours. Spike then closed the short distance between them with a leap landing on Zhaitan’s back, using it for another short leap in which he half-spun. At the same time whilst on the air, Spike put his hands together into a hammer fist ready to strike the exposed back of Zhaitan’s head.
Spike grunted when he saw Zhaitan shove himself back and away; his attack landing on the ground instead with a loud smack. He watched as Zhaitan jumped, rolled in the air, and then landed on his feet looking straight to his eyes. Spike returned Zhaitan’s gaze for several seconds until both of them charged at the other.
Spike didn’t care how long it lasted or how much time passed, he only knew that Zhaitan and he were fighting in hand to hand combat with a flurry of attacks: low kicks, high kicks, jabbing, tail swipes, blocking, dodging, fire breath, fireballs, claw attacks, counter-punches, body shots, locks, and more. They spent who knows how long exchanging blows and all sort of attacks, most of which Spike managed to dodge, block, or counter with one of his own, but still a few hit home. However, he had managed to land a few of his own attacks on Zhaitan as well. To everyone watching, their struggle must have looked like some sort of dance.
Finally, it ended with them connecting a fierce punch to each other faces at the same time, forcing them to jump back to gain some ground.
I can’t remember the last time I felt so thrilled and scared to fight someone at the same time since my sparrings with Luna! Zhaitan is incredibly agile and nimble, plus despite his lean body he’s almost as strong as me and his scales are sturdier than mine, Spike thought while he tried to regain his breath. He licked his lips before spitting a glob of blood to the ground. His eyes never breaking contact with Zhaitan’s even when he used his left claw to clean a trickle of blood running down his nostrils. He saw Zhaitan was also regaining his breath but had a smile adorning his face.
“My suspicions were true,” Zhaitan panted. “During your previous matches you changed your fighting style with each one, not only that, you can also adapt it to better counter your opponent.”
Spike smirked. “I can say the same thing about you, Zhaitan,” he was confused when he saw Zhaitan shook his head and chuckled.
“My clan’s fighting techniques are versatile, but yours have a wider range. However, none of your styles feel complete,” Zhaitan stated.
Pony feathers, he’s really, really good, Spike thought before chuckling. “I’m what can be described as a ‘Jack of all trades; master of zero’ kind of guy.”
“That’s quite the gamble, don’t you think so, Spike?” Zhaitan said before exhaling loudly. “Excellent warm-up. Not many have been able to keep up with me, most of my clan can’t.”
Feeling more relaxed, Spike took a more serious expression seeing Zhaitan take a solid upright stance. The same stance he took before using his ‘vanishing’ technique. Taking a low guard position, Spike replied. “And you’re definitely one of the toughest guys I’ve ever fought.”
Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul, Spike chanted in his head while he began summoning Amplitude. He could already feel the burst of fire inside him stirring at his command when Zhaitan spoke up once more.
“Let this be an honorable engagement, my dear foe!”
Spike smiled widely. “May the best dragon win, my worthy foe!” He replied before snorting a stream of green fire through his nostrils. He then launched himself against Zhaitan. In the blink of an eye, Spike closed the short gap between them and punched Zhaitan in the gut. The force of the impact created a loud shockwave and pushed the black scaled dragon back two of three steps back. Spike opened his eyes wide when he saw nothing more than a look of mild discomfort on Zhaitan’s face.
Wasting not time, Spike then delivered another powerful punch to Zhaitan’s gut ending in the same result. Taking the traditional Apple Bucking stance once more, Spike snorted a thick stream of green through his nostrils.
“APPLE BUCKING KICK!” He shouted before delivering a devastating kick directly at Zhaitan’s side. This time, Spike watched as Zhaitan grunted in protest but didn’t move an inch. He looked at the place where his leg met with Zhaitan’s rib cage and noticed something odd. Looking up at Zhaitan’s face once more, Spike was met with a knowing smile.
An instant later he found himself being sent flying to his right by several meters.
“Arrggggghh!” Spike groaned in protest when he hit the ground and bounced on it three more times before stopping himself. What the HAY was that? Uggggh! Spike though before he gripped the side of his body where Zhaitan had struck him. He noticed it was the same spot Sluriasma had hit him during their match. Shaking his head, Spike looked up to see Zhaitan more than forty meters away from him standing still while he faced in his direction.
Spike saw Zhaitan vanish less than half a second before he was sent flying again, this time by a much more powerful hit that struck him in his abdomen. Spike bounced and rolled on the ground, shattering a few boulders he came in contact with until he came to a halt. He coughed out some blood while trying to stand up. His vision was blurry, but he was able to see Zhaitan in the distance vanish once more.
Without even thinking it, Spike moved to the side just in time to evade a gush of wind. Looking to the side, he saw Zhaitan standing less than a meter past the spot he was previously on. Spike gritted his fangs before snorting another stream of fire and did a roundhouse kick impacting Zhaitan’s face with his heel, followed up by six quick yet equally powerful punches to his abdomen. He stopped when he noticed his attacks had little to no effect on the black scaled dragon. Spike frowned, I thought I was seeing things, but he’s actually doing it, he thought before jumping back. If that’s the case, he won’t be able to attack me if I do this!
With a plan in mind, Spike began to run as fast as he could on all fours in random directions trying to not form a pattern for his movements. Occasionally, he would take a glance at Zhaitan still standing on the same spot, yet he could feel the piercing stare of the dragon upon him at every moment waiting for the moment to strike again.
Fire and ranged attacks won’t work against him. I can’t attack him head on without him counter-attacking me. And I can’t keep running forever. At least now I know he’s only able to move in a straight line when he attacks, although I doubt a boulder is going to stop him if I hide behind one, Spike thought hissing at the pain the two previous attacks left on him. What’s worse is that even with Amplitude I can barely withstand him now. Using Fire Jet to its full is my only option to beat-
Spike was cut short from his thought when he saw Zhaitan vanish only to appear in front of him. Before he could shift or evade him, Spike was sent into the air by a kick to his jaw. Despite his half-dazed state, Spike felt something grab his tail before being tossed to the ground with enough force to create a small crater upon impact.
Letting out a few pained coughs, Spike opened his eyes to see Zhaitan on the sky practically above him. He snorted a stream of his green fire a moment before Zhaitan vanished while also throwing a double punch above him. The impact was strong enough to enlarge the crater he was in and raise up a thick dust cloud.
Groaning and huffing, Spike slowly made his way outside the crater. When he reached the edge he found Zhaitan struggling to stand up a few meters away from him. After a few seconds, both of them were standing once more while the dust cloud around them dissipated. Spike smiled widely showcasing his fangs when he saw Zhaitan smile at him.
I bet he wasn’t expecting me to meet his attack with one of my own, Spike thought trying to regain his breath. I doubt he’s going to fall for that again, though. Even with Amplitude at max, I can’t get past his defense. He said that technique belongs to his clan, I wonder how they came up with the idea of vibrating their scales as a method of simultaneous attack and defense, he thought while at the same time each breath he took began to send out a stream of green fire. Meanwhile, his eyes were locked on Zhaitan and saw his scales were now visibly moving.
Looks like he’s going to take it up a notch, too. Well, conventional attacks won’t work since the moment something makes an impact with him, his vibrating scales automatically distribute and disperse any kind of kinetic power and inertia almost completely, although an impact strong enough can send some minor damage through his defense. If I can’t go around it, then I’ll overwhelm it, Spike expression turned fierce, while his entire body began shaking. The real problem is that he can also focus his vibrations to launch himself at an extreme speed that makes it look like he vanished, while it also protects him like a form of bubble around him during that launch. That ability is terrifying even if it takes a long time to charge up with little to no space to move and be unable to change your direction after launching yourself. Plus, If what he’s implying is correct, then the effectiveness of such a technique depends on the user.
Spike snarled while fire began to emerge from the lines between his scales all over his body. He closed his eyes trying to keep himself under control.
“I can tell you figured out my clan's technique, Spike. Commendable! But I’m afraid you won’t be able to stand against me now even with the aid of your other ability.”
Spike opened an eye to look at Zhaitan, he could see how his entire body was vibrating but still, he struggled to stand up completely.
“I have evolved my clan’s Vibration Distortion technique; improving it beyond its previous limitations. You won’t be able to keep up with me any longer, Spike.”
Spike growled before replying. “And you haven’t seen the full potential of my most powerful technique!” Spike the let out a mighty roar and his entire body burst into green, emerald flames. An instant or two later the fire extinguished itself. Spike smirked seeing the look of awe and excitement Zhaitan had on his face.
“Fire Jet,” Spike muttered, he then took a low guard position like he had done against Raiga, only this time he readied his right arm to deliver a punch. “Didn’t you say that there is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent, Zhaitan?” Spike asked coldly, each word spewing fire when he spoke it.
Zhaitan smiled crouching a little. “Then show me everything you’ve got, Spike!”
The next instant Zhaitan vanished.
--------------------------***********************
Ember was sweating cold. She had resorted to using the power of her scepter to watch the fight between Spike and Zhaitan from the moment they decided to sit down and have a little chat. Of what she didn’t know. The scepter could let her see things closer and with more detail, but sadly she couldn’t hear anything that was out of her hearing range.
Right now, though, she was beyond words. She had never seen whatever Spike was doing. She could see green fire coming out of every nook and cranny there was between his scales. All of his scales all over his body. Not only that, but his eyes were shining with an intense green enveloping glow.
When did he come up with that thing!? Ember asked herself. A small part of her mind wondered if it was going to be enough to survive against Zhaitan, let alone win at this point. But that notion was quickly discarded when she saw him take a stance. Whatever fear remained inside her after seeing their match was destroyed.
“He’s going to win, I know it,” Ember said to herself. She then waited patiently for them to continue their fight.
She didn’t wait long. Zhaitan vanished from sight. What happened next was something she didn’t expect.
An instant later, a powerful shock wave resounded followed by a thin wave of dust that surfed from where Spike was standing. It was soon followed by a black figure impacting a giant boulder near the arena wall in front of Spike. The collapsing boulder created a cloud of dust that was dispersed by a flap from the wings of Zhaitan now emerging from the rubble.
Looking closer, Ember saw Zhaitan had an expression of downright shock, while Spike had his right arm extended as if he had delivered a punch.
And then Spike vanished leaving only a trail of dust heading to his left. Zhaitan’s eyes widening further just like her own eyes.
Ember saw Spike reaper next to the shocked Zhaitan’s right side while the black dragon was sent flying again bouncing on the ground a few times by another punch from Spike. She saw Spike take a crouched position before he launched himself, this time visible to her eyes but still extremely fast, at Zhaitan. For his part, Zhaitan managed to stop himself with the aid of his four extremities as anchors while he used his tail and wings to balance himself. He looked up just in time to receive another punch to the face from Spike that sent him further back.
Spike landed and a second later he vanished leaving another trail of dust behind him. He reappeared practically in the same place where Zhaitan was currently flying over, only to deliver a heavy drop axe kick on his abdomen. This caused Zhaitan to stop his little trip by planting him to the ground creating a fairly sized crater and loud shock wave. It also made him roar in pain.
She then saw Spike leap back to gain a few meters in between them while Zhaitan stood up with some difficulty. Zhaitan looked at the place Spike was standing on but he vanished yet again. Zhaitan began to look around, his expression still half-frozen with shock, in seemingly random direction, but where he looked a trail of dust and a now very visible fading green flame was left behind; an indication that Spike had been there and marked his trajectory and movements.
Spike’s showing him he can keep up with his speed! Maybe he’s even faster than Zhaitan! A functional part of Ember’s brain realized.
Despite this revelation, Zhaitan roared, got up, and then moved to the side before Spike reappeared. Zhaitan punched Spike in the face and sent him stumbling to the ground. She watched as Zhaitan then vanished followed almost immediately after by Spike.
Loud shock waves, momentary roars of pain, and even them reappearing for a couple of seconds while they exchanged a flurry of attacks faster than her eyes could follow before vanishing again were the only indications the two fighters were still in the arena fighting with everything they had.
Ember held her scepter tightly while she watched the epic carnage in front of her eyes knowing there was nothing she could do to help Spike without disqualifying him, or worse, shaming his already disgraced name among all dragons.
Finally, after two minutes that for her felt like an eternity and a half, Zhaitan reappeared in the center of the arena before he leaped to the sky. A second later appeared Spike looking up at his opponent with a frown.
Taking close attention to them both, Ember saw both had several cuts, bruises, and a few missing scales. Both had a few stains of blood, whether their own or the other she didn’t know, and both looked tired, yet despite their frowns, they were smiling. She also noticed that the flames coming out of Spike were almost gone at this point and he was trembling.
She saw Spike snort a thick stream of fire before vanishing again without leaving behind a trail of dust. Spike reappeared behind Zhaitan taking him by surprise. Zhaitan barely had time to take turn his head to face Spike when said dragon grabbed him by the neck and then tossed him to the ground. Before he could hit the ground, Zhaitan stopped his descent with the aid of his wings, but that didn’t prevent Spike from crashing against him and onto the ground.
Once the small dust cloud the impact had created cleared out, Ember was able to see both dragons facing each other with about eight meters in between them. She saw their lips move, talking to one another, but couldn’t hear anything even with the deafening silence across the entire stadium.
She noticed Zhaitan wasn’t visibly vibrating anymore, and the fire coming out of Spike was only present in his left arm and in partially in his feet. They then both let out a mighty, proud roar at the same time. They charged against the other head on, incredibly fast but visible to her eyes, for what she knew would be the last time. Their following collision sent out the loudest and most powerful shock wave yet. It was powerful enough that a strong gust of wind struck her making her close her eyes for a moment.
When she opened her eyes again and focused her vision, she saw Zhaitan’s right fist dug into Spike’s left cheek. And Spike had his left fist buried into Zhaitan’s belly. Their faces unwilling to show anything less than an oddly looking satisfied smile while looking at each other's eyes. They remained like that for several moments until they took a leap backward.
Upon landing, she saw Spike fall to his knees, while Zhaitan remained tall and proud.
“Spike…,” Ember murmured, ready to interfere if his life was put in danger any further.
------------------------************************
Spike panted loud and hard while he looked at Zhaitan raise up his right arm, he then began vibrating the scales covering it. Meanwhile, he used his left arm to clutch his stomach. Buck it all, buck it all, buck it all! I won’t be able to take another one of those hits without Fire Jet!, Spike thought while also fighting back against his aching everything. I knew I should’ve practiced with Fire Jet more all those months ago, but nooo, I had to waste all that training time eating ice cream. Curse you, Past Spike!, Spike shouted internally while he laid helpless and Zhaitan approached him.
NO! I refuse to fail Ember now. Come on Spike, think of something! Clear mind, steady heart, tempered soul. Clear mind, steady heart, tempered soul, Spike chanted as his brain tried to come up with a solution out of this problem.
Suddenly, Zhaitan stopped less than three meters in front of him. His raised, vibrating arm first stopped and then fell to the side of his body, meanwhile he clutched his abdomen with his left hand harder.
Spike looked up at Zhaitan straight into his half-glazed eyes. His eyes widening when he saw the black dragon’s happy, sincere smile.
“Baar k’hal, Spike, for that most worthy fight. And thank you for not holding back on me,” Zhaitan said panting. “Tell me, where is your home?”
Spike took a moment to stabilize his own ragged breath. “Ponyville.”
“Ponyville… I’ve always wondered what Equestria is like.”
“You’re welcome anytime you want to visit,” Spike replied at his confession in between pants. “I’ll give you the complete tour!” Spike said with all the enthusiasm he could muster.
“I’d like that,” Zhaitan let out a weak chortle. “I’d… lik--”
Spike watched Zhaitan’s eyes become completely unfocused as he took a step forward, his body did a half-spin, then landed on the ground facing up to the sky. After that, he didn’t move further.
Spike stood up in time to see the medic dragon land next to the fallen Zhaitan. A moment later the medic confirmed Zhaitan was unconscious.
The stadium, whom for almost the entirety of their combat had remained in silence, erupted with the force of a hundred volcanoes; the chanting of his name loud and clear. Despite this celebration, however, Spike wasn’t hearing it. He was too focused watching the calm and pleased expression of Zhaitan.
“May our paths meet again,” Spike said before the rest of the medic team carried Zhaitan away for treatment.
He then looked up at Ember’s grade and saw a couple of dragons flying over the far edge of the stadium. It didn’t take them long to write with their fire the last and final match.
“Spike VS Garble, The Fire Fist,” Spike muttered seeing the aforementioned red dragon make his way to the arena.
“Congratulations to the finalists of the Tournament of Bonding; Spike and Garble, The Fire Fist! I have nothing else to say but this: may the better dragon win!”
Spike heard Ember announce and shot a nasty glare at her grade. I’ll deal with you after I win this stupid tournament, he thought before looking at the approaching Garble. But first I have to actually win it.
“To think he was able to match Vanishing Zhaitan blow for blow. It still looks unreal to me,” an Elder said shaking her head.
“Sister, I dare say that the Dis--that Spike was able to surpass Zhaitan in some moments during their fight. Impossible as it may sound,” another Elder told.
“He defeated Grunkle, The Smasher. That hybrid, Sluriasma. Raiga of the Thunder. And now he even defeated the top favorite, Vanishing Zhaitan. How is it possible that he’s still standing?” Kroxus asked out loud to no one in particular.
“Worry not, brother, Spike won’t be able to withstand Garble, The Fire Fist. Rumor says that they have a personal feud. If true, Garble shall put him down. Besides, look at Spike, he can barely stand as it is,” another Elder said smugly.
“Don’t be so confident, Valerian. If I have learned something from Spike this day, is that he may not be a true dragon, but he is not one to be underestimated. He might have another surprise under his scales,” an Elder called watching down at the arena directly at Spike. Her fellow seven Elders watching the purple-scaled dragon closely the same way she was.
Spike looked at Garble approach more and more to the center of the arena while his body trembled. Baring his fangs, Spike clenched his fists hard.
This is bad. This is really bad. I used up all of my fire last match. Calm down, Spike, calm down, Spike thought closing his eyes for a moment to stabilize his trembling body with mild success. Garble is pretty beaten, meaning I can take advantage of his injuries if I strike fast enough. That’s assuming I can actually move fast enough to pull that off or hit with enough strength! Arrgggh! My entire body is aching, I can feel my muscles spasming, and I’m nearly exhausted. But he can only see with one eye. I don’t have enough fire to spit out a single fireball, much less use Amplitude for half a second, Spike thought while seeing Garble stop about ten meters in front of him: his expression neutral and emotionless, but his eyes were clearly scanning him up and down.
He felt a few drops of cold sweat form on his forehead before gulping. I swear on my mother’s name that after this is over I’m going to train from dusk till dawn until I can use Fire Jet and Amplitude without so much of a fuss. Especially Fire Jet, the power up is awesometacular, but the toll is too high. ‘Hey Twilight, remember how I came up with Amplitude? Well, wanna hear this crazy idea I had about using my fire on myself in an even deadlier way? I call it Fire Jet. Yes, Pinkie Pie came up with the name. Imagine Amplitude taken to the next five levels with the only drawback being that it pretty much destroys my body while I use it. How do you ask? By literally setting EVERYTHING inside me on fire and then shoot small bursts of fire through the tiny space between my scales, of course. Neat, right!?’
Spike chanted internally in a mocking voice before groaning. I should’ve taken her lecture more seriously back then, he sighed. Okay, Spike, you can do this. Remember, no matter how much you want to punch his snout in, your goal is to beat him as fast as you can. This isn’t about you, it's about Ember. This is for Ember, Spike thought while looking at Garble. Now, how exactly am I going to beat him? I can’t fly, but he can. Without Amplitude I won’t be able to use his injured leg and ribs against him, and I won’t be able to take more than a couple of his attacks since he’s way stronger than me. He had some rest while I’m fresh out of a hard-won fight, Spike shot another glare at Ember’s grade.
I can’t outrun him. My speed is currently Tank levels. I can’t out move him with my muscles screaming bloody murder every time I make a move. And I certainly don’t have half an hour to regain enough fire to use Amplitude again. Yeah, things ain’t looking too bright for me, Spike gulped. Maybe I can outsmart him, but how?
“...and here they are. The finalists of this Tournament of Bonding! To my right we have Spike! And to my left, we have Garble, The Fire Fist!” The crowd roaring was deafening with both names being chanted with Spike’s being the superior one for the first time since the start of the tournament.
Spike felt a surge of panic crawl up his spine when he realized the match was about to begin. Shit, shit, shit! Come on, Spike, think of something you useless reptile! Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul. Clearmindtemperedheartsteadysoul! Spike repeated in a hurry, unable to calm himself down.
A moment later Torch roared signaling the start of the match.
Spike groaned out loud. Without a plan in mind, all he could do was take a mid-guard position, readying himself for whatever Garble had in store. He took a step back when Garble began to walk toward him with a slight limp on his right leg.
Time itself came to a crawl for Spike while he watched the fierce red dragon he had met almost twenty years ago approach him step by step. A dragon that was everything he wasn’t nor he wished to be. A dragon that thought of him as nothing more than a weakling and everything a dragon was not supposed to be. He didn’t notice how close Garble was until he was able to hear his quivering groans.
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...”
Spike stared at Garble, waiting for him to make any kind of movement while his brain was still trying to come up with a plan to deal with Garble given the circumstances.
After a few moments, Garble was the one to move by raising his left arm above his head. Spike took another step back and changed his position to favor a slightly crouched, mid-high guard position. His muscles, scales, and bones burning in pain.
Spike tried to roll away, but his legs didn’t move when he saw Garble raise his right arm above his head. They stared at each other for several seconds until Spike noticed something peculiar. Why is it so quiet? Spike asked himself
Spike looked above Garble’s head and found his arms were forming an ‘X’.
“Huh?” Spike muttered dumbfounded.
A roar from Torch was soon followed announcing the end of the match and his victory.
Spike stood upright losing his defensive stance at the same time Garble lowered his arms.
“Why?” Spike asked, confused. “You could’ve--”
“Beat you?” Garble interrupted.
Spike nodded. “Then why did you surrender, Garble?”
Garble grunted. “You beat Raiga and Zhaitan. So maybe you’re not as pathetic as I thought you were,” Garble grunted again holding his left side. “Plus I don’t want Ember nagging over my shoulder all the time. Winning ain’t worth it,” he spread his wings. “I will be my own dragon, Sparkle Warkle.”
Without another word, Spike watched as Garble flapped his wings and flew away out of the arena where Fizzle and Matchflick were waiting for him.
“...Okay... that happened,” Spike muttered feeling relieved he didn’t have to fight against Garble. He was a bit startled when two dragons landed at his side telling him they were ordered to take him to Ember.
Spike nodded before they grabbed each of his forearms and pulled him up into the air. While he was being carried over to Ember, Spike didn’t suppress his glare as he got closer and closer to the grade.
The two dragons carrying Spike left him a meter in front of Ember. Behind her, Spike could see the eight Elders looking at him with varying grades of contempt. Looking directly at Ember’s eyes Spike could see she was fighting back the urge to hug him, but he still smiled when he saw the soft, tender, sincere smile Ember was giving him.
Ember hit the ground with her scepter twice making a wave of red light cover the entire stadium.
“Congratulations, dragon Spike, you have won the Tournament of Bonding. Truly, you have proven to be a suitable companion and second claw to Lord Ember herself with your display of skill and power,” Kroxus said with absolutely no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction.
“Against all odds, you managed to come on top each time. Despite your numerous enemies, you defeated them with the power that can only belong to us dragons. Even with your several disadvantages, you have demonstrated enough competence to be worthy to stand side by side with Lord Ember,” another Elder said.
“We, the Council of Elders, salute you on your victory,” the eight Elders did a short-lived bow. “Step forward, Spike, claim your prize and place beside Lord Ember. May your rule bring power and glory to all dragons and the Dragon Lands!”
With that said, the entire stadium roared in approval. With their gazes still locked on the other, Ember nodded.
Spike smiled widely. “No.”
The roaring died but a few moments later.
“W-what did you say?” A female Elder asked.
“I said ‘No’. Want me to repeat it? Fine. No way Jose. Nah-ah. Negatory. I refuse. Tartarus no. I don’t accept. No--”
“You insolent Disgrace! Is it not enough that you sully the name of all dragons with your mere unnatural wingless existence!? Have you come to show your undying disrespect to us here today!?” Kroxus yelled, fire spewing out of his maw with every word.
“Of course not, honorable Elders. I came here today to further test my abilities. Nothing more, nothing less. I never sought to win this tournament because I wanted to take Ember’s claw.”
“That’s Lord Ember to you, Wingless Disgrace!” The other female Elder yelled.
“She is Lord Ember to you. But for me? She’s just Ember. One of my best friends and one of the few dragons I actually respect,” Spike said with a wide grin.
“Your opinion matters not, Spike. You won the Tournament of Bonding. Lord Ember and you shall be bonded to rule over Dragon Lands together as our ancient rules and traditions dictate. And you WILL honor them,” another Elder said.
“You dare to talk about honoring traditions despite using your position to set me up to lose?” Spike asked angrily. Ember turned around looking at the Elders with a slight glare. The Elders were frozen in shock. Standing at her side, he continued. “At first, I thought it was just my imagination since the fights are randomized and all that. But when I fought Raiga I noticed a pattern that was confirmed when I was set up against Zhaitan.”
“I fought Raiga at the end of the third bracket. I’m sure you were hoping he would be enough to defeat me, but when I won, you set me up against Zhaitan. And just to be sure, at the end of the semi-finals for in the far off possibility that I beat him I would be too damaged or tired to put up a proper fight against whoever won the other match. Goliath and Garble were nothing more than your failsafe,” Spike sighed. “Now, I don’t have evidence to support my claim, but I’m sure that’s what you did. After all, how could you let the Wingless Disgrace win? Am I right?”
“As for your rules and traditions, I’m afraid they don’t apply to me, Elders,” Spike smirked. “I was hatched, fed, raised, educated, and housed in Equestria under the vigilance of Princess Celestia herself. My home is Equestria. My family and friends live there. I don’t answer to any of you or any other dragon for that matter. My loyalty belongs to the Princesses, not to the Dragon Lord. Only they can command me.”
“You are a dragon, you insolent fool!” Another Elder yelled. “You may be nothing more than a blotch upon our glorious kin, but you are still a dragon!”
“Is that so?” Spike turned to Ember. “Ember, could you be so kind to order me to do something?”
With a knowing smile, Ember took three steps back, then her scepter began to glow. “Spike, as your Dragon Lord, I order you to kneel before the Elders!” She said with a clear, authoritarian voice.
“No,” Spike replied crossing his arms while he smiled smugly at the Elder.
“Spike, I COMMAND you to kneel!” Ember repeated louder.
“Sorry, Ember, but all this fighting left a nasty cramp on my leg, so kneeling will be a bit too hard for me right now,” Spike said in a derisive tone while staring at the infuriated looking Elders. “See?” Spike took a step forward. “The only reason I even showed up at the Gauntlet of Fire was because my scales were itching to the point of madness. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I didn’t care, I only wanted the itching to stop. When it did, I was ready to leave but after hearing what the Gauntlet was all about I decided to stay and win it to protect my home, Equestria. Ember and I worked together; she became the new Dragon Lord and I gained her friendship,” he finished while Ember stood at his side once more.
“It matters not. You have won, and you shall become Lord Ember’s life-mate,” Valerian ordered.
“Again, I refuse. I won, but I don’t want to be her life-mate. And there’s nothing any of you can do about it, Elders,” his smirk morphed into a shit-eating grin before continuing. “And before you even think about holding up another Tournament of Bonding because of my refusal, there can only be one Tournament of Bonding for each new Dragon Lord, as per your own traditions and rules. The only exceptions to this are if the new Dragon Lord already has a life-mate or steps down before the Tournament is held. Now, the Tournament has passed, I have won, and I choose to refuse the ‘prize’ because I’m not bound to your dragon rules.”
The Elders were frozen in place, unable to respond to what Spike had just said.
“I’m afraid Spike tells the truth, Elders,” the thunderous voice of Torch made the Elders and the two young dragons look up at him. “What our tradition dictates has been fulfilled and cannot be altered. He’s a dragon and had every right to participate, but he’s not soul-bound to follow our traditions and rules unless he so chooses to. He has chosen to refuse the prize for his victory and, as much as it pains me to admit, he is in every right to do so. There’s nothing we can do about it,” Torch sighed. “Just like the first Dragon Lord, Ember too shall remain mateless until her time as the Dragon Lord ends or she chooses a life-mate of her own accord.”
One by one, the Elders bowed their heads in defeat, knowing Torch was right.
“Very well. In accordance with our sacred traditions, the Tournament of Bonding is now concluded,” a second or two after an Elder said those words, Ember tapped the ground two times and the red aura vanished.
“Hey, it ain’t so bad. Wasn’t your goal prevent me from actually winning the tournament in the first place? You should be happy!” Spike said with a little, mocking smile.
“Curb your tongue, you disrespectful whelp. You’ve caused us enough shame as it is. Leave our lands as soon as you can, Disgrace,” Kroxus spat with hate before he and his fellow Elders flew away.
“Well that--”
Spike was cut short by Ember. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Spike, you did it! Thank you!” Ember chanted while she embraced him tightly while she jumped up and down.
Spike was screaming in silence, his eyes wide open while his fingers and toes curled in pain. Desperate and unable to even breathe, he looked up at Torch begging for mercy with his eyes.
Torch smiled. “I’ll leave you two alone. There’s something I have to take care of,” Torch said before spreading his huge wings and taking to the sky with one powerful leap.
“....nooo…..” Spike managed to squeak out. Several seconds later Ember finally let go of him.
“You put your life at risk for my sake, Spike. You… you… I… thank you! I don’t know how to thank you enough, Spike!” Ember cheered with tears forming in her eyes.
“You just did,” Spike murmured in pain. Clearing his throat and doing his best to ‘look cool’, he looked up to Ember. “D-Don’t mention it, Ember. You’re my friend. And like all my friends, you can count on me!” Spike said with a wide smile.
They stood there for several moments looking and smiling at each other until Ember pulled him into another hug, softly this time.
“Thank you, Spike,” Ember murmured.
“Anytime, Ember. Anytime,” Spike replied. A few short seconds later their hug ended. Then Spike chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Ember asked taking a step back from her purple scaled friend.
“Heh, I just remembered you said many dragons made bets to predict the winner of the tournament, right? Well, I can only imagine the nightmare that’s going to follow to recover their bets!”
“Actually, not quite,” Ember began. “There was one dragon that bet for you,” using her scepter, Ember showed a chart carved in solid rock with all thirty-two names of the competitors with his name at the very bottom and a single ‘I’ next to it.
“Woah, really? And who bet for me? I think you said the competitors and you weren’t allowed to bet,” Spike asked tilting his head in confusion.
Ember giggled. “Who do you think?” Ember then turned around to point at her father carrying almost his own huge body mass worth in gold and gems flying away from the stadium.
“Ohhhhhh!” Spike stared dumbfounded.
“Anyway, would you like to eat something with me? My treat,” Ember offered with a friendly smile.
“I’d love to, Ember. I’m famished,” Spike accepted placing a hand over his stomach.
Side by side, the two dragons walked away talking uninterrupted.
------------------********************
Several hours later during nightfall, a flash of purple magic dimly illuminated a street of Ponyville.
“Ah, home sweet home,” Spike murmured as he made his way toward his home. His entire body exhausted, aching, and spent. It took him a couple of minutes to reach the Castle, but once he did he stepped inside opening the doors by pulling a key out of his “pockets”. He then made a bee-line to the bathroom to take a long, refreshing hot shower.
Once Spike was done with his shower, he used his fire to elevate his body temperature until all the water on his scales evaporated. After that, he made his way to his bedroom. With some grunts and groans, he slipped into his bed letting out a relaxed sigh. He closed his eyes ready to fall asleep when he heard the door of his room opening.
“You’re late,” a familiar voice said.
“Sorry about that Twilight, my fire took longer than I expected to recover. And maaaaybe Ember and I got a little distracted after the tournament was over.”
“That’s a relief,” Twilight sighed. "You went through with your plan, I suppose."
“Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it later, okay? You're going to love it! But right now I feel like sleeping for an entire month,” Spike said while Twilight used her magic to tuck the sheets for him.
“I’m glad you were able to help Ember, Spike,” she smiled mischievously. "You can still claim the prize later, am I right?"
Spike groaned as a blush spread across his cheeks. “You're an expert at killing romance, Twi.”
“Love you too, Spike.” Twilight replied. "But in all seriousness, are you going to tell her anytime soon?"
"After I improve the use of Amplitude and Fire Jet. As Rarity would say, 'A lady must be courted and seduced'. Winning her hand on that tournament seems woefully anti-romantic for some reason. Almost like giving an entire encyclopedia about Starswirl the Bearded to your earth pony boyfriend, am I right?" Spike said looking at Twilight with a huge grin.
"Oh Har, har, har. Good night, Romeo," Twilight said closing the door, but before she shut it completely she spoke once more. "Ember is in for a surprise when you finally tell her," then the door was shut.
Spike smiled as sleep began to settle in. "Yeah..."
Eight months had passed since the Tournament of Bonding had ended, and unlike Spike had expected, the Elders had remained quiet and in the end accepted the events that unfolded during said tournament. And now Ember had all the time she wanted to focus on being the Dragon Lord.
He would give her time to adapt to her newfound freedom before asking her himself out on a date.
Spike let out a satisfied sigh as he finished the last round of his daily exercises. True to his word, he spent most of his free days improving and practicing his fighting abilities and was making considerable progress. Also, true to his word, he bought Pinkie Pie the biggest, most delicious, most expensive cake his bits could buy. His stash of gems was cut in half in one fell swoop. Of course, being Pinkie Pie, she baked the mountain of deliciousness herself and invited all of Ponyville to enjoy it with her.
He was about to leave the training room inside the Castle of Friendship when Twilight entered the room.
“Hey, Twi, done already with that new spell?” Spike asked while he popped the joints of his back.
“Almost, I still have a few details to go over it. I just came to tell you that there were a couple of dragons searching for you around town, it seems,” Twilight said letting Spike walk past her.
“A couple of dragons looking for me?” Spike asked while they both walked through the ample hallways side by side. “Do you know who they are or why they’re looking for me?”
Twilight giggled. “I think you better go see for yourself, Spike. They’re waiting outside the castle gates,” Twilight pushed Spike with her hands at his questioning look. “Don’t give me that look, mister, cause I ain’t budging! Now, go, go, go, go!” She said pushing him a few more times before she teleported away.
Spike chuckled but did as told. After a minute or so, Spike made it to the entrance gates of the castle and opened them. Upon seeing the pair of dragons at the base of the stairs he grinned widely. He then jumped down the stairs landed in front of the two dragons.
“Sluriasma? Zhaitan? What are you doing here?” Spike asked as Sluriasma leaned to kiss his cheek and Zhaitan shook his hand. “I mean, I’m glad to see you again and that you’re here, but why are you here?”
“Nice seeing you again too, Spike. I came to visit my uncle. He lives in the forest over there if I’m right,” Sluriasma said pointing to the Everfree Forest. “I stumbled into handsome over here a few months ago during my travel.”
“Salutations, Spike,” Zhaitan said with a gentle smile. “I came to visit your home and to see what Equestria looks like. Sluriasma has been kind enough to allow me to be her traveling companion. Truly, she has been the light during my darkest hour.”
Sluriasma blushed and giggled. “Stooop it, Zhaity~ Not in front of Spike!”
For his part, Spike was smiling widely. “Are you two…?” Sluriasma hissed with an adorable chirp while her tail wagged. Zhaitan, on the other hand, smiled proudly. “Congratulations you two!” His two friends didn’t reply, they instead nuzzled each other for a couple of seconds. “Anyway, how are you liking Equestria so far, Zhaitan?” Spike questioned while he signaled them to follow him into town.
“It is very bright and colorful. The ponies, in almost all instances, are quite pleasant and approachable. I did not know that food has taste. Or that there are events called ‘parties’ dedicated to merriment. A pink mare invited us to such an event the moment we arrived. Is that normal?”
“Yeah, that’s Pinkie Pie alright. Say, Sluriasma, you said your uncle lives in the Everfree?”
“He’s a bit of a weird one, but yes, do you know him?”
“By any chance is his name Steven Magnet?”
“Ah, you do know him! Can you take us later to him, please?”
“Of course, of course,” Spike nodded. “Maybe we can get Cranky to come along, he’s Steven’s best friend after all. Say, how long do you plan to stay?”
“I’m glad that you ask, Spike. You see, my clan… the Blackwings Clan does not take defeats lightly. A month after our glorious battle they expelled me. I renounced them back and have been wandering ever since until I met with my water lotus,” Zhaitan said without an ounce of hurt in his voice.
“Sorry to hear that, man.”
Zhaitan shook his head. “No need for condolences, my friend. I had little to no love for my clan as it was. To answer your question, we are looking for a suitable place to establish our nest in the near future. Perhaps here in Ponyville, if at all possible. ”
Spike smiled widely. “I’ll take you to meet Mayor Mare later during the party. But for now, do you know what ice cream is?”
