> The Dragonblood and His Alicorns > by Mechazilla88 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Just Another Day For Spike Drakestar Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was early in the morning and the sun's rays began peaking into the window of a bedroom, shining upon an eighteen year old young man, a dragonblood actually, with spiky green hair laying in bed. The dragonblood groaned as he wrapped the blankets around him like a cocoon. A couple minutes later, the alarm on his digital clock went off which made a loud, shrilling noise. He growled and tried to hit it but struck the corner of his nightstand instead, causing the alarm clock to fly up and fall to the ground.  The dragonblood sighed as he got out of the blankets and sat on the edge of his bed, his slit emerald eyes glaring daggers at the alarm clock before he picked it up and turned it off. With a yawn and a stretch, he gets off of the bed and heads his way to the bathroom, getting ready for the day. In the kitchen, a human woman, who looked roughly around twenty two, was making some flapjacks. In appearance she has blue eyes and thick blonde hair tied in a ponytail which flows down her back and just past her waist, to the seat of her jeans. For attire, she wears blue jeans and an orange short-sleeved shirt, with brown boots plus a matching vest and belt. The human woman hears someone coming down stairs. She turns to see the dragonblood coming in, stepping into the kitchen. The young man was dressed and well groomed. He wore a simple green shirt with a purple jacket over it, purple jeans, and light green sneakers. He also wears a necklace with an emerald pendant. "Morning Megan." The dragonblood said. Megan smiled and greeted, "Morning Spike. Ready for the day?" "Eh, more or less." Spike replied, still waking up. He turns to see the kitchen table decorated with an Ogres & Oubliettes setup and smiles knowingly. Spike then asks, "I take it Danny's running a session later today?" "Yeah. He, Thorax, and some of the other guys are doing some sci fi kobold campaign or something like that." Megan replied, "You might wanna eat in the living room if you wanna sit down. You know how Danny gets when someone messes up his setting." "Yeah, I hear ya,” Spike agreed. “Speaking of, where are the others anyway?” "Well, Gleam left for work earlier than usual. There's been sightings of a Magi-Mutant just on the outskirts of town, though she's doing part time today. Aunt Velvet is still in bed, Molly just took off for school, and Danny's doing some errands right now, probably getting stuff, like snacks and miniatures, for his upcoming campaign." She answered.   "Alrighty then, I'm gonna eat these as fast as I can and then I'll head out." Spike said as he nodded in understanding as he took the plate Megan made for him. On it were three flapjacks with chocolate chips in them with a side of bacon. After he was done eating, Spike grabs his backpack and heads towards the front door but not before saying to Megan, "Well Meg, I'm gonna wait for the bus. Tell mom that I love her and I will see her later." "Can do Spike." Meghan said back and with that, Spike heads out. As Spike went outside, he saw most of the horses were still asleep in their pens. Williams Ranch, which is located slightly on the outskirts of Canterlot City, houses many types of animals, though mostly equines, like horses, ponies and donkeys. There were also others that are more of the magical variety like unicorns, pegasi, hippogriffs, kirins, bicorns, thestrals, sleipnirs, and longmas. Though, there are other animals as well such as chickens, a few goats and sheep, and a couple cows. Both Spike's adoptive mother, Twilight Velvet, and his oldest cousin, Megan Williams, have run the place after the death of the latter's parents five years ago. Spike hears a whinny and turns to see a unicorn mare calling out to him. It was the unicorn that had a white coat, her mane & tail were blue with a white streak, and there was a ring around her horn. Unlike most unicorns who had a slim and elegant figure, this one had a stocky build to her, almost like a draft or shire horse, big as one too. Spike smiled and walked up to her, stroking her head and mane lovingly. "Hey Majesty, how are you this morning?" Spike asked as Majesty nuzzled him affectionately in return. Out of all the equines at Williams Ranch, Majesty was the closest to Spike, aside from another unicorn that lives there. Before he arrived, Majesty was a very unruly unicorn who picked fights with other horses and kicked off anyone who tried to ride her. But when Spike came along, it was like her attitude turned a complete 180, at least when it came to him. She was much nicer towards him and was the only person she let ride on her back. Though, she would get violently jealous whenever he was near other females, outside of his family members, whether they be humanoid or equine. Just then, Spike hears a honk and sees his bus coming in the driveway, Spike turns back to the unicorn and says, "Well girl, I have to go. I'll see you later." Spike gave Majesty one last pat on the muzzle and made his way to the bus, much to the unicorn's dismay. As soon as Spike got on the bus, it took off, leaving Williams Ranch and into Canterlot City. When the bus was out of sight of the ranch, a magical barrier formed around the area. The city itself isn't very big but it's very lively with thriving stores and restaurants. Most of the large buildings are located in the upper part of town, while the rest of it looked like a rather large town. Canterlot is located in the northern part of Oregon, just on the edge of Washington. On the bus, Spike looked out the window to see many folks go about their day. He sees many races interacting with each other such as humans, elves, harpies, lamias, dwarves, orcs, goblins, dragonborns, griffonborns, kitsunes, kappas, loxodons, bushwoolies, diamond dogs, abyssinians, and many more. He also sees street performers entertaining the crowd, some doing actual magic and can't help but feel a bit jealous at that. When he was ten, he went in for a check up to see what his magic rank is, only to meet with disappointment when the test results showed that he's rank E, the lowest rank. Spike can only use a small amount of weak spells and the only one he excels at is delivering letters via a magical flame breath. He shakes his head and brings out a book called Space Demons to read it. Cherryton Academy-Beastars Spike's bus pulled up to Dream Valley College, or DVC for short. The students begin to disembark with Spike not far behind. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he takes a good look at the campus in front of him. DVC is a big place that takes in many students from all over the state and beyond every year with many scholarship programs available. The main building was five stories tall with four two story buildings surrounding it, all floors with either classrooms and teachers offices. The dorm buildings, located on the southwestern side of the school campus, were for the students who couldn't afford their own housing. The stadium, a small coliseum-like building, was located on the northwestern part of campus and was the host to many sporting events as well as concerts. On the northeastern part of campus was a large swimming pool that was made specifically for swimming races, though it could be retrofitted for high diving events. DVC also housed a food court with many eating establishments that ranged from coffee bars to burger stands, though Spike's favorite was Banana Joe's, a place that served fruit smoothies, donuts and a different dish from another country everyday. For a first timer, it could be an overwhelming experience to get your bearings at DVC as it practically had something for everyone. For Spike though, it was just another start of another day. "Spike, over here!" Said a girl's voice.   Spike turns to see two girls approaching him. The first girl, the one who called out to him, had moderate persian blue eyes and her hair was colored moderate purple with lighter purple and pale light, grayish aquamarine highlights with a single curl. Her clothing included black shoes, purple pants with a few tears in them, a pale light, grayish aquamarine colored shirt, a black open vest over it, and on her head was a purple beanie with star symbols. She also has long pointed ears and light purple skin. Her companion has silver hair and dark grayish violet eyes. For attire, the girl wears a purple star barrette with gold trimmings in her hair, blue hoodie with light blue stars and gold frills at the bottom and end of her sleeves, purple mini skirt with light aqua blue sparkling trimmings at the hem of her skirt. For footwear, she wore blue boots, with the tops colored purple with a single yellow stripe, the toes colored with the matching purple and a white star. She also had long ears but her skin was light blue. Both were twenty one years old and were taller, almost a couple feet long, than Spike, though he isn't that big to begin with, being only 5'1. They also had quite the impressive busts, though the purple skinned girl's breasts were a little bit bigger than the blue skinned one's. The first girl is Starlight Glimmer and the second girl is Beatrice ‘Trixie’ Lulamoon, both of whom knew Spike when he was six years old. Both girls were elves, well moon elves to be more precise, a race of humanoids who excels at magic.  Spike smiled, "Hey Star, hey Trix. How are you girls doing?" "Pretty good so far." Starlight answered. She then glanced over at Trixie and said, "Though can't say the same for Trixie here." "Ugh, the great and powerful Trixie said she was sorry," The blue elf grumbled, looking like she got off on the wrong side of the bed. "How was I supposed to know it would backfire?" "So...care to explain what happened exactly?" Spike asked. Starlight sighed and explained, "Early this morning, Trixie thought it was a brilliant idea to try out one of her new spells." "Well, that doesn't sound too bad." Spike said. "INDOORS." Starlight finished with a hint of anger and annoyance towards her friend who winced in turn. With a sigh, she continued, "And of course, without me to guide her or help her out, the spell blew up right in her face, causing a big mess in not just our room but the rooms around us as well. When our dorm mother found out Trixie caused it, she made her clean the whole mess, alone and without the use of magic." Spike sighed at Trixie's predicament. Unlike Spike, Starlight and Trixie were dorm students at the sorority sector of DVC. Starlight had been especially happy that she was finally able to move out of her father's place. Not that she hated her dad or anything, it's just he can be pretty overbearing at times. Like Starlight, Trixie found that she had a lot more freedom to try out her spells without being too confined to her home. Unfortunately, Trixie had a really bad habit of trying out new spells outside the confines of the workshop and without someone keeping a watchful eye on her work. Spike shook his head and turned back to the duo, "Geez, I bet she was pretty pissed huh?" "Oh she was all fire and brimstone when she passed the sentence." Starlight said "I had never been so scared in my life." Trixie said with a shiver. "What was the spell anyway?" Spike asked. "Ugh, I was trying to conjure up some jelly for my toast." The blue elven girl answered. "Ah, a conjuring spell. Not an easy one to master." Spike pointed out. "Don't remind me." Trixie grumbled. "So aside from that, how was your morning Spike?" Starlight asked. Spike shrugged, "Nothing special really. Got out of bed, had breakfast, and hung out with Majesty for a bit before I left."  "What is it with that unicorn of yours?" Trixie asked grumpily with a frown, her hands on her hips. "When it comes to you, she's like a kitty cat that likes to follow you around wherever you go and wants to sit on your lap all day. But when it comes to everyone else, it's like she was given the wrong kind of grain and is bitter about it for the rest of the week." "You're just still mad because she kicked you across the ranch after you thought it was a good idea to slap her flank in an attempt to discipline her two days ago." Starlight pointed out. "Yeah, I am, and it still stings by the way." Trixie said as she lifted her shirt a bit to show a redden horseshoe shaped mark on the upper part of her belly. "I don't know really, Trix," Spike said, shrugging again. "Majesty just seems to like me out of everyone else." "Yes, like you are her number one stallion," Trixie said flatly. "Come on, we should get moving," Spike said as he rolled his eyes. "Our first class of the day is gonna start pretty soon and I don't want Mr. Seabreeze to be on our asses for the next hour." Hearing that, the two elven girls nodded and the three went on their way. Spike and the girls made it in class just in time. They made their way to their seats and Spike sat next to another one of his lifelong friends who was yet another moon elf girl. In appearance, she wore a dark purple turtleneck sweater and purple jeans with a crescent moon symbol on it along with purple boots. She had bushy eyebrows, and wore big black glasses with the bridge of it taped together. Her eyes were dark purple, and her hair was colored in a mix of brilliant amaranth, moderate purple, and grayish violet. Her skin tone is a light yellowish grey. She too is twenty one. "Made it right on time." The girl said, not taking her eyes off the book she was reading. "I know, right?" Spike replied, "How are you doing, Moon Dancer?" She just shrugs, "Doing alright so far, can't complain." "That's good," Spike said, "So any idea what Mr. Seabreeze is teaching today?" "No idea. You know how that bag of hot air is." Moon Dancer replied. Spike sighed at Moon Dancer's seeming indifference. Like Starlight and Trixie, Moon Dancer is someone who knew Spike when he was six. Back then, the two were very close, almost like brother and sister. In fact, Moon Dancer was his first friend he had made and it saddened him that he and she haven't spoken to each other as much the past seven years. Spike knew why this was so. Seven years ago, a horrible incident occurred which resulted in the death of one of his friends. Moondancer took what had happened pretty hard and rarely speaks of it, the memory of what had happened that day still eating at her. Since the incident, Moon Dancer had become somewhat of a shut in and barely interacts with anyone, save for close friends and family. Just then, the door slammed open and a small pixie with butterfly-like wings flew in the room and sat literally on top of the teacher's desk. This was Mr. Seabreeze, the white mage class's teacher and Norwegian language instructor. In appearance, he has light cerise hair, moderate rose eyes, brilliant cerulean skin, and a pair of long antennas on his forehead. For attire, he wore a very dark grey business suit. The expression on his face also gave the air of someone that was used to having discipline inside the classroom as he eyed his students for trouble or just plain inattentiveness. "Alright class," The pixie began in a Norwegian accent, "Today we're going to be talking about- MISS LULAMOON!!!"  Mr. Seabreeze’s shout got the attention of everyone in class, including Trixie who was playing with her phone. He flew up to her with an angry look on his face and yelled, "WHAT'D I SAY ABOUT USING YOUR PHONE IN CLASS?!?!?!” "Er, don't?" Trixie said nervously.  "Precisely." Seabreeze said as he swapped the phone away from her, "You'll get this back after class is done." He said as he flew back to his desk, leaving the elf girl to grumble while some of her classmates chuckled at her misfortune and Starlight just pinching the bridge of her nose. "Now then class, as I was saying," Seabreeze began, "We're gonna be talking about certain situations and what kind of healing spells you should use on yourself and those around you during those situations. There's a page on your White Mage for Dummies book, I believe it is page 32. If by any chance that you don't have the book on ya, please console the classmate next to ya who has."  Later on, Seabreeze had the students demonstrate some white spells on a dummy and he called upon Trixie first, "I hope you paid very close attention to your studies, Miss Lulamoon." Seabreeze said sternly. Trixie lets out a nervous chuckle, "Of course I have." After clearing her throat, she approaches the dummy, "Behold! The great and powerful Trixie shall wow you all with her magic!"  Spike, Starlight, and Moon Dancer either groaned, shook their heads or rolled their eyes at Trixie’s display. "Uh-huh, now then. This poor bastard just got his legs gnawed on by a manticore. They're still intact, so they don't need to be removed. What sort of healing spell do you use?" Seabreeze asked. "Uuuuuhhhh," Trixie was nervous beyond belief as she was trying to remember which spell it was until she figured it out, "Ah-ha! A cure greater wounds spell!" Seabreeze clapped happily, "Very good, Miss Lulamoon," His face quickly turns stern again, "Now lets see it in action." Trixie gulped, "Er, ok." Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and points her hands towards the dummy. They light up and there is a huge blinding flash all across the entire classroom. Everyone in the room started seeing white and heard a loud ringing in their ears. It would seem Trixie accidently used a flashbang spell and a powerful one at that. 'Jesus frigging Christ!!!' Spike mentally said as he closed his eyes and covered his ears. He was staying right where he was until someone tackled him to the floor. Soon, Spike gains his senses back and he sees that it was Moon Dancer who tackled him with his head tucked firmly between her breasts. Shortly after gaining her senses back as well, Moon Dancer realizing what she just did blushed and helped Spike get back on his feet, "Sorry about that." She apologized, her ears drooping a little. "Hey, it's cool." Spike reassured her. As soon as Trixie regained her senses as well, she noticed Seabreeze giving her a big scowl. She chuckles nervously, "Heh heh, whoops wrong spell."  After class was done, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie, along with Moon Dancer, all decided to go to the food court to grab something to munch on. It was still a little too early for lunch, so most of the food court was still serving breakfast. Spike got himself a couple of tamago sandos, Starlight got a smoothie, Trixie grabbed a couple of chocolate old fashioned donuts and a maple bar with a chocolate milk, and Moon Dancer just had a vanilla latte. "Argh, I can't believe that guy sometimes." Trixie growled, munching on one of her donuts. "I swear, he's been out to get me ever since I first stepped in his class." "Hey, you were the one who brought out your phone during class." Starlight pointed out. "Seriously Trix, what in the nine circles were you thinking?" "I was trying to make a quick text to Maud to see if she and Mudbriar were still coming to the bi-weekly BBQ at Williams Ranch on Friday." Trixie explained. "And you couldn't wait until after class was done."  Trixie was about to retort until she thought about for a second before sighing, "Good point..." She grumbled, drooping her ears a little. They all sat at the same bench. After a couple minutes of eating, Starlight spoke up, "So what are you guys doing for the rest of the day?" She asked, "Me and Trixie's next class is magic dye and we only have half day today." "Well for me, I'm only doing half a day as well." Spike said, "I have a basic potions class in the next hour, I'll be doing lunch after that, then probably hang out at the library for a bit, and then head back home." "Half a day for me too," Moon Dancer said, "Just mathematics." "Huh, looks like we all have a half day today." Spike said. "I know right," Starlight said, "We should do something today after our classes. It's been so long since we did anything fun together." "So boring together..." Trixie sang "I don't know, it's been awhile for me." Moon Dancer said, a little unsure. "Come on Moon, aside from the Williams Ranch bi-weekly BBQ, it's been forever since you hanged out with us outside of campus grounds." Starlight said, "Please, old times sake?" Moon Dancer thought for a minute before answering, "I'll...think about it." She then made her leave. All three sighed, "That girl needs to stop being such a shut in all the damn time. It's not healthy for her." Trixie said. "Can you really blame her though Trix," Spike spoke up "She's been like this since...well you know..."  The three instantly fell silent at this. It's been seven years since they all lost a dear friend and things haven't been the same since then. After a few minutes of silence, Trixie spoke up. "So anything you guys like to do after for the rest of the day?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.  "Well...the new Space Demons movie came out yesterday and I've been dying to see it." Spike said. "Space demons? You mean that series of books you've read?" Starlight asked. "Yep." He replied. Star and Trix think about it for a moment before deciding, "I don't think it would hurt. Maybe we'll see why you like Space Demons so much." Starlight said.  "Just don't expect it to be as good as the books." Trixie said. everyone laughed at this. However, they failed to notice a phoenix watching them from atop a tree before it spread its wings and flew away. Transfomers: Revenge of The Fallen - NEST Meanwhile near the outskirts of town and near the edge of the Everfree Forest, a couple of heavily armored vehicles were pulling up near a house. Coming out of the vehicles were men and women of various races armed to the teeth with blades and firearms. Earlier in the morning, a family had been attacked and driven out of their home by a magi-mutant. The City Guard had been deployed and mobilized their best troops to locate the target. Leading the guard was a well endowed female half elf around her late 20s. In appearance, she has moderate sapphire blue hair with moderate cerulean and dark phthalo blue streaks, moderate cerulean eyes, and a light gray skin tone. For attire, she wore a blue jumpsuit that hugged her curves, covered in dark purple body armor with gold trimmings. Carrying on her back was a massive silver bladed longsword with a purple hilt. Standing beside her was a high elf who was just as well endowed as her partner but with a more slender figure. In appearance, she had light magentaish gray hair with heliotropeish white streaks, pale, light grayish violet eyes, and a light gray skin tone. For attire, she wore a white jumpsuit covered in pink body armor with a rapier on the left side of her waist. A bushwoolie rolled up to the two ladies and saluted them, "Captain Shield, Lieutenant de Lis, We just got a call from Captain Spitfire, the last nearby home has just been evacuated. She says you are free to engage and will join you soon." Captain Shield nodded and ordered, "Ok then, Tell Sgt Thunderlane to get over here and regroup with your squad after that." The bushwoolie saluted again and rolled off. After a minute, a human male approached the two women. In appearance, he has light cyanish gray hair with lighter streaks in the form of a mohawk and light gold eyes. For attire, he's dressed almost like a SWAT enforcer. "You called for me, ma'ams?" Thunderlane asked. "That we have. Sargent, we want you to search around the outer perimeter of the house while me and Fleur search the inside. The reports say that there's only one magi mutant but let's not take any chances here. We should take nice and slow, lest we wanna a repeat of the Safeway incident." Captain Shield explained. Thunderlane could only growl in disgust. It had been two weeks ago when there was a report of a magi mutant attacking the grocery store and the City Guard immediately charged in without a second thought.  However due to misinformation, they learned the hard way that there was not one, not two, but three magi mutants.  They took the monsters down but not before losing some good men. Couple of them were friends of his. It was a dark day for the City Guard. Thnuderlane shakes his head, getting the thought out of his mind. He then turned to his superiors, "As you wish ma'ams." He said as he saluted to them. He then leaves to gather his squad and give them the SITREP.  The captain turns to her partner, "You ready Fleur?" "Ready as I'll ever be Gleaming." She answered. "Okay then, let's do this." The front door slowly opens up with Gleaming poking her head in. Once she sees it's all clear, she, Fleur, and four squad mates carefully enter the house. As they enter the main hall they notice stairs that lead to the upper part of the house.  Gleaming turns to the others, "Which one do you wanna take, Fleur? Upstairs or downstairs?" "I'll take upstairs." She answered. Gleaming nodded and turned to the squad mates, "Two of you will go with her and remember, no magical bullets. The fucker will just absorb them like a sponge." The squad mates nodded to this and two of them followed Fleur upstairs.  Gleaming and the two squad mates that stayed behind split up and began to search the rooms but despite finding broken furniture and some claw marks on the walls, there was no sign of the magi-mutant. After searching the basement, Gleaming sighs and wonders if Fleur is doing any better. She then hears someone calling her name from behind, "Gleam-" Gleaming immediately jumped at that. Bringing out her blade, she quickly turns to see Fleur. Sighing, she puts her blade away, "Jesus and Elune, Fleur. Don't do that." She grumbled. "Sorry," Fleur said as she approached Gleaming. "I take it you didn't find anything either?" The half elf asked. "Well, I have found some dead bodies and they had these on them." Fleur answered as she showed Gleam something that made her eyes widen. Dangling from Fleur's hand were several adventurer pendants and they were pure white, meaning these belonged to greenhorns. Not helping is that they were stained with blood.  Word did spread of a magi-mutant attack very early this morning throughout the city and no doubt it probably reached the ears of the Adventurer's Guild. Wouldn't surprise either of them that a bunch of dumb newbies would try to make a name for themselves by taking down such a monstrosity. Sadly for them, it would seem to have backfired horribly. "And that's not the worst part," Fleur said with dread, "We have reason to believe that a couple of them were magic casters."  Gleaming sighed at frustration at this. ‘Yep, definitely dumb newbies,’ she thought.  “Though we did find a survivor, a priestess,” Fleur pointed out. “She was found locked in a closet.” “She okay?” Gleaming asked. “She is deeply traumatized.” Fleur answered, “No doubt the mutant was saving her for later.” Just then, they heard the radio scramble, "Captain Shield, you there?" Thunderlane asked, whispering through the radio. Gleam picked up the radio from her waist and answered, "What's up Sargent?" "We found the bastard." Thunderlane and his squad had surrounded a workshop with a garage door that was open. He then hears footsteps and turns to see Gleaming and Fleur approaching him. "Where?" The captain whispered. Wordlessly, Thunderlane pointed towards the opened door, where an old SUV is located. Even from where they are, they can hear loud snoring coming from it. The mutant was probably taking a nap after having a little 'snack'. "What should we do Captain? Do we set charges around the place and blow the freak to Tartarus?" Thunderlane asked. "And risk getting another lawsuit for property damage?" She lectured the Sargent, "Besides, we don't know how strong it is right now and it'll just piss the freak off." "What do we do then?" Thunderlane asked a little impatiently. Gleaming thought about it for a moment before speaking, "I got an idea, Fleur, Sargent, cover me." She said before sneaking up to the SUV. Taking a deep breath, she grabs the back bumper and starts shaking the vehicle rather violently. When she heard growling followed by a loud roar, she immediately ran back to the others and yelled, "Everyone get ready!!!" Mountain Monsters Theme Song - Mountain Man Town Tearing out of the SUV was a large human-like creature. The man-beast was massive, almost seven feet tall, with arms and long claws similar to that of a grizzly bear and sharp teeth whenever he opened his mouth, letting out a bear-like roar. In appearance, the monster looks like a human male in in his early fifties but with dark grey skin and visible black veins across his body, blackish gray shoulder length hair with a matching beard and mustache, and burning red eyes that would make even a demon tremble in fear. For attire, if any, the man-beast wore only an open lumberjack shirt and torn jeans. This was a magi-mutant, one of the most dangerous monstrosities that has ever walked on the face of the earth.  With a roar, the mutant came charging towards Gleaming, Fleur, and Thunderlane. It was then that the city guard began to open fire on him. The bullets barely hurt the mutant who treats it as more of an annoyance than anything.   "Damn it, he must have absorbed enough magic to toughen his hide!" Thunderlane yelled as he quickly jumped out of the way from one of the mutant’s swipes and continued shooting at the thing. "Doesn't surprise us, we found some dead adventurers in the house and we think a couple of them are magic casters." Gleaming explained as she dodged a large tire the mutant threw at her. "Well that's just great!" Thunderlane growled. “Look out!” Fleur shouted, as she and her squadron ducked their heads, barely dodging a swipe from the magi mutant’s massive claws. The magi mutant lunged forward, swiping his claws at the three guards, who immediately scattered in three different directions. Fleur retaliated with a thrust of her rapier at the mutant’s left, with Gleaming flanking on his right with her longsword. Both elves’ swords barely grazed at the magi mutant’s thick arms, barely causing him to flinch. The massive man-beast merely shrugged off the blows as he counters with swipes of his claws. Fleur and Gleaming immediately split up and they hid themselves behind some trees, with the magi-mutant lumbering after them. From their hiding spots, both Fleur and Gleaming began concocting a new strategy to capture and restrain the menace. Gleaming looked at her surroundings, formulating a plan, before she turned to Fleur and used her fingers to make gestures of motions of her plans. Knowing what her friend is up to, Fleur nodded as they began setting their plan into action. Picking up a piece of twig, Fleur tossed it at the magi mutant, catching his attention. With a loud roar, the magi mutant chased after the rapier wielding elf, who quickly leapt into the air, disappearing into the trees. With the magi mutant distracted, Gleaming leapt out from behind and swung her longsword downward, onto the mutant. However, the magi mutant had heard her coming, and sharply turned his whole body to slash his claws at Gleaming Shield, barely blocking her sword. his eyes widened when he looked up, barely catching a glimpse of Fleur chopping a tree branch, causing it to fall towards him. The magi mutant threw Gleaming to the side, before he let out a sonic roar to blast the tree branch to splinters. It was then that the other City Guardsman attacked the magi-mutant. A loxodon charges at the mutant, slamming him to the ground but the man-beast manages to lift the elephant man off of him and throws him across the field. A kappa then brought out her katana and attacked the mutant from behind. However, when she slashed him, the blade didn’t seem to penetrate his skin. Turning around, the mutant instantly kicks the kappa away from him. The mutant then sees a dwarf with a large hammer charging at him. With a yell, the dwarf jumps at the man-beast but just as the dwarf brings his hammer down, the mutant grabs it midair and tosses the dwarf away from him. “This damn thing just won’t quit!” Gleaming Shield panted heavily. “We’ve got to think of something!” Fleur said. “We can’t let it run loose!” “I don’t know if we can keep this up!” Gleam said, seeing the mutant taking down their squadron one by one. “Then maybe you guys could use some help,” A voice called over the radio, to which the two elves looked up to see reinforcements were coming their way, in the form of a flock of harpies. Leading the flock is a well-endowed harpy with blazing yellow feathers, with a blown mohawk to further emphasise her fiery appearance, wearing aviator shades, and a city guard uniform. “Spitfire!” Gleam called out to the harpy. “Right on time!” Unfortunately for Spitfire and her fellow harpies, the mutant noticed them coming and let out a sonic roar. The harpies barely had time to scatter with a couple unlucky ones caught in the roar. The harpies then swarm around the mutant and try to claw him, with Spitfire successfully getting his left eye. Enraged, the mutant grabs one of her legs, slams her on the ground a few times, and throws her near where Gleaming and Fleur are. The mutant manages to grab one harpy and bites her head off. After doing the dreadful deed, another harpy grabs the mutant by the shoulder and tries to lift him but no avail. The mutant grabs her by the head, then grabs her legs. He then slams the harpy on his raised leg who screams out in pain in return. Meanwhile, Fleur and Gleaming dragged Spitfire to a safe location before offering her an elixir. After grabbing the potion and taking a swig from it, a slight green glow covered Spitfire and was mostly healed, "Ugh, that really smarts." She groaned, some of the pain having yet to be subsided and the glow beginning to die down, "At least I got one of the bastard's eyes." “We need to think of something here!” Gleaming growled, “If that fucking freak gets into the city, who knows what’ll happen!” She finished, thinking about her family, especially her younger brother and a certain aasimar. While the three were discussing what to do next, one of the City Guards throws a grenade at the mutant. When it exploded, it didn’t kill the mutant, but it did send him flying into one of the armored vans with a small cache that’s the size of a lunchbox falling from the back of the vehicle and onto the ground. A scent catches the mutant’s attention, with a whiff he turns to see the cache box. Quickly, he grabs and tears it open to reveal glowing magical bullets. The mutant drooly smiles as he grabs some of the bullets and starts to wolf them down. While the mutant was eating the bullets, his body slowly started to change as his black veins began to light up with different colors and his body growing with some rips and tears appearing across his flesh, revealing open wounds and exposed muscle. When he was done, he now stood over nine feet tall and his claws were much longer and sharper. On the other side of the van, the City Guard approaches the armored vehicle until the mutant effortlessly swats it to the side revealing his terrifying new look to the now frightened guards. The mutant lets out another sonic roar that sent them flying. Gleaming and Fleur realized what just happened, “Crap, it must have found the bullets!” Gleaming said. “WHAT!!!” Spitfire squawked, “I thought Command specifically said not to bring anything magical when dealing with magi-mutants?!” “They were already in the van and we were in kind of a hurry.” Fleur explained, “By the time we noticed them, we were already halfway.” While Fleur and Spitfire were arguing, Gleaming noticed the flesh tears on the mutant and had an idea, “Girls, I think I found a way to kill the bastard.” The two turned to her and listened, “Well, what’s the plan then?” Spitfire asked. Meanwhile, the mutant grabbed a harpy guard and threw her at an orc guard who was charging at him, causing them both to tumble down. He felt a bullet hit his side, he turned to see Thunderlane cocking a shotgun. With a growl, the mutant approaches Thunderlane who was pumping the magic eating freak with shells but was unaffected.  Soon, the mutant was close enough to Thunderlane and grabbed his head, lifting the human up to see eye to eye with him. Thunderlane spat the mutant in one of his red eyes, angering the massive brute. The mutant roars and was about to bite the guard’s head off until he suddenly felt a large sting of pain coming from his left arm and let out another, this time more agonizing, roar, dropping Thunderlane in the process. Confused, Thunderlane looks up to see the mutant trying to pull a combat knife out of one of the open wounds in his left arm. He then sees Spitfire grabbing the mutant from behind and trying to yank his shirt off. “Sargent!” He heard Gleaming yell. When he turned to where she was and she told him, “Aim for the wounds!” Spitfire finally managed to yank the mutant’s shirt off, showing off the flesh tears across his upper body.  The angered mutant tried to swat the harpy until Thunderlane shot one of his flesh tears. The mutant looked down at the human and tried to stomp him but Thunderlane dodged out of the way in time. Just then, he felt something stab another flesh wound in his back. He turns to see Fleur piercing her rapier into the mutant’s wound. The mutant was really mad now and tried to grab the high elf from behind him. However, he failed to notice Gleaming charging at him. With a leap, she drives her great sword into a flesh tear that was located at the upper part of his chest.  The mutant let out another roar of pain as he fell to his knees. With a grunt, Gleaming drove her blade even further into the flesh tear while the mutant grabbed the blade to try and pull it out resulting in a tug-o-war between the two. After a short struggle, Gleaming finally managed to dig the blade deep enough where it pierced his heart. The magi mutant lets out one last roar of anguish before finally going limp and falling to his side.  Gleaming, Fleur, Spitfire, and Thunderlane all regained their breaths and looked at the mutant for a couple minutes. Thunderlane mustered the courage to walk over to the mutant to confirm the kill. After giving light nudge to the head with his foot and then checking for vital signs, he turned to the other three and said, “We got him.” They all sighed in relief.                   After the fight, many guards were getting their wounds tended. Thunderlane was escorting the traumatized priestess, who looked no older than sixteen, to an ambulance, “I-I tried to warn them! Tried to tell them it was a bad idea!” She wailed.  “There, there, you're safe now.” He assured her. Meanwhile, Gleaming handed over the bloodstained pendants to a female tiefling guard, “Take these to the adventurer guild house and tell them this is what happens when you have inexperienced rookies going after magi-mutants!” The guard saluted and made her leave. After that, she approached where Fleur and Spitfire were, the latter of whom handed her a water bottle, “Thanks.” She said. They turn to see the body of the mutant being carted off on a stretcher. "That's the third one this week and the seventh one this month!" Spitfire growled, "Those freaks have got some serious sacs attacking near the city. We've also been getting reports of other magi-mutant attacks from neighboring towns and cities as well." "Doubt it has anything to do with courage." Fleur said, "They just don't realize that they keep walking to their deaths." "Maybe they're just desperate," Gleaming spoke up, taking a swig from her water bottle. "What do you mean Gleam?" Spitfire asked. "Well, either the game is getting dangerously low in the Everfree or something else is going down over there." She theorized looking on to said forest before shaking her head, "I don't know, that's just what I've been thinking anyway." She finished. The other two thought about it for a moment, "That...is a possibility." Fleur said "Bare in mind, the Everfree Forest is a pretty big place. There are other ferocious beasts that reside in there as well such as manticores, Timberwolves, and owlbears." "Yeah but not many of them can match up to a magi-mutant." Spitfire pointed out. "Still, it's something we should consider." Gleaming said, "If there is something out there that's getting these magic eating freaks riled up, should we be worried about it as well?" All three went silent about that for a moment. Deep in the misty forest, a squirrel was happily munching on an acorn when it heard a twig snapped. Looking around, the squirrel saw nothing before deciding to head back to it's den. However, something suddenly grabbed it's tail and lifted it from the ground. It turns to see a magi-mutant. It resembled a human male with dark grey skin and black veins, but has multiple, spider-like eyes on the left side of his face, a lobster-like claw for a right arm, with both of his legs and feet nearly resembling that of an elephant's. His almost tattered clothing looks like something out of a Hot Topics store. The mutant licked his long lizard like tongue and opened his mouth, showing off his sharped, mismatched teeth. Just as he was about to eat the squirrel in one gulp, there was a loud thumping noise. The mutant paused for a second, looked around but saw nothing. With a shrug, he was about to try to eat the squirrel again but the thumping noise came again, this time causing the ground to shake. The mutant nearly lost his balance and let go of his lunch, in which the squirrel scurried off. The thumping noise came once again and the mutant fell on his ass. It was then that a loud, booming, thunderous neigh was heard. The mutant, knowing what it was, went pale. He then got up and ran off to warn his brethren. > Just Another Day For Spike Drakestar Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the brink of the Everfree Forest that’s over seen by a cliff, a jeep drives up near it. Stepping out of the vehicle was a twenty one year old female half elf with a red nosed pitbull following suit. In appearance, the half elf has brilliant gold eyes, scruffy pale light grayish opal hair, with a red headband decorated with a beautiful rose. For attire, she wears a magenta sleeveless top, frilly aqua blue shorts, orange socks, and rosy boots. She also wore a gold necklace with a bling in the shape of a heartstring. Her skin tone is very light aquamarine. The half elf happily takes in all the air while her dog just sniffs around but doesn’t trek too far from the jeep. After taking in the scenery, the half elf looked up to a tree overlooking the cliff, attached to one of its branches was a video camera. With a smirk, she climbs up the tree, grabs the camera, and climbs back down. After retrieving the camera, she returns to her jeep and brings out a laptop and a cord from the backseat. After turning on the laptop and attaching the two devices, she starts watching what the camera had recorded from the last couple of days. At first, she seems to see nothing out of the ordinary but then her expression slowly changes to that of absolute shock. “Holy crap…” the half elf whispered.  "See you two after class!" Spike said to Starlight and Trixie as they went their separate ways. "Same here Spike. We'll meet you at the food court!" Starlight said as she and Trixie went their way to magic dye class. “Have fun in boring old potions class!” Trixie said with a laugh. Spike shook his head at this before making his way to basic potions class. After making his way through the halls and corridors, he finally made it to his destination. The basic potions class looks like any other chemistry class with some of the students already getting ready to work on their potions. It didn’t seem like the teacher had arrived yet, which understandable since it was several minutes before class was about to start. Spike went ahead and took his seat. He brought out a book about potions from his backpack and started reading. Today, he was thinking of making a simple lesser healing potion. This would be his first time making an actual potion since he had just been doing notes or reading books for the last three months. Spike then hears the door open. At first, he thought it was the teacher until he looked up to see a female unicorn centaur who was taking her seat. Her upper human part has curly pastel hair that is a mixture of purple, pink, and blue, her eyes were blue, and a spiraling horn on her forehead. Her lower horse half had a pure white coat with a tail that matches the color of her hair. For attire, she wore a pink shirt with a white jacket over it. Spike knew her to be Potion Nova, a rather eccentric girl who has a reputation of being somewhat of a weirdo. He paid no mind to her and resumed reading. Shortly after, another girl came in, one seemingly human but with a fiercer look. Unlike the girl that passed into the classroom first, this one Spike knew all too well as he tried not to notice her.  In appearance, she had short, dark brown hair with red streaks, amber eyes, and light brown skin. For attire, she wore a small jacket with an image of a wolf on the back, a black belly shirt that shows off her well toned midriff, light brown jeans, and dark grey cleats. She was slightly taller than a normal human but not as tall as an elf.   Another thing Spike knew of the girl was that, like him, she isn’t entirely human. She was a Garou, a shapeshifter who can change into many forms of a wolf. This had always surprised him since he had read that Garous mostly kept to themselves and rarely interacted with the outside world. The girl then made her way to her desk which was located behind Spike. She took her seat and stared intently at the dragonblood. Spike noticed this and just rolled his eyes at her. The girl behind him was Keira Skinwalker. She and Spike had a bit of a rivalry back in their high school days with the Garou having attended Canterlot High while the dragonblood had attended Crystal Prep. Spike had recalled that he and Keira had often faced each other whenever the two schools competed with one another in sporting events with Spike winning some of the matches and Keira winning others. Spike never really minded losing to Keira as his mother had taught him to be a good sport and be gracious in defeat. Unfortunately for him, Keira took it personally when she did lose to him and wouldn’t rest to even the score. When they both entered DVC three months ago, Spike and Keira’s rivalry seemed to have put to a halt. Keira would still often give him a few glances every now and then, like she wanted to start something. Spike frowned at this, feeling that sooner or later, the two of them need to sit down and at least try to talk it out. After a few more minutes, the potions teacher has finally entered the room. Zecora is an African woman with strong cyan eyes, light gray hair with dark, Persian bluish gray stripes in the form of a mohawk, and three sets of white stripes on both sides of her cheeks. For attire, she wore a white lab coat with zebra-like stripes over a black business dress with gold trimmings and light gray maasai sandals. For accessories, she wears golden round earrings and a necklace. Spike had to admit that Zecora was easier on the eyes and a welcome contrast to Seabreeze from earlier. Since his first day in basic potions class, Spike had known Zecora to be a woman whose patience goes to the moon and back and very rarely does she ever lose her cool. She wasn’t as demanding of her students as she knew that they were just starting out with making their own potions. Having that in mind, Spike didn’t envy those who were taking advanced potions class, which, from what he heard from his three moon elf friends and others, is that it’s teacher Alan Flintheart, a half elf, can be a real hardass who makes Seabreeze seem nicer in comparison. Inwardly, Spike was relieved that he may not have to attend that type of class, considering his rank. “Good day everyone,” Zecora began, “Today is the day when you will be making your own potion. However, since this may be your first potion crafting, each of you will be assigned with a partner.” Zecora turned to Potion Nova and addressed her, “Miss Nova.” “Yes Miss Zecora?” The unicorn centuaress chirped. “You will be assigned with…” Zecora thought about it for a minute.  While this was happening, Spike, with his slightly enhanced hearing, can hear some of the students whispering things like, ‘please not me’, ‘dammit don’t pick me’ and ‘This is my first crafting, I don’t want her screwing it up’. Spike had found himself curious by this. From what he had seen of the girl in all his time in class, Potion Nova can be weird and eccentric, but also seemed like a very nice girl. Spike's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Zecora say, “...Mister Drakestar.”   Realizing that she just chose him as Nova’s partner, Spike then hears some of his classmates breathing huge sighs of relief while others look at him with both worry and sympathy. “Really hate to be you right now, Drakestar,” Keira said smugly. This didn’t go unnoticed by Zecora however as she gave Keira a soft glare, “Mind your manners, Miss Skinwalker or I’ll be seeing you after class.” Keira lowered her head and blushed, “...Sorry.” “That’s quite alright Miss Skinwalker. Just keep that attitude in check next time,” Zecora said before she continued paring the students. After Zecora had finished, Spike and Potion Nova are both sitting next to each other at one of the chemistry desks that was almost littered with jars and beakers. After they were both done setting up, Spike felt it was the polite thing to do by introducing himself to his partner, “So...I’m Spike Drakestar and it’s nice to meet-.” He didn’t finish his sentence as Potion Nova grabbed his hand and started shaking it cheerfully and greeted, “Hi there Spike, I’m Potion Nova! I’m looking forward to working with you!” “Uh, yeah...same here.” Spike chuckled nervously. ‘Quite cheerful...and her hand is like a freaking vice!’ “So, what potion do you like to make today?” The unicorn centuaress asked. “Well...I was thinking of making a lesser healing potion today.” The dragonblood replied. “Ooooh, is this your first time?” Potion Nova asked curiously. “Uh, yeah.” Spike answered. “I mean, I've been studying potions for months, so I want to get this right. I do want to get my license to make this stuff before I try anything more complicated.” “Yeah, don’t want to get arrested for shadeshining after all,” Nova pointed out with a chuckle.  Spike nodded in agreement. From what he knew, you weren’t allowed to craft potions until two conditions were met; you needed to be eighteen years of age and had to have a crafter’s license. The easiest way to claim one was to attend a basic potions class at any college or university for a whole semester. Though Spike had been studying potion theory, he didn’t dare practice making them until he was sure he could get it right. One wrong move and he could get in big trouble and he didn’t want anyone to think he was a shadeshiner, who are basically potion crafters with no license that had the reputation of selling what they made in the black market and back alley stores. A thought came to Spike and asked Nova curiously, “Hey, don’t you already have a license? I mean, you are older than me, after all. You should already be a pro at this.” “Oh, it got revoked,” Nova responded casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Spike, looking dumbfounded at her after hearing that asked, “Wha-...I...what happened?” “Well, it’s kind of a long story but to keep it short, a couple of people literally got trapped inside of one of my potion bottles.” Nova explained.  Spike just continues to stare at her dumbfoundedly.  “Like I said, long story.” Nova said as she shrugged. Spike just sighs, deciding to just forget about it and move on.  “Well, let's get down to business,” Spike began. “You know the ingredients to a healing potion right? You were the one with a license, after all.” “Why, of course!” Nova said proudly while puffing her chest. “It’s a beginner's potion afterall, so I’ll show you how to make it with no problem.”    “Uh, ok...g-good to know.” Spike said, blushing up a storm as he couldn’t help but stare at Nova’s massive breasts so close to his face, ‘Jesus and Elune, I thought Fluttershy’s were friggin huge.’ Shaking out of his stupor, Spike started working on the healing potion with Nova. They looked up the ingredients to make it, which consisted of wormwood, bubotuber pus, dittany, and a small piece of stradodon liver. After nearly an hour of stirring and boiling, the potion was almost done. “Ok, looks like it’s good to go.” Spike said, happy of the work he and Nova had done. “Yeah, but you know it could use a little more kick,” Nova suggested. “Kick?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow. “Nova, it’s a healing potion, not a bar beverage.” “Oh, but we can add so much more to it,” Nova said as she brought out a small vile that contained black, fleshy round things that she began to pour into the potion. “First, we add some nether warts to it.” “Uh, ok,” Spike said, a little unsure about this as the potion began to bubble a little.   “Then, a pinch of glistering melon,” Nova continued as she brought out a small glass of shining liquid and poured a small amount into the potion which really started to boil. This didn’t go unnoticed by Spike and pleaded, “Uh, Nova...I think that’s enough.”  Spike’s pleas, however, fell on deaf ears. “And last but certainly not least, clear water!” Nova exclaimed victoriously as she brought out a bottle of water and started pouring it into the potion. “Nova wait-!” Spike shouted. It was too late. The potion instantly exploded, unleashing a green mist across the classroom.  A little bit later, it was lunch time and Starlight and Trixie were sitting at a table waiting for their dragonblood friend. Starlight got herself some California rolls with a side of beef teriyaki and a Sunny D for a drink while Trixie has herself a footlong Subway sandwich that has roast beef, bacon, and avocados in it along with a small bag of BBQ chips and a Coke. “Spike’s class should’ve been over by now. Where the heck is he?” Trixie asked. “Hope he didn’t get into a fight with Kiera,” Starlight said, knowing full well of the rivalry Spike and Kiera had. “I know those two hadn’t exactly gone at it since they both attended here but you never know. Garous aren’t exactly known for letting grudges go very easily.” “What is Skinwalker’s problem?” Trixie asked, frowning. “I know Spike used to beat her at competitions back in the day, but so did she. I would have thought she would be satisfied with having over Spike to brag about.” “Well if you’ve read the history books like you should have,” Starlight pointed out, making Trixie turn away in embarrassment. “Then you should know that dragons and garous aren’t exactly the best of friends. This also extends to the former’s spawns; the dragonborns and dragonbloods as well.” "Hey girls." Spike said as he finally showed up. On his plate was a bacon cheeseburger with seasoned curly fries on the side and a Mountain Dew for a drink. What Starlight and Trixie noticed when Spike sat down with them was that his clothes were a bit disheveled. From that alone they knew something had happened during Spike’s potion class and frowns were etched on their faces. Starlight and Trixie were just talking about Spike and Keira’s rivalry and were afraid that it was beginning to come to a head. Spike's expression on his face seemed that nothing had gone right, so Starlight and Trixie stayed quiet and continued eating. After a couple minutes of silence, Starlight spoke up, “So...how was class today, Spike.” Spike just sighs, “It was alright...if you discount the explosion.” “What explosion?” Starlight asked, concerned. “It didn’t have anything to do with Skinwalker, did it?” “Surprisingly no,” Spike answered, “It was Potion Nova.” “Wait, you mean that weirdo that attends your class?” Trixie asked. “Trixie don’t be rude.” Starlight chastises her. “Yeah, we got partnered up today and made a lesser healing potion.” Spike began to explain, “At first, things seemed to be going well until Nova decided to add extra ingredients to it and it ended up making a mess in the entire class.” “Yikes.” Starlight grimaced. “Yeah, it was not pretty.” Spike said, shaking his head. “Though, the mist that was created from it did have some benefit as it healed some of the students in class. One had his sinuses cleared and another who had a bad ankle got healed and so on.” “Hold on, doesn't she already have a crafter’s license?” Trixie asked, an eyebrow raised. “She told me it got revoked.” Spike answered. “That’s not surprising,” Trixie scoffed. “How she got a license in the first place is beyond me.” “Hey, cut her some slack will ya,” Starlight spoke in Nova’s defense, “From what I’ve heard, she is a damn good potion crafter. It’s just that she can get a little...too experimental at times.  Besides, you have a long history of spells blowing up in your face, Trixie, so don’t act high and mighty about it!” “At least I try to get the spell right rather than needlessly experiment,” Trixie muttered in defense. “Alright, you two, knock it off,” Spike said, trying to get the two girls to calm down. “Oh, alright,” Trixie said, calming down. “So what happened to Nova?” “She stayed behind so Miss Zecrora can have a little ‘chat’ with her.” Spike answered, “Look, let’s just finish our meals and head over to the movie theater. Hopefully it’s not sold out.” After eating for a few minutes, the three hear the clopping of hooves heading their way. They turn to see Potion Nova approaching them, an apologetic look written on her face. While Spike and Starlight did have welcoming expressions in their faces, Trixie’s was a bit more wary. “Hi there,” Potion Nova greeted awkwardly. “Hey,” Spike responded with a wave.. “Look Spike, I’m sorry for messing things up.” She said, rubbing the back of her neck, “I guess I got a little too antsy back there.” Spike sighed, seeing that Potion was truly genuinely sorry about what had happened earlier. He couldn’t really stay mad at her, so he gave her a sympathetic smile.  “Hey, it’s all right.” Spike said soothingly.  “Just...have a little bit of self control next time please.” “Noted,” Nova acknowledged.  She then looked away, looking more awkward and asked. “Sooo...are you doing anything after lunch? I really want to make it up to you after what happened.” Spike shrugged and responded, “Well, the girls and I do plan on seeing the new Space Demons movie.” “Ohhh, I heard the reviews were pretty good!” Potion said eagerly. “Mind if I join you? I won’t be a bother.” Spike looked back at Starlight and Trixie to see what they thought about Potion Nova joining them. Starlight herself seemed a bit more open to the idea, though Trixie looked away, her nose sticking up. “What do you say, girls?” Spike asked, his arms folded. “Should we take her with us?” “No freaking way!” Trixie responded harshly, earning a hurt look from Nova. “She might do something that’ll get us kicked out of the movie theater!” “Don’t be like that Trix. I think we should at the very least give her a chance.” Starlight suggested, “What do you think, Spike?” Realizing he’s the tiebreaker, Spike thought about it for a long minute before sighing and turning his attention to Nova, “What the hay. Nova, welcome aboard.” “I just hope we don’t end up regretting this.” Trixie grumbled. Nova’s face lights up. She grabs Spike and gives him a really tight hug, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” “Uh, yeah. No problem.” Spike blushed, his head between her large melons. Annoyed, Trixie then pulled Spike away from her and said in a stern tone, “But you better keep yourself under control.” "No problem!" Nova said with a salute. "We'll take my truck." Starlight suggested, "Though, the interior isn't exactly built for a Centaur so you might have to sit on the way back." "That's fine." Nova said with a shrug. Back at town, a human woman around the age of twenty one was watering some flowers in the front yard while a blue nose pitbull was sunbathing on the front porch. In appearance, the young woman has moderate cyan eyes, a moderate cobalt blue hair with light fuchsia stripes that ends in curls at the top and bottom. For attire, the girl wears a white frilly dress with yellow stripes and blue ribbons, a belt at the waist with a ribbon in the shape of a wrapped candy, long white knee-high socks, and light blue slippers. The human then notices the jeep pulling up in the driveway. Stepping out was the half elf and her canine companion. The human also noticed the look of concern plastered on the half elf’s face and asked, "Lyra is everything alright?" “Bon Bon, you're not gonna believe what I have on camera!” Lyra said. "What is it this time?" Bon Bon asked, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. “This better not be another one of your wild goose chases.”  "Trust me, it's not. Come inside and I'll show you." responded Lyra.   Judging by the look of her half elven friend, Bon Bon had a deep feeling that Lyra wasn’t messing around this time. Bon Bon and Lyra went inside with both of their pitbulls following suit. They head to the living room where they sat on the couch and Lyra brought out her laptop. "Now do you remember a couple days ago that I left some cameras around the edges of the Everfree to try and pick up some magi-mutant activity?" Lyra asked. “I remember telling you how much of a bad idea it was cause you might either run into one of them or get in trouble with the City Guard.” Bon Bon replied flatly. “Right...so anyway, this morning I was collecting the cameras,” Lyra said as she opened her laptop and showed Bon Bon the video she saw earlier.  “So far, most of them didn't catch anything interesting until I found this one."  The video shows an ocean of trees overlooked by a cliff with some of them being as tall as fifty foot buildings. At first, Bon Bon doesn't see anything strange, just some animals and creatures flying around, until she sees something pretty shocking. The Wyrm - Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood Soundtrack by H-Pi It was getting dark and mist was starting to roll in. At first, nothing still didn't seem to be happening until the screen started to shake every minute and large flocks of birds began to fly out of the trees. Suddenly, a massive horse-like figure appeared over the distance from the left, followed by another one from the right, and a third one appearing in the middle. Bon Bon could barely see the horse creatures due to the mists but can make out some of their features. They had long unicorn-like horns on their heads, though the one on the right had a more curved shape, pegasus-like wings and glowing eyes but each had a different color. The one on the left has purple eyes, the one on the right has blue and the one in the middle has yellow. What’s even more shocking is that these...horses were as big as the building sized trees. “Holy crap…” Bon Bon said with widened eyes. “That’s what I said.” Lyra said, "This was taken yesterday evening." After a couple of minutes, Bon Bon notices something and says, “Hold up! Rewind a bit!” “Ok…” Lyra said as she did just that. “Stop! Look, right there!  Near the yellow eyed one.” Bon Bon pointed at the screen. Lyra started to see it, too. She and Bon Bon noticed a small ball of light flying from the top of the yellow eyed horse creature’s head. It started floating around the horse creatures for a minute before flying away. “What the hell? What was that?” Bon Bon asked as she squinted her eyes. “Hear, I’ll zoom in.” Lyra said as she started zooming in on the object. As they got closer, they saw it was a bird-like creature that looked like a mix of a hawk and a crane with red and orange feathers. Both girls’ eyes widen, realizing what kind of bird it is. “Holy shit, is that a phoenix?” Bon Bon asked in bewilderment. “Sure looks like it.” Lyra said as she studied the bird. “Wait a second, I did see one flying around earlier.” Bon Bon recalled. “I doubt it’s a coincidence, it could be the same one.” Lyra suggested. "Come on Lyra, aren’t you thinking about this a little too hard?” Bon Bon asked, thinking Lyra is starting to get into one of her conspiracy theories. “Bon Bon think about. Phoenixes are rare and aren’t exactly known for eating from your bird feeders every morning.” Lyra pointed out.  Bon Bon thought about it for a minute and had to agree that phoenixes were very difficult to find, let alone seeing one fly around a public place. Just then, the two notice the horse creatures spreading their mighty wings and fly away, the flaps unleashing gusts of wind that shook the screen. The girls also get to see the full display of horse creatures' wings, the purple eyed one had wings like that of an owl, the yellow eyed one were akin to a swan's, and the most shocking of all, the blue eyed one's resembled a bat's. After that, Bon Bon just continues to look at the screen with utter shock. Her friend Lyra wasn’t on another wild goose chase after all. "That's where it ends," Lyra explains, "After that things just go back to normal." "So these...things are living in the Everfree?" Bon Bon asked, trying to wrap around what she just saw. "Looks like it." Lyra answered, "And I can bet you dollars to donuts that these horse things are the reason that we've been having magi-mutant attacks recently." "What makes you say that Lyra?" Bon Bon asked. "Imagine this,” Lyra began to explain. “You're a predator hunting in a territory you've established for quite a while until another animal that is bigger and stronger than you comes along claims your territory as its own. Now what would you do, Bonnie? Would you fight this much larger animal to defend your turf and most likely either get seriously injured or even killed, or would you do the smart thing and find some other place to hunt?" Bon Bon admits that she couldn’t argue with that logic. "Bonnie, you said you saw a phoenix earlier today, did you see where it was going?" Lyra asked. "Well, it looked like it was following a bus that was going to DVC." Bon Bon answered. Lyra was silent for a second before asking another question, "Do we know anyone going to DVC today?" "I think Tavi, Vinyl, Minuette, Lemon Drops, Twinkleshine, Starlight, Trixie, Moon Dancer and Spike are attending today." "Hmmm, we might have to ask them if they saw a phoenix today." Meanwhile, high above the Everfree Forest was a sea of clouds. The phoenix that was spying on Spike and the girls had risen above the clouds and flew to one that was shaped like a giant cave entrance. As the bird flew near to the cloud shaped cave, it let out a loud squawk. It was then that a white, colossal, swan-like wing with gold tips stretched out in the opening. The phoenix lands on the giant wing which then retracts back into the cave.