Ch 1: Dragons don't do Friendship
The dragon named Twilight was not your average dragon.
Twilight stood mostly upright on two legs and had a slender body covered in purple scales, lavender coloured to be more specific. She was thin, but not quite lanky, and her wings were small, but large enough to wrap around herself if she stretched them. She had a pair of backward pointing horns sprouting from her head, and a frill of spines made of three different shades of purple, and a few more tiny spines that ran down her back.
Of course, none of this made her unusual by any means. Dragons came in many different shapes and colours, so she was fairly average by that standard. Or rather, there was no real average, so she would be considered average by the mere notion that there was none to measure to.
She was the type of dragon to stay by her lonesome when given the choice, and didn’t get along with other dragons. Again, this wasn’t anything unusual when it came to dragons. Dragons by and large were antisocial, and their natural aggression tended to bring out the worst in each other, so many dragons staked out their own territory, gathered a hoard of gems or bits to lord over, and largely kept to themselves.
No, what made Twilight so unusual was her approach to intelligence. By which she had one. Most dragons found learning and intelligence to be a frivolous, or even poisonous thing, better to be avoided where possible. Twilight wasn’t sure where this social norm had come from, but the desire to learn anything beyond basic functioning in dragon society, made any dragon somewhat of a pariah within the Dragon Lands.
But Twilight had an insatiable curiosity, one that she largely had learned over the years to keep secret when among other dragons. While there was little she could learn within dragon culture, she often took to wandering the borders of dragon territory. She took note of the type of creatures that surrounded them, and catalogued in her mind where they lived. She often found there were more creatures that inhabited the forests on the edge of the Dragon Lands, than compared to the rocky terrain further within, so that was where she spent a lot of her time.
That was likely the only reason she had bumped into the pony now standing before her.
The pony’s coat was also purple, but a slightly darker shade than Twilight. He had a bright green Mohawk mane that reminded her of a dragon’s frill, but made of hair instead of horn or spines. He did have a single horn though, pointing out the top of his head, and unlike dragon horns, this one was the same colour as his coat. He also had a strange picture on either side of his flank. A six-pointed star surrounded by a green flame. Twilight thought the pictures was something all ponies had, but this was the first pony she had ever seen, so she couldn’t be sure.
The two of them stared silently at each other, occasionally blinking, but little else happened as though neither of them wanted to startle the other, fearing some kind of hostile reaction.
Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled, hoping to expel the disbelief of the sight before her. The pony was still there, so she figured she wasn’t hallucinating.
“Well,” she began, noting how the pony flinched at her voice. She’d always heard ponies were rather skittish. It really continued to raise questions what the heck he was doing here in the first place. “You are certainly not what I was expecting to find today.”
The pony swallowed. “Yeah, me too.” He tilted his head, as though thinking. “Well, it’s not really that I didn’t expect to find a dragon here, it’s just that I didn’t think I’d find one so soon? I mean I think I’m looking for a dragon, because of where I am, but I don’t really know. I could be looking for a pony that got lost, but somehow, I get the feeling that’s not why I’m here, you know?” he asked. “By the way, my name’s Spike,” he offered with a friendly smile. “Wow, I think I just channelled Pinkie Pie for a moment there, way to go Spike,” he added quietly to himself as his smile faltered, though his words were still loud enough for Twilight to hear.
Twilight blinked at the verbal diarrhea that had been expelled from the small pony.
“So much for ponies being skittish,” she thought to herself.
“Uh, I’m Twilight,” she offered, but then shook her head to rattle off the confusion. “Okay, so, absolutely none of that explains what you’re doing in the Dragon Lands?”
“Oh right!” the pony said, plastering a smile on his face. “I’ve come to the Dragon Lands to solve a friendship problem!”
Twilight blinked, staring at the odd pony, waiting for an explanation that didn’t seem to be coming. “Huh?”
“Uh, sorry,” he replied, scratching a hoof behind his head. “I might be a little nervous, cause this is the first time I’ve been sent on my own. Long story short, back at the castle is a magical map that sends my friends and I off all across Equestria solving problems ponies have with friendship. And I guess other creatures too? This is the first time one of us have been sent outside our borders.”
“Uh huh.” Twilight narrowed her eyes. At least he was talking at a normal rate now. The pony seemed sincere, but a kind of innocent sincerity of one that obviously didn’t know any better. “Look, I think you’re in the wrong place, because dragons don’t exactly do friendship.”
He shrugged with a know-it-all smirk. “That sounds like a friendship problem to me.”
Twilight groaned and rubbed her eyes with a claw. She could feel a migraine coming on soon. “Look pony, you’re lucky you bumped into me and not some other dragon, because anyone else probably would’ve roasted you by now.”
“Then… why haven’t you?”
The question caught her off guard a little. “I… It’s not that I wouldn’t!” Twilight blurted out. “I just don’t see the point,” she answered with a huff, facing off to the side slightly embarrassed.
Why did she care what this silly pony thought?
“Either way, it’s not going to be safe for you here, and seriously doubt you’d be able to teach dragons about friendship or whatever it is you’re here for,” she said, absently scratching her shoulder.
The pony shook his head defiantly. “Nuh uh, I’m not leaving even before I’ve found the problem I’m meant to be solving. You seem nice, can you think of anything out of the ordinary?”
“Dragons aren’t nice!” Twilight snapped.
Spike’s ears tilted back and he stepped away at her outburst. “S-sorry!” He stammered. “It’s just, you seemed a lot ni… uh, a lot less aggressive than I thought dragons were.”
Twilight huffed in frustration. “I don’t need a pony to tell how little of a dragon I am too,” she mumbled to herself. “But to answer your question; no, I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary,” she shrugged. “Everything’s normal here in the dragon lands and the dragons that live here. Same antisocial behaviour, same ashen skies, same fights, same old, same old.” She rolled her shoulders, trying to get rid of an itch that was somewhere across her back she couldn’t reach easily.
“Uh… so is that normal?”
“Is what normal?” she asked, scraping a claw across her belly. Did she touch something that was causing a reaction? She hoped she wasn’t being too obvious about her itching.
From the look of Spike’s gaze however, she probably was. “The… glowing?” he said, pointing her way.
The itching was getting worse, now using both hands to deal with it, suddenly not caring about appearances as she scratched everywhere that burned with irritation. Which was everywhere.
But Spike’s words gave her pause as she looked down at herself, finding a soft glow emanating from her scales. She gasped. “I know this! It’s the call of the Dragon Lord. But he hasn’t called all dragons since even before I was born.”
Spike raised an eyebrow sceptically. “Your leader calls for you by making your scales glow and itch?”
“You try ignoring every extremity of your body feeling like they’re burning in acid,” she snapped. Another wave of irritation ran through her body and her claws went right back to scratching every itch. “But it’s certainly a good way of getting a stubborn dragon’s attention. I need to go, it’s the only way to settle my scales if I go see what the Dragon Lord wants from us.”
“Wait, I’m coming too!” the pony leapt beside her and began to follow as Twilight turned to leave. “This must have something to do with why I was sent here.”
Twilight deadpanned as she looked his way, but didn’t stop moving. She was already starting to feel better, but still needed to dedicate some attention to her scales. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She asked as they walked. “You’re literally walking into what could be the largest gathering of dragons in the last few decades. You lucked out finding the only dragon that wouldn’t attack you on sight once, what are you going to do when surrounded by dragons that want to see how long they can get your mane to burn before reaching the skin?”
Spike cringed at her description. “Colourful. But you don’t have to worry about me. I am a master of disguise. They won’t even know I’m there.”
Twilight wanted to convince him otherwise, but with her scales burning as they were, she couldn’t formulate a proper argument, and so just groaned in defeat. “This is a really bad idea.”
“I’m not even going to ask where you got that from,” Twilight sighed, looking at the ‘disguise’ Spike had somehow found. It was… a rock. A boxy shaped rock with flat, misshapen angles, and with a pair of holes in it for him to peek through. That said, it was a pretty convincing rock, and even managed to match the general colour of the bedrock in the amphitheatre.
“I can be resourceful,” he replied satisfied, his voice echoing slightly in the cramped space.
Twilight knocked her knuckle against the surface, resulting in a muted tap. “Is that some kind of cheap wood? Or paper?”
“Cardboard mostly.”
She was suddenly very curious whether he’d made it in the intervening time, or somehow had it already prepared before he came to the dragon lands, and now regretted saying she didn’t want to ask.
“Just… keep quiet, and hope that no dragon sneezes too close to your rock,” Twilight muttered, and she looked across the basalt amphitheatre. This was the meeting ground for when the Dragon Lord called an audience. She was still lightly glowing, but thankfully the itching had faded now that she was here.
Dragons of all shapes and sizes had arrived, many finding their own seats in solitude, but a number had begun mingling amongst themselves. Usually, one of the larger dragons with a bunch of hangers-on, trying to work their way up the pecking order by sticking with a dragon stronger than themselves.
It was one of the closest things dragons had to cooperation, but even that was a rough corruption of the general concept, with the one on top ordering around the others like servants, while they all bided their time or watched for opportunities to overthrow the leader and take their spot. It was exactly the type of social fenagling that Twilight despised, so she made every effort to minimise her contact with other dragons.
She still recognized a few groups of dragons, mostly by reputation. The closest of the problematic dragons that were hanging around closest to her was Garble, a dragon with red scales, and a yellow underbelly, frill and spines. He wasn’t particularly big or strong, and he was dumb as a rock, but he was above average and had a chip on his shoulder like he wanted to prove something, so he often asserted himself where he wasn’t wanted. Which was everywhere. It was a bit of a mystery how he got his small group to follow his lead, but they were mostly peons that sucked up to him, and inflated his ego.
Garble was mostly known for his particular hatred for ponies, even more so than other dragons, though she wasn’t sure where that hatred came from, or if he’d ever actually seen a pony. She certainly hadn’t till she met Spike, and even then, she couldn’t see why Garble would be so angry at such a pacifistic society.
Twilight took care to look small enough that she wasn’t imposing on anyone else’s space, but holding a hard enough expression to ensure they’d leave her alone. It was a tough balance that could easily attract attention if she went too hard either way. Too weak and she’d be a prime target for bullying. Too tough and others would harass her for her spot on the pecking order. She knew the song and dance well enough to play it, but it was exhausting being around other dragons, and such a high number of them in close proximity was making her anxious. Especially now that she had a ‘walking problem solver’ in the form of a pony that could destroy what little reputation she had if he was discovered.
“Also, when the Dragon Lord shows up, don’t make a noise. I’ve heard his hearing is exceptional,” She whispered. “Just like everything about him.”
“So, is the Dragon Lord like our Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?” Spike asked, seeming to ignore her suggestion to keep quiet.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I don’t have any idea what your rulers are like,” She hushed back. “But Dragon Lord Torch the most dragon of all dragons. He’s the biggest, the strongest, and he’s lived and ruled for centuries.”
“So, why do you think he’s called you here?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know, it could be any number of things.” Twilight spared a glance around to see if anyone was paying any attention, which they weren’t so she went on. “He could be making an important announcement, declaring war on another nation, he could even just flexing his authority to remind dragons who’s in charge.”
“Wait, War!?” Spike exclaimed, a little too loudly for her liking.
Garble and some of his group being the closest to her, turned at the noise. In a panic, Twilight gave a couple of loud coughs, trying to mask Spike’s outburst. It probably worked too, but the damage had been done, and their attention was on her now.
“Well, well, looks like the little nerdling,” Garble sneered as he approached. “What are you doing here?”
Twilight crossed her arms and looked towards the throne, pointedly away from Garble and his cronies. “Garble,” she greeted curtly. “I got the call just like you did.”
“Hah, sure, I’m surprised you even got the call. I always figured you were a pony in disguise. Seriously, what kind of a name is Nightlight anyway?”
Twilight knew she should be ignoring him, but unintelligence always rubbed her the wrong way, and Garble was the worst of them. “It’s Twilight, like the time of day? When the sun is rising or setting and makes the sky light up like fire?”
“Augh, whatever,” he grumbled, and shoved her to the ground as his cronies began to laugh at her. “This is why nobody likes you nerdling, you’re hardly even a dragon.”
Twilight glared back up at him, only to swallow her retort as she watched him jump up and sit on Spike’s disguise rock. She drew a breath as it crumpled slightly under his weight, and spotted Spike’s eyes cringing in dread from behind his peepholes.
A couple of seconds passed as the other dragons continued to laugh. Garble hadn’t seemed to question the surface he was sitting on, but he looked around distracted and sniffed the air. “Yech, you even smell like a pony.”
She was almost stunned at his apparent obliviousness, but spotted an opening. “Oh really? And how do you know what a pony smells like?” She said with a sly grin. “You hang around with them so commonly you can just guess when one’s around by smell alone?”
“Hey, what are you saying?!” he growled. He was leaning over to glare at her now, just barely on the edge of the disguised rock. He just needed a little more of a push.
“You’re always complaining about their tea parties and dresses and all that, I can only imagine how long you must have stuck around them to know ponies so well,” she teased.
“Oh yeah!?” Garble leapt off the rock and stomped towards her.
One the one hand, she was able to relax that Spike was looking better and the disguise had held up. On the other hand however, she now had a wannabe alpha dragon stomping towards her.
“I only beat up ponies, not hang out with them!” he snarled at her, and she found herself taking an unconscious step backward. “Want me to show you?” He threatened.
“Well there aren’t any ponies here so get lost,” Twilight spat, hoping that her voice wasn’t cracking. “You’re just projecting and looking for a fight.”
Garble frowned and tilted his head. “Pro-whating?”
Twilight blinked for a moment, and sighed inwardly, her tension forgotten. “Augh every dragon I meet is an absolute moron. I hate this place,” she thought to herself.
After not receiving an answer, Garble snorted and shrugged. “Whatever, let’s get away from this pony stink,” he said to the others, and as one, the group left her alone.
She held her breath for a moment longer, until the other dragons had gone far enough away, before she finally let it out and relaxed.
“Phew,” she heard Spike. Obviously not alone as she had hoped. “That was a close one.”
Twilight glared at Spike through his peepholes. “Are you crazy!?” she snapped, quietly but forceful. “Do you want to be caught!?”
“But…”
“No, not another word till this is over!” she interrupted. “This is already a huge mistake, so please don’t make me regret this any further.”
Spike’s mouth hung slightly open, on the edge of speaking, but in the end, he shut his mouth and nodded meekly, eyes downturned in apology.
“Good,” she finished, turning her back on the pony and returning to the way she’d been standing earlier, putting on a frown to hopefully deter any dragon from interacting with her. Her current frustration might even help.
His response was almost quiet enough that she didn’t even hear it. “I’m sorry.”
The defeat in his voice hit her differently than she’d been expecting, and her expression softened slightly. There was genuine regret coming from the pony, and that wasn’t something she heard very often. It was the sort of response she only ever heard… from herself.
Dragons weren’t much for apologies, and every time she did so, she’d been scolded for it.
An apology is weakness. It’s submitting and accepting your place as lesser.
Or so she’d been told. It was a hard learned lesson, and one that never sat well with her. She almost turned around to reassure him, but she didn’t get the chance.
A great shadow covered the amphitheatre that silenced and drew the attention of every dragon. A wingspan the size of mountains blocked the sun, orange as deep as flame on the underwing and accents while darker swamp green scales covered most of the body of the enormous dragon. His horns were larger than his head, which already had a jaw that alone was larger than two of Twilight standing on top of each other. Over his chest was a breastplate of dark steel that would have taken dozens of regular dragons to hammer out over months, and atop his head was a crown of red crystal, large enough Twilight could hide inside, if she was feeling particularly suicidal.
“Dragons of Equestria!” the Dragon Lord Torch began, his voice echoing through the air. “Hear me! I have been Dragon Lord for longer than many of you can remember, and my reign has been extraordinary!” He took a moment for dramatic effect, but scowled in the silence that followed.
“AGREE WITH ME!” he bellowed, and the dragons quickly acquiesced with cheers and hoots as befitting their great leader. Even Twilight felt the urge to give a polite applause, though a little more restrained than most of her fellows.
Shortly after the other dragons began chanting his name, he raised a hand for silence, satisfied with the adulation.
“Unfortunately,” he continued. “According to dragon law, it is time for me to step down. Sad I know.” Again, he waited for a reaction, but when no response came he bellowed out another order.
“BE SAD!”
This one felt a little on the nose, so Twilight had a little difficulty even faking it, though a good number of the other dragons appeared to have some genuine sobbing.
“This is why I have summoned you!” The great dragon continued, silencing the sobs. “To compete for the throne, in the Gauntlet of Fire!”
There was no need for the Dragon Lord to request a cheer this time, as the news was honestly something the Dragons could get behind. However instead of excitement, Twilight felt nothing but apprehension. Dragon Lord Torch had been a firm, but stable leader for centuries. Whoever replaced him would mean change in one way or another, and any of the young dragons would be eager to flex their new authority if they achieved it.
The Lord held up a small sceptre between the tips of his claws. “Whomever has the strength and fortitude to retrieve this bloodstone sceptre from the heart of the Flamecano, will be crowned Lord of the Dragons!” From the distance, she had to squint to even see the sceptre, tiny as it was in his grip. She wasn’t sure, but Twilight thought she had heard of this sceptre before in her studies. It was supposedly discovered or created by the father of dragons and imbued the one who held it with the authority over all dragons. Though it was small in Torch’s claws now, it was likely the same one that he must have acquired when he first rose to power.
She didn’t get anymore time to analyse it however, as he turned on his throne, and with pinpoint accuracy, sent it sailing through the air towards an isolated island on the edge of the dragon territory. The sceptre itself quickly disappeared from Twilight’s vision, but the eruption a moment later, told her exactly where it had gone. The wave of heat washed over everyone and all their scales stopped glowing, letting them all know that the call had been answered, and their duty fulfilled. Also, if any dragon had been unable to join the meeting, they would now be relieved from the duty.
If any of them wanted, the dragons were now technically free to leave, but she knew the social blunder it would be if any dragon actually did so before the Lord left first, so she let out a sigh in relief, but remained in her spot.
“The Gauntlet is dangerous, for I designed it myself. Only dragons with my ferocity, strength, and determination will be able to finish. Every single dragon will gather at the cliff tomorrow, when the sun is at it’s peak, and you will prove who is worthy, of becoming the new Dragon Lord!”
The assembled dragons began to cheer in excitement, but Twilight cringed inwardly with a sigh. “But it’s supposed to be voluntary,” she mumbled.
“What was that?!” the Dragon Lord’s voice called out, piercing through the cheers and his eyes narrowed on Twilight.
The rest of the dragons immediately stopped cheering, and the ones in her immediate area stepped away in an instant as Torch glared, looming over her. Twilight felt very exposed and vulnerable all of a sudden under the attention of their ruler, and all her pho-bravado evaporated.
“Well? It wasn’t a rhetorical question,” the enormous dragon grumbled.
“Oh! uh… I’m sorry for interrupting, your lordship,” Twilight began meekly, surprised that he managed to hear her mumbling all the way at the back. “But the old laws state that participation in the trials of the Dragon Lord is meant to be voluntary.”
“What!?” The mighty dragon’s voice echoed down at her, and Twilight had to dig her talons into the ground to keep from being blown off her feet. Some part of her managed to remember Spike, and held onto the fake rock he hid under, disguising the movement as if she were bracing herself. “And how do you know this?”
Resisting the urge to block her ears, she swallowed before answering. “I’m training as a Soothsage. I’ve had to memorise a lot of the old laws.”
“Oh, I see,” Dragon Lord Torch grumbled, leaning back and saving Twilight from his voice. “You’re Cracklewing’s student aren’t you? Where is that old hag anyway?”
“Um… I imagine she’s still back at her cave?” Twilight suggested. “She broke her wing the other week and hasn’t been able to move easily while recovering.”
Torch let out a single hearty laugh. “Hah! What did she do? Use her brain too hard?” He laughed at his own joke a moment, before noticing that no one else had joined him. “BE AMUSED!” he bellowed, and the other dragons began to laugh and jeer.
Twilight could feel herself shrinking down even further under the unwanted attention, wishing she could disappear entirely.
She heard the wings of another landing nearby, and she cringed even further, tensing before whatever further humiliation she was about to be subjected to.
“Augh, give it a rest Dad, she clearly has no interest in competing.”
Twilight blinked in surprise, and saw a sharp-eyed, slender dragon only slightly larger than herself with sky blue scales and navy-blue spines landing beside her. It was a dragon she knew well, though again, only by reputation. Princess Ember herself was… standing up for Twilight?
“And besides, she has a point,” Ember said, pointing a thumb her way casually. “No point forcing the weaklings to compete if they’re just going to get themselves hurt or killed.”
“Alright fine,” the dragon lord said with a huff. “You don’t have to enter the gauntlet if you’re scared. Only the strongest dragons need apply!”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief she’d been listened to.
“Works for me,” Ember said, taking wing. “Less competition for me to worry about.”
Ember shot off, but was quickly stopped by the Lord’s catching her in his hand. Twilight flinched in sympathy, worried the Princess was about to be crushed, but they’d obviously done this before, as when Torch opened his palm, Ember was none the worse off, other than looking up at her father with an indignant look. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked, looking down at the dragon in his palm.
“Fewer dragons in the competition means fewer dragons to get in my way when I win.”
“HAH! You’re not competing”
“What!?”
“You’re barely any bigger than that weakling I sent home. How could you even hope to lead?”
“You can’t be serious!?” She argued, flapping her wings and rising to point directly at his face. “I’m smarter than most of these boulder heads put together, and you know it!”
“Being smart won’t help you win. You need to be big like me to compete! Because you need to be big and strong to lead!”
“What are you talking about!?” Ember complained. “There isn’t a dragon alive that’s as big as you!”
“You’re not going anywhere! I said no!”
Princess Ember was thrown through the air from her father’s voice and caught herself a few meters back, but rather than intimidated, she just looked furious.
Twilight felt conflicted. The way the Dragon Lord was acting again conflicted the old laws, but this time she hadn’t attracted his attention yet, and she certainly didn’t want to. But Ember had stood up for her, did Twilight have the courage to do so for the Princess?
“Uh, actually…” Twilight began, finding her voice.
“What now?!” Torch bellowed, turning on the purple dragon again. “Are you still here?”
“It’s barely been a minute,” Twilight thought to herself, but didn’t voice her complaints. Instead, she took a breath to settle her nerves and drew herself up as best she could. “Just as it’s voluntary, the Dragon Lord trials are open to all dragons, regardless of age, size, or other limiting factors.”
The Dragon Lord narrowed his eyes. “Is that true?”
Twilight couldn’t stop herself from swallowing her nerves. “Y-yes. Just as the first Lord Bahamut laid down as law in ancient times.”
The ancient dragon glared down at her, a deep rumble echoing from his throat, and Twilight could swear she could see the glow of fire from his nostrils. For several seconds he didn’t move, and Twilight didn’t dare break eye contact in case he snapped at her.
But eventually he leaned back with a dissatisfied grunt. “Very well. Let it be known I am not one to ignore the wisdom of our great Father of Dragons. Any dragon may enter or not as they choose.” He turned on his daughter, still hovering in the air and pointed a single claw at her. “And as for you!” he roared. “You may enter if you really want to get beaten up by a real dragon. But when you do, I expect you to listen to the new Dragon Lord, daughter of mine.”
Unperturbed, Princess Ember snarled right back at her father. Twilight was impressed. She wasn’t sure where Ember got the nerves of steel to stare down a dragon more than ten times her size. “I won’t have to worry about that because I’LL be the one to find that sceptre first!”
“Hah! We shall see,” Dragon Lord Torch guffawed. Turning to the assembly, he addressed the rest of the dragons once more. “Remember, tomorrow at noon! Be there or surrender your claim to greatness!”
Cheers swept through the crowd once more, which he revelled in for a moment before stretching his wings. “I’m getting too old for this,” he sighed, pumping his wings and taking to the air, sending waves of rushing wind through the younger dragons, and he sailed off into the distance to wait for tomorrow.
Twilight let out a breath again, feeling the exhaustion of her anxieties catching up with her. She wanted nothing more to leave and forget the whole ordeal, but there were still so many other dragons, and she couldn’t leave Spike by himself. Instead, she took the chance to catch her breath and listen to the mood and banter of the other dragons as they slowly began to disperse.
What she heard, didn’t fill her with confidence. Almost all the younger dragons about her age had fairly immature ideas on how to flex their authority if they managed to gain the throne, and many of them were already convinced of their own victory. The most troubling theme however were the number of dragons that wanted to invade the ponies for various reasons. Stealing pillows or cakes, but the one that stood out was of course Garble, who spoke of revenge.
“Seriously, what is that guys problem?” Twilight wondered.
Sparing another glance around, no-one seemed to be taking any notice of her. “Spike,” she whispered. “How are you doing?”
He was silent for a moment, but she could see his eyes looking around from his peepholes. “Not great,” he whispered back. “Are you hearing those dragons? I wouldn’t want any of them to be the new dragon lord. What do we do?”
Twilight frowned at that. “We aren’t doing anything but waiting till more of them disperse. I can’t get you out of here without looking suspicious.”
Spike’s eyes sank to the ground, and she heard him shift, probably sitting down on his haunches. “What am I going to do?” he asked with a defeated tone to his voice. “I was supposed to be solving a friendship problem, but this is way more serious. I might have to stop a war somehow.”
She flinched at the despair in his voice and a light pain rose up in her throat. That was the second time she felt sorry for this pony.
She faced away, turning to look at the other dragons that were still leaving slowly, hoping the he didn’t see the pain in her face. Already some of the more boisterous dragons were arguing or wrestling each other, trying even now to get a leg up in the competition tomorrow.
Her wings curled around her slightly, like a blanket over her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she answered him, wishing she could do more.
But she was just one dragon, and not even a very good one at that.
It took almost an hour before Twilight felt comfortable there were few enough dragons that they wouldn’t notice the shifting rock, and she helped Spike get out of danger. He had been quiet and despondent the whole time, and it was starting to get dark. There was no way she was going to leave him helpless and alone in dragon territory, so she did the unthinkable and offered to let him stay in her cave for the night.
Spike perked up enough to thank her for the offer, and followed her quietly enough they were able to avoid attention.
One of the first problems came when she heard his stomach growling. Apparently, the pony’s friendship missions didn’t usually take more than a day, so he hadn’t brought much with him in terms of supplies. She also discovered she didn’t really know what ponies ate, as he politely declined a snack of garnets she had collected previously.
Spike insisted he would be fine, he’d gone without food before for long periods before, though he didn’t explain what he meant by that. He mostly spent the time by himself in a corner, levitating a stick with his magic and sketching on the ground, thinking about what he could possibly do to complete his mission. A few times she heard him mumbling under his breath in frustration.
Before long, night time had fallen, and it was one of those rare nights that the ash and cloud cover cleared up enough that Twilight could see the stars in the sky. She sat at the mouth of her cave home and appreciated the quiet moment.
She quite enjoyed the stars. It was something peaceful she could watch, compared to the rest of dragon life. Once, she tried to catalogue the stars positions on the ceiling of her cave. It was a monumental task, but something she actually felt accomplished, even just for the attempt. She had to smooth out the ceiling first, otherwise any marks she made would be invisible amongst the natural bumps and crevices of the stone. Then it was a painstaking effort to measure and carve each star with her claws. She knew it would be a monumental task, but after perhaps a month of work, she slowly determined it would be next to impossible, as the movement of the stars as night progressed meant she could only ever map out one section of the night sky, and the more she worked on one section, the more detail she would discover.
The work was still there, if you knew where to look.
Twilight was broken out of her reverie at the sound of clopping hooves behind her.
“So, come up with any ideas?” she asked Spike as he approached.
He sighed and lay down on his belly beside her. “Plenty of thoughts, no real ideas. I don’t think I can interrupt the Gauntlet, that would be interfering in the way another nation is governed. And while that would probably be good for us ponies to make sure whoever becomes the next dragon lord doesn’t declare war on us, I’m not sure that’s what I’m supposed to be here for.” He placed a hoof on his chin and furrowed his brow in thought. “The map always seems to know who’s needed for any mission, so there must be a reason I was sent here on my own. Something only I can do. But I don’t know what that is yet.”
“I wish I could do more to help, but this sounds completely out of my skillset,” Twilight admitted.
Spike looked at her, tilting his head slightly in curiosity. “So, what is your skillset? I heard you mention you were studying to be a…” Spike furrowed his brow as he tried to recall what was said earlier. “Sooth-something? What’s that about?”
“Soothsage,” Twilight offered, leaning back against the rock wall and staring up at the stars. “It probably sounds more important than it is. Just a dragon that learns the old laws so they don’t get forgotten. In case you haven’t noticed, most dragons don’t have a high respect for intelligence or lessons, so it usually falls to the Soothsage to hold onto our history.”
“Cool.”
Twilight couldn’t keep the surprise off her face at Spike’s response and her eyes snapped his way. The smile he wore was genuine. No one had ever had that response when she told them what she was training for. “Really?” she asked, still unable to conceal her bemusement.
Spike narrowed his eyebrows at her question. “Yeah? Why not? It sounds like a really important job, and you must know all kinds of neat stories. I’m guessing you’ve read a lot of books?”
It was Twilight’s turn to frown in confusion.
“What’s a… book?”
The pony shuddered, face twisting as if they were in pain and cringed where he lay on the ground.
Twilight raised an eyeridge. “What’s wrong with you?”
Spike shook his head as if shaking off something. “I’m not sure, but something about the way you said that gave me a chill like something was fundamentally wrong with the world.”
“You ponies are weird.”
“Says the dragon that doesn’t even know what a book is,” he mumbled.
Twilight snorted and rolled her eyes, letting that one slide. The two of them sat there silently for a while, staring up at the stars.
Twilight thought for a moment. She felt oddly comfortable with the pony’s presence. Certainly more comfortable than when she was around other dragons. None of them cared what she did, or what she was learning, so she had learned to just keep quiet and stick to herself. Spike was just a pony, there weren’t really the same reason’s that stopped her talking to other dragons.
“Do you ever feel like you don’t belong?” she found herself asking. The question should horrify her to voice. It was revealing such a weakness, opening herself to vulnerability, but for once she didn’t care.
“Every day of my life.”
Twilight looked over in surprise at the pony’s response. Despite the melancholy of the past few hours, his words still seemed completely out of character for him considering his upbeat attitude when they first met. A moment later he blinked in surprise and seemed to realize what he had just said. “Wait! That sound’s worse than it is!” he waved a hoof defensively. “That’s not what I meant, just forget it, it’s not important!”
She chuckled despite herself. “I don’t think so, you can’t leave me hanging like that,” She snorted. Twilight took a softer tone and asked “Come on, what’s up?”
Spike had a guilty look on his face that he tried to hide. “It’s not that bad. I just… I don’t even know.” He gave a sigh and looked down at his hooves. “I guess I just feel overwhelmed. Ever since the day I got my cutie mark, I’ve felt like I’ve been struggling to keep up with everypony’s expectations.” Spike gave a shrug and a nervous laugh. “I mean, I guess I have met them. I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student, I became the Element of Magic, and my friends and I have saved Equestria from all sorts of threats and problems.” His smile faded and became a frown. “Though it was always a struggle, often a close thing. As weird as this is going to sound, I almost feel like all this was supposed to happen to somepony else? Like I’m some kind of imposter. If that makes sense?”
“Sounds like you’ve got the opposite problem I have,” Twilight snorted sourly. “No one has any real expectations of me. Even my teacher, Cracklewing, makes a show of being surprised every time I show up to a lesson, saying she expected I would’ve given up by now. If I up and disappeared tomorrow, I don’t think anyone would even notice.”
She got to her feet and began pacing out her frustration. “I just feel so… bored here. I have an intellect that far outpaces every dragon my age, and even most of the dragons our parents age, but I have barely anything to do with it. And that’s not even hyperbole, or arrogance, I am literally smarter than everyone surrounding me, because they literally see intelligence as a bad thing! All dragons care about are being strong and showing off with pathetic attempts to impress each other with bravado and big-headedness.”
Twilight took a breath to relax and stop herself getting too worked up. There was still that anxious energy, but it began to settle. “Something’s going to change with whoever the new Dragon Lord becomes. All the dragons competing are young and have something to prove. And no matter who it is… it’s not going to be good. I don’t… I don’t like change.”
She could feel a hotness in her eyes, but she squeezed it down, and refused to let any tears show.
Dragons didn’t cry.
She stood there, containing her emotions, but jumped slightly when she felt a touch on her side. She found Spike had stepped up to her and was resting a hoof on her side with a sympathetic look on his eye. He couldn’t reach her shoulder, so it was probably as high as he could manage.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked, attempting to keep her voice strong.
“Just… trying to help?” he offered. “Trying to show you some comfort?”
It was something about the way he looked, that the heat in her eyes came back. How was he making this even harder?
She stepped to the side with a turn of her head, hiding her face from him. “W-well don’t. It’s weird.”
“Sorry,” he said meekly, and again a pang with through her eyes. “I guess I don’t understand dragons that well.”
“I just don’t like change, that’s all,” She insisted. “It means things are different, and I prefer everything in order. Change disrupts that.”
“Well, if you don’t like change, then why don’t you make sure it’s a change you could like?”
Twilight huffed derisively. “Yeah? And how could I manage that? I’m just one dragon, and barely even a good one.”
Spike went silent from that comment. Then his eyes lit up in excitement as he looked up at her. “What if you became the Dragon Lord?!”
Twilight’s eyes bugged out of her head at the suggestion. “Wh-what!? You have got to be kidding!”
“I’m serious,” Spike insisted. “You said it yourself, all of those other dragons would make a horrible Dragon Lord. This must be what I’m here for. What the map sent me here to do!”
“But I can’t!” She said, stepping back. Clearly the pony had no idea what he was suggesting.
“Well why not?”
“I… I couldn’t possibly win the contest. I’m the least dragon-like dragon ever.”
“But if you did and became the new Dragon Lord, then you’d be the most dragon of all dragon. Everyone else will look up to you on how to be the best dragon they can be!” Spike argued, becoming more animated as he convinced himself.
It was wrong, it was so wrong she didn’t even know how to explain it. Her as the Dragon Lord? It was preposterous. “But how could I get them to listen to anything I say? none of them would ever believe in me.”
“I believe in you.”
Those simple words pierced through her cleaner than anything else he said that night. The sincerity behind his words floored Twilight where she stood, and she was struck dumb. Nobody had ever had any kind of faith in her before. And the words kindled something inside her.
“Don’t you think there would be a few things you’d change if you could?” Spike asked.
Twilight thought about what it could mean. Her as the Dragon Lord? She was one of the worst dragons when it came to it. She’d always tried to change herself more to fit in, but it never seemed to stick. But the idea sparked one thought in her mind. A thought that now it came to her, it wouldn’t leave her alone.
“What if I could change what it meant to be a dragon?”