Holding Out For a Hero
Spike
The dragon's eyes scanned the school yard closely. In his mind, he was playing out the directions that Rarity had given him moments before. Step One: Find Sweetie Belle when school let out. Step Two: Walk Sweetie Belle back to Rarity's. Step Three: Collect the gems that she promised. And Step Four: Eat.
It was quite simple really if one considered how well the reward outweighed the challenge, but it still gave Spike very little satisfaction about completing the task. He was a hero now, not some side-kick who lived in the shadow of the elements of harmony, but a full blown hero. If it wasn't for him, and Twilight admittedly, The Crystal Empire would still be under the control of King Sombre. And yet you wouldn't realize that from the reception he was given back home. Sure he had his own mural up at the castle, but that was miles from here. How would Ponyville ever know that Spike was more than just some weak lizard who happened to have a permanent seat on the coat-tails of his violet mother.
These were some of the many thoughts that the dragon entertained as he waited patiently for the fillies school to be let out.
The school bell rang shortly after and a flood of mares and colts burst through the door like how water might push through an opening in a damn. Spike joined the crowd and began wading through the waves of differently colored and styled manes. In his ear was an explosion of noises that range from hoof beats to young fillies laughter to polite conversations about how their school day fared. Never again, Spike thought as he sashayed around a group of colts who stood just before the door, to busy chattering to be aware of the space around them.
"Spike!" He heard a young mare cry. The high pitched squeak shot up several octaves and almost sounded like a bell was chiming. He knew exactly to whom the voice belonged to.
"Hey, Sweetie Belle." Spike said.
Sweetie sprinted over to Spike happily but in her excitement she was unaware of her surroundings and she tripped over a small rock that extended from the ground and crashed into another group of children. Spike winced and ran over to her. The first thing he noticed besides the three girls, Sweetie Belle included, lying disoriented on the ground was a small, silver tiara that cracked into two pieces.
"My crown!" Diamond Tiara cried. Her voice was so loud and in such a high pitch that Spike could have sworn that they took the form of knives. Sweetie Belle shook out of her daze and her eyes widened at the realization of what she did.
"I'm so sorry, Diamond I didn't mean to. It was an accident!" Sweetie Belle said. She began groveling at Diamond Tiara's hooves.
"That is it! I have had it, you sniveling, rotten, no-good, blank-flank!" Diamond Tiara said. She threw Sweetie Belle off of her hooves with an overly-dramatic flourish. Sweetie Belle landed on the ground face first and began whimpering.
"Hey, there's no need to be upset, Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle said that it was an accident." Spike said.
"No need to be upset!" Diamond Tiara shouted. "My tiara is in pieces!"
"I'm pretty sure that Rarity can fixed that right up." Spike said. He smiled, thinking the situation had been resolved but, unfortunately, Diamond Tiara was not equally enthused.
"Shut up, you stupid little gecko! Why are you even here!?"
"To pick up Sweetie Belle from school." Spike said. "And to tell you to back off!"
"Or what?" Diamond Tiara sneered, "Are you going to get your mommy to come here. Or is she too busy wi sticking her face in a book to come and rescue you?"
"First of all, her name is Twilight and you better start using it. And secondly, you leave her out of this!"
"Aw look, he's going to cry." Silver Spoon, who until this point, had stayed out of most of the confrontation, said.
Spike's cheeks burned and his stomach shifted from unbearably heavy to impossibly light. "No I''m not!" He yelled. "Just get out of here." He added.
"C'mon Silver Spoon, we'll get her back when her lizard isn't protecting her." Diamond Tiara said.
They walked off in a fit of mean-spirited giggles, leaving Spike to breath raggedly as he glared at their shrinking forms. As it turned out, he had been lying. He reached up to the small ledge where his cheeks meet his eyes and found that his tears were pooling there. Spike shook them away, but that didn't stop the tears from flowing.
"Thanks for helping me, Spike." Sweetie Belle said.
Spike acknowledged her thanks with a meek nod, the feeling of emptiness and self loathing overcame him.
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Cross-Stitch
There was a large poster that hung half-haphazardly on the wall to the left of a large, circular window that looked over the Crystal Empire. There were two stallions posed boldly in the center of the poster, the tips of their sharp lances colliding at the top of the piece. They were colored blue and yellow respectively, as were their lances. Just above the stallions and written in large, orange letters was the phrase in Crystal Pony dialect Sítal Ampeer Hootán Toorn, which translated into Crystal Empire Jousting Tournament.
Cross Stitch looked over to the window and then to her bed, where her armor was laid out. Her stomach was turning over on itself out of worry, but she had already made her decision and there was no going back now. The first things that she put on were the quartz gauntlets that fitted the area of her fore-hooves and back-hooves just below the knee quite nicely. She pranced around her room to get a better feel for them. When she was finished, she turned back to the bed and moved for her diamond chain mail. Then she pulled on her armored vest, which was a platinum chest plate decorated with several intricate rivulets and crystal trim.
The next pieces were just added flair. The first one was a diamond necklace with a large, burning ruby set in the center of it. The other piece was a combination of leather and diamond that hung over her flanks. It was tinted in such a way that it hid her cutie mark, a needle and thread, and replaced it with a hammer and anvil that was carved meticulously into the sides.
The final piece to the jousting armor was the most important and yet it was the least desirable in Cross-Stitch's eyes. It was similar to the standard Chalcidian helmet that most of the novice jousters wore except from one major change. At the end of the bridge that jutted down from the brow and between the eyes was a large conical shape that covered the majority of the lower half of Cross-Stitch's face. She pushed the images out of her head of how the metal jaw would hold her face in an uncomfortable clasp because it did not matter, what mattered was that uncomfortable clasp gave her the face of a stallion. Mares were not allowed to joust or join in any sort of military professions, they were housewives not warriors, it was the Crystal Pony custom – a stupid custom at that. While she struggled with the helmet, her mind flared with the painful memories of past times that she had brought up her interests in jousting to her father.
"A lady simply does partake in such things." He said. "Besides, you will need the extra time to tend to the will of your husband."
She resisted the urge to scream out in anger as she closed the faux snout around her face. It was difficult to breath, something that the breathing tube she installed did little to alleviate. Cross-Stitch moved to the mirror that was by her door, she looked good – even for the strict standards that she held herself to. The light blue armor contrasted well with her bright, yellow fur. She turned and thoroughly made sure that the cutie mark that she had disowned was no longer showing. When she was finally satisfied, Cross-Stitch left her room and made her way for the Jousting grounds.
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Sumo
The stallion struggled against the harsh conditions of the winter wasteland for hours, the footsteps he trailed were the only evidence that he had made any progress.
His legs screamed in pain and the blood stung his eyes.
This is where he would finally rest for the day.
He didn't care whether he would or would not wake up tomorrow.
The stallion closed his eyes.