Chapter 1: Quests.
"Nnngghhhauuuuu!" Spike groaned loudly as he lazily flopped over the side of his little basket. He struggled to open his eyes, let alone stay awake long enough to actually move again. He shifted in the basket, slowly raising his claw up to his cheek. One eyelid made its way upward, while the other followed in suit. Spike's vision blurred for a few seconds before the surroundings of Twilight's bedroom came into full focus.
"Augh…" Was all Spike managed to say before straining to push himself off the bed. He let the small blanket roll of his little body as he began to rise. The strands of light lined Spike's body as the morning sun just began to rise. He pushed himself to sit up, and then eventually stand up. He hobbled out of his bed, turning around to see if Twilight was still asleep, which sure enough she was.
"Looks like it's time for breakfast." Spike barely managed to let the words escape his maw. He was always tired in the morning, but never this tired.
Spike began to walk toward the door, slowly opening it to make sure Twilight didn't wake up. He shut the door as quietly as possible, but this early in the morning it sounded like Pinkie just fired her Party Cannon. Spike winced at the sound, but then continued to make his way down the steps. He took hold of the wall to keep his balance, almost walking like a zombie.
He was one step away, but momentarily forgot that there was an extra step. He let his foot glide in the air for a split second before falling face first on the floor. Spike groaned as he pushed himself up, rubbing his face as he arose. Needless to say, Spike was wide awake now.
Thanking the pain for finally snapping him back to reality, he started to walk normally toward the kitchen. He walked inside, just as the light of day entered the kitchen.
Spike looked around the kitchen. A few dishes lay on the shelves from last night, while there was a faint smell of leftovers coming from the fridge. The smell travelled up Spike's nose, almost immediately triggering his stomach. A large growl emanated from Spike's stomach.
"Whoa, guess I'm pretty hungry." Spike said to nopony in particular. He took the noise as a sign to get started. Wasting no time, he grabbed his step ladder and placed it in front of the high cabinets, reaching for the pans.
30 Minutes later…
Twilight began to stir from her slumber. The lavender pony turned her head, only to bet met with a bright light coming from the window. The lavender pony groaned and placed a hoof over her eyes, shielding them. She groggily opened her eyes, letting her mane move itself out of the way. She sat up on her haunches, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She proceeded to make her way out of bed, walking over to her mirror. Then, her horn began to sparkle with energy, while her hairbrush began to be engulfed in a magical purple aura. The magic surrounded and gently smothered the brush, beginning to rise from its original position. The brush levitated itself toward Twilight's mane, and began stroking it gently.
While Twilight was brushing her mane, her senses began to tingle. She could smell something wonderful coming from downstairs.
"Wow, that smells delicious." Twilight said happily. She put the brush down and trotted out of the room.
Twilight started making her way downstairs, but before she could reach the bottom step, she was met with a "Morning, Twilight!" from Spike.
Twilight smiled. "Morning to you too, Spike!" She walked over to the table, which was neatly set with plates and cups. There was a salad and various fruit covering the table, as well as sweets ranging from apple pies to cupcakes. Twilight's eyes widened, she never expected such an extravagant breakfast. Just then, when Twilight was almost about to dive in, Spike emerged from the kitchen, carrying two plates holding food.
"Wow Spike," Twilight said, "You've really outdone yourself today." She smiled as her number one assistant placed a pancake in front of her.
"It's really nothing Twi; I'm just doing my job." Spike smiled. "Also, I made those ginger-hay pancakes you love so much." Spike looked Twilight in the eyes, now the size of saucers.
"Ginger-hay!" She exclaimed, "You haven't made those in forever!" She stared hungrily at the pancake on the plate. These were her favorite.
"Well, I'm trying to be spontaneous." Spike joked. Just then, his stomach cried out in agony as the smells of the table snuck into his nose.
"Well, it seems that your stomach thinks the same thing." Twilight giggled, "But if it isn't so much to ask, what's the occasion?" Twilight still bore her smile, but she was now curious as to what caused the big breakfast.
"In all honesty," Spike began, "I'm just really, really, hungry." As Spike stated the problem, he couldn't help himself. He immediately dove for the fork beside his plate and began eating furiously.
"Spike," Twilight said after swallowing a bit more food, "You better watch it, because you may end up eating the plate."
Spike shrugged of the snarky comment. He downed two pancakes in no time flat, but he still wanted more. He reached for the fruit and sweets, taking nearly half of the table's food. He piled them onto his plate and once again mauled his meal.
Twilight could only watch in awe as she watched the little dragon eat more than his own size, and at speeds even Rainbow Dash would find incredible. She slowly finished the rest of her pancake, but her eyes never came off the spectacle before her.
Spike threw the last apple core down to his plate, but franticly searched for more food. His eyes darted left and right, but the table was empty. Spike felt a mini wave of defeat wash over him. Well, up until Twilight spoke up.
"You know there's probably more food in the fridge." Twilight guessed. She didn't know how much food Spike had brought, but she guessed that he didn't use ALL of it. Spike was visibly torn about the lack of nutrients; she couldn't just let him be sad.
Spike's face lit up at the sound of food, so he zipped from his chair toward the fridge, quick to open it and search for food.
As Spike moved jars and stacked snacks, Twilight's curiosity continued to rise. How could one baby dragon eat more than twice his in size and weight in food, yet still want more? She knew that Spike was growing up, and that he needed to be nurtured, but this was unnatural if not borderline impossible. Questions flooded Twilight's mind, spawning at each corner of her conscience. Was there more to Spike's species than she thought? Was he going through another change like the greed incident? Was it… some random force driving Spike into oblivion?
She pushed her insane questions aside and shook her head. Just then, Spike had just finished cleaning out the refrigerator. He closed the door and let out a small burp of satisfaction.
"Whoa, that helped." Spike huffed. He placed a claw on his stomach and let a content smile creep up on his face. "Also, you're going to need to buy some more food, Twilight." Spike pointed out.
Twilight could only stare, but after a few seconds she managed to speak. "Uhh...OK."
"Well, I need to head over to Rarity's place and help her. She said she's had an 'inspirational burst' and needs my help more than ever." He stated with a smile, "I'll help you clean up first, though." He began to take some of the empty plates and cups off the table and walked them over to the kitchen, placing them into the sink. Twilight snapped out of her daze and began to levitate some of the dishes as well.
One the sink was full, Spike ran the water and smeared the dishes with soap, it only took about an hour to finish all the dishes and put them away. Once done, Spike walked toward the door before stopping and turning his head around for a moment.
"Hey Twilight, where do you normally keep my stash of gems?" Spike asked. He could feel a faint hint of hunger reappearing.
Twilight focused her magic around the library's shelves, searching for a certain book. "They're in the drawer by the desk." Twilight answered, continuing to concentrate.
Spike ran over to the drawer, opened the cabinet and pulled out a small sack of gems. He grinned as his maw started to dribble.
"Thanks Twi!" Spike thanked before heading out of the library. He started to jog in the direction of Carousel Boutique.
Twilight watched her assistant leave, and then continued her magic. Once she was positive that the book she was looking for wasn't in this library, she sighed in defeat. She started to walk over to her desk, wanting to continue her studies from yesterday. She took a seat in front of the desk and began flipping through the pages of "Geology of Canterlot". She had left of at a pretty neat part about the secrets of the Crystal Caverns under the castle, a place where she decided better not to go again. She began reading about how it was formed when something caught her eye.
A single parchment and quill.
She looked at it, deciding whether or not to go through with what she had in mind. Her curiosity overthrew her, and then she began writing.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am in urgent need of something that I cannot seem to locate in this library. My best guess is that it could only be a rare book. All rare books, ones of ancient information, always end up in the Canterlot Library. I need this for a new phenomenon currently taking place, and I need full understanding of the subject, because we may be in for big trouble. If you have any books, scrolls, stone slabs or maybe even a hidden message or picture regarding Dragon species and Dragon evolution, I would be most appreciative if you could send me all of it. This may be my biggest mystery yet.
Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Once Twilight had finished writing the letter, she rolled it up and lifted it into the air. She used her magic to replicate Spike's green flame and lit the scroll. She watched as its ashes flew off out the window.
Twilight could only wait patiently.
1 month walking distance from Ponyville…
The sound of leaves whistled through the air, the autumn wind crisp to the touch, and animals getting ready to go into hibernation. The trio hiked along in peace, listening only to their footsteps. The future was the only thing on each of their minds, but in all different perspectives and opinions. They each had their reasons to be doing this, but all in all, they were doing it for a purpose.
"Hey Starflame?" One of the members of the group asked.
"Yes Nightwing?" Starflame responded. He didn't bother looking over to his associate, knowing it was actually pointless to actually be talking to him.
"Exactly how much farther do we have to go? I'm kind of getting tired over here." He asked with a huff. He was starting to be a little angry with the whole idea of this trip.
"Well, it wouldn't matter if weren't such a cry baby, but if you must know." Starflame said, stressing the sentence to get his point across. He opened the large, ancient book he's been holding the whole time to a page somewhere in the center. The page was blank to everyone, but only he could see what was truly on the page. He could see a magically altered map, tracking their every move, so they could see what was in front of them, and how fast they were moving.
"Well," Starflame started, "Unless we keep walking at this pace, and we only take a few breaks, it looks like we're about one month away.
"Huh…" Nightwing sighed. He really didn't see the importance on going such a long journey for just one dragon. He's been internally whining this whole way, but the Council promised him fights, so he gladly accepted. "Oh yeah, Starflame," Nightwing said, "I just remembered."
Starflame didn't bother turning, the little child didn't deserve to be noted, but he had to…
His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden movement of his jaw. Nightwing had connected with his face, and he had to say, it hurt. "Why you little…" Starflame started, wiping his mouth.
"That's for the cry baby remark." Nightwing said with a slight smirk.
That's it. Starflame finally decided to turn his head toward the idiot beside him. His face darkened under his hood, ready to strike back, but had another interruption.
"Please you two." A low, calming voice said. The third of them finally decided to end the little spat. "I would prefer if we could enjoy our trip in peace, not acting like such delinquents." Their leader polled. Even though his tone of voice suggested slight disappointment, he still had his reassuring smile. That smile, even after the years of being with him, Starflame has never once seen him frown. It's always been permanently plastered onto his face, and it always gave others around him a sense of security. They all new of his power, so he was highly respected, even among the Council. In fact, it was the Council that brought him in.
Nightwing and Starflame ended their dispute, leaving the slight sound of wind and trees to overtake the silence once more.
"Beautiful, isn't it," The leader said after a few more minutes of walking, "The sound of the energy?" He stopped and stared into the treetops, leaving the sun to warm him.
"Energy? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about Halo." Nightwing stated, clearly confused. Even with his brick wall of a mind, not even Starflame knew what Halo was talking about.
"Sir, I have to agree with him, even though that's a very rare occasion." Starflame said as-a-matter-of-factly. Nightwing just scoffed and looked at Halo.
Halo turned around, his calm face beaming with bliss. Even with the smile, the half-closed eyelids and his constant low voice, whenever they…or anyone saw his face, that reassurance he gives gets over powered by a near bone-rattling fear. He could kill any living being with his looks, even though he doesn't try to. You always feel safe around Halo, but like you never, ever, want to get on his bad side, if he has one.
"You can't feel it?" He asked, slightly concerned. He raised an eyebrow, never lifting his smile.
"Feel what?" Nightwing asked while Starflame let his acquaintance do the talking. Nightwing was too utterly confused to figure out what he was saying.
"Listen, my comrades, close your eyes and listen to the energy radiating around you." Halo smiled a bit more. He closed his eyes and breathed through his nose, letting the air roll out of his mouth. He enjoyed feeling the condensation of magical aura that escaped the young dragon in Ponyville. He himself was impressed by the power coming of the youngling.
Nightwing and Starflame nodded, closing their eyes and tried to focus on something they didn't know how to find. As they let their own magic take control of their senses, Nightwing collapsed, followed by Starflame. Both snapped their eyes open, trying to gasp for breath.
While the two struggled to catch air, they could only see, not hear or feel. The magic was incredible. The thing that Halo was sensing was a wave of powerful magic heading their way. Where did this come from? As soon as the magic appeared, it vanished, finally letting the two breath properly again.
"You see?" Halo said, looking down at his friends, "That magic came from our subject."
"You mean…" Starflame said panting, "That magic came from that baby dragon? And from such a distance?"
"He shall be a powerful one." Halo said, turning back around. Nightwing began to rise along with Starflame. The trio started to move slowly forward, leaving them in silence once more.
Nightwing had nothing on his mind, except one thing. He finally realized why this dragon was so important. Never had he felt such pressure, such raw power. It was now crucial to find this dragon. He thought the Council was insane when they issued this dragon a main priority, but now he's having conflicting thoughts. Was this dragon going to be as powerful as Halo thinks? What will the Council do with him? Will he…
Be more powerful than Halo?
Back at Ponyville, nearly 4 weeks later.
"Oh my…." Fluttershy said shyly. She watched as the little dragon assistant flew up and down the buffet table only to repeat the process once more. Every single time the table would have significantly less food. Ponies from around the festival started giving Spike odd looks.
Fluttershy hid behind her mane. She loved the little guy like a brother, but she never had seen him each so much food. Twilight warned her about something when she gave Spike to her for the day, but she never specified what. This must've been it.
"Oh, umm…." She mumbled, hoping Spike would turn and listen, "I…Spike...I think you should slow down, well, because, umm…." She stopped herself as Spike only continued to eat.
Spike on the other hand still wasn't full. He continued to eat, even the stuff he didn't like, just to satisfy his hunger. This has been happening for about a month now. Every 5-7 days, Spike would go on binge diet, eating anything he could find. He would eat a good 5 course dinner and still want more. Plus, Twilight's been kicking him out of the house a lot more recently. He didn't care, as long as he could play with friends or help Rarity. Today, he was at the Fall to Winter Festival out at Ponyville square, and they always had a huge buffet, luckily today he was on the binge diet. The weird thing is he never felt sick, or more sleepy than usual. It felt almost natural.
Fluttershy continued to hide, scared he might eat her. She thought it was a ridiculous thought, but at this rate it was becoming more plausible. She could only watch in surprise as Spike finally walked over, a toothpick in-between his fangs. He had a content sigh on his face.
"So, what was it you wanted Fluttershy?" Spiked asked.
"Oh, um, nothing Spike. Come on, I think we should head back to the library now." Fluttershy said timidly. She was wary of Spike, but not to the point where she would be hostile.
As the two started to walk away from the festival, a few ponies gave them quick double-takes, but eventually disregarded them. Fluttershy and Spike walked down the dirt road, not speaking. It was a grueling 2 minutes for Fluttershy, until she finally built up the courage to say something.
"Um, Spike?" She asked shyly.
"What is it Fluttershy?" Spike answered.
"Um, well, if it's too much to ask, um…" She found herself wavering again.
"You can ask me anything, Shy." Spike reassured, looking at the timid mare.
"Well, how…how did you eat so much?"
"Oh that," Spike said, inwardly relieved it was only that, "Well, really I don't know. For the past month I would eat normally one day then want Equestria's food supply the next. It's been weird lately, but I never feel sick or anything afterwards. So I'm guessing it's just some random growth spurt for dragons of something." He said. Spike was able to see the library now.
"Well, um… I've heard of large animals eating an awful lot of food, and that's when they're fully grown and hungry. And I've also seen Angel eat at least three salads in one sitting, but never have I seen such a small creature eat more than a bear." She started to sound scared, and Spike was picking up on it.
"Well, don't worry Fluttershy. If you're thinking that I'm going to eat you, I'm not. I've craved food, but never ponies." He said with a chuckle.
"But…But what if it's like the greed incident?" She asked, now more concerned than scared. They reached the library's doorstep, Spike looking at the ground.
"I'm…I'm not sure." Spike said in a low tone. He recalled on the horrible memories that day, and what he did. If Fluttershy was right, then this is a sign he couldn't be able to change back. What if he actually became a full grown dragon? He didn't want to know, but if he did change. What would he do?
After a moment's silence, Fluttershy spoke up. "I'm sorry…But, I didn't mean to make you sad, I mean…" Spike cut her off. "Don't worry about me Fluttershy, I'm fine."
He wished he was.
"Oh, well, I need to head back my place. Angel may be getting a bit hungry by now." Fluttershy said nervously. She quickly turned around and flew away. She couldn't escape the feeling that she had just hurt Spike a lot, even though he claims to be fine.
Spike watched as Fluttershy flew quickly toward her house, much quicker than normal. He disregarded it and turned to go into the library. He had a lot to think about, and a lot of work to do. Spike opened the door to the library and slowly walked in, head hanging low in minor depression.
"AHHH!" A loud shriek was heard as Spike walked in, snapping him from his thoughts. Spike only got a glimpse of Twilight, combined with a jumble of papers and books flying everywhere, before having a random piece of fabric fly out of nowhere and blindfold him. The aura engulfed napkin quickly tied itself in a large knot at the back of Spike's head. Spike struggled to get the fabric off of his eyes, only to realize he was fighting a losing battle.
Twilight on the other hand was frantically covering up multiple scrolls, books, parchments, and even delicate paintings inside a large tarp covering. She tied the tarps corners to each table leg, securing all the materials. Once she had done that, she darted her head from left to right trying to find a place to hide it, she only had a few seconds before Spike let himself free. She lifted the table with her magic, and engulfed it in a purple and white aura. Small crackling noises emulated from the air around the table, followed by tiny flashes. In a split second, the table disappeared.
Spike pulled at the fabric covering his face, but he knew it was too much for him to handle. An idea suddenly popped into his head. He stopped struggling and lifted his claw. He blew fire onto the tip of his index claw for a few seconds, before stopping the flame. His claw glowed with a red hot light, but Spike didn't feel a thing. His dragon skin was built for this type of thing. He lifted the steaming claw to the fabric, before he burned a rip straight down the middle of the cloth. The napkin fell in two pieces, only leaving an un-amused Spike in its place.
"What was that for Twilight?" Spike yelled. Twilight blushed and giggled awkwardly. She looked away from Spike with a funny smile.
"I, uhh, thought you were a burglar." Hoping Spike would at least not question her motives behind blinding Spike.
"Likely story Twilight, but whatever it is you're doing, don't keep me up with it. I have too much to think about, and I'm too tired to care right now." His voice dramatically changed from annoyed to depressed. He looked down and sighed. "Look, I'll be asleep upstairs. Wake me up when it's tomorrow." He started to walk past Twilight and up the stairs.
"Spike, now? It's only 4 in the afternoon!" She called upstairs to Spike. She was answered by the slamming of a door. She could tell Spike was sad, but she didn't want to try to force him to talk. She'd thought it be best to leave it until tomorrow at breakfast.
She began to think about what she had been studying before Spike came in. She re-transported the table back to its original spot. She undid the knots on the table legs, and she carefully removed the tarp. The books resurfaced and fell in separate directions off the table. Twilight sighed and began to pick up the books. The scroll she was reading floated in front of her face, "The Great Dragon War."
Meanwhile, Spike jumped into his basket, not even bothering to slip under his blanket. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. Countless thoughts ripped through his mind, tearing at the inner fabric of both his conscience and subconscious. He wanted answers, lots of them. He probably had more questions than there were answers, but he needed information. What if he did change back into a beast? What if I destroy Ponyville? What if…What if I had to move away?
He wanted answers. Lots of them. He needed them, and he realized one thing before drifting off into a deep sleep.
He wasn't normal.
Everfree forest, 5 hours traveling left.
"I believe we can rest here for the night." Stated Halo. Nightwing let out a long grunt before collapsing onto his stomach, practically hugging the ground in hopes of warmth.
"Please tell me we're going to be there soon." Nightwing let out one of his rare whines. He never acted like a baby unless he was really tired, which he was. This was always something that Starflame had against him, lack of respect, for anyone.
"Look, according the Prophecy, we only have about a five hour trip until we reach our destination." He said in an irritated tone. He closed the book in his hand and cast a small sealing spell against the cover. Even when asleep, he didn't want this book to be opened. Even though he and those of much greater power and authority can see it, he didn't want it to be inspected.
"Calm yourself, brethren. I had already known of the distance between us and the youngling, that is why I decided to have mercy on your bodies and give you a proper night's rest." Halo let his smile grow. He sat down and placed his bag in front of him.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm off to bed." Nightwing said rolling onto his back. He removed the bandaged surprise he was carrying and hugged it tightly to his chest. Once his eyes fluttered shut, he was out.
"The little twat can't even sleep properly." Starflame resented. He looked toward Halo's direction, bowing before anything else. "If I may sir, may I be able to proceed to my temporary sleeping quarters."
Halo was sitting there, meditating peacefully. He let his mind unravel and his power surge, before dropping to its lowest level. He kept his smile and responded. "I grant you permission to rest for the night, Starflame. May you have the most pleasant of dreams."
"Thank you, sir." Starflame rose and walked over to a patch of flat ground. He drew a triangle in the ground before sitting in the center. He let his magic flow into the marking. The triangle started to glow a white and turquoise light. Slowly, a blue crystal rose from the triangle, engulfing Starflame. Once the crystal fully covered Starflame, the pale glow finally dimmed to nothingness, as Starflame fell asleep.
Halo continued to let his energy escape his corpse. He meditated, waiting for the youngling's final approach. Once he felt a small trickle of energy coming from the easterly direction, Halo finally let himself sleep.
He dreamt. Something he didn't truly enjoy.