Sickness.

The rank scent of illness and pathogens roamed through the halls of the large hospital. The beautifully white interior did nothing to stop the spread of these bacteria, they only drew the eye away from the fact that this place was truly dirty. The influx of sick patients were normal for a hospital, however, and the daily sterilization did some work when it came to keeping intra-hospital sickness to a minimum. Through the rooms, there were a multitude of different figures, ranging from the physically sick, the injured, the disabled, and the mentally ill.

But one room stood out from all the others. Inside, there were shadows moving to and fro, even from the light of the open window, which caused the room to be illuminated by Celestia's brilliant sun. Sounds of struggle tore through the air as grunts, pants, yells and roars came from the room. A green flash flew towards the door, but was soon encompassed by a purple aura intermingled with a blue aura, being slammed onto the bed. The aura soon broke as the green figure dashed to the door once again (much to the surprise of all included in the room), the aura slamming him back down on the bed again. If one was to peek in there, they would see a young purple and green dragon skittering away towards a window and trying to open it.

"I'm not wearing that!"

"But you have to! It's standard procedure!"

"So? Make everyone else in here wear it! I know i'm not."

"Stop being stubborn and put the thing on!"

"I must insist, darling. Just do it and make things easier on yourself!"

The young dragon was soon backed into a corner by a coalition of a group of ponies and two dragons. Doctors dressed in their usual garb stood over the dragon, the dreaded outfit in their hooves (even though it was big enough to fit the twosome terror that were the doctors) as the young dragon felt his back spines touch the wall corner. He glared in disdain at the outfit as he tried to make a book for it once again, trying to go around the group and over the beds, soon finding himself on the ground as a black dragonness and a certain cyan pegasus decided to tackle and hold him down. He struggled a bit more before he sighed and resigned himself to fate.

"You two are good friends, y'know?" He said with a small growl, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, shut it Spike. You need to follow regulations." The black dragonness said with a growl right back at him, but the smirk on her face showed that she wasn't angry in the slightest. She was actually quite amused.

"Oh, you're one to talk, Sindria. Do you remember that stunt you pulled in Froggy Bottom swamp?" The cyan pegasus said with a grin.

Sindria blushed a bit and sputtered out. "Well, that Hydra shouldn't have tried to start a fight! You saw what it did, Rainbow Dash."

"Didn't mean you had to punch it into a canyon wall!" Rainbow Dash shot back, followed by silence as Sindria chuckled a bit.

"Before the patient tries to make another break away, let's get this gown on him" One of the doctors said to break the silence and to get things under way.

Sindria and Rainbow Dash nodded as they picked up the stubborn dragon, a bit of a cross look on his face as he glared at the gown. Begrudgingly, he put it on, shivering a bit at the feel as he looked around at the eyes on him and then at his reflection in the mirror.

"I still hate this thing. It's so awkward and uncomfortable!" He said, struggling a bit at the gown. "And it's so inconvenient! Why did you have to make this out of such awkward material!" Spike said as he looked at the thin metal layer of the clothing and the thin fabric as well. It wasn't too heavy, it just didn't feel right.

Rarity looked away with a bit of a shy chuckle. "Well darling, the last couple gowns you wore were torn to shreds from your new frame within the first couple hours. So I had to take it upon myself to make you one. With Vera's help, of course." She said, daintily pointing her hoof to the more feminine of the dragonnesses, a smile on the face of the Blue dragon.

"It was no problem Rarity, although I wish we could have made it more comfortable for him." Vera admitted, shuffling her foot claws a bit.

"It was quite difficult making this, as...un-fabulous as it is. If only so many rules weren't in place for clothing, I could have made a spectacle!"

"Besides, we have to go through this crap with you every day. It's been a month since you've woken up and we have to do the same song and dance every time you need to go out!" Rainbow Dash said, throwing her hooves up in exasperation.

One of the doctors cleared his throat as he looked to Spike. "Well, gowns are supposed to be able to be partially see through and worn in the hospital, not 'fabulous'. In any case, it's on him."

Rarity huffed a bit as she started to head for the door. "Well, everypony, I must be going. I left Sweetie Belle alone at the Boutique and I must hurry. No telling what she will try to clean. Or cook." She said with a shudder as the prim and pampered pony left. Spike sighed deeply as he gave a loving look to the pony before she left, warranting a slap on the back from a certain orange earth pony.

"C'mon loverboy. We gotta get you to yer physical therapy."

Spike felt his face go red at the title that Applejack had given him, a cumulative chuckle coming from the group as they followed him to the back of the hospital. He looked back at his sister-figure, Twilight Sparkle, with a timid smile. She just gave a soft smile back as he nodded a bit and followed the two dragonnesses and the Doctors.

"WAIT!"

He heard a voice say as a certain Pink pony bounded out of the crowd and basically tackled the unprepared young dragon.

"Shouldn't we give him a second to catch his breath and relax? I mean, it's not like he hasn't had a tiring day already. He managed to stay away from us for about 2 hours all this morning! Also, shouldn't we tell everyone how he got to the hospital? It'll leave the readers confused if we just go into the action!" She said, pointing to an empty point in some random direction.

Everyone looked confused as a doctor sideways pointed a hoof to Pinkie. "Are you SURE we can't put her in the psychiatric ward?"

Everyone nodded. "It's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Besides, she does have a point. Kind of. It'll be cool to hear the story again." Spike said, pushing Pinkie off of him and putting her to the side. She just sat on her flank as she smiled victoriously as everyone started to take a seat, with Twilight and Vera at the front of the group, both of them getting ready to tell the story, since they were the two who caused this whole mess...

"Why can't I stay home, Twilight? You know I don't like getting up this early in the morning!"

"Oh, it's only 5 AM. Besides, you went to sleep really early last night. I'd think you would be raring to go."

"I'm a baby dragon though! I need my sleep."

Along the path through Everfree forest walked a pony that was different shades of purple and a young dragon, who was pouting with his arms crossed over his chest and a cross look over his face. His guardian nudged him a bit as she smiled softly.

"Come on. After i'm done, i'll ask Pinkie to make you a sapphire cupcake."

Spike brightened up almost instantly at the prospect of getting a sapphire cupcake today. He ran his tongue over his small lips, drooling a bit as Twilight just chuckled and shook her head, heading deeper and deeper into the Everfree forest. Little did they know...they were being tailed.

Spike looked apprehensively around as he heard the growls and hisses of different animals as they woke, a tinge of fear in his voice as he tried to seem manly in the least bit, straightening himself out though a shiver of dread ran through his body with each step that he took. His eyes darted fearfully left and right as he heard the bushes ruffling, jumping and letting out a bit of a yell, landing on Twilight's back as he kept looking around.

"T-Twilight? When a-are we gonna be d-done with this? It's k-kind of creepy in here..."

Twilight looked back at him, her eyes having that same look when she was about to go into 'science' mode. "What are you talking about, Spike? There are a plethora of different fauna that we can examine! Oh, this is so exciting! I can't wait to record my findings and do some experiments!" She said, all kinds of giddy. He just rolled his eyes.

"Sure. I'm sure the fauna will be just waiting for you." He said in a snarky tone, warranting him a slap from Twilight's rather dexterous tail. He suppressed a snicker as he kept bouncing on her back, his stomach tightening up a bit. He couldn't shake this feeling that something was following them. It may have been just a loose bunny or that cat that Rainbow Dash ever-so-gently brushed away.

He gripped his stomach as he tried to get it to settle. Was it a letter? No, this feeling was different from his usual wanting to vomit out fire to receive a letter from the princess. It was...apprehension. He remembered this feeling when he met those teenage jerk dragons. He shuddered a bit as he kept looking around, keeping a lookout for anything that may sneak up on him and his guardian.

Twilight noted every action of her little assistant with worry. She had never seen him this freaked out before. Sure, he had been freaked out before, but never this visibly. He usually tried to put on some false bravado to make sure no one worried about him. Maybe he was on to something here...then something caught her eye which made her squee as loudly as she could, suddenly accelerating as Spike had to hold on tight to her neck and almost choke her. She didn't notice though as she closed in on her target, skidding to a halt and sending Spike flying overhead into a pile of leaves.

"Oh my gosh! This is the rare Magica Rubiginosa! I haven't gotten a chance to study this yet..."

Twilight said, using magic to carefully extract the flower from the magic, the petals glowing from the magic being used around it. She ooh'ed and ahh'ed at the marvel of the flower, a grumbling coming from the stack of leaves that Spike had made into a little rest spot.

"Oh, don't worry about Spike! He'll be fine! He just flew into a tree and became one with the leaf pile. Just keep getting your sample while he dusts himself off!" Spike said with a bit of a growl, irritated at Twilight but being unable to stay mad at her. This kind of thing happened much to often for him to really get mad at her. He just smirked and plotted how he was going to get the lavender pony back.

Then there was the sound of a hissing growl and the sound of a twig snapping that caught the attention of the researcher and her assistant. Spike backed up quickly, flailing his arms as he clawed at the ground, getting closer and closer to Twilight, hiding right behind her as they faced the direction of the disturbance. Twilight bristled, ready to fight if need be. If she had to, she was also ready to run like the diamond dogs were after her.

What she saw surprised her. Two dragons, probably about 8 feet tall, came from the underbrush, knocking leaves and branches off of their garb. They seemed to be travelers of sorts, though their garb seemed a bit too...fancy to suggest so. One was a black, muscled dragonness with a sword at her side, her red spines being covered with a black armor, as with the rest of her body. Her weirdly white eyes contrasted with everything about her, a sense of gentle security, yet irritation in her eyes. She held a bit of a scowl on her face as she brushed off another branch. Though it was obvious she was a woman, the black dragonenss held a bit of masculinity, of hard-boiled authority that overwhelmed the senses of the young dragon.

"We should've met them like normal beings on the path and not sneak around."

The black dragonness said to her associate, who gently flicked off a leaf as she looked at Spike with a soft smile before turning to her partner, whom was wearing a wizards robe of sorts.

"Now where is the fun in that?"

She took off her hood to reveal the beautiful features of the feminine blue dragon, piercing yellow eyes staring deep at her partner with a hidden danger to them. She smiled softly though at the twosome, who was now backing away, Twilight's horn glowing a bit as she looked to the dragonnesses with some distrust in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked, motioning for Spike to get behind her for protection as she glared at the two.

The black dragonness smirked a bit at the lavender pony and pulled out a scroll, clearing her throat and reading the note.

"By decree of the joint coalition of the Princesses of Equestria and the Dragon King of Wyrmhaven, the young dragon known as Spike will hereby start being trained in the ways of magic and general combat. He will also be taught on Wyrmhaven dragon culture as well as Wyrmhaven history. As such, he will be escorted back to Wyrmhaven to safely conduct these exercises."

The black dragonness finished, with Twilight and Spike sitting there gawking. They looked in between each other, then the dragonnesses, then each other, with a simultaneous yell.

"WHAT!"

The birds flew from the treetops and the forest was disturbed by what decibel the yell was on. The dragonneses stepped back in shock as the baby dragon stepped forward with his guardian, looking up at the two of them. Twilight just shook her head a bit and scowled.

"I will talk with the princess about this. Until then, you are not laying a claw on Spike."

She said with a growl, Spike crossing his arms over his chest and nodding. The black dragonness was about to speak before her partner just strolled up, towering over the twosome and smiling dangerously.

"Won't you please reconsider? This is an official order from the Princesses of YOUR country. Do you want to go against her? Besides..."

The blue dragonness said, easily hefting up Spike and holding him close to her, smiling a bit as she cradled him.

"He's much too adorable to stay like this. What if something happens and you need help? What about when he gets older and goes through his first growth cycle? Will you be able to help him with his hormones and magic then?"

She said with a coo, treating the baby dragon like...well, a baby. Spike almost got comfortable before his eyes snapped fully open and he jumped out of her arms, landing on the ground with an audible thud.

"Not that I trust you two...but why aren't you like other dragons? You seem more like, well, me."

The black dragonness spoke up this time as she looked to her partner with a nod. "Wyrmhaven dragons are different from regular dragons. Since the time we are eggs, we spend a majority of our life in magical incubation, as opposed to the common variety. Our bodies change differently than regular dragons. Yes, we can get as big as regular dragons, but our usual forms are like this. From there, we are taught proper manners and etiquette befitting of those who become royal advisors, ambassadors, generals, and the sort."

The blue dragonness approached Twilight once again, her patience beginning to wear thin. "Would you please give us the young one now?" She said, her voice sounding strained.

"No. As I said, I will take it up with the Princess when I meet her. If she can validate what you are saying, then I will hand Spike over to you. That is, if he wants to go." Twilight said matter-of-factly, warranting a hiss from the blue dragonness. Her partner looked over at her, giving her a stern 'don't do it' kind of look. But she was ignored, as one usually is when facing an annoyed, stubborn female.

"Okay then...we'll just take him by force then!"

She said with a roar, her claw glowing as a blast of magic grazed Twilight right on the shoulder before Twilight rolled out of the way, a counter-blast of magic going towards the attacker, with Spike having to dodge out of the ways of the blasts as the conflict got more and more heated.

The black dragonness gawked a bit as she saw her sister go into the fray. "Sister, Stop!"

She was completely ignored.

"You stubborn pony! Why can't you listen?"

"I will listen only from the mouth of the princess, not some hostile strangers!"

Spike looked between the conflict as trees were torn down, land was ravaged, and animals were forced to leave their homes to escape eminent destruction. Then it was at a standstill, with the two opposing forces starting to charge their magic, a huge magical aura around Twilight's horn as her eyes glowed intensely.

A similar phenomena was happening with the dragonness. A blue aura swirled around her entire form and started focusing at her palm, cumulating into a ball of pure magical energy as she stared dangerously at the pony. Spike looked between the two alarmed as he gulped. If those things collided, it could destroy all of Everfree forest. Or so he though in his little wild imagination. Quickly, he came out of his hiding spot, getting in-between the two forces.

"STOP IT!"

He yelled to his full force, but it was all for naught. That one moment where he clenched his fists and yelled out only prematurely set off the magic blasts, the two blasts converging to the point where they would collide. Spike. The black dragonness was not quick enough and it only would be seconds before the two opposing forces realized what they did. In the middle, a condensed sphere was made of pure magic, the young dragon visibly inside and being consumed by the magic. The horror in their eyes were prevalent. Breaths were held as they waited to see what would happen.

But not even they could anticipate what would happen. The magic started fluctuating wildly as the magic expanded quickly then combusted as well as magic could, an explosion taking place, the only thing keeping the remaining individuals alive being the magic of teleportation, away from the center and blast radius.

A crater formed and the magic disturbed the skies, moving clouds every which way as it finally subsided. The pegasi were going to have a lot of work to do. As the pony and dragonnesses reached down to the middle of the crater, they saw Spike's body. It looked the same...though no trace of movement was seen in the form of the small dragon. Despair started to overtake Twilight as she violently shook Spike with magic.

"Wake up Spike! WAKE UP!"

The black dragonness looked to the sight and turned away, facing her partner with a deep growl before slapping her. "You idiot! You could not have waited? Now look what has happened! You could have killed him or completely erased his existence! You could have caused the treaty between Wyrmhaven and Equestria to become void! This is the second time you've caused a massive magical feedback! What were you thinking, dear sister!"

The blue dragonness recoiled at the feeling of the slap,her wings drooping as she felt shame and regret seep into her pores. She said nothing in response, though she looked to the young one with great worry. He had great potential...and she hoped she hadn't stripped that away from him because of her brash actions.

Spike shook his head a bit with a chuckle as he looked toward Vera and Twilight. "You two are too impulsive. Especially you." He said, pointing to Vera, who blushed and turned her head away in shame.

"But hey, it's a good thing you came out all right. I would have kicked some butt if you hadn't woken up!" Rainbow Dash said, making fighting sounds as she swung her hooves around as if she was boxing.

"You wer' asleep fer an entire year though. Y'sure yer all right, Spike?" Applejack asked, warranting her a nod from drake.

"Of course I am! It'll take a lot more than some magic to take me down!" He said with a chuckle, flexing a bit as he kissed his muscles.

Sindria smirked a bit. "Now now, don't get too vain now, Spike or else I'll have to beat it out of you. " She said with a dark giggle.

Spike rolled his eyes a bit as he scoffed a bit, getting him a hit upside the head from the dragonness. "Okay mentor." He said with a chuckle.

"Speaking of which..." Vera said as she and her sister got up. "It's time for training, my pupil." She said. "And no boring book stuff today! Only magic and physical training."

One of the doctors waved a hoof. "Physical THERAPY, remember? We can't approve training."

Sindria nodded. "We got it. C'mon Spike, we have work to do..."

Health.

The shining sun of the day came as life to the newly released dragon. The doctors had seen his progress with his body and thought it was best to let him go free, since the facility was no longer needed to take care of the young dragon. He stretched his arms and his wings (which Dash still found amazing), shuddering a bit as he looked around at the hustle and bustle of Ponyville as they seemed to be preparing for something. He felt a hard hit on his back as Sindria hit his back, the young male almost jumping out of his scales as he blushed in embarassment.

"Hey, Watch it teach! I'm still sore from the training!"

Spike said, murmuring as his 'physical therapy' teacher smirked a bit, running a calming claw along his scales.

"Oh, don't be such a baby about it. You only did 1000 punches in a row."

"And you threw me around like a rag doll."

"Basic Boxing isn't all that hard though!"

"No, it isn't hard. Though, when you couple that with several different sword styles, Karate, several different grappling styles, and different Northeastern fighting styles, it gets overwhelming." Spike said with a grumble.

"Not to mention all the magical training you've been doing. You're really improving Spike! You're a quick learner." Vera said as she gave Spike a slight hug, which made him blush a bit and push her away.

"Aww, stop it."

He said, smiling a bit as he looked to Twilight, a question nagging him.

"Is something going on in Ponyville, Twilight? I didn't hear any news of an event."

Spike asked, huge smiles on the face of every pony and dragon except for the clueless male, saying nothing as they just ushered him towards the square. He just shrugged a bit, repeating his mantra of 'crazy females' as he was thrust into Ponyville square, the hustle and bustle coming to a standstill as he was greeted by dozens of hugs and smiles, with Pinkie popping out of nowhere with her Party Cannon.

"Congratulations on getting released, Spike! It must be so good to get out of that stuffy room."

Pinkie said, firing sweets, a couple tables, and a bunch of confetti out of her cannon. Spike got a face full of the colored papers as he smiled widely, his eyes shining as he embraced everypony he could in a big hug, even hugging his mentors (much to the Dragonnesses' surprise.) They both smiled gently as the hugged the young dragon (which was not that difficult since he was only a foot or so smaller than the two of them.)

But what really surprised Spike was the sight of the two Princesses in the crowd, his jaw dropping as he saw Luna wave to him warmly and trot over to him to give him a big hug, warranting him some jealous looks from some of the stallions.

"We are happy to see you-Erm, I mean, It's so good to see you are okay, Spike."

Luna said with a slight blush, correcting herself. Spike smiled a bit and reciprocated the gesture, giving her a hug back. Finally, he was face to face with the Princess of the Sun, her warm gaze washing over him as he words flowed out softly, yet full of energy.

"Ready to party?"

Spike smirked and nodded a bit as he heard the music start.

"Of course."

Inside of Spike lay dormant his magic, intermingled with his soul. But...as with all things, there is darkness inside of all. And he was no exception. On one corner of his soul, in one small part, lay a deep darkness, living, breathing, yet still stationary as it waited, bided its time. For when the day comes where its power became full and this young dragon had matured...devastation would rain. Blood of the innocent would be spilled and friends will become enemies. It would paint the world with organs and hear the choked cries of the weak as it used this powerful source of energy to cause havoc. To cause mayhem. To cause Death.