Author's Note: I was originally going to only upload the first chapter, but when told me of the 2 day waiting period, I took it as a chance to finish the second. By the way, I'm planning on taking a while with this. No, seriously. I have 21 chapters planned out. That's right ladies and gentlemen, we're in for the long haul!

Also, something very important I would like to mention: I don't use terms like "everypony" and "anypony". I write pretty quickly, and as I write I subconsiously write, well, normally. I simply don't have the time or patience to worry myself with that "pony" stuff.

One more thing, I noticed that the basilisk is black and evil, and I know that's not such a bad thing. But in some context it sounds racist. Please note that I am not racist, thank you.

Call of the Wild

Chapter Two

The Morning Trials

Despite the previous night, Twilight and Spike both got some good sleep while still managing to wake up at a reasonable hour. The morning was uneventful, and everything was as usual. Neither of them mentioned last night's events.

About an hour after they both woke up, Twilight and Spike had joined up with the rest of the pony gang. They all relaxed in the meadows near Sweet Apple Acres. Here, they all sat in a valley where the snow was deepest, but that was apparently the whole point of Applejack's "game".

"Alright!" Applejack cheered, seeing all her friends lined up in front of her. "I thought of a fun little activity we could do. Not only will it be fun, but it will help wake us up and get us into the motion of the day."

"So, um, if I may ask," Fluttershy raised a hoof, grabbing Applejack's attention. "What are we supposed to do?"

Applejack raised her head and clearly announced the answer, "Race!"

At this, Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Seriously? We all know that I'm the fastest in all of Equestria!"

"Well, there's a catch," Applejack said with a smirk. "You see, not only are you not allowed to fly, but we all have to find a way to cope with this deep snow."

Dash landed on the ground, muttering, "Okay, fine. But I'll still win."

"We'll start here," Applejack announced, positioning herself next to the rest of the ponies - and Spike. "The finish line is the nearest tree of Sweet Apple Acres." It wasn't very far, but then again the race wasn't a big deal.

"Get ready, get set," Applejack announced as everyone crouched back, ready to spring into action. "GO!"

Everyone ran for the treeline as fast as they could, despite the snow. Well, everyone except Spike, that is. He merely sat back with a blank face. After a moment, Spike trudged through the snow, but not towards the finish. Instead, he took a detour to the right, where there was a path that came out of Sweet Apple Acres and through the meadow. The path had been cleared of snow earlier that morning. Spike jumped onto the path where he took off towards the finish. Unlike the faltering ponies, there was no snow to slow him down, and he easily made it to the finish first.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Dash complained, second to arrive. "You cheated!"

"Now hang on a moment, sugarcube," Applejack came up third. "I said everyone has to find a way to cope. Technically, that's exactly what Spike did."

Spike smiled and raised his head, proud of himself for coming up with such an idea.

Pinkie Pie was fourth, Twilight came next, then Rarity, then Fluttershy. Soon everyone was gathered at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, congratulating Spike on his smart thinking. Even Twilight was impressed!

"Twilight, do you think we should tell them?" Spike whispered into Twilight's ear. "About last night?"

Twilight hesitated, then gave a nod. "I think you should tell them. You were the brave one."

"Oooooh!" Pinkie Pie giggled with excitement. "A story? I love stories! Come on, Spike, tell us! Please!"

"Okay, okay," Spike said, chuckling. "I never said I wouldn't. By the way, it isn't a story. This is for real."

This piked everyone's interest, and soon Spike was deep into what had happened. He went into great detail with he blue and black creatures. He especially expressed his hate for the black one. Just as Spike was getting into the part where the blue one was thrown into the canyon, he stopped.

"Twilight, I just had an idea," Spike said, turning to her. "Let's go back to he library, now!"

With that, Spike ran back home.

Twilight turned to face her confused friends, and said with a shrug, "He's been unexpectedly running off lately." Then she went to follow him.

Once he was at the library, Spike didn't go in. Instead, he waited for her to catch up.

"I have a little announcement I'd like to tell you before I tell the others," Spike explained. "Back in the forest... I blame myself for the death of... whatever it was that saved me. If I was tougher... I could have helped him. But that's all going to change. From now on, I'm going to work harder."

Twilight nodded her head. She found herself agreeing with Spike deeply. She understood that Spike was guilty of not being able to do something to stop that monster, and she respected him for trying to make things right.

Spike glanced away as a breeze brought new flakes. It would soon be snowing heavily. "I start tomorrow."

Sure enough, Spike was out and about early the next day. Despite the fact that Twilight overslept, she easily found him on the outskirts of town, where he was feeling the ground with his paws.

"I'm trying to find gems," Spike said before Twilight could ask. "In the wild, gems aren't served. You have to find them."

Twilight was taken aback. "What do you mean 'in the wild'? Spike... Just what are you planning to do?"

Spike was silent for awhile, then changed the subject. "That blue one, from before. He was a lot like me, but not a dragon. I don't think I'm a dragon."

When Twilight didn't respond, Spike continued, "I wonder what I really am."

"You want to find out?" Twilight asked. Spike nodded, and they both went back to the library.

Inside, Twilight used her magic to take a leather book off the shelves. It was about as thick as Spike's foot. On the cover, in neat, gold thread, were the words The Dracopedia: A Guide to Dragons and Dragonkind. Twilight used her magic to flip through the pages. It was full of beautiful, detailed artwork. "There." Twilight stopped on a page that depicted a red creature that resembled both Spike and the blue animal from before.

"According to the book," Twilight announced. "You are apparently a drake."

"A drake, huh?" Spike echoed. He thought about asking Twilight to look further into the subject, but a new idea came to mind. "Maybe the black one is in there, I'd like to find out what that was."

Twilight nodded and continued to flip through the pages. This time, she stopped on a picture that looked a lot like monster, but in the picture it was green. It also seemed to be smaller than the black beast.

"Basilisk," Twilight read. "It's a basilisk." Spike nodded in understanding.

A week later. Twilight had gone to Sugarcude Corner to pick up an order, when she noticed a unicorn standing outside. The unicorn, a girl, was purple in color with yellow hair and eyes. She had a mountain as her cutie mark. Twilight was astonished to see a drake with her - just like Spike! This drake was a silver color, and was full-grown.

I wonder if Spike will grow up to be like that, Twilight thought.

"Jihn, stay outside," the unicorn commanded. As the unicorn entered Sugarcube Corner, the silver drake, who was apparently named Jihn, sat down obediently.

He's so well-behaved! Twilight thought in awe. He didn't even say anything.

Pinkie Pie had to explain that Twilight's order wasn't ready since they were so busy. Twilight understood and left. When she got back, Spike was nowhere to be found. Twilight, deciding to search for him, went to Carousel Boutique to ask Rarity if she had seen him.

"Why, yes, actually," Rarity replied. "He went down to the docks carrying some gems."

Twilight thanked Rarity and then set off for the docks. There, she found Spike. On the shore, he had set his gems into two piles. Twilight watched as Spike took a gem from the first pile, carried it out onto the dock, and dropped it into the water. Spike then jumped into the water to retrieve it before bringing it back onshore and placing it the second pile. Spike then repeated the process, but this time he brought the gem out further, where the water was deeper. This time, Spike had to try repeatedly to get the gem. He would run out of air partway through, then come back to the surface only to try again.

"That's enough for today," Spike said to himself as he got out of the water. Twilight was relieved that he wasn't pushing himself too hard. When he noticed Twilight standing there, Spike explained, "Part of the training I was talking about."

Once they were both back home, there was no time to relax. "I'm going into Everfree Forest," Spike said. "Are you coming?" Twilight answered by following Spike into the forest.

They hadn't gone far when they reached a small cliff with a wild, raging river below.

"Now you will see what my training has done for me," Spike said as he threw a gem down into the river. He watched it get lodged in between some rocks. Despite Twilight telling him not to, Spike jumped down the cliff and into the river, downstream of the precious gem. This way, he had to fight against the strong current to reach his prize.

Little did Spike or Twilight know, Jihn was observing from further downstream. With a growl, the silver drake leaped into the river and went after the gem. Being an adult, Jihn easily reached the gem before Spike and stole it away, much to Spike's annoyance. Jihn pulled himself up onto the nearby bank, then turned to sneer at Spike. Jihn ran up a slope to where Twilight stood. Jihn raced past her, a very angry Spike on his heels. Skillfully, Jihn jumped from the cliff, over the river, and landed on a cliff on the other side. He then turned around and seemed to mock Spike. Much to Twilight's horror, Spike jumped after him, only to fall into the river below.

"Spike!" Twilight called down. "Spike, are you okay?"

Spike surfaced in the water, and managed to drag himself to shore, where Twilight came to meet him.

"Not only was that my gem," Spike growled at no one. "But he just had to show-off!"

"I wouldn't take it so hard," Twilight tried to calm her friend down. "You're still young, and he's an adult."

"I guess so." Spike sighed, and they both started to head home. On the way, who else but the purple unicorn Twilight saw from before come trotting up, Jihn right behind her.

At the sight of Jihn, Spike let a hiss escape his throat.

"My, my," the unicorn said, almost mockingly. "How ill-behaved." She looked at Twilight. "I'm Earthen Amethyst, but you can just call me Ammy." She gestured to Jihn. "That's Jihn. Who, by the way, is so much better than you're newt here."

Twilight didn't understand why she was bothering to compare the two, as she stated, "He's so much older than Spike. You can't blame Spike for being young."

Ammy just rolled her eyes and walked by, Jihn following close behind. Twilight and Spike waited until they were out of sight, then continued to walk home.

That cursed Jihn, Spike thought angrily. I don't care if he's a drake like me. I'm not going to lose to him again!