I don't know how I did it but I managed to squeeze some free time to write this chapter. By the way this chapter and the next one will what makes this turn out a little differently from the original episode. You'll find out why later. Now on with the show.

"NO?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?!" Garble exclaimed to Ayumu.

"Exactly that. I am NOT jumping into lava!" Ayumu retorted back.

"Why not? You're a dragon! Lava isn't gonna hurt you!"

"Yes it will! I can't take heat! Why do you think I'm wearing the hood for?!" Ayumu exclaimed back as Spike nodded his head rapidly in agreement.

"Yeah right! You're just wimping out!" Garble laughed at him as Ayumu gave him a death glare and Spike's "ears" drooped. Suddenly Vex stepped forward.

"Actually… My granddad was sensitive to heat too. So he spent most of his life underground and he stayed away from lava too, ya know?" The chubby purple dragon said. Garble turned to him with a raised brow "What? It's true!" Vex defended.

Garble sighed in defeat but still gave Ayumu a skeptic look. "Alright… You can skip this contest."

Ayumu and Spike sighed in relief, but Garble picked up Spike by the tail. "But Peewee's still jumping! And tell you what, if he pulls this off, you both pass."

"Hey! You can't make-"Ayumu started to argue but Spike stopped him

"It's ok Ayumu. I can do this, just let me try." The baby dragon said as he was hoisted over Garble's shoulder as he and his group walked off.

Good luck kid… Ayumu thought as he watched them head up the cliff that was over a large lava pit.

After a bit all the participants were on the edge of the cliff. "Whoever makes the biggest lava splash is the ultimate dragon!" Garble declared. "Geronimo!" He exclaimed as he dove off the cliff and into the lava. It splashed so high it nearly hit Rainbow if she hadn't stepped back. She looked up to Twilight nervously and she responded with a nod.

"Spike's on his own for this one…" She said with defeat as she motioned Rainbow and Rarity to move away.

The rest of the dragons hopped of the cliff (Clump leaving the biggest splash) leaving Spike as the last one to jump. He looked down and got really nervous, not at the lava, at how high he was.

"Gah!" He scrambled back against a rock and breathing heavily

"What's the matter Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide!" Garble called out from below as he and his crew laughed at him.

Spike looked around as if he was looking for an answer. He caught a glance at Ayumu, who was giving the other dragons another death glare. He suddenly gained some confidence as he walked back to the edge. I may not be a zombie like Ayumu, but that doesn't mean I can't give my hundred percent! For both our sakes!

He took a deep breath as he dove for the lava pit. Screaming the whole way down into a belly flop.

"Ooooooooohhh!" Everyone in the pit cringed at what happened and Ayumu winced a little as well.

Spike popped out of the lava and as he spit out some lava that was in his mouth he looked around nervously to see the other dragons watching him.

"Um… was I… that bad?" He asked with caution but Garble smiled.

"No dude, that was awesome! No pony could live through a belly flop like that! You really are a dragon." Garble said as his group agreed. Spike grinned from ear to ear as he swam to the edge of the pool to get out to where Ayumu was.

"Ayumu! I did it! Did you see me?" He exclaimed as he shook off the excess lava from his body.

"Yeah I did! Even if I wasn't a you-know-what I wouldn't be able to survive lava. Belly flop or not, you were pretty cool out there, kid!" Ayumu answered as he ruffled Spike's head.

"Cool? You really think I'm cool?" the baby dragon repeated with wide eyes and a small smile.

"Of course buddy." He said as got on his knees to be eye-level with Spike. "Unlike those jerks, you didn't need to prove anything to me. Our whole trip I've seen that you can hold your own even if you're young, in more ways than one, remember that Spike."

"Hey you two! Over here!"

The both of them turned to see Garble waving at them to come over.

Ayumu rolled his eyes "*Sigh* Might as well go see what he wants."

As the teen walked ahead, Spike looked at Ayumu with a twinkle of admiration in his eyes before following. Unbeknownst to the both of them Twilight smiled from her costume at what Ayumu said to her number one assistant. But couldn't help but wonder what he meant by "you-know-what".

Baff made a noise to sound like a makeshift trumpet as he and the other dragons held out there tails so Spike and Ayumu could pass from under them. The latter couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at the scene as he and the former walked through to where Garble was at the end.

"Spike for belly flopping so hard and Ayumu for dominating… well, everything else, you've proven yourself worthy." Garble announced as he held up his tail as it touched both Ayumu's and Spike's shoulders, almost like he was knighting them. "I hereby dub you two: 'Rookie Dragons'. And now for the initiation ritual."

He picked Spike up and gave him a hard noogie on the head and doing the same for Ayumu.

"Now let's party dragon style!"

Garble's group cheered as they went to the piles of gems as they began to chow down on the jewels. Spike immediately dove head first into a pile but Ayumu just stood still. Sure, Spike told him a while back that dragons eat gemstones but he still cringed at the fact they were eating something incredibly valuable (even if it was apparently very common in this world).

"Go on Ayumu, help yourself!" Baff called out from another pile.

"Uh…"

Spike walked towards Ayumu with a few gems in his hands. "At least have couple. So you won't cause more suspicion." He whispered to Ayumu as he gave him a couple of small rubies.

Ayumu looked at the rubies for a little bit. Oh, what the hell. It's worth a try.

"Bottoms up." He said as he popped the jewels into his mouth and crunching them.

"Huh. Tastes like rock candy."

Later…

"Wow…that was a great party." Spike said as he lay on the floor on a full stomach as he and the other dragons were scattered about.

"Yeah, it may be great by Ponyville standards. Stick with us Spike; we got a lot to teach you about being a dragon. You too Ayumu." Garble said as he gave Spike a light punch on the shoulder. But before Spike could reply Ayumu came down from his perch on a rock.

"Well as fun as that sounds, I'm not staying. I have friends to get back to." He responded to the red dragon but Spike's ears drooped a little. He wanted to find Ayumu a way back but at the same time he didn't to say goodbye so fast.

Garble shrugged as he got up "Ok then. But before you go, I think you guys are ready for a real dragon raid."

His crew cheered at what their leader said but Ayumu got a bad feeling in his gut.

"There's a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby and we're gonna swipe' em!" he said to the two of them.

Spike had a shocked look and Ayumu's became stern.

"I'm so looking forward to going to this raid!" Clump exclaimed as patted Spike knocking him down.

"Uh, yeah… I'm excited. Um… I mean, I'm psyched." Spike agreed but not really meaning it.

"Alright then. Let's fly!" Garble exclaimed as he and the rest of his crew took to the sky.

Realizing that he had no wings Spike thought he could get out of this. "Sorry guys! Guess I'll wait here in the crater! After the whole raid things over, we'll totally hang then- WHOA!"

Spike was lifted up by Clump as they continued their way with Ayumu close behind them. But then he looked down to see the weird long dragon heading right towards a lava pit trying to follow them.

"Actually you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up." He said as he flew back to the mountain.

"Ayumu?" Spike said to himself as the rest of the dragons continued their way.

What was going on was Rainbow seeing that Spike was leaving, so she decides to go after them. Not realizing that she was dragging the other two right towards the lava.

"Rainbow Dash stop! We can't fly!" Twilight exclaimed.

"And you're ruining my fabulous costume!" Rarity cried out.

Suddenly Twilight noticed that they were being lifted away from the lava and going up the mountain.

"Huh? Rainbow Dash, how are you carrying the both of us?"

"Twilight… it's not me." Rainbow replied.

When they landed on a cliff outside the mountain and suddenly the costume was taken off of them and Ayumu was standing in front of them.

"You girls should be more careful. I highly doubt ponies are fire proof." Ayumu said to them with a smirk on his face.

"Ayumu?! How did you-?" Twilight stuttered out.

"Look, I'm not the smartest guy around but even I could tell that was a costume. How it managed to actually look like that other dragon is beyond me…" He answered.

We cut to a scene of Crackle chasing her tail*

"Besides since the whole hood thing I was starting to get a hunch that Spike was being followed .I just didn't have the heart to tell him."

"We just wanted to make sure Spike was alright..." Twilight said looking down and Rainbow and Rarity doing the same.

"I get that, he's like your little brother. No reason to feel bad. But I don't trust these guys, we better get there quick before Spike does something he regrets." Ayumu explains as he grabbed Twilight who nodded in agreement. He turned to the pegasus who was grabbing hold of Rarity.

"Rainbow Dash, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Spike told me you were fast flyer. Think you can keep up?" Ayumu half asked, half challenged.

"Try me!" Rainbow responded confidently as the two of them took off.

Ayumu was impressed at Rainbow's speed, even with the limits of a living being that he no longer has. But his thoughts went back to Spike.

Hang on, kid! We're coming!

*I looked up in the My Little Pony wiki page that Crackle is female, so that's why it's "she" here.

If you've seen that episode, you would know that what Garble said Spike said that he would stick with them forever. I think he was just happy to have some guy "friends" after being around girls all the time but with Ayumu in this story his perspective changed a little, because if you think about it, they have quite a lot in common (which was why I did this story! *squee*). Hope you guys like it and have some patience for the next chapter to come out.

Like what you see? Anything you wanna ask? Comment below and let me know! See ya! And Happy Valentine's Day! (Plus my birthday! :D)