Chapter 91 – At the Gates of Destiny

"HALT!" the guards said as the three of them approached. Sselekk stayed in front of them as they approached, Spike to the side as he gripped Image's hand as if dragging him along. Something Sselekk had told him to do. The group had traveled a bit from the station through a tunnel and approached a large shiny metal gate guarded by two midsized Suniks wearing metal plate armor that might have easily been equivalent to armor a pony would have used.

"General Sselekk." the other guard greeted, "Who's the hatchling?"

"He's not a hatchling, he's just stunted." the general announced, "This is my new recruit. I'm just taking him to see the barracks and tour the castle."

"What's his name?" the first guard asked.

"Uh…" he hesitated; he had only half expected them to ask that question.

"Sspike." he said, adding a Sunik hiss to the beginning of his name.

The group looked at him in surprise, "Huh." Sselekk said and thought, 'That actually works better than I thought it would.'

"That's actually a really cool name." the first guard complimented, "Kinda wish I had a name like that. I'd definitely be doing better than city gate guard duty."

"Hey, City Guard is a very important job." Spike said with gusto, "You're the first to stop invaders and warn the entire city if there's a Sand Worm on approach. You are the City's first line of defense, and protecting lives will always be the most important job a…" he caught himself before he said the word 'pony', a word Sselekk had warned him not to say, so he substituted it with another just as quickly as he could think of it, "…Sunik can do."

"Huh." Sselekk said, 'Brave and inspirational, Twilight Sparkle really raised you right.'

"I never thought about it like that." the second guard said as he turned to the first.

"Neither did I." the guard said and turned to Sselekk, "Found yourself a good one." he said, "All we need is his ID and he can go in."

"I…don't have ID." Spike said and shied away a bit, hoping they'd take pity on him.

"Sorry bud, rules are rules." the first guard said.

"What?" Sselekk said.

"He is right though." the second guard said, "We are the first line of defense, kinda makes me want to take this job more seriously."

"Look, I found him out on the surface, ok?" Sselekk said. It was a lie, but it got their attention, "Don't know where he's from, but the sun wasn't even slowing him down."

"Wait…" the first guard asked.

"Seriously?" the second echoed the question.

"Yeah." Sselekk said, "I was actually taking him to get his ID. Still don't know where he's from."

"What else can he do?" the first guard asked.

"Wait, you're not going to laugh at my size?" Spike asked.

"You can walk outside in the sun without overheating or even feeling hot." the first guard reiterated.

"Well, it did feel a little hot." Spike mumbled.

"Why would I tease you? You're amazing!" the first guard continued.

Spike clicked his claws together as he looked to the ever-so-expecting guards, "Well," he said hesitantly, "I do have one trick. I've been able to do it since I hatched."

"Oh!" the guards said together.

"What is it?" the second guard asked.

Spike gently took a breath, pursed his lips, and exhaled. A small stream of green fire sprung from his mouth, and evaporated right in front of them, "WOW COOL!" the two guards said.

"Ok, ok, you two done yet?" Sselekk asked, "The Station isn't gonna stay open all day!"

"Oh right!" the first guard said and turned to grab something from behind him. A slot opened up from the wall as he pulled a single lever, and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen made to look like a piece of stalactite. He began writing, and glanced at Spike every so often mumbling something as he did, "What would you say his height is?" he asked the other guard.

"Hm…" the Sunik guard said as he studied the baby dragon, "I'd say…a good twenty-seven scales."

"So, thirty scales." the one writing said.

"Why are you like this?" his friend asked.

"Focus!" Sselekk said in frustration.

The guard finished writing on his pad and tore the page from it. "Here you go." he said and handed it to Spike, "Keep this with you, it will act as a temporary ID for the day. But you have to make sure you get your ID before it expires, ok?"

"Sure." Spike said happily as he gripped the paper.

"Thanks, you two." Sselekk said, gently pushing the Meltackian forward, "Come on kid."

"See you around Sspike!" the two guards said as they waved to him while entering into the opening gate.

"That…does sound cool!" Spike said happily as he entered in. His breath was taken away once he saw it, an entire underground city. The walls, ceiling, and floor were carved smooth for hundreds of miles in all directions. The structures were made from the stone that, Spike imagined, had been carved from the very walls of the cavern. Glass windows and metal balconies, he had never seen such architecture before. Everything looked so ornate and so plain all at once. Some of the Suniks even had paint that clung to the walls of their homes and most had strange plants of some kind. He noticed a few of the citizens that were trimming back a somewhat wildly overgrown bush that looked as if it were trying to be a tree, but instead, it had white and grey needles instead of leaves. "Whoa!" he announced as he looked around. From the ceiling of the cave hung a very large and very bright white crystal, one that shined like the sun. On the floor, Suniks traveled back and forth going to and fro for one thing or another. Some stood in front of their buildings as they tried selling their goods like white and green loaves of bread or fruits that they had freshly picked. "This place is incredible." the baby dragon said.

Image turned his eyes away, "The city is nice, but where we're going…"

"I won't let anyone hurt you." Sselekk said, "Remember you're under my protection. I won't let what happened last time happen again."

"What happened last time?" Spike asked.

"Last time he was here, a rogue group chased him to a secluded area before beating him up." Sselekk said, "He might have been hurt even more if I hadn't stepped in."

"Who would do that?" the baby dragon asked.

Sselekk simply shrugged his shoulders, "This generation has been getting more and more violent while getting less and less honorable." The large Sunik then turned to the Meltackian, "But they're also cowards. All you need to do is show them that you can fight back and they'll back off."

"Fighting is not my forte." Image said, "It goes against everything my passion stands for."

"I don't believe that." Sselekk said as he looked the young Meltackian in the eyes, "Fighting can't be against perfection. At least not if you're defending yourself and those you care about." Image simply looked at him, unsure of what to think about the things the Sunik had just told him. "Well, this is my apartment!" the large Sunik said as he pointed to a particularly large building with multiple balconies and doors. "I live up on the third floor."

"What's an apartment?" Spike asked.

"It's like a bunch of small houses put together into one building and rented out to those who want to live in them." the large Sunik said.

"Why not just get your own house?" the baby dragon asked.

"It's cheaper this way." Sselekk said.

"But not in the long run." Image corrected.

"But if you live like this…then where is the privacy?" Spike asked, "What do you do when you want to be alone?"

"I'm trying to save up right now." Sselekk said, "I've got big plans for the next few years…if the landlord would stop rising rent."

"Gonna ask Kkimira to marry you, huh?" Spike asked with a knowing smirk. Sselekk stiffened up a bit, "Don't you think she'd want something better than this?" Spike asked, "Also, if the landlord keeps raising the rent, wouldn't it be better to just get something a bit more stable? I'd be scared of my upstairs neighbor breaking through the ceiling."

Sselekk stood there, his eyes wide and thoughtful, "Never thought I'd be taking advice from a guy less than one-fifth my size." he said in surprise, and again listened to the two of them laugh, before joining the laughter as well.