High Moon Ch. 33:

She’s Counting On You

After leaving High Moon valley, Spike took Cyclone towards Zecora’s hut to introduce Cyclone to the zebra, and to see about a potion that he was helping her make. Cyclone remained quiet for much of their visit, mostly because she couldn’t think of anything to say to the mare.

Of course, this changed slightly as Spike was able to get Cyclone to talk about her life living with Veil in White Tail. Most of it concerned her and the canine just living together as ‘friends,’ as far as anyone was able to tell. Veil had taken any work she could get so they could have the things they would need to keep living in the house, while Cyclone cooked and cleaned.

Their lives hadn’t been about achieving a dream or finding some goal in life. It was simply to make it through the day and get ready to face the next. Cyclone had no ambitions or ideas about where she wanted to be. She just wanted to be happy and living, that was it. As for Veil, Cyclone said that she didn’t really think past the next three days at the most. That was mostly due to her mindset as a beta hound, planning for an unforeseeable future wasn’t something she’d even thought of doing.

This got Spike thinking about himself and Quill. They weren’t too different from Cyclone and Veil. Quill never planned much of anything out completely, and if she did, she would still constantly change her plans whenever something new and unexpected came up. As for himself, Spike had always prided himself on keeping a schedule and list of goals. One of the effects of living with a mare that praised checklists as gods.

However, it had been hard for him to do so as of late. At first, his goal had been to get strong enough to protect everyone from anything that would try to harm them. But now, it was just to get a balance in his life between his body and magic. The problem was that he didn’t know where to start. Every time he tried to think of something he could do better to help with it he would only get as far as:

‘There’s a real small number of books about balancing dragon-magic, mind, and body. All while still having to deal with something that tried to kill ya in your sleep. Geez, now I know how Princess Luna must’ve felt.’

All he could hope to do was trust everyone to help him out while forcing himself to push past his limits. Spike couldn’t begin to help anyone until he helped himself first, and he supposed that what Quill was doing the same.

He wasn’t the only one that had a lot on his plate, even Quill was busy trying to achieve things of her own on top of taking care of her mare. Spike knew that Quill would do whatever she could to help him at any moment’s notice, but this was his battle to face alone. How could he hope to help fight off dangers to Equestria if he couldn’t even fight for himself? How could Spike ever understand what it meant to fight for a cause until he found one?

Quill had Frost and all of High Moon to fight for, Wolf was the same just with Blaze as his main concern, and the same could be said of Isis and the others. They may have all had their own battles to fight, but they still came together when it was necessary; as a family.

“So this Dusk guy,” Cyclone began as she and Spike continued to walk through Everfree towards Dusk’s house in Ponyville. She still was unsure about what all of this meant or if this half-breed could truly help her. However, if Clan-Mother thought that it was best for her then she wasn’t in any place to argue. “Will he really know what to do for me?”

Spike turned towards his left to look into the worry showing from Cyclone’s pink eyes, and quickly thought of a way to end this. “Yeah, of course he can help you Cyclone,” Spike said with a happy tone of voice as they passed the threshold of the forest and entered into Ponyville just by Fluttershy’s house. “He’s a really cool guy too.”

“I see,” Cyclone muttered to herself as they started to walk through the streets leading towards Dusk’s house. Somewhat surprisingly to Spike, there were hushed whispers throughout the town as the two dragons walking freely, questioning who the new face was.

Spike knew that most of the gossip was resentment from what happened during his and Quill’s greed-growth two years ago and the incident with the elements two months ago. After destroying a good portion of the town just by himself, Spike wasn’t too surprised that some of the ponies still feared or were threatened by him. Then there was the incident at the palace’s library, only Celestia knew how much knowledge and other very important information had been lost because of him.

Spike couldn’t fully blame many of the ponies for the way they felt right now, he could only hope that they didn’t decide to walk the same dark path their ancestors did as dragon-hunters. However, that didn’t stop a deep frown from growing on his face as the gossip soon turned to Cyclone. Some ponies even went as far as to say that Cyclone belonged to Spike, and that he had ‘claimed’ her. Of course none of this was true, but it didn’t help that Cyclone grabbed onto Spike’s arm and started to walk closer to him.

“Cyclone, what’s the matter?” Spike whispered in a hushed voice as they rounded the corner towards Dusk’s house so they could find the answers that they needed and a sanctuary away from the judging eyes. “No one is going to hurt you, they’re just curious is all.”

Cyclone’s eyes gazed furiously over the many faces of the ponies all still attempting--and failing--to hide their voices from them. This wasn’t her first time being under the judgmental eyes of ponies before. Ever since her greed-growth, Cyclone had noticed the change in the treatment she had gotten from the ponies and other town goers. She knew what the stares were for, she knew what the whisperings were of, she knew what the hate in their eyes meant.

“They’re no different,” Cyclone muttered under her breath with an angry and bitter tone in her voice. One that told Spike that she’d been in the same situation before and that she wanted to do anything to get out of it.

“Come on Cyclone,” Spike said, picking up his pace so they would be able to reach Dusk’s house faster. It wasn’t long before the two stood at the two-story house before Spike reached out and knocked on the door.

“Coming~” Both Spike and Cyclone blinked several times at the singing voice that came from the other side of the door. However, before they could question it, the dark oak door swung open to reveal Jinx with nothing but a large purple towel around her body and a smaller blue one holding her mane up.

“Oh hiya Spike,” Jinx started with a slight blush as she quickly moved to fix the purple towel around her body better before inviting them to come inside. “What brings you here, and who is your friend?” she asked as she continued to get herself ready for the date that Dusk was taking her and Sketchy on while Spike led Cyclone towards the couch.

“Hey Jinx, this is Cyclone,” Spike started, waving his hand over towards the dragoness that was still trying to use him as a shield. “Cyclone this is one of Dusk’s mares, Jinx.” Cyclone looked up from Spike to meet the smile on Jinx’s face before giving a small wave. “We came to ask Dusk a quick question. He isn’t too busy right now, is he?”

Jinx placed a finger on her chin to think for a moment before shrugging. “I dunno, he should have some time to help you guys out. Here, lemme go get him,” she answered before ascending the stairs and walking towards their bedroom where she last saw Dusk.

It wasn’t long before Dusk came walking out of the room wearing a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a purple vest. Upon seeing the half-breed dressed up in such a way, Spike couldn’t help but give a whistle of amazement.

“Whoa Dusk, what’s the occasion?” Spike asked as Dusk started to make his way down the stairs and towards him and Cyclone. Spike never would have thought that Dusk was the one to clean himself up for any reason. Even Cyclone was impressed with the way the half-breed was dressed and she’d just met him. “Going out or something?”

Dusk started to chuckle at the drake a little as he gave a quick spin around to show off how well dressed he was. “You could say something like that Spike,” he answered before turning to the new face in the room. However, upon doing so, Dusk was able to sense something wrong with the dragoness. “So, who is your new friend here Spike?” Dusk asked, taking a seat in a chair across from them. “And I want the full story.”

Cyclone sighed when she realized that Dusk already somehow knew about her fractured dragon’s soul just from looking at her. “M-my name is Cyclone,” she answered quickly as she could feel that Dusk was far stronger than both twins and was a bit ahead of Frost’s magic levels. “S-so, you’re what’s called a half-breed?”

“One of the many types, yes,” Dusk answered with a nod of his head as he remained seated upright in the chair so not to ruin his clothes and get yelled at by Sketchy, who was already freaking out. “So how did it happen Cyclone? It’s pretty hard for a dragon to lose that much of their dragon’s soul and continue to live.”

Again, Cyclone sighed when Dusk got straight to the point, and started to shake a little from the memory behind the reason. “I-I went through a gr-greed-growth five years ago, and I-I spat out some of my dragon’s soul.”

“Hm...now that’s something, and I think that your greed-growth may be the cause,” Dusk said, leaning forward slightly to think further on the dragoness' situation. It’s one thing for a dragon to come out from a greed-growth, it was a whole other thing for them to come out unharmed.

“Wait,” Spike stared, only to take a moment to think for a bit. “Me and Quill went through a greed-growth two years ago, so how come this didn’t happen to us?”

Dusk rubbed his chin for a moment to think about what Spike was saying. He knew that the twins went through a greed-growth, so the question was why didn’t they suffered the same fate as Cyclone. “I dunno,” he started, waving his hand around to keep his train of thought going. “Well, with Cyclone, it could have been a sudden growth of ghost-heart in her. That would have caused her to spit out a chunk of her dragon’s soul.”

Cyclone again sighed when she heard Dusk say the same thing that Blaze did the other day. It was hard to tell which was the bigger blessing, not killing anyone during her rampage, or not being taken by ghost-heart. “With you two, I dunno. It could have been the fact that you two lived docile lives, or just by pure luck. Who knows, I would be able to tell you more if I was there.”

“I’m kinda wishing you were,” Spike mumbled to himself with a sad look on his face. Cyclone looked up towards the sad look in Spike’s face, already wanting for it to go away the moment she saw it. Then she thought back to every time Veil was in the same rut and quickly thought of a way to at least make him smile.

“It’s alright Spike,” she said with a small smile on her lips, wrapping the drake’s arm with hers, and pressing her chest into it. “It’s a scary thing to go through, I know that you didn’t mean any harm.” Spike blushed brightly from the dragoness’ sudden actions, stammering to look for something to say.

Dusk chuckled at the two’s antics, also hoping that Spike would man up and make the first move this time around. However, there still was the matter of dealing with the dragoness’ missing piece of her dragon’s soul. “She’s right Spike, I know I already told you this but greed is a dangerous and important thing for dragons. Remember that, mate.”

“Y-yeah I will, th-thanks Dusk.” Spike slightly stammered, using his only free hand to rub the back of his head. Cyclone giggled at the blushing drake, admittedly finding it cute when he was flustered.

Dusk, overlooking Spike’s blushing, nodded his head to the drake before turning his attention back to Cyclone. “Alright now Cyclone,” Dusk started to get her attention, which consisted of her merely turning her head towards him. “I know it’s been a long while but, do you know where it is? The fragment of your dragon’s soul?”

“Well...ye-yes, I do,” Cyclone answered again with a small nod of her head. “I-I had it made into a necklace for m-my friend, Veilstone.” Dusk reeled back in his seat with the look of pure shock on his face, as something like that was unheard of by any dragon. “I-I wanted to give her something s-special for her birthday, and...and I…”

Dusk sighed at the sight of Cyclone breaking down into tears, which made what had to be done that much harder. “Now that really is something,” he started with a scratch of the back of his head. “Well...there isn’t much you can do.”

Cyclone froze when she heard Dusk say the same thing that Blaze had yesterday and already knew what his next few words were going to be. “The best I can think of for you to do is train like your life depends on it, cause it kind of does.”

“O-oh...C-Clan-Mother kind of already told me that yesterday,” Cyclone meekly said as she tightened her grip around Spike’s arm, as if to find something strong to keep her from breaking down. “Clan-Mother also s-said that it will be difficult for me to get control of my magic...because I-I have fire and water elemental-magics.”

Dusk slowly nodded his head, knowing about the disadvantages of having two opposing elemental-magic. Luckily enough, neither him, nor his other four siblings had to worry about that when they were being trained by their father. “Yeah, dem’s the breaks,” he said with a shake of his head and a small sigh coming afterwards. “I can tell ya this, you might want to just learn some basic stuff to focus your body and magic on for now.”

Cyclone let out a long sigh as she dropped her head onto Spike’s shoulder, briefly tightening her grip around his arm before relaxing again. Spike looked down towards the slightly shivering dragoness and knew that there had to be a better way. “We already knew that, Dusk,” Spike started, turning his attention back to Dusk while Cyclone again used him as a shield. “Frost said that the safest way for her to get her dragon magic under control would be for her to train just as much as me and Quill. But there has gotta be other ways.”

“Well, that’s not the only way,” Dusk started, taking a quick glance towards the clock, and standing up from his seat with a sigh. “The fastest way is just to take back what was lost.” Again, Dusk caught Cyclone jumping slightly as she now began obviously hiding behind Spike. Even as a stubborn and dense dog, Dusk could already tell what the answer was regarding his suggestion.

“Another way is for her to train,” Dusk continued, only getting a sigh out of both dragons. As Dusk continued to look at the two, he noted the sadness on both of their faces, and couldn’t stand to see them. “There is one last way she could get control of her magic, but it’s too dangerous for you guys.”

“Come on,” Spike started, not liking how Dusk was refusing to tell them of the last way to help Cyclone, but slightly off-put by his suddenly dark tone of voice. “Dusk whatever it is, we’ve got to try for Cyclone’s shake.” Once again, Dusk was silent as he remained standing in front of the two dragons. “Dusk if it can work then-”

“No Spike,” Dusk cut in with a shake of his head before he began walking towards the two of them to place a hand on both Cyclone and Spike’s shoulders to get the both of them to look him dead in the eyes. “It won’t work, it’ll just get the lot of you killed.” Spike let out a long sigh but soon nodded his head in understanding.

Dusk sighed at the silence he got from Spike and the other dragoness, and as much as he wished he could spend more time to helping the two, he couldn’t. “Look,” Dusk began, backing away from the two, and glancing towards the clock. “You know I would help some more if I could, but not right now. I’ve got a little too much to do today, and we’ll be leaving for Canterlot in a few days.”

Spike’s ear-fills perked up at the sound of where Dusk and his mares would be going to in a few days. “Why are you going to Canterlot?” Spike asked, looking back up to Dusk as he started to walk over to his stairs. “Is Rarity taking you guys to some art show?”

Dusk chuckled for a bit as he shook his head, knowing the next time he saw the elements it would be far too soon. “Nah, I owe Vinyl a favor, and she’s got me playing in a show with her in like...two days,” Dusk answered, leaning against the stair railings. “Listen guys, I would love to help out anyway I can, but not right now. Either early tomorrow morning or after a few days, that’s ya’lls best chance to come around again.”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Spike started as he stood up from his seat with Cyclone wordlessly following him. “We came without notice, so it isn’t your fault that you have stuff to do. We’ll do what we can for Cyclone.” With a nod from Dusk, Spike started to leave out the house with Cyclone when Dusk stopped him.

“Hey Spike,” he called out after noticing how much Cyclone was holding onto Spike and came to a slow conclusion of his own. He knew that while it wasn’t really his place to say anything regarding how the white dragoness was acting towards Spike, he felt he had to give the drake some encouragement regarding her.

Not to mention the way Cyclone spoke, using the term ‘Clan-Mother,’ told him that she had to been in a dragon clan at some point of her life. Once Spike finally turned his head towards him, Dusk flashed a smile before nodding his head towards Cyclone. “You take care of her. She’s counting on you.”

Spike was about to question the half-breed when Cyclone’s grip on his arm tightened and she had a bright blush on her white scales. “Uh, hey sure Dusk. I will,” Spike replied before reaching out to the door handle to lead Cyclone back to High Moon. “Be seeing you around, Dusk, and good luck with your date.”

“Thanks, I’ll be needing it. See ya guys,” Dusk called back to Spike before walking back towards his bedroom to finish getting ready for the date while Spike closed the door behind him. Once outside, both Cyclone and Spike let out a long sighs as they were hoping the Dusk could help with the situation in any way.

With nothing left to do, the two began to walk down towards Everfree to head back towards the temple to inform the others of the news. During said trip, Cyclone didn’t release her grip on Spike’s arm, and was still using him as a shield to hide away from the ponies’ judging eyes.

While Cyclone attempted to hide, Spike thought back to what Dusk had said to him before they left his house. “She’s counting on you.” Spike looked down towards Cyclone to see the look of fear and small tinge of hatred lacing her eyes.

“Come on Cyclone,” Spike said, pulling Cyclone out of her staring match with a few of the ponies. When she looked towards the drake, Cyclone saw only a bright smile that somehow told her that everything was going to be alright. “Let’s go home.”

“Okay Spike,” Cyclone said with a bright smile as she continued to faithfully follow the drake back to the temple and her new home. Thinking that they could use another visit with Zecora, and that it was best if Cyclone was out of the main part of Ponyville, Spike started to lead her towards Fluttershy’s house so they could leave the town that way.

Thankfully, his choice was the right one as the number of ponies began dwindling to the point that they were able to talk amongst themselves. Cyclone quickly apologized for the close contact all day long, saying that it was just her clinging onto someone that she instinctively thought could protect her.

Spike was flattered that Cyclone said that she believed him to be someone strong enough to protect her, self-deprecatingly saying that he wouldn’t be the best of choice. He went on to say that he didn’t mind she had been holding onto his arm all day, though. Spike couldn’t understand just why he felt this way, it just felt right, natural even.

Cyclone then continued to say that it was just Spike’s natural instincts as a drake, more specifically, a salamander drake. She said that there was nothing wrong with him following the subtle push from his instincts, so as long as he stayed true to himself then no one could tell him otherwise.

After Spike had thanked the dragoness for her kind and caring words, Cyclone again turned the conversation towards something else along the lines of Spike being a salamander drake. “So, Spikey,” she giggled, believing that she was the first one to ever call Spike by that nick-name. “Have you...you know, claimed anyone yet?”

Spike raised an eyebrow towards the dragoness’ question, not seeing the meaning behind it until he looked over to Cyclone’s bedroom eyes. “W-well...no, I-I haven’t just yet,” he said with an awkward sigh, scratching the back of his head with his hand. To be honest, Spike had never thought of doing that with anyone just yet.

He had always firmly believed that he should marry the one he planned on being intimate with first. However, so far, Spike couldn’t even get a date, let alone get to first base without something going wrong. He’d already blown it with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and there was just no way he was going back to Rarity.

Then he thought about his sister. Quill had, presumably, already been intimate with Frost who knew how many times so far, and yet they hadn’t married each other, nor had they even went on what could be considered a date. He again assumed that Quill was doing just that when she and Frost flew off somewhere without telling anyone what exactly they were doing.

Not that he still questioned their relationship or anything, but it would do him some peace of mind to know what they were doing, or maybe he was better off not knowing. “To be honest, I hadn’t given that much thought just yet.”

“Hm, is that so,” Cyclone mused with a small, sly, smile on her face, almost as if she was thinking something to herself. “Spike can I ask you a question?” Wondering what the dragoness was thinking, Spike wordlessly nodded his head. “Have you and Quill reached your growth-spurts yet?”

“Uh, no, Blaze said that it may happen during the winter at the rate our bodies are changing.” Spike watched as Cyclone again lowered her eyes, this time with the look of thought on her face, and it only made Spike’s curiosity rise. “I’m just hoping by then I’ll be out of these magical-limiters. Why do you ask anyway?”

For a moment, Cyclone just continued to walk beside Spike as she kept her thoughts to herself, and from the look of things they were heavy thoughts. Suddenly however, she began giggling with a blush on her face, and this oddly scared and enticed Spike at the same time.

“Oh, no real reason Spike,” Cyclone finally said, looking Spike straight into his green eyes with a bright blush on her white scales. For a moment, Spike’s heart skipped a beat when he looked into the bright shine in Cyclone’s pink eyes, forcing him to pay attention to every word that came out of Cyclone’s mouth. “It’s good to hear that you and Quill will be growing up to be strong dragons soon, that’s all.”

Spike began blushing again when he caught himself staring into Cyclone’s eyes for too long, turning back down the dirt path. “H-heh thanks Cyclone,” he said as he stretched the back of his head while Cyclone continued giggling at him. “That really means a lot coming from another dragon.”

“Don’t mention it,” Cyclone said with a cheery voice, walking closer towards Spike to where their arms were nearly touching. “As a dragoness, it’s my job to point out strong and suitable drakes, and you’re one of them Spike.”

Spike’s mind started to quickly race for something, anything, to say to Cyclone, just to keep her smiling and happy after the great loss she just experienced yesterday. ‘Don’t say something dumb, don’t say something dumb, don’t say something dumb, say something though!’ “I uh, er, did you know Quill can sing?” ‘Smooth Spike, real smooth.’

While Spike was mentally kicking himself around, Cyclone began giggling at how cute he was when he was flustered, making sure to tease him enough before he could get used to it; which at this rate may never happen. “Oh can she now? I would never have pegged your sister to be the one to sing.”

‘Er, did that really work?’ “Y-yeah, it came as a surprise to me when I learned about it too,” Spike said, thinking back to a rather embarrassing misunderstanding a few years ago, but happy that it turned out the way it did. “I still don’t understand how she does it so well with the speaking voice she has.”

“Well,” Cyclone started, pausing to take Spike’s hand in hers as she placed a hand on his shoulder to lean into his ear. “Quill isn’t the only one that can hit the high notes,” she whispered in a low tone, far lower than her normal speaking one, leading Spike to believe he’d heard what a real seductive voice was supposed to be.

Once she saw that Spike got the message, Cyclone removed herself from his body, and began to walk down the path with a natural sway in her hips, leaving Spike with his jaw hanging open. He didn’t know why, but something felt like it was burning inside of him, burning so hot that it almost hurt.

“Oh Spikey~” Spike refocused his eyes to see that Cyclone was a fair distance away from him and again was giving him the bedroom look. “It isn’t nice to let a dragoness wander off by herself.” Spike quickly moved to again stand by Cyclone’s side. He couldn’t explain why, it just felt as though he wanted, almost needed, to make sure Cyclone was protected, it felt...natural. “So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?”

“Hm,” Spike started, tilting his head in thought for a moment. “Well, no telling when Quill and Frost will be back, I’m fairly sure that Lily and the others will be gone all day, and I still don’t know what’s up with Wolf, Blaze, or Isis. So uh, you want me to show you a few tricks with your water-magic?”

For a moment, Spike caught Cyclone’s eyes sparkling like Twilight’s would when something incredible happened, but then quickly faded. “Sure Spike,” she said, turning towards him with a bright smile on her face. One that Spike believed suited her better than the sad one from yesterday. “Miss Winds told me that I should be working on my water-magic whenever I could, I guess now’s as good a time as any.”

“Great,” Spike started with a bright smile of his own, one that Cyclone believed suited him better than the bothered one he had all day yesterday. “We can start after some lunch back at the temple. That alright with you, Cyclone?”

Suddenly, Cyclone wrapped herself around Spike’s arm again, nuzzling her cheek against him. “That’s fine by me Spike,” she said with a giggle as she tightened her grip around Spike’s arm, taking his hand in hers. “So as long as you don’t stop smiling, I’m happy.” Spike’s eyes widened at was Cyclone said, not believing someone he didn’t even know well was treating him so nicely.

He couldn’t make sense of it, and he kind of didn’t want to. It all felt...natural.

Spike turned his head downwards to Cyclone, only to see her smiling brightly towards him. “W-wow, th-thanks Cyclone,” Spike finally stammered as they were reaching the bridge towards Fluttershy’s cottage. From there all they would have to do was turn left and follow the stream all the way back to the temple. “That...that really-”

“Spike?” Upon hearing the voice of someone that he never thought he would hear in a long while, Spike was forced to turn his eyes away from the beautiful pinks in Cyclone’s eyes, and up the bridge to the last mare he wanted to see: Rarity.

“Spike darling, is that you?” Spike didn’t answer the mare for a moment, not daring to continue looking at the one that he suspected was responsible for a large portion of the ghost-heart he was dealing with now. However, the mare wouldn’t be ignored so easily. “Spikey, darling, please at least speak to me.”

Sighing, Spike turned his eyes away from the small and insignificant stream that led home, and turned towards the glamorous mare. “Yeah Rarity, it’s me,” he answered with a forced smile on his face. “So, you doing any better? It’s been more than two months now.”

Cyclone quietly watched the mare, and upon hearing her name, became slightly wary of how she acted. Thanks to Quill, she had heard of a few of the things that the mare was guilty of doing to Spike. Using his heritage for her personal gain, taking advantage of his trust, and toying with his heart.

Something like that was inconceivable in dragon culture. No drake, regardless of upbringing should or would have to put up with something like that without getting something in return. From the lack of a gem hoard, and from not having claimed anyone just yet, Cyclone was able to tell whatever the mare gave him wasn’t worth Spike’s efforts.

It was obvious to her, if this mare actually held any feelings for Spike, she would have treated him better. She would have treated him with some kind of respect, not like some wild animal that was doing tasks in exchange for a simple treat. She would have treated him as an equal.

She would have treated him like the drake he is.

“Yes dear, I...we are doing much um, ‘better’ as the best way to put it,” Rarity answered with a small laugh as she rubbed her arm, showing how nervous she really was. “It truly has been a rather eventful week for us,” she continued to say, taking a step towards the two dragons. “I ho-”

Rarity lost her words when Cyclone moved in front of Spike, placing her hand on his chest while she shot an angry glare towards Rarity. The burning rage in the unknown dragoness’ eyes was enough to get Rarity to not only stop moving towards them, but also to take a step back from her.

“Um, wh-who is your friend, Spike?” Rarity asked, directing her question towards Spike, but keeping her attention on the malice pouring out from the white dragoness’ pink eyes. “S-she seems to be...uh, nice.”

Spike, still trying to understand where Cyclone’s sudden aggression was coming from, opened his mouth to answer Rarity’s questions, but was prematurely cut off by Cyclone growling, “My name’s Cyclone, and I can speak for myself you know,” she answered with a few small wisps of azure-colored flames coming out of her mouth as she spoke. “I take it that you’re this, ‘Rarity Belle’ I’ve been hearing oh-so much about?”

Rarity was taken aback when she heard that the new dragoness had heard about her from the twins, quickly wondering just what was said about her. “O-oh, I must apologize to you, Cyclone,” Rarity said, trying to sound unfazed by what the dragoness was saying. ‘Stay calm Rarity dear, she doesn’t know you just yet, besides, this wouldn’t be the first time...’

“So I take it that you and Spike are close friends,” Rarity said, noticing Cyclone’s close proximity to Spike and the blush on his face. “I would love to hear about it, if that’s okay with you two. It’s been far too long since we last spoke, Spikey-Wikey.”

Knowing what the mare was really saying, Cyclone again began menacingly growling at Rarity with more wisps of uncontrolled azure flames flowing freely from her nose. This little pony actually thinks that she could use a nickname to lure him back into his old life as a slave?!

“Why you arrogant-”

Cutting Cyclone off, Spike took her hands into his to gain her attention, and to silently tell her not to cross that line. “Actually Rarity,” Spike started, holding onto Cyclone’s hands until he felt her ease them up before moving them off his body, but still holding them as he took a step towards the mare. “We can’t really stay. Got a lot that we need to get done today, you know, training and stuff.”

“Ah, I see,” Rarity mused for a second, thinking of some way to get Spike to stay a bit longer so she could say what she needed to say. “S-surely it could wait, at least long enough to speak with the others...right?”

Sighing, Spike shook his head with his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see the sad expression on Rarity’s face. “No we really can’t Rarity, not now, and not for awhile. There’s too much to get done and we can’t afford any time wasted on messing around.”

“Messing around?! I...well, could I at least know what brings you two here?” Rarity tried to move past the slight that Spike had so casually thrown out, and forced a smile on her face. “I’m guessing that I’d be right if I said that it wasn’t for us, was it Spike?”

‘So she is just going to ignore me?’ Driven by the anger that was building inside of her, Cyclone’s hands began curling into claws, intent on ripping the rudeness of this haughty mare. Spike noticed this, realizing that Cyclone wasn’t enjoying being talked around as if she wasn’t there. He moved quickly to try and hurry things along. “Nothing much, we just came in town to ask Dusk a few questions about dragon stuff.”

“Oh my, I’m sorry you had to do that,” Rarity said, confusing both Spike and Cyclone. “I do hope that brute wasn’t too harsh with you two.”

For a moment, all Spike could do was stare at Rarity with a look of disbelief on his face. Sure, he knew that Dusk and Rarity would never be friends no matter what happened, but he would never have thought that she would go as far as to talk bad about him.

“Rarity what are you talking about?” Spike questioned, more than slightly miffed about the tone Rarity had when she was speaking about Dusk. “Dusk isn’t a brute. He’s the nicest and coolest guy I’ve ever met in my life. I mean,” Spike paused, disbelief coloring his laugh that this was even happening. “Right now, he’s busting his butt to pull together a date for his mares, and you call him a brute?”

Now it was Rarity’s turn to stare at Spike, shocked that Spike would take a liking to someone such as Dusk. “That’s because it is the truth Spike,” she said with a more firm tone in her voice that neither dragon liked. “You should have heard the things he said to me and the other girls.”

“Well maybe he was trying to get through to you girls. Ever think that, Rarity?” Spike retorted, finally letting go of Cyclone’s hands and taking one large step towards Rarity, stopping right in front of her. Spike glared deeply into the shocked expression in Rarity’s eyes, finally seeing why Quill never wanted to deal with the elements.

Closing his eyes, Spike calmed himself before speaking, “Two months Rarity,” he started with a slight pause, rubbing his face before opening his eyes again. “You girls couldn’t stay together for two months without us? You even abandoned one of your own friends, or did you forget that already? You know what?” Spike turned his head towards Everfree and let out a sigh of green flames. “Come on Cyclone, let’s go home. We’ve got nothing left to do here.”

Spike quickly turned away from Rarity to start leading Cyclone back to back to the temple in High Moon. However, when he felt a tug on his tail, Spike turned his head around to find the Rarity was holding onto him with a begging look on her face. “What is it Rarity?”

“Spike...p-please don’t leave, darling,” Rarity pleaded, refusing to look Spike in his powerful emerald-green eyes, ashamed for not being able to. “We’ve missed you and Quill. We’re...I’m sorry for what happened. Please darling, come back to us. I promise that we won’t use either of you any more, we’ll treat you how you should’ve treated from the beginning.”

Spike frowned when he saw that Rarity couldn’t even meet his eyes, sighing as he turned his head back around and saw a worried look on Cyclone’s face. This situation was the exact same as it had been two months ago, which left Spike greatly disappointed in Rarity. He didn’t know about the others, but he would have at least thought that Rarity would have shaped up just a little.

‘I should’ve known better...’

“Sorry Rarity,” Spike said, flicking his tail free from Rarity’s hand, and walking back towards Cyclone. Once he was standing in front of the dragoness, Spike gave a quick smile to tell Cyclone that he was alright, and that there wasn’t anything to worry about. “That’s not an option anymore. Me and Quill, we got our own lives to live now, and we can’t stop. Not after everything that’s happened.”

Without saying another word, Spike began leading Cyclone back towards Everfree, leaving Rarity standing on the bridge with a shocked look on her face. However, as they continued to move down the stream, the shocked expression turned into anger.

“And what's that supposed to mean, huh?” Rarity shouted at Spike, never having expected him to betray her like this. He’d always been there when she needed a hand, ready with a smile on his face. And now, after two months of living out in the Everfree Forest of all places, he was ready to just give up on his old life? On his old friends? It didn’t make any sense, unless…

“Oh. I see. It’s her, isn’t it?” Rarity spat out with a high and mighty tone of voice, getting both dragons to stop their walking. “She’s the reason you’re willing to just up and abandon your friends?”

Spike looked back towards the scornful look on Rarity’s face, wondering why she was speaking in such a way. “Wha...Her? What does Cyclone have to do with me not wanting to come back?” Spike was confused. This didn’t make sense, Rarity wasn’t making sense. “I don’t want to go back because you and the others wouldn’t let Quill and me grow up. You didn’t, couldn’t, teach us anything about being dragons.”

Rarity appeared to be unconvinced with what Spike was saying, as if she couldn’t believe that they learned anything with Wolf’s pack. “Rarity, it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, but me and Quill, we’ve grown and learned more in the last two months than we did our entire lives living with Twilight or even Celestia.”

Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Rarity sighed as she refused to accept that Spike was happier in Everfree than he was in Ponyville. “We didn’t know anything about raising dragons, Spike, and you very well know that. But I see how it is,” Rarity slowly spoke with a growing dark tone in her voice. “The very moment some ‘cute’ dragoness bats her pretty eyes at you-”

Rarity’s growing rant was cut off as she heard a heated hiss from behind Spike, and saw the porcelain newcomer begin to lunge at her with flickers of azure flames and threads of water from the stream. However, Spike was able to catch her the moment he realized that she intended to fight Rarity.

After catching Cyclone by her hand, Spike pulled her back towards him, wrapping an arm around her waist, and putting himself between Cyclone and Rarity to keep her from rushing again. But that didn’t stop Cyclone from trying to move past Spike, only to fail. “Spike, move, that hateful pony needs to be taught a lesson-”

“No!” Spike shouted, forcing Cyclone to cease her struggling when she heard the anger and bitterness in his voice. Cyclone slowly looked away from the angry mare and towards Spike to see that his eyes were displaying the tone in his voice. “I am not having any of my friends fight because of my choices.”

Cyclone lowered her head in shame, more upset with herself for making Spike mad than she was for trying to attack Rarity. “I’m sorry Spike, but a drake like you shouldn’t ever have to deal with someone like her,” she said, shooting Rarity an evil glare before turning her back on her.

“It’s alright Cyclone, that was my old life,” Spike said, placing a hand on Cyclone’s shoulder to show that he wasn’t upset with her at all. “Besides,” he went on as his hand softly squeezed Cyclone’s shoulder, “she’s not being herself right now.” Sighing, Cyclone nodded her head towards Spike, only looking at him. Spike then turned his head around to Rarity, who was standing on the bridge with a blank look on her face.

“Rarity, this is beneath you, and you know it,” Spike said with the tone of pure disappointment towards the mare and her actions. “I’m just going to chalk this up as stress or whatever else you’re dealing with, and ignore it. You should be ashamed for what you said about Cyclone, she just lost her home yesterday, and had to move in with Wolf’s pack. It isn’t her choice to be here, so she shouldn’t have to deal with your attitude.”

Rarity still continued to scowl towards Spike and Cyclone, still on the defensive with the dragoness around. “Be that as it may Spike, you can’t-”

“That’s enough Rarity!” Spike shouted at the mare, startling both her and Cyclone at the deep roaring tone in his voice. “Listen, I’m grateful for everything you girls did for us, but that’s in the past. Stop acting like we’re some kids that don’t know what we’re doing. That time is over.” Far more than done with talking to Rarity for awhile, Spike turned his head around toward Everfree. “Come on Cyclone, we are going home.”

“Okay Spike,” Cyclone said with submissive tone of voice as she started to follow Spike wordlessly back toward the temple. It wasn’t long before the two of them were finally alone within the protection of the forest canopy. Cyclone had been silent the entire walk since their encounter with Rarity; keeping close behind Spike as she continued to scold herself for making him upset, even though he’d already made his choice about where his home really was.

Looking over towards the drake she’d been flirting with for a small portion of the day, Cyclone saw the anger still laced in Spike’s eyes along with the small puffs of gray smoke from his nose, it was easy to tell that he wasn’t happy.

“Spike,” she started, waiting for Spike to look towards her. When he did however, his displeasure was made even more apparent by the angry gleam of red tinting his green eyes. “I-I’m sorry for acting out of line, it is none of my business what happened with you and Quill before we met, and I...sorry.”

Closing his eyes, Spike relied on the many hours of meditation he had done to regain control over himself. “No Cyclone, it’s fine,” he said in a small sigh before turning towards Cyclone, opening up his normal emerald-green eyes. “I’m the one who should be sorry, I didn’t mean for you to get dragged into that, I have no idea what came over Rarity. She’s usually not like that.”

“Well I did speak out of line first though,” she admitted with a sad tone of voice, lowering her head in shame as they continued to follow the stream home. “It’s just that…that, the things Quill told me that happened with her, they should have never happened in the first place. And that little…filly thinks that it’s alright if she says sorry? That everything will go back to normal?”

Shaking his head, Spike let out a long sigh as he still didn’t know what was up with Rarity, and didn’t want to deal with it any longer. “I know Cyclone, trust me, I’ve learned my lesson. Just...let’s just not talk about it, especially to Quill okay? She would cut Rarity’s head off if she heard all that.”

“H-heh, alright Spike,” Cyclone started, feeling slightly better now that the whole thing was over with, and moving back to her plans to make Spike smile. Seeing an opportunity, Cyclone skipped ahead of Spike, stopping his walking by placing her hands on his chest, and lifted herself up towards his ear. “This can be our little secret Spike, no one else will ever know.”

Again, Spike’s mind and heart stopped for a moment. This was the same thing Sweetie Belle did during the camping trip, so why did it feel different? ‘Is this how Quill feels with Frost? Humph, she’s lucky then.’

Spike was snapped out of his daze when Cyclone laid her head in the crook of his shoulder. “Spike, I know this is a lot for me to ask all of the sudden, considering what just happened and all, but...could you protect me? Veil, she can’t do it forever, and not in the same way I need her to do it in. I love her like a sister, but I need someone more.”

‘What’s it going to be, Drake? the sound of Spike’s absent ancestor echoed in the back of his head. ‘This is your perfect chance to be a knight, finally having something to fight for. Are you going to take it?’

“Cyclone, I don’t know if I’m the right drake for the job,” Spike said with a small chuckle, not believing he had the right to call himself a knight after everything that had happened with the elements, and the things he’d done in the shadows. “I can’t even keep my past from coming back on you, there’s no way I can protect you now.”

‘Drake, you make me-’

“That’s okay Spike,” Cyclone suddenly said, moving her arms around Spike’s neck in a tight hug. “You have things that you need to finish first. I don’t have any right to hold you to anything if you’re not ready.” Spike blinked a few times. Am I crazy, or does it sound like she’s expecting me to make a move soon?’ Spike thought to himself for a moment before snapping back into reality when Cyclone nuzzled against the side of his neck. “Just promise me one thing Spike.”

Finding a mind of their own, Spike’s hands moved to Cyclone’s back, holding her there as he felt something burning in his chest. “Yeah Cyclone, what is it?” A moment went by as the two allowed the soft sounds of the forest to take over. Birds chirping in the background as to call in a mate of their own, leaves moving freely in the in the gentle fall breeze, the slow stillness of the stream by them.

It was nature; it was natural.

“Become stronger, Spike. Not for me, but for yourself.”