The sound of the hooves of two ponies echoed through the long halls of Dragon's Bane's castle. While one seemed up and happy, the other set of hooves lagged behind. Twilight, the tired pony, stretched her neck back and a loud set of pops followed. Blooming start giggled at her purple friend as she slowly caught up.

"How can you be so peppy? We just spent hours hunched over looking at that pentagram."

"Oh, I'm used to it. When I was a filly I spent all day in there trying to understand the writing."

"And by the looks of it you succeeded, too bad we don't have years for me to fully understand the dragon's tongue." Twilight followed her yellow friend and soon they arrived at a room, the place they would be staying at while they visited Dragon's Bane. It was Bloom's bedroom, actually, it was one of the only rooms in the castle that could be called a bedroom. Bloom had told Twilight and the others earlier about how basically everyone in Dragon's Bane stayed at the barracks or in houses within the walls. Only the royal family who could use Dragon's Bane had a room for themselves in the castle itself. As she had instructed, her room now had 3 more beds, one for each of her friends while they stayed in the city.

"If you'd like, we could visit the library we have for references." At that moment Twilight's eyes sparkled, as she looked over at Bloom, who was a little freaked out to say the least.

"Oh my Gosh! You have a library!? Why didn't you say so earlier? I LOVE reading!" Twilight carried on into a rant of sorts explaining why books were so important while hugging Bloom, who was sweating nervously.

"Could ya'll keep it down?" Groaned an orange pony from one of the extra beds. Both unicorns looked over at Applejack who was slumped over her bed, with barely the strength to talk.

"A-Are you alright Applejack?" Twilight asked a little hesitantly. She moved closer to her friend who was face down on the mattress.

"Eyup...I told Silver to walk me through one of the training routines for the soldiers. I wanted to prove I had was worth a spot that army of his while we stayed. It was my mistake to tell him not to take it easy on me cause I was used to physical labor." Bloom laughed nervously, had she known this was happening earlier, she would have intervened, no pony has ever fully coped with Silver's "training program" on the first day.

"Oh...that stallion just doesn't know the meaning of refrain." The yellow unicorn said as she gazed over at Twilight trying to comfort the earth pony in her distress of aches and pains that were already starting to set in.

Rainbowdash flew quickly down a hall way. She appeared panicked as she looked around the long narrow corridor. Finally, she came to a fork in the halls.

"Oh, which way should I go?" She asked herself as she looked back and forth between both paths. She had been in this predicament dozens of times already. Ever since she flew off after Twilight and Bloom started working on the Dragon's Bane she had been flying endlessly. Somehow she was sure she had already been down this hall, but they all look the same, no noticeable differences anywhere to be found.

"Umm, maybe this...way?" She said softly as she began to doubt her choice. She shook her head and recomposed herself as she made a choice and flew by as fast as she could. Again she went down a corridor that was long and with twists and turns. Usually she could navigate pretty well, but all the sharp turns of the hall was disorienting, she couldn't even tell where north or south was anymore. As her wings grew more and more tired, she began to slow down again. She had already walked when her stamina gave out earlier, and this was frustrating her even more. Ahead of her, one of the walls moved and slide open like a door, she was flying so fast at the moment she didn't have time to react and crashed head first into it.

"See? I told you I'd find the way just fine."

"Yeah, but you led us into 3 dead ends." Silver and Spike walked out from the newly made door. The walls shut once more and there was Rainbowdash, suspended in midair for a second before finally falling down. Spike looked over at his friend and laughed.

"Rainbowdash, are y- are you alright?" He asked between his laughing fit. The blue pegasus shook her head and stood up.

"What the hay? Where did you guys come from?!" She asked, irritation showing on her face.

"I just went to pick up Spike from the wagon, we used a secret passage to get inside without anyone seeing him." Rainbowdash rubbed her head and looked over at Silver who she was expecting to laugh at her just like Spike.

"Well? Aren't you gonna laugh?" She asked. Silver raised an eyebrow and replied.

"Why would I laugh? Come now everypony...and dragon. Now that we're in the halls of the castle I know the way for certain." Silver went began to walk and Spike followed. For some reason, Rainbowdash was more irritated at Silver for not laughing than she would have been had her at least have smirked. His entire presence just made her angry, but she was lost, and had no choice but to follow.

"...AND THEN we sparred. Can you believe it?! After all that work out, we were finally got the "meat" of the training he said." Ranted out Applejack from her bed as Twilight and Bloom sat listening. Bloom had heard how brutal Silver's trainings were, but she didn't really know they were that intense, its no wonder she never sees new recruits until a week or so in.

"That seems a little harsh AJ, are you sure Silver said it was the intermediate training?" Asked a nervous sweating Twilight. Applejack nodded and slumped back down to rest her neck. Bloom giggled slightly and stood up to open a window. The wind rushed in and blew her mane back. She stared out to the moon which was starting to come out.

"I noticed the moon doesn't have that shadow of a mare anymore." Bloom said from as she continued to stare out into the night sky.

"Didn't I tell you? The mare in the moon was Nightmaremoon, whom we turned back into Princess Luna." Twilight said as she walked over to Bloom.

"Oh, so it was Princess Luna? I guess that explains why news of her return came around the same time the shadow disappeared. I'm quite envious of you Twilight, you have been able to do so many things in your life. Fighting Nightmaremoon, The Spirit of Chaos, and even King Sombra. And here I am, not able to do the only thing I am suppose to do, and activate Dragon's Bane." Bloom laid her head on her hooves as she leaned on the window frame. Twilight walked close and put her arm around her to get her attention.

"Chin up, we'll figure it out together."

"Yeah sugarcube, Twilight didn't do all of those things on her own. She had all her friends there to help her out." Applejack said from her bed.

"Applejack is right, I could have never done any of the things I did if it wasn't for the friendship I shared with everyone around me." Bloom smiled back at Twilight and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a words, the door slammed open.

"Twilight!" Called out Spike from the door way. The purple unicorn smiled at him and ran over to hug him.

"Oh Spike! I was so worried about you." As they hugged Silver and Rainbowdash walked in, the pegasus glaring at Silver who chose to ignore it.

"Good, so everyone found their way here" Bloom said with a smile. "Though I expected you to get here before us actually."

"Well we would have had Silver not gotten us lost along the way." Spike whined from behind Silver, who felt himself pierced by his words, his face didn't show it, but his ear twitched, and Bloom knew very well what that meant.

"Oh really now? I thought you didn't need a map" Teased Bloom. Silver's ear twitched again, which made her giggle.

"...If there is nothing else, I will retire to the barracks." Said Silver after a small pause. Everyone in the room laughed Bloom nodded to his request. Silver left the room, though he stopped the door from fully closing with his back hoof.

"Oh, and I expect you up by dawn tomorrow Applejack." He said before shutting the door. Applejack sweated slightly.

"You betcha'..." She said softly before falling on her bed again. Spike stood up and looked over at Bloom.

"I thought Silver wasn't capable of making mistakes." Bloom smiled and responded.

"Oh, actually he's pretty clumsy with things. He just works extra hard to give off that image of a strong perfect leader and soldier." Bloom climbed into her bed and continued talking.

"Actually, he became Captain of the guard by chance." Everyone looked shocked.

"How exactly does somepony become a captain by chance?" Bloom giggled once more and began her story.

"The city was attacked by a lone dragon. The previous Captain lead the fight. It was an adult dragon, they are significantly larger than the teenage stage dragons that normally try to breach because of their curiosity. The fight resulted in the captain's death and the squad he led. Silver was stationed at one of the walls towers. He had the bright idea of jumping onto the dragon that flew by. Somehow, he was able to hang on and slowly wear the dragon down by steering it onto cliffs and trees."

"How'd he steer a giant dragon?" Asked Raibowdash who loved action stories like this one. She had completely over looked the fact it was about Silver and was getting excited.

"While on the dragon, he climbed his way to the head and kicked at the eyes and brows, when the dragon flinched, it would turn its flying path on the other direction of the eye that got hurt by reflex. Every time the dragon reached for Silver he would jump around onto the arms and just frustrate the dragon. Silver, if nothing else, is agile, so he was able to steer clear of its grip. Of course, the dragon wasn't standing still as he fought off Silver's pestering and was easier to for him to direct it into cliffs. Over time, the dragon gave itself a concussion. The unicorns of Dragon's Bane used the teleportation spell to teleport it back into the middle of the dragon's territory. So if the captain hadn't perished and Silver wasn't in the tower at that moment, he wouldn't have been able to climb up the ranks and looked up to. He confessed to me later that he had no idea what he was doing while on the dragon's head" She giggled at her last statement.

"So wait, you didn't kill it?" Applejack asked from her bed. "I mean, it's not like I want ya'll to kill dragons or anything, but it sounded like you all were dragon slayers."

"Oh no, we can't kill dragons. Well we can, but we shouldn't. Dragons are a proud and powerful race. it's been a thousand years of them having a grudge against pony kind, but they don't see us as a threat, it's the only reason they haven't started a war against us. If they fought all out against us, we'd all be goners. So all we are allowed to do is send them back into their territory, lest we anger them and start a war we can't win."

"But ya'll have Dragon's Bane."

"Had...unfortunately, I can't activate it, it's a tradition for a descendent of Blazingstar to be the one to use Dragon's Bane to push back the dragons, but I just can't seem to activate it."

"I don't mean to be rude, but why can't some pony else try activating Dragon's Bane?" Raibowdash asked, looking a little puzzled.

"Because no pony else knows how. All the star decedents usually activate Dragon's Bane instinctively, I was supposed to do the same, but I can't seem to do it."

"But it's our job to help you do so." Twilight added. "You needn't worry Bloom, we'll figure it out somehow." She said with a smile.

"I just hope we're not attacked by a swarm mean while, we wouldn't be able to stand a massive attack." Bloom said a little worried.

"Ya'll just need to concentrate on finding a solution, Rainbow and I will help Silver if it comes to that." Bloom felt a little reassure by Applejack. All the while, Spike looked a little gloomy. Being a dragon meant he couldn't help out.

It took a while for everypony to calm down and finally go to sleep. Spike, who was laying next to Twilight, sat up and looked out the open window. The moon reflected in his cat like eyes. He stood and walked over to it. Leaning on his elbows, he glanced around to make sure there wasn't anyone around to see him from the window. Since Silver had given the order to have less guards out, Spike could barely see any pony making rounds. He did manage to see Silver out, he was in the sparring field, praticing his moves no less.

"Is this what Bloom said about having to work extra hard?" Spike said as he saw Silver trip during one of his kicks. He got back up and began again. No doubt he was one for those ponies that wouldn't just stop when he gets something right, but rather when he can't get it wrong.

"When does he find the time to sleep?" It was then he remember what Silver said about his growth spurts. Spike around at himself and looked a little gloomy. "I-I can't grow anymore. If I do I won't be able to hide." He made up his mind. He was to stay awake all night for as long as he could, weeks if he had to. Just long enough for Twilight and Bloom to figure out how to activate Dragon's Bane. Spike spread his wings and flew out, he was careful not to let his shadow get anywhere close to any of the guards. He softly landed in the sparring arena where Silver was practicing.

"What are you doing here?" Silver asked without looking over. He had heard something land and made out that it was Spike.

"I don't want to go to sleep, so I won't grow again." Silver stopped and decided to look over at this dragon.

"That's nice and all, but why are you here specifically? You'll be caught if you're not careful, it'll be counterproductive to be out in plain view.

"I..was wondering if I could train along with you." Spike said a little hesitantly. Silver raised and eye brow to this. He gave it some thought. Spike dug at the ground with his foot as he waited for a response.

"Alright. If I'm with you, I can make sure you're not caught and I'll have a sparring partner, one that can balance on two legs." Spike's face brightened up and he ran over to Silver who gestured him to come over.

"Let's get started shall we?"

Next Chapter: Calm Before the Storm Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes