Right. This isn't so much a chapter but more as a preview of things to come. I want you kids to be all excited like it's friggen Christmas and also I'm just kind of drained on writing the wedding. I mean, seriously. 12814 words so far spent on it! So yeah, this takes place in the future for Adventures Spike. Whether or not this exact scene will take place is yet to be decided, but the major details will all eventually happen. Maybe. This might just be an early April Fool's Day (Late?) to get you all excited over nothing I wrote up as an exercise to get the creative juices flowing. Either way, enjoy! And ignore this whole chapter if you don't want any possible spoilers!

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He'd been on the road for a few days now, and quite frankly, he was anxious to get into a warm bed for once at least before he made it back to Ponyville. Looking at his phoenix companion, he nodded and decided that he'd definitely stay at an inn if he could find one, and if memory served there was one close by.

The dragon was tall now, standing on four legs a little higher than even the Princesses, and he all but dwarfed them when he stood on two. His scales were rich and deep purple, the green spikes all long and growing down his back and his tail, hoo boy at his tail. The spade like triangle that had been there in his days as a baby dragon had grown into a diamond shape and it was razor sharp. Very useful for cutting down tree limbs to make a fire- all the more important now that it was getting close to winter time. Still, it wasn't as bad as his recent trip north, he supposed.

Having a bird that radiated eternal fire was pretty handy to have in a foreign wasteland, though, he'd give Peewee that. As if reading his thoughts the phoenix flying above him looked at his friend smugly and then flew on ahead. Spike followed on

- - - -

He usually avoided places like this, though they were good places to get information, odd jobs, and lots of them had good food for all kinds of species, not just pony folk. This particular tavern was owned by a griffon who ran it and the local inn with his brother. Looking in, he saw a few Earth Ponies, a dozen or so diamond dogs and the rest were all griffons. Made sense, given that this town was bordering the griffon homeland. He was mildly disappointed that no primates were around. Other than ponies, that was a species he got along best with.

Opening his senses, like he was taught, he first sniffed to see if he could smell any magic going on. None that he could tell, anyway, but small magics were harder to sense and this place did reek of many scents. Closing his eyes, he opened them suddenly with his emerald eyes shining brightly. No hostiles in sight, though there were denizens of this bar that could likely be provoked into hostile intentions. He'd have to probe them with his inner sight again. Closing his eyes and raising a claw to his head to try and banish a head ache, he stumbled toward the barkeep.

“Looks like someone has had a bit too much to drink already!” the griffon said. Spike laughed a bit, as it would seem that way with him carrying on like he had.

“Oh, I'm not much of a drinker. I'm really more looking to hear the latest news. Anything big going on in Equestria, have you heard?”

The griffon paused and 'hmm'd' in thought before nodding.

“Ah yes, Princess Sparkle is apparently sending lots of aid and is helping Princess Luna acclimatize the Crystal Ponies to a world far in their future. I wonder if it's true, that they're really kind of crystal looking?”

Spike shrugged. He'd  never seen one. He reckoned it would be soon before he would, though, as he was going to be heading that way now. Maybe he'd be able to actually run into his sister on the job, and Princess Luna was always a treat. He hadn't really heard much about the Crystal Empire other than it's recent resurgence  and had figured it'd be fun to check out. Sure, he'd much rather be at home in his library, but then again, home was where the heart is and Spike's heart was definitely where his family was and that was apparently in the Crystal Empire.

- - -

So he had set some of diamond dogs off. It wasn't totally purposeful, but he didn't like getting ordered to look for gems by a creature that probably didn't have the ability to speak clearly. Or spell gem, really.

He ducked under a punch and returned the favor, jabbing one of the dogs in the snout with his left claw and cracking the second diamond dog with a hook right after and spun around to face the third. With a bright grin, he used the spin's momentum to slam the flat of his tail blade against the third's head and knocked him over. With the opening, the young cartwheeled though the hole and started running. He hit a treeline at the edge of a large forest and quickly planned an escape route.

“Nanner nanner boo boo! You can't get me!”

Jumping as high as he could, he latched onto a large oak tree and began to climb it using his claws.  Finding a high branch, he looked down upon the dogs, who were futiley jumping at the base of the tree, with a roguish smile.

“Not quite, gents!”  He closed his eyes and focused, feeling the currents of magic flowing in him and around him, and then exhaled slowly.

“Fly me to the moon...”

At the words, green flames began to pour out of his back in a small jet before taking shape, eventually becoming a large pair of leathery wings, a brilliant royal purple color with green tips on the end of his wings. With a mighty flap, he jumped off and flew into the sky.

When he landed, he was back at the tavern. He'd left something vitally important there and he had to grab it before the dogs came back with reinforcements.  Granted, they'd have to realize that he would have come back and most diamond dogs weren't that intelligent. Spike had met some in his travels that would give Twilight a run for her money, and that was saying something. Walking back in, he spotted his target. Walking behind her, he patted the sentient's head.

“Ready to go, Sunbeam?”

Said Sunbeam was a very small white coated pony, still a fairly young filly not much older than Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo had been when he first came to Ponyville all that time ago. She looked up and behind at the dragon with a bright smile, bubblegum pink mane waving and unicorn  horn pointed at him. Her smiling sun cutie mark was freshly appeared, but was covered up with a black cape much like Spike would wear in colder climates.

“Yeah, where are we going next, Dad?”

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Heh. Anyways, this is mostly here to tease you guys with what may happen and also... well, I'm kinda tired of losing my work and what I have planned, so I figure I could write up a chapter that has enough vague references to crap my brain has worked on, I can put two and two together and  I won't be so messed up next time my computer fries. This allows me to run some ideas by you guys to know what I might want to keep and what I should change up and stuff.

Always keep in mind that I write this fic for you guys, and I value your creative input every bit as much as compliments. I can't get any better without your help, dear readers.  So yeah, read through this, feel free to speculate and just... well, enjoy! I'm going to do my best to have a real chapter up before this weekend is over along with a Thanksgiving themed One Shot.  Feel free to ask questions, and should I not get up a new chapter, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope it's a good one for you all, because I am so thankful for all of you.