Ponies crowded around on stands, completely filling in every seat that was possible. Bits floated around as ponies placed, and accepted bets on the winner. This wasn't exactly helping the young drake, Spike felt like his stomach was doing flips just to make him quit. He looked around for his pony friends in the stands, luckily his friends had their own stands sharing it with...Celestia and Luna?

Salas looked down, a playful smile across his face. He knelt down, holding out his hand to Spike.

"Good luck, I don't know these ponies as well as you do...Heck! I don't know them at all, but may the best dragon win."

Spike rolled his eyes with a huff. "Yeah, whatever..."

"You guys ready?" Rainbow Dash asked flying over to them. Salas nodded along with Spike. She clapped her hooves together. "Great, we'll explain the events when it starts. Might be a few minutes." She blasted off back to the stands where Pinkie Pie was getting help setting up her mic by the town's local DJ.

Spike gnawed on his claws, fearing that this was a bad idea. He looked up at Salas who was scanning the crowd. His emerald eyes wide with a smile across his face. He wondered what he was thinking about.

So-much-greed... Salas thought, taking in the smell of gold. I wonder why Celestia and Luna are here. His eyes locked onto the celestial princesses, Celestia was clearly looking at him. Frowning he stuck his middle finger at her. Celestia's eyes narrowed with hate, then she looked away, her gaze resting somewhere else.

I need to beat this guy, older or not, he won't lay a finger on her. Spike felt his fire burning bright again, and his stomach stopped moving with his new found bravery returning to save Rarity again from a new enemy, Salas. Salas, unlike Spike, had pony ears, and as such, a loud sharp sound came from Pinkie Pie turning the mic on causing Salas to wince in pain. With his ears touching his head, Pinkie began to speak.

"Hello Everypony, and welcome to the Iron Dragon competition! Today is special, we have Spike, weighing one hundred pounds of adorable awesomeness, his opponent from a thousand year ago, weighing in at two tons, Salas Strike!" The last part of Pinkie's introduction left the crowd to boo him. "The winner becomes the alpha!"

Apple Jack stepped up to them both, smiling. "Ight now, Ah want a fair game. There's going to be five challenges. The first to three is the winner. The first challenge is a challenge that tests your flame." She pointed her hoof towards two long lines of candles. For this challenge you'll need tah light them candles. The one with the most candles is the winner."

Spike frowned slightly, but pumped his fist, raising his own moral. I can do this! He thought stepping up to the first challenge with his opponent.

They stood there, waiting for the bell to start. As they waited, thoughts of who Spike loved had finally shown. Salas saw him staring up at a white unicorn sitting next to Celestia. He only knew the mare to be Rarity, the element of generosity. The pink fire burning around Spike began to grow.

Ding!

Salas went first, inhaling deeply, he clicked his jaw, however something felt off. He exhaled violet fire, but it wasn't more than ten candles. He stuck his finger into his mouth, scraping his molars with his index finger, he pulled it out sighing heavily.

"Damn...no metal."

Spike snickered. "Ah Hahahahahhaha!" He wiped a tear from his eye. He inhaled, taking his turn exhaling, lighting twenty of his candles with a single belch. "Looks like that one for me, zero for you!"

Salas rolled his eyes, taking the metal bar that held up the sign for the first challenge, he began to munch on it. "Oh, ewww, iron...with a hint of rust." He groaned. He clicked his jaw again, smiling he saw bright yellow sparks. "I guess you win, but..." He breathed out a column of fire, lighting all the candles. "I'm better."

"That's One point for Spike, making that two more wins for him to win the competition!" Pinkie Pie shouted with joy over the mic. The crowd that gathered to watch joined in cheering for Spike.

Salas saw his flame grow, and began to feel the fire's magic. He frowned, looking to Apple Jack.

"What is the next challenge?" He asked. "So I may better prepare myself. I believe I had no chance to win. I hadn't eaten in a week after a thousand years."

Apple Jack nodded. "Ight, next round will start in a few minutes. You'll need to answer some questions to see who's smarter."

Salas frowned. "I see..." He walked over to a chair, sitting down, continuing to take large bites of the rusted metal.

Spike, curious to why he was eating while they waited. Slowly approaching Salas, the dragon cleared his throat.

"Um...so, why couldn't you breath fire before you ate...that?" He asked.

"Unlike you, my fire isn't natural due to being half pony. I need to eat metal to act as a starter." He explained. "I've got two sets of lungs. One set I use to breath, the other stores gasses from my digestion." He breathed out a puff of violet smoke. Once Spike saw it, Salas clicked his jaw, igniting the gas. "See?"

"Oh, so...I guess it wasn't quite...fair for you huh?"

"No, but I made the mistake of not eating before the challenge." He stood up as they were called over. "Tell me, why do you love that pony so much?" He asked. "There are plenty of other mares in town, why just her in your hoard?"

Spike thought about it for a moment. "She's the only one who's helped me work past my greed as a dragon. I'll give my life to protect her."

"So it is a matter of return?" Salas sat down in front of Twilight with Spike.

He nodded. "Yeah, but more than that."

"Are you two ready?" Twilight asked. "This will be a five question quiz. The most to get right, wins." She read a card, and looked back at them, mostly at Spike. "First question, how long can a earth pony stand on their back legs?"

"Ten minutes without training, two hours with." Spike smiled.

"Right, next question- What metal can be a liquid in its purist form?"

"Gold..." Salas sighed. "However because quartz forms around gold, it cannot become a liquid."

"R-right..." Twilight flipped to the next card. "Next question- what gem can cut through everything and cannot break, but if cut where it will break?"

"A diamond!" Salas smiled. "I've only had one, but man...it was goooooood."

"C-correct again, Spike you need to answer this question to stay in this." She said, worry in her voice. "Um...What elements did princess Luna wield when Discord was defeated one thousand years ago?"

"Laughter, honesty, and generosity!" Spike said pumping his fist.

Twilight shook her head, looking to Salas. He shrugged, "I wasn't born...he had better chances of knowing."

"The answer was Laughter, Generosity, and Kindness." Luna spoke from the stands.

"Next question- What flower can magically effect any creature that come in contact with it?"

"Pfttt....that's easy it's-"

"The answer is Poison Joke, dad got it when my egg rolled into the first few flowers that were blooming there." He chuckled. "His wings went all floppy for two weeks before the magic wore off."

"Right, Salas wins this round."

"The score is now 1-1! A tie! There's still three more challenges left!"

Twilight approached Celestia back in the stands. She sighed, lowering her head.

"Anything princess?"

Celestia shook her head, looking at Salas speaking with Spike. "Not a lie yet..." She replied. "He's as honest as Apple Jack."

Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose. "The whole egg thing doesn't sound right."

"He was an egg at one point Twilight, I am using every spell I can to find any deceit, go now, the next match is about to start." Next Chapter: Dragons will be Dragons, Final Part Estimated time remaining: 53 Minutes