"Spike." Fluttershy shook Spike gently, as she coaxed him out of his slumber.

"Um... What?" Spike murmured in a drowsy tone of voice.

"Wake up, Draven wants to see you," Fluttershy said in her usual soft tone of voice.

Spike let out a long yawn as he climbed down from his bunk and onto the wooden floor bellow. He sluggishly put on his shirt, pants, and finally his jacket, and walked into the hallway to see Fluttershy. She was waiting patiently, with her regular shy, yet warm demeanour. She had been given clothes from Gin that were better suited to wear on a trip such as this. Her short skirt replaced by long brown leather pants, and her usual white and sleeveless shirt replaced by a less restrictive, yet form- fitting white blouse and buckled vest.

"Does it look okay?" Fluttershy asked as Spike examined her attire.

"Well. You look like a pirate now." Spike lightly chuckled.

"I don't feel like one." Fluttershy bashfully replied.

. When the two exited to the deck above, Draven was leaning lazily in front of them against the mast support post but jumped up as soon as he saw Spike and Fluttershy.

"Ah, there ya are! We've got a few hours yet before we arrive, but I wanna hedge things out before we land so we know what to do first." Draven patted Spike on the back and began walking to his quarter's. "Meet me and Coba in the mapping room soon. We've got an idea on where that first stone might be."

Spike's attention was diverted to the steel-clad unicorn approaching him.

"Good morning Spike. Good morning Fluttershy" Winslow greeted in a serious, yet somewhat cheerful tone.

"Um, good morning." Fluttershy replied in her hushed voice; Spike noticed she seemed especially shy towards Winslow.

As Winslow marched onward to monitor the crew, Spike nudged Fluttershy's arm.

"Hey, what was that about?" Spike inquired.

"It's nothing." Fluttershy snapped; almost cutting Spike off,

It was definitely unlike Fluttershy to reply to a greeting in such a way. Based on her reaction to the statement, however, Spike figured it was best to ask later.

The map room had extensive adjustments to its appearance, and almost every map in the drawers lining the room was either pasted crudely on the wall or laid flat on the floor. It was obvious Draven had been doing some studying on the Blacklands geography.

"So, what 's the news?" Spike said; still eyeing the many maps around him.

"Well, our friend Coba thinks he may know where the Stone of Right is," Draven said as he dipped his quill in ink then gestured to Coba with a nod. "Please continue mate."

"My people hail from the Blacklands. The Twhubi Nation. I lived atop the largest mountain in the Blacklands, Mount Wantthai." Coba pointed towards the large precipice drawn on the map; no doubt it was the mountain itself. "Every year we hold a ceremonial tournament for fighters around the world. This tournament is held on the starriest night of the year, which just so happens to be a few days from now."

"The first stone Right, lay atop a mountain on a starry night." Fluttershy had said softly to herself. "That's sounds right."

"Not only that but I think I might know where the stone actually is," Coba explained. "A ceremonial headdress is awarded to the victor, and on the headdress is an ancient jewel that my people consider sacred. I believe that is the Stone of Right."

"So, are we going to steal it?" Spike asked; still somewhat confused as to what Coba was getting at.

"No. I have already abandoned my people, and to earn their trust I must show them I am a strong warrior." Coba said; almost offended by Spike's question. "I must compete in the tournament. However, I won't be doing it alone."

"What do you mean by that?" Spike asked.

"You will accompany me in battle." Coba insisted.

"What?!" Spike was shocked by Cobas' words.

"In order to compete you must have a partner," Coba explained to Spike.

"But, I'm no fighter! I'm just a secretary for a princess!" Spike said; somewhat doubtful in judging himself.

"No fighter you say? And yet I saw you part the sea with a single bellow of your flames!" Coba chuckled; trying his best to cheer Spike up.

"Granted you still need proper training before you fight." Draven said; somewhat contradictory. "I think I can assist you with that one boy."

"What kind of training?" Spike inquired; curious about Draven's words.

"While all that fire you showed the crew was powerful and impressive, it was reckless and lacked precision," Draven said analytically. "I can teach you the ways of dragon magic, and help you learn how to focus your power into a more practical tool."

"Will he be killing anyone?" Fluttershy murmured; worried by the whole situation.

"No. My people do not approve of senseless killing, but the rules state that you must knock out the opposition." Coba got up from his chair and put his massive hand on Spike's shoulder. "So how about it? Will you fight with me?"

"Yes." Spike gladly agreed.

"Perfect! Your training will start now!" Draven joyfully applauded, as he practically pushed Spike out the door.

"Wait what?!" Spike yelled as he flew out the door.

****

Draven ordered his men to back away and leave him and Spike alone as he pulled a large lever. When it clicked, a set of wooden dummies appeared out from trap doors.

"Alright boy! These are my practice targets that I used to use when I was still learning!" Draven shouted from the other side of the ship. "Hang on a sec."

Draven jumped down from the balcony across the ship and approached Spike. He lined up beside him in a ready position and took a deep breath. In a flash, his clenched fist became engulfed in bolts of powerful lightning. He took a step back, and in an instant flew forward towards the dummy; striking it dead-center with his charged strike.

"Alright, mate! Your turn!" Draven stated as he shook off the lightning from his hand.

"How did you do that?!" Spike shouted with childlike wonder and curiosity.

"An old dragon technique. Here, let me show you." Draven stood behind Spike. "Alright, I want you to breathe. That's the most important part about this attack."

Spike took a deep breath, clenching his fist as he did so.

"You've got to focus on that target boy, nothing else. Imagine there's a signal travelling from your head to the arm where you want the flames at." Draven continued as he raised Spike's arm higher towards the dummy. "Let the magical energy flow now."

Spike could feel a warmth in his hand now. It wasn't scorching heat like he imagined it to be, but a dull and soothing feeling. His fist ignited in emerald flames and grew intense as he focused on the target.

"What now?" Spike asked in a ready stance.

"You've got to lunge at your target!" Draven directed; noticing Spike's doubtfulness about lunging that far forward. "You're a lot stronger than you think you are, boy!"

With burning confidence, Spike bucked his back-leg; sending him flying forward at impressive speed towards the target. With a swing he hit the target across the shoulder; scattering green flames around in a small blast as it collided. Spike was shocked by his capability as he viewed the now scorched appearance of the dummy; its right side charred black by the intense heat of Spike's fire. Draven gave spike a pat on the head as he applauded with pride.

"Impressive, boyo! For most young dragons, it takes three or four tries to get that right. Yet you did it on the first try!" Draven chuckled in his usual jolly manner. "But, we still got to work on your aim. A strike on the shoulder won't do much, but a strike to the mid-section will send others flying!"

Winslow hopped down from the crow's nest and walked up to Draven.

"We will be approaching the Blackland's port soon Draven." Winslow informed Draven, then turned to face Spike. "And by the way, excellent power! I almost felt that fire nearly scorch me!"

"Thanks!" Spike bashfully nodded; feeling he may have overdone it a little.

****

Spike and Fluttershy hopped out of the ship and onto the pier to see a large and bustling seaport. Equestrian soldiers lined the streets, and other large ships like Draven's unloaded spices and other materials into the supply docks.

"Whoa," Spike said in astonishment.

"Not so barren and uncharted as you thought huh?" Gin said to Spike.

"It's so busy," Fluttershy whispered to Spike.

Spike knew Fluttershy was awful around crowds, but this many ponies made her extremely nervous. She was always so used to the quaint and silent atmosphere of Ponyville. This was far too much of a shock for her, being in a horde of ponies like this.

"Come on Coba, we've got some supplies to unload." Draven uttered in a tiresome manner. "You folks go ahead! Don't get into any trouble like last time!"

Spike walked with Gin and Fluttershy into the main square, he noticed there was more than just soldiers or commoners gathering. Other ponies from different nations were just arriving from the wave of ships that had docked earlier. Spike was curious and tried to guess in his mind where exactly some had come from; most he could make a fair assumption on their homeland, but the nation of origin for some ponies was a mystery to him.

"Are all these ponies here for the tournament?" Fluttershy asked; somewhat tense around the massive group of people. "I thought Draven said the Blacklands were uncharted and populated with natives..."

"That was the last time Draven sailed here; which was decades ago. It was a different time back then, and the natives weren't too kind to travellers." Gin replied to Fluttershy's comment. "Now they are accepting of visitors and opened the tournament to colonizers in hopes to create a good relationship with Equestrians."

All of a sudden somepony ran past Spike; nearly knocking him down trying to get through.

"Oh, hey sorry my ba-..." The random stranger trailed off at the sight of Spike.

Spike could barely believe his eyes either. The stranger was a dragon wearing a white shirt and grey pants, and no older than Spike himself. His scales were light blue and his tail fins were a bright white, almost shining in the day's light. He was attentively eyeing Spike in disbelief, and Spike was doing the same as well.

"Well, I'll be damned!" The dragon said in astonishment.

"Seems I'm running into dragons wherever I go." Spike uttered somewhat jokingly.

"Are you competing in the tournament?" The young dragon questioned.

"Um, yeah," Spike replied.

"Nice! So am I! It's good to see one of my own kind around here!" The dragon seemed quite cheerful and enthusiastic.

"Hey, what are you doing? The way to the mountain is over here!" A stallion ran up to the dragon, noticing his obvious intrusion on his conversation. "Oh, apologies."

The white stallion was shorter than the rest of them and had extremely long and spiky black hair almost past his back-- held behind his forehead by a black bandana. He wore a strange kind of red garb cinched with a black cloth belt. He seemed disappointed in himself for barging in on the two dragons.

"It's fine." The dragon assured the somewhat embarrassed stallion and turned to Spike. "This is my comrade, Jhettei."

"Hey, my name is Spike!" Spike said to the two fighters.

The stallion bowed in respect to Spike and his group. "An honor to meet you."

"My name is Cyro! I'm a frost dragon from Northern Equestria." The dragon said in salutations.

"Oh, awesome! Pleasure to meet you!" Spike put out his hand to Cyro, and the two shook hands, making a slight sizzling noise as their hands touched.

"Yikes, that's cold!" Spike pulled his hand back quickly.

"You kidding? Your hand almost lit mine on fire!" Cyro joked.

"Say, I'm famished! Let's grab a bite to eat, Jhettei!" The blue dragon uttered as he patted the short stallion on the back, then gave a wink to Spike. "I'll see you at the tournament, 'Hotshot'!"

The two walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

"Well, that was sort of dumb luck. You don't see many frost-dragons around these parts." Gin stated.

"He seemed nice," Fluttershy said timidly.

"That friend of his was a Northland-monk," Winslow added. "You certainly don't see many of his kin in a place like this. I wonder... what he was doing here? And why is he in the company of a frost dragon?"

"You know... to tell you the truth I'm kind of hungry myself as well," Spike admitte, gesturing across the square to a restaurant.

"Well, I could eat too." Gin agreed.

Gin and Spike began to walk ahead of Winslow and Fluttershy, but they looked back after realized they weren't keeping up.

"Hey, you two coming?" Gin asked.

"We'll be there in a second!" Winslow answered.

Winslow looked to Fluttershy and seemed slightly worried.

"Are you alright? You seem anxious." Winslow questioned.

"I just... I'm not comfortable. It's not just me being shy, it's just that... I can't stand being near anyone." Fluttershy said; clearly showing restraint.

"I understand. That changeling was your first wasn't it?" Winslow said in concern. "You thirst for more don't you?"

"Yes," Fluttershy replied as she nodded her head. "The worst part is... it tasted so good, and I can't do that again! I don't want to do that again!"

Winslow put his arm around Fluttershy as she wept; holding her closer to him. "I can't say I know how it feels, but I understand the outcome of such lust well."

"I'm sorry. I feel like such a monster for thinking such awful thoughts!" Fluttershy cried.

"I think it would be best to find a way to drive those thoughts away. Until then, you should stay away from large crowds like this." Winslow informed Fluttershy.

"Thank you. Really, I mean it." Fluttershy said; wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You're welcome. Now, let's catch up with them shall we?" Winslow proposed.

****

After a large meal Spike patted his stomach and accidentally let out a belch of flame; covering his mouth in embarrassment afterwards.

"You certainly can pack it away..." Winslow said; somewhat impressed by the stack of food Spike had inhaled.

"Well, I usually prefer gems, but sometimes I can make an exception! Although sometimes it doesn't agree with me." Spike replied as he felt his stomach rumbling.

Suddenly, Spike felt something in his pocket. He curiously dug it out; surprised to see a simple folded piece of paper that he knew well wasn't there before.

"What the..." Spike was surprised to see the familiar handwriting on the paper.

Spike

His interest had been enhanced upon reading the front. He knew who it was, and unfolded the paper to reveal a message that caused him much distress.

I don't know if you will get this letter, but if you do... please find me. I was taken hostage by changelings, and I think they are headed to the Changeling Embassy on the east coast of the Blacklands. I'm weak and I think my arm is broken.

Help Me...

Author's Notes:

This is kind of a kick-starter to the first story arc: The Tournament of Right