After Cruger had left I went to the school to start my second day on the job. I didn't really have to do much during school. I sat in a chair next to Cheerilee's desk and kept an eye on the students as she taught them. For whatever reason, Diamond Tiara kept glancing at me with a deep frown while the CMC and Dinky smirked slightly. All the children had done what Cruger had asked and found things that ponies could use pulleys, ramps, and levers on. Most were serious like using a ramp to move something up stairs, a pulley to lift something into an attic or something similar, or using a lever to lift something to where another pony could move it onto an elevated level. A few were less serious, at least in Cheerilee and I's opinion. The pegasus colt from yesterday that had asked if Cruger's lesson would be about to pick up mares, put using a ramp or pulley to get his lazy ass, my words not his, brother to move. I, once again, laughed at his answer. If only Cruger could have heard that answer.

I talked to the colt, who I found out was named Rumble, about his answer. He told me that his brother Thunderlane, while responsible, was near impossible to get to budge when he got comfortable. There weren't a lot of things that got him to move. Food, work, their parents, and when nature called were the only sure fire things to get him to move his flank, other than a Pinkie Party of course.

After school had ended, I stayed with Cheerilee to help her however she needed me to. I cleared the classroom of any trash that was in it, cleaned the board, and helped her grade the children's work. Of course I stayed away from anything involving Equestria's history. She, understandably, checked to make sure that I graded everything correctly. I'd managed to correctly grade the papers.

Now, I was walking through the town, waving at the ponies that I passed by. It was very peaceful as I walked. It was then that the peace was disrupted by screams of fear and panic. I was able to recognize a few in the cacophony of sound. They were Twilight, Trixie, and Spike.

I immediately began sprinting toward the sound. I eventually neared the library and was surprised to see three dragons. One was a dark brown and pretty damn fat, with blue horns, red wings, and a mace-like tail. Another of the dragons was the polar opposite of the first in terms of physique. He was skinny as a twig, purple with a yellow underbelly and wings, and yellow... hair? How a dragon had hair confused the hell out of me, but I ignored it for now. The middle dragon was well built, red with a light gold underbelly, amber wings and orange spikes. They were standing over Twilight, who was painfully clutching her side, and Trixie, who was doing her best to tend to her marefriend. The red dragon was holding Spike by his collar.

"Big mistakes, you bastards," I muttered with a scowl, as I strode toward them. 'I better not leave anything to chance,' I thought, preparing myself to fight the dragons.

[POV Change: Spike]

The day had started so nice. Twilight, Trixie, and I were just spending time together But somehow, the three teenage dragons Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and I had the displeasure of meeting had found us and Garble was now holding me in the air by the collar of my shirt. Twilight had tried to free me from his grip, but the big one, Clump I think, struck her with his massive tail. I was pissed off greatly when this happened, but with how I was being held and the fact that dragons are fire-proof, there was little I could do.

"HEY!!"

The sudden shout got all of our attention and we all turned toward where it had come from. A smile spread across my face as I saw Sean marching over to us. He looked very angry.

Garble looked Sean up and down, "What do you want?"

"For you let my friend go," he said. As he walked, I saw him press on his legs. They seemed to move down before pumping back up. He did this two times before his skin turned pink and steam started coming off of him.

The dragons just smirked at each other thinking nothing of the change and I could see the girls were as confused as I was about it. Suddenly, he vanished from our sight causing all of our eyes to widen. He reappeared directly in front of Garble and threw punch at his arm causing him to release me. As I fell to the ground, Sean threw another punch at the red dragon's chest, launching him backwards. As Clump swung his tail like he did against Twilight, I moved over to her and Trixie. Sean caught his tail and lifted the dragon up before slamming into the ground. He then kicked the dragon, sending him crashing into Garble. Sean suddenly shouted in pain as Fume slashed him with his claws. He quickly spun around and punched the dragon in his head. He was sent flying back farther do his smaller build.

The three of us gasped in shock as we saw the blood coming out of three slash marks on his back.

"Sean, are you OK!?" Trixie asked, worry laced in her voice.

"Yeah, doesn't really hurt," he scoffed slightly. "Does not mean that it doesn't hurt, but still," he muttered, most likely to himself. Garble and Clump pushed themselves up and Sean refocused on them. Fume seemed unconscious from the blow he'd received. "You going to leave or do I have beat some more sense into you?"

"You just caught us by surprise you hairless ape," Garble said. He took off into the air and taunted, "I'd like to see you hit me up here."

Despite how angry he seemed, Sean smirked and lined up a fist with the flying dragon. "Gum-Gum..." he said, as he pulled his arm back. "Jet Pistol!" he shouted throwing his arm forward at a blinding speed and punched Garble faster than any of us could see. The dragon fell out of the sky and crashed to the ground. "I really owe Cruger one for helping me train with this gear," I heard him mumble to himself.

Clump, deciding not to try his luck with the rubber man anymore than he had, picked up the knocked out dragon and flew away from Ponyville.

"Come back you cowards!!" Garble yelled.

"If you were smart, you'd follow their example," Sean said.

Suddenly, Ashley flashed next to him. "I was on my way over here when I heard a crash and teleported over," she said. She glanced at Garble and snapped her fingers. Eclipse and Fleetfoot appeared next to them. The two mares looked at the situation before them and quickly got in offensive positions. Ashley then drew her sword. It was the sword that Sean had used to fight Chrysalis. The front of the blade was dark purple while the back was almost black and in between the colors were red spikes ran along the length of the blade. It was a rather ominous looking sword.

Garble looked between the two humans and two ponies. Letting out a growl, he charged forward, "I will not let myself be beat by a couple of weakling ponies and two hairless apes!!"

When the dragon neared, Sean brought his leg up and kicked him in the jaw, launching him into the air. Fleetfoot and Ashley appeared on either side of Garble and they both slashed him. Ashley cut him vertically on his back while Fleetfoot raked her nails across his torso. Eclipse then took off and surrounded her fist in electricity. When she was above him, she brought her fist down onto his skull sending Garble crashing to the ground. We all walked to him and saw that he was laying unconscious in a small crater.

"Eclipse and I will take him to the Princesses," Fleetfoot said. "She'll contact the dragons and have them deal with him."

"So that the Princess can tell them the whole story, what exactly happened?" Eclipse asked.

"Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike had met him and two other dragons before when he had wanted to find out more about being a dragon," Trixie started. "They managed to get away from them when the three chased them, but it seems they tracked Spike down. They didn't say what they were going to do to him, but when Twilight tried to stop them the big one struck her with his tail." She turned to her marefriend, a worried look on her face, "Are you OK, Twi?"

Twilight smiled at Trixie using her nickname, "I'm better." She lifted her hand away from her side, which was surrounded by a familiar soft white glow. "I used healing magic to heal what I could. I still need to go to the hospital though. That kind of magic isn't really my strong suit."

"Yeah, and we need to get Sean there quickly," I spoke up.

"Why?" Ashley asked. In response, he turned around and the three gasped at the sight. "Sean, what happened?!"

"One of them got a lucky shot," he said. He turned to Fleetfoot, "You should bandage those wounds so he doesn't bleed out before you are able to get him to Canterlot." She nodded, and went to get some bandages. "Right, let's get to the hospital." As we started heading over, Ashley teleported ahead of us to let them know Sean and Twilight were coming.

[POV Change: Sean]

When we reached the hospital Twilight and I were immediately lead to where our injuries could be checked and treated. We were taken to the same room and the dividers were pulled, probably so they could check to see if she had any outer wounds and she wouldn't have to worry about me seeing her. Though I was facing the opposite direction, as the unicorn doctor was using his magic on my cuts. He was orange with a brown mane and dressed in the typical doctor attire.

"You're lucky these are shallow or you would have had for them to wait for them to heal naturally," he said. "Nopony here is that well versed in healing magic."

"Thank you, Dr. Stable," I said.

"I'm just doing my job Sean," he said. After a minute he finished, "There, all done. Bleeding stopped, wounds closed, and not even a scar. You can head out whenever you're ready."

I stood up and stretched. "Thanks again doc. I'll come by later and see how you're doing, Twilight," I said. "Hope you heal OK."

"Thanks Sean. I'll see you later," she said.

I exited the room and walked back to the entrance. Trixie and Ashley hurried up to me and spoke at the same time.

"How are you?" "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, you two," I said.

They sighed in relief, as Spike walked up to me. "Can I talk to you Sean?" he asked. His eyes darted to Ashley and Trixie. "Alone?"

The three of us glanced at each other. I shrugged, "Sure Spike. See you ladies later."

"See you guys," they said.

Spike and I left the hospital and started walking. "Hey Spike, I know that you wanted to talk, but I have to ask. Why was the glow that surrounded Twilight's hand white instead of magenta like it usually is?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, that's because of the magic she was using. It was healing, or light, magic," he answered.

"Healing is a separate magic?" I asked.

Spike nodded, "Yeah, and as you might imagine, Celestia is proficient in it."

"Huh. Wait, does that mean--?" I started, but Spike seemed to know what I was going to ask as he cut me off.

"Nopony knows if Luna is the same way with dark magic," he said. "Though, we've seen Nightmare Moon use it. But..."

"You aren't sure if that's because she was part of Luna or because she is technically her dark side, right?" I guessed. Spike nodded. "Does that mean that dark magic doesn't corrupt someone?"

"Corrupt? No. Influence them? Sure," he said.

"So, their anger or other emotions could be affected by the magic. Need to remember to tell Ashley that. Right, well thanks for letting me know. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, as I glanced up and saw Fleetfoot and Eclipse carrying the still unconscious Garble to Canterlot.

Spike followed my gaze and frowned, "It's about what just happened. I wasn't able to do anything when those three showed up and Twilight got hurt."

"Spike from what Ashley explained to me about dragons, those were teenage dragons. It's not easy to handle someone who has that big of an age advantage," I told him.

"I know, but I want to be able to at least help Twilight," he said. He looked at me with pleading eyes, "Please Sean, will help me get stronger?"

I stared at the drake and sighed, "Listen Spike, I'm not gonna lie, despite what I've done, I have fought very little in my life. The only kind I've had is when I arrived here." I turned forward, "And getting stronger, that's up to you. I could teach you all I know, but unless you push yourself it would be pointless." Spike looked down dejectedly. "However," I continued and turned to him with a smile, "I'm willing to help as much as I can."

He looked up at me with a wide smile, "Really?"

I nodded, "Yes. Now let's head to the Whitetail Woods and get started."

When we reached a clearing in the Whitetail Woods, I asked, "Alright Spike, a question before we begin. How strong are you now?" Before he could answer, I heard a familiar growling sound. "Not again," I groaned as seven manticores entered the clearing. "I wonder if these are some of the same manticores from the other day." Several of the manticores roared at me.

"I think it's safe to assume that's a yes," Spike said.

"Probably why they are here instead of the Everfree, but this is perfect. Instead of just telling me how strong you are, you can show me," I said.

"You want me to fight them!?" he shouted.

"You won't be doing it alone," I assured him. "You take three and I'll handle the rest. If you need help I'll be right there. And if you start to doubt yourself, just remember these two things." He looked directly into my eyes, "You are a dragon and you are doing this so you protect those that you care about."

He steeled himself before nodding and turned to face the manticores. One of the beasts ran forward and Spike met it head on. He threw his fist forward and punched the manticore straight in the muzzle, which produced a loud crack causing me to wince. The beast fell to the ground in a heap. Another one pounced, but Spike ducked and punched it in the gut. It buckled from the pain, but didn't look ready to give up. The third manticore took off into the air and tried to dive bombed Spike, but the young dragon spun around and roundhouse kicked it. It was sent crashing into a tree. The second manticore recovered from the blow it had received and charged Spike. It managed to slash his back, but thanks to his scales all it did was send him stumbling. He quickly turned around and slashed it across the face. It let out a roar of pain and retreated back to the forest.

After seeing Spike take down three of them, the manticores hesitated in pressing the attack.

"Nice. You're pretty damn strong Spike," I said. I glanced at the remaining manticores and tried exerting my will onto them. For a moment, nothing happened, but suddenly the remaining beasts fell to the ground unconscious. "Glad I was able to do that," I muttered. Glancing around, I suggested, "Let's' head back huh?"

He nodded in agreement and we made our way back to Ponyville.

As we neared town, I said, "I don't really think you need my help with anything Spike. You seem to be able to fight rather well and you are pretty strong."

"Well, Shining Armor showed me some things," he said. "But, you fought against Chrysalis who had overpowered Celestia. I want to be able to fight those that, normally, I wouldn't be able to handle. To deal with those like Garble."

I nodded in understanding, "I'll help in anyway I can Spike. I think it would be a good idea to start with haki. They will come in handy as Armament will strengthen your attacks and Observation will alert you to any danger. I may still be getting the hang of Observation Haki, but I know how to teach it to you."

"Alright," he agreed. As we entered Ponyville, Twilight, Trixie, and Ashley walked up to us. Spike rushed up to them, "How are you, Twilight?"

"I'm fine. It isn't anything serious, but I'll have to take it easy for about three days," she said. "Where were you two?"

Deciding it would be best to be honest, I said, "Spike asked me to help him get stronger and I decided that I'd do it. We went to Whitetail to train, but were interrupted by some of the same manticores that Cruger and I had dealt with." Worry spread across all of there faces. I clapped the drake on the back, "He knocked out three of them by himself and rather easily."

"You didn't help him!?" Trixie and Twilight yelled.

I scowled and narrowed my eyes at the two mares. "I was standing there the whole time ready to jump in at any moment should he need it. I wasn't going let him get hurt," I said. They had the decency to look abashed, as their ears lowered. "I know you two are just worried about him, but he's my friend and I wouldn't just let him fend for himself."

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

"It's fine. Like I said, I know that you are just worried about him. I'm going to keep training him though. It would be a good idea for him to be able to protect himself after all."

They both hesitated, but saw that I had a point and nodded in understanding.

[POV Change: Ashley]

Three days passed rather quickly and Twilight had fully recovered. During these three days, Sean helped Spike get stronger as well as teach him haki. The first day they worked on Armament Haki. Spike actually picked this up rather quickly. We figured his drive to protect those he cared about really helped out with using this haki. We also learned from Fleetfoot and Eclipse that Celestia had taken Garble back to the dragons and told them what he and his friends had done. We weren't told anything other than that it would be taken care of.

On the second day they started on Observation Haki. They helped each other out with that. Spike would stand with his eyes closed and Sean would swipe at him with a wooden sword. Of course, it was rather slow going since Spike had to get used to not using his eyes and instead use his other senses. After few hours, the two would switch and, with haki imbued into the practice sword, Spike was able to do what Rayleigh did for Luffy. Which was smack Sean upside the head if he misinterpreted the feeling he got.

After that they moved on to combat. The two sparred, both of them getting several strikes against the other. Spike, of course, had been relatively unscathed thanks to his dragon scales, but Sean's strength had made an impact on him. Sean, with Luffy's stamina, had still been standing tall, although he had been panting from the spar.

It was the day after their sparring match and we, Twilight, Trixie, Sean, Spike, and I, were all just hanging out in the library when Spike belched out a scroll. Twilight immediately grabbed the letter began reading it.

She looked up at us, worry evident on her face, "Princess Celestia has a test for me."

As Twilight began scrambling around the library, I facepalmed while Sean watched her in bemusement. 'So we've reached that part of the timeline, huh?' I thought to myself. "I'm going to let her friends know what's going on," I said, standing up and exiting the library.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I know compared to the other chapters this is really short, but I wanted these things to happen and... well, I'm sure you can guess why I'm starting a new chapter for what happens next.