Chapter 3

Ebonwood Forest, The Wild Continent

Spike awoke to find that his entire body ached from head to toe. Other than being slightly annoyed at being knocked unconscious so many times lately, he was grateful that he was even able to feel pain. Because feeling pain meant that he was alive. A quick assessment of his surroundings confirmed that he was now sitting on a massive tree limb somehow.

Other than being utterly baffled as to how he managed to go from the bottom of a gully to a tree, he felt…rather breezy. He wasn’t exactly cold since the forest was, for the most part, tropical. It was more like a sense of nakedness. One quick look down confirmed that the only thing he was currently wearing was a loincloth that barely preserved his modesty.

The young man had been wearing a full set of Equestrian Navy fatigues earlier, along with a satchel and other supplies. Now, they were simply gone. He certainly hadn’t packed a loincloth. Besides, what kind of crazy bastard ventures into a dangerous jungle wearing only that?! The only time that kind of thing happened was in primitive fantasy novels or movies.

So that only left one option: someone must have clothed him in aforementioned loincloth and saved him from the gully. As if on que, Spike got his answer mere moments later. Much to his surprise, a young woman climbed up the tree like a monkey and hung from a branch right next to him.

She wore clothing (if you could call it that) very similar to his own, except her chest was covered by a thin layer of hide. Otherwise, her garb left very little to the imagination. To make matters worse, she was probably the same age as he was…and very cute.

It wasn’t in the traditional sense that Rarity was known for but more in an exotic, rough and tumble tomboy sort of way. She was very similar to Rainbow Dash in that respect, except for the fact that her breasts were definitely a few cups bigger.

Her sapphire hued hair was cut in a messy, shortened style that screamed function over form but it suited her. Unlike the fair-skinned people of Equestria, her flesh was a creamy tone of bronze that bespoke of basking in the sun’s rays with little to no clothing on for most of her life. Spike found himself ogling her. He hoped she didn’t notice.

“You’re finally awake, huh?”

“Oh…y-yeah, I guess so. Were you the one that saved me?”

The girl grinned. “Mhmm. You’re one lucky bastard. Not many people survive a tumble like that without breaking a few bones or just flat out dying.”

“Umm…thanks. I appreciate it. What happened to all of my clothes and stuff?”

The girl cocked her eyebrow. “Are you really gonna ask me that? You nearly died you idiot! I seriously think you need to reevaluate your priorities.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was ungrateful. It’s just that my satchel had all of my guides, supplies, and gear I would need to survive out here. Without them, I’m pretty much screwed!”

“I guess that makes sense. But you don’t really need to worry about all that. I know these woods like the back of my hand. As long as you stick with me, I’ll take you to my village and you can stay there. Otherwise, all of your stuff sank in the mud or got ripped up.”

Spike felt his cheeks warm up. “Wait, so you were the one who cleaned me up and…p-put this loincloth on me?”

“Duh. Who else could have done it?”

“But that means you saw me na—”

The girl gave Spike a half-lidded stare. “It’s not like I haven’t seen a penis before. Why are you so upset about it? I even gave you a loincloth to cater to your delicate Outlander sensibilities.”

“Outlander?”

“Yeah. It’s the name we give anyone who comes from beyond the valley. You might be blood kin, but I could tell right away that you were raised by Outlanders.”

Spike coughed awkwardly. “That’s true but…you act like you don’t normally wear anything at all!”

“I’m only wearing this because it’s my duty to trade and negotiate with the Outlanders. They tend to freak out when you show up to their camp with nothing on. Otherwise, if we were in the village, I wouldn’t bother.”

It was difficult for the young man to gather his thoughts. He felt as though his face was going to turn into a vine ripened tomato. This girl was one of his people. And she was basically admitting that they were a race of full-time nudists!

Spike considered himself a learned man, but never had he read of such a thing. Granted, there was very little information about the Wyvertii in the first place…but how could such a huge detail about their way of life have been left out?! He didn’t even want to begin to imagine how awkward things were going to get once they reached the village.

Spike bit his lip. “Will I have to—you know—take my loincloth off too?”

“Judging by the mark on your hand, I’d wager that you’re here to compete in the Gauntlet of Fire. Isn’t that right?”

“Mostly. I mean, I’m more concerned about breaking the compulsion spell than actually winning anything.”

The girl sighed. “Figures. You are kind of scrawny for a Wyvertii man. But if you do decide to compete in the Gauntlet of Fire, it is mandatory that you do so as your true self. By sacred tradition, Delmira demands it!”

“Back up a second. Who’s Delmira and what do you mean by true self?”

“She is the great mother dragon who gave birth to our people. By her word, we live as simply as we are born. So yeah. You are going to be naked the whole time. Don’t like it? Too bad! That’s just the way things are around here.”

Spike rubbed his arm. “I-I don’t know if I can do that…”

“For the love of the goddess! Do you feel uncomfortable allowing others to see your arm?”

“No.”

The girl crossed her arms. “Then allowing others to see your penis is no different! It is a part of your body like any other. Like or not, your flesh is an integral part of your being, so why should you be ashamed of it?”

“It’s not that simp—”

“It is! You merely have to allow yourself to get used to it.”

“Mom did tell me I needed to learn about my own people. I guess I don’t really have much of a choice but to try it. Just promise me that you won’t laugh or anything.”

The girl blushed. “That’s ridiculous! I would never do such a thing. B-besides, only an idiot would be embarrassed of having a perfectly healthy manhood…”

Fortunately, Spike didn’t happen to catch the last part of her comment. With all of the sudden awkwardness of their meeting, a thought occurred to him. He had no idea what the girl’s name was nor had he told her who he was. Spike mentally cursed himself. It really wasn’t the best way to form a good impression, especially towards the people whose hospitality he’d have to depend on for the foreseeable future.

“Hey, I feel kind of stupid for saying this but I don’t think we introduced ourselves yet.”

“Hmm. I guess I did get a little caught up in everything. My name’s Ember.”

Spike smiled. “Mine’s Spike. I hope that we can become good friends, despite our awkward introduction.”

“I suppose we could be, so long as you don’t keep making me save your scrawny hide.”

Spike pouted. “I-I’m not that scrawny! I just…haven’t really had time to work out lately.”

“Soft excuses from a soft Outlander. Fortunately for you, I’m willing to help you get stronger. You’re going to need to be able to harness every ounce of strength you have in order to survive the Gauntlet, after all.”

“That assumes I even want to compete.”

Ember twiddled her fingers. “I know it sounds silly but ever since I was a little girl, I always dreamed of seeing the world beyond the valley. But I can’t do that because my father won’t allow me to travel to the Outlands. If you won the competition, you could override his command. I figure that it’s small price to pay on your part, considering that I saved your life.”

“Fair enough, I guess. But why can’t you just compete in the Gauntlet? You seem strong enough.”

Ember closed her eyes. “Whether I’m strong or not isn’t the issue. I can’t compete because only men are allowed to hold the title of Dragon Lord. Sometimes, tradition sucks.”

Spike had been around women of various ages for his entire life, so he knew a thing or two about their feelings. Although he hadn’t known her for long, he could tell that Ember was struggling to keep her emotions in check. She was a lot like Rainbow in that regard too. A woman who rarely sought help or comfort from her friends and had difficulty expressing how she truly felt.

Screwing up his courage, Spike decided to take a chance and rub Ember’s back in an attempt to comfort her. With how strong she looked, he was afraid she would beat the stuffing out of him if she wasn’t very comfortable with physical contact. He winced, expecting her to slug him or something along those lines…but was surprised to find that she didn’t resist at all.

Spike continued to gently rub her back. “I’ll do it. Even if you hadn’t saved my life, I still would have done it. Because that’s what friends do. They help each other.”

“You will? I didn’t really expect you to actually help me. I was only calling your bluff with the whole life-debt thing. No one’s ever…been this kind to me before. I-I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you would probably be a good start.”

This time, Ember really did punch him in the arm. It wasn’t at full strength, but Spike winced in pain all the same. There was no doubt about it. She was wickedly strong. Since Spike didn’t want to push his luck any further, he bore the pain in stoic silence. Plus, he didn’t want to look like a wimp.

Ember’s face turned beet red. “Y-Y-YOU IDIOT! I was trying to have a serious heart to heart with you and all I get in return is your sarcasm?! See if I ever talk to you again!”

“Ehehe…sorry about that. I can’t help myself sometimes. Look, in all seriousness I promise to help you. We can do whatever training you think I might need, no matter how tough it is or how much I complain. You have my word.”

Ember pointed her nose in the air. “Fine! Just be more considerate of my feelings next time. I’m still a woman, you know.”

“All too well, I’m afraid.”

Spike later found out the name of the feathered reptilian creature that had been stalking him earlier. It was called a Charrick. Apparently, this was mating season for them and they were all hyper aggressive and eager to present the females of their kind with a fresh kill.

At least Ember had sounded impressed that he’d survived against it as long as he did. But she also advised that wounding it in the manner that he’d done was a very stupid idea. Charricks were well-known for having tough skin underneath their camouflaged feathers. Only a head or eye shot could possibly kill with any sort of efficiency.

Despite all of the lecturing, Spike was amazed at how fast she skinned and butchered the animal. It bespoke of years of practice and skill. The whole display only further reminded him not to get on her bad side, because an angry woman with a knife was on an entirely different level of nope. After all that was said and done, she gathered up some stones and twigs and made a fire pit.

Ember directed her hands at the pile of twigs and grunted. Spike looked at her in confusion. Just what in the world was she doing? She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could, but still nothing happened. At this point, Spike felt a bit sorry for her and decided to intervene, lest she further embarrass herself.

“Umm…what are you doing?”

Ember huffed. “I’m trying to start a fire!”

“How exactly do you plan to do that?”

“I’m gonna light it with my dragon fire, of course. It’s just that—I’m not very good at it yet. Gimme another minute to concentrate, I’ll make it happen.”

A cocky grin spread on Spike’s lips. “Well, I just so happen to be really good at casting fire. It’s kind of my thing. Yep. I did it all the time back in Ponyville.”

“Ha! Yeah right. It’s incredibly rare for our people to able to cast dragon fire. How could you, a whelp raised by Outlanders, have that much control over your pyromancy? For that matter, how did you even discover you could do it?”

Spike chuckled. “It was actually by complete accident that I found out. But once I figured out how to do it, I used it all the time. But don’t get the wrong idea! I wasn’t a pyromaniac or anything crazy like that! I used my flames to teleport mail…for the most part.”

“Do you have any idea how difficult that is?! Only our eldest and wisest magi are able to do such things. I can barely start a normal flame without feeling like the life’s been drained out of me.”

Spike rubbed his neck. “Wow, I didn’t realize it was that special. I just thought it was something everybody could do. Do you…want me to light the fire for you?”

“You’d better do more than that! If I’m going to be taking time out of my day to train you, I want you to train me as well. Teach me how to cast dragon fire more efficiently.”

“Sure, that sounds reasonable. The first thing you have to do is concentrate on the fiery feeling inside of your chest. Then, once that builds up for a little while, you let the energy flow into hands. Last of all, just picture the fire in your palm and release it.”

In an instant, a small green flame danced in Spike’s hand. Much to his embarrassment, Ember grabbed his hand towards her and looked at with a scrutinizing glare. It was actually kind of cute, seeing her nose all scrunched up in concentration like that. After getting his fill of Serious Mode Ember, he retracted the flame back into his palm.

“Wait! Why did you take it back? Aren’t you going to light the fire?”

Spike shook his head. “That’d be too easy. I want you to do it.”

“Gah! I already told you I can’t.”

“Yes you can. Just concentrate a bit more.”

Ember closed her eyes. “Alright, I’ll try. But you’d better not laugh or I’ll break your nose.”

Spike knew better than to laugh at this point, but he nodded in agreement all the same. Besides, if this dragon flame ability was so rare it made a certain amount of sense that someone like Ember would have trouble performing it. He waited patiently while she concentrated.

Much to his surprise, she actually managed to summon a small sapphire-hued flame in her fist within about thirty seconds. He was about to congratulate her, but was interrupted by her peals of joy upon seeing the flame. Instead, he just gave her a slight smile. She sure was a quick learner.

“See? I knew you could do it.”

Ember giggled. “I’ve never summoned a flame this quickly before! You really do know what you’re doing. So…what do I do now?”

“Light up the twigs, my faithful student.”

Ember furrowed her brow. “Is it like shooting an arrow? It can’t be that easy…”

“Just will the fire in whatever direction you please. That’s all there is to it.”

The fireball she shot was not very big, but size could sometimes be deceiving. Sure, a big fireball or a stream could potentially produce more damage but it was really all about how much will the user put into forming the flame in the first place that determined the strength. Within moments, the twigs caught fire and produced a beautiful sapphire-hued campfire.

Immediately, Spike noticed that Ember’s flames generated a peculiar scent. His usually didn’t smell like anything other than whatever it was he happened to be igniting…but this was different. Her flames created a slightly floral aroma that carried a smoky undertone. Strange, to be sure, but not at all unpleasant to catch wind of. Maybe pyromancy worked a bit differently with women? He wasn’t really sure.

Ember skewered a chunk of Charrick meat on a stick and began to roast it over the flames. In all of the excitement, Spike had almost forgotten how long it had been since he last ate something. Now that he was thinking about food, his stomach growled in protest, demanding that he consume more calories.

As a gesture of hospitality, Ember offered him the charred chunk of meat as soon as it was cooked enough. He had to admit that it didn’t look very appetizing. But at least it smelled good. When he finally took a bite out of the meat, it didn’t taste as bad as he thought it would but it was very chewy and had a distinct gamey aftertaste. Even so, he ate it without any further protest.

Ember began roasting another chunk. “Why didn’t you just burn the Charrick with your flames? That probably would have killed it.”

“It very well might have. But conjuring fire, in a big forest, while in a panic? Not a good idea. Knowing my luck, I would have started a massive forest fire. Plus, I kind of forgot I could do it because I was so scared.”

Ember nodded solemnly. “Charricks are apex predators. You’d have been a fool not to fear them. The only reason I didn’t panic was because I’ve run into them before and knew where the best kill shot was.”

“I still feel bad that you had to kill it for me. Aren’t the men—I dunno—supposed to protect the women? I just…feel kind of useless.”

Ember awkwardly placed her hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t useless, only ignorant of how things work around here. And I’m pretty much the exception to the rule when it comes to ‘needing protection’ as you put it.”

“Sorry, I—it’s going to take me a long time to learn about everything. And I know I’m not the strongest or most selfless guy around, but I promise I’ll work hard to help you with your dream. Umm…I guess what I’m trying to say is: Thanks for taking me under your wing, Ember.”

Ember felt her cheeks get warmer and it had nothing to do with the fire. “Using honeyed words won’t make me go easier on you, Outlander.”

“Nah, I didn’t expect they would. I guess I’m just used to being open about how I feel. It comes with being raised by Equestrians. I’ll stop being so sappy if bothers you.”

Ember nervously twirled a strand of her hair. “I don’t dislike it. I-I mean, Wyvertii men hardly ever speak of such things. They’re more concerned about boasts and conquests than matters of the mind and heart. I suppose it’s just refreshing to hear you speak that way.”

“Suits me just fine.”

“Good! We should probably get some sleep because there’s no way we’re traveling to the village in the middle of the night. Too many nocturnal predators. Be prepared to rise early, as well. We shall set out at dawn.”