I was in the market, looking to see if the three flower mares had made progress with the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes. When I made it to their shop, I was met with Roseluck. " Hello Joe, what brings you by?"

I gave her a friendly smile. " I was doing some shopping and I thought I'd check and see how the flowers I gave you are doing."

She went and pointed over to the empty baskets that usually held said flowers. " As you can see, they sell better than Pinkie's cupcakes."

" Glad to hear. Tell Daisy and Lily I said hello." With that, I was on my way towards the center of town. On my way over, I heard a scream.

" Hey, my balloon is getting away!" I looked to see that the local balloon ride was floating towards the Everfree forest. Seeing that it started to descend into the forest, I thought I might as well go after it since I really don't have anything to do.

" Don't worry, I got it." I leaped from the ground and flew towards where I last saw the balloon. I touched down in a clearing and started looking. " Now, if I were a hot air balloon descending into a forest, where would I be?" I realized just how stupid that question was and slapped myself. After a minute or two of walking around the forest, I heard another scream, and this one I recognized all too well.

" Heeeellllppp!!!" The sound of Spike screaming as well as the barks accompanying it, made me realize that he could be some creatures dinner. Without losing a step, the wolf had taken over and I raced towards the commotion. I stopped at the top of a cliff to see Spike was being pinned at the bottom of the cliff by three wolves made of wood and foliage. Timberwolves. I didn't have time to wonder too much about them as they started closing in on him. " Oh, crap!" The wolf in the middle lunged forward.

" Rooooaaaaarrrr!" The wolves stopped their attack when they heard me. All three of them trembled when I jumped down and put myself between them and Spike. " Leave this one be! Go and find prey somewhere else!" I warned them while getting ready for a fight. The lead wolf, most likely the alpha, got bold and bared his teeth. " Spike, when they attack, I want you to run." As if on cue, the alpha lunged. " Run!"

Spike was making his way for the clearing and oddly enough, the balloon I came in to look for. While he ran, the timberwolf alpha and I started clawing and gnashing at each other. His claw strikes did more harm to him than me since his paw shattered against my skin, though the bite had some force behind it. While he and I were going at it, the two betas that were with him decided to go after the one that ran off. " Shit." I decided to stop fooling around and brought Frostbite down on his skull, shattering him into nothing but twigs and branches.

With him taken care of, I went after Spike's pursuers. Spike may have had a head start while I fought the alpha, but the betas were catching up quickly. Fortunately for him, I was much faster. I launched Frostbite at the wolf on my right and nailed him in the side, making it stumble and break apart like its leader. I launched myself towards the last one while summoning my ax, and smashed onto it's back. The impact caused it to explode in a mass of branches and splintered wood.

With all threats gone, I shed the wolf form and saw to Spike. " Spike, are you alright?" He just stared at me in astonishment. " Uh, Spike?"

" You...you saved my life."

" Well, yeah. But it's not like it's that big of a deal. I mean, remember our trip to the griffon empire?"

" I remember. But in all fairness, I don't think they were going to kill me. Also, I hate to bring it up, but I was in that situation because of you." That last part hurt, but ultimately true. " This time was different and I owe you my life. So from now on, I'm at your service."

" How about we get this balloon back into town, then we can talk." I grabbed the rope holding the balloon, and we both headed out of the forest.

I was sitting in my recliner at home reading the paper while Spike was going from one room to the other, cleaning whatever he saw was dirty, though he refrained from going in the trophy room. As this was going on, Jackie and Lulu would look from Spike, themselves, then to me. Finally, Luna spoke up. " Honey, why is Spike cleaning the house?"

" Earlier today I saved him from a small pack of timberwolves, and thanks to his code on being a noble dragon, he feels that he owes me a life debt."

" Joe, I'm happy that you saved his life, but don't you think this is taking advantage of him? Besides, what about his life with Twilight, not to mention Rarity?" Jackie sounded a bit miffed that Spike was put into such a position.

" I'm very well aware of that, and I don't want him to be a serving maid around here. Besides, he makes more of a mess than he does cleaning one." At that moment, one of the vases crashed to the floor because Spike bumped it off with a broom. " Case in point."

" Why not just tell him that you don't want him to do anything for you?"

" 'Cause Jackie, it goes against his code of honor, and I have to respect it. Even if it was written in crayon." I put down my paper as I contemplated what to do. " I can't relive him of what he feels is a life dept without him either saving my life or someone I love. I won't risk any of your lives and my life will never be in true peril. There's got to be something I can do?"

Luna then came over and draped a wing over my back. " If only Spike knew how to fend for himself, then you would not be put into such a position."

" Yeah, if only" Suddenly, Luna's words made more sense. " Luna you're a genius!" I planted a kiss on her lips and went to find Spike.

Dumbfounded, Luna looked to Applejack. " What just happened?"

" I think you solved our hubbies problem. Come on, let's see what the kids are up to."

I walked down the trail towards Herot with Spike by my side. I didn't tell him what the reason for our trip was, but I just told him it would help me out. On the way, Spike would bother me with all the different ways he'll make up his life debt. After a while, we made it to my kingdom. " So what are we doing here Joe? Do you need me to do something around here?"

" Something like that, let's stop by townhall for a minute." We journeyed to the top of the city where townhall was at. The building was made of red granite, the same that was used to make the capitol building in Austin and had a wolf on each side of the stairs. The guards gave us a salute which I returned and we headed inside. As we walked through the halls, some of the history of the world held by the Diamon dogs could be seen carved into the wall. When we got to the main part of the building, I went over to the dog sitting on the throne. " Kamehameha!" Since I don't spend much time here as I did before I became a father, I made Kamehameha the mayor of Herot.

Kamehameha looked up from some papers and smiled at me. " My king!" He came over to us and we shook hands. " It's good to see you again my king."

" It's good to see you as well my friend. How's the wife and kid?"

" Abigal is still the love of my life, and little Hrothgar killed his first deer last week." He led us over to the desk where he had some papers that no doubt would need my signature. " These are the papers that came from the crystal empire. I would have brought them over like I always do, but it seems you saved me the trip."

" Yes well, I came here for more than just government business. You remember Spike right?" They both exchanged a small greeting. " Anyway, I saved his life and due to his dragon code, he owes me a life debt. And since I don't really want him to be a serving maid to me, I thought up a better solution."

" Wait, you don't want me to help. But my code-"

" Will still be honored, but in a different way." I signed the last of the papers and looked over at Spike. " Your code says that you must serve me until the debt is paid. And the reason you owe me a life debt is that you couldn't fend off those Timberwolves and needed your ass saved." He started to feel down about that. " Which is why I'm going to train you to become a warrior, so you can defend yourself."

He just stared at me after I said that. " Are you serious?"

" Very. I'm gonna teach you how to fight, and I'm gonna teach you to hunt." We headed out of townhall and into the city. " I've already spoken to Twilight and Rarity about this, so there's no need to worry about them looking for you."

" ( Whew) That's a load off my mind." We walked past the training grounds and into a room designed by me. It had many obstacles designed to test one's metal. In the center of the room, multiple circles could be seen carved into the floor. I led Spike over to the center circle and proceeded to one of the outer circles. " So, what do we do first?"

" Before we go further, I want you to look where you are standing." He took a brief moment to look at his surroundings. " Where you stand now is called a training circle, the master's wheel. This circle will be your world, your whole life. Until I tell you otherwise there is nothing outside of it."

" But what if I-"

" There is nothing, outside of it. The world you came from, the friends and family you have do not exist until I say they exist." I then started walking around him. " As your skills as a warrior improve, you will progress to a smaller circle. With each new circle your world contracts, that much closer to becoming a warrior and hunter, that much closer to repaying the debt you owe me."

He gave me a sly smile. " I like that part."

I smiled back at him. " Good, now go over to that weapon rack and pick one."

Spike went over to the rack and browsed the weapons. He saw a double-bladed ax and tried to lift it. The weapon didn't budge. He then picked a rapier and gave it a few swings. The blade wobbled too much for him and he kept shaking, needless to say, he put it back. A spiked mace caught his eye and he went for it, but much like the ax, it was too heavy for him to wield properly. Finally, after many tries, he found a weapon suited for him, a hunting dagger designed for combat.

Spike brought over the knife for me to inspect. " Let's see. Sharp edge, double-bladed, fine material, good length for someone your size, very nice choice." I gave him back the knife. " Now, show me how to use it on that dummy over there." I pointed over to mannequin in the shape of a pony, Rarity was generous enough to trade it for some emeralds. When Spike went up to it, he just looked at it with the knife in his claw. " What are you waiting for? Attack!"

He stared at the mannequin while the knife trembled in his grasp. Another moment passed before he turned to look at me. " I can't do it. I've lived with ponies all my life. I can't just-" Slam! He was interrupted when I embedded Frostbite into the dummy.

" I'm married to two beautiful mares and I call many ponies both friend and family." I walked over to the dummy and pulled out my ax. " But that does not mean that there are ponies who will attack you, given the chance. You recall both Blueblood and Sombra, correct?"

" Yes. I remember them."

" Good. Now use the memory of them, quit being a pussy, and attack the dummy!" This seemed to light a fire in his belly as he let out a primal scream and lunged at the dummy with his blade. He held the knife in a reverse grip and kept stabbing at the dummy in different places, though he did focus his attention on the chest and neck. " Enough!"

He stopped his attacks and saw his good work. " Did I do that?"

" You did. Now, we'll have to work on your technique, but you do have the raw power behind it." I patted him on the back before leading him over to some targets. " By the way, what were you thinking about when you kept stabbing that dummy?"

He stared ahead without really even looking at anything. " I thought about when Blueblood slapped Rarity across the face." He then looked up at me. " There's something I want you to know. If you hadn't gone and did what you did to him, I would've barbecued his face off."

I started to chuckle at that. " Sorry I made you lose your chance." I made him stop in front of a target while I went for a bow, a sling, and a javelin. I brought them back over to him. " Alright, pick one and start firing at that target over there." He looked at all three weapons and picked the bow.

With the bow in his hand, he took an arrow and aimed it down the range. He pulled back on the string and let the arrow fly. The arrow embedded itself between the eyes of a stuffed boars head ten feet above the target. " Well if you were aiming for the boars head, then you're a crack shot." I got on my knee and told him to load the bow again. " Okay, there ain't no wind, so you don't need to compensate for that. The amount of power you pull back on the bow will determine how far and how fast the arrow will fly. And finally, the arm you use to hold the bow will act as a guide for where you're aiming."

He nodded my way and pulled back on the string again, though he took his time. After ten-seconds of aiming, he let the arrow fly and this time, it hit the target, right in the nine-ring. " I hit it. Look I got it!"

" Perfect. Do it again." Spike kept firing arrow after arrow at the target, hitting different rings every time and even hit the bullseye a couple of times. Once the quiver had run out of arrows, we went to check his progress. " Alright, for the most part, you did well, but it's these areas here" I pointed to the arrows that hit the outer-rings of the target. " that need improvement."

One week later. Everfree forest.

A week passed since I started training Spike. In that time, his skills with a bow and dagger have greatly improved, to the point where we had to move his training to the forest. For the most part, his combat training is over, now he needs to go through the hunting phase of his training. The only things we brought with us were water-bottles, a couple sleeping bags, and Spikes weapons. As we stood before the forest, I looked over to Spike to see that he was a bit nervous. " You alright?"

" Yeah. It's just, the last time we were in this forest. I was attacked by Timberwolves."

" It's also where your journey began. And when your training is complete, it's where it'll end." I patted his back and we entered the forest.

I decided that we would make Celestia and Luna's old castle our campsite while we hunted. On our trek towards the castle, we came up to the river where Steve was, and lo and behold, there he was. " Steve! How the hell are you? It's been a while."

" Oh, hello Joe, I guess it has been a while because I swear you didn't have wings when we met."

" Hehe, buddy, that ain't the half of it." We sat down by the riverbank while Steve listened to me talk about my life thus far. He must have liked it if him hugging me is any indication.

" I can't believe that you did all that in such a short time. Oh, you have to let me meet the kids." Steve kept gushing over all the details from my story.

" One day I will, but for now, I got to teach this one how to hunt." I ruffled Spike's spines at that. " Anyway, we'll be in this place for a while, so we'll definitely stop by."

" That'll be nice. Oh, and just between you and me, There's a small drove of boars in a valley two-miles up the river"

" Perfect, that'll be our first stop. Okay, tomorrow we'll hit up the valley and hopefully get a kill. Want us to bring ya something if we kill one?"

" Actually, if you wouldn't mind bringing me the fillet, that would be fantastic." We agreed on it and Spike and I went headed up to the castle. We finally made it to the castle and started making camp in the old throne room.

After we set up our little shelter, I led him over to the stream across the gorge. I gave him a net and pointed over to the deep end. " Spike, go set that net over there, and before the end of the day, we'll have us some supper."

" Gotcha." He went and set the net along the river and put heavy rocks on the end so the net wouldn't just float away. " So, what kind of fish are we trying to catch?"

I sat down in a lawn chair while gesturing him to take the other one. " First rule of fishing. Never go in with a plan to catch a certain type of fish. Second rule. Always try to keep your voice to barely above a whisper."

" So talk like Fluttershy."

" Exactly. The third and most important rule when fishing." I reached into a cooler I had brought and tossed Spike a beer. " Get drunk and swap manly stories." I cracked open my own beer and relaxed.

"The best training I've had so far." He took a swig and sat on his lawn chair.

" Wrong. The best kind of training is one that gives you skills that you never had before, the reflexes and strength to defeat your enemy." I gave him a sideways smirk. " The kind of training that'll impress a certain unicorn."

" Heh, she and I are already dating. What more could I ask for?"

" Ha! One day, maybe soon, you'll look back on what you just said, and slap yourself for thinking yourself content." We both took a sip of our beer just as there was some thrashing in the river. " Well, that didn't take long." I got up and went to inspect Spikes catch. I pulled the net onto the bank and took a look at what we caught. " Well let's see. We got us a couple of trout and a river eel. Looks like we'll eat tonight."

I taught Spike to gut and clean the fish while I got the fire started. When the fire got nice and hot, I laid the fish and eel on a skillet to cook. " So, when does my training end? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the skills you taught me and the chance to fulfill my dept. But I miss Twilight and Rarity."

" Especially Rarity?"

" Especially Rarity."

" Don't worry Spike. The combat part of your training is over, but that is always the easy part." My tone became serious and my expression was as hard as stone. " What comes next will test your resolve. It's one thing to fire an arrow at a target and slash and stab at something that won't fight back. It's when you shoot at a living, breathing creature, and see the life leave its eyes, do you finally become a warrior. All you can do is hope what you hunt and fight have a quick death."

Spike rolled that around in his head for a while, trying to see if he could really stomach that. After many minutes passed, he looked to me with a questioning look. " What was the first thing you ever killed?"

I paused my cooking for a moment, before returning to the fish. " When I was twelve years old, my dad took me to the woods for our first hunting trip. Hog and bear were in season, so we went looking for hogs for me to hunt. With a bow in hand, we went looking for a decent-sized pig to take down. After two hours of following tracks and sounds, we found a monster of a hog. Once we got into position, I took my bow, aimed for the heart and fired. It was a clean kill."

" Wow, so we're pretty much doing the same hunt when you were a kid?"

" Well, I didn't really finish my story." This piqued his curiosity. " After I had made the kill, dad told me to eat the heart of the hog. It tasted pretty good, though it was pretty chewy. Anyway, as I ate the heart, the scent of the hog had caught the attention of a black bear. When I was done with the heart, I was attacked by the bear. It was short-lived and I had taken my first kill in battle. So hopefully, you just take down a boar tomorrow, and then we can go home and show our friends your skills."

" Yeah, alright. Hey is that fish done yet?"

Dawn.

https://youtu.be/z6QgND6sXbc

Spike and I traveled up the river to the valley Steven told us about. We kept to the brush and away from the river, so we don't scare off our prey, and looked for signs of anything close by. " Remember, we're more likely to hear our prey before we actually see them."

" Gotcha." We crept through the forest, doing our best not to step on any dry branches, and listened for any boars. About ten minutes later, Spike had caught something. " Joe, over here." I went over to see he found some tracks, as well as some hog-shit. " These feel fresh. And that smells like it was just dropped. It's close by!" Spike, in his excitement, ran ahead to where the tracks led.

" Wait!" I caught up to him and held him by the arm. " We must step cautiously, we might not be the only ones on the hunt." He nodded in understanding and we proceeded with care. Not a minute later than we heard the sound of a lone hog. " Stop." We both stopped as we saw a boar come out of the brush, sniffing at a fallen log for truffles. The boar had to at least be four-foot even and weigh a good two-hundred pounds, the perfect game for one's first hunt. " Get your bow ready."

Spike slung his bow off his shoulder and knocked an arrow. He pulled back on the string and aimed. " Where should I aim for?"

" Go for the neck, where the windpipe is."

" Got it." He adjusted his aim and took a steady breath. With his aim fixed, he let his arrow fly, hitting the boar in the windpipe. " Got 'em." The boar squealed in pain and desperation for his suffering to end. We both went over to the boar and held it down. " Now what do we do?"

" I'll hold down the beast, while you end its suffering." Spike looked to me as if he couldn't comprehend what I meant. " Your knife boy. Use it to finish the kill." With some reluctance, he unsheathed his knife and placed it on the boar's throat but proceeded no further. " What are you waiting for? End its suffering." After a moment passed, he thrust the knife into the beast, silencing his cries of pain. " Well done Spike, well done."

" I feel strange. I don't feel good or bad, I just feel, empty."

" It's the shock of making your first kill. The feeling will pass, but for now." I used my claw to cut open the belly of the hog and reached in for the hunter's delight, the heart. Once I pulled it out, I gave it to Spike. " Honor the kill, and gain its strength. Eat it."

Spike looked at the heart with some skepticism but took hold of it. He inspected the heart for a little while before he took a small bite. He slowly chewed at the heart before swallowing. He then looked at me. " You were right. It's a bit chewy."

I smiled at his recovery. " Told you it would be. Come on. let's get this thing gutted and-" My eyes went wide when I saw something rustling in the woods. " Move!" I had just enough time to push Spike out of the way when a giant form burst from the trees and pinned me to the ground.

" Joe!"

" Run to cover!" He did as I told and ran back to where we came. With him out of harm's way, I could focus on the thing that pinned me down. It looked like a Timberwolf but it had to at least be four times larger than an average one. The legs had to be as wide as redwoods and the teeth looked like giant wooden spikes. I struggled under its paw but it wouldn't budge. With a defiant sneer, I spat in its face. " Come on you hunk of firewood! Take a bite out of me!" The monster looked ready to do just that when suddenly, I heard Spike call out.

" Leave my friend alone you overgrown toothpick." I saw him bring up his bow and shot two arrows right in the monster's eyes. The wolf howled in agony as it was blinded by my pupil. This gave me the opportunity to escape from underneath it and wolf out. I went for an attack but was stopped when an arrow engulfed in flame was shot into the gullet of the beast.

The fire quickly spread throughout the beast and soon it was reduced to ash. With the monster gone, I went over to Spike. " Spike, do you realize what you've done?"

" No. What did I just do?"

" You killed that giant Timberwolf and saved me. Which actually means two things. The first is that your training is complete." He smiled at that notion. " And you saved my life." Now his eyes went wide with astonishment. " So it looks like you honored your code twice over."

Spike rid himself of his shock and lunged at me for a hug. " That means we can go home! Right?"

" Might as well, the damn beast ruined that hog when it attacked us." I hefted him onto my shoulder and journeyed back from where we came. " Let's get our stuff from the castle, then head home."

An hour later.

I sent Luna a message, saying we were coming home within the hour. So it didn't surprise me to see our friends and family waiting for us at the forest's entrance. When they saw us approach, Spike was tackled by Rarity while Luna and Jackie pinned me to the ground and peppered me with kisses. When we got up they noticed Spike carrying weapons. Rarity was the first to say something. " Spikeypoo, why do you have those with you."

Instead of answering in a conventional way, he took Rarity in his arms and brought her in for a deep kiss. At first, Rarity was in shock, but it quickly melted into deep bliss. When they broke their kiss, Spike took hold of Rarity and went in the direction of her boutique. Dash was the first to recover from what we saw. " What kind of training did you give him?"

" Believe me, I didn't teach him that. But if what I think is about to happen, then I owe him a beer tomorrow." None of them understood what I meant by that, but I'm sure Rarity will tell them when they have their next spa day. " Anyway. I've been away from home for a week and need some time with these two." I put an arm around both my wives and headed home for some much needed 'Playtime'.

Author's Notes:

Not sure what to say about this, except, Spike is now a badass. Or at least a badass in training. I thought about making this chapter a comedy but thought better of it. And from the looks of things, Joe owes Spike that beer he promised him at the bowling alley.

Now we come to a dilemma here. What am I going to do with a chapter about Discord, since he's already reformed and doing his own thing? Can someone say, movie reference montage and possible overload? I think it is!

So think about what you think I should add in the comments section and I'll get to it.

Clip

https://youtu.be/RSJ3Ww_WIJo

https://youtu.be/Ona7QYULRVE