Author's Notes:

It feels great to be back, and better since my life took a turn for the better in the last month.
But I’m not going to bore you with that, here’s what I promised and I’ll see you next time

(Ponyville)
(The next day)

“So much to think about and so little time to think about it... That’s what she’d say in a situation like this.” Zeko was exiting the small town to meet a particular seven a distance away. They’d only told him that it was a very rare occasion and that he should try his best to make it. “So they should be right up ahe-

“Yoo hoo!” A red carpet rolled out and at the start of it was Rarity in a dress that Zeko would only call

“So useless it hurts, of all the- Wait are they in a ditch?” He walked closer and saw that Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were in camouflage outfits and had binoculars.

“Well am I the toast of the trench or what?” A burst of brightly contrasting confetti erupted from seemingly nowhere.

“Oh you’ll be toast alright.” Applejack looked back to her warily. “If the dragons see you parading around in that getup.”

“You look very nice Rarity but could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?” A flash of Twilight’s horn and the confetti was gone, the red carpet as well.

“What’s that about dragons?” Zeko appeared in the trench and made the mares jump in fear.

“Geez Zeko don’t scare us like that!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a hand over her chest.

“How should I scare you?”

“Like this?” Another Zeko appeared behind them and tapped the shoulder of the rainbow haired mare.

“Aah!” Another yelp from the white mare

“There be dragons!” Pinkie called attention to the sky where a massive horde of dragons were flying overhead, one even taking the time to do a rolling maneuver.

Zeko’s clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and a certain daredevil scoffed at the trick. “Big deal, I wouldn’t say that was as impressive as me.” At that moment a dragon collided with another, causing the second dragon to spew a burst of flame towards the ground. The flames nearly hit the group in the face but a burst of wind blew them away.

“Well now I’d say that they’re fierce more than impressive.” Rainbow Dash was shivering from the close call right as a cart rolled up behind them.

“Yep, us dragons are definitely scary. You don’t wanna mess with us.” Spike announced, while wearing a frilly pink apron over his training outfit. He handed cupcakes and cookies out while Rainbow Dash snickered

“Yeah right Spike! That might have to be the scariest apron I’ve ever seen.” The laughter resumed with Pinkie and Applejack joining in.

He looked down at his attire, visibly confused. “What’s wrong with wearing an apron? You won’t be laughing when you get blueberries on your scales... Er feathers, that’s one tough stain!” At this point Zeko walked over and tore the apron off

“Spike be a man... Or dragon in this case, you aren’t supposed to wear frilly aprons. A basic blue works just fine.” He tossed the offending article out of the trench where it was carried off by ants

“So does that mean I don’t act like other dragons?”

“No and why would you? My little Spikey wikey has the best features that those dragons don’t, these perfect chubby cheeks.” Rarity kneaded the drake’s cheeks, prompting him to break away and look at Zeko.

“You’ve met dragons... t-they aren’t supposed to be cute right?” Spike used a handheld mirror to give himself a once over and saw the traces of baby fat that he still had, namely on his cheeks. “What am I? Who am I?” He walked off with a look of sorrow and anguish.

“Do you think we went too far?” Applejack questioned as the drake walked off but Rainbow Dash put an arm around her to ease that thought.

“Nah, he’ll be fine. Just needs to chill.”

During this Zeko looked upwards towards the dragons overhead and managed an idea. “That might work.” He told himself right before heading towards his house.

“Well gee if we’re all gonna leave then why’d I dig the trench?” Applejack questioned as she witnessed two of the guests walk in two different directions.

The very next morning is when Zeko appeared at the door of Twilight’s library with a bag on his shoulder, but before he could knock on the door. “Stop him!” He heard, along with some rustling and sounds of objects falling.

“Why do my mornings always go wrong?” The teen prepared to open the door with all of the grace...

*CRASH*

Of a tornado meeting a house, the door being busted down interrupted Rainbow Dash from trying to pull a bindle bag from Spike and sent the two crashing to the floor. “Zeko!” Spike grabbed the bag and ran behind the teenager... which was awkward since they were about the same height. “They won’t let me go to the dragon migration!”

“That’s cause you’re too small Spike!”

“And far too delicate to be around those ruffians.”

The drake looked at Zeko who only shook his head. “They’re right Spike you’re too young and not as big as those dragons.” Spike was visibly dejected while Rarity sighed in relief and Twilight pondered. Zeko grabbed the bindle bag and threw it outside, planting it in the dirt. “That’s why I’m going with you, if I’m there you’ll be fine if anything happens.” He turned to leave and Spike nearly yelled in excitement.

“Wai- What?” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight incredulously. “Are you just gonna let them go?!”

“Yes.” Twilight answered

“What?!” Only Zeko and Twilight remained silent at the response.

Twilight walked over to Spike and gave him a hug. “I couldn’t answer the questions you had but maybe this is for the best, you’ll be able to learn so much and with Zeko there I don’t have to worry.” She pat him on his head as Zeko tossed another training outfit at him.

“No slacking on this walk, perfect time to train.” He grabbed his bag and walked in the direction of the ongoing airborne horde of dragons.

“Alright! I’ll tell you everything I learned when we come back!” The drake quickly tried to catch up to Zeko while struggling to put his pants on, inadvertently creating a comic act.

“We’re following them aren’t we?” Rarity said once they were out of earshot.

“Definitely.”

==============================

The duo walked by a large lake while following the migration and decided to set up a temporary camp. “Well this is as good a spot as any.” Zeko clasped his hands and allowed sand to leave his gourd and create a small patch on the ground.

“Oh finally!” Spoke collapsed onto the patch, exhausted from the hours of constant walking that he and his mentor had been doing. Unfortunately for the young drake his rest was short lived since Zeko tossed his bag onto Spike who yelled in pain. “So sore! Why’d you do that?” Zeko walked over to the edge of the lake and looked at the migration and noticed that they were greatly ahead of some dragons that he’d seen earlier.

“Making good time Spike, so I decided that I’ll teach you something useful in the future.” Spike nearly launched upwards, not showing any signs of fatigue. Zeko took a step towards the lake but to Spike’s shock he didn’t fall into the water but started to walk on it.

“How can I do that?”

“It’ll be easier for you since you’re always barefoot so just focus your energy into your feet and focus on staying above the water.” Spike stopped for a second to breathe deeply and closed his eyes to focus.

“Alright here goes!” Spike jumped for the water, feeling that he had a good balance of his energy...

*Splash*

And sunk below the surface of the water like a brick. “Ah! Zeko help!” The Drake cried for help as he splashed around.

“Spike-“

“Help! I’m not a good swimmer!”

“Spike-“

“Is this how I die? Drowning with my friend right next-“

“SPIKE! Stand the hell up!” Zeko had lost his temper at the drake’s antics and Spike took his advice and stood... in the waist deep water.

“Oh.” He smiled sheepishly. “Uh, why couldn’t I walk on the water? I did what you said.”

Zeko looked towards the sky again and saw the ongoing migration. “You have to completely focus before doing it, no excessive moves. Focus on walking.” Spike waded out of the water, clothing drenched from his attempt. “Well now you can’t do it, you couldn’t do it dry then how will you manage to do it if you’re soaked? We’ll wait a while and try again.”

And so they waited for Spike to dry and when that time came they tried again. “Woah!”

*Splash*

And again

“Waugh!”

*Splash*

Each time it was failure after failure, as if Spike wasn’t able to focus himself into performing such a basic yet necessary action. “I don’t get it! Why can’t I do this?” Spike was drenched again but this time he was steaming from anger, although he didn’t seem to notice.

“Hm... Spike did you notice that you’re steaming right now?” The drake gave himself a once over and saw the water vaporizing from his clothes at an alarming speed. “Ok I want you to stop bringing your energy to your scales.”

“My scales? That’s not where it’s going. I’m- What the?” Spike looked at his arms and saw the steam stop but his scales were a slight orange at the tips, blending with his purple coloration

“Looks like we figured out why you can’t walk on water, your scales must be a separate layer than your actual skin so you just keep pumping more and more energy towards them and heating them up rather than using it to keep yourself on the water surface.” Zeko’s Rinnegan were active and he saw the flow of energy only created currents beneath the scales of the drake.

“And since dragons are resistant to magic and energy like that, my scales just reflect the energy I build up-“

“And get heated up in the process. So bad news is that you can’t walk on water but good news is that this could lead you somewhere better. But we need to get back on our trip, the dragons we kept pace with caught up so if we wanna make good time we need to go.” Zeko returned his sand to his gourd and the duo grabbed their bags to begin walking once again.

“I might not be like other dragons but I’d like to see them do anything like that.” The drake thought as they walked on past the lake and through a forest that cut into a cold mountainous region, where Spike used his ability to warm himself while his mentor summoned a Timberwolf to use as material for torches. The two trekked up the mountain and made it to the summit, both panting heavily.

“Spike... you have to get your breathing... under control.” Zeko started to compose himself but still had trouble while Spike looked ready to pass out. “We’re on the windward side... you go first!” Zeko made a large claw of sand and threw Spike down the dry side of the mountain and slid down after him.

The two floated in a swamp on a raft made of glass, and hours later were walking through a forest with two birds that appeared as if they were flaming hot perched on a branch. “That’s something...” Zeko twirled a chakra rod as the two looked at a volcanic mountain.

“That’s our stop!” Brimming with energy, Spike dashed forward and started to ascend the mountain while Zeko floated on a platform of sand.

“Well he’s not complaining anymore, and maybe he’ll learn a little about-“ An outstretched hand absorbed the oncoming gout of flame. “Damn it.” Zeko reaches the crater and saw Spike sliding down towards a group of younger dragons while the adults eyed him suspiciously.

“Is there a problem monkey?” A dull silver dragon said with a booming voice

“Not as much as what your face would look like when I’m done with you.” The sand around Zeko’s legs started to move and caught the dragon’s attention, making it stare the teenager down before returning back to its resting position. “Damned bluff, where’d Spike go?” Zeko looked around and saw the drake being teased by the younger dragons and went to investigate.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were part pony...” A red dragon was in Spike’s face, sneering

Sand fell onto the ground beside them and Zeko jumped down. “That doesn’t make sense, he’s clearly a dragon.” He gestured to the drake but raised eyebrows and clueless expressions were his response.

“And what are you supposed to be? A- A shaved monkey? You aren’t even much bigger than him, I think you should leave the dragon business to the dragons.” He stood taller than most of the other dragons and had almost two feet over Zeko.

“You should back off.” Spike took a step back from the two while the red dragon held his cocky smirk

“Even the dragon-pony told you to leave, unless you wanna be hurt.” He cracked his knuckles.

The sound of sparking brought attention towards Zeko and led to Spike taking another step back. “He was talking about me...” Zeko had his arms crossed and when he separated them his body was coated in lightning, creating an intense force to push back the nearby dragons and cause the adult dragons to bring their attention towards him. “Going back to version one, at least I mastered it a while back.”

From a rut in the ground the red dragon peered and looked in awe at the warping electricity around Zeko’s body. “H-How did you do that? Are you part storm dragon?!”

The lightning sparked and jumped around Zeko’s body, constantly shifting around him. “I’m Zeko and you aren’t bullying Spike anymore...” As fast as what Coates him he was at the red dragon and grabbed him by the neck. “Got it?”

“O-Ok...” He said shakily but managed to fill himself with some faux confidence to retort. “But we still need to prove him as a real dragon, hanging with those ponies might’ve turned him soft.”

“Hey! I’m not soft, I can take whatev-“

“Alright he’ll do it.” Zeko abruptly answered to Spike’s confusion. “Spike this is your chance to show what kind of dragon you are.” He ceased his cloak of lightning and crossed his arms as the red dragon stood up.

“You sure the shrimp can do this Garble?” A large brown colored teenage dragon came up by the red dragon’s side.

“No but I wanna see him fail. First will be a belching test!” The adult dragons looked down as three teenage dragons lined up and performed one after the other, ending with the brown dragon sending flames so strong that Zeko had to step out of the way.

“Dragons have tough scales I guess.” He said as Spike gave it his all... and produced a scroll with a tiny burp in comparison

“Hey what’s that?” Garble reached for the parchment but it was quickly taken by Zeko. “Whatever, next is tail wrestling.” Two dragons wrapped the tips of their tails around one another and started to pull, leading to the bigger dragon winning.

“Oh, good old tail wrestling.” Spike held his tail in doubt but remembered his training and his increase in strength. “So who am I going against?” Zeko saw a very peculiar looking dragon prepare to step forward but looking at its underside let him know what or rather who it was and he subtly forced a needle into its tail, pinning it to its spot.

“I’ll take you on shrimp.” A teal dragon stepped up and locked tails with Spike.

“And, GO!” Garble said, the two pulled one another and did their greatest to win but neither was giving in.

“Just... a little...” Spike muttered but he remembered what Zeko told him about enhancing his strength and put his hands together. “Hah...” Slowly but surely Spike began to pull harder and before he know it

“Wagh!” He pulled his opponent right off of the ground and made him smack onto the stone.

“Whoa, that was impressive. Even though you’re shrimp you won.” Garble was astonished at the display. “But that doesn’t make you a real dragon, how you do in the next test will determine your standing.” Garble grabbed Spike and flew to the top of a pile of gems while Zeko walked over to the odd looking dragon.

“So how many pony people are under here? I know there’s one unicorn but what else could be hidden under this cheap cloth?”

“Take that back! This was a very fine, well woven-“

“So two unicorns and who else? Rainbow Brash?”

“Hey!” A boyish voice answered

“All three of you need to go now, these dragons aren’t a joke.” Twilight peered through the eyes of the costume.

“But we came here to make sure Spike was safe and I wouldn’t be able to-“

“This is a day where I interrupt everything isn’t it? I’m more than enough to keep him safe and from what I’ve seen-“ He looked over to see Spike throw a dragon off the pile of gems and climb even higher. “He could’ve done this alone if he tried.”

“Ok we’ll leave... but if anything happens.” She looked back at him but he was waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Yeah yeah, just go while you can.” Zeko walked back to the pile that Spike was atop.

“That’s two for two, I guess he is a real dragon.” Garble rolled his shoulder to ease the soreness from tackling another dragon.

“That was awesome!” Spike slid down to Zeko. “Did you see me back there? I was great!”

“What have you learned? Is this the type of dragon you are?” Zeko questioned.

“Well it’s fun so I think it’s the one I want to be, I don’t see anything wrong with it so I might just stay here if this is the stuff I get to do.” Spike was brimming with excitement over finding what he saw as himself but Zeko had a piece of information to share.

“I’m gonna tell you this, sometimes it’s best to carve your own path instead of using what others set.” Zeko gestured to the dragons who were now wrestling while Garble approached them.

“That’s...” Spike deflated quickly once he understood what his mentor was saying. “Wow, so we never even had to... wow.”

“Hey Spike its time for your ceremony, gotta name you as a rookie dragon.”

“Actually Garble, I’m not going to stick around. It’s been fun but I’m gonna make my own way as a dragon!” Spike grabbed his bundle bag and started to walk away but Garble had grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

“No one...” He leaned in close to the drake. “Tells me no.” He reeled an arm back but couldn’t throw the hit he planned on. “What the- Gack!” A fist to the snout sent Garble to the ground.

“Spike you can get behind me and learn a thing or two, I’ll deal with this no problem.” Zeko tossed Spike his bag and the drake moved behind his friend. “So any good reason for me to not break your arms?” Hands behind his head and a bored expression on his face, this body language only made Garble more angry when he saw it.

He whistled and got the other teenage dragons to come to him and help him up. “You might be tough but there’s this many of us, so what are you gonna do monkey?” They stepped closer towards the duo but at that moment Zeko sat down and meditated. “Ha! He’s so scared he closed his eyes!” The dragons began to laugh while Spike looked confused.

“This isn’t me being afraid.” Zeko stood back up after half a minute with his Rinnegan active, but his pupils were like stars with four points. “This is my mom’s gift!” He formed the ram seal with his hands. “Sage art Sand style: Dozen clashing tails!”

The ground rumbled right until over a dozen massive tails made of sand and covered with black seals burst from the ground and each one crashed straight into a dragonand carried them into the air, right before slamming them back into the ground leaving craters. The tails crumbled and turned to simple sand almost as fast as they came, and Zeko’s pupils returned to simple black circles. “What was that?” Spike asked in total disbelief at what just happened.

“My mom was a very powerful shinobi, and the one thing she left me was that while my dad taught me more about lightning style and taijutsu. Let’s go, I’ll explain more on the way back.” They walked to the edge of the crater right as the sun set but back towards an opposing edge laid an adult blue scaled dragon with red eyes and silver spines along its back.

“It appears that I found the target.” It made its bristle-like spines vibrate and almost immediately a group of similarly colored younger dragons flew to it, each looking like smaller versions of the adult.

“You summoned us elder?” The young dragon in front asked.

“I’d told you that you were all born for a single reason, and it seems that the time for you to fulfill it is now.”

=======