The Rise of Spike the Dragon

By: MasterBrony Forever

I would like to give a huge thanks to NineTailBeastBall for Co-Writing, Pre-Reading, and Editing!

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fanbased work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro, and the reinvention of the lovely Lauren Faust. No copyright infringement is intended, please support the official release.

Nubuatan’s eyes snapped open, as dawn broke outside of the Sancta Sacrarium. His body had returned to its natural, physical state upon waking from his slumber. Nubuatan was fully aware why his body had reverted back to its full grown dragon state. This was the day, the day that the Scale Six’s powers would completely return along with the last of their forgotten memories.

‘At last, the time has come.’ He thought to himself, though he was slightly skeptical, he had always hoped the next day would be the day they would return home. Yet, Nubuatan never wanted to disappoint himself, so he gave up on the idea.

As he exited the grand shrine his eyes were met with the early signs of warmth and light the sun would bring that day. Luna’s Night guards were retreating to their homes for the day hours, since their eyes were specifically altered to be enhanced at night so it seemed like the day to them. If they were to be out during the day without a spell from their night goddess, they would surely go blind from the overbearing light of Celestia’s sun.

Nubuatan’s powerful wings extended, and he propelled his large frame into the sky as if he were a nimble pegasus. He was on his way to the far east side of the kingdom, to dig up his hoard of gems as a snack and maybe catch some meat along the way. What he had hoped would remain a quiet and peaceful morning, was instantly ruined as he heard an all too familiar voice.

“Look who is up so bright and early! And here I thought you dragons were extremely heavy sleepers.” Discord said as he lazily floated around the massive dragon.

Nubuatan refrained from showing his annoyance with the deity knowing it would only cause him more of a headache in the near future, “What is it that you require Discord?” He said with a slight growl.

“Why so serious? Can’t friends say ‘Hello’ or ‘Good morning’ to one another without wanting something?” Discord asked pouting as he sat atop the elderly drake’s head.

“You have said neither of those greetings and we most certain are not friends.” Nubuatan stated, “We are not even acquaintances.”

Discord blew a raspberry down on the scaled beast on which he now road, “I did, I just have a different way of saying things. And how are we not friends? We both have a common goal, to see the Scale Six regain their powers and watch Equestria collapse, and stand by their side as they rule over an even greater empire in a new era.”

Nubuatan instantly pulled Discord off of his head and held him in his death-like grip. He held him out in front of him at eye level and furiously roared, “DO NOT EVER SAY YOU KNOW MY GOALS! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT MUST BE DONE FOR THE SCALE SIX TO RETURN! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT THEY HAVE WISHED TO ACCOMPLISH! DO NOT ACT AS IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM, MYSELF, OR ANY DRAGON!”

The rage that Nubuatan felt at that moment, hasn't been matched by anyone other than the Scale Six when their mothers died. The unexpected outburst, was heard throughout the well hidden empire and possibly, on the other side of the portal to the outside world.

Though the ringing in his ears had stopped, Discord was absolutely speechless as his jaw was hanging open.

“Is there a problem here?” Nubuatan and Discord looked above to see Princess Luna land on a tower only a few feet in front of them.

There was a nothing but silence as Nubuatan and Luna looked at each other intensely. Nubuatan growled a final time before he released the draconequus from his grip and with a single flap of his wings, took off to his hoard.

Once Discord returned from his shocked state, he looked at Luna and gave a cheeky smile, “Thanks for saving my...”

He was interrupted as a midnight blue hoof connected with his jaw sending him spiraling into the forest. He slammed into a tree, and groaned in slight pain. “What was that for!?” he barked at her.

“FOR BEING SO FOALISH!” She yelled at him clearly infuriated.

Discord stood, and rubbed his jaw in attempt to get rid of the soreness. “It’s not my fault he refused to play along.” He said trying to defend himself.
Luna glared at him, “Was it not obvious that he was not in the mood for games?! He has something on his mind and I believe it has to do with what he refuses to tell us about Spike.”

Discord contemplated on what the moon mare had said and after putting it all together, he realized she was right. He facepalmed and groaned as he dragged his lion paw down his face.

“Now you see the error of your ways.” Luna said before turning and walking back out of the forest, “Something has Nubuatan acting stranger than normal.” She said as she turned to face Discord “Like you said before Discord, we must give him time to tell us.”

Nubuatan finished off his morning meal only an hour or say later after his sudden outburst. Though his draconic nature didn’t make him the most pleasant of creatures, Nubuatan had never burst into a fit of rage like that before. Something was off, something had changed and if what he sensed last night was any indication, time was upon them.

“Has the time truly come?” He contemplated as he burned the corpse of the manticore he had just finished.

Suddenly, Nubuatan felt a jolt of energy shoot through his spine. He felt the powers of the Scale Six have been partly awaken to a stronger point than the small burst they felt in the past. His eyes began to glow, and his body broke down into dust that blew away in the wind.

‘Is today truly the day?’ He questioned himself, ‘I must go and retrieve one last thing before they arrive.’

Nubuatan’s dust form traveled out of the Dragon Empire before heading for Equestria, or more specifically, Canterlot. Nubuatan knew that the Alicorn princess was in possession of several items that she stole from the Scale Six after she ‘defeated’ them. Now he was to get them back as he was ordered to do many years ago.

Celestia had been awake for several hours at this point, but this was to be expected as she was the one responsible for raising the sun. Today, the white Alicorn was calm and rather pleased with how her morning has turned out. She had the perfect breakfast, followed by a relaxing shower and massage from the Royal Spa. Everything seemed to be looking up for her since Spike’s disappearance.

She sighed and mentally kicked herself for what she had just thought. This thought being that, maybe Spike had died in the Everfree after he jumped out of Equestria's border all those years ago.

A tear fell from her eye, “I shouldn’t think such things,” she told herself. “I’m well aware of what Spike has done in the past, but I had to revert him to try to change him. Having such a powerful drake on the side of Equestria, would have prevented the terrors that have come many years after.”

Celestia knew why she did what she had done all those years ago, but was not aware of why Spike and his clan had tried to destroy her kingdom along with all her little ponies. Yet deep in the back of her subconscious, was something else. Something that had retreated into a dormant state after being weakened from the everlasting battle with the Scale Six.

It knew why they attacked, and it had hopes of defeating them and draining the power from their beings. Its ignorance to the full extent of the Scale Six’s power, led to underestimate what they were capable of. This mistake, nearly resulted in its own death all those years ago. Luckily, it was able to use its power to change them and create the alicorn we know as Princess Celestia to take her place as she regained her lost strength.

Celestia shook her head to snap herself out of her trance. “It no longer matters, what's done is done and I have long since moved on.” She said pushing her negative thoughts aside. The sun mare’s frown, was replaced with a smile as she felt her positivity return when she reached the throne room.

She opened the doors and was greeted by her maids finishing up their normal cleaning routine. Such chores include: polishing their princess’ throne of solid gold that glistened so beautifully in the rays of sunlight. The maids also took responsibility for sweeping and mopping the marble floor to the point of being able to see your reflection. It was as if the whole floor was one big mirror. They also checked for any cracks or other imperfections in the stained glass murals. There were also several specialist, taking care of less important artifacts lining the far sides of the room. After all of this was complete, they would bow and wish a good morning to their princess before moving on to do their duties around the rest of the castle.

“My guards should be on their way right about...” Celestia started but was interrupted as several royal guards dawning their golden armor, marched into the room. Each of them bowed to the one they had sworn to protect, “...now.” She finished her sentence in a whisper before smiling to them.

It was normal for her royal army to stand at ease and move to their natural positions along the walls. Each soldier stood next to one of her precious artifacts wielding a spear in their hooves. Their expressions were stone cold and emotionless, just like they were trained to be. Today however, they would have to more prepared than ever, for the open court was being held today.

Once every few months, Celestia would allow anypony or other creatures that lived within the border of Equestria to come and voice a complaint or reasonable request. Most of the time, it was the former then the later, usually beginning with the rich snobs living within Canterlot. This day would be busier than any other, especially for the princess. Fortunately, there would be less paperwork for her to do in the end.

Once everything was in place, Celestia gestured a guard to open the door. The room was flooded with a crowd of ponies, griffons, zebras, and other Equestrian residents. After everyone took their seats, the Royal Court was officially in session. Celestia sighed knowing this stressful meeting would last for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, Twilight was finishing her packing to meet up with her friends for their weekly picnic and pet play date that they had revived over a year ago. They had done this weekly before the incident with Spike, but as the depression sunk in, the girls’ social time has dropped. Eventually, they pulled themselves together and got back into a normal routine.

Twilight went through her checklist to make sure everything was present. “Picnic basket, check. Extra cloth, check. Toy mouse for Owlowiscious, check. Owl treats and food, check.” The lavender mare looked at her notepad, “That is almost everything on the list,” she said as she dropped her quill into the ink. “Just one last thing to do.”

She activated her levitation magic, and pulled out her homemade FireSnaps. She created this special food for Spike’s pet Peewee after he brought him home. Spike had loved and cared for the baby phoenix ever since he hatched him from his egg. Peewee loved his master just as much, and always enjoyed being close to him. However, he gave his dragon master his personal space when others were around. As unfortunate as it is, Peewee didn’t seem to cooperate with anypony other than Spike. It’s not that he disliked them, Peewee just didn’t feel comfortable around anypony but his beloved owner. As time passed, the phoenix hatchling had gotten used to being around others. He knew he needed to learn to behave after Spike left.

“Okay Peewee, it’s time for a snack.” Twilight called out to the adolescent phoenix.

Peewee simply stuck his tongue out at the mare, he never took orders from Twilight or anyone else. However, while he’s indifferent to others, Peewee obeyed Spike completely. Not only this, the young phoenix would only eat when the purple drake fed him or when he left to hunt for mice or frogs. Despite his early age, Peewee was a competent hunter, he just had to make sure his prey, wasn’t anywhere near Fluttershy’s cottage. However, today Twilight was persistent.

“Peewee, you need to eat something.” she insisted levitating the bowl of FireSnaps up to the young phoenix. Unfortunately, her efforts of feeding him came to no avail.

Peewee stubbornly turned away and flew to the other side of the library. He landed in front of his cage and closed the door behind him. Peewee sat on his perch, and sadly stared at a picture of him and Spike. The poor phoenix chick, was close to crying, that picture was taken on his first birthday. Twilight had made the picture fire retardant so neither the dragon or little phoenix accidentally burned it, but that was neither here nor there.

The lavender mare, had no idea what the fiery hatchling was looking at, but didn’t want to mess with him. She simply walked over and sat the bowl in his cage, “Eat when you feel up to it, okay little guy?” Peewee was spaced out looking at the picture and gave no response to Twilight.

After a moment of silence, Twilight sighed and made her way to the door with Owlowiscious on her back. Once she was gone Peewee tucked the picture under his wing and look to a near by window. The baby phoenix, was quite perceptive for his age, and understood why Spike had left in such a rush. His master’s face would always fall whenever they were playing together. Twilight would constantly interrupt, when she called him for some experiment or task that she could have easily done herself. Even if Spike fulfilled his chores, he would never get any appreciation in return.

‘He would always be upset. Twilight has made Spike upset, I must find him.’ Peewee thought to himself.

With his one and most cherished possession tucked underneath his wing, Peewee took off through the open window. His blazing speed, left behind a trail of flames as he took off toward the Everfree Forest. While flying, Peewee made sure to stay high enough so nopony he knew, would see him. At the same time, he flew low enough so a certain rainbow maned mare, wouldn’t spot and try to follow him.

He knew just where to go, he had felt Spike’s presence on the great distance that separated them. At the speed he was going, it wouldn’t take long for Peewee to reach his master.

‘They’re here.’ Nubuatan thought to himself as his spirit floated into the Canterlot castle.‘I have to take physical form if I want to get them.’

Nubuatan’s body took on a physical form, however he was much smaller than normal and much younger looking. He had a bipedal structure, and only stood about six feet tall. His wings, were one-fourth the size of their natural length. Luckily, since the court was in session, the hallway he stood in, was completely unoccupied. If anypony saw what had just entered the castle, an uproar would occur and surely attract Celestia and her guards.

“Now, let’s see where ‘Celestia’ had hidden my master’s weapons.” He said as he took off down the hall following a long trail of energy that only he could see, it would lead him straight to what he wanted to find.

He trailed it around the castle until his ear twitched. He stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes narrowed and his ears flickered as he searched for the direction that the sounds were coming from. Once he located the sound, in a flash he flew up to the ceiling remaining out of sight.

The marching of hooves could be heard from the corner further down the hallway. Nubuatan watched as the lower beings moved under his position, they were clueless about the potentially deadly enemy only several meters above them. They stopped for a moment looking around but never looking up, this caused a bit of worry to rise up in Nubuatan. He was hoping to complete this mission without having to cause any bloodshed. If he’s discovered now, the bloodshed would be on both ends. Though the elder drake did not like to admit it, he was no match for Celestia on his own. The only ones strong enough to deal with the sun princess, were the Scale Six themselves.

“What is it sergeant?” One of the guards asked his superior.

The stallion, who Nubuatan guessed was the sergeant, was silent for a moment. He looked around him before snapping his head upwards to the ceiling. There was nothing to be seen but the sturdy stone enclosure.

“Nothing recruit,” the sergeant answered quietly “I just had a suspicious feeling, that’s all. Now back to the courtroom!” He ordered as they marched off.

Nubuatan sighed in relief as his camouflage flickered away, making him visible again, “It seems some of these ponies are not as dunce as I thought. Still, they lack the required contact with the aura of the planets, to sense such a basic cloaking spell.”

Letting go of the rafters of the ceiling, he flawlessly lands onto the marble floor without making a sound, “Now, I shouldn’t be too far from where she is keeping them hidden.”

Following the stream of energy, Nubuatan raced down several more corridors as quickly and quietly as he could. Each turn he took, led him farther away from the main section of the castle. Eventually, Nubuatan’s guide led him into a mountain where the castle was built on. He was several miles inside the mountain, when the flow of energy, finally came to an end.

In front of Nubuatan, stood a large door, with no handles or other visible methods of entrance. As Nubuatan approached it, he felt a strange power radiate off it, but when he reached a claw out to investigate it further, he was sent flying backward. The door seemed to have a spell on it to repel anything that tried to enter. Apparently, the field also seemed to have greater effect on dragons despite their high resistance to magic.

“Celestia must have worked out a lot of power to keep dragons out.” He said as he pulled himself from the new crater in wall opposite the door, “But a mere barrier isn’t enough to destroy my loyalty to my masters!” With this he raised his fist and slammed it into the door.

The spell that sealed the door, was immediately demolished by Nubuatan’s powerful punch. And with another punch, he destroyed the doors, sending them careening into the room. As he walked inside, Nubuatan felt himself suddenly grow stronger both physically and mentally.

Whispers, sounding all too familiar, filled his ears as he laid his eyes on six weapons. Each of these priceless artifacts, was extremely unique in its own way.

“It is time.” Nubuatan said silently as the treasures began to levitate on their own. “The Scale Six shall awaken today.” He announced with a grin of satisfaction.

The weapons rattled in response to his speech, and started glowing, and the whispers of the past resonated louder.

New chapter so soon?

I have some free time because I just got out of school and when I am not at work I will be working on new chapters!

(More edits to come! I am just to impatient sometimes to wait for one of my editors.)