The Rise of Spike the Dragon

By: MasterBrony Forever

I would like to thank Vynn the Ocarinist for 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.

Spike, Silent Scout, and NightStalker have been living rather well in the Everfree. They had found a decently sized cave after they had grown a little bit too large for their original base.They had all lost that baby fat they had and were now slightly taller and thinner. Scout being remained rather large in the count that he had more muscle strength than the others. Not to mention the fact that three of them living there wasn't helping much. The cave they had found was ground level making it easy to get in and out. If they had grown their wings they would have picked a cave high up, but until that day the ground was there friend.

It was about the size of Fluttershy’s cottage, so it had just the right amount of room for the three. Because of the lack of furniture, they had to take a few boulders and form them into whatever shape Spike asked them to. As the leader, and most formally domesticated, he knew more of common furnishings. The task of shaping the boulders was left entirely up to Scout. His tail made the perfect tool for the job.

They had grown closer as friends, a team, and kind of like a family. Spike, the confidante leader; Night, the second in command and stealthily scout and hunter; and Scout as the muscle of the group. They had been happy every day that they spent together, and this day was no different. No monster or other creatures had tried to attack them that day, so overall, it was going great for them.

After they had finished the furniture and stocking up on barriers, gems, and firewood, they were all doing their own thing. Spike was tossing the ball he had found while on lookout a few weeks prior to finding the cave against the wall. Scout was boxing with a boulder farther back in the cave; His grunts and the cracking of the boulder making slight echos throughout the cave. Being mostly nocturnal, Night was sleeping, like he did most days. They hadn't done anything out of routine, so they were pretty bored.

Well, that changed as they heard a scream from outside. A feminine scream. Night jolted awake as Scout rushed out from the back of the cave. They all rushed out of the cave and trailed the scream as it resonated through the trees.

They poked their heads out of some bushes, to see a manticore growling at something. They were just about to turn tail and run before they caught a glimpse of what the the manticore had cornered. It was a young dragonesse, no older than themselves. She had a rather curvy figure, with a purple and white scale color scheme. Instead of spine lining her back and head, they was hair that looked similar to the mane of a certain pony from Spike’s past. She wore a diamond in her hair like a beret, her eyes a brilliant crystal blue.

She was the spitting image of Rarity in dragon form.

“Oh, no you don’t!” A voice came from atop a tree just behind the white dragoness.

A small, cobalt-blue blur run by and pounced on top of the manticore. Once it had stopped moving, they saw that it was another dragoness. Her hair was more ruffled, and was a extremely light blue, as was her underbelly. The rest was a deep cobalt blue. She reminded Spike of Rainbow Dash.

ROAR!

In mere moments, the blue dragoness was riding around on the manticore like it was a bucking stallion.

“Not going to throw me off that easy!” She shouted, a smirk plastered on her face.

This only aggravated the manticore further, as it thrashed around running into anything it could, trying to throw her off. Yet she rode it out and adjusted herself accordingly so that the only damage the manticore did was itself. It seemed to be tiring out after about thirty minutes of crashing into stuff, but it wasn't completely done yet.

“Cobalt, look out!” The white dragoness shouted.

The one named Cobalt, who had been riding the rampaging beast turned to see the manticores scorpion tale making a beeline straight for her. She had scales sure, but they were as thick as some other dragons. Right when it looked to be end, Scout used his back as a shield.

Cobalt looked up to her savior, who smiled back and said, “Don’t worry.”

Spike took this chance to get the white dragon out of the way. He rushed out of the bush and ran up to her. “Come on, we gotta go!” He grabbed her claw and they ran back into their hiding spot.

They watched as the manticores tail clinked off Scouts back as if it was nothing. The manticore was confused as ever. It struck at Scout again, only to yield the same result. It was even more furious than before, if that was possible. It kept striking at him with no end in site, and Scout didn’t know how much more he could take.

NightStalker knew Scout had thicker scales, but they would be worn down to nothing if this went on any longer. Night ran in front of the manticore and waved his hands around to get his attention. It worked, as his tail ceased its assault and the creature made looked at his new target. This gave Cobalt and Scout time to jump off the manticore and run to where Spike and other dragoness were.

They watched as Night taunted the beast. “Come and get me!” he said wiggling his bottom and tail in front of the manticore. It roared and instantly gave chase.

“Oh boy!” Night jetted off into the forest.

“Come on, we need to help him!” Spike said, chasing after the manticore; the others close behind.

Just outside of the Everfree forest was a bench, and for the past year this bench had been occupied and visited by the same unicorn everyday. She would be their to see if her assistant would come back, so she could apologize for all she had done to him. It had been the same routine ever since they had stopped going into the everfree to look for the young drake.

She would wake up, grab a book from her library, and make her way to the bench. She would sit there all day and read, or just stare into the wall of trees in front of her. She spent most of her time doing the latter. Her friends would find her there and try to convince her she had to head back home, only to have her give them a blank look before looking back to the trees. Eventually, they realized that she wasn't going to listen to them, and decided to bring her meals everyday. Some days they would sit out there with her trying to cheer her up, even though it was a fruitless effort.

And when Celestia’s sun began to set, the lavender unicorn would get her book and start a slow trot back home. Constantly stopping to look back in hopes of seeing even a hint of Spike. Once she arrived at home, she would toss the book aside and wade through the mess of the first floor, before reaching the stairs. She would get to her room just to collapse on her bed in a fit of tears, sorrow and guilt.

She could only say one thing through her tears, “I’m so sorry, Spike...”

This went on for what felt like eternity. She cried until she had no more tears to cry. She was alone because of her mistakes, and because her stupidity. And it was all her fault. The others soon were starting to have similar feelings. The days dragged on for all them. Applejack’s work on the farm slowed down, as did Rarity’s ideas for new clothing lines. Rainbow Dash had been flying much less, and Fluttershy had been seen less and less away from her cottage.

Even the hyperactive ball of energy known as Pinkie Pie was saddened. She was close to deflating every time she thought of Spike. Her parties had slowed down, and were not as frequent or spectacular as before. Nopony realized how grand a part Spike had played in their lives before, and when he was gone, it was as if a piece of them had gone as well.

Celestia had been plagued by the feeling of a past mistake coming back to haunt her. She had tried to play it off as nothing, but it only got worse when she realized that she had not received a single letter from Twilight over the past year. She would have gone to visit if it wasn’t for her constant royal duties getting in the way. Once she was able to, she would make it top priority to go see Twilight and her friends. And she would ask if Luna wanted to go as well.

She had to let them in on a secret she has been keeping from them far too long: the truth of Spike’s origins.

Night ran as fast he could, avoiding anything that might slow him down. The manticore had somehow gained its fire back and was gaining speed. Night had to come up with something, and fast. Otherwise, he would be somewhere in the food chain he doesn't want to be.

The sound of water could be heard nearby. Night made his way closer to it and slid to a halt seeing her was near the edge of a cliff, and just to his right a waterfall. He turned to see the manticore getting ready to pounce. ‘It’s all over,’ he thought as covered his eyes and accepted his fate.

“NightStalker!” Spike shouted.

Swoosh

Night felt a chill run up his spines as he felt something pass through him. He turned and saw the manticore cascading down the cliff side, eventually making a messy landing at the bottom. Spike and the other rushed over to him and pulled him away from the cliff edge.

“Night! How did that thing miss you?” Spike asked.

“When...I...find...out...I will...let you....know.” Night said trying to catch his breath and regain his composure.

“Okay, but we should head back to the cave.” Spike said, “You two lovely dragoness are welcome to come with.” Spike instantly turned on his charm for the white dragoness in particular.

“Why that would b-” The white dragoness began.

“One moment please,” Cobalt said, interrupting her friend before she said anything else. She dragged her off into a nearby bush.

“What was that about, Cobalt?” She asked.

“Look, Glamour, I know they saved our lives and all, but how do we know we can trust them?” Cobalt said.

Glamour realized that Cobalt had a point. They had only just meet these three and knew next to nothing about them. Yet, she felt as if they were supposed to run into the three young drakes, and something else has been nagging at the back of her mind since meeting them. But she pushed it back. Cobalt had felt the same thing but, being the stubborn dragon that she was, she ignored it as soon it came to the forefront of her mind.

“Look, I just feel that is the best thing to do. They seem more than capable of protecting us more than we were able to on our own, and Lux would probably agree with me.” Glamour said.

Cobalt thought about what Lux would say if she had been there, and she knew that Glamour was right, “Okay, you win. We will go with these guys, but we will have to go tell Lux first and gather everything.”

“Great!” Glamour said, but coughed and regain her ladylike appearance.

They walked out of the bush to see Spike talking to Night and Scout. Once the three had heard the young dragoness come back from their little meeting, they turned to look give them their attention.

“We have decided that we would love to join you. I am Glamour and this is Cobalt. She is little ruff on the outside, but she has a good heart.” Glamour said.

“Sup.” Cobalt said with a nod of her head.

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Spike.” He said bowing to them, “and these are my pals.” Spike motioned toward the other two.

“Please to meet your acquaintance. My name is Silent Scout, but you can call me Scout, if you want.” Scout said, gaining a slight southern accent, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

“NightStalker.” Night said with a lazy wave of his claw.

“We should head home. We have to make a place for you girls before it gets too dark.” Spike said, beginning in the direction of the cave in which they called home.

“Wait!” Glamour said, getting all their attention, “We have some stuff back at our place that we need to get. Also, there is someone else in our little group. That wouldn't be too much to ask, would it?”

“Not at all, we have more than enough room to spare.” Spike said with a smile.

“Great!” Cobalt cheered, clapping her hands together. “It isn't far from here. Lets go!”

Glamour, Spike, Scout, and Night followed after Cobalt, keeping an eye out for anything else that may be looking for a quick meal, but they wouldn't have to be out on watch much longer. Not even an hour later, they had arrived at their destination. It was similar to the cave Spike and Night spent that night in about a year before, just a tad bit bigger on the inside.

As they approached Cobalt called out for someone, “Hey Lux! Come out here, we have some dragons here you should meet!”

A another dragoness,about the same height and age as NightStalker, walked out. She had silver and gold scales that shimmered in the rays of sunlight that broke through the thick foliage above. The spines which acted as hair were rather long, and rolled down the side of her face perfectly. Her golden yellow eyes fell upon the group, but Night thought they had fell directly on him, as his heart somehow made its way to his throat.

“Hello, I take it, since these two are still breathing, that you are friendly.” Lux said sweetly.

“Yes,” Night spoke before any of the others could, “We saved them from a manticore earlier and invited them to stay with us. You are more than welcomed to as well, if you wish. We have tons of room to spare.” He said with a nervous smile.

‘It would be nice to have some more friendly dragons around. Also something rings a bell about this one,’ she thought as she looked at the dark scaled drake in front of her.

After more introductions and explanations they gathered all they could carry from the girls place and carried it over to the males cave. The girls had some fabric like material that came from different plants such as simple cotton to rarer plants that produced a silk like substance, they also had more fruits and berries along with a hand full of gems. Once they reached the cave the dragoness were in shock at the set up they had. It basically said the ultimate bachelor pad for dragons, but that went out as soon as the Glamour started to make things more comfortable.

Before the guys were sleeping directly on the stone that was carved to make beds now was comfortable. It toughened their scales over the months, but it would be good to sleep in comfort. The girls nearly passed out when they saw the gem supply, being enough to fill every space possible at the Golden Oaks Library twice. By the time the girls got settled into their new living arrangements, Luna’s moon was making its appearance in the sky.

It had been a long day, but a truly amazing one. Spike had expanded his circle of friends greatly and he had become much happier not having to deal with Twilight or her friends ever again. He had a group of his own friends, somewhat similar to Twilight’s, but what these six dragons had was something special.

He couldn’t put his claw on why, exactly, but he knew it was.

Twilight jolted awake from hearing a knock at the door. She groaned and made her way out of her room, walking past the stacks of books that she had yet to put away. As she grew closer to the door she past several pictures of Spike and herself, each bringing back a good memory, but it stung every time she would look directly at Spike. All the smiles he was forced to put out to keep his emotions hidden from her.

“I am sorry but we are...” Twilight began but lost the ability to talk once she saw who was standing at the door.

“Closed? That not like you to close the library when it is scheduled to be open, my student.” It was none other than one of the co-rulers of Equestria, and her mentor, Princess Celestia.

Twilight was rendered speechless, her eyes had shrunk to the sizes of peas, “C-C-Celestia!”

Celestia smiled, it has been too long since she had heard from her one and only student, “Well, aren't you going to invite me in?”

Twilight’s brain was running a mile a minute trying to figure out what she should tell Celestia about Spike running off. Not only was she was unpresentable in her current state, the library looked like a hurricane blew in.

“Twilight?” Celestia said trying to get her students attention who seemed to have zoned out.

“...” Twilight opened the door and revealed what was now a shell of her previous self.

Celestia took note of this and made her way inside. As she did, she saw the organization and light atmosphere of the library she had left in her care had made a turn down the wrong road. Every window had been shut blocking out any rays of light.

“Twilight,” Celestia spoke after a moment of silence, “What happened?”

Twilight remained silent, her mane hanging low in front of her head hiding the her expression. She moved to the kitchen Celestia following her watch the lavender mare carefully, to see what has caused this drastic change. As Celestia entered the kitchen she saw the product of Twilight trying to prepare a meals on her own.

It felt as if she had walked into a toxic waste dump. She saw, what she thought to be food, covering the floors, wall, and ceiling, as well as what looked to be eggs crawling across the window. Twilight opened the refrigerator and pulling out the only thing that seemed consumable was a plate of small sandwiches.

Celestia was fed up with what had happened to the young unicorn. Her horn began to sparkle before a waves of light and energy blew through the entirety of the residents. Every book was placed back on its proper self, every spec of food was cleaned up and thrown away. Twilight was cleared of any dirt and grim, her mane was brushed back into it’s usual style, and any gray hair she may have gotten from stress or otherwise was returned to some shade of purple.

“Twilight...” Celestia stepping right in front of her, “I ask again, what has happened?”

Twilight looked up to the snow white alicorn with tears welling up in her eyes, “Spike...” was all she could say before she broke down into a weeping mess on the ground.

Spike awoke to the smell of berries flowing through the air. He got up and let his nose lead the way to the glorious smell. Once he had reached his target he saw Lux and Glamour preparing them over a fire.

“Look who decided to wake up.” Cobalt said from the stone table to his left.

“Cobalt, no need to be rude. I seem to remember you spending most of the day napping in the past.” Glamour said.

Cobalt stuck her stuck her tongue out in response. Glamour gasped as if she had just been insulted and turned her snout up.

“Real mature, girls,” Lux said with a role of her eyes.

Spike walked over to the fire and inhaled deeply taking the fruity aroma. His mouth began to water and his stomach began to growl, letting everything in earshot know it was read to be be feed. Glamour giggled at this and got a spoon and scooped some out for Spike to try. He blushed as she fed him the berries which caused his taste buds to explode. They were an explosion of flavor. Never before had he thought berry could be cooked to taste so good.

“Just wait until NightStalker and Scout get back with the crushed emeralds. They will taste even better.”

“You bet they will,” NightStalker said, as he and Scout walked in with a large leaf with a pile of small green emeralds on it.

Lux looked over the crushed emeralds and smiled. “Perfect.”

After a few more minutes of preparing they all sat down and enjoyed their breakfast. Once they had all finished they agreed to tell each others about themselves. They allowed the guys to go first, as they explained how they ended up in the Everfree Forest and how they meet. It had take two or three hours altogether, with the girls asking Spike questions as he was telling his story.

“Okay, we told you about ourselves,” Spike said, “Are you ready to tell us about yourselves? If you want that is.”

“We agreed to tell you about our selves, and that is what we will do.” Lux said.

“I’ll go first then,” Cobalt said. “Well, I was hatched in a small village just outside the east border of Equestria. It wasn't too far from the Griffon Kingdom, so it was mostly griffons there. A rather young and kind female griffon by the name of Amber took me in and raised me for a few years.”

‘I wish a certain griffon I know was kind,’ Spike said to himself thinking back to when Gilda first came to Ponyville.

“She had to keep me hidden so the others in the village wouldn't harm me. They've had problems with dragons in the past. Yet they still found about me and chased me out of the village. I never saw her again...” Cobalt said as her tone saddened slightly but perked back up, “But that’s when Glamour comes in!”

Glamour cleared her throat before speaking, “Well I was hatched and raised in Prance.”

‘That would explain some things,’ Spike thought to himself.

“I was raised by a high end fashion designer their who had bought my egg one day, thinking it was a table top decoration.” Glamour said with a sigh.

Scout had to stifle of laugh at the thought.

Glamour glared at him for a second before starting up again. “Anyway, once I hatched, she had told me that I gave her so many ideas for new designs to try out. She said my scales gave her inspiration,” She said proudly.

“Sounds like you had a good life in Prance. How did you end up here, then?” NightStalker said.

“That’s where the bad part about the designs come in. She was making one a for an extremely important client, and she was planning on using...my scales...for the material.”

Everyone of them winched at the thought of having their scales removed and used for clothing. A strange silence hung in the air for a while.

“Yet, when I learned of what she had planned to do, I took of the first chance I got. I didn’t know where I was heading, but I knew I had to get a far away from Prance as I possibly could. I snuck onto trains and ships until I met up with Cobalt, here.”

They both explained what they had gone through together up until they meet up with Lux, who had no memory of anything before being awoken in the middle of a field by Glamour and Cobalt. They eventually worked their way to the Everfree, where they had been living ever since.

Spike, NightStalker, and Silent Scout nodded in understanding. They were glad to have a better understanding of their new friends, who may turn out to be something more.

Next Chapter: Chapter 6: The Truth Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 5 Minutes