"Master! Master!" A streak of brown blew by two guard dogs in front of a large chamber. This particular chamber was situated among a network of tunnels and caves that only few have seen. The small diamond dog approached a large rock throne adorned with gemstones the size of tangerines. He slowed his pace and hastily bowed in front of the canine who sat upon it. Two more guards were positioned on either side of his throne, holding spears with tips sharper than even a timberwolf's tooth.
"Fensow! Is that any way to make an entrance into your pack leader's chamber?"
"My apologies, Master Kage, but I have news of the utmost importance!"
Kage raised an eyebrow and hopped down to the smaller dog's side. His own figure was much larger than Fensow's, with a sleek body and eyes that could intimidate Celestia herself. He began slowly circling his servant's body, with his tail skimming his throat. Fensow began to shiver, and it had nothing to do with the absence of heat in the cave.
"And what, may I ask, would be important enough to disturb a busy Alpha such as myself?"
Fensow gulped. "About the three gem-hunt leaders of the Fathway group, Sir!" He attempted to sound as brave as he could; he needed to make his point firm. "You sent them and their group deal with that white unicorn."
"Yes, I know about that. But why does that concern me right now?"
"I, uh, have urgent news on their mission."
"Ah, yes!" A sly grin appeared on Kage's face. "They have now rid any evidence of a story which could have made a fool out of us! If word had gotten out, all respect for our noble clan would vanish! We would lose our business! But now, I need not worry about-"
"They're dead, Sir."
"What?" asked Kage flatly.
"The group was killed. The entire group."
"WHAT!?" he exclaimed, much louder than last time. "That's impossible! A pony killed fifty of my dogs!? Why those incompetent-"
"Not a pony, Sir."
"Not a pony? Then what? There is no other creature in these forests that could outsmart a group of my diggers!"
Fensow took a deep breath. "This...this might seem a bit unbelievable, Sir."
"What, what?"
"It was a dragon."
"A-Wait, what?"
"A fire-breathing dragon killed the group."
"DRAGON?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN DRAGON?!"
Fensow recoiled slightly.
At that moment, another diamond dog appeared from the opposite end of the cave. Her body remained low, maintaining a menacing posture which made the average onlooker get the impression that she could pounce on any step, at any time.
"Hey, what's the tension all about, sweetie?" Her voice sounded sweet and light, yet haunting and threatening at the same time. A voice Kage had come to recognise and adore over many years.
He took a deep breath. "Don't worry, Jay! Just business."
Jay raised an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid, Kage. Now tell me what's going on." She paused. "Does it have anything to do with Leroy? Because I already told you that him and I are just-"
"No!" exclaimed Kage, a light blush forming on his cheeks. "It's not about that. Although, I must admit that you two spend a lot of-"
"Kage."
"Sorry."
Fensow had found himself staring at the ground, trying not to pay attention to the awkward exchange between the couple. "Ahem. Greetings, Lady Jay." he said, reminding the two other dogs of his presence.
"Yes, anyway, you must be out of your mind Fensow! Where is a dragon going to come from?"
"Dragon?" repeated Jay. "Wait a minute, what's this all about?"
"Perhaps you recall, my dear, I sent the Fathway group on a special mission," said Kage, a hint of sarcasm lingering in the first half of his sentence.
Jay narrowed her eyes. "Yes. I remember that. But what does a dragon have anything to do with this?"
"According to my sources, a dragon attacked the group and killed all those in it, leaving a whole plain in flames. Only a few roasted bodies were salvaged," replied Fensow.
"That's preposterous!" exclaimed Jay. "There are no dragons in these parts!"
"Yes," said Kage. "I'm beginning to think he's lost his mind."
"Sir, we only know of one dog who witnessed the event, and this is the story she told us. Upon our arrival at the scene, the dragon had long since departed, and the flames had been put out by the rain."
"I see. And who might this dog be?"
"Your Gem Progress Reporter, Vareen. She was on her way to the northwestern branch of tunnels when she saw flashes of yellow light and heard yelping."
"You said that you would trust Vareen with your life, Kage," said Jay.
"Yes, I trust her." Kage paused. "Well, tell me about this dragon. What did he look like?"
"She didn't got a clear view. Up until now, we can only speculate. But, we do know that the dragon was relatively small, not much bigger than ourselves," A short silence followed Fensow's words. "What do you propose we do, Sir?" Kage thought for a moment.
"Guard!" he called to one of the dogs standing a few metres beside his throne. The guard quickly walked over and saluted him.
"Yes Master!"
"Fetch me Moki! I want to find out everything I can about this so-called dragon!" He turned to Jay. "Now, about Leroy..."
******
"Princess! Princess Celestia!" A streak of white blew by two guards in front of Princess Celestia's court.
"Arms Race of The Royal Guard, you have not asked for admittance to my court at this time."
"My apologies, Princess, but I bring an urgent message from Ponyville!" Arms Race presented the Princess with a scroll.
"Is it private?"
"No Princess."
"Then you may read it aloud."
Arms quickly unrolled the scroll with a string of magic, unveiling the words he had read only minutes before. "Princess Celestia," he began. "This scroll has been sent to inform Your Highness that Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Spike the Dragon have been severely injured during an incident in the Everfree Forest, of which details are not known. They are now in critical condition in our emergency room. Their wounds are thought to be fatal or near fatal, Your Highness' attendance is requested as soon as possible. The Ponyville hospital."
Celestia's mouth hung open, and a worried expression was now visible on her face. "Send word to the Crystal Empire and Miss Sparkle's parents at once. Arms Race, please take care of matters in my absence. I shall be leaving immediately."
******
Spike's eyes flashed open. A white ceiling stared back at him. He was on a bed in what could only be a room in the Ponyville Hospital.
"Twilight." The name came out in a breath as images of her bleeding body flooded back into his memory. "TWILIGHT!" he yelled, jerking up from the bed. He found that his head had been connected to a large machine beside the bed by many wires which ended in sensors. He quickly tore them off.
"He's awake!" exclaimed a nurse from the hallway. Two nurses rushed into the room.
"Where are Twilight Sparkle and Applejack?" Spike asked sternly.
"Sir please, if you could just lie back down-"
"WHERE ARE THEY?" He was right up against the nurse's snout with puffs of smoke coming out of his nostrils. Both nurses retreated to the back of the room. One of them pointed a shaky hoof at a door down the hall. Spike dashed down the corridor and burst through the door at the end of it.
"N-nurse?" Rainbow stopped to see who had just entered. A second's silence passed.
"Spike!" two voices cried spontaneously. Rarity and Fluttershy ran over and pulled the dragon into a hug at the same time.
"You're alive!" exclaimed Rarity, as tears of happiness began to flow from both ponies' eyes.
"Oh Spike, we thought that-that you...were..." Fluttershy trailed off, burying her face into his chest.
"But you...-dead-what-how did you...huuuuh??" Rainbow stared at him in disbelief. "You're alive." She blinked, then shook her head vigorously. "YOU'RE ALIVE!" Rainbow swooped down and embraced all three creatures, lifting them briefly up into the air. Only upon touching the ground did Spike realise the presence of a (second) familiar multi-colored mane in the room.
Princess Celestia stood open-mouthed at the sight of the purple drake. They had all just been informed a few hours ago that Spike couldn't have been saved, that he would never wake up again. And there he was. In front of her. Alive. Speechless, she lunged forward and hugged him tightly, a single tear streaming down her cheek. Spike's only concern at the moment however, was Twilight.
"What's with all you ponies!? Where's Twilight? Where's Applejack? Are they okay?"
"Spike," began Celestia. "We were informed a few hours ago that your death was imminent within the following minutes."
"What?!"
"The amount of energy you lost during your time in the forest should have killed you. It's a miracle that you're still alive."
"I-" Spike was interrupted by a pulse of pain surging through his mind, similar to the one he had encountered before fainting. "Ack!"
"Spike!" exclaimed Rarity. "Are you alright?"
"I'm-I'm fine." He pointed at a door to the side of the room. "Is Twilight in there?" Fluttershy gave him a slight nod. Spike walked towards the wall and opened the door, all the while unsuccessfully trying to ignore the massive pain in his head. Upon entering, he saw two beds and a pink pony slumped on the floor between them. The room was white, as was nearly everything else in the hospital. There were two large heart monitors connected to the figures on the beds, unsteady beeping emanating from both of them.
Pinkie watched him enter. She blinked twice. Wait a minute. That looks like... Her eyes widened in recognition and surprise. But Spike-he's...he's..."SPIKE! YOU'RE ALIVE!" She leaped into the air and remained airborne for several seconds before grabbing him, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. All the while Spike's eyes were focused on the two ponies laying on the beds in front of them, a purple one on the right and an orange one on the left. He squirmed out of Pinkie Pie's grasp and ran to Twilight's bed. His breath stopped for a moment at the sight of her. She had a breathing mask on, and Spike could see stitches on her legs. The top half of her torso was bandaged, along with the top of her head. There was a small jar on top of her heart monitor which contained something Spike never thought he'd see in such a state. He gently picked up the jar and turned it slowly, staring at Twilight's detached horn. "Spike, I can't believe that you're still here!" exclaimed Pinkie. "They told us that..."
"Yeah I know. But could you guys please tell me what happened after...I-I passed out?" Spike asked the question shakily, terrified that the answer might be something he didn't want to hear.
"Spike, you-you do remember what happened before you...?" Rarity trailed off, blinking painfully, clearly recalling the violent and horrific scene she had seen less than a day ago.
"Oh...that..." Although his own memory of the event was anything but clear, he still felt the beast within him, and he knew at least the extent to which he had given in to instinct. "I-I lost control! Even for me...it felt like-like it...wasn't me. Guys, I really can't believe that I might have-"
"Spike, darling, let's not dwell on that right now." said Rarity with a weak smile.
"Yes, Rarity is right. We shall deal with such matters later." added the Princess, although she had no clue what the Dragon was referring to. She gave Rarity a questioning glance, but the unicorn didn't seem to notice.
"Th-thanks. But what happened after?"
"Well, Spike, we brought you and Twilight and Applejack here as fast as we could, but we were afraid that...maybe it was too late..." Fluttershy recounted, vividly picturing what had happened many hours ago in her mind. "But thankfully, you were all still alive. The doctors operated on Twilight and Applejack immediately, but they didn't know what to do...for you. And then the Princess arrived and we were all so worried and we spent the whole night here and we were afraid that none of you would ever wake up and then the doctors told us that you wouldn't make it and-and-" Her lip trembled, and she found herself unable to continue. She burst into tears, remembering the extreme grief she had been experiencing for the last few hours. We are dreadfully sorry. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to help him. We expect that he will...pass away within the next hour. Those were the words. The words that they had all been told not even a day ago. They had lost him, seemingly forever. She had several emotional breakdowns after that, and it seemed to her as if she would never been able to smile again. She had no idea that she cared for him that much. They never shared a very close bond did they? I mean sure he was her friend but...
Spike approached the tearful pegasus, wrapping his arms around her neck. "I-it's okay, Fluttershy. I'm here now." Although he was trying to hide it, the pain in his head had not subsided.
"We-we thought that we had lost you forever, darling. It was just too much to bear." Rarity joined their embrace, and was quickly followed by the other three ponies.
"Wait a minute," said Spike, releasing his grip. "How long have I been out?"
"Just over a day." replied Celestia. Spike reeled back.
"You mean...you guys have been here for..." For the first time since he woke up, Spike took a good look at each of the ponies' faces. Their condition was horrible. They all had bags under their eyes, and Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity both had dried tears plastered to their faces, the latter two with faintly bloodshot eyes. Their manes were ruffled, with Pinkie's deflated, the Princess' being the only one which didn't look awful. He briefly looked at the window on the opposite side of the room. The sunlight streaming in was nearly as bright as it would be at noon. The clock hanging above it read five o'clock. After a few seconds, he turned his attention back to the ponies in the beds. "What about...them? Are they going to be okay?"
"Applejack probably will," said Celestia. "She might even make a full recovery."
"And Twilight?"
"Well, I'm afraid...I'm afraid she might not make it. It is already serious if a unicorn's horn gets forcefully detached and added to her wounds..."
"No...she can't...Twilight can't die!" exclaimed Spike. "There must be something! Your Alicorn magic? Did you try that?"
"Spike I tried everything I could."
"But her horn! You must have a spell for that!"
"The energy that I would have to force onto her body for such a spell would kill her in her present state."
"No...No! This can't be it! There must be something! There's always something...Wait! There is something! Fluttershy quick! Get me a quill and paper!"
"Why?" she asked. " What did you-"
"NOW!" he yelled. Fluttershy recoiled in fear.
"Spike p-please don't get mad..."
Spike gasped. What did I just do? I yelled at...Fluttershy! How could I yell at Fluttershy?! "Oh Fluttershy, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to yell."
Fluttershy took a deep breath. "It's okay. I'll get you that-"
"Hey," said Rainbow. "I'll get it. Don't worry." She dashed out of the room and returned in less than five seconds, a quill and a piece of paper ripped from a notebook in hoof. "You're welco-" Spike snatched both pen and paper from her hooves and scribbled down something while propping the sheet up against the wall. He wrote so fast, none of the ponies could see his message. He quickly rolled it up and blew a small green puff of fire onto it, making it disappear in front of their eyes.
******
Princess Luna stood in her court, finishing off some requested papers for The Canterlot Library on the subject of demigods. The dark indigo serenity of the room was suddenly disturbed by a flash of green in front of her eyes. She caught the piece of paper produced by the flame with her magic and held it up for her eyes to see. She could barely make out the crudely scribbled words, but nonetheless, it was recognisable as the handwriting of Spike the Dragon.
Princess Luna,
Please teleport to The Ponyville Hospital IMMEDIATELY! It's a matter of life and death!
Spike