Spikes Quest : Journey to Dragon Ridge
 
Prologue
 
The young dragon was expecting the next few weeks of his life to be lonely and boring, but it would turn out to be exceeding anything he ever imagined. The young dragon Spike laid about lazily under the shade of the building-sized tree, bored out of his mind. Spike had grown over the last few years, going through what amounted to dragon puberty. As a kid he was barely knee high, but a growth spurt shot him tall enough to look down on pony friends instead of the other way around. His purple scales covered the frame of his slimmed down body, his green belly scales showing a toned belly from the pudge he had when he was a kid. His head spikes had grown a bit more pointy and his snout had grown out as well. He was still without wings, though he wondered if he would actually grow them. If Twilight could do it, maybe he could as well. Though he had little to no way to know, despite being a dragon and the local librarian, he had very little information on dragons and as a result, his bringing up was very much trial and error.
 
The tree he had been resting underneath swayed in the cool summer breeze. It wasnt until a few years before that hed been promoted to head librarian of the Ponyville Library. Rebuilding the tree library had taken a few years, sped up with the help of some alicorn magic. Twilight had begun to focus her attention on being the Princess of Friendship, which meant she had to give up her previous job, which Spike reluctantly took over. Spike, despite his distaste for the job after years of interning as Twilights assistant, was very proficient at being the librarian and settled into the role. Spike would work and live in the tree library while Twilight took on more important roles and lived in her crystal tree castle.
 
As a result, Spike saw less of Twilight as the years went by. They would still get together for important dates and Twilight would visit the library, but with her duties taking priority, Spike and Twilight werent glued together as much as when Spike was a kid. At first Twilight thought that Spike could continue as a personal assistant, but found in practice that he was kept out of the loop for numerous important meetings and Spike would become discouraged at not being more involved. The solution to give Spike his own job back in Ponyville seemed to be the best.
 
It was supposed to keep him busy and give him a sense of worth to the community, but on days like these, when no one showed up and he was left with his own thoughts, he couldnt help but wonder if this was what he was destined for. As a kid, he had been given the honor of saving an empire, though now that he was older, he realized that the praise hed received was a bit exaggerated, and he only played a small role despite that. Now previously personal assistant to one of the Princesses turned lowly librarian, had he already accomplished what he already needed to?
 
He would daydream about epic adventures and quests, like he had when he was a kid. Hed set up a Dungeon Delvers group at the library, if only to replicate the feelings of epic adventures. Hed made a few friends in the town of ponies who showed up to the monthly game night, though he never became really close with them. Sometimes, if he was lucky, old friends like Rainbow Dash or Shinning Armor would stop by to play a game as well. But with even his friends, being on the council of friendship, they found it difficult to find spare time to hang as well.
 
The last meeting was just a few days ago, and the next one wouldnt be for another month. Being summer, it was less likely that his regular group would show up, opting instead to go on vacations and trips out of town. Thus Spike lay there in the shade mentally preparing himself for the coming month of quiet loneliness. Twilight and her council had taken off for their yearly meeting with the other leaders, some important political stuff that went over Spikes head, and instead of being alone in another country, Spike opted to be alone at home for the next month.
 
Spike reconsidered if that was the right decision, at least if hed gone he wouldve been able to spend time with the gang after the meetings at the end of the day. Hed hoped that by staying on his own, hed be able to invite friends to party at the library, but most of his gaming buddies had gone on vacations of their own. Which left Spike in the same position as when he started, bored and lonely.