"That is the trick I will show you today. Then you must face it. Some will wish to talk, some will fight. Some may want both and more. Find a balance with it. Some you will have to prove your worth in battle, and others seek clever souls. Make it respect you, and it will agree to enter your service." His arms dropped, his right doing a swing to reach out in time for one of his summons to hold up a book.

Garble lifted his shoulders. "You must already be great at summoning things. You got 3 dragons from another world. Anyone else ever top that?"

“That’s right!” Sandra said. “I already got—”

“Remember!” the teacher said. “This is not normal summoning. Normal summoning happens as long as you have the item for it, but for this summoning you must dedicate your own magic and broker the deal. Former luck has nothing to do with it.”

“R-right.” Sandra nodded. “I got it. Impress the spirit. Can I bring my party?”

The teacher shrugged. “I couldn’t tell ya. Maybe if you do no spirit will come, maybe only a spirit who likes parties will come.”

“Um…” Sandra looked unsure.

The teacher pursed his lips. “If you think it’s important to you, do it, elsewise leave them behind. You will not be able to impress them with your party, though. You will have to be the one to talk to it.”

Sandra nodded, looking down in thought. “Yeah… that... makes sense.”

Garble hiked a thumb towards the gate of the town. "Hey, whatever, let's get moving. You either do it or you don't."

"Are you... supporting me?" She smiled a little awkwardly at the largest of 'her' dragons. "Thank you."

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes mightily. "Let's just get this over with." He grabbed her hand, but paused. "Does she have everything she needs?"

"One moment, let me teach her the basics." He gestured to the side. "Alone and undisturbed."

----------------------------------------

"Hey!" Smolder zipped into Spike's path. "Where were you?"

"Smolder!" He eagerly closed the distance with her. "I talked to Twilight! She can reach us, mostly." He lifted a shoulder just to wince at where the golden beam had scorched him. "Second." He began to glow with power, mustering healing energies.

"Uh, why are you hurt? Was Twilight seriously angry?" She glanced behind Spike as if he were hiding a pony back there. "And where is she? Oh yeah, Sandra's trying out a new class."

"Really? Great!" He let out a soft sigh, his wound fading away. "Healing and tough... why was I... so upset about this?"

"Big fancy Twilight spells?" helpfully reminded Smolder.

"Oh, yeah... I can do a lot, but nothing that fancy. Still... I mean... Anyway, she talked!" He waved his hands excitedly, a grin on his face. "She knows we're alright, which means she'll tell everyone else."

Smolder fired an emphatic double thumbs up. "Great. Can she teleport us back, or teleport here?"

"About that... I doubt it. She could barely talk." He turned and pointed high into the sky. "It was clearest when I was close to the tower and pretty high up. Turns out, the tower doesn't like cheating."

"And so you got zapped." She prodded the spot that had been injured moments ago. "You alright?"

"I'm okay," he quickly assured. "But I'm also convinced. Getting up that tower is what we need to do."

"Speaking of that." She turned away and began to descend where she had come from. "Let's get back to Garble and Sandra before they tear each other apart."

Spike barked out a laugh at that. "That would be awkward. I don't want either of them getting hurt."

"Oh?" Smolder smirked faintly, glancing over her shoulder. "You care about Garble now? I thought he was basically 'the worst' in your eyes."

"Hey! I mean... a little?" He lifted his shoulders. "Doesn't mean I want him hurt."

"He cares about you too." She dropped from the sky, landing beside a bored-looking Garble. "We ready to go?"

Garble snorted softly, smoke escaping. "They're going over the basics, over there." He pointed to the corner they were behind. "This better work..."

"We'll find something," assured Smolder, looking like it was no big deal. "One of these will work for--"

"--No. This is the last bit of waiting I do. This works, or we throw her aside. We don't need her."

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"Harsh." Spike touched down gently next to Smolder. "What class is this, anyway? How much did it end up costing?"

Garble held up his hand, fingers curled in a big circle. "Only redeeming part of this whole thing. The guy's desperate for students, so he isn't charging at all. Makes me think it's full of junk."

Smolder shrugged. "Hey, with you there. I was asking questions, but she seems to really like the idea. Figures, she already summoned three dragons, why not make it official?"

"Official?" Spike scratched behind his head lightly. "What is she, some kind of dragon lord class?"

Garble barked with laughter, suddenly slapping Spike on the shoulder hard enough to make his shield briefly flare into being. "You just made my day a little better. No, summoner." He wriggled his fingers in a spooky manner. "So she can call more things to do her work for her. Seems her style."

"If it works for her?" He considered the corner the action was happening behind. "Just so long as she isn't yanking creatures from other worlds and pretending she owns them."

Smolder nodded in solidarity. "I will have to bap her on the head if she even considers it. Once was more than enough." She leaned in close to Spike. "Besides, I learned a recipe for human. Turns out they come out pretty good if you do it right."

Spike paled at the very idea, but Garble roared with laughter. "I take back everything, Sis. You're more than alright. Why did I ever doubt you?"

"Stupidity?" She snipped with a smirk and the two siblings thudded against each other, apparently neither taking the exchange poorly.

"Thank you for waiting." Sandra emerged into sight, looking not at all changed, though she clasped something in her hand. "I know the next step, but I'm not a summoner until a spirit accepts me." She turned the hand over, opening it to reveal a small dull stone. "It'll get shiny when that happens, then I can add it to the guild chain."

Garble turned for the exit of the city. "Great, now I don't feel like fighting the crowd there, so I'm going to pick you up, and you aren't going to complain."

"What?" was all she managed to get out before he turned halfway towards her and reached the other have, snatching her where she stood and propelling himself into the sky. "Put me down!"

"You sure you want me to do that?" he asked with a grin as they raised higher and higher into the sky. "I mean, if you insist..."

"No no no!"

Smolder nudged him from the side, easily matching his flight speed. "Don't be mean." She pointed down and ahead. "You know they get creeped out if we fly over the walls, let's land at the gate."

Spike flew at the opposite side of Garble. "I talked to Twilight. She knows we're here. I don't know if she can get us home, but it looks like the tower is the best way."

"Keep doin' what we were doin', got it. I'm not in the mood to be saved by a namy pamby pony princess anyway."

Sandra blinked softly. "Did you say pony? Like a little horse?"

Spike flew around to be in front of Sandra as they went. "Yeah. She's my, uh--"

"Master," cruelly quipped Garble with a smirk.

"Adopted sister," retorted Spike with crossed arms as he flew backwards. "Yeah, she's a pony." He thrust out a hand, balled up tight. "Hooves, twitchy ears, the works."

"Hooves... on her feet?" Sandra lifted one of her floating feet in demonstration. "I've seen demi-humans like that."

Smolder shook her head. "Oh boy, you would be so confused in Equestria. Imagine it, a whole world where humans are not in charge." She leered suddenly. "In fact, there are exactly zero of them. The dominant species, ponies, hooves, all four of them. Happy colorful ponies."

Sandra's fingers danced as if she were trying to calculate the scenario. "But... how? I mean, they have you guys, and other dragons, right? How have the dragons not... done what dragons do to ponies?"

Spike inclined his head faintly. "Made friends?"

Garble snorted derisively even as they touched down, the gate not far ahead. "That's what you do to ponies. The rest of us see them as potential snacks."

"Speak for yourself, Bro. One of my best buds is a pony. Speaking of that, wonder how Sandbar's doing, and the rest of them... Are they worried?" She reached to poke Spike. "Next time you talk to Twilight, ask. I didn't mean to make them all worried."

Garble released Sandra and pointed forward. "Enough talk, more action. Let's get out of here and find out if you have what it takes, Sandra."

They were allowed through with little trouble. A glance at their chains was all that was required. "Be careful out there," advised one of the guards, then they were past, into the fields they had started in so long ago.

Sandra pointed the way. "I know the forest he was talking about, where the big fire happened."

"Great, keep pointing." Garble snatched her back up without waiting for permission. "Because we're not walking. Don't get used to this, you're not light, but today I'm tired of waiting."

The forest came into view as they quickly sliced through the air. Spike shrugged softly as they went. "The tower didn't like me flying on the outside, but is there anything stopping us from flying on the inside?"

"N-no, now that I know of." Sandra spread her hands. "It's a dungeon though. You can only fly so high before you bump into the ceiling. Some of the rooms are really big I heard though, so yeah, you can fly, just not right to the top."

"Figures." Garble dropped Sandra a foot off the ground as they got close to the edge of the burnt forest. "And here we are. Ash and soot as far as the eye can see."

That wasn't entirely true. One could see, in the distance, where the trees started back up. The forest was not gone, but a great chunk of it had been reduced to ash, and was not showing much sign of recovery.

Sandra wobbled, regaining her footing after the rough drop. "R-right, okay... There's too much fire magic here, he said. I specialize in fire, so, maybe, I can call out a fire spirit and make a deal. Then I take the fire spirit away with us, and the forest can get a little better. Everyone wins!"

Sandra thumbs up before hiking the same thumb into the burnt ruins. "Well, how do you get one to come out and say hi?"

"This is a literal friendship quest," noted Spike musingly. "Neat. I haven't seen one of those in a while."

"You... used to see them a lot?" Sandra turned to Spike. "Any tips?"

Garble sat on a burnt stump. "He's a regular expert at sissy friendship stuff. You came to the right place for all that."

"Bro, student at the school of friendship, remember?" She put her hands at her hips and puffed out her chest. "You got at least two experts in the field. Now the way I see it, you need to go say hi."

Spike bobbed his head. "Yeah, say hello, and get to know them. Don't assume you know them, let them talk, and treat them as a person you care about, because you do. That's what friends do."

"Gag me."

Sanda nodded softly to the advice her friends were given. "Right, right... As a friend. Someone I care about... I can do this." She turned to the forest and began forward. "Just in case, if it starts cooking me, give a hand?"