//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Dragon Lust (Chivalry) // Story: Fire Dancer // by Lucario247 //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Dragon Lust (Chivalry) I awoke to the sound of chatter. I groggily sat up from my stone bed and looked around through squinted eyes. I somehow managed to fall asleep in the alcove. Although, my entire body was tense and stiff. I sat up and smacked my lips. The stiffness caused my stretching to be unbearably uncomfortable. I got up and sleepily trotted outside to where all the noise was coming from. There was a large crowd of dragons blocking my view of what was happening. I squeezed through the mob towards the front. When I reached the front, I was pretty sure I was still dreaming. The scene was to strange for it to be actual reality. Ragnarok was standing there, having a small quarrel with Princess Celestia. The deity of all pony kind glared up at Ragnarok and said something sternly. I couldn't hear what they were saying. He replied, looking annoyed at the fact that they were having a conversation. She suddenly flew into the air and got into his face. She continued to speak while he looked surprised at her action. He nodded slowly after each sentence she said. After one final sentence from the Princess, Ragnarok paused in thought, and then motioned towards three dragons in the crowd. "You three. You will do as she says." he said gesturing towards Princess Celestia.  She turned to look at the dragons that we're assigned to her for whatever reason and caught my eye. She then spoke to him again, motioning towards me. I was definitely the subject of this conversation. I grew excited as the possibility of the Princess rescuing me dawned upon me. Ragnarok turned to look at me and then back at the alicorn. He said a quick response. I read his lips and it was a definite "no". "So much for rescue." I thought. Princess Celestia looked towards the ground in defeat. She looked back up at the king dragon and said something before turning and landing on the ground. She trotted away as she motioned for the three dragons to follow her. I wouldn't accept this loss without a fight. I ran up towards the alicorn princess. "Princess Celestia!" She stopped and turned towards me. She gave a sad look as I cantered up to her. "Princess Wisp..." she acknowledged. It was somewhat shocking to hear the Princess calling me that.  "You probably have questions about the conversation between me and your father. Allow me to explain. I came here to extract a debt. These three dragons here are coming with me and helping repair Fillydelphia." I was glad to hear that some cost came to Ragnarok after destroying my home. But I was still anxious to hear if I was being rescued. "On the note of retrieving you, I was unfortunately unsuccessful. I'm afraid you're going to have to stay here and carry out your fathers commands." I was seized with panic and anger. Why didn't the Princess use her powers to force Ragnarok to release me? Why not just teleport me away? "I can't do any of those things, Princess." she read my mind, and again with the name, "The relationship between the western dragons and ponies is tedious as it is. If I somehow anger the king, war is practically inevitable. Please don't take this the wrong way, but if not saving one pony means preventing war from harming other ponies, then id rather protect the majority." It was selfish of me, but I did take it the wrong way. How could she abandon me, one of her little ponies? I almost wanted to knock some sense into her. But then I realized, I hoped she hadn't read my mind at that moment. "I brought something for you." she said. Her horn glowed in a golden aura. An average duffel bag suddenly materialized out of thin air. I recognized it. "Your mother gave this to me to give you if I was unsuccessful." she said sadly I clenched the zipper in between my mouth and pulled the bag open. Inside was my entire set of fire stuff. I was shocked to see it all in my bag, even the oil.  Princess Celestia began to move away. She obviously needed to go. As I looked up at her she cleared her throat. "Be strong, my little pony. If you wish to return to your home, then follow whatever command Ragnarok gives you. Trust me, the more you do well, the faster the work goes." She placed her horn against my forehead. Golden sparks flew from where we made contact. She turned and walked towards where the three dragons were waiting. In a swirl of golden light, the dragons, and the princess dissapeared. I slammed the bag down on my stone bed. Not on purpose, it was just that the bag was heavy. Fortunately, the jar of oil didn't break. I opened the bag and pulled out each item to examine. After going through several gymnastic items, I came across something that I never put in my bag. I pulled out the photo and examined it.  The photo was taken over five years ago. My mother was standing in the left side of the picture, holding a baby Pepper with her magic. She had her mouth open in mid-laugh. My father stood next to her, a soft grin on his face. And next to him was a younger version of me. I was giving the photographer the silliest, toothiest grin possible.  I noticed that in the picture, I didn't have my cutie mark. That meant that the photo was taken before the fire. Before I discovered my heritage. Before this entire living hell began. I didn't notice I was crying until I heard a loud footstep behind me. I placed the picture back into the bag as I turned to face the dragon that was entering the cave. It was Ragnarok. I tried to wipe away the tears as subtly as I could. "Wisp, I must speak to you about something." he said almost in a sad tone, "Please follow me." I was tempted to rebel against his command, but I remembered the Princess' words and I slowly trotted after him. We walked out of the cave and headed towards the lava pits. We passed multiple dragons, doing their...dragon things. I still had no idea what they were doing. Most of them  looked like they were meditating or something. The younger dragons we passed were just standing around and talking. I got a few smiles and nods from the teens.  It was strange, it felt more like I was making friends in school rather than being acknowledged by something, er, somepony, argh, someONE that was a completely different sentient species than me. "Oh Celestia," I rolled my eyes at myself, "Big words make brain hurt." We passed by a group of snickering boy dragons. As I turned to look at them they burst out laughing. I stopped to look at them weirdly as one walked up to me. "Aw... Such a pretty face." he said as he ran his claws softly under my chin,"To bad I'll have to smack it later!" he let out a wicked cackle as his cronies snickered behind him. I smacked his claw away from my face, "Get your filthy hooves, gah, claws offa me!" The dragon backed away in mock fear, "Oh no!" He looked back at his friends, "Guys, help me! This girly pony is gonna style my spines and make me a tea party dress!" the friends were nearly rolling on the ground in laughter. "I wonder how much she can stuff into her mouth?" he thought aloud, "Ponies are meant for more...minuscule things aren't they? But that doesn't matter now. All I gotta do is beat her in the arena, that's what matters." Every hair on my body stood in disgust as I listened to the dragon's taunts. I gritted my teeth as I prepared to buck him in the mouth. I was, unfortunately, interrupted when a pillar of flame came between me and the dragons. They stared up in fear as Ragnarok growled in their faces. "Begone! Insolent maggots, taunting the Princess!" They scurried away in complete fear. I bet my eyes were red in rage. And my nostrils must've been flaring like a bull or a buffalo. Ragnarok pulled his lips over his baring teeth and continued walking. I gave a huff in anger and followed him. I was to angry to think about why the dragons wanted to beat me up. We stopped by a pool of lava behind the King's Room. It didn't seem that different from the others that littered the Mesa. However, it did have a strange shimmering red aura about it. "This is the Pit of Rejuvenation." he said in an almost tired voice, "It is connected to the magical flow that stirs beneath this mountain. Any injuries that the bather has when they bathe in this pit, are healed." I turned to him, "Why are you telling me this?" He looks at me, "As the Princess of the Western Dragons,  on of your duties is to find a mate." The look on my face was probably distorted in confusion and disgust. That had come completely out of nowhere. "Traditionally, any female dragon that comes of the age to be prepared to mate, they must select a mate. Each male dragon that does not already have a mate will fight the female dragon. If the female wins, a new dragon will fight her the next day. If the male wins, they have the right to mate." "Get to the point already." I was impatient from the history lesson. I had a vague guess of what was going to happen. He sighed before he continued, "Because of your dragon heritage, you will be placed into the arena and will fight." I wanted to argue, or stubbornly ignore his command, but I was shocked into silence. First, he kidnaps me, and now he makes me fight so I can find a dragon that probably wants to molest me. I wanted to say "buck that!" but I was paralyzed in complete and utter disbelief.  Before I knew it, I was whisked into the arena. Crowds of shouting dragons cheered from the stone seats surrounding the lava lake. I stood on the flat island, still in shock about why this was happening to me. I barely noticed the introduction that Ragnarok gave. "Welcome, everybody, to the Courtship Duel! As usual, every male dragon without a mate, will fight the female until one of them defeats her! The best of luck to both sides!" The crowd continued to cheer as a dragon flew from the benched area and onto the island. I was snapped from my daze when I noticed it was the dragon from earlier, the taunting one.  "Get ready, pretty pony." he hissed at me, "I hope you're good at suppressing your gag reflex." He crouched down on all fours and glared at me with his slitted eyes. The irises seemed to become thinner as he growled and lunged towards me without warning. Out of instinct, I ducked to the ground. The dragons face contorted in surprise as he sailed over me. Time seemed to slow as I realized what I had to do.  I put every ounce of hatred and rage into my hind legs as I tucked them in towards me. Then, I released the tensed muscles in my legs. My hard hooves sailed through the air and made a satisfying noise as they connected with the dragon's face. I felt the jaw bone snap as the temporal flow returned to normal. The dragon was rolling on the ground, howling in pain. I trotted over to him and whispered into his ear. "Cheer up. Now you can open your mouth wider." It had been four days since that first fight. I had fortunately one each fight on the other days. After each fight I got to soak in the Pit of Rejuvenation. Still, it didn't stop fatigue that was setting into my body after such strenuous activity. I knew my luck was going to run out soon. I stood in the arena, preparing to face my sixth opponent. A figure flew from the benches towards the island. My eyes widened when I saw it was the blue dragon that was sighing on the rock on my first night. He landed on the ground and looked at me with the same bored, half-lidded look that was on his face the first time I saw him. He stood there for a second, sizing me up, before he took a battle stance. I was about to stand in a defensive position when I heard one single dragon cheering over the rest. "You can do it, Wisp!" yelled Ophiucha I focused back on my opponent and took a stance to as he took a step towards- I was suddenly flipping through the air. I landed on my back and gawked up at the dragon that was somehow next to me. "Such speed." He pulled his five fingers together into a flat point and pointed his sharpened claws at me. The ends of his claws were literally millimeters from my throat. "Surrender." he said casually. I strangely grew infuriated at his calmness, "Buck you." I kicked him in the armpit with my hind hoof as I flipped backwards and landed onto my hooves. I turned to face the still recovering dragon. I brought my hoof up to hit him in the- He somehow recovered instantly and elbowed me in the cheek. I could feel blood in my mouth. I backed away and tenderly touched my cheek. I winced at the pain that came from the touch. I glared at the dragon in pure hate. "Stop looking so bored." I growled at him as I rushed him. I flailed my forehooves in front of me. He unfurled his scaly wings and curled them around him to block the flurry of hits. As I ended the attack, he opened his wings and slashed his claws at me. I felt a wound open up beneath my right eye. I felt the warm blood trickle down my face. I quickly recovered from the hit and jabbed him in the shoulder. He only gave a small grunt as recognition of the hit. He took the opportunity of me having my hoof outstretched and chopped me in the shoulder. The speed of the hit was what made it hurt. I could feel the pain causing me to see black spots. I stumbled and he continued to pummel me with chop after chop and smack after smack.  I pulled together one last punch that was guaranteed to hit at this distance. I pulled my hoof back and then released towards his face. He ducked down and dodged my hit. He then stuck his claw out and placed his palm on my forehead. Time seemed to stop as I stared in fear at his now fully alert eyes. His eyes glimmered in concentration. Some godly deity hit play on the reality remote as I felt the force of his palm slam onto my face. I flipped through the air and landed onto my back. I stared up at the cloudy sky above me. I felt the blackness creep into my mind. The cheering of the crowd turned into a low hum.  The dragon entered my blurring vision. He bent down towards my ear and whispered. "I hope you can forgive me for the damage I've caused." I gave a strange smile as he leaned away. "You're one of the few...beings that I know that know of chivalry. I like that." His expression didn't change as I glared at him, my smile disappearing. "Stop it. Because I have no intention of liking you." What really got me mad was that he simply shrugged to the command. I wanted to scream at him, but unconsciousness said, "Nope." AN: Wow! Things are starting to heat up! I liked envisioning the scene as I wrote it.  Next time: dancing, Some romance stuff, and a new chaperone for Wisp! What will be the outcome of this possibly shaky relationship between Wisp and the mystery dragon? Lol. I know the answer and you don't. U mad?