• Published 25th May 2012
  • 7,625 Views, 471 Comments

A Cog in the Machine - ManlyDerp



The Flim Flam brothers have a secret; a live secret that breathes fire. Please, listen to my tale.

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Chapter 4: To Be Heard, Day 1

Chapter 4, To Be Heard, Day 1


Shwoooossshhh…

The sound of waves crashing against stone. The rhyme was soothing; like the universe itself was lulling me to a joyous sleep…

… But the universe and I are currently enemies; so I tell it to kiss my scaly, nonexistent, ass.

Sheeeeesss…

The sound of a steady stream of rain striking the surrounding water. Oh Great. Now I made the universe cry.

Jokingly, I answered the universe. “I’m sorry. Please don’t cry, Ms. Universe… Oh? You want to know how I know you're a Miss? Well I know you’re a Miss because you’re a bitch. Simple answer for a simple questio-”

Crack!

The sound of thunder. Looks like 'she' didn't like that last comment. “Oh don’t you dare try to deny it, Ms. Universe! Look... I know you're only trying to make me happy, but it’s going to take more than just a calming tune for me to get over what I’ve been doing for the last, oh, twelve hours of hell.

Very true, self.

For you see…

This is war.

... A rather silly looking, one sided war when compared to Earth wars... but all the same, it's still war. Thanks to it, I’m now currently up to my waist in fish guts.

The trident I’m carrying is covered in green algae and blue blood.

My body is water logged beyond comprehension, and I think there’s a starfish stuck in my hair… along with a tiny, live, piranha.

And I’m so tired that I can’t even hold my dragonfire in anymore, so it’s instead going in and out of my mouth with each strained breath I take. This results in the flames scorching my lips every time. They’re pitch black now, thank you very much.

Oh, but that’s not all...

Surrounding me, on these choppy seas, are the broken boats and ships of long since dead and gone sailors. It is amongst this graveyard where I find footing for my battle, in the form of a small barge beneath my feet. Although it was filled with the remains of its former host, this does not deter me from standing here, nor does it my goal.

My goal of defending the largest ship on these seas with my very life, no matter what.

Adding a cherry to the top of this already horrific scene, some of these discarded vessels have corpses lanced through their masses… some of which I put there.

While on the topic of vessels…

“Awesome... now this boat’s sinking too.” I grunted out in annoyance. “One second, universe. I’ll be right back to finish our little talk.

Bending my knees, I kicked myself off the sinking boat and launch into the air. I flapped my wings as hard as I could in order to maintain altitude above the raging sea of bloodstained water. Although my flight was rickety, I was able to stay in the air…

… And it was from this altitude that I could now face down the cause of all this strife; a creature that could only be described as Cthulhu’s and Freddie Cruger’s ponified hybrid baby.

It’s a creature of pure evil and malice, one whose kingdom now lies in ruins around us.

Her subjects’ blood is on my claws.

... And I have no regrets.

For you see... all of this death and destruction was done by me, and I did it so I could save the people (and ponies) I love…

… And the Flim Flam brothers too, I guess, for reasons that escape me at the moment.

Once I stabilized my hover, I continued my conversation. “Where was I, Ms. Universe...? Oh, yeah. So as I was trying to say... shut the buck up. I’ve had enough of your crap for two lifetimes.” I sighed and returned my attention to my adversary. “The things I do for love.”

Finally running out of the energy needed to stay airborne, I folded me wings up and landed roughly on the belly of a slain sea serpent. I stared up at the monstrosity that dared to cross me, who dared turn my friends into magic batteries for her own selfish goals.

Magic batteries… like what I used to be.

I laughed at the thought, and reflected on how far I’ve come since those days. “The only thing I need now is a proper and full name and I’m set. Sorry Pon-3, my friend, but I need something better then that ridiculous Dr4g0n stage name for the newspapers! Ha!”

My opponent roared viciously, the force in itself upsets the very sea around us. I dug my free claw and my trident into my ‘raft’s’ belly and tried not to think about the audible squishing sound this action made. After a full minute, the currents returned to their normal choppiness and I climbed back up onto my feet.

I gulped. “Yeah... I’m going to have one hell of a story to tell them alright… if I make it that is…”

Still, I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and nopony can take that away from me.

I breathed in, and out. “Okay... this is it.

Before I steeled myself for the final battle, I took the moment to search my memories and reflect on the events that lead me to this pivotal moment; that lead me to become the dragon I was now instead of the crying mess of a girl that used to be strung up to the walls of Flim and Flam’s damnable machine.

It was so very long ago, on the fateful eve of Nightmare Night, when for the second time in my era my life changed forever…

… All those five days ago.

Tick... tock... tick... tock...

Silence reins, as time returns to the past

~Five Days earlier~

Tootsheetootshee…

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 was working overtime today, as it had been for the last three days straight since the Nursery fiasco. Shortly after deciding on heading to Manehattan, the brothers traveled to what I assumed was a train station and then used their combined magic to lift up the contraption onto what I also assumed were the rails. The only indications that my theories held water were the sounds of train whistles blowing and steam chugging, along with the murmurs of ponies asking things like, “What in Celestia’s beard is that thing?”

… Okay, that’s another thing I need to put on my ‘to read about’ list; the history of Celestia’s beard. It must be an incredibly interesting story...

Moving on, from what I remembered of the map I glanced at weeks ago; Manehattan is Northeast of Trottingham by an incredibly large distance. I’m not really that good with estimates, but I think it would have been about a week’s journey if we had traveled like we normally do. Nightmare Night is fast approaching, and the brothers needed to get there as soon as possible, so I guess rails were the answer. I don’t know if it’s being pushed along the tracks by another train, or if it’s being propelled by a different energy source, but they apparently didn’t need my fire for it to move. The two hadn’t electrocuted me at all, in fact, in these last three days of traveling…

This gave me time to think.

Something I really didn’t want to do.

Legion’s death was still bothering me. I’ve grown to accept that it wasn’t entirely my fault, and if anything I was more of a tool in her demise. She was so close to my face when it happened that not even turning my head would have saved her...

Still… I’ve could have done something. Warned her sooner? Held my breath? Knocked her to the side with my tail? I’ve run the scenario over and over again in my head about a hundred times and each time would bring me with a different action I could have done to save her… but each new idea required me to not break down into a crying, frightened mess when it happened in order for it to work.

I know it wouldn’t have made a difference if I had saved her. I know that she probably would have continued trying to drain me dry even if I did save her, but if I had just been stronger… i-if I just had been b-braver…

-Sniff-

Aaaannnnddd I’m crying again. Great. I’ve lost full control of my emotions now, and I'm finding it increasingly hard to work up the will to care about it.

I mean, why should I? I’m physically and metaphorically miles away from my home, family, and friends. I haven’t seen any of them in almost a month, and at this point I don’t even know if I can get back. In addition, I've also been strapped to a freaking cider machine, of all things, and being forced to not only make two flankholes rich, but to also murder for them.

The list of horrors goes on, I'm afraid. Beyond what I've already mentioned, I’ve also exhausted every possible escape plan I could muster outside of self-mutilation.

I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks.

My wrists are starting to get really raw from hanging off a wall.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a good night’s sleep, let alone the last time I’ve woken up without screaming.

My throat feels like hell itself came dancing up through it, even after three days of resting it...

And finally; the only good I’ve gotten out of this whole ordeal is that now I know that, when all the chips are down, I’m nothing more than a scared, little, girl. Heh, it looks like my transformation was appropriate.

So yeah... I think I’ve earned the right to c-cry, -sniff-, t-thank you very much...

Flam’s voice shook me out of my self-pity fest. “Up and attum, Flim! Today's the big day!”

Flim yawned tiredly (like there’s any other way you can yawn). “Yaaawwwnnn. Thank goodness for that, Flam. I don’t know how much longer I’ve could have slept on that couch!”

Awww, it looks like the poor baby was having sleeping issues...

... I’m hanging from a wall, you bastard.

Flam responded with “Well, brother of mine, we unfortunately don’t really have the bits to ride the train anymore. It was either ride it without the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, or pay these fine stallions to pull us with it.”

A third voice called out. “Did I just hear that you twos were deadbeats?”

Flam backpedaled. “N-no no, Mr. Brickwall! We’ll be able to tip both you and your men once we get there!”

Mr. Brickwall huffed. “Good.”

Flim huffed as well “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have simply made the dragon push us, brother of mine.”

Flam sighed. “We’ve been over this. Flim. We simply don’t have enough stamina or magic to pull something like that off for seventy-two hours straight. Quit overestimating yourself. It's why that witch kicked your flank back in Trottingham.”

I heard Flim grumbling to himself. “I could have taken her…”

Flam continued. “Regardless, this next stop might be our last chance, Flim.”

Brickwall called out again. “Well I guess it’s a good thing that we’re here then, ain't it boys?!”

A heard a choir of cheers and hooting. Listening closely, I was finally able to make out the sound of rapid galloping under all the steam and chugging within the machine.

Sputtering, Flam replied “Y-yes, and not a moment too soon!” In a quitter voice, he continued speaking to Flim. “Manehatten is always busy during Nightmare Night, Flim. It would have been impossible for us to get our message out during the chaos of it all.”

“Flam!” Flim suddenly shouted.

“Huh? What is it Flim?” Asked Flam.

“You said the ‘C’ word!”

“Oh… oh no I did, brother of mine!”

“Knock on wood, Flam.”

I heard the twinkling sound of unicorn magic, followed by a wooden knocking noise.

“Knocked on wood, Flim.”

“Good. Phew!

I simply blinked at this. Ummm… well that was weird. I don’t recall this happening before... ‘C’ word…? Chaos? They're afraid of chaos?

Oh…derp, of course they are. Discord.

If this is really Nightmare Night, then I must be in season two. Discord must have already done his little ‘eternal chaos’ thing a while ago and the brothers must have been discorded, or something, during it.

... My bits are on them having been transformed into upright, non-racist ponies who love and tolerate. You know, the complete opposite of the two I know and loathe.

Hmmm... since I wasn't around when that happened, I guess this could mean that the episodes go in chronological order, with the brother's episode taking place after winter...

I shuttered at the thought. I definitely don't want to be here that long. Still, this timeline estimation does make sense. I must have still been in my egg when Discord was up and about… or, at least this dragon’s body was still in its egg when it occurred. Meanwhile, my mind was stuck in limbo or the sun or where ever the hell it was before I hatched.

Hmmm... I wonder if I could use this to my advantage. Should I try to act like Discord next time they feed me? That might work…

... Wait, come to think of it... those two haven’t fed me in freaking forever! The hell?! They must have not wanted to risk me screaming with the hatch open, under fear that Brickwall and his men would have heard me...

Yeah, that makes sense…although, from the sound of the rushing wind going on outside these walls, I don’t think they needed to worry about that at all. I can only barely hear the brothers as is!

Soooo… that must mean that they simply forgot to feed me.

Gargle...

The sound of my stomach eating itself.

Ugh; alone, crying, and hungry. This sucks. Sure I hate those rusted bolts and screws, and I hate the glass even more, but at least it’s not dog food or something. This was at least something I could vaguely consider ‘food’…

... Food that they always seem to have a constant supply of...

... Wait, where the hell are they getting all this crap? Screws and bolts are one thing; but rusted bolts, screws, and broken glass is another!

Again, ugh! Equestria makes no sense! The randomness of it all was fun at first, but now it's headache inducing...

Crrreeeaaakkkk…

Oh joy. That’s the sound of the hatch opening up. I guess they finally remembered me and decided to feed me.

How generous of them.

Well... I suppose I can try the Discord thing now.

Clankclankclankclank!

One of the brothers unloaded the bucket of ‘food’ over my head as usual. I shook my head to dislodge a few scraps that had gotten stuck in my hair while also shaking away my tears again. I sucked in my breath as I tried to calm myself. Once I felt that I was ready, I attempted my best Discord impression…

“H-hohahoah! W-why this is delightful, my good boy! In all honesty, I prefer exploding chocolate milk and cotton candy clouds, but this works too! Such delicious, delicious, c-chaos!

… and failed miserably. My impression was terrible; I was too shaky and my voice was too feminine (there's something a guy doesn't get to say everyday). I could probably pass as Eris, the fan created female Discord, but that’s not going to do me any good here.

The brother I was talking to (couldn’t tell which until he spoke) remained quiet. Nothing but the rushing wind could be heard between the two of us.

He finally answered, revealing himself to be Flim. “H-how did you know about those cursed cotton candy clouds, talker?”

My heart jumped. Okay, I think I’ve got something here. I can work with this.

I mentally prepared myself…

… And then proceeded to spout nonsense.

“I-I know because I saw it! In my egg, I saw it all! I saw your future as well, Flim! Thanks to the power of chaos, I saw it! You’re going to go to a town called Ponyville in the future, to a farm called Sweet Apple Acres. There, you’ll have the townsponies hanging off your every word until something goes wrong during a competition and you’re chased out like you were in Oaklahoma and Horseton! If you let me go; if you just let me work with you instead of for you, you could make it big there and have an entire apple field to work with! This I tell you not as a dragon, but as a creature called a human... a-a minion of Discord! Hail the chaos bringer!

Yup, complete nonsense. Like I'd ever help these flankholes run Applejack out of house and home. I don't personally know her, but I do know that her and her family are much kinder ponies then these two will ever be, and that's good enough for me.

No... all I need is for Flim to start crapping himself in fear. Please work please work please work please work!

“…” Flim remained silent.

“Flim? What’s taking you so long, brother of mine?" Flam called out. "We’re almost out of the plains. You can see the buildings now!”

“… I-I’ll be right there, brother. Was j-just observing the dragon’s condition... hehe…”

I heard the hatch start to close. I’ve got to push harder! “Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Applejack, and Apple Bloom! Sweet Apple Acres is owned and run by these four Apple Family ponies, going from oldest to youngest! They have a dog as well but you won’t get to see it! Of those four ponies, Applejack is actually an element of harmony! Honesty, specifically!”

Something changed in Flim's voice. “E-elements? Y-you know not what you say, talker! Shut your damn word hole and do not disrespect pony heritage any further!”

The hatch began to sparkle with the green glow of magic. I continued with all the strength that I had left, but it still came out in a wobbly voice. “A-apple, Flim! I-if you close this hatch right now and refuse my final offer of friendship, you'll be dooming your brother and yourself to failure! This is your last chance to redeem yourself and become an honest, and successful, businesspo-”

Slam!

Click

The hatch slammed shut and locked itself.

“…Grrrrrr…GRRRRR!

I cried out in a draconic roar; a pillar of fire accompanied my anguished cry and scorched the ceiling black. “Ugh! Why can’t I catch a break?!”

Crrreeeaaakkkk…

The hatch reopened, and my heart soared for the briefest of seconds. “W-wha? D-did you change your mi-”

Sploosh!

The sound of water filling my bowl.

Click

The hatch closing again.

… -Sigh-

Instead of getting super pissed off or breaking down into a complete crying mess again (which sadly seems to be my only two emotions, nowadays), I opted to instead indulge in one of my last few remaining sources of joy: a drink of water.

Lifting the bowl up with my tail and steadying it with the tips of my wings, I lapped up the cool and refreshing puddle that came from God knows where.

... Pure, unadulterated, bliss.

***^***

Honkhonk!

Sheeeeeeeeeesssss…

Clipclopclipclopclipclop…

Dingdingdingding!

Twinkletwinkletwinkle…

Flapflapflap…

Holy sensory overload, Mare-Do-Well!

Okay, no doubt about it, we must have made it to the Manehattan. The silence of the plains was quickly replaced by a mindboggling amount of sound. My ears/horns did their best, but I could only hear and understand about half of the literal wall of noise that was assaulting me.

I could hear…

Trains coming and going.

Carriage wheels striking pavement.

Surprisingly, something that sounded like a car horn blaring.

The buzzing of unicorn horns glowing.

The sound of pegasus’ wings flapping.

So many hoofsteps.

And sooooo many voices.

Oh lord, the voices.

“… Train to Trottingham departs in…”

“… So she said ‘blah blah blah,’ and I said ‘blah blah blah blah!

“… Honey, dear; what’s that machine supposed to be?”

“… While you do seem like a colt out of luck, I’m sorry to tell you but I simply do not give a…”

“…I want that one daddy! I want it now!

“Diamond, dear, you already have one just like it.”

“But I want this one too!”

Okay; I might have only imagined those last few ones… or maybe really I did hear them. I can’t really make out anything specific in all this racket, so I’m unsure what’s real and what’s simply a figment of my imagination. I’ve never been to the actual Manhattan or any other large city back on Earth, so the sudden wave of sound and voices was a complete shock to my already fragile system.

Well, I guess you can take the boy out of the country… and the planet, and his species, and his gender… but you can’t take the country out of the boy, dragon, girl, thing.

... Understatement of the century: My life is weird.

Toot… shee… toot… shee…

Finally a noise I recognize…

Zaaaaaaapppp!

“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”

… Along with pain that I recognize as well. I guess we’re off the rails now and heading out. To where, exactly, I don’t have the slightest clue.

All I know is that we’re heading there slowly.

Reeeeaaaalllyyy slowly.

Those honking noises returned in full force.

“Watch where you're going!”

“Sunday trotter!”

“Ay?! Wha’s da big idea, ya mook?!”

“Oh thanks a lot! Now I’m late for work, you jerks!”

“Flankholes!”

I agree full heartily with that last mare.

Toot…… shee…… toot…… shee……

We moved forward with the invisible crowd… well invisible to me. To the boys, it must have been like staring into the abyss itself; nothing but a sea of hopelessness and despair.

You know, just the normal Sunday commute.

***^***

Okay. Sooooo... yeah...

Four hours later.

Yeah. Ahem. Four hours later we may have moved, maybe, three feet in the last hour alone. A rather generous estimate, I know, but hey I’m optimistic.

“We’ve. Been. Here. For. Ever. Flam!”

“Yes I know, brother of mine.”

“This is all your fault!”

“How is this my fault?!”

“If you had just kept going straight like I said then we would’ve passed this fat, lazy, cow hours ago!”

Said cow didn't seem pleased by Flim's comment, thus he voiced his opinion. “Moooooo! I heard that, you little punks!”

“Well then hurry up, you poor excuse for griffon food!” Flim retorted.

“Flim, please!” Flam begged.

Flim continued fuming. “No! I’ve had it up to here with it all, Flam! It’s not like there’s anything in front of the damn talker either! He’s just a slow, lazy, talking, steak!

A woman’s voice rang out. “Oh moooo you did-n’t! Nopony talks to my hunky cowpie like that and gets away with it!”

Her cowpie (really?) responded. “Honey, calm down.”

“Cram it, Herald!”

“Yes honey. Moooo…”

Flam attempted to cork the coming storm. “Look! Calm down everypony and everybovine! We’re all stressed out and not thinking straight right now, so let’s all just take a deep breath,” he took a deep breath to illustrate. “… and let it go. There’s no need for this to get out of hoof...”

I heard a small clicking sound.

"Bitch has a knife, Flam!"

"Sweet, tap dancing Luna, Flim!"

The machine suddenly rocked forward. The air was filled with a loud and splintery smashing sound; presumably the cow couple’s carriage/wagon meeting the full force of this fully operational Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.

“MOOOOOOO! When I find you two, I'm going to skin you both alive!"

“Don’t look back, Flam!”

“Ohcelestiaohcelestiaohcelestiaohcelestiaohcelestia!”

Haha! Oh, I’d be lying if I said that these little moments we three shared weren’t magical.

Zaaaaaaapppp!

“AHHHHHH!!!”

And I’d also be lying if I said that that hasn’t become the bane of my existence…

***^***

"-Huff-… -huff-… -huff-… A-are… are we safe, Flim?”

"-Huff-… -huff-… -huff-… I-I… I think so, Flam.”

-Huff-… -huff-… -huff-… "Umbh!" I then puked on the floor…again. They really need to clean this hell hole up one of these days.

“Oh… look, Flim! What great fortune! An apple stand and a crowd!”

“You're right, Flam! Lady Luck must be smiling on us today, brother of mine!”

Oh God, please don’t start that crap up yet. My throat and stomach need a moment to rest...

“Let’s hit them hard and fast, Flam!”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Flim!”

Son of a…

“Well looky what we got here, brother of mine, it’s the same in every town!”

I upchucked on my thing pile again. I’m unsure if this was either because of all the magical abuse I've had to endure, or if it was simple because this song now makes me physically ill just by listening to it. I'd willingly except either theory as the possible answer, at this point.

To avoid losing the rest of my precious ‘lunch’, I mentally tuned the song out. The walls helped this action greatly by muffling out a good chunk of their song whenever they moved away from the machine. Unfortunately, the ever present gramophone in here kept the song alive.

That’s just another item I need to remember to add to my ‘to burn’ list. It’ll fit nicely somewhere between the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, Trixie’s wagon, and the brothers themselves.

“Oh we’ve got opportunity..."

The other thing that dampened my attempts to block off the music...

"... in this very community~!”

... Was the massive number of ponies who joined in singing it.

If my horn-ears had holes, they would be bleeding right now. So loud! I guess their slogan and singing must have worked their 'magic' on this crowd... Either that or the city of Manehatten was trying to murder them through the power of song. Normally I’d laugh at such a ridiculous thought, but then I would remember that I’m in Equestria; the land where a pink party pony could summon a town sized militia simply by singing about being awesome. Anything’s possible here, so I’m hoping death by song was also on that list of impossible possibilities.

If it is then I’m going to serenade those two to death!

... Oh wow; that sounded way better in my head.

“Please Flim, please Flam, help us out of this jam!”

Or at least I think it sounded better in my head. Can’t really tell. It’s hard to hear anything right now.

“Let’s bing-band zam~!”

Crap! I know I heard that one!

ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Back on Earth, I used to think that writers who used the old cliché of having their character pass out in order to cut away from a scene were lazy. I mean, it’s not that easy to just pass out, right?

Well it turns out that I was wrong; it is very easy to pass out, especially after performing your best Red Lantern Core impression all over the floor.

You know... the Lanterns who vomit acid blood? Very graphic (and obscure), I know, but hey; this is my life now.

***^***

“Wake up.”

“Ow…”

“Wake up.”

“Owww…”

“Wake up.”

“Ow.”

“Wake up.”

“Ow!”

“Wake up.”

“Quit poking me with that damn stick!”

Flam dropped his magical hold on the stick. “It’s up, Flim!”

“Good. We should get moving, brother of mine. Remember, the mayor wants us at town hall in an hour so we can discuss our plans for the Nightmare Night stall!”

“Yes, I remember, Flim. I just have to feed this damn thing again and we'll be on our way. The last meal must not have been enough or something, brother of mine. I can’t think of how else it could have just simply passed out like that, after all”

I attempted to glare up at him. “Oh, well, maybe it’s because your damn magic is ripping my insides up flan-Umbh!"

My mouth was opened through the use of magic and a handful (hooffull?) of bolts were shoved in.

“Shut up and chew.” Flam ordered.

Grudgingly I complied, but that apparently wasn’t good enough so Flam took control of my mouth again and sped up the process.

It was then that I noticed that these bolts weren’t rusted and were instead ‘fresh’. I'm not a big fan of fresh bolts; the rusted one’s at least had a flavor… a horribly bitter flavor, but still a flavor nonetheless. There wasn’t anything to these ‘fresh’ ones though, like eating a plain rice cake. Still, the fact that they were clearly new made me curious. I thought the brothers were strapped for bits...

After I finished chewing my ‘meal’, I swallowed and asked Flam about it. “Soooo… did the gig go well then, Flam?”

“More than well, dragon, it went smashingly!” Flam seemed to be in a good mood. “I still can’t believe it, Flim! What were the odds of the mayor, of all ponies, being in the park today, of all days?!" He then returned his attention to me. “We were even able to give him a sample before you broke down on us.”

“Almost made a foal of us too, you damn talker.” Flim added in.

“That she almost did Flim, but we were able to salvage the performance and now…” He started giggling madly. “We’re going to be here during all the festivities tomorrow night! In the center of Manehattan!"

“I still can’t believe it myself, brother of mine! This is going to be our big break!”

“Indeed! None of that’s going to happen, though, unless we finalize the deal with the major. Let’s get moving!”

Twinkletwinkle...

“Allow me, Flam!”

“Go right ahead, Flim!”

Zaaaaaappppp!

“AHHHHHHH!!!”

Figures. Even with the hatch open, they still preferred to zap me instead of ask me to help them. If they had just asked, I would have fired my… black cloud of smoke for them? Wha?

“… We don’t seem to be moving, Flim.”

“That we don’t, brother of mine. Let me try this again.”

Zaaaaaaaapppp!

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!”

Again, I spewed out nothing but black smoke. It simply flouted upwards and out of the hatch in the ceiling; the vacuum not even bothering with it.

-Cough cough- "O-ow, my throat…”

“Hmmmm... the dragon seems to be having troubles, Flim… bring the water jug over here.”

Twinkletwinkle

“Here you go, Flam.”

“Thank you, Flim.”

-Cough cough- "Co-umbh!

F-flankholes! They just crammed an entire jug of water down my throat!

-Cough cough- "W-what the hell are you tw-!”

Zaaaaaaaapppp!

“AHHHHHHHHHHHFLANKHOLESHHHH!!!"

Once more, I breathed out nothing but black smoke.

“… This is bad, Flam.”

Flipflipflip

The sound of pages turning. “I’m consulting the manual as we speak, brother of mine… Ah ha! Here we go; ‘In cases where your dragon colleague cannot breathe fire properly, it is probably the result of a ruptured flame sac.’…”

“Ruptured flame sac?!” Flim and I asked in horror. Oh please don’t tell me I broke my new body already!

“Please don’t tell me we broke the dragon already, Flam!” Seems Flim shares my concerns, kinda.

... Wait, already?! They expected me to break down at some point?! W-what’s supposed to happen when they have no more use for me?!

Flam erased Flim's fears. “Calm down, Flim. It says right here that; ‘This can occur in instances where the dragon has been forced to use their breath repeatedly against their will, such as during a massive influx of scroll delivery. The dragon’s brain registers the action as an invasion of its privacy, thus the flame sac bursts on its own in order to prevent the fire from being misused any further. A dragon is greedy by nature, and so is its body. Take care to remember this in future interactions with him or her. To solve this current dilemma; please allow your companion at least a day’s rest in order for his or her body to naturally repair the damage, and then make an effort to not misuse your friend again in such a fashion.’…”

Flim considered Starswirl's ancient words. “Repeatedly against their will… oh pony feathers, brother of mine; we’ve had to rely on the dragon a lot today alone! That last combined spell must have done this to it.”

So that last strike ruptured an organ... guess that explains where that final spew of illness came from. Yeesh!

“Now what do we do?!” Flim asked in a panic.

I imagined that Flam shrugged. “We’re just going to have to be more conservative in the future, Flim.”

“No Flam, I mean now what do we do? We need to be halfway across town in half an hour!”

Flam's words were drawn out as he started mentally piecing together what the problem was here. “Oh… well… I-I guess we just need to… p-push it.

They loudly groaned.

“I-I can help you pus-!”

Slam!

They slammed the hatch shut on me again.

… -Sigh- "Why do I even bother?”

***^***

Twin-kltwin… kl… twinkle…

Toot………. shee………. toot……….

I almost felt sorry for these two… almost. They’ve been at it for what has felt like hours now. I think its safe to assume that they were now officially late for that meeting, but this fact didn't hinder their process in the slightest. I could also tell that the both of them were very exhausted by this point, as evident by the sound of magic steadily growing weaker and weaker with each passing second.

I could tell this detail because of that...

... And by the fact that Flim made it a point to remind us that he was tired every other minute.

“Are we there yet?!”

“No, Flim!”

Much to mine, and Flam’s, abhorrence.

Suddenly, a new stallion’s voice cried out. “Well there you two are! Hehe, I was almost worried you boys weren’t going to make it!”

The magic humming stopped along with our movement.

Flam took a few gasps for air. “W-we ran into… -gasp-... some technical difficulties, sir! We assure you; it’s only the transportation portion that was affected. The cider is still 100% fresh and delicious, sir!”

“Hehe. That’s what I like to hear! Now don’t you boy’s fret. Your stand is still in place for tomorrow! I’ve even already worked out a deal with a few of the fine ponies who sell apples in this city... Thanks to yours truly, you will have plenty of produce for tomorrow, Flim Flam brothers!”

Flim took a breath before commenting. “T-thank you, Mr. Major!”

The Major (sadly, knowing this place, that’s probably his full name) continued. “Hehe, oh it’s no problem at all, boys. Now... let’s step inside and talk about… percentages.

The brother’s gulped.

Clipclopclipclop

With that I was once again alone.

Alone… actually, this would probably be the first time I’ve been truly alone since coming here to this world. Yeah, I’m always alone in my room inside this machine, but the brothers were always a constant presence that kept me from feeling completely isolated. Even when they were asleep, their snoring would remind me that they were unfortunately nearby.

Now though… this was kind of scary. Not only am I in a new city by myself, but I’m in a new universe’s version of a new city which vaguely resembles a city from Earth that can be pretty damn scary on any given day.

To add to the fear factor, I’m currently blind to the world around me and only have my sense of hearing to rely on.

And right now, every little sound is causing me to jump as well as one could jump when chained to a wall.

Clankclankclank!

“Ah! C-calm down, Nathan. That’s probably just a can being knocked over…”

Honkhonk!

“T-there’s those carriage horns again.”

Twinkletwinkle…

“T-that’s just a unicorn.”

"Caw! Caw!"

“And that’s a crow…haha, or a griffon’s matting call.”

I allowed myself to snicker at my little joke.

Bangbang!

My head jerked forward. “Was that a gun?! N-n-no, t-that can’t be right! Must be hearing things…”

A voice cried out. “Police! Help! My husband’s been shot!”

Weeeeerrrrrrreeee!

The sound of police sirens blaring, followed by an ambulance.

“Baby! Please wake up! Please wake up!

Clipclopclipclop!

Rattlerattlerattle…

Clipclopclipclop!

Weeeeeeeeerrrrreeee!

After hearing some quick galloping followed by metal wheels turning, the ambulance’s siren’s picked up again and disappeared into the distance.

I sat there in silence. “… No. Just… just no. That didn’t just happen. I refuse to except that I just heard any of that.”

...

... But... it did happen... didn't it?

“Ah weak, bro; another gallop-by crossbow attack. Such a crying shame.”

“Yeah, but it happens in this town more than you'd think. Makes ya wonder why parents still let their kids out during Nightmare Night, Spyke.”

“You sure said it, Sloan.”

Voices. Coming from outside the walls... I don’t recognize them, but all the same they're pretty darn close to the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000… closer then I’d like them to be.

“Well then... is this it, Sloan?”

“Sure is, Spyke. This is the piece of crap that stole our spot!”

“What the buck is the Mayor thinking, bro? Apple Cider for Nightmare Night?! Our spiked Pumpkin Juice has been a cornerstone of the festivities for years!

“Yeah! Sure, its caused a couple, what was that word… ‘epidemics’, but it’s a cornerstone regardless! I guess that’s what this town gets for electing a pegasus instead of a down to Equestria earth pony, bro.”

“True that, bro.”

“Word.”

Clop

The sound of a mighty brohoof being initiated. Spiked pumpkin juice? Okay, ew. I’m all up for trying new things, especially if alcohol is involved, but that’s just nasty. Maybe the Major agrees? Well whatever the case; I’m starting get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about what’s going on right now, and I don’t think it’s because of the fractured flame organ.

“You got the harnesses, Sloan my bro?”

“Got them right here, my main stallion.”

“Awsomesause. Let’s chop shop this bitch!"

“True that!”

Oh great. Another pair of brothers who have their moral compasses out of whack.

... Wait… c-chop shop?! They don’t mean what I think they mean, do they?!

The machine suddenly jerked forward.

Toot… shee… toot… shee…

Oh my God! Grand theft cider machine! Oh no oh no oh no! “Flim, Flam, help! They're stealing me away… from… you… two… flankholes…”

… Why am I screaming like this is a bad thing?

...

“Go Spyke! Go Sloan! New best ponies, yay!”

Spyke grunted. “Boy this thing sure is heavy, Sloan. I don’t think we can get it all the way to the shop to chuck it in in time.”

“Yeah, I agree, bro. Let’s just dump it at the scrap yard. Old man Jenkins will pay us for crushing it, at least.”

“Smart thinking, bro!”

C-crush?! Oh way to go Spyke and Sloan; you just lost your best pony badges!

Crapcrapcrap! I need to make it out of here while the clock is still ticking! Damn it, I’m going to have to try to melt the locks again!

I inhaled and blew slightly warm smoke at my cufflinks.

... Oh, right... the ruptured flame sac, thing. I faceclawed... which was actually quite a feat considering the position I’m currently trapped in. A lot of upper body strength was involved.

Ugh! We’re moving further away with each passing second. I need to get their attention somehow!

I started banging the walls with everything I had. I did it with my tail, my wings, and even my head until I realized that this was stupid and I subsequently knocked it off.

Yelling made more sense, anyways.

"Help! Helphelphelphelphelphelphelphelphelp! Heeeelllppp!"

Nothing. Darn it!

Well… what about scratching?

I began scratching the wall behind me with my forked tail, clawed toes, and me spines. Come on… come on!

“…Hey, Sloan... did you hear something?”

“Actually, yeah... I did, bro. Do you think somethings in this thing?”

The machine suddenly stopped. I heard one of the two lift himself up to the roof of the machine and begin to trot all over the ceiling of my room. Come on… warmer, warmer, hothothot!

“Yo, bro; there’s a hatch here!”

BINGO!

Clankclank

“Ah, no good, Spyke. It’s sealed with magic.”

MOTHERBU-

“Oh, no biggie. Let’s just take it into that alleyway and beat it with a rock, bro.”

I… I think I love these two.

Toot… shee… toot… sheeeeeee

The sound of the machine stopping.

Clipclop “Okay you sexy slab of steampunk-y goodness, show papa Sloan what those two fancy unicorns kept inside you.”

Bang!

The sound of the hatch being struck with something heavy. Come on…

Bang!

So close…

Bang!

Set me free!

Bang!

Let me fly away from here!

Bang!

Tears streamed down my face. “Take me home!”

Bang!

“Please, God! Let me see my home again!”

Bang!

“Dylan!”

Bang!

“Caleb!”

Bang!

“Ben!”

Bang!

“Sam! I swear to you all! I’ll get home somehow! I swear to you!

“Hey... I think I hear a voice in this thing, br-”

“Freeze, scumbags!”

“Oh manure! Cheese it Spyke, it’s the cops!”

“Ah! Wait for me, bro!”

Clipclopclipclop!

... No.

Clipclop…

No…

Clip…

NO! “Come back! Come back!

...

Silence…

Nothing... but silence.

“No… oh please no, not again... Not again! I finally had hope again! I was finally happy again! Why? Why?!

I banged my head against the back wall and allowed the tears to flow freely. “Why does this world keep egging me on like this?! Every time I’m close to being free, something has to come along and take it away from me! Like this is all some kind of sick joke!

My tail swiped against the bare wall to my right, leaving a large gash.

“My...”

I swiped the wall again.

“Life...”

... And another gash…

Is...

And so on…

No...

And so on, until only a fraction of my anger was quelled.

Joke! My life is not a joke!

The wall of my cell was now embellished with a pentagram, of all things, up until that final gash ruined it.

Great... I can’t even vent right...

I knocked my bowl aside in my frustration, uncaring what happened to. “Damn it! Just... d-damn it. I was so freaking convinced that this would be it too and now… now…" -Sniff- "J-just, why? I just want to go h-home. Send me back as a g-girl or a dragon or whatever. Just... take me home… please.

"I just want to g-go ho… uh oh.”

So, um, yeah... This is totally heart wrenching and all, but I failed to notice that, in my anger, I was unintentionally filling the room with black clouds of smoke. Thanks to this little slip up from my grief fueled mind, I was now quickly running out of breathable air.

Oh nuts... starting to feel a bit l-light headed now as well...

“J... j-just l-let me g-go home…”

***^***

Clipclopclipclop…

Galloping. Lots of it too. I awoke from my unplanned nap to discover that my room was now rocking a thin layer of black ash. My body seemed to be covered in it as well, which was a little annoying.

“Hey, boss! Let’s try that dumpster over there.”

“Good thinking, Smith. Come here, you birdbrain!”

“L-let me go!”

Voices. Three of them. All boys, and all of them sounding a bit young. Must be kids. The last one sounds a bit like my brother Ben, actually…

-Sniff-

And there’s that feeling of homesickness again. Lovely.

Clickclick

“It’s locked up, boss!”

“Well then open it up, ya numbskull! What else do you have a keyhole on your flank for?!”

“Oh, right. Sorry, boss. Sometimes I forget things like tha-“

“Just open it up, Smith!”

The Smith kid yelped.

Twinkletwinkle… twinkle

The sound of unicorn magic.

Click

And the sound of… the hatch unlocking?! What?! Oh my God; am going to be set fre-

Creeeeaaakkk…

The hatch door swung open, cutting off my train of thought. Moonlight quickly flooded the inside of my prison through the open hatch and illuminated a section of the floor in front of me. My body remained in darkness, however.

“Looks clean enough, boss!”

“Good.”

Two small bodies suddenly jumped down through the hole. One of them had the other in a choke hold. They stepped forward, backs towards me and into the light. It was here, in their brief moment in the moonlight, where I could make out their features more clearly.

One of the kids was a green coated, yellow mane pegasus colt with a tiny gold crown, with a lime in it, as a cutie mark. He was flapping his wings lightly so he could remain standing on his hind legs. Meanwhile, his forelegs were busy with the task of holding on to the other kid.

The kid in the choke hold seemed to be a griffon child. Interesting... you’d think that it would be the other way around, with the griffon being the dominate one in this sort of situation. I don’t know the story behind what I’m seeing, but I found it interesting, all the same.

Any ways, the child had yellow fur and wings along with a simple set of white feathers adorning the bird portion of his body, and a cute little white puffball at the end of his tail. He wore glasses and had a pair of purple feathers tucked away between where the frames would meet the left side of his head. Glasses? On a griffon? Okay, that’s check number two on the weird counter.

The kid also had... a black mark illustrating a pair of crisscrossing curved swords on his rear end.

Curved… swords…

...

… Wait, what?!

Wha?!

T-that’s a cutie mark! Griffons can get cutie marks?!

Da huh?!

The green pegasus pinned the griffon against the back wall. “Okay, you stupid pony wannabe; how dare you try to make a cutie mark that looks cooler than mine!”

The griffon tried to respond as well as he could while his lungs were being pinned down. “I-I didn’t make a cutie mark though! I was born with it! It’s just a birth mark!” He shifted around in his hold and used a free claw to point at his right ‘flank’. It was blank, as it should be. “See? It doesn’t carry over to the other side of my rear end! Cutie marks adorn both sides!”

The other kid raised an eyebrow. “Adorn? What are you, a dictionary?”

I did my best to hold in a snicker.

“Look, kid... do you have any idea who you’re talking to?” The green Pegasus asked. “I’m Key Lime of the famous Lime family! You’ve might have heard of my uncle, Mayor Lime? This is our city, and we’re the only ones who get to have cool cutie marks, so yours has to go, got it?!”

“B-but it’s part of my body! I can’t simply erase it! I-I’ve tried…” The griffon responded depressingly.

Key Lime chuckled. “Oh, but I can. Hey! Smith!”

A voice cried out from above me. Probably from the third kid I heard earlier. “Coast is still clear, boss!”

“Not that, horn boy! I need you to send down the ‘you-know-what’. And be careful with it! I don’t want you losing it in all this filth! It smells like something died in here and then took a swim in the sewer!”

“Um, wouldn’t that be the other way around, boss?”

Key Lime scowled. “Shut up, Smith.”

After observing his scowling face I noticed that, even after they had stepped out of the moonlight, I was still able to make out both kid's features in the darkness. I really haven’t had many chances to test my theory out, but I think I have night vision or something. I guess the slit pupils are more than just for show. I wonder if they can be seen in the dark like a cat’s eyes…

Twinkletwinkle

“Here you go, boss!”

Something in a brown magic aura was levitated down to Key Lime from the hatch in the ceiling. The hatch then closed; my guess was so it could muffle out the sound of whatever it is this thing was supposed to do. It took me a second to figure out what it was, exactly, but when I did both mine and the griffon’s eyes widened in shook.

It was a cheese grater.

The griffon child curled up into the back corner and started visibly shaking. “N-no…”

The Key Lime kid laughed viciously through the grater in his mouth. “Hehe. Met mis me a messon mo myou mid... mon’t mess mith a mime!

The griffon blinked. “… Wha?”

Key Lime spat out the cheese grater. “I said let this be a lesson to you, kid... don’t mess with a Lime! Hehe!” He then proceeded to pick up the grater again and took a menacing step towards the griffon.

... Okay, I’ve seen enough kiddie horror theater for one day, thank you very much. I’m not just going to let this go on in front of me, in my ‘house,’ without my say in the matter…

... But what can I do? Blow smoke at him? Ugh, I can’t be this helpless! Come on, Nate... are you a man or a mouse?

I closed my eyes and contemplated my options and possible actions I could take. When my eyes opened again, I resigned myself to the choice I made.

I decided…

... That I was neither! I’m all dragon, baby!

... Er, or would that be all baby dragon, baby?

... Oh, whatever! I don’t have time for this silliness.

I took a deep breath…

Calmed my nerves…

… And then roared with pure, draconic, fury.

"Who dares to enter my lair?!"

Both of my guests jumped, resulting in the cheese grater dropping from Key Lime’s mouth and the griffon kid curling up even tighter into the corner.

“W-who’s there?” Asked Key Lime, who was clearly messing his metaphorical drawers.

With the hatch closed, the room was once more pitch black. My earlier question about whether or not my eyes glowed in the dark was answered by Key Lime who, after calming himself, turned around and stared right into them. The griffon caught sight of them as well and his reaction was to curl up even tighter (how is that even possible?) and hide his head in his cream colored wings.

Great. I have Key’s attention. Let’s traumatize this little punk, shall we? But how? What’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen?

... Oh, that’s right... Legion. That lady(?) was scary as hell. Now, the question remains; do I have it in me to disrespect the grave of the woman I murdered?

"-Sniff-... -sob-..."

Despite the constant hiss of steam, creaking gears, random city sounds emanating outside these walls, and the breathing of my frighten guest... the sound of the griffon child crying softly to himself was the only noise I truly paid attention to.

He sounded exactly like my crybaby brother, Ben.

And that caused my big brother heart to snap.

...

I can totally do this now.

“Answer me!” My resolve couldn't have hardened at a better time, for it seems that Key Lime was starting to get impatient. I guess it’s time for some improv.

Despite the severity of the situation, I couldn't help but smile. This was going to be, so, awesome!

And thus I began the show.

“Mahaha! Why, hello there, little pony. What bringssss you to my humble abode?”

Ha! I'm off to a great start! I found that I could roll my S’s much more easily now thanks to my sssssnake tongue.

Key Lime jumped backwards and his wings flared up in defense. “W-why would you make a d-dumpster your home?”

I attempted another evil sounding laugh. “Why, ssso I can add to my hoard of courssse! What kind of ssself-ressspecting dragon lacksss a hoard, young one? Mahaha!”

The griffon seemed to stop shuttering, momentarily, after I used the ‘D’ word. He remained curled up, but he stayed still. Key Lime, on the otherclaw, started shivering himself.

“D-dragon?!”

I couldn’t use my fire at the moment, so I decided to start filling the room with black smoke instead. Even if he was currently blind, the kid could still see some of the clouds when they passed by my eyes or he could even feel some of them when they hit his fur, and that was good enough for me. The fact that they were warm helped as well, although now I can’t tell if he’s sweating because he’s hot or if he’s scared out of his little mind!

“Yesss, a dragon, my dear pony." I replied, still in character. "A growing one at that! Thussss I need a mighty hoard if I am to grow big and ssstrong like my kin.”

“K-k-kin?!”

“Yesss! We are a mighty family! One that hasss ruled for hundredsss of ye-”

“Um… what does kin mean?”

I blinked. Oh, right, young crowd. “Kin means…” I shook my head. Almost forgot to roll my S’s there. “Kin meansss, my little pony; fellowssship, brotherhood, friendsss!

“-Gasp-!”

“Mahaha! Yesss, I am not alone in thisss great city. My brothersss and sssisstersss grow each day in sssecret. I do not wisssh to be left out, pony, ssso I wisssh to asssk sssomthing of you.”

The colt’s shivering calmed down slightly. He folded his wings up, but the feathers were still shaking.

“W-what?” Key Lime asked fearfully.

Now it’s time to spring my trap. As we were talking, I was slowly lowering my voice to almost a whisper. In order to hear me, Key Lime kept taking involuntary steps towards my wall. He was now within reach of my tail, which I had began to coil around one of his forelegs without his knowledge. Just a little closer now, and I’ll wrap it up as well as wrap up my performance.

Come on. Closer…

Closer…

Closer…

Aaaannnndddd…

Now!

The kid yelped as I gripped his leg and yanked him off the ground. He tried to flap his wings and escape, but I maneuvered my own in front of myself and used the tips to hug the appendages against his body. He continued staring into my eyes as his panic reached a fevered pitch.

“W-w-w-wha?!”

Chuckling again, I used my snake tongue to lick his face threateningly.

...

Oh my goodness…

He... he’s actually sour tasting! Like a lime! “Haha! Er, I mean Mahaha! What I asssk of you, pony, is for you to become a part of my hoard. Your flesssh ssshall feed me, your feathersss ssshall warm me, and your bonesss will become apart of my collection! Truly, a greater reward could never be given! Mahaha!

I just need to blow more smoke in his face to get my point across, aanndddd... success! The victim has quite literally pissed himself, fillies and gentlecolts! Trolling successful! Celestia would be proud!

“NO! Nonononono! Lock Smith! Get me out of here, Lock Smith! AHHHHHHH!!” Key Lime struggled and struggled some more but I refused to let go of him until I was good and done with him.

After letting him panic for a few more good seconds, I released my victim back into the wild. As soon as he could move his wings again, he flew up to the ceiling and began banging on the hatch door until it opened with a brown aura.

I heard Lock try to talk to his ‘boss’. “Golly, boss! What happened?”

Key Lime answered his minion with a resounding “Mooooooooommmmyyyy!!"

Clipclopclipclopclipclop!

“… Oh the colts on the playground are going to have a field day with this one! Ha!”

Clipclopclipclopclipclop...

The third kid left as well. After a few seconds, they were both finally out of hearing distance.

Once they were gone, I let out a low sigh...

... And followed it with pure, honest, laughter.

It wasn't forced, it wasn't weak, and wasn't any of that 'laughing for the sake of laughing' crap that I've been trying to do in order to keep my spirits up.

For once, I was laughing from my very soul, and it felt good. Really good.

“Hahaha! Phew! Oh man, that was sweet! Just... that whole bit... awesome. Wow... they even left the door open! Haha! Again, awesome! Hey ki-“

Despite how good it felt to finally laugh in earnest again, I stopped laughing the moment I finally noticed that the griffon was back to shaking in the corner. His eyes were trained on me with a look of pure, honest, horror.

Ah crap... I guess that worked a little too well.

Okay, change of tactics.

Putting on my calmest voice, I attempted to lure my guest out of hiding. “Shhhhh… there there. It’s okay now. The bad ponies are gone... you can come out now.”

“S-silent, dragon! I will n-not be fooled by your l-lies!”

Oh... nuts. Guess that won’t work...

... Wait, I can see his eyes in the darkness... does that mean he can see me just as well as I can see him? “Kid... can you see me?”

“Y-yes I can, foul beast!" The frightened child sputtered. "I can see your ash covered body with your putrid scales, your monstrous wings, and your messy, callous hair!

“Hey! Nogriffon disrespects the hair!”

“Eep!”

The child then curled up into a ball again. Mental faceclaw. Okay... let’s try this again.

I scoffed. “Whatever. Look. You can see me, right?”

“Y-yes,” he replied timidly.

“So you can see that I’m currently chained up to a wall and my so called 'hoard' is actually a pile of my own, and now your friend’s, waste?”

At the question, the griffon slowly lifted his head up and gave me a longer look about. I gingerly waved to him with one of my chained claws.

“Howdy!” I smiled goodheartedly.

“T-this is some kind of trick,” he said, almost in a whisper.

“Oh, you're right,” I sighed. “You saw right through my oh so clever plan to chain myself to the inside wall of a traveling cider machine, and to then lie in wait for over a month, just so I could scare off your friends and fake saving you. I was so sure it was going to work too, but I guess you’re just too smart for me, kid!”

The griffon continued staring at me. After a minute (where I didn't make any sudden moves), he slowly got back up on all fours and returned to gazing at me. He never took a step closer; treating the wall of moonlight separating us like a protective barrier.

He finally spoke up. “… Those guys... weren’t my friends.”

I chuckled. “I kind of figured.”

“… Why did you save me, if it wasn’t to eat me?”

I gave him the smile I usually give my brothers when they asked something obvious. “Well… last I checked that’s what friends do.”

His eyes widened in shock, almost rivaling the size they went when the cheese grater (which was still in here) was pulled out.

“F-friends?!” He squeaked.

I chuckled again. “Kid, you’re actually talking to me. That alone puts you leagues and bonds above everypony else I deal with on a daily basis. Heck, you’re not even a pony! Sadly, I haven’t really met a good pony yet, so that also puts you pretty far up there in my books.”

He was silent for a solid minute, contemplating what I had just said. He finally answered by saying “… I-I… I don’t think I can be friends with a dragon, Ms. Dragon.”

My smile dropped. “Oh. I see... c-can I ask why though?”

“… Dragons killed my mother.”

“I’m… I’m so very sorry, kid.”

“… Nathan.”

What?!

My eyes shot open. “W-what was that?”

“Nathan… m-my name’s Nathan De La Griffon, not 'kid'.”

I allowed my heart to stop beating at 16.5 wingpower. Goodness that was a shock! I almost thought he had psychic powers or something (which I wouldn’t put past anyone in this universe). Guess my name is just as common amongst griffons as it was amongst humans on Earth. “O-oh, yes, of course. I’m so very sorry, Nathan.”

“Yeah well… don’t be. It wasn’t your fault, just your kind’s. I'm not a big fan of sea serpents or landwyrms either, for your information.”

... Landwyrms? Like, as in giant, snake-like, dragons? Oh wow, that’s some seriously old-school D&D, son.

“Oh, well that’s fine then," I replied. "I've never met a sea serpent or a land-whosit anyways.”

“Y-you haven’t?”

I did my best to shrug. “Nope. In fact, I’ve never seen another dragon before either, and you’re actually the first griffon I’ve ever met.”

“R-really?”

My earlier, gentle smile returned to my face. “Really. My egg was stolen from my mother when I was still in it, so I wasn’t raised by dragons. I’m actually all alone right now, except for this minotaur named Iron Will and his goat friends, but I’ve sadly haven’t seen him in a while... There are also these two ponies that, for lack of a better word, take care of me, but they aren’t my real family and they never will be. They do nothing b-but torture me.”

“W-wow.”

I sighed. “Yes well… that whole... thing is sort of a sour subject matter for me, so let’s talk about you instead, Nate. Do you know why those two were after you?”

Nathan rubbed the back of his feathery head with an orange claw. “Um, well kind of. A nice mare complimented me on my birthmark while I was at a bakery that those two colts were also in. They must have overheard us, because afterwards they kept following me wherever I went. I tried to stay out in the open amongst the crowds as long as I could, but night quickly came and they cornered me before I could sneak off home. A-and, and… then… t-they...-Sniff-"

Using the same technique that I would usually use to pacify my baby brothers, I tried to help the poor kid calm down. “Shhhhhhhh… There there. It's okay, Nate; you can relax now. They're long gone and you're safe.”

This seemed to work, as the griffon child lifted his glasses briefly and wiped away the last of his tears. “T-thank you. I… I’m u-usually much stronger then this, Miss.”

“Hehe. Yeah, well, we all break down every now and then when stupid stuff like this happens.” I answered. Heh, I guess I'm speaking from experience.

“I-if… if I just didn’t have this stupid mark…”

And now we're back to the subject of his mysterious birth mark. I tried to inquire about it. “Have you had problems with it in the past?”

“Y-yes actually, but it mostly happened back in my homeland of the Roc-y Mountains.”

I held back another snicker. Thankfully he didn’t notice.

“I traveled across the sea to Equestria just so I could get away from it all but I… I guess I just can’t escape it.” He seems really bummed out about this little mark. I guess it makes sense though. If ponies think he’s some kind of pony wannabe, I’d hate to see what his fellow griffons think of the him.

“Well… for what it’s worth, it’s a very cool looking birth mark, Nate.”

“… Hehe. Thanks.”

“Not a problem.” I gave him another smile. Hopefully I'll be able to get one out of him, eventually. “So, do your par-, er, guardians know where you are right now?”

“My dad still lives, if that’s what you’re asking. And no, he wouldn’t know. We're currently separated from each other by the great dividing sea.”

I blinked at this. “Oh. Well then who watches you here in Manehatten?”

“H-how do you know you’re in Manehatten, Ms. Dragon, if you're stuck in here?”

“My two wardens never shut up. ‘Nuff said.” I deadpanned.

“Oh. Well... no one watches me here, I’m by myself.”

“... Really?” I asked, generally surprised that a kid this young (like CMC young) would be on his own in a place like this.

“I have my own apartment which my dad pays for.”

“Well that was really nice of him.”

Nathan finally gave me a genuine smile with his beak. “I tend to think so.”

Mission, 'give a smile and get a smile', has been a success!

Once again I chuckled “Hehe, not as nice as my place I’d bet!”

“A-are you talking about this dumpster, Ms. Dragon?”

Oh... oops. I almost bragged about my own apartment back on Earth (which was very sweet and brag worthy, thank you very much) there for a second. “Y-yes. Um, you see, this isn’t really a dumpster. Like I said, it’s actually a cider making machine, one that runs off my magic fire. I was trapped here by these two showtune ponies…”

Outside the walls, a voice cried out. “Oh thank Celestia! I found it, Flim!”

“Praise The Maker, Flam!”

Nathan and I went silent.

My voice lowered itself to a whisper. “N-no! Oh God no!”

“Y-you know about God, Ms. Dragon?”

I turned my attention back to Nate. “Not important right now, Nate! You’ve got to get out of here right now!

“W-what’s going on?!”

My voice was getting more frantic sounding by the second. “Those two ponies are evil! They hate non-ponies, so I don’t know what they’ll do to you if you stick around! You need to fly out of here while you still have the chance!”

“B-but I can’t fly yet! I’m not strong enough!”

“Ugh! Hold on…”

Putting all my concentration into controlling my tail, I lifted it as far off the ground as I could and then held it horizontally.

“J-jump off this!” I commanded.

“Butbutbutbu-”

"Get going!"

"Ahhh!"

Unfolding his wings, Nate lept off the floor and onto my tail. I lowered it slightly before flinging it skyward, granting the kid some thrust. His wings raised themselves into the air right before they pushed down powerfully, launching his small body straight out of the open hatch.

“What was that, Flam?!”

“I think it was a tiny griffon, brother of mine! Follow it! I’ll check the machine!”

“Got it!”

Oh no! I listened closely.

Clickclickclickclickclick!

That has to be Nathan running; his claws and paws striking the ground in rapid succession.

Clipclopclipclopclipclop!

Flim chasing him.

“Get back here!”

Come on Nate! Please make it!

Clipclopclipclop… clipclopclipclop.

“… Ah pony feathers!”

“Why did you stop your chase, Flim?”

“I lost him around the corner, Flam! He must have flown off... but did you honestly expect anything less from a griffon, brother of mine?”

“Heh. You’ve got a point there, brother of mine. Well it shouldn’t matter. It was just a kid after all! Not like anyponies going to believe what a kid says!”

Yes! Go Nathan! Go and be free!

Be… free…

… Wait.

The whole point of saving him was so he could save me!

Ugh! Stupid big brother (or would it be big sister now?) instincts took over my sense of self-preservation and made me do stupid things! I should have had him use his claws to cut me loose before springing him out… not that I was sure that he even could cut through these things... but still!

I done goofed!

Now I only have the self-satisfaction of having helped out another tortured soul...

Bah! Like that’s worth anything!

Twinkletwinkle

“Ow.”

And there’s that damn poking stick again

“It’s alive, Flim!”

“Oh, now that is a relief, brother of mine! What about the rest of the machine?”

“Well, at a glance; I can tell that the wheels seemed to have been stolen, the tubes have been smashed, and it seems as though somepony tried to break down the hatch with a rock.”

“Ah shoot.”

“Nothing that can’t be repaired, brother of mine.”

“No, I'm afraid that's not it. Once again, Flam, it looks like we will be forced to rely on... pushing.

“... -Sigh-... I guess the saying is true: there’s no rest for the successful, Fli-.”

I interrupted their argument. Might as well take advantage of an open hatch while it is open, I guess. “Actually, the saying is that there’s no rest for the wicked, something I feel fits you two much better!”

Flam groaned. “Lovely. The dragon seems to have maintained its’ 'wittiness', brother of mine.”

Zaaaaaapppp!

“AHHHHHHH!!!”

Flim spat on the ground. “But it seems that it’s still busted, Flam.”

“No point in crying over broken dragons, Flim. Let’s start moving this thing before somepony shows up.”

Sccccccccrrrrrreeeeeee!

OW MY BEEPING EARS!! It was like someone tried to rub two sticks of styrofoam together while simultaneously taking a rusty nail to a chalkboard!

And then they set everything on fire.

The whistles blared weakly as we moved along.

Toooooot….. shhhhhheeee….. t-tooooooo….

***^***

“Just… one… more… ally… way… Flim, and… we’ll… be… there!

“Sweet… baby… Luna… in… the… cradle… Flam! Why did we make this thing so heavy?!

Deciding to take a breather, the boys ceased moving the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 and stopped momentarily.

"-Huff-, -huff-, -huff-... A-at this rate, brother of mine, Celestia’s sun will have risen long before we get to the garage!”

Flam replied once he caught his own breath. “Well I’m sorry, Flim, but I don’t know any other unicorns in the area that could help us. Do you?!”

“Well... no... but we have other tools in our arsenal besides levitation, Flam! I think we should try winking it!”

“Flim, no. Every time you try to wink something it comes out on the other side on fire. We can't risk it... we need the dragon alive!

What?! Did they just say something about me?! I can’t tell! I think all the noise has deafened me… which might actually be a blessing in disguise!

“Well, let’s just take the dragon out momentarily and then wink it!” Flim suggested.

I heard that bit, though! “I agree with Flim’s plan!”

I think Flam just scoffed at my offer. Wait, he can hear me now? Before I could experiment with this new found knowledge, Flam suddenly addressed Flim. “Brother of mine; I don’t think you’ve noticed, but that dragon is clearly feral and dangerous. It also seems to personally hate us for reasons that I simply can’t comprehend. I don't want to risk it being out and about for even a second."

... Simply can’t comprehend?!

I’ll agree with the ‘feral’ and ‘hate them’ bits, but; “Don’t you dare claim that you don’t know why I’m pissed off at you two!”

Flam grunted. “Oh drat, Flim; I think there’s a problem with the muting spell applied to the hatch door. I can hear that blasted talker again...”

“Well isn't that just fantastic." Complained Flim. "... Oh, wait! I have just the thing, Flam!”

Creeaaakkkk…

The sound of the hatch opening. As it did, something was levitated down in front of me through the open hole. The unidentifiable item remained flouting, mere inches away from my muzzle, in a green glow. I guess Flim wants me to take it or something? Once I gripped it with my tongue, the aura ceased, and I was able to identify it as… a wrench. Wha?

“Bon Appétit!”

Slam!

The hatch then closed, leaving me thoroughly confused. Why would they give me a wrench?

...

... Wait…

They fed me off of metal bolts and screws.

So, does that mean…?

My eyes widened when, after a few seconds, I put two and two and two together and it didn’t add up to Matilda.

They just gave me the equivalent of a freaking milk bone!

Flankholes!

Bleh... Well, food is food I gu-

Squeak!

… Wha?

The brothers started snickering.

… I bit down on the wrench again.

Squeak!

Once the wrench produced the noise for a second time, the two brothers broke down into a laughing fit.

... And I broke down into a crying mess.

They had done it.

The Flim Flam brothers had successfully broken me.

T-the wrench... it’s a squeaky toy. T-they’re trying to distract me with a b-bucking squeaky toy.

-Sniff-

I’m d-drinking out a doggie bowl, being fed off of s-scraps, have to linger in my own w-waste, and now… this. I-I’m, -sob-, I'm nothing more than a dog now…

No... I’m less than that. At least dogs are shown love.

I…

-Sniff-

... I give up.

And the moment I did, all hell broke loose outside these metal walls

“SKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!”

“What in the blue blazes was that, Flam?!”

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I finally found you little punks!"

“F-forget the noise, Flim. I-isn't that the cow from earlier?!"

"I... I don't know, brother of mine. They all look the same to me..."

Click

“That knife looks strangely familiar though! Run for it, Flam!"

“Get back here you two!"

Clipclopclipclopclipclop!

Voices! So many voices! The shock of it all caused me to drop the wrench, allowing it to hit the floor. “W-what’s going on?!”

BANG!

Time seemed to slow down as, in slow motion, the hatch door above me literally exploded onto a shower of a million little pieces. On instinct I closed my eyes, but I opened them just long enough to discover what had caused such a thing to happen.

The perpetrator of the door's destruction was none other then a giant rock.

Like, a Tom Jr. sized rock.

Said rock came tumbling down into my room after valiantly murdering the door. It landed about a snout's distance away from my face, thankfully not crushing me.

The toy wrench, on the other claw, wasn't as fortunate. The item in question gave out one, final, pained squeak before exiting this world.

... R.I.P. Squeaky toy. You will not be missed.

Flapflapflap… flap

The sound of wings flapping unevenly.

Plop! Clickclick

The sound of a feathery body landing harshly on the rock, and the sound of the owner’s claw’s striking its surface as he corrected himself.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

There, standing before me with a look of determination in his eyes, was a young griffon with a fire red ruby clutched in his beak.

“N-Nate?”

Unable to answer me with the ruby in his mouth, Nathan De La Griffon instead decided to allow his actions to speak volumes higher. Raising himself to his hind legs, Nate brought his claws to the forefront. In one quick motion…

Shingshing!

His sharp, bony talons tore through the wall behind the metal cuffs…

Plop!

And I dropped to the floor…

I’m… free.

...

I'm fre- "Umbh!"

Not even giving me the second to relish in this turn of events, Nate spat out the fire ruby and stuffed it in my mouth with a free claw.

“Chew!” He commanded.

I was more willing to comply with Nate then I was with Flam, so I chewed the ruby in haste.

Huh... it’s kinda like eating a strawberry, only crunchier. I have a feeling, though, that Nate didn't bring it for taste testing. With this in mind, I hastened my pa- Whoa

And that’s when I hit the chewy, magic center.

I suddenly felt really energetic, like I had just drunk a full Redbull. The scars and pain were still present, but I felt as though I had enough energy to run or even fly if need be.

Perfect, cause I have a feeling I’m about to do both.

“Are you okay to walk?” Nate asked me hurriedly.

I raised myself to my feet and stretched out my limbs quickly. “Y-yes. Haven't been on my legs in weeks, but I think I can manage.”

Nate quickly nodded his head. “Good! We need to run for our lives! That cow isn’t going to hold them off forever! I’ve learned that she can have a bit of a, well, short attention spa-”

"-Huff-… -huff-… -gasp- Flam! The hatch is open!”

“CrapCrud!” Nate and I swore together at the same time. My new friend spoke up. “Follow me!”

The griffon then leaned down on the rock and launched himself into the air, effectively zooming out of the hatch. I quickly scaled the small boulder as well and proceeded to bend my knees. I've got no clue how to fly, but if I can just remember how I hugged Iron Will on my second day here…

Yeah, I remember now. All it took was a little hop, skip, and a...

Jump!

I pushed myself off the rock and flapped my wings once in sync. This was enough to get me well past the hatch door and high up into the air above it.

I’m out! I'm airborne! I'm free!

… But now what?

“Over here, Ms. Dragon!”

While still souring upwards, I did my best to rotate my head without screwing up my ascent. Nate was flailing his arms wildly into the air, trying to get my attention from a nearby fire escape. My momentum was starting to wane, so I panicked and flapped my wings as hard as I could until I was high enough for him to stretch out over the railing...

Clap!

... And grab my claws with his own, just in the nick of time. I lifted up my legs and placed my feet on the bars, steadying myself over the edge. Once I was good and steady, we both took a collective breath.

ZAAAAPPPP!

Green lightning struck the railing next to us.

“Get back here right now, dragon!"

“… Um, Nate? Do you think you can lift me up now?” I asked timidly.

“O-on it,” he squeaked.

Using all of his strength, Nate lifted me up over the edge just as another bolt struck the railing where my tail had been.

“N-now what?!”

Nathan took the second to catch his breath. “W-we need to climb!”

He didn't need to tell me twice.

Thus we started scaling the stairway as quickly as our limbs could carry us. More bolts of lightning and some normal magic bolts struck the side of the fire escape as we went along at top speeds. Eventually, we were too high up for their magic to reach.

“I got it, Flam!”

“Flim, no!”

Pop!

I heard a familiar magical popping sound from the alleyway now below us. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I knew I had heard it before somewhere... but we were too high up now for it to matter, so I didn't give them a moment's thought.

Once we reached the rooftop and exited the fire escape, we both sat down to catch our breath...

Pop!

Only to jump right back up as Flim and Flam suddenly materialized in front of us in a green explosion! Teleporting?! They can freaking teleport?! How OP are these tw-

“…Umbh!”

Flim then promptly vomited and fell over face first into his own mess, while Flam just stood there with his eyes doing a perfect Derpy impression. The brothers were now covered in about as much black ash as I was and both their hats seemed to be on fire.

Okay… I guess ‘winking' isn't as easy as it looks. I’m suddenly very grateful that I didn’t come here as a unicorn...

Flam was still out of it, so Nate and I tiptoed around him and proceeded to run towards the other end of the roof.

“Glide!” Nathan called out.

“W-what?!”

Stretching both of his wings out, Nate held the two appendages out and to the sides of his body. He then leapt off the building…

… And I made it to the edge just in time to watch as he soared to the rooftop of the building next to us.

He called out. “Come on!”

-Gulp-

“O-okay!” I responded.

I took a few steps back and got on all fours. I flared my wings out and held them to the side. “Come on, it’ll be just like that cliff back in Trottingham. Just hold them there and you’ll be fine... hopefully.”

I started the countdown. “5… 4…”

Flam finally snapped out of magically induced trance. “Ugh… hey!”

“321 go!”

I rushed forward and jumped just in time to avoid another magic charge. More magic bursts flew through the air as I made my descent. After a grueling ten seconds of airtime and avoiding fire, I landed into Nathan’s waiting arms.

“Hold still.” He ordered.

“H-huh?” I asked. I suddenly felt a tug in the opposite direction. Looking backwards, I saw that my tail was now encased in a green glow. “N-Nathan!”

He grunted. “I see it. Just… hold… on!”

With a mighty yank the glow ceased and we were both sent tumbling onto the rooftop.

I got back up on all fours. “A-are we safe?”

Nathan returned to all fours as well, coming up to about eye level with me. “-Huff-… -huff-. I-if those two were normal sized ponies, I’d say yes. But with those long legs…”

“W-what?” I asked fearfully.

Flam suddenly disappeared over the corner of the other roof. He then reappeared and jumped the distance flawlessly!

“… With those long legs I’d wager a guess that he’s probably a bit of an athlete,” Nate finished.

I hissed. “Oh come on!”

“We just have to keep running! Follow me, Ms. Dragon!”

I followed him on all fours, as this was my fastest form of locomotion in my current state, and we continued our roof hopping. We still had a bit of a lead on him, but he was rapidly catching up. Come on Nathan (Nathans?), think!

We glided down to another rooftop but Flam simply jumped this distance as well. This gave me an idea…

“I-I’m going to try something, Nate! You jump first on the next edge!”

The griffon nodded in response. When we reached it, Nathan glided across and Flam prepared to jump. I took the opportunity to turn my head around quickly and blow smoke at the pony, covering his eyes in black ash before I glided across as well.

When I landed I turned around again and surveyed my handy work. Flam still jumped but his landing was horrible! He landed in a heap on the other side! This didn’t stop him for long, however, as after a single second he got back up and started rubbing the ash out of his eyes. Nathan and I kept running.

“That didn’t work!”

“Why don’t you just breathe fire at him, Ms. Dragon?!”

“I-I can’t! I don’t want to kill him… even if he is a flankhole...”

“Ponies are pretty tough though!" Nate hurriedly explained. "If anything, one fireball would simply cause him to stop long enough for us to escape!”

“Oh… well, even so, I can’t! I have a ruptured flame sac! I can only breathe black smoke right now!”

I coughed out a small cloud to illustrate.

While not letting up on our escaping, Nathan turned his head and watched as the dirty ball of fluff flouted up into the sky. “… That gives me an idea! We can do it on that next rooftop where he can’t see us! Come on!”

“G-got it!”

As we jumped the latest gap, I held my breath and remained silent.

***^***

Clipclopclipclopclipclop!

The sound of galloping horseshoes striking the hard rooftop.

Flam cried out. “Where… are… you?!

Twinkletwinkletwinkle…

The sound of magic sweeping across the area.

“Where… are you?!

Clipclopclipclopclipclop!

The sound of desperation. Flam had started running up to all four edges of the rooftop, peering over each in an attempt to discover where his two targets had fled to.

“… Damn it all!”

Clipclopclipclop… clip

The sound of Flam leaving, jumping down onto the fire escape and exiting the rooftop from it.

“…Phew!”

Nathan and I releasing our held breaths. I then promptly collapsed into the fluffy white cloud we were hiding from overlooking the rooftop.

Nate is a freaking genius! As soon as we were out of Flam’s sight, he asked me to breathe out as much black smoke as I could. I did as he asked and he made short work of combining all the little puffballs into one solid mass large enough for the both of us. With a quick push, we launched it into the air and then we used our wings to leap up on to it. I was initially worried that Flam would think it odd that there was a single black cloud in the night sky, but then Nathan surprised me again by striking the cloud with his claw and shaking it violently. Before my eyes the cloud went from black to white as the ashes fell over the side of the building below us.

“Nathan… that… that was amazing!

Nathan blushed. “My father taught me some weather controlling techniques while teaching me the basics of flight. It’s no big deal.”

I was still gushing. “But that was so cool! I didn’t know you could even do that with a cloud!”

He rubbed the back of his head with his claw. “Well… pegasi use their hooves to buck clouds, and griffon’s use their claws to manipulate clouds. It’s just how it works. To my knowledge, dragons don’t have their own style of weather controlling, so I was initially worried that you wouldn’t be able to walk on clouds like me. Hehe, I’m really glad I was wrong about that!”

“Hehe, yeah... me too, Nate.”

We simple sat there in silence after that, neither one of us quite sure how to continue the conversation. I mean, what are you supposed to say after someone just did, well, that for you? Who just saved your life? Even better, what do you say to the kid who just saved your life? Who came literally swooping down, with a rose in his mouth (well, a red ruby, in Nate's case), and saved you? Ugh! My mind has been thrown into pure chaos! I can't even imagine what's going through Nate's head right now, through the head of the kid who just selfishly went out of his way to make all this happen for who knows what reason...

... I decided to be the big girl and ask him the important question.

“… Hey, Nate?”

“… Yes, Ms. Dragon?”

“W-why did you save me?”

Nathan looked away and sighed. “I… was wrong about you, Miss... and maybe about dragons as well. After I ran away, I felt really guilty about just abandoning you after you had saved me, well, twice. I decided to watch you from the shadows as you moved along, and it was from there that I watched those two ponies zap you and yell at you repeatedly. A-and I heard you scream that blood curdling cry of pain so… so I just…”

He hugged himself in order to try to calm down. “I… I just didn’t want to see that happen again; so I went back home, grabbed one of the rubies from my old church suit, sharpened my claws, and I came running back.”

He took a shaky breath. “I-I bumped into Mrs. MooMooBelle along the way, discovered that she was also looking for those two unicorns so I lead her to them, and after all that I just waited for my time to strike. I-it… it… t-that… that was probably the scariest thing I had ever done in my entire, life!

Nathan started shivering. “B-but I’m glad I did it. Those two ponies just kept ignoring you! They zapped you yet never acknowledged you were there! Like… like how grownups ignore me sometimes…”

I placed one of my claws on Nate’s shoulder reassuringly while also giving him a warm smile.

This action seemed to calm him down quite a bit. “I’m… I’m not going to lie, I-I still fear dragons a lot. I don’t know if I’m ever going to get over what they did to my family… but I think I can at least give you a try, Ms. Dragon.”

I continued smiling. “I think I can live with that... but could you please stop calling me ‘Ms. Dragon'?”

Nathan looked away again. “Er, um actually no... I can’t. It’s considered bad luck, to my people, to know a dragon’s name. It’s like asking to be eaten. Heck, I wasn’t even supposed to give you my name either! It was something about you being able to use it to steal my soul or something ridiculous like that!” He looked down sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, but I have to hold on to some of my beliefs, Ms. Dragon. I-it’s just how I was raised.”

Ah bummer, and here I had finally come up with a good Equestria name as well! Oh well...

“I understand, Nate, but can I ask you just one last question? Do… d-does your people have any rules concerning hugging?”

Nathan blinked. “Hugging? Well, no, but I don’t se-”

The adrenaline and fear of the last half hour of hell finally left me as I gripped Nathan in the tightest hug I could muster on a worn out body and an empty stomach. We were the same size, so the hug felt natural and I had no fear of accidentally hurting him.

Thank God for that too... because I desperately needed to do this right now.

“T-thank you, Nathan. You saved me…”

Then, without the slightest hint of dignity or respect for so called 'social order', I, the adult, cried on the child's shoulder. “Thank you so much!”

After recovering from my sudden outburst, the griffon returned the hug, using his feathery wings in the embrace as well. “It was no problem at all… oh darn it, what was it that my old teacher used to say...? Ah! Now I remember… ‘Please dry those tears, I must implore, for I must ask, what else are friends for?’”

“… Heh. She sounds like she was a wonderful person, Nate.”

Nathan paused for a second. He was probably confused as to how I knew it was a she (total shot in the dark, actually), but this silent moment lasted no more than that brief second as he simply responded to my comment by hugging me even tighter. “She sure was, Ms. Dragon. She sure was…”

Celestia’s sun rose in the east, illuminating the city of Manehatten in an almost holy light.

... This was the first time I had seen the sun in almost a month.

I… was free.

Free…

… But what do I do now?

I need to get home, yes…

… But I’ve already been gone a month.

...

I-I have no idea what to do! I’ve been here a month already and it’s only now that the weight of this whole situation has struck me! I’m… I’m lost!

Shuffle

The sound of Nathan’s feathers shifting around as they brushed my scaly back.

Well… at least I’m not alone anymore.

...

I guess all I can do now then…

… Is wait.

And thus I watched the most beautiful sunrise in my entire life with a new friend by my side

Author's Note:

Fan art by More Dakka!