//------------------------------// // Talks of Change // Story: The Rise of Species: Dragons // by Zarmflamekin //------------------------------// “You know, the other four of Tiamat’s brood?” Spike elaborated. “Tiamat was never known to have bred, she considered it beneath her.” Dazzle explained. “Spike, this is why I asked.” Twilight held out a wing to stop Spike from retorting. She then drew herself up to address Dazzle. “Dazzle, I think what you have recorded and passed down through generations may have become distorted in time.” Dazzle leveled a glare on Twilight, bent on calling her a liar once more, but the sentiment in which she delivered the news made her pause. It wasn’t condescending, she wasn’t calling her out as wrong, merely misinformed. “Would you like to explain otherwise?” “It’s… sort of not my place.” Twilight chuckled as she withdrew her wing. “Short to say that somepony did actually take an interest in dragon history and tracked down somebody who had a different version of events.” “Too which Pyrathy attested to fact.” Spike added. “Right.” Twilight nodded. “Pyrathy told us that what we knew was true, and he went on to tell us why Tiamat went on her rampage, to which you are right, she saw weakness… but in her own children.” “But Tiamat never clutched.” Dazzle restated. “Which makes me think you may have something backwards.” Twilight said. “So, a question, who came first, Tiamat or Pyrathy?” “Father.” Dazzle said instantaneously. “To which is our first problem.” Twilight nodded her head solemnly. “Also, what does she look like?” Spike asked. Dazzle looked up for a second. “To us, Tiamat was Father’s first daughter. She was practically His next incarnation, if what some other tribes would be believed. She was a Crawler, one who naturally walks on all fours, like Father, and also Winged, again like Father. She was a duller red than Father and near half his size, still considered one of the largest dragons to have existed.” Twilight gave a sad smile, knowing she would have to ask questions that would be breaking down this dragoness’ understanding of her own history. “And what of Tiamat’s mother?” Dazzle shook her head. “She was never mentioned, as many records we have of her time were just documenting things like the Purge or other major changes. Specific dragons of tangential importance are rarely mentioned.” “Well, as we know it, it’s the other way around.” Spike said as he twirled his claws in a counterclockwise motion. “Tiamat came from a concoction of raw magic and is actually twice the size of Pyrathy, and his mother.” Spike and Twilight were silent after that to allow Dazzle to absorb the blow of information that said her Father was not in fact the first dragon. She seemed to take it rather well. “If you say so.” She grunted. “Really?” Twilight and Spike asked simultaneously. “I’ll start questioning your legitimacy after all of your statements. It is not uncommon for some clans to have varied accounts of the past. Wyverns, as such, have more detailed and condemning recordings of the Purge than those clans that still revere its cleanse. Though, the extreme lengths of your changes are already hard enough to comprehend.” “Well, then there’s also the fact that Pyrathy is an asexual reproduction of a five headed Tiamat who also had four other similar offspring.” Spike dropped, making Dazzle comically fall backwards. “Maybe pertinent information to contradict her own would have been a better start.” Twilight whispered as she leaned over to Spike, who was barely holding his chuckling back as Dazzle reoriented herself. “But it does.” Spike replied before addressing Dazzle. She sat cross legged once more, her claws on her knees and her wings spread just a bit more to counteract any similar reaction. “Sorry about that, but it comes back to why Tiamat went on her rampage.” “Ok, just, h-hold on.” Dazzle held her hands up to stop the two from talking. “Did it at all have to do with Tiamat purging weakness from the world?” “Yes.” Spike nodded firmly. “But a bit more specifically, the weakness of her other children’s children.” Spike didn’t want to elaborate more until Dazzle asked for it, because even he could see that this was having a mental toll on Dazzle. Dazzle steepled her claws, closed her eyes, and took two deep breaths. “What did Tiamat find wrong in the other dragons?” She finally asked. “Well, to be accurate, we are the only dragons. Pyrathy is the forefather of all dragons, no doubt about that.” Spike stated, Dazzle’s features seeming to relax at this. “It’s the four other races that popped up that Tiamat didn’t like.” Dazzle’s eyes snapped open at this. “What other races?” Her eyes dared Spike to tell her. “Kelpi, chimera, changelings, and windigos.” Spike rattled off by memory. After realizing what he he just did, Spike winced in anticipation of Dazzle’s outrage. Yet, instead of anger, there was only confusion from Dazzle. “If He is an asexual reproduction of Tiamat, then the other four must be as well. How then, do these races exist as our cousins?” She asked as her head cocked to the side. For the next while, Twilight and Spike explained the exact depiction of Timat and regaled Dazzle with the stories of Serenava, Tiervu, Miserhaze, and Animion, and how they came to create their four child species. Dazzle never interrupted, only listening intently to all that they had to say. She was intrigued to learn how Tiamat came about and of her subsequent confinement, as to be honest, her own telling had usually wrapped up with Pyrathy killing Tiamat, inceinerating her so that not even ash remained. And if her spite and apathy were as strong as legend stated, purging her own children did not seem beyond Dazzle. “So, in the end, Tiamat is still sealed away in her island?” Dazzle finally asked her first question. “As far as we know, yes.” Twilight affirmed. Dazzle lay her head on her perched fingers. “I will be truthful, much of what you told me sounds made up. On the other hand, however, this is far too elaborate and complex for a simple prank. And if Tiamat’s curse is true, then I can see why Father rarely bids us to see him.” Her eyes cast downward. “And I can also see why he has called me.” “Really?” Spike perked up, interested in why another dragon had been called. Dazzle didn't seem as happy about the fact. “I am… abnormal by my clan’s standards.” Dazzle admitted, her folded claws falling flat in her lap as she twiddled her thumbs, her wings sagging behind her. “I am fully adept and able by our standards, but I am not seen as… strong.” “I’m not sure I follow.” Twilight said. “Like I stated before, you took my grab.” Dazzle pointed out, looking Twilight dead in the eye. “My goal was that pony’s armor, and you took it away from me.” “Because you were chasing him!” Twilight defended, her feathers ruffling. Dazzle just gave a small smile. “And that is where I am not considered strong. I chased to take what I wanted, and did not kill that pony where he stood. I saw no point in spilling blood, others of my clan would not be so considerate.” Both Twilight and Spike paled at the implication. Dazzle seemed to shift uncomfortably as she contemplated saying more. She glanced at Spike and swallowed before continuing. “I’m also considered weak for preferring gems over meat, as gems don’t provide enough nutrition for the strongest dragons.” Dazzle looked down at her claws as they stopped moving, shame beginning to burn in her cheeks. Spike noted the confession with a bit of concern, and walked up to the forlorn dragoness, placeing his own claw over hers. There was a bit of a jolt back at his touch, but she stayed still after. “Dazzle, being strong isn’t all there is to being a dragon.” Spike confided. “Not to say I haven’t always wanted to be a big, tough dragon, but there are always things we can do.” Spike chuckled. “There was a time I was reading a magic comic book that sucked me, Twilight, and a few others into it, and only by being myself did I help save the day. Not by being the strongest or meanest, but by using my small size and… clumsiness.” Spike chuckled a bit more, a tint of red coming to his own face. “And hey, I like gems too. Rubies are my favorites.” “I’ve always had a taste for emeralds.” Dazzle’s eye looked up to Spike’s, a thin, happy grin spreading across her face. Spike smiled back, and even Twilight was smiling at the exchange. It wouldn’t hurt for Spike to actually have a friend he could talk to on more than a base level. After a moment, however, Dazzle’s smile dropped into a more serious, neutral face. “But now the problem I have is this, if you are to see to our race’s continuation, how do you plan to do so?” At that, both Spike and Twilight grimaced. “We were contemplating the same thing, actually.” Spike said as he drew his claw back from Dazzle. “He just told me to change you. He wasn’t very elaborative on his plans, though it’s not like we haven’t had to do the same beforehand.” Dazzle closed her eyes and nodded somberly. “That does seem to be Father’s way.” Dazzle opened her eyes and looked to Twilight. “And how have you changed ponies before?” “What?” Twilight scrunched her brows in confusion, before her eyes widened in comprehension. “Oh, no, we haven’t done something like this before. Spike meant we’ve had to work on very little to go on before.” “Ok, how did that work.” Dazzle insisted, to which Twilight could only chuckle and cringe. “It was mainly stopping world ending scenarios before. So, more stopping a catastrophic change than starting one.” Dazzle’s eyes narrowed at the comparison. “We were mostly thinking about starting at the Dragon King and working our way down the chain.” Spike hopped in before he felt it was too late. Dazzle’s eyes flicked over to the hopeful drake before closing and letting out a deep sigh. “That’ll never work.” Dazzle shook her head. “’King’ Torch is only as such for being the biggest and ‘strongest’ dragon there is.” Dazzle said as she added the quotes to the appropriate words, making Twilight grimace at the implications. “And you don’t agree I assume?” Twilight asked. “But doesn’t he deal with the laws between dragons and ponies?” Spike asked. “Yes, on both accounts.” Dazzle nodded, her arms coming to cross her chest. “But that’s about it in terms of being our king. We owe him nothing, and he gives us nothing in return. The only ones who listen to him obediently are those of his own clan. The only real power he has is within the bloodstone scepter, and that was only made to call dragons to a meeting for decisions he can’t make himself. As for being the ‘strongest’, it’s mostly that other clans didn’t want to deal with other races. Torch is merely a figurehead of dragons to other races, nothing more.” “Ugh.” Twilight groaned as her head drooped, her mane falling to hide her face. “Then what can we do?” Dazzle shrugged. “You’d just have to meet with each clan.” “And how many of those are there?” Spike asked. Dazzle bit her bottom lip, the tips of her teeth showing, as she looked to her side. “There’s no solid answer, clans can break and form at any time.” She said slowly. “last I remember, there were about three…” Twilight’s head perked up. “Hundred.” Twilight’s ears fell back against her head, groaning and hanging her head once more. “He’s just asking for the impossible now.” Twilight bemoaned. “Hey, c’mon Twi, you thought making friends was impossible, and look how that turned out.” Spike tried to cheer Twilight up, but she only threw her head back and sighed. “But that was only my need to do so Spike, Pyrathy is talking about the entirety of the dragon race. This is like asking me to convince Canterlot that changelings aren’t all that bad, but ten times worse!” That made Spike blink. “Huh.” Spike said as he began to rub his chin in contemplation. Twilight noticed this change and became confused. “What? What did I say?” “What if this was like convincing ponies that changelings weren’t that bad?” Spike offered, making Twilight furrow her brow. “Yeah, and that would never happen.” Twilight pointed out. “Maybe not alone, but you wouldn’t tackle that alone, would you Twilight?” Twilight huffed. “If we’re taking this hypothetical seriously, then no, I wouldn’t. I would bring along… my friends…” Twilight blinked as something began to dawn on her. “From what I know of changelings, they are not that pleasing to be around.” Dazzle commented. “But what are you two getting at?” “We wouldn’t start with convincing the whole city of Canterlot to accept changelings, just a few. And we wouldn’t be talking to them alone, we’d get our friends behind us to back us up.” Spike grinned up at Dazzle. “So we’re not going to try and change every dragon at once, we’re going to start small and let the word spread from there. And I know where to start.” To that, both Dazzle and Twilight quirked their attention at him, asking simultaneously “Where?” “Luna said there was a dragon settlement not to far from here about the size of Ponyville. And I figure a base that large is going to be perfect to go off of.” Twilight smiled at the idea, refiguring the total population of Ponyville to be somewhere near three hundred ponies alone, never mind visitors and other races. Dazzle, on the other hand, was not too pleased with the proposition, to which Spike noticed. Her cold, vacant stare told him she wasn’t looking at him anymore, but probably a very huge problem she saw in his plan. “Dazzle, is something wrong?” Spike asked, making Twilight look over and see the same vacant stare, her own frown forming at the sight. Dazzle’s eye clenched close as she shook her head. “That won’t work either.” “Well why not?” Spike huffed as he put his fists on his hips. “Because that’s my clan.” Twilight quirked an eyebrow at that assertion. “And how do you know Spike’s not talking about another clan?” “Because this is Star Clan land. Any dragon trying to stake a claim of land anywhere around here comes to my clan beforehand. And the only place near here that has any sort of size to it is the main clan burrow. And I’ll say it now, nobody there will listen to you. It took me seeing you two leave Father to even think of listening to you.” “But you did listen to us!” Spike exclaimed. “All it could take is your help and we get something moving!” Dazzle leveled her gaze on Spike. “There is nobody there who will listen to me either.” Dazzle and Spike stayed like that, holding each other’s gaze, Spike’s fist trembling slightly before he stamped a foot before turning back toward the cavern. “Well it’s the best thing we’ve got right now, and I’m not going to say we didn’t even try.” “Spike, wait!” Twilight called out before scampering to her hooves to follow after the quick drake. He didn’t slow down at all as she trot up alongside him. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?” “I’m not sure.” Spike huffed as he kept his pace. “But I’m going to do something.” “Well I know what you’re not doing.” Twilight proclaimed as the two once more came to their exit. Spike merely looked up at her expectantly. “You’re not going to that clan.” “What? Are you going to stop me?” “Yes!” Twilight’s wings flared open. “Just hearing about it sounds horrible, much less letting you anywhere near it. You’re much better off coming back to the library and looking for somewhere more receptible to change first.” “She is right.” Dazzle said as she began walking up to them on all fours, wings once more close to her sides. “And like you said before, many would gut you on the spot for many of the things you do. I would suggest a clan that takes near to no action against outsiders. They may not receive you warmly, but they tend to be sluggish in their actions.” “Ugh, and that’s your problem!” Spike sighed as he rolled his eyes and turned to bodily face the the two. “You’re both trying to be so safe about this, but this isn’t going to be safe work. And seriously?” Spike looked over to Dazzle. “A clan that doesn’t take action? That defeats the whole point of what we’re trying to do!” That made Twilight think back for a second. “And… what exactly are you thinking of doing?” “Correcting history of course.” Spike looked back to Twilight. “Isn’t that what we’re doing?” After thinking for a moment, Twilight sighed as her wings fell back against her sides as she planted her hoof on her face. Dazzle also gave Spike an inquisitive look as he seemed perplexed by Twilight’s reaction. “Spike, just because we have an alternative history to dragons than what is widely accepted, that doesn’t mean telling them about it will change anything. So what if Tiamat was Pyrathy’s mother or he was her father, it doesn’t change the fact that there was a Purge and that Tiamat isn’t around, or that there are rifts between dragon communities.” “All right, then what about telling dragons that Pyrathy still exists? That’s sure to shake some foundations.” Spike tried again. “And we already know.” Dazzle said flatly. “And it’s not like Father wants us here. The fewer dragons who know he’s here, the better off He is. Besides, He sends the Dream Call to any He really needs to speak to, purge taint or not.” “All right, then what about… what about… Arg!” Spike kicked a stone into the cavern in frustration. “Why is this so hard? Why did Pyrathy have to be so vague about what he wanted? What am I supposed to change even? It’s not like there’s anything exactly wrong with being a dragon! Sure, the few I’ve met have been a bit antisocial and off putting, but it’s not like they're…” Spike stopped mid rant as he remembered what he saw not too long ago. “Cruel. That’s our problem Twi.” Spike looked to Twilight. “The problem that they're cruel?” Twilight asked. “That’s just how dragons are.” Dazzle said. “But we’re not!” Spike said in exhaustion. “Just look between you and me." Spike flicked a claw between himself and Dazzle. "We’ve talked, we’ve exchanged ideas and experiences! And the only time I was really cruel, I just spiraled out of control until I was snapped out of it. I think this is just like then, only a lot more deeply rooted.” Dazzle looked down at Spike in disbelief. “You? Cruel?” She chuckled. Spike’s cheeks began to heat up as he looked away. “Heh, yeah. One of my birthday parties went a bit overboard and I began to hoard everything I could find.” Dazzle seemed to contemplate this for a moment before her eyes widened and began to back up toward Pyrathy’s den. “A greed growth?” She breathed. “Uh, sure?” Spike glanced at Twilight, her own confusion and concern for Dazzle’s actions apparent. “H-how?” “Uh, pretty sure I just told you, I hoarded stuff.” Dazzle shook her head, but her eyes never left Spike. “N-no, how are you still like this?” “Like what?” “Like a whelp!” Dazzle snapped. “You should be tearing through anything and everything for your hoard!” There was a quiver in her accusation, somewhere between uncertainty and fear. Greed was never something a dragon overcame, greed was a never ending and ever escalating source to a dragon. Greed dragons were either to be driven out, or slain. Spike, however, knew nothing of what Dazzle knew. “Well, I mean, I did, but-“ Spike began before being cut off. “But nothing!” Dazzle snapped again, her eyes mere pinpricks now. “Out of everything you have claimed, that is the one lie I will not believe.” Her wings were beginning to flare, her claws scratched at the stone beneath her, flexing to either attack or flee. Spike was feeling unhappy at this progression, because this ‘greed growth’ was one thing he for sure knew to be a fact, it happened to him after all. He frowned and scrunched his brow as he took in Dazzle's posture and actions. As he glanced at Dazzle’s claws, assessing their intent, he saw underneath them, and saw the red stone turning a darker shade. This wouldn’t have peaked any interest if it had not been for the darker shade beginning to slowly creep outward. Spike experimentally dug at the ground beneath himself with his own foot, but nothing seemed to change when he did it. “Spike!” Twilight yelled as she tackled Spike to the side, all of his orientation leaving him as he felt a gust pass by. The two tumbled for a second before both landed on their sides against the cave wall. “Ugh...What happened?” Spike asked as he began to rub the side of his head. “What were you thinking!?” Twilight berated, making Spike flinch. “You saw how pent up she was getting! Why did you antagonize her?” “What?” Spike asked incredulously as he stood up. “I didn’t antagonize her!” “Then why did you scrape the ground?” Twilight asked as she too got to her hooves. “I was checking if…ugh” Spike facepalmed. “She probably can’t see it either.” “See what? The red stone?” Twilight asked. “Yeah.” Spike replied as he walked back over to where Dazzle had taken off. The claw marks were still a darker shade of red then the surrounding stone, but their spreading cracks had stopped advancing, not getting more than an inch from the scratches. “When she started scratching the ground, it started getting darker, and spreading, but when I did it, nothing happened.” “Really?” Twilight walked up beside spike as her horn began to glow brighter as a spell was cast over her lighting spell, and the scratches in the floor began to softly pulse purple, and after a second it stopped. She sighed in disappointment. “I can’t tell any difference between the rock. Whatever you’re seeing Spike, I can’t sense it. Maybe it was just something Dazzle could do.” At the thought of Dazzle, and her sudden departure, Spike jumped to attention. “We need to get to the entrance Twi.” He said as he began to climb onto Twilight’s back. She shifted near automatically to help him up, even as she considered his urgent tone. “What’s the rush? I’m sure the Guard can handle-“ Twilight’s eyes grew in enlightenment. “Dazzle.” Twilight immediately began to gallop toward the tunnel exit, Spike gripping her mane and sides, she jumped out into the gigantic cavern, banking right as her wings snapped open, hoping nothing happened to the unsuspecting guards who were about to meet a scared dragoness.