//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire // by Vedues //------------------------------// It was already dark by the time Cliff reached the home he shared with Fluttershy. Cleanup duty in the cafeteria took up a lot of time. He paused as the front porch came into view, revealing a pacing figure. “Hey, Spirit. What’s going on?” Spirit looked up and smiled nervously as his older brother approached. “Hey, Cliff, where’s Flutters?” “She flew into Ponyville to see Pinkie. They’re planning a party for my birthday next month.” Cliff walked past his brother and opened the door. “You don’t sound very excited.” “It makes Fluttershy happy to throw me a birthday party, so I let her.” Cliff shrugged and stepped inside. “You know, if you wanted to talk, you could have waited inside.” Spirit followed him into the living room. “It just feels weird walking into someone’s house when they aren’t there. Blame it on pony culture.” “Fair enough.” Cliff climbed into the nest and leaned back against a mound of pillows and pet toys. “So what’s going on?” Spirit fidgeted uncomfortably at the edge of the nest. “This is going to sound weird, but do you promise not to get angry at Autumn?” That couldn’t be a good sign. Cliff nodded slowly. “I promise.” “Use the Stillness.” Definitely not a good sign. Cliff closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Like most wyrms, he had been taught to use the Stillness since infancy. Bits of amusement, worry, love, annoyance, and dozens of other emotions faded away, leaving his mind clear. “Okay, how bad is it?” Spirit paused, and his face took on the tranquil expression of one wrapped in the Stillness. “This is going to take a while.” He climbed into the nest as well, resting on his back a few feet away from his brother. “You remember about a year ago when I was thinking of proposing to Autumn?” Cliff nodded. “Well, I actually did.” He took a deep breath. “She said no.” Wait, she what?! Even without emotions, Cliff’s mind struggled to come to grips with what he’d just heard. “That fight you got in,” he guessed, “you told me it was over something silly but that you would hold off asking her to marry you until it was resolved. It was actually over her turning you down, wasn’t it?” Spirit nodded unhappily. “She said that … she just doesn’t think marriage is for her. I wanted to know why, of course, but all she’s willing to tell me is that it’s because of her father. She even asked me not to look into it on my own.” “It must be part of her burden,” Cliff said. Most wyrms had at least one burden, a memory that they simply couldn’t bear to face. Ponies had them too, but they generally called it trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder. “That’s what I figured too.” Spirit stared up at the ceiling. “She never talks about her father, and I’ve given up trying to change that.” Cliff sighed. As if his brother’s life didn’t have enough drama already. “Okay, so you want my help changing her mind or something?” Spirit fidgeted uncomfortably. “Actually, that isn’t what I need your help with.” Cliff pressed a hand over his eyes and groaned. “Oh Stars above, there’s more?” “Yeah.” Spirit chuckled. “You know me, I can’t ever let my life be normal.” There was certainly some truth to that. Spirit had a talent for getting himself into complicated situations. He almost seemed to do it on purpose sometimes. “Let me guess,” Cliff said. “You have to get married in another week because of some obscure law about Equestrian royalty.” As adopted brothers to Twilight, both wyrms were technically Equestrian princes. That was doubly the case for Spirit, as Celestia considered him to be her son as well. Spirit laughed. “Not quite. Actually, it’s Autumn again …” “Of course it is.” Spirit didn’t respond for a moment, then he quickly said, “Yesterday, she told me that she wants to be intimate with me. She knows that wyrm culture really frowns on sex outside of marriage, but Equestrian culture is a lot more okay with it, and in the Crystal Empire especially it isn’t a big deal at all. Autumn doesn’t want to pressure me into anything, which is why she waited so long to bring it up, and she didn’t try to defend it at all. She just told me that she wants it and asked me to decide for myself if I do too.” He was gasping for air by the end. “Whew, I don’t know how Pinkie Pie can say so much in one breath.” Autumn wants to be intimate with Spirit? Cliff closed his eyes and winced. Oh Stars, I did not need that mental image. Fighting down the urge to gag, he said, “Okay, and how exactly does this relate to Autumn not wanting to get married?” “Because normally I’d want to wait until marriage, but that might not be an option. I know it would make her happy if I say yes, but she also won’t let me give up some of my lifespan to extend hers unless we’re married.” Cliff could only stare at his brother for a few seconds. “How do you even get yourself into these insane situations?” “I don’t know!” Spirit flopped back against the edge of the nest. “Her exact words were, ‘It would be an insult to let you give up nearly half your lifespan for a selfish mare who can’t even promise a normal lifespan to you.’ So yeah, no marriage, no extending her life.” It didn’t take an expert to realize that Spirit’s emotions were starting to bleed through the Stillness. “So how can I help?” Spirit smiled weakly. “I want to know what you would do in my situation.” Cliff thought about it. “Do you want me to answer as a wyrm, as a citizen of Everfree Village, or as your brother?” Spirit elbowed the pillow behind him. “All three, I guess.” “Well, wyrms see marriage as a promise of complete unity and devotion, that they’ll work through any and all arguments or trials that come up. Intimacy, the complete union of two beings, is the outward display of that promise, and so the act without the vow is just a lie. However, part of the reason wyrms are so firm in their stance about marriage is because the hatchlings from such a union deserve to be raised by loving parents. Wyrms and ponies can’t have children, so that doesn’t really apply to you, and furthermore, you weren’t raised as a wyrm, so forcing those cultural values on you would be idiotic. “As a citizen of Everfree,” Cliff continued, “we’re told to accept other cultures and standards, and most stallions would jump at the chance to be intimate with a beautiful mare like Autumn. You’ve also been together for a long time, and no one can doubt your devotion to each other. I can’t think of any good reason why you shouldn’t, and I know Autumn would appreciate it if you did. “Finally, as your brother, I know that Twilight, her parents, and our parents are all pretty firm in their stance about waiting until marriage. However, your situation is complicated and the choice should ultimately be yours. Waiting with Fluttershy was the right choice for me, but you’re not me, and I’m not you.” Cliff shrugged apologetically. “So I guess my answers are, ‘no,’ ‘yes,’ and ‘I don’t know,’ in that order.” Spirit groaned. “That isn’t very helpful.” “Sorry.” Cliff scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “How did things go when you talked to Autumn about it?” The younger wyrm frowned slightly. “I told you that she wanted me to decide for myself.” Now it was Cliff’s turn to groan. “Seriously, Spirit? You’re facing an important decision about your relationship with Autumn, and your first move wasn’t to talk it out with Autumn?” “She didn’t want to push me into anything.” Spirit’s tone was just a little defensive. Cliff facepalmed. “Spirit, the next time you see your marefriend, explain to her that understanding her point of view isn’t the same as being manipulated by it. Listen to all of her thoughts, hopes, and fears. Tell her your own. Sleep on the matter. Talk to her again, and accept that she might have come to a different conclusion than your own.” “… Do you think that will work?” “Even if it doesn’t answer your question, it will definitely help your relationship.” Cliff got up and climbed out of the nest. “I’m going to make some hot cocoa. Want a cup?” “Sure.” Spirit followed after him. “Just one more question.” Cliff got out the enchanted tea set. “What is it?” “If I do decide to … you know, will you give me some advice?” The older wyrm facepalmed again. “I’ll buy you a copy of the Camel-sutra, then deny all knowledge of doing so afterwards.” -_-_-_-_-_- Tornado Wings hadn’t been kidding when he said that wyrms were brutal combatants. Their idea of a friendly sparring match generally resulted in broken bones on both sides. Talon had to keep reminding herself that if she had protection spells and healing magic too, then she probably wouldn’t see the point in holding back either. In fact, now that a decent number of wyrm volunteers had arrived, bringing those abilities with them, the Hurricanes had decided to make their training battles a lot more realistic. A blast of ice energy flew up through the cloud Talon was generating, nearly clipping her right wing. Off to her side, Thunderfang hissed in pain as another blast hit his foot, freezing it solid up to the knee. His entire body was also covered in glowing lines. Apparently it was some kind of a wyrm protection rune generated by the brown wyrm assigned to the thunder team. “Talon, get down there and buy us some time!” Then he turned his attention back to cloud generation. Nodding, Talon turned to the rest of the venom team. None of them had the glowing runes. Gemstone Aura, that wyrm who always wore travel bags, was powerful enough that he could maintain the team’s protective spells directly. “Venoms, gas blanket. Gemstone, we’re going to need as much protection as you can manage!” Gemstone Aura nodded from his place on Tornado’s back. Neither he nor Tornado was terribly thrilled about being stuck together. Heart could normally calm them both down, but she was off at a Council meeting today. The venom wyverns dove off of their clouds, dodging enemy fire as they went. On the ground beneath them, the ice squad that was serving as their opponent had already assembled an ice shelter and were taking full advantage of their ability to drop the local temperature. Flying into their sphere of influence was like being hit by a wall. The air around Talon suddenly became so cold that it hurt to breathe. She had to squint to protect her eyes from the biting chill, and the shift in temperature was filling the whole area with fog, which didn’t make dodging ice blasts any easier. As soon as they were close enough, the wyverns began taking turns passing beneath Tornado, spitting out clouds of poison as they went. “Tornado, wide attack!” Talon ordered. The golden drake did his job perfectly, sending out wide gusts of air to force the clouds down onto the squad of ice wyverns. Of course, spreading the toxin out like that also diluted it severely. It was a necessary trade-off to be able to hit the entire squad at once. Talon saw a flash of blue light and pulled back just in time to avoid yet another blast of ice energy. The chilly sphere was only a few inches across, but a single direct hit could easily spell her doom … normally. Gemstone’s protection spell would keep her alive at least, but it would still flash freeze wherever it hit, bursting blood vessels and tearing apart muscles as crystals of ice formed and expanded from her very blood. Not something she wanted to experience if she could avoid it. Tornado was drawing the most fire, which made sense. His larger size made him an easier target, and without his wind, the rest of the team would have to get suicidally close to effectively gas bomb the ice squad. It was a good thing that drakes were so tough, though if the angry red welts on his underside were any indication, he would need to be treated for several cases of local frostbite as soon as the battle was over. Another ally cried out in pain as an ice bolt connected, freezing his shoulder and part of his wing membrane. Talon dove to catch him before he could fall too far. Her talons wrapped around one of his legs. “I’ve got you, Mist. Keep hitting them, everydragon!” She pumped her wings as hard as she could to overcome their combined weight. Thankfully the gas was starting to have an impact. Ice shots weren’t coming as frequently now, and they weren’t nearly as accurate. A jumble of emotions echoed through the link Talon shared with Gemstone Aura and the other team leaders, far too quickly for her to keep up. “Thunderfang says that’s enough,” Gemstone translated. “Venoms, move out!” Talon shouted, panting as she finally reached Tornado’s back. She landed hard, letting go of Mist with one foot so that she could dig into the drake’s scales with her talons and steady herself. Luckily the spot just below his wings was flat enough that they weren’t in any real danger of falling off. Gemstone hurried over and began healing Mist while Talon took off again. Tornado was an agile flier for a drake, but he didn’t need the extra weight. As soon as they were clear, the thunder wyverns above them opened fire. Normally lightning breath wouldn’t be able to hit opponents so far below, but when shot through a thundercloud, both the range and the power were multiplied several times over. Talon pulled her eyes away from the ground to focus on their next objective. Normally ice squads remained on the ground during a battle, only flying to change position or maintain distance from the enemy. However, to better simulate combat against actual ponies, one third of them had been ordered to stick to the air. The wind team in Squad Five had been keeping them busy, but now it was time to get rid of them. The air currents were all messed up as they drew closer, of course. The only way for wind wyverns to counter temperature manipulation was to constantly pull in warm air from outside, making the entire area a maze of slipstreams. Luckily, there was a strong current right beneath Talon’s group, leading right into the heart of the aerial skirmish. “Spit gas straight down!” Talon ordered. Her team obeyed without question, and the gas was immediately pulled into a current that shot it at a cluster of four ice wyverns. “Gemstone, tell Wandering Sky to calm the air,” Talon shouted. The wind team didn’t have a wyrm, so their leader had to serve as the relay point for messages instead. Talon just hoped he understood what the green wyrm sent him. “Tornado, speed us up! Crystal, Cloud, take lookout!” Tornado nodded and sent a powerful gust of air at Talon and the others, accelerating them into the skirmish. Her team smashed into the coughing ice wyverns; literally, in Talon’s case. The impact wrenched her neck and wings, but the unprepared ice wyvern was in far worse shape. He shouted in pain as his wing was crushed between them. Talon blinked away the spots in her vision and kicked off of him. Her momentum was just enough to let her dodge his teeth. As the ice wyvern fell, his wing in tatters, Talon pumped her wings to gain altitude. It was a simple law of aerial combat: being above your opponent almost always meant victory. That law was reinforced a second later, when Crystal and Cloud Breaker, who had focused on gaining altitude, dove into two more foes. Talon spared a second to glance down at the wyverns they had injured. Far below, a group of wyrms stood ready to catch them. A quick look around confirmed that the wyverns that Crystal and her partner had hit were out of the fight as well. There didn’t seem to be any other ice wyverns still in the air. Wandering Sky sent one of the messages that Talon had already memorized, “Air victory.” On top of their cloud platform, Thunderfang paused long enough to acknowledge that. There was a short flurry of emotions going back and forth before Thunderfang sent another simple message, “Peace.” “The ice squad surrenders,” Talon called with a grin. “Everydragon, stand down and report in!” -_-_-_-_-_- As soon as everydragon was accounted for and healed, most of the wyrms split off to go to their coven. Gemstone was the one exception, like usual. “I’ll be fine,” he said, tousling Genesis’s green head spikes. “Just make sure everything is packed up and ready for tomorrow.” That was right. Talon had gotten caught up in the practice battle and had nearly forgotten that they would be leaving for Equestria tomorrow morning. The brown wyrm brushed his spikes back, still obviously uncomfortable, and glanced at Tornado and Ember, who were back in their thinking forms. “I’ll do my best, Gem, just … keep your eyes open, okay?” “I will,” Gemstone said, following his friend’s gaze. Once Genesis left, Gemstone reached into the bag on his left hip and pulled out a yellow crystal. “Heart’s meeting should be over soon.” He sank to all fours and took off toward the main camp, moving so fast that he was practically a blur. Tornado relaxed visibly as soon as both wyrms were gone. Crystal turned to the golden drake. “Why are you so tense around wyrms?” A growl escaped Tornado’s muzzle. “Drakes never willingly go back on a promise. We have pledged to be your allies and so would lay down our lives to protect you if needed. Wyrms will lie and steal and cheat if it is convenient for them. There is always the chance that they will betray us.” “They aren’t that bad,” Ember said. “Besides, why would they bother showing up to support us if they weren’t sincere?” Tornado remained silent for a moment before answering. “I hope that you are right, but I will remain cautious until I can be completely sure. I won’t let my allies be harmed when I could have prevented it.” Talon couldn’t decide how to feel about Tornado’s announcement. It was nice to know that he was so serious about protecting them, but at the same time, it was a bit insulting that he thought they needed it. Gemstone, on the other wing, had the opposite problem. According to Heart, Gemstone was using less than half of his full power to enhance and protect the venom team. Talon believed it. That green blur in the distance was running faster than she could fly, even with wyrm enhancement spells. “Come on, you three, let’s get back to camp.” -_-_-_-_-_- “I know that we leave for the Crystal Empire tomorrow,” Heart Echo said, looking around the small cavern to make sure that she had everydragon’s attention, “and I know that only half of the estimated two thousand wyrms have shown up, but we did get over a dozen warriors from the Pine Grove Coven yesterday, and they may be able to help us keep an eye on Equestria’s movements.” “Please explain,” Aurora, the Hurricane of Ice, said. She radiated curiosity and respect, a welcome change from the dismissive attitude of some of the drake lords. Heart nodded to her. “The Pine Grove Coven specializes in illusions. We could use them to infiltrate towns and cities around Equestria. They also have a way of sending coded messages over long distances. We could have a decent spy network with just these fourteen dragons.” Reactions were mixed. Through her spells, Heart could tell that all five wyvern leaders felt intrigued. Silver Tail was only mildly interested. A drake lord named Yol Toor felt more curious than anything. He’d probably have more questions for her after the meeting. A blue female drake named Diamond Hide had no real reaction at all. Maybe she wasn’t listening. Finally, a massive grayish drake named Torch seemed to feel that this was all a waste of time. Unsurprisingly, Torch was the first to voice his opinion. “What’s the point in listening to ponies gossip? We already have a plan to capture the Crystal Empire.” “Think of it like a duel,” Silver Tail said. “Predicting your opponent’s next move is the first step to defeating him. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to let these spies go to work before winter sets in.” “Why not?” Aurora asked. “We can capture the Empire halfway through winter. It will still give us enough time to prepare for Equestria’s response in the spring, if they even send one.” Silver Tail shook his head. “It’s bad enough that we’re engaging in this group combat madness. I’m not going to let our defeated opponents freeze to death as they march to Canterlot from the Empire.” “Kill or enslave them,” Aurora said as though it were obvious. “Fewer opponents to worry about later.” Her words sparked a wave of outrage among the drakes. For once, Heart agreed with them. “No,” Silver Tail said firmly. “We won’t kill civilians. That isn’t up for debate. And some dragons might keep pony slaves, but I’m not one of them.” “Nor I,” Yol Toor said. “Okay,” Heart said loud enough to get their attention back. “So we can’t wait until next year because our supplies won’t last that long, and we only have a few weeks left in this year before snow makes the roads impassible. One other possibility is to sit down and talk with the pony leaders. My coven specializes in magic that controls emotions, so maybe we can convince them to give us the Empire without a fight. As long as neither of the Immortal Sisters shows up, that is.” Heart shuddered at the thought of coming face to face with one of them. Aurora shook her head. “Never build a plan that hinges on your opponent’s behavior, unless you have a backup plan for every possible action they could take.” “Aurora is right,” Yol Toor said. “A bloodless solution would be preferable, of course, but Celestia would likely attend any kind of a meeting between ponies and dragons. There are even rumors that she uses mind control magic on any creature foolish enough to try to negotiate with her.” “Then it seems our initial plan remains our best option,” Aurora said. “Blitz the Empire before they have a chance to prepare for us.” The other dragons all voiced their agreement. Even Heart found herself agreeing that it was the best of their limited options. “Let’s just do everything possible to minimize pony casualties,” she said. “The more ponies we kill, the less likely Equestria will be to accept any kind of long-term peace.” “Very well,” Aurora continued. “We should all make sure that our forces are ready to leave tomorrow morning. This Council is now dismissed.” With that, the ice wyvern rose and started walking toward the cavern exit. The other Hurricanes all followed after her. Most of the drake leaders did as well, shifting to their battle forms as soon as they were outside. Yol Toor, however, approached Heart instead. His gray scales and brown horns almost seemed to glow in the dimness of the cavern. The effect was especially noticeable around his golden eyes. Heart smiled a little at him. “You’re curious about illusion magic?” “Wyrm magic in general, actually,” Yol Toor said, returning the smile. “That’s a pretty broad topic.” Heart motioned toward the cave exit. “Would it be okay if we walk and talk? Gem and Tornado will start fighting again if I’m not around to cool them both off.” “Of course.” Yol Toor started walking with her. “I’ve been meaning to speak with Tornado anyway.” “Sounds good.” Heart fell silent for a moment, thinking about how best to explain wyrm magic. “I guess at it’s most basic, we tap into our emotions to do things, like how drakes can focus on determination to shift to their battle forms …” As they walked, Heart couldn’t help but shiver a little from all the drakes that they passed. Obsessive honor or not, drakes had fought with wyrms for thousands of years. She had even killed a few over the years, and it had never bothered her. Most of these drakes wouldn’t think twice about killing her either, if not for their alliance. At least having Yol Toor at her side helped set Heart at ease. He was still much taller than she was, even on her back legs, but he was filled with so much love for his clan and his family that Heart could almost pretend that he was an abnormally large and muscular wyrm who happened to have wings. A wyrm that every drake would bow to as they passed. Heart tried to ignore that and focus on explaining magic. She was able get through the fundamentals of wyrm magic and the broad categories of spells by the time they reached the wyvern camps. Squad Five was already back at their makeshift nest when Heart and Yol Toor arrived. Like she’d feared, Gem and Tornado were glaring at each other. Talon looked and felt like she had put up with more than enough from those two already, and even Crystal was starting to get sick of them. “Hey, Talon,” Heart called, waving to get her friend’s attention. “How did the match go? Sorry I couldn’t be there for it.” Relief washed over Talon’s emotions as she flew over to them. “Welcome back, Heart, but you don’t need to apologize for your responsibilities. You’re basically the leader of all the wyrms in the Alliance.” There was some confusion in the wyvern’s emotions as well, but that was nothing new. For some reason, Talon always felt confused whenever Heart’s position came up. “I’m still a member of Squad Five,” Heart said. “Anyway, you never told me how the match went.” Giddy excitement, but it was masked by a veil of calm disinterest. “Only three major injuries, one thunder and two winds.” A bit of a smile broke through her mask. “The ice squad had twelve, but nothing that couldn’t be healed.” Heart smiled as well. “Glad to hear it.” Crystal gave up on trying to distract Gem and Tornado and came over to join them. “How was your meeting?” “Not bad.” It wasn’t as long as some of the other ones, but that was all that could be said about it. “The overall plan is still the same, but we’re short on wyrm volunteers, so we’ll have to stick to three per squadron.” She scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. “I really thought that more would show up.” Talon’s reply was cut short as Tornado finally noticed their presence and rushed over to Yol Toor. “Grandfather!” He bowed deeply. “It is good to see you. I apologize for being distracted by this wyrm.” He shot Gem a disdainful look. Wait, grandfather? Heart studied Yol Toor more closely. His horns were about the same shade of brown as Tornado’s spikes and eyes, but that was where any similarity ended. The older drake was noticeably larger and more well muscled, with horns coming off the back of his head. His emotional state was almost always calm with an undercurrent of unshakable determination. Tornado was fairly quiet, but his emotions were usually bouncing back and forth between confusion, anger, and blind trust. It was hard to imagine these two being related. “I was learning the basics of wyrm magic from one of our allies,” Yol Toor said firmly. “There is a lot that drakes can learn from wyrms.” Tornado’s jaw dropped, then his back legs gave out. His emotions couldn’t have had more shock if Yol Toor had suggested that every drake commit suicide. “It is good to meet you, Talon Wind and Crystal Sky,” Yol Toor continued, ignoring his grandson’s distress. “Heart Echo tells me that your bond with Tornado is what convinced her to join the Alliance in the first place.” “What, really?” Talon looked at Heart in surprise. Heart nodded. “Didn’t I tell you that already?” “Not that I’ve heard, you haven’t,” Gem said, radiating annoyance. “Oh, whoops.” Heart shrugged. “It was the first time I ever saw hope for the dragon races to get along, and I wanted to be a part of it. Anyway, this is Yol Toor, the lord of the Shattered Mountain Clan.” She gestured to the drake at her side. Talon’s eyes shot open and her emotions filled with something approaching terror. She immediately dropped to a bow, as did Crystal. “Please forgive us for being so casual with you, Dragon Lord.” “Respect should be earned, not demanded.” Yol Toor motioned for them to rise. “Until I have earned yours, bowing would be a lie to us all.” “Thank you,” Crystal whispered as they both stood back up. “You are welcome. Now then, Tornado?” He turned to the younger drake, who was still in a state of shock. “Do you still have trouble keeping a clear head in your battle form?” Tornado nodded weakly. “Heart Echo has told me of a wyrm meditation technique called the Stillness that might help. Perhaps one of the wyrms in your squadron will help you learn it.” He bowed to Heart. “Again, I thank you for your aid in this war.” She bowed back automatically. “You’re welcome.” Yol Toor inclined his head slightly to the group of them. “Honor to you all.” Then he turned and walked away. Heart joined the others in watching him go, still trying to wrap her head around the emotional turmoil that had suddenly filled Tornado’s chest. “Tornado, is Yol Toor really your grandfather?” Of all the questions she could have asked, it was probably the dumbest, so of course it was the one her brain decided to spit out first. Tornado finally managed to close his mouth, but even then it took him a few seconds before he could respond. “ ‘Grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’ can refer to any direct ancestor.” “It’s nice that he wants to help you,” Crystal said. “He must have a lot of other descendants.” “Hundreds. There are over a dozen generations of us.” In the distance, a group of drakes saw Yol Toor approaching. Like all the others, they moved out of his way and bowed deeply as he passed. “Drakes must respect him a lot,” Talon commented. “Only because he has earned it.” Tornado got up and approached Heart Echo. To everydragon’s shock, he bowed to her and held that position. “If Yol Toor says that I can learn from wyrms, I will not doubt him. Please forgive me for believing otherwise, and please teach me how to use the Stillness.” “I, uh, wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Heart laughed a little. “Uh, you’re forgiven, and I suck at teaching, but Gem here is pretty good at it.” Not to mention, it might help those two learn to get along. She turned to the other wyrm. “Would you mind teaching him?” Gemstone stared at the bowing drake for a moment then turned to Heart with a raised eyebrow. “Really?” She nodded. “Please?” His emotions blinked out of existence as Gem embraced the Stillness. After a long moment, the green wyrm sighed. “Fine.” “Thank you, Gem.” Heart paused. “And, Tornado, stop bowing. It’s creeping me out.” Tornado stood up again. “Thank you both. Gemstone Aura, if you don’t mind, I would like to begin immediately. We can even travel back to the coven if you would be more comfortable there.” Gemstone glanced at Heart. They both knew that she was planning on staying with the wyverns tonight, in case there were any last-minute changes that she needed to hear about. “Here is fine. Just let me run back to the coven and let them know.” Heart pretended not to notice his look. Instead, she turned her attention to the waning sun. “Okay, I guess that means we’ll all be staying with the wyverns. Your leaders won’t mind, will they?” “No,” Talon shook her head, “Thunderfang might complain, but he isn’t going to argue with a superior officer like you.” “I guess that’s one advantage to sitting through all those meetings,” Heart said under her breath. Meanwhile, Gem’s emotions were grumbling unhappily, like he couldn’t believe what he was doing. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Then his emotions flickered rapidly through a set of spells, and he shot off toward the coven. Talon watched him go, suspicion and confusion bouncing around her heart. “Tornado, I know it’s hard, but I really wish you and Gemstone would get along.” “I will try,” Tornado said quietly. Heart sighed. “Don’t blame all of Gem’s moodiness on Tornado. He’s against this war in general. In fact, the other day, he tried to convince me to befriend the ponies. The Stars only know why he insists on helping us fight them.” Talon smirked. “I might know the reason.” “No, he doesn’t have a crush on me.” Heart chuckled at Talon’s look of surprise. “He respects me and worries about my safety, but there’s nothing romantic in his feelings.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I can’t figure him out. He’s been like that since I first met him, a few days before you two showed up.” “That is kind of strange,” Crystal said. “Yeah.” Talon turned back to the nest. “We may as well get comfortable while we wait. In the meantime, you can tell us about Yol Toor. I was surprised at how well you two seemed to get along.” “He respects me.” Heart slid into the nest next to Talon. “That makes it easy to respect him back.” Tornado joined them, shifting over a bit to make room for Crystal. “Yol Toor respects everydragon. That is why so many dragons flock to his clan.” The small group lapsed into silence as all around them the rest of the squadron chatted quietly. In the distance, the sun was setting, shining it’s last rays through the jagged peaks of the mountains to the north. “Heart?” Talon said softly. “Why do drakes and wyrms fight so much?” “In a word, biology.” She chuckled, but there was no real humor in her voice. Tornado radiated agreement, but Talon and Crystal just felt confused. “Drakes call it determination,” Heart said. “We call it greed. In any case, it’s the emotion you feel when there’s something you want so much that you stop caring about what it will cost you to get it. Drakes change into their battle form by focusing on that emotion. I guess wyrms do too, in a way.” She paused and looked back at the sunset. “Imagine something the size of a drake, but like a crazed animal that will attack anything that gets in its way. Most of them have to be killed to keep the rest of the coven safe. It would literally be suicide for a wyrm to walk the path of determination that drakes have built their entire society around. At the same time, drakes could never accept the selflessness, the focus away from your own wants and desires, that wyrms focus on. It would mean giving up their single greatest strength.” Talon leaned over and put a wing around the smaller dragoness. “Maybe you could get along anyway.” Crystal did as well, placing her wing on top of Talon’s. “You and Yol Toor respect each other. It can’t be hopeless.” Heart smiled up at the two of them. “When I first met you two, I could tell that wyverns were a lot like wyrms. Even driven out of your homes and halfway across the planet, you were still more worried about each other than yourselves. If you could be so selfless and still get along with drakes, then I thought maybe wyrms could too.” She glanced at Tornado. “All those centuries of hatred and fighting aren’t going to disappear easily, though.” “Just wait until the first battle,” Talon said. “If the lions taught us anything, it’s that nothing brings different groups together like fighting against a common foe.” A morbid laugh bubbled up in Heart’s chest. “I can’t argue with that, but next time, do you think we could pick a foe that isn’t ten times our size and led by two goddesses?” “And maybe won’t lead to my race going extinct if we lose,” Talon added. Crystal nodded. “I agree.” Tornado just looked confused. The three dragonesses looked at him for a moment before they burst into laughter. Males could be so thickheaded sometimes. “You know,” Heart said once they’d all calmed down, “if I do get killed out there, at least I can die happy. I mean, living long enough to meet the third dragon type was special enough. Seeing all three types fighting together against our most dangerous foe is something else entirely.” She reached up and tousled both Talon and Crystal’s hair. “It makes me think that dragons will have a bright future after all.”