//------------------------------// // Luck be a Lady Tonight // Story: Into That Wild Blue Yonder // by CptBrony //------------------------------// Several more days of travelling came to be, but the hunting prospect had about died off. They were in what most have been the most desolate area this half of the world; scorched stone, mountains of ash, and only the occasional tumbleweed for company. The weird thing was that there were no volcanoes or flame sources anywhere. “Where in the world are we?” the young man asked. “Beats me,” Colm said. “Ah ain’t ever heard of a place this dead.” “Why would it even be like this?” the young man asked. “What caused so much… death?” “Ah don’t know and Ah don’t care ta find out,” Colm said. “Let’s get through here right quick.” “Agreed,” the young man said. The duo still had enough food supplies to last three more days. If they stretched it, they could make it four days. They probably wouldn’t need four days, but if this wasteland was here, who knew if any towns existed beyond this? All they both knew was that Equestria was somewhere beyond the wastes, so they had to press on. The change in ground quality wasn’t very gradual; the dirt became packed more and more until it was just stone, melted down and reshaped into various columns. It was too well-shaped to have been by accident, though. The duo pressed forward through the wastes. The sky was growing grayer as the day went, as if it was about to rain, which would be a welcome change to such a desolate area. It would ensure that they could refill their canteens and avoid using them for a time. Anything at this point that extended the life of their supplies was welcome. It was a straight up hike to get through the first zone of the wastes, and it didn’t look like it was about to change. They had to climb up some steep, stony hills, shredding their knees and elbows from landing and grabbing ledges. It was a good thing their supplies were low, or they may have been too weighed down to effectively climb. When they reached the top of the last hill, they were greeted with a wondrous sight; water, like a coastline, just down the way. The young man pulled out the compass, and sure enough, that direction was east. Great stuff; now they just had to pick a direction and find a coastal village with boats or something. “Well, ain’t this just handy,” Colm said. “Yeah,” the young man replied. “All we gotta do now is-“ Before the young man could finish, a massive shadow cast over them from above and advanced forward. Just seeing it sent chills down both man and stallion’s spines and made them freeze in place. It was a flying creature, with bat-like wings and talons. And from the sound of its wings flapping, it was absolutely enormous. “I’m looking at the ground,” Colm began. “But I’m too scared to look up.” The young man slowly looked up to see what sort of monstrosity was near them. Had the griffons sent some sort of beast to get them, a super-griffon? Or was it just a natural, large bird? When the young man looked forward, his jaw dropped practically to the ground and he couldn’t speak. A massive dragon, larger than any living creature from home, crashed to the ground on its feet and folded its humongous wings. It turned to the side and revealed teeth as big as cars, with eyes the size of trailers. It snorted and sent an explosive plume of flames forward, incinerating the very air it travelled through. “D-d-d-d-d-d-d-“ the young man tried to say. Colm looked up. “Dragon,” he said, the color fading from his face. He grabbed the young man and dragged him to the ground. “Get down, idiot!” In silence and terror, the duo looked on at the dragon below the hill. It landed next to some sort of tower, and it appeared to be holding something in its hand. Then, it began to speak. “EMBER,” it said. “I’M VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU.” “Ember?” Colm said. “Shh,” the young man said. The massive dragon opened his claw to reveal a tiny blue speak, at least something that appeared that way from so far away. Whatever it was, it moved around and seemed to respond to the massive mythical beast. “I’M SORRY, WHAT WAS THAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER HOW SMALL AND HELPLESS YOU ARE.” “Savage, bruh,” the young man muttered. “YOU DON’T GET TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS, YOUNG LADY,” the dragon said. The young man looked to Colm. “Is he scolding his daughter?” he mouthed. “I didn’t know dragons parented,” Colm mouthed back. “NO!!” the dragon bellowed. The young man and Colm covered their ears from the loudness. “YOU CANNOT GO OUT PICKING FIGHTS WITH CREATURES TWICE YOUR SIZE. YOU WILL NOT WIN. THE DRAGONLORD WILL NOT LOSE HIS DAUGHTER TO SOME ANTELOPE.” “Dragonlord?” the young man wondered aloud. “Our lord,” a voice responded form behind. Colm and the young man jumped from the scare and scrambled forward with their sacks, falling down a wall and crashing to the ground. They rolled up and grabbed their supplies only to see three slightly-more-than-man-sized dragons above. “Oh, no,” the young man said. “Oh no is right,” one dragon said with a sneer. “This can go two ways-“ “I prefer the way that lets us live,” Colm said. The dragon smiled again. “Alright. We’re going to escort you down the hill to the Dragonlord. He doesn’t like trespassers.” “I’ll go ahead and let him know we bagged a couple today,” a female dragon from the trio said. “Good,” the first one replied. She flew down toward the massive dragon to let him know what was going on. “Alright, now you two- start your way down,” the dragon said with a cruel grin. “Oh, man,” Colm said, looking down at all the drops. “Well… we’re gonna die, aren’t we?” the young man asked. “Never thought I’d go out with dragons. I hope they tell good stories about me.” “It was a good run, man,” Colm said. The duo started making its way down the hill under the terrifying gaze of two dragons. Moments after starting, it became five, as the third dragon, the Dragonlord, and the small dragon the lord was holding all stared at the pair making its progress toward the tower. They were being constantly rushed, tumbling all over the place, so it only took about twenty minutes to get to where the Dragonlord could roast them without effort. At that point, he ordered them to stop. They froze in place, the color gone from their faces. “I don’t appreciate trespassers in my territory,” the Dragonlord said. “But you two… you’re not my usual trespassers. Who are you?” “I-I am Colm,” Colm introduced himself. “I’m just another human,” the young man said. “COLM, JUST ANOTHER HUMAN,” the Dragonlord said. “YOU’RE NOT A TYPICAL PAIRING. WHY ARE YOU HERE?” “We-we’re on the run,” Colm said. The Dragonlord snorted flames. “W-we pissed off the griffon king Yakesh, and so we’re trying to get as far from him as possible-“ “YOU TWO MADE HIM ANGRZY?!” the Dragonlord shouted. “Time to die,” the young man thought with dread. “HIS GZRIFFONS HAVE BEEN ENCROACHING ON MY TERRITORY FOR DAYS IN PURSUIT OF YOU,” the Dragonlord said. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” “We convinced his daughter to run the heck away,” the young man explained. “Her life would’ve been really bad, s-so we convinced her to dip like we did.” “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the Dragonlord laughed. Colm and the young man covered their ears, but the dragons all just looked confused. “JUST AS HE DESERVES, KNOWINGLY ENCROACHING IN MY LANDS!” “Y-yeah, screw that guy,” Colm said. “Lord, what should we do with them?” the female dragon asked. The Dragonlord leaned down and put his face right in front of the duo, scrutinizing them. They both stood up slowly as his massive eye twitched up and down, taking them in completely. When he was satisfied, he pulled his head back. “I LISTENED TO THE GRIFFONS BEFORE ROASTING THEM,” he said. “THEY SAY YOU TWO HAVE QUITE THE TALENT, AS WOULD BE EXPECTED OF A HUMAN AND HIS TRAVELLING COMPANION. WHAT DO YOU DO?” “I fight,” the young man said quickly. Colm nodded. “WELL, THIS IS A PLEASANT SURPRISE,” the Dragonlord said. “What?” all parties present said in unison. “MY DAUGHTER, EMBER, IS A SCRAPPER,” the Dragonlord said. “TEACH HER A THING OR TWO, AND I WILL ALLOW YOU TWO TO TRAVEL NORTH TO THE FISHING VILLAGE. I’LL EVEN GIVE YOU FOOD.” “T-thank you,” the young man said more in shock than fear. “W-where is she?” “I’m right here, turd,” a tiny voice said. Colm and the young man looked up and saw a little, sapphire-blue dragon sitting atop the Dragonlord’s head. She looked scrappy, just as the Dragonlord said, and she was thin and incredibly small. She let herself slide off her father’s head and landed before the pair, where she stood shorter than Colm. Both members of the duo could only blink. “What? Never seen a dragon princess before?” she asked. “No,” both answered simultaneously. “Well, now you have,” Ember said. “Okay then,” the young man said. “So, uhhh… what do we do?” “YOU WILL ALL THREE GO TO THE BASE OF THE TOWER, WHERE THE HUMAN WILL TEACH EMBER AND THE PONY WILL BE HER TEST DUMMY,” the Dragonlord said. “HOPEFULLY SHE DOESN’T KIL YOU.” Colm swallowed his spit. “O-okay,” he said. “So, uhh, let’s go, then, princess,” the young man said. He picked up his sack of food and threw it over his shoulder and Colm did the same. Before either could see her, Ember jumped on Colm’s back to ride him down. Colm wanted to tell her to get off, but he also valued his life, so that was a no-no. Colm had to just deal with it. It took another half hour to get to the base of the tower, but once they were there, the young man looked at Ember and saw that this shouldn’t be too hard. She stood like a person, moved like a person, and had a fighting personality. Having claws actually made it easier. “Okay then, let’s, uhh, get started, then,” the young man said. “What are you going to teach me?” Ember said. “Dad says you’re supposed to be good?” “He’s one of the best,” Colm said. “Beat the living daylights out of the griffon Yafid twice.” “Wow,” Ember said nonchalantly. “I have actually heard of him. Supposed to be good.” “Well, I’m better,” the young man said. “so, let me get an idea of your fighting style.” “How?” Ember said. “Come at me,” the young man said. “Are you sure?” Ember said. Her father was facing some other direction, dealing with political matters. “Just go for it,” the young man said. Ember took a wide stance and then lunged forward, claws out. She tried to swipe at the young man’s legs, but he picked them up or dodged every time and parried her claws away. She started to grow frustrated and upped the intensity, but to no avail. “Okay, that’s good,” the young man said, grabbing her by the wrist. “You really are good,” Ember said. “Told ya,” Colm said. “Don’t piss her off, Colm, you’re the test dummy,” the young man said. Colm laughed nervously. “Alright, let’s start. So, when you attack, you have a tendency to…” While Colm and the young man were teaching princess Ember; the second princess they were “hired” to help; the Dragonlord dealt with whatever matters were on his plate. Unfortunately, those matters involved the very pair helping his daughter. “My lord, why can’t we kill them? They invaded our territory,” the first dragon from before whined. “Because I don’t want you to,” the Dragonlord said. “These two are on the run from our most annoying enemy. If we let them leave, it does more damage to him and lets him know we can do whatever we want, whenever we want. He will become less annoying from now on.” “This wasn’t what anyone expected,” the small dragon said. “Nor is it what I expected,” the Dragonlord said. He glanced back to see his daughter knocking the pony over and pulling his mane while the human laughed. “But it looks to have been better than if it hadn’t happened.” “My lord…” the small dragon said. “No harm will come to them,” the Dragonlord said with finality. “There is something about this duo… I cannot explain it. But they should be kept alive.” “Do you think it’s..?” the small dragon asked. “Who knows,” the Dragonlord said dismissively. “It could be. But that isn’t my concern once they leave. We’re better off not taking any chances.” “The crystals will show us when they come,” the small dragon said. “You’re right. We shall give them some gems and send them on their way, then.” “Good,” the Dragonlord said. He looked back again to see the duo and his daughter seemingly having fun with the teaching. “But later. I suppose I can let her have this day.” “Very well, my lord,” the small dragon said. There was something different about this pair that drove the Dragonlord to show them mercy. Hopefully, it would turn out to be right. If not, which was frankly more likely, they would hopefully at least just leave. One way or another, the Dragonlord wanted to watch this training session. Humans are talented creatures, and seeing them in their moments was a rare occurrence.