The next hour was spent in silence and reflection. Spike began to think of what being himself really meant, now that he was trying to not define his entire self on Twilight. Twilight was mentally reaffirming that she wasn’t a little filly anymore with zero social skills, and that she didn’t need to hold Spike down anymore.
Dazzle was still battling inside herself, trying to decide if bringing these two to her clan was truly the best option. It was true that a crash course was the best teaching method for a dragon, but you don’t throw a whelp at a wall and expect the wall to break. And from what she had seen from Spike, he was right there with the elder whelps on the cusp of true growth spurts.
As the landscape underneath slowly turned from planes to wastes once more, Dazzle’s eyes began to sweep the low hills still present. When she spotted two points of slightly off brown, she paused in midair and began to hover. Twilight realized this and came up beside Dazzle.
“Are we there yet?” Spike asked.
“Almost, we just need to stop by a patrol group first.”
“Patrol group?” Twilight asked, looking about the sky. “Where?”
Dazzle snorted. “Follow me, and don’t speak unless spoken to.” And with that, Dazzle angled her way down to the discolorations, followed by a very confused Twilight Sparkle.
Upon fully landing on the ground, Twilight was about to ask where the patrol was, when the two discolorations rose from their shallow holes. Both stood low to the ground on all four legs, one a dust red, the other an earthy brown. Neither had wings, much to Twilight’s and Spike’s surprise.
“Back already Dazzle?” The dust red dragon asked, a mocking smirk on his lips.
“Yes Wither, you know trips to our Father are usually short.” Dazzle replied in a neutral tone, and Twilight could already see the sparks of animosity between the two.
“And He made you play tour guide to a pony? Feh.” Wither dismissed, while the other seemed to take an interest in Twilight. Or rather, the mass of purple just above her.
“And just who are our… guests, Dazzle?” At the question, Wither glanced at the earth brown dragon and looked back at Twilight, just now seeming to see Spike.
“This is Spike of No Clan and his Hatcher, Twilight Sparkle, Petrichor.” Dazzle introduced a bit more in a friendly manner, making Petrichor raise a skeptical brow.
“His Hatcher?”
“Now I know you’re pulling my tail.” Wither cut in. “No pony could be a Hatcher.”
“Uh, what’s a Hatcher?” Twilight asked, making Dazzle glare down at her and Spike cover his eyes in embarrassment. Petrichor sighed as Wither chuckled darkly.
“See what I mean Petrichor? She doesn’t even know! How can she be a Hatcher?” Spike’s hand fell back down to Twilight’s back as he glared down at Wither.
“You can not know what a smoky quartz is and still dig it up.” Spike shot back with a bit more venom than anyone, including himself, expected. Spike blinked a bit in surprise as Wither glared back at him.
“As it is,” Petrichor spoke up before anything happened. “A Hatcher is someone who is not the parent of an egg hatching said egg.” Petrichor leveled his gaze once more on Twilight. “Which leaves the question as to why any dragon would allow a pony to try and hatch their egg.”
“That is a bit of an elaborate story for later.” Dazzle cut in as Twilight was about to answer. “We just landed to announce ourselves before heading for the clan.”
“And why would we allow two outsiders to head to the clan, especially when one isn’t even a dragon?” Wither asked, raising his glare back on Dazzle.
“Because Spike was also called on by our Father.” That shocked both Wither and Petrichor, their eyes widening in disbelief. “And his calling was to see our clan.” Dazzle lied by omission. That seemed to shake the disbelief from Wither. He shook his head and looked at Spike one more time before impassively looking at Dazzle.
“There’s no way you’re telling the truth. Father never sees two dragons at once.”
“That’s… something for the chief to decide.” Petrichor slowly followed up, addressing Wither as his own shock resided. “If he can tell when someone is truly Called, then he can tell if this whelp has seen our Father as well.” He turned back to Dazzle. “Head to the chief first then, he’ll want to see these two.”
“As I suspected.” Dazzle nodded, her wings spreading once more. Looking to address Twilight once more, Dazzle cut short any protest. “We best not keep him waiting.” With that, Dazzle took off. One put off huff later, Twilight followed, leaving Spike to look back at the two land based dragons. They just stared back until they were well into the air before burrowing back down. So focused on the two was he, Spike didn’t notice Twilight catch up to Dazzle.
“Why didn’t you let me say anything? I can speak for myself you know.” Twilight fumed.
“Because you have no standing here.” Dazzle replied, still looking forward. “We have our pride, and being questioned by those perceived beneath them is a very easy way to trigger one’s wrath.”
“Well, they asked why I hatched Spike, and you still cut me off.”
“No, they asked what kind of dragon would allow you to hatch their egg. It would be a social curiosity to see the reasoning behind such a thing, but if you told them you just found Spike’s egg lying around and took it… well, how angry would a pony community be if a… foal was taken?”
“That’s completely different.”
“Is it now?” Dazzle finally looked over to Twilight with a look of suspicion. “Tell me, what is the difference between a hapless foal and a defenseless egg being plucked away?”
“A foal can cry for help.” Twilight replied immediately.
“Not if you cover their mouth.” Dazzle replied just as instantaneously.
“They can fight back.” Twilight shot right back.
“Against an adult? Hardly.” Dazzle dismissed.
“They can… they can get away.” Twilight grumbled.
“Perhaps.” Twilight’s ears perked. “If they’re not already in a cage or bound.” Twilight’s ears flattened. Nothing else was said as the wastes continued to pass by, but eventually the dusty brown began to shift to bare stone as the trio came upon a crater.
One crater that was large and deep enough to have five levels of rings, each ring being steep enough to comfortably have a dragon hovel carved into it so that dragons had plenty of head room, and each ring being able to house multitudes of housing caves. Even the smallest, lower ring still seemed to have a few dozen housing hovels with no indication to how deep they went. The center of the crater was still wide and seemed to be home to something akin to the Ponyville market, with one, lone, stone constructed building in the center of it all.
But the dragons that were milling about were so varied to Twilight and Spike, that Twilight held herself at the lip of the crater just looking at all of the dragons that passed below. They had see a dragon gathering before, but that was but a glimpse of a resting flock after a long flight. The activity that was going on below amazed both of them. There were dragons crawling quickly through the crowds, while other larger biped dragons had the crowd move around them, and varying shapes and sizes of dragons in between. All of them seemed to share the same angularly shovel-like head with varying degrees of horns sprouting out the back or down the ridges of their noses. There didn’t seem to be any consistency between dragons who had wings and those that did not, nor ones who walked on all four legs or just two, only that larger dragons were always upright.
“Are you done gawking yet?” Dazzle asked, impatiently hovering beside the two.
“What?” Twilight snapped her attention over to Dazzle. “Well, it’s just so different. Spike said it was about the size of Ponyville, but that definitely didn’t prepare me for this.”
Dazzle just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well come on then, we have to see the chief.” Dazzle then began gliding down towards the center of the crater towards the one standing building. As Twilight began to single mindedly follow behind her, Spike was given the opportunity to look over the crater’s inhabitants. And he saw that they were all looking up at them.
Some seemed to only glance up and then go about their business. Others stopped what they were doing as another pointed them out, and that group seemed a bit more intent on seeing where they were going. And fewer still looked up and seemed genuinely glad to see them. As they got closer to the ground, everybody was looking up at them and parted as to give the three of them room to land.
When they landed, Spike gained a sudden feeling of smallness, as he had to look up at all the dragons standing to the side. Even having been in the presence of older dragons before, this felt a lot more oppressive than before. But apparently, Dazzle didn’t notice or care as she kept on walking as she landed. Twilight did the same, but she at least seemed to acknowledge the oppression as her eyes darted from one side to the other. The dragons were mostly passive as they watched the trio walk by, until they were almost to the central building where a brawny pigmented red dragon stepped out in front of them.
He stood upright with his arms folded over his chest with his wings behind him purposely half spread to show a dark red membrane. The two horns he had growing from the back portion of his head were just beginning to turn downward, and a horn the size of Spike was growing from the tip of his snout. And he did not look the slightest bit friendly toward the trio.
“Well if the prodigal daughter hasn’t returned.” The dragon snarked, immediately making Dazzle freeze and tense up. “And her little whelp friends too.” His snark dropped to a dead serious tone. “What are they doing here Dazzle?”
“That’s none of your concern right now Starset.” Dazzle curtly replied. “We’re to see the chief first.”
“Not a chance Dazzle.” Starset snarled, his upper lip lifting to show his left fang. “No one is to see the chief unless he or our Father calls for it.”
“Then Spike is to see the chief by our Father’s will.” Dazzle shot. Starset looked down at Spike, and Spike felt a wave of fear wash over him, making him want to curl into a small ball and disappear. Spike even felt his head shrink back into his shoulders.
“Ha!” Starset laughed mirthlessly as he looked back to Dazzle. “That whelp would never be called by our chief, much less our Father. Just turn around and take them back wherever you found them.”
“I found them at our Father’s cave.” Dazzle growled. “And unless you’ve been Called before, I don’t think you have a say in who has and has not been called by Father. And if you don’t believe me, then our chief can verify it. So let. Us. Through.”
Starset looked between Dazzle and Spike one more time before snorting. “See to our chief as you should, oh ‘Called One’. But don’t think this ill convention is to go unnoticed.” And with that Starset stalked away, and many others turned back to their business, Spike noticing a few glares being thrown this way and that towards both Starset and Dazzle.
Twilight opened her mouth to voice a question, but once more, Dazzle cut her off with a look.
“Wait until we’re inside.” She said as she began walking once more with Twilight quick to follow her up.
When approaching the stone building, Spike saw that there were no windows and only one dark open doorway. When the three made their way inside, Spike looked around for the chief, but only found a barren hollow with a staircase leading downwards in the middle of the room. Dazzle made her way to the staircase, but Twilight stopped dead in her tracks.
“What was all of that about?” Twilight quipped.
Dazzle stopped and sighed. “That was Starset. He likes to think he’s in charge when the chief’s not around, and he is a particularly strong holder of our ‘the strongest is the best’ rhetoric. Now let’s keep moving.”
“No.”
“Excuse me?” Dazzle looked over her shoulder at the defiant alicorn. Twilight was standing with her front hooves in a steadfast manner, but otherwise had nonaggressive body language.
“You’re avoiding telling us something, and right now is a perfect time for caution.” Twilight said as she glanced down at the staircase. “If you want me and Spike to follow you down there while you’re hiding something important, we’re turning around right now.”
“It’s not important or relevant to what Spike needs to do.” Dazzle pointed out.
“I… disagree.” Spike said as he finally decided to get off Twilight’s back. “I saw the way everyone was looking at you and Starset, and it looked like they were taking sides on something. And if I’m supposed to change anything, having everyone work together would make it a lot easier.”
“We do work together. Just because two dragons don’t like each other doesn’t mean it’ll split us all apart.”
“It does when one of those dragons already thinks he’s in charge.” Twilight added. “If he really acts like a leader, there are going to be those who follow him instead of the chief.”
“But Starset follows the chief, so they follow the chief as well.” Dazzle defended.
“That’s shaky logic.” Spike pointed out. “If the chief doesn’t lead any more, then who would? And what if Starset doesn’t follow the new chief?”
“Unless,” Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. “Starset is the son of the chief.” Twilight and Spike didn’t need an answer to that as Dazzle’s jaw clenched and she looked away.
“But if that’s the case, why does he have a problem with you?” Spike asked. “I mean, he seemed kind of like a bully, but there are plenty that seemed to be just as steamed at him than you were.”
There was a second of silence before Dazzle mumbled something neither of the purple duo picked up.
“Come again?” Twilight asked.
“It’s because I’m his…” Dazzle said a bit louder, but still petered out.
“You’re his fiancé?” Spike guessed, making Dazzle’s head snap up in horror.
“No! It’s because I’m his sister!”
There was palpable tension in the room as Dazzle looked away in shame and Spike and Twilight looked at her in disbelief.
There were a few things reeling through both their minds, one of which was basically dealing with a member of high class with such disregard. Spike’s thoughts then went back to comparing the two side by side and seeing such a dichotomy of power between the two. Where Dazzle seemed to be fast and agile in technique, Starset seemed to be brutish and slow, where Dazzle was skittish and curious, Starset was direct and oblivious. Twilight’s thoughts made it to words, to which Dazzle and Spike really wished hadn’t.
“Older or younger?”
Spike wished Twilight hadn’t spoken out of embarrassment, and Dazzle’s wish was out of anger for having to be reminded.
“It doesn’t matter. An egg is laid and the egg is hatched. As to when an egg hatches is irrelevant as long as it is nurtured. An egg could be laid and hatched within an hour or a year. Technically, Spike here is ‘older’ than any of us here, but he will be regarded as a whelp because he only hatched shortly ago. What does matter is blood, and as for that, we are half-siblings. And we are also the only ones here to succeed the chief. All others have left for another clan or died. Some not as subtly as others.”
At that last part, Twilight’s eyes bulged and she looked down at Spike, who’s scales had seemed to become a slightly paler purple.
“S-S-Starset’s-s-s killed h-his own…?” Spike stuttered out.
“Technically, no.” Dazzle sighed and rolled her eyes in disbelief. “But the last few siblings were a bit more… violent in their disappearances. Chipped scales and claws can as easily be attributed to fighting a tatzel as another dragon.”
“Then why are you still here?” Twilight asked. “If it’s so dangerous that you could die any day, why are you still here?”
“Because I can avoid it.” Dazzle said as she took herself off the stairs and walked over to the pair. “To be frank, the others were idiots. They played Starset’s game and lost. They thought they were bigger and tougher, and even a few were. But where Starset may lack in raw force, he makes up in charisma. And where I lack in that strength, I make up tenfold in cunning. It’s an open secret what Starset has done, but those who have done the deeds are fiercely loyal, and those that oppose him can’t find a thing. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m the only one who could lead this clan with a straight head after the current chief.”
“Is Starset that warbound?” Twilight asked, a bit confused at Starset’s methods.
“Starset sees what he has as never enough. The fact he hasn’t gone mad in greed has shocked quite a few dragons. Perhaps he does see a need for more for the clan, but that is neither here nor there at the moment.” Dazzle got on all four legs and lay close to the ground so that Twilight could look her in the eye. “What is important is that the clan holds together for now and that there is nothing to fear from seeing the chief, are we in agreement?”
Of course, from that position, Spike could also see directly into Dazzle’s eyes, and Spike felt something warm inside of him. In his chest, there was a sense of security, of safety, of reassurance. Dazzle may not tell them everything at once, but he deeply felt that she could be trusted. Twilight seemed to feel the same as she gave a small nod.
“I believe in you Dazzle. From our time outside of Pyrathy’s cave to now you’ve done nothing to put us in danger, and have even gone so far to keep it that way. I’ll follow you.”
“And I will too.” Spike chipped in, looking away in embarrassment as two sidelong looks of amusement came. Dazzle chuckled lightly as she stood back upright and back to the stairs. Twilight and Spike followed after her and soon the three began descending down the stairs.
And down.
And down.
And down.
Where Spike wondered if this was the opposite of Sombra and this was an infinite downward spiral. Yet, the further they went down, the cozier Spike felt. The staircase itself was enclosed and dark, so when Twilight’s magic came to life, he could understand her need for light. But when a breeze started to come from in front of him, he noticed why he felt cozy.
“Is it just me or is it getting hot down here?” Twilight asked after a few minutes of decent.
“Oh, sorry.” Dazzle sheepishly looked over her shoulder. “The chieftain resides next to the lava flows of the shrine. It’s always so comforting to come down here, but maybe not so much for a non-dragon.”
“I’ll say. I haven’t felt this comfortable since the Golden Oaks.” Spike said offhandedly, before feeling slightly depressed at remembering what happened to the library.
“…I think I can manage.” Twilight said after giving Spike a reassuring look.
“Well, at least it doesn’t get any worse. We’re here.” Dazzle said as the staircase finally ended and opened into a cavern. And Dazzle wasn’t kidding about the lava flows.
Straight ahead was a long stone building, stretching all the way from the wall to a fourth of the way across the cavern, and from each side of the building freely flowed lava in one large stream, circling around the edge of the cavern before going into holes on either side of the staircase entrance.
Slightly off to the right in front of the long building was a tent. Spike noticed it was much like the ones he had seen with the buffalo, but much bigger and a bit more patchwork.
“From a scale of Our Father flows our forging blood, which allows us much in the way of commodities and trade materials for other clans.” Dazzle explained without prompt, seeing both of them trace the lava flow with their eyes. “And our chief lives just outside of the scale’s shrine as to always being able to commune with it. Come.” Dazzle waved forward and began leading the other two towards the tent. But as they got closer, Spike began to notice what the tent was exactly made out of.
“Are those… scales?” Twilight asked as they got closer. Dazzle solemnly nodded.
“Parts of the pelts of chiefs past. It helps to remind us that we’re not eternal like our Father.” Twilight glanced over to Spike, who lightly gulped and shrugged. It wasn’t what he would want to happen to his skin when he died, but who was he to judge? When the three were a short distance away, Dazzle stopped and knelt before the tent, letting Twilight and Spike do the same before speaking again.
“Chief Mourning Star, I have returned from my Calling. I bring two others with me”
From within the tent, an obviously older dragon stepped out. He was a dull crimson with the two horns from his head that wound into tight cones and three small horns in a triangular position on his snout. He stood with a slight slump in his shoulders, but his sky blue eyes still spoke of a sharp mind. As he stepped out, his eyes were quick to see Dazzle, and faster still to look over Twilight and Spike in examination.
“So you have Dazzle. What were you Called for?” Mourning Star asked in wispy voice one would expect of a grandparent. And at the question, Dazzle bowed her head a bit.
“I was to wait in the corralling nests for the passing of two lights.” Mourning Star’s brow raised at this explanation.
“So why have you brought a whelp and a pony to this sanctum then, if not dictated by our Father?”
“This is Spike of No Clan.” Dazzle indicated to Spike. Spike shrank back a little bit at Mourning Star’s curiosity, but when he closed his eyes and briefly nodded, he seemed to be satisfied.
“And this is Twilight Sparkle, his Hatcher.” Dazzle gestured to the bowing alicorn.
“His hatcher, hmm? And who allowed you to hatch Spike of No Clan?” Mourning Star asked with barbed curiosity.
“No dragon, sir.” Spike spoke up, gaining shocked looks from Dazzle and Twilight, and smug grin from Mourning Star.
“Oh? Is that right?” Mourning Star said as he stepped over to Spike. As the elder drake stood in front of Spike, he knew that looking up would cause him to look straight up to even see him at this angle, for Mourning Star was a good story tall, as the tent and building were even taller up close. So instead Spike continued to look at Mourning Star’s feet.
“A-According to both Princess Celestia and Pyrathy, I was found outside of my nest shortly after the Purge occurred.” Spike noticed that Mourning Star’s claws needed to retract from the ground as he backed up, and as he did so, Mourning Star kneeled down as to see Spike.
“Chief!” Dazzle exclaimed.
“Hush child.” Mourning Star said softly, yet firmly. “Look at me young one.”
Spike looked up to see exactly what the voice entailed. Unlike Pyrathy, who’s eyes were a void lost in pain and despair, Mourning Star’s eyes promised a welcoming hand and a lending ear. He saw that grandfather Spike never knew he wanted or needed. One who knew what he had been through and one who knew what he was going to face. And apparently, Mourning Star looked back just as deeply.
“Were you called as well?” Mourning Star finally asked.
“Yes.” Spike nodded.
“And what was asked of you?”
Spike was speechless for a moment before he swallowed and found his voice.
“I was asked to change dragons. To…. To show them there’s more to life than carnage and waste.”
Mourning Star looked to Dazzle, who was still in shock from seeing her chief kneel to a whelp, to hearing what exactly her Father had said. “And it seems you were his guide here Dazzle.”
“But,” Mourning Star injected as he fully stood. “There are things to be done. If you are truly Called, our Father has left his mark of purity upon you. And if that is so, I shall listen to you further. Come, I shall show you our greatest treasure for such a task. You may even join us, Hatcher of Spike.” Mourning Star nonchalantly added over to Twilight, who stood to attention once things began commencing.
“Shall I return then chief?” Dazzle asked, standing as well. Mourning Star shook his head.
“Wait here, they will still need a guide once this is over. Wait by the stairs.” With a short bow, Dazzle headed back to the stairs to wait. Mourning Star, Spike, and Twilight began to head to the long building. Gone unnoticed before was an actual door to the building, which was easy to overlook, as it was inlaid with the rest of the stone, but a clear arch of runic symbols glowed as the three drew near. When Mourning Star pushed a rune akin to two cursive L’s, the stone swung inward away from the rune, as if on hinges.
At the far end of the building sat an alter with a red, tear shaped scale set above it. As was indicated outside, two flows of lava came from the bottom of the scale and flowed outward toward the walls of the building. What was not indicated from outside were two thinner streams of lava flowing up into the scale from behind it. In front of the alter was a raised platform so that one could stand above and announce to the empty gathering commons that took up the rest of the building.
Spike only found one problem with the whole arrangement.
It was all red. A deep, blood pulsing red. The same kind that came from Dazzle’s claws outside Pyrathy’s cavern. But unlike then, Spike could see it moving. The reason it looked that deep shade of red.
It was blood. A lot of it. From carnage. And hate. And slaughter. And murder.
All emanating from that one scale.