//------------------------------// // Chapter 32 // Story: Tale of Two Dragons // by Kind of Brony //------------------------------//      “I’ve gotta say, I’ll be going home with a new appreciation for what you chef types do after this is all over. I don’t even know what half of these are or what they’re for,” Grey said as he perused the shelf of small glass jars, each filled with a different herb. “Most I ever make in the kitchen are omelets.”      “Maybe don’t talk about those while we’re here,” Citrus Spritz joked, reaching past her companion to grab a jar of basil flakes. Fresh leaves were of course better, but sacrifices had to be made when in a caravan. “That proverb, break a few eggs to make an omelet, might have different connotations to gryphons.”      Grey Stone couldn’t help but chuckle at the dark humor. “Heh, I see your point, but that never stopped Gerard from wolfing down the few I’ve made him. Then again, his sister was giving him the stink eye that one time…” He shrugs. “Eh, probably because he didn’t share. I do make a mean omelet, after all.”      The mare's smile sobered some. “Gertie, right? Gerard talks about her sometimes. She sounds nice.”      “Yeah, she’s a real fire cracker, but a sweet thing underneath it all. She and Gerard are a big help around Bedville, collecting fresh water from the skies for us.” The stallion sighs. “Hope they’re doing alright back home without their best weather managers.”      The smile fell away fully. “I hope so, too. Bedville’s troubles, Gertie getting hurt, Gerard coming all the way out here and dragging you along… Who’d have thought so many problems could come from a couple of dragons. I mean, one of them can’t even be more than a colt.” She laughs dryly at this. “Really, such a sweet boy from what little I saw of him.”      “You don’t say?” Stone responded casually. “I can’t imagine why he’d have been clumped in with his sister for being a thief, then. Even if she was, why go after the little one? No offence, but Zariba and most of the others here don’t strike me as the kind who would be worried about taking him home or setting him down the right path. Really, you’re about the only one around who’s shown a bit of compassion for the lad. Sounds kind of like you’d want to help him if you could.”      “N-no, I mean,” Citrus flustered. “I certainly wouldn’t want to see him hurt or treated poorly, but I’m just a chef, it’s not my place to make decisions like that.”      “I’d like to think position wouldn’t affect how you treat a young one. I’d like to think anypony would help them if they got the chance in fact, since it’s the right thing to do.”      “… I’ve got what I need,” the pegasus said, eyes low. “Let’s go find Gerard and see if he’s picked up the meats I sent him after. There’s plenty of dogs still camping outside the city who need feeding and I don’t want to keep them waiting.”      With a silent nod, Grey Stone followed and the two set out as soon as the spices were paid for. The noon-time sun shone brightly above on the cloudless day and bartering gryphons were abundant. Having spent most of his life in Bedville since being moved there at a young age from Equestria, Grey Stone had never seen so many of the hybrid-flyers in one place. Gerard had brightened at the sight upon entering the city and the novel experience of being one amongst many instead of standing out.      Citrus had sent Gerard away with a list of various meats and sausages, trusting the carnivore to know the prime cuts when he saw them and wouldn’t be gypped into buying subpar products for inflated prices. It was a practice often attempted on her as a pony and one she embarrassingly admitted to falling for back when she first started to expand her cooking repertoire to include things other than strictly vegetarian dishes.      Grey didn’t think less of her for the admission; gryphons were notoriously savvy business dealers who were known to swindle a few extra bits from unsuspecting consumers.      “Ey! Over here!” a voice called, drawing their attention to a quickly approaching Gerard. He was smiling broadly, the saddle bags loaned to him by Citrus Spritz bulging as he moved with a hop in his step.      Citrus returned the smile. “Did you find everything okay?”      “You bet’cha! Got some great deals too, so I have a little money left from what you gave me.” His smile took on a sly element. “The butcher’s daughter running the stand had a thing for me, so I was able to barter down the prices a bit.”      With a gasp, Citrus smacked his shoulder, a half-joking frown on her lips. “Taking advantage of a girl like that? For shame, Gerard. I thought we left the dogs on the outskirts.”      “Ah, it wasn’t that bad,” the gryphon defended. “I’m sure she’ll pull the same thing on the next young tom who comes by. She was a pretty little thing, after all.”      “Yeah, yeah, you’re a real lady’s bird,” Grey Stone cut in. “If you got the stuff, how ‘bout we head back to camp? I can’t put my hoof on it, but things around here feel tense, like there’s something itchin’ in the air.”      At this, Gerard’s smile thinned into a straight line. “Yeah, I kind of noticed that too. The real weird thing, though, is the weird looks I got from a couple of town guards. I think I heard one of them talking about rebels or something.”     “Well, whatever it is, we best leave to avoid it,” Citrus said, moving past her gryphon companion. “We have enough on our plate without getting wrapped up in any more craziness.”      “Wonder if your boss will think the same?” Gray pondered. “Not saying we should head out earlier than planned, but if something is up in this town, it might be worth the inconvenience to avoid it.”      There were sounds of agreement as the trio continued on their way, the walk uneventful for several minutes until a shout was heard from ahead.      “Yeah, well, you can shove your sausage where the sun don’t shine, because it definitely isn’t worth the asking price!” a raspy, but feminine, voice yelled before a tall, purple figure dodged into view, ducking low to avoid a long tube of meat. “Oh, is it free now? Thanks, ya idiot!”      “Amy, stop it, you’re going to get us thrown… in… the… uh…” A smaller purple figure who had been pulling on his companion’s tail just moments ago, slackened his grasp as he stared at the now halted Grey, Citrus, and Gerard, whose expression was slowly morphing from shock to fury.      “What is it, Spike,” Amy questioned after she finished a rude gesture with her claw towards the vendor and turned to see her staring brother. When she followed his gaze to meet those of the enemy, she muttered one word, “Crap…”      She should be grateful, in a way, Amy thought. Sure, they had once again run into some of Zariba’s goons, but at least they had been allowed to actually rest in beds this time. Plus they were pretty much done collecting supplies, so no harm in leaving town now.      Hey, the pegasus mare, the one she identified the group from, was the one who helped them when they were captured, and so probably wouldn’t pose much of a threat. Really, as long as there weren’t any more adversaries skulking about nearby, this would be an easy escape.      Yeah, just an earth pony and a very angry-looking, vaguely familiar gryphon to deal with. Easy.      Snatching her brother up, Amy made a break for it as soon as the gryphon took wing, making sure to whirl around a few corners in the hopes of losing the flyer on the sharp turns. “Are we leaving!?” Spike shouted, watching over his sister’s shoulder to see the gryphon hit a wall paws-first before launching himself after them with a mighty beat of his wings.      “Yep!” was the clipped reply as Amy grasped the pole of a street sign to round another corner. The shouting of their pursuer wasn’t getting any further away, and the dragoness had to stop herself from cussing. At least he hadn’t taken skywards yet to avoid the buildings. It’s not like he’d have to worry about losing the two of them, seeing as they stuck out quite clearly. “Just hold onto those bags tight! Don’t drop anything!”      As Spike tightened his grasp on their belongings, Amy began scoping out alleyways, hoping to use one of the narrow passages to give the gryphon the slip. There were some shouts to halt that didn’t match with the bellowing of their furious pursuer or any of the shocked ones of random citizens, but they only drove the dragoness to go faster as she rounded another corner, then immediately into the first alley after.      Slamming her back to a wall, she ignored the yelp of her little brother as he smacked his nose off the brick. Hiding in the shadows, she held her breath as her pursuer zipped by, waiting several seconds before releasing it in a puff.      Too soon, though, as a couple of gryphons dressed in uniforms halted at the entrance and sent a glare her way. “You! You want to explain what’s going on, dragon, blazing through our streets like that? Why was that citizen chasing you?”      “Causing trouble? You steal something?” the other added. Amy had to resist a groan.      “I didn’t do anything, officers,” the dragoness tried saying in her calmest voice. “I don’t know what his problem was, but I wasn’t going to stick around and find out. I’m sure you’d agree it was better than getting into a full-on fist fight in the street.”      The two shared a skeptical look, but just as one opened their beak to speak, an unfortunately familiar voice shouted, “There you are!” Coming down from above, Zariba’s gryphon landed just in front of the officers to send a glare towards Amy. “You’re finally going to pay for what you did to my sister.”      “Gerard! Thank goodness I caught up!”      “You reckless, hot-headed, moron! What were you thinking taking off like that!?”      Amy didn’t stop the groan when it came this time. Why were the gods punishing her like this? Was she overdue for a sacrifice, or something? All those ancient civilizations must have done it for a reason. Next time she passed a volcano, she’d have to make sure to throw in a chicken.      “Uh, you have any plans, sis, or are we just gonna run some more?” Spike whispered in her ear while eying the arguing group before them. The guards were trying to figure out what was going on, while the pegasus was babbling about finding their boss and the earth pony was berating the gryphon who was pointing at them and shouting.      With how distracted they all were, the dragons could probably have managed a decent head start, but the gryphon, Gerard, if she heard right, stepped forward. “Enough! I don’t care if that striped freak is the real criminal or if she’s innocent, because what she is not innocent of is landing my sister in the hospital!” the gryphon growled, talons digging trenches into the ground. “She may never fly again, damn it!”      The stallion’s eyed widened minutely in shock while the pegasus gasped. “What?”      “I didn’t want anyone worrying more than they already were, but the doc… he said there was nerve damage in her neck, that it could cause complications.” Amy could almost feel the hatred rolling off the gryphon as he tensed, preparing to pounce. “I won’t let her go.”      Just as Amy tensed herself, hoping to land a decisive blow and make a quick escape, loud popping sounds rang out from overhead and sizzled, pulling all eyes skyward. Fireworks, dozens of them were bursting from the mountain top every second, bright enough to outshine the sun. “The capital…” one of the officers breathed, eyes going wide. “The King!” In the next instance, both he and his partner were off, hurdling towards the mountain top as fast as their wings could carry them. In the same instant, the earth pony tackled his comrade, wrapping his hooves around the gryphon’s torso and pinning his wings against his chest.      While Gerard squawked in surprise, the stallion sent a hard look their way. “What are ya waiting for? Get out of here!”      Shocked at the surreal events playing out, Amy nonetheless took the stranger’s advice, holding her little brother tightly to her shoulder and turning tail. Without pursuers to lose, the dragoness took the straightest path she could from Peregrine, leaping over carts and gryphons alike as she shot down the street, leaving a trail of startled shrieks and screams as she went.      The voices hardly registered to her ears until a familiar, and utterly hated one, joined the cacophony. Even over the still-exploding display above, Phantom’s frightened exclamation reached her ears and she slowed to whip her head around. Standing at the bakery, a donut fallen down at his hooves, the pegasus stared, mouth open as if to take a bite of the pastry no longer in his grasp. The next second he was in the air, and Amy was running full speed once again.      The lack of direction didn’t matter in Amy’s mind, figuring they could get their bearings after they had gotten away, but she had failed to take one vital detail into account. Half of the city was bordered by a sheer cliff.      A sheer cliff that she nearly took a nosedive off of as she was too busy looking up over her shoulder at the pegasus silhouette following her. Luckily, the city designers saw fit to put guardrails to keep the drunk and absentminded from hurtling over the edge. There were other figures joining with Phantom in the sky, and she saw a few quickly fly off, no doubt rounding up their ground forces, while the rest looked prepared to dive-bomb her.      “Spike, I’m going to need you to roll up into as tight a ball you can, okay? This might hurt a bit.”      “Wait, you aren’t gonna jump, right?” Spike asked in panic, though still shifting lower on his sister’s chest and wrapping himself around their belongings.      As the fireworks died down and their attackers came hurdling towards them, Amy didn’t answer, instead hoisting herself over the railing. In the same moment, there was one final star shot into the sky, lazily ascending to reach its zenith before engulfing the entire atmosphere in a blinding white light. The flyers all screamed, blinded, and even with his head down and eyes shut, Spike’s vision still turned red behind his lids.      As his stomach dropped and wind rushed passed his ears, Spike hazarded a peek, garnering a few glances of the sky as they spiraled in freefall. Is… is that firework in the shape of Discord’s face? the little dragon pondered before being violently jostled as his sister tried to slow their descent with a claw in the stone.      Perhaps it worked, though it was hard to tell as his sister curled protectively around him and they bounced harshly down the steep incline. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hold onto everything, and he hoped whatever just flew from his grasp wasn’t very important. It felt heavy.      Dr. Zariba didn’t look happy, though such a state was rare for him. His tone was neutral, however, as he looked over the railing and spoke, “You’re sure this is exactly where they went over?”      “Yeah, the pastry shop I was at when they ran by is a few blocks from here, and I recognize the buildings,” Phantom answered, eyeing the sky. “You have any idea what was up with the fireworks display… Or the ominous clouds around the mountain top?”      “Not the specifics, no, but I recognize dark magic when I see it. I feel its corruptive force from here.” The zebracorn joined his second in command, staring towards where the capital would be if not for the writhing miasma blocking it from sight. “Whatever it is, however, it doesn’t involve us currently, and I would like to keep it that way. How long before the caravan will be ready to move out again?”      “Uh, well, we all kind of expected to have the whole day here, so there’s quite a few of us scattered around the city, but I and the other flyers here can probably have them all gathered up and everything ready to go by sunset,” Phantom answered with a shrug.      A small frown pulled at the boss’s lips. “We will be ready to move before then. All of Peregrine’s forces have left to respond to whatever is going on in the capital, so there shouldn’t be anyone to halt you for disturbing the peace or reckless flying, and I’d like to have a couple hours of sunlight to travel under. Inform the fliers here of this and have them spread the word. As for you, you’ll assist me down the cliff so that we may search for our dragons. Maybe if we are lucky, Amethyst has crippled herself in the fall and we’ll be able to recapture her. If not, then at the very least, maybe she’ll have left an easy trail to follow.”      The scarred pegasus nodded, only hesitating a moment to stare at the imposing clouds in the sky before taking off. Dr. Zariba was no longer giving him or the clouds of dark magic any mind as he stared down over the railing.      That was quite the daring, if not foolish escape, and Zariba didn’t know whether to be pitying or impressed by the audacious move. He settled on annoyed. Leave it to that dragon to force his attention away from the curious events playing out in Gryphonia’s capital. Both his inner scholar and warlock were intrigued by the phenomenon, but they simply couldn’t afford the distraction when they were so close to what could be the largest treasure in the world and his nemesis was a step ahead.      He’d just have to settle for investigating at his leisure on the return trip once he’d found Bahamut’s Hoard and Amethyst Thistle was no more.