//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: To Be Heard, Day 3 
// Story: A Cog in the Machine 
// by ManlyDerp 
//------------------------------//

	
Chapter 6, To be Heard, Day 3



This…

… This will be my hardest battle.

I have faced many trials in my life, both before and after becoming a baby dragon.

But this...

I let a sigh escape my lips as I faced down my adversary. The upcoming battle will be fierce, and much will be lost… but it will be for the greater good. 

... At least, that’s what I told myself.

Nate stood by my side: ever faithful despite his injuries. He looked forward with an infallible gaze, almost as if he was unaware of the weight of our actions… which might actually be correct.

He stepped forward before me, leading the charge. The griffon strutted onwards without a care in the world; the fool having no reason to fear what was to come, not like me who might as well be staring into the face of death.

This would be my greatest test. Greater than my enslavement to Flim and Flam, greater than my repeat escape attempts, greater than every exam I took on Earth. This would be the event that shaped my future.

Nathan De La Griffon stepped forward…

… And entered the door with a picture of a pony on it.

After a few moments, I sighed again and entered the door next to it. The one with the picture of a pony wearing a skirt...

The little filly’s room.

Lord help me.


***^***


It was the morning after we had failed to sneak aboard the S.S. Luna Returner undetected. The crew had given us our own room in the staffs' quarters, but I think it was supposed to be a broom closet. It had no windows and was quite cramped. It even had an actual broom, but it also had one bed as well, so that was good enough for us. 

I stayed up late last night waiting for Nate to be returned me. The kid kept mentioning how he’s nervous around adults, so I was worried that he’d be too afraid to get to sleep by himself. Again, probably just big brother/sister instincts taking over my sense of self-preservation. It was only later, when they brought him in with a proper bandage around his damaged wing (thankfully nothing serious) did we both finally get some sleep. Nate took up the actual bed while I curled up at the foot of it; him needing the full length so his wing wouldn’t bother him and myself only needing the end because this position is really freaking comfortable. Sure I was once again imitating a dog, but I was way too tired by this point to really care. 

After we woke up, cleaned up, and used the… restrooms… we were introduced to our ‘handlers’ over a breakfast of oat pancakes. They were a pegasus and a unicorn, so I guess Grey’s crew is pretty diverse… well when it comes to ponies, that is.

The pegasus, a cyan blue mare with a dark blue mane, approached the table with a plate in her muzzle. She spat it out on her spot before greeting us affectionately.

“So, you two must be our little stowaways!”

Nathan shrank under her friendly smile. I finished chewing my food and answered for the both of us… again.

“Yup, that's right. We flew onboard last night, ma’am.”

A voice spoke from behind the mare. “Yes, after blowing up a wagon! That was sick!” 

A crimson coat, fire red mane, unicorn stallion actually came hopping up to the table. His meal was trapped in a red magic aura of his own making and it seemed to be bouncing up and down along with him. 

“Hi there! I’m Red, and this lovely lady here is Blue!”

Grey, Blue, Red… I’m sensing a pattern here. ‘Blue’ blushed at ‘Red’s’ remark. Red paid no attention though, as he was looking straight at me with a creepily huge smile on his face. 

“Hey! Can I see… it?”

I blinked at Red’s sudden question. “It?”

He entered into full on fanboy mode and started gushing. “Yeah! It! Your dragonfire! I've always wanted to see some real fire from a real dragon!” 

The stallion stood up and showed off his cutie mark; a pair of fireballs, one blue and another green, clashing together. “I’m a bit of a fire fanatic! I got this baby by ‘accidentally’ burning down my neighbor’s fence when I was a little colt. Sooooo yeah…” he started jumping up and down again. “Showmeshowmeshowme!”

Why does it feel like I’ve seen this before…? 

... Oh, right! I remember now!

“Mr. Red? You wouldn’t happen to be related to a 'Lyra Heartstrings', would you?” I asked him. This is straight up Lyra right here. The smiling, the bouncing... the only thing missing is…

Red answered my question by jumping up onto his hind legs (Ha!) and gasping. “Gasp! That’s my cousin’s name!” He squinted his eyes. “Are you a wizard?”

I think I’m going to like working with Red.

I laughed his theory off. “Ha, I wish! Oh the things I would do if I could use magic… but I suppose flying and fire breathing are fair tradeoffs.” I grinned at him slyly. “Speaking of fire breathing…”

I don’t think he could have smiled any wider if he tried. 

Lifting my head up towards the ceiling, I blew out a small stream of orange fire for him. Blue went wide-eyed and gave me little hoof claps while Red started jumping even faster in place. He had the exact same smile on that Lyra usually wears! Seems being overly cheerful runs in the family (along with human tendencies. Nothing screams ‘human’ like watching things burn… or maybe that’s just me).

“Ohohohohoh! My turn, my turn!” Red replied, stopping his hopping and getting into a safe position.

Red’s horn glowed bright crimson as an even brighter red fire shot out of its tip. Magically, he formed these flames into a small stream like how mine usually comes out, but unlike mine his stream started changing colors. It went from red, to blue, to green, and he even tried to imitate my orange flame with moderate success. Heh. Just can’t beat the real thing, I guess. I clapped my claws together all the same and cheered as he finished up his act. 

He gave a little bow. “Thank you thank you, you’re too kind! But mine’s nothing compared to that totally amazing baby you pulled off last night! You just have to show me that one!”

I took a sip of my orange juice before continuing. “Oh, what, that little old thing? Little old ‘Revenge’?” 

Yup, I named the big-old-ball-of -death ‘Revenge’ instead of 'Payback'. Easily three times the size of my tiny body, ‘Revenge’ is going to be my new ace in the hole for now on… as soon as I figure out how to launch the darn thing without the recoil sending me flying halfway to Canterlot and back, that is. When I used it last night I was sent flying into the freaking treetops! We almost lost our window of chance, but thankfully Nate caught me in time and we made it. That mini sun sure is a dual edged sword…

Totally won’t stop me from abusing it either way. “Hehe, I believe I could show you someti-”

“Okay, that’s enough; Red, Blue. They’re here to work, not play.”

Red and Blue jumped to attention as Captain Grey entered the room. He was now wearing his uniform; a deep blue navy shirt decorated in an assortment of metals and a clean white navy hat. Huh, why wasn’t he wearing this last night at the launching? Did we catch him by surprise or something? Quite odd... maybe he was doing something dirty last night or something that didn’t need loose fitting clothing?

Maybe he was buck-

It was at this point that I realized that Grey was glaring at me. It took a second to realize that Nate and I were still sitting at the table. 

Opps. 

We attempted to jump to attention as well, but Nate was still very nervous so he shook where he stood. Meanwhile, I accidentally tripped over my own tail and tumbled to the floor. Guess I got too used to walking on all fours last night. Boy do I feel silly. I gave the captain a nervous grin.

Squee!

And there’s that adorable squeeing sound effect again. Always when you least expect it...

Grey shook his head disappointingly before turning to face Red and Blue. 

“Red, I told you none of that Fire magic indoors. When you signed up for this job, you agreed to only use it for ship to ship communication and nothing else. Understood?”

Red’s head drooped. “S-sorry sir.”

“And Blue…” Grey turned his head to Blue. 

Oh come on, she hasn’t said a word to us since she sat down! What did she do wrong? Saying hi?

The captain’s gaze was fierce. “I thought I told you to stop spying on the guests while they're sleeping. If I get one more complaint because of you, missy…”

Blue’s head drooped as well. “S-sorry, sir. It won’t happen again, sir.” 

...

Spying… while they're sleeping…?

... What? 

Suddenly Blue’s earlier glances at Nate and I seem a bit more… creepy. I was wondering why her cutie mark was a pair of night vision goggles...

-Shudder-

The Captain’s wings fluttered slightly in a bid to gain our attention. It worked. “It’s the big day, fillies. This is the first of the three days this ship will be sailing and entertaining hundreds of ponies. You four will be the last ones to hit the deck. All of you will be on lookout: your jobs will be switching around in accordance to what other ponies need you to do. Do I need to repeat myself?”

Red and Blue raised their respective hooves and saluted a response. “Sir, no sir!”

“Understood, Captain!” I gave me own salute with a claw. I also lightly kicked Nathan in the side so he’d do the same. 

“U-understood, Mr. Grey…” Nathan replied in a timid voice.

Grey eyed up Nathan slowly, causing him to sweat, before taking a step back and observing the group as a whole. “Mr. Red, you’ll be taking the griffon kid here and teaching him the ropes. Mrs. Blue; you’ll be taking the dragoness under your wing. Both of you will make sure that they’re earning their keep and report to me if they don’t.” 

With that he left us to carry out his instructions. No goodbyes, no ‘good lucks’, he just got up and left. Rude much?

Anyways, so the creepy stalker is a Misses...

... And I’m her charge. 

Grand. 

Red seems a little down about this arrangement.

“Awwwww, but I wanted the dragon…”

Blue blew a raspberry at Red as he started to trot away with Nate by his side.

I waved bye to him “Take care, Nate.”

He stopped and did the same before leaving. “You too, Cog.”

And then he was gone. I hope he’ll be okay…

… Now I’m here alone with Mrs. Blue...

...

I hope I’ll be okay. 

“Um… so, Mrs. Blue...?”

“Don’t worry, dear. I’m not a creeper.” She replied.

I don’t buy it. “Then, why’s you-”

“Why’s my cutie mark the way it is?" She cut me off. "Because I’m a superb night flier. I can see clearly in the darkness and I can navigate the sky using only the stars as my guide. Before this I was an overnight mailmare and I would travel amongst all the major cities. I took up this job because it paid a little better and gave me a chance to see something new: the sea.”

Interesting, but… “That… doesn’t explain the creeping around at night, ma’am.”

She smiled sadly. “No it doesn’t, but my cutie mark looks like it belongs to a creeper, doesn’t it?”

“I… er…”

Mrs. Blue fluttered her wings gently as she laughed softly. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You can say it.”

I blushed. “It… j-just makes me nervous, Mrs. Blue.”

“It makes the captain nervous as well, dear, so when we started getting these creeper reports, he started pinning them all on me.”

I was taken aback. “T-that’s, that’s horrible!”

She used her wings to shrug. “Thankfully nopony actually believes I did it. I’m a wife and the mother of two: the only creeping I do is when I sneak in at night to tuck my colts to bed.”

My face heated up as I felt embarrassment for my earlier accusations. “I-I’m sorry for judging you before I got to know you, Mrs. Blue. Heh, you’d think me of all people should know by now not to judge a book by its cover.”

“Hm? And why would that be, dear?”

Well I am a man trapped as a baby dragon girl. If ever there was a more misleading cover for a book, it would be this one. 

... Heh. I say that like this is a book, like all of this is just some written story.

Funny, when you think about it.

However, I can't really tell her these things, so I instead used a better example. 

“Oh… I was just referring to my friend Nate. Shy and a little shaky on the outside, but once you get to know him he can be quite courageous and kind.”

She kept up her gentle smile. “I could say the same for Red, dear… well I’d have to change ‘shy’ for ‘energetic’ and ‘a little shaky’ for ‘drinks way to much coffee in the morning’. Maybe you’ll get the chance to see what I mean during this trip. Oh! Look at the time! We should probably get moving.” 

I nodded my head and followed behind her.


***^***


“Okay, dear, let’s try this one.”

I groaned but I tried to not make it audible. “I’m telling you, Mrs. Blue, I don’t think we’re going to find one in my size.”

“Nonsense! If we had one just laying around for a baby minotaur, I’m sure we can find one for… aha! Here we go!’

I folded my wings inwards as I tried on the thirteenth butler uniform. All of them were designed for ponies, thus we weren’t having much luck. There were some odd balls in the bunch, like for diamond dogs, minotaurs, and griffons, so Blue was hoping for one in my size. But I still don’t thin-

Oh. It looks like we have a winner this time.

“Looks good!”

“Yeah, but what about my wings?” I scratched the spot where my wings should be. Ow... constraining these things hurts like a mother.

Blue remained in good spirits and kept up her smiling. “Oh no problem at all! I have some experience in modifying clothing, all pegasi do… even if some don’t like to admit it. Have to keep up that ‘macho’ warrior look for the griffons, I suppose. Although... heh, your little friend doesn’t seem to match the usual griffon stereotype himself, dear.”

“Hehe. Yeah, well; Nate’s an original, I’ll give him that.”

Yeah, an original who just so happens to look like a feathery version of one of my little brothers… but personality wise yes, Nate sure is an original and I couldn’t be more grateful.

In my deep contemplation, Blue pulled out a pair of scissors and brought them to her mouth. She tried to speak around the item. “Must mne mecond, mear.” 

With one quick motion…

Shinkshink!

I could move my wings again. That’s much better.

“There we go!”

I chuckled lightly. “Yeah. It seems like the 13th time was the charm.”

Blue put away her scissors into her own uniform’s pocket. “Sorry that took so long, sweetheart, but if you didn’t have those scars we wouldn’t need hunt down a version of the suit with sleeves long enough for you to cover them up.”

I gently rubbed my wrists, now hidden under my sleeves. I guess it feels good to be wearing clothes again, even if I am still pantless. Not a big deal, I guess... not like these scars, that is. I really hope these things don't remain when I do make it home…

They’re… really an eyesore. A hideous eyesore that only brings back horrible memories.

... -Sigh-"I didn’t ask for these...”

Blue’s smile went from warm to sad. “We never do. I didn’t ask for mine either.” 

As we started to enter the giant (and empty) ballroom, Blue lifted up her right wing and revealed a deep scar cutting through her fur.

Yeesh! That looks painful. “H-how?”

Blue tilted her head towards the scar, her smile going from sad to joyful again. “A diamond dog tried to steal a ruby I was wearing one night. It was given to me by my future husband to be, and I was going to show it off to some of my friends. When the dog attacked me, my hubby came swooping down from the clouds and, after seeing that I was bleeding, bucked the guy so hard that all his teeth shattered!” She held a hoof to her muzzle in an attempt to hide a very ladylike chortle. “There’s a dog out there right now that has to drink his rubies through a straw!”

Using one of my claws, I mimicked her actions and stifled my own chortle. Whether it was a ladylike one or not I’ll never know... nor do I want to know.

“What about you, dear? Do you want to talk about yours, or is it too hard for you?”

“Oh… I, er.” I fluttered my wings lightly at the question. It must be some kind of body reaction that happens when I’m nervous...

... I don’t like repeating this story, but the more I talk about it the easier it gets…

Hmmmm... might as well. She did share her own story with me, after all. “I… was strung up to the wall of a machine designed to make dragon roasted cider. They held me there for a month before Nate fought his fears and saved me.”

“Ah! So that’s how you met your coltfriend. Interesting first date, Cogy!”

... Okay. I was not expecting that kind of response out of the motherly Mrs. Blue. Guess she really is a creeper. I turned my head towards her, “He's not my colt-” only to discover that I wasn’t talking to her anymore, but instead to a different pony. 

A white unicorn with a pair of purple shades, to be precise. 

... Ah nuts.

Turning my head again, I saw that Blue had been summoned by another staff member, leaving me to fight off my guest alone. 

... -Sigh-...

I straightened myself before finally answering. “Hello Ms. Vinyl Scratch.”

DJ Pon-3 waved wildly at me despite us being almost within inches of each other. “Hi Cogy! Whatcha doin’?”

Cogy? A nickname of a nickname... Nickception. 

“I’m ‘earning my keep’ around here, according to Captain Grey.” I made air quotation marks with my claws, a motion that didn’t seem to be as lost on Vinyl as it was on Trixie. She gave me a quick ‘ha!’ in response.

I smirked at this. Maybe this won’t be as headache inducing as I originally believed it to be. “So, what are you doing here, Scratch?”

Vinyl lifted up one hoof and waved it around as she spoke, animating what she said. “Oh trying not to die of boredom, Cogy! This place is stealing my soul! So I saw you across the room, thought to myself ‘Hey Vinyl! There’s your BDFF over there! Let’s go bug her!’ and now here I am!”

“... BDFF?” I asked fearfully. 

“Best Dragon Friend Forever, duh! I’ll admit, you’re my only dragon friend, but who gives a phooey about the facts anyways?! Not this party filly, I’ll tell ya! Well… maybe sometimes when it’s the fine print of something my BPFF, Octy, wants me to look over, but there’s not much after that! … Okay, I lied again. I care about the facts when it comes to what my manager says. Like when he tells me,” she then comically deepened her voice. “‘Vinyl! You need to do community service on this boring flank boat for burning down that hospital or else blah blah blah.’” She returned to her normal voice seamlessly. “Talk about a buzz killer, am I right? He’s kind of a stick in the mud, but if I want to keep my sweet job I have to listen to the old fart. Oh and then there’s ‘Captain’ Grey here. Girl, I’ll tell ya…”

“Wait wait wait wait...” I tried in vain to slow down the MicroMachine Man of ponies (she could give Pinkie Pie a run for her bits!) and also tried to piece together what she had just said. “I’m… your friend? When did that happen?”

Vinyl ruffled my hair with a free hoof. “Why, when you blew up a freaking wagon, silly filly! I even heard it belonged to the Great and Obnoxious Trixie! Ha! I’ve been trying to get back at that showmare for months now after she tricked me into burning down a hospital!”

Um… suddenly the DJ’s mental stability has been brought into question. I carefully removed Vinyl’s hoof out of fear that she would crush me with it. “How… did she trick you into burning down a hospital, dare I ask?”

She gave another little ‘ha!’ before answering. “Two words, Cogy. Drinking, Contest.” The DJ shuddered where she stood. “The strongest magic known to ponydom.”

“That… doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, Vinyl.”

“It did after thirty Rainboom Screwdrivers!”

And thus I used my ‘really?’ stare on her; both because the name was silly and because “Really? Thirty?”

“… Okay, maybe it was only fifteen screwdrivers.” Vinyl started sweating.

My stare intensified.

“… Okay, maybe only five…” Sweat was now soaking the floor, leaving a good sized puddle.

I lightened my stare. That sounds a little bet-

“… Okay, maybe I only had one.”

… What?

“What? Then, how…?”

All of a sudden, Vinyl rose up to her hind legs and covered her crying face with her front ones: an unnecessary motion as her shades already did a good enough job of this. 

“Okay okay! I only sniffed one, Cogy! I’m a freaking lightweight! Waahhhh!”

Um… oooookkkkkaaayyy then. Questionable mental stability is still questionable. I gently patted her on the back. “Um…  there, there… Scratchy?”

She swiftly snapped back to her cheerful disposition. “Thanks Cogy! I needed that!”

Brain… hurting. I then asked Scratch the question that I was starting to fear I knew the answer to.

“… Ms. Vinyl, please don’t take this as rude… but are you on something right now?”

Vinyl quickly burst into tears again… but this time she was laughing as well.

I’m… confused. So very, very confused. 

“... I, er, fail to see what was so funny about what I said, Vinyl. So does that mean I’m right or…?”

She waved me off with one hoof, the other was clenched around her splitting sides. How is she still stan- you know what? Never mind. I don’t care. I now know how Twilight feels about Pinkie Pie...

“Hahaha!" -Snort- "Oh, it was nothing you said, Cogy! It’s just I was remembering how I met Octy and how her and I had the exact same conversation that we’re having right now!”

There goes my eyebrow again: magically appearing only when I need to raise it. “You mean about burning down hospitals and having a poor tolerance to alcohol?”

Vinyl finally let up on her laughing. “Hehe… okay maybe not the exact same conversation, but close enough! She even asked me the same question you just did! I swear, you’re like a dragon version of her or something... except you seem a bit more willing to have fun!”

My nonexistent eyebrow remained raised. “Really? More willing to have fun? What have I done to make you think that?”

“Girl, you blew up a freaking wagon and flew across the harbor with a griffon on your back.” The pony deadpanned. “There had to have been, like, fifty better ways to sneak on! But nope, you said,” She then lightened her voice in order to mimic what I assume mine sounds like to others. “‘Sneaking is for chumps! Let’s get on in the flashiest and nosiest way possible just because I can! If it doesn’t cause at least a thousand bits worth of property damage then it’s not worth doing!’” 

...

...Okay. I'll admit... I laughed out loud at the impression.

This caused Vinyl to grin even harder. “Cogy, if that doesn’t scream ‘wild party filly’ I don’t know what does!”

I felt my face blush at what I can only assume was Vinyl’s version of a compliment. This made her start laughing hard, complete with snorting and wheezing.

She held her sides again. “Oh, my, Celestia! You and Octy even react the same way!" -Snort- "That’s it: I’m so introducing you two the next chance I get! Ugh! If only she didn’t have that gig in Fillydelphia this weekend…”

I slapped my face a couple times in order to stop the blushing. This caused Vinyl to snicker madly... must be another trait I share with Octavia (who I assume is who ‘Octy’ is. I mean, who else could it be, really?).

“Come along, dear. It’s time we get this place set up for lunch!”

I jumped as Blue unexpectedly materialized behind me and almost literally scared the fire out of me. Ah! Maybe there is something to that sneaking rumor after all...

Vinyl pouted. “Awwww! Does that means I have to clear out too?” Her bottom lip started quivering. I think she was trying to pull off the puppy dog look, but the shades prevented it from working properly.

“We’d appreciate it, Ms. Scratch.” Replied Blue, unfazed.

The DJ’s face went back to normal. “Ah pony feathers. Guess I’ll get my gig for tomorrow set up or something. Sigh~ See you later, Cogy.”

Vinyl Scratch then started trotting away. She got as far as the halfway point of the room before she suddenly zooming back to us. “Oh! Almost forgot! I don’t know what they’ll be having you do tomorrow, but try to get them to send you my way! I would really like the help of somedragon who isn’t a soulless machine! No offense, Blue.”

Blue grumbled to herself as Vinyl trotted off again. I… really have no idea what the hell just happened, at all.


***^***


Several hours of hard work later, the ballroom was at long last looking nice and orderly for the supposed buffet they were about to serve here. Blue had me setting up tables and having me run back into the kitchen every now and then to ask the cooks a question about placement. I had a question of my own that I wanted answered as well, so I waited for my chance to ask Blue once everything was set.

“Mrs. Blue?

“Yes dear?”

“Why is there a single cloud in the ceiling?”

One of the first things that caught my eye about this room the moment DJ Pon-3 left was that in the center of the black ceiling there stood a solitary fluffy white cloud. I had at first thought it was fake and just for decoration, but as I moved under it I could actually feel drops of moister. This made me very curious so I waited and watched it as I did my chores, in the hopes that I could solve this puzzle on my own. Sadly, after a couple hours I had finally given up the ghost. This led me to asking this question now.

Blue looked at the cloud in the ceiling before returning her attention to me with a smile. 

“That, dear, is called the ‘Crow’s Nest’. It’s a section of the ship that only pegasi have access to. During this trip it will be used as a spare ballroom in the case that we get everypony on the ship involved in one event. In future trips, however, it may just be used as the private eating quarters of one of the many national flight teams out there, like the Wonderbolts or the Crimson Eagles.”

“Huh. Interesting...” 

I was referring to both the pegasus only room and the Crimson Eagles remark. Sounds like the name of a griffon flight team to me... I wonder if it belongs to some royal family like how the Wonderbolts are Celestia’s? I’d like to see one of these teams while I’m here someday... after solving Nate’s problem, that is… and also after finding a way home. 

Speaking of Nate, I haven’t seen him since we were split up earlier. I guess they have him working elsewhere. Hope he’s okay…

A mischievous smile suddenly crossed Blue’s face and knocked me out of my thoughts. Blue hasn’t done anything to earn my mistrust yet, but that stalker comment from earlier still has me a bit on edge around her, despite her motherly ways. Yeah she says her talent is night flying, but then why is her cutie mark night goggles?

Excuse me for being paranoid of ponies after all the crap I've been through...

“Want to check it out, dear?” she asked me.

Oh. So that's what was on her mind. Good.

“Hmmmm.” I hummed to myself as I considered the offer. I would like to check it out, because I’m curious, but wouldn’t the captain get mad at me for slacking off like this? Well… I don’t think Mrs. Blue would try to get me in trouble, so I guess its fine…

...!

Suddenly, an idea came to mind. I laughed at myself for my own brilliance. Pretty vain, I know, but hey, cut me some slack. 

I answered Blue innocently, making sure I was as cute and precious as this body would allow me to look. “I sure would, Mrs. Blue! But… I don’t really know how to fly yet.” I gave her an equally innocent looking smile. 

Any more innocence up in this bitch and we might accidentally break out the CMC halo again! Ha!

Blue laughed my reply off. “Oh, it’s no big deal, dear! Here, I’ll show you a little bit while we’re up there. Just hop on my back for now.”

“Okay! Thank you Mrs. Blue!” And cuteness wins the day again. After years of suffering it at the hands of my little brothers, it’s about time I had my own chance to try it out. It works surprisingly well on creatures with souls.

I hopped up on Blue’s back as she took to the ceiling. She didn’t slow down as we neared the cloud.

“Um… Mrs. Blue?”

“Hold on tight, sweetheart!”

I shrieked. “Jesus Cr-”

She then burst through the cloud at top speed, blowing the cloud apart into water droplets. We came out into a new large room, probably the ‘Crow’s Nest’, and I came out of this incident with a fear for pegasusback riding.  I looked behind us just in time to see the cloud repair itself and cover up the hole we had made into the… cloud cover?

It was a good thing I looked behind me when I did, because I don’t think I could have identified our cloud again amongst the literal sea of clouds that was up here. It was quite a curious sight, as I had recalled that the ceiling below us was very much solid last I checked. One side of this new room had a lovely painted vista of the clear blue sky along the ceiling and the walls, giving off the illusion that we were flying. The other side had the starry night sky painted to a scary realistic degree. There were quite possibly thousands of painted stars in this single corner of the room alone; made of whites and reds, blues, and a plethora of other appropriate colors. There were even a few shooting stars! The centerpiece of the night sky was this giant moon that took up the entirety of the back wall; painted full and lacking the mare in the moon herself in what I assume was symbolism of Luna’s redemption. 

It... was amazing.

Blue saw me gawking at it all and chuckled a little before letting me off on a solitary cloud.

“Pretty neat, huh?” she asked me casually.

“More than neat, its’ amazing!” I spoke honestly. I'm not making this up, it really was amazing. The walls looked so real that it was hard to point out where the actual corners of the room were. Every wall looked like it could go on forever.

Blue laughed again at my enthusiasm. “Hehe, it sure is. No expense was spared to make every room on this ship look amazing.” She turned her head and gazed longingly at the blue sky portion of the room. “… I love this room the most. I don’t know about you, my little dragon, but to a pegasus like me this room fills me with a sense of nostalgia and longing. It makes me feel like I did when I was your age, looking up at the sky and dreaming of the day when I could take to it. It also makes me think of Cloudsdale, where my children are currently attending their first year of Flight School. I want to see them flying, and I want to soar amongst those clouds freely myself so badly... maybe I’ll do just that when I have my next day off.”

She returned her attention to me, soft smile still plastered to her face. “Fun fact, dear: originally they tried to make a room for earth ponies that was full of dirt and artificially grown trees. No matter how hard they tried, however, they couldn’t get the ‘feel’ right, or something like that. I feel sorry for earth ponies and the unicorns: they don’t get to experience something like this, or the actual sky in all its glory...”

I gazed up at the ‘starry sky’. “Hehe. ‘Always respect what you have, but don’t pity what others do not, for they have what it is that you wish for but can never have yourself’. This was an odd saying that my grandmother used to tell me, one that was a bit of a mouthful yet oddly memorable. It always reminded me to be grateful for what I have and to always cherish it. Mrs. Blue... we don’t get to feel that special connection to the earth that earth ponies feel every day, nor do we have a spiritual connection to the magic around us like the unicorns. In the end, it seems fair that we get the sky while they receive the benefits of the land, doesn’t it?”

“… Hehe. You’re a lot more mature and thoughtful then your age would suggest, sweetheart.”

I smiled sincerely. “Thank you Mrs. Blue. I had a great teacher.”

“Was your grandmother a dragon too, or was she a part of your adopted family?”

“Huma- er, dra-…part of the adopted family, ma’am. A minotaur.” Phew. Almost slipped up there again. Have to keep up the ‘not raised by dragons’ story and make sure not to deviate from it to avoid suspicion. I don’t think it’d be wise to tell everypony that I’m not of this world yet. Need to wait until my life is stable again before I begin my search for a way home. 

It’d be hard to search in a padded cell.

Mrs. Blue stood up from her cloud and started stretching out her four legs, along with her wings.  “Come on now, dear, let me teach you a few things before they need us to start setting up the food.”

“Okay!” I jumped up and started stretching my own appendages.

I’m really excited for this! I mean, who wouldn’t be? Flying, man. Flying! This is pretty much all I’ve been thinking about since I came to Equestira. I would dream about it in my prison as a way to avoid thinking about home. I’ve glided, I’ve launched myself, and I’ve made a few crash landings... but never have I truly flown. Hopefully, my wings being bat wings shouldn’t affect Blue’s trai-

“Okay, dear, this is going to be tricky thanks to your wings not being feathery.”

…ning. Well this is off to a great start.

“I-it’s not that different, is it Mrs. Blue?” I asked her worriedly.

“Oh boy is it!” She lifted one of her wings to illustrate. “I’ve had my own wings turned into bat wings last Nightmare Night when I went as a Lunar Guard. This was back before Luna’s return, when the Lunar Guards were just the stuff of legends. Now it’s considered ‘rude’ and ‘potentially confusing to city guards’ to go as one. Bah! But I’m getting off track. So I had my wings changed last year and they were very different from what I’m used to. It was like having to learn how to fly all over again!”

I gulped.

Blue continued. “I eventually figured it out, nonetheless, so I can at least give you a few pointers, dear. Like…”

She jumped up into the air and started fluttering in place.

“This right here is easier to do with feathery wings. Bat wings tend to slice through the air instead of push it like mine does. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it might drain you a lot quicker.”

I was mentally taking notes. “O-okay.”

“On the other hoof…”

Blue landed on a cloud and quickly fluttered her wings in place while maintaining a runner’s starting position. I remembered seeing this position from the Hurricane Fluttershy episode.

My then teacher let go of her hold and rocketed forward, quickly did a complete circle around the ballroom in little under a minute, and landed an inch away from me. I gave her a little clap with my claws.

She smiled lovingly. “Thanks dear, but that’s nothing compared to an actual athletes’ time. My point of showing you it was so I can illustrate how your wings can produce more wingpower than normal pegasus wings.”

Whoa. Well that’s a surprise. “Really?”

“Oh heck yeah!” She’s seems very energetic about this. “I felt like a Wonderbolt when I was zooming around on those black wings last year! I was twice as fast as I usually am and I was able to pull off these tricks that I could never get right before! I was even able to pull off the cloud-wake technique the Wonderbolts always use!”

Haha! Without her knowledge, Mrs. Blue had started bouncing up and down in place like Red did earlier. She even had the same smile on! She must have a real passion for flying... it seems that I picked a good teacher!

“Those things were amazing, dear! If only they were just a bit more practical and a lot less hideous I would have considered keeping them.”

I… didn’t really like that last comment. I guess this feeling transferred to my face, as Blue suddenly stopped bouncing and started backpedalling.

“H-hey hey! I was talking about those ugly, black, fake bat wings, dear, not yours!” Her voice then took a sympathetic and softer tone. “Yours are beautiful. The green fingers stand out nicely and compliment your scales wonderfully, and you obviously take good care of the skin! Dragons I get to see in the newspapers always seem to have holes or tears in their own, like they don’t care... but you do care and that’s why yours look lovely. Don’t let anypony ever tell you otherwise, sweetheart.”

I felt my face heat up again. R-really not used to getting compliments, and especially not used to being called beautiful. “T-thank you Mrs. Blue.”

She beamed back at me. “Not a problem, dear. I speak the truth. Okay, let’s get back to the lessons! So now I want you to try to launch yourself like I just did. Don’t worry about turning, just focus on going straight ahead towards that back wall, okay? Use the moon as a target.”

I nodded willingly and turned to face the moon. I got on all fours and started fluttering my wings as hard as I could. I gripped the cloud with my claws.

“Hold please.”

My wings stopped fluttering as I complied with Blue’s request.

“Hmmmm…” She started running a hoof through my wings as I stayed still. “You don’t seem to have your flapping very will synced, and your technique is messy and unorganized. Is it rude of me to assume you were never taught how?”

“N-no, you’d be right. I wasn’t taught how to use these things properly.” I felt shame, even though I really shouldn’t. Not like I had control of my life here until now...

“Ah. I see. It’s a shame the Cloudsdale Flight School only takes in pegasi and griffons. At your age you’d be attending your first year next fall, maybe become friends with my own little ones... For now though, let me teach you a little trick my mother taught me for proper wing flapping.”

Blue stretched out her wings to her side, then bended them downwards and inwards...

“Monkey scratches arms…” she began to say.

… Followed by upwards…

“The tree’s branches grow wide and tall...”

… And finally straight down to her sides again, but this time they were unfolded.

“And the soldier stands tall and firm, ready for duty. Monkey, tree, soldier. Monkey tree solider. Just remember that and you should be doing some basic flying in no time!”

Monkey, tree, soldier… weird way of remembering how to flap, but at least it’s memorable. I returned to all fours and started slowly flapping. I concentrated on how the wings were moving. 

‘Lefts too fast, rights too slow… now rights too fast and lefts too slow… okay. Think I’ve got it. Now… monkey, tree, soldier. Monkey…’ 

I could feel my tiny body start to lift itself off the ground the faster I flapped. I tightened my grip on the cloud.

“Great! Great!” Blue praised my performance. “Now… let go and try to stop yourself before you get to that wall.”

I gritted my teeth as I did my best to nod. Once I felt that I was flapping fast enough, I let go…

… And left an imprint on the far wall, denting the moon. Hehe, the ‘man in the moon’… or would it be the dragon girl in the- you know what? My head hurts too much to care right now...

Flapflapflapflap…

Blue fluttered down next to me and rolled me onto my back. “Haha… see what I mean about you having a bit more wingpower then me, dear?”

I weakly nodded in response.

“That was still very good though! Let’s just try to work on some wing control with the time we have left here. Maybe we’ll get you to fly around this ‘track’ tomorrow! How does that sound?”

Shakily, I gave her a thumbs up with the appropriate claw. Blue stared at it for a second before rubbing her blue mane in confusion.

“Does… that mean a good thing or a bad thing, dear…? Sweetheart?”

I didn’t hear her, was too busy watching the world spin. 


***^***


Blue finished her flight lessons with me a little bit after that and we fluttered down into the main ballroom together. I actually did a little fluttering myself! It was a hard landing but I still felt proud. We helped set up the buffet as soon as we landed and it was here that we stayed for the next three hours. My job was to act as a makeshift waiter and get everyponies’ drinks. I would also keep their tables clean and make sure they were satisfied. It was normal catering work, something I was somewhat familiar and used to, so I couldn’t complain.

“Oh honey look! It’s that little dragon girl from last night!”

“What a dreadful eyesore.”

“Mommy mommy! Why is there a little filly working here?”

“Now now. It’s not nice to point.”

“I better not find any ashes in my food…”

“I better not find any scales in mine.”

What I wasn’t used to, however, was that. 

Guess I can’t blame them. ‘Oh hey! Remember that giant fiery explosion last night? The dragon that caused it is going to be serving you your drinks. K, thanks, bye.’ 

Ugh. 

The smaller colts and fillies were (regrettably) the most annoying of the bunch, always staring at me and laughing about me behind my back. ‘I wonder if it farts fire too (thankfully no). Is it a boy or a girl (no clue myself)? I wonder if it’s going to eat us (seriously considering it)!’ 

Again, ugh!

A voice caused me to exit my thoughts and return to the waking world. “Excuse me, Ms. Dragon? Would you do the honors of lighting up our candelabra? I brought it myself for our table.”

An earnest smile creased my lips. At least some of the ponies here were nice to me. Heck, I even knew some of them!

I gave a quick bow to the mustached stallion. “It would love to, Mr. Fancypants!”

Fanypants smiled as well as he lowered the item down to my level with his golden magic. With a quick, “Fwoosh!” the candles were now glowing with an orange light. Fancypant’s date, Fleur de Lis, clapped as Fancy placed the item back on the table. After quickly refilling their water glasses, I moved on to the next table.

Fancy called out one last time before I left. “Wait just one more moment please, Miss!”

I turned around just in time for a small sapphire, about the size of my eye (the new cartoonishly big ones, not the old realistically portioned ones), to be levitated into my cupped claws.

Fancy beamed at me. “Consider this a tip for the excellent service, my dear. Keep up the good work!”

I really like Fancypants. Putting my wings into it, I gave him a grand bow before exiting towards the kitchen to enjoy my quick snack. Oh, I hope it tastes like blueberries!

“Ahem!”

Sadly, it looks like I’ll have to wait to enjoy my treat. I quickly stashed the gem away in my shirt pocket before approaching the table that had just tried to get my attention.

“Is there something else I can do for you today, Mr. Hoity Toity?”

The fashion earth pony lowered his head, and his shades, in order to glare at me. “Yes you can, dragon. My hay steak is dreadfully cold. I believe you know what I need done.”

I shuttered at the thought. Hay steak? Yuck! It might have a hidden taste like hayfries did, but just the thought of a meat substitute makes me cringe. I'm really glad I’m still a meat eater, even if I don’t get to enjoy it as often anymore. “Would you like me to heat it up for you with my fire, sir?”

Hoity Toity shuddered himself, like I had just slapped him across the face (something I’ve been trying really hard not to do for a select few ponies here). “H-heavens no! I don’t want one inch of your filthy flame on my plate, you damn lizard! Take this back to the cook and tell him to give me a new one.” He then placed his shades back over his eyes and performed a little clap with his hooves twice. “Chop chop~!”

“Ugh. Right away, sir.” Great, another one of these ponies. This isn’t even the dinner meal where we do custom orders! It’s a damn buffet! I’m not quite sure where he got the steak in the first place. Even better, this isn’t the first time I’ve been disappointed by celebrities today. Just an f.y.i., Sapphire Shores is a b-i-t-c-h.

Well… at least I’ve had the aid of a guardian angel during my rounds.

“Hey! Hoity Trotty!” 

Ah, speaking of which.

Hoity turned his head to defend himself. “That’s Hoity Toity you insolent twa-”

Wham!

And then he was bucked in the face by a DJ.

I sighed, allowing steam to exit my nostrils. Soooo calming. “Vinyl, I appreciate the gesture; but this is like, what, the third pony you’ve knocked out today? How have you not been kicked out yet?”

Vinyl Scratch played around with Hoity’s now broken shades. “Trust me Cogy, I’ve tried. I want nothing more than to inject some excitement into this slow-flank cruise, but I think the staff is just ignoring me now.”

Mrs. Blue walked by us with two trays of food in her outstretched wings. She glanced at me, the unconscious Hoity Toity, and then at Vinyl. After a brief moment Blue shrugged the scene off and went on her way.

I shrugged as well. I’ve seen stranger things since I came to Equestria… I think. “I see... but I have to ask: do you have a table or something? I can’t recall if I’ve seen you eating or not, Vinyl.”

She dropped the ba- I mean Hoity’s glasses. “Oh, I ate at the other ballroom earlier. They had these really good salads and desserts and these little veggie cocktail thingys… plus the atmosphere was way less uptight over there. Also... I wanted to keep an eye on your coltfriend for ya girl!”

“Nate is not my coltfrie- oh whatever! Why were you spying on him… a-and how’s he doing?”

Vinyl was suddenly at my side with one of her front legs draped over my shoulders. “Sigh. I hate to brake this to you, Cogy, but your colts a bit of a wimp. They have him working over in the other ballroom right now and he’s shaking like a leaf! A lot of ponies were yelling at him, so I gave them a little ‘chat’ with my two back legs. Hoity here is actually, like, my tenth casualty today! Ha!” 

She then kicked Hoity again with her back leg. Just for giggles, I guess.

Glad to hear Nate’s doing relatively okay by himself. “I… er… t-thanks Vinyl. Nate’s a lot braver then he acts. He’s just nervous around grownups. Why exactly I’m not that really sure... Again, thanks for looking after him for me.”

“Heh. Anytime Cogy! I think I’ll go check on him now! You seem to have everything under control here... Take care now, scaly!” 

She then trotted away… but not before coming back again, just so she could kick Hoity one last time. Her antics make me laugh sometimes. Must be part of the ‘party filly’ job title...

Another table calls for me. “Miss! Over here please! We would like a refill!”

“C-coming ma’am!” I sputtered.


***^***


Music fills the empty ballroom. It comes through a combination of humming and singing, both from the same young girl.

“I dig my hole you build a wall… I dig my hole you build a wall… One day that wall is gonna fall~ Gon’ build that city on a hill… Gon’ build that city on a hill… Some day those tears are gonna spill~ So build that wall and build it strong cause we’ll be there before too lo-“

Clapclapclapclap…

I ended my song and drew my attention away from my broom: my faithful and unwilling slow dance partner. I apparently had an audience. 

Blue stopped her horsy clapping. “Oh, sorry to interrupt you, dear. You have a very lovely singing voice though, and whatever it was you were singing was equally as lovely. Is it some kind of dragon folksong?”

I smiled as the scales around my cheeks turned bright red. “Y-you could say that, Mrs. Blue… thank you for the compliment.” 

I did always enjoy singing back home, but a disastrous incident with a solo in middle school ended my public singing days (it involved one microphone, a fat chick, and The Little Mermaid... Don’t ask). Besides flying, the other thing I wanted to do here more than anything was to try out my new voice with some songs I couldn’t quite pull off before with my old masculine one. Like flying, the brothers took away my chance to try it out right away. They would always make sure my throat was too raw to do any kind of singing...

Now though, I get to enjoy a small pleasure that was once taken away from me, and I couldn't be happier.

Blue’s face suddenly changed to one of concern as something crossed her mind. “Dear, have you eaten yet today?”

I stopped my cleaning again as I thought about the question. “Um… well, no. All I’ve had was breakfast and a few gems that ponies gave me as tips.” Guess my stomach is still set to ‘only eat scraps every other day’ mode. Again, thanks Flim and Flam...

Real quick note while we’re on the subject of gems. Sapphires were blueberries, rubies were strawberries, and emeralds were pickles, of all things. I swore I tasted the juices as well! I see why Spike likes to eat nothing but gems now!

Returning to the present, Blue looked shocked at my statement. “Well then! Before we start to get dinner set up for the other ponies, how about we grab some food ourselves, sweetheart?”

I like the sound of that! Putting the broom down where I had found it, I followed Blue to the kitchen. Once there, I reunited with a very worn down Nathan De La Griffon.

“Yikes! What happened to you, Nate?” I asked my avian friend.

He answered me between ravenous bites of some kind of sandwich. “Ponies, rude, busy, sweating, crying, yelling..." He swallowed before finishing. “B-but then this white pony helped me out and the shift went a lot better!”

Red turned the corner and patted Nate on the back. “Ah it wasn’t all bad, sport. You did a great job!”

“T-thanks Mr. Red.” Nathan replied before returning to his sandwich.

“Was it that blue mane, white fur unicorn mare from last night, Nate?” I asked him. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to be sure.

Nate swallowed again. “Y-yeah. I don’t think I got her name a-and I don’t think she got mine. She kept calling me Natedog...”

I snickered under my breath. That used to be my nickname back on Earth. No freaking clue how such a thing could still works here in Equestria, but it’s still amusing. “Heh. Don’t sweat it, Nate. She kept calling me Cogy! It’s just Vinyl’s way of addressing her friends.”

Nathan cocked his head to the side. “We’re her friends? How did that happen?”

I shrugged. “I guess blowing up a wagon earns you serious street cred. Anyways, I’m starving! What are you eating?”

“A grill cheese made by yours truly!” Red flared his horn for show. “Want one, Cog?”

An old section of my mind brain told me ‘no, you can’t have that. It has cheese in it’. 

But… now I could tell that section to shove it squarely up its metaphorical hole. “I… I would love one, Mr. Red.”

“Cog… are you crying?” Nate asked while giving me a look.

Carefully, I placed a claw on my eye to confirm that yes, I was crying. Can you blame me though? I still can’t believe that all it took was for me to turn into a female green baby dragon for me to finally become a normal boy. 

It’s ironic when you think about it.

“Yes Nate… yes I’m crying. Maybe someday I can tell you why.”

Nate lifted a claw up and gave me the ‘wtf is this’ look from yesterday before shrugging it off and continuing his meal. 

“One grilled cheese coming up, Cog!” Red returned to the grill. I guess he doesn’t use his own fire to make them... which makes sense because the whole reason the Flim Flam brothers hatched me was so that they could use my ‘magic’ instead of their own in their product. I assume magic unicorn fire must taste nasty.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to make that ‘to go’, Mr. Red.”

The four of us jumped to attention as Captain Grey entered the kitchen. Blue addressed him first. 

“Hello there, sir. To what do we owe the pleasure of this surprise inspection?”

Grey waved her off with a hoof. “Calm down, Mrs. Blue. If you’re still sneaking around I haven’t spotted it… yet. No... I came here for the dragon.”

I dropped my salute. “M-me sir? What can I do to be of assistance?”

The black Mr. Bo and the white Mr. Jangles entered the room behind Captain Grey. Oh… oh man do I feel dumb. Almost a day after meeting these two and its only now that I get their names.

… Mr. Bo wears a Bow and Mr. Jangles wears these little bells around his ankles. 

Duh.

Grey’s voice snapped me out of my observation. “Well, dragon, I need you to help us with some navigational equipment up in the bridge. Take your dinner with you. You’re going to be with us for a while.”

I slowly nodded my head in agreement. “Um... okay, sir?” 

Red levitated my sandwich to me in a takeout bag as I waved bye to the three. “I, um, guess I’ll see you later then. Bye Nate, Mrs. Blue, Mr. Red.”

They waved bye as well as Mr. Bo lifted me up to his back and took me out of the room.


***^***


After fifteen minutes of trotting we were finally there. Not much to this room. Just a wheel and a dashboard full of buttons that I can only assume do magic things, as I’ve seen no evidence so far as to whether they have actual electricity in Equestria or not. There were a few tables in here as well with some maps laid out on them and a giant window pan that let the captain see where he was steering the darn thing.

During the trotting, I kept racking my brain as to what it could be that they needed me for. I’ve never been on a boat before, so I don’t really know what I could do to help. Once we were there, I decided to ask.

“Um, excuse me, Captain Grey? Can I ask what it is you need me for here?”

Grey stroked his beard as he looked out at the sea. He didn’t turn his head when he answered me. “Well, missy, it’s not you we need, it’s your fire. Here...” He turned to me and presented a pair of scrolls with his wings. “Burn these, if you would.”

Ah, I see. “Oh... sure, captain, but don’t I need a pony’s magic signature, or something, for this to be sent to him or her?”

The captain raised an eyebrow at the question. “Ah, so you know about dragonfire delivery. That makes this easier to explain. No, you don’t need to know it, but we do. The seals around these scrolls have the ponies who we want to send them to's imprints on them already. All you need to do is burn it and they’ll receive it. They’ll be able to cast a ‘return-to-sender’ spell on the letter once they receive it so they can send their reply through you, which is why we need you up here with us. Sorry, miss. This will take awhile, unfortunately.”

Funny... he doesn’t look sorry. Eh, whatever.

I took the two scrolls in my claws and looked at them. The seals had the same moon symbol on it as the side of this ship. I guess when they send it to somepony else they mark who it’s from in this way, like how Flim and Flam used ‘F.F.’ on their warning scroll.

I nodded my head. “I understand, sir, but I think I need an open window for this to work.” 

At least, I think I do. That’s how Spike always did it and he has sadly become the whole basis of what I figure my new body can or cannot do.

Grey nodded to Mr. Jangles who opened one of the windows a crack. With a deep breath…

“Fwoosh!”

I watched the two scrolls burn into purple smoke and escape through the window. Well that was kind of fun.

“And now we wait.” Replied Captain Grey, as he took up the helm of the S.S. Luna Returner in his hooves. Mr. Bo and Mr. Jangles went back to their maps and charts, leaving me alone with just my sandwich.

“… Nomnomnom…”


***^***


Bored.

Soooooo bored.

I’m starting to empathize with Vinyl. This place will steal your soul! Two hours have past and I’ve long since slain the sandwich with pure draconic fury (it was that good). I’ve just been staring at the ceiling for the better part of the last full hour! I actually hunted down a broom at one point and started sweeping in here until it was spotless. That in itself killed a good hour and a half... How can something this new be so dusty? Must be all the magic equipment in here generating it...

As I swept, one thought kept crossing my mind. I'm aware how stupid this is going to sound, but forget the last month: now I know how Spike feels. Strange, I know; but it was only now, after getting locked in a room with nothing to do but sweep, that I truly got inside the psyche of my fellow baby dragon.

My fellow tortured baby dragon. 

Seriously. I feel for that kid now. That poor, poor thing...

Once the sweeping was done I had nothing else to do, and it didn't help that none of the ponies in here would give me the time of day! I even tried to ask them interesting, conversation starting questions like: "Where did you go to school? How’d you get your cutie mark? So how about them Nicks?!" 

Still they ignored me and still this stupid scroll would not show up! We were slowly running out of daylight with each passing second, and still this stupid piece of crap won't show u-“Burp!”

Well, speak of the pony devil.

“It’s about time!”

The rest of the crew didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm.

Mr. Bo came over and picked up the two scrolls with his teeth. He quickly unrolled one of them and read through it before giving it to Mr. Jangles who read it as well. This followed until both scrolls were read by the three of them. Not a word was muttered between them. Captain Grey made a few alterations with the wheel before taking out some ink and another scroll and started writing up a new one, using his wing like a hand. After a moment he presented it to me.

“This one too.”

I blinked. “… How man-”

“About twenty tonight alone. Burn it, dragon.”

“Ugh!”


***^***


I… I don’t even know where to begin.

Its night time now and I’m still trapped in this room. I've missed the dinner and I've missed my chance to help set up the onboard play they had for the guests to enjoy. God, it feels like I’m back in the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 all over again: just hanging around (thankfully not literally this time), doing nothing. At least the brother’s would talk.

Well... thank goodness I’m not bored anymore, and I have Vinyl and Nate to thank for that.

They are sooooo awesome~ 

A couple hours ago, Nate came in with another sandwich for me along with a book. When I asked him where he got the book, he said that Vinyl somehow caught wind of my 'torment' and decided that I needed something to do. Apparently, she had this book on hoof but she’s already read it a ‘bazillion’ times and had no more need for it.

So, while making sure not to accidentally set it on fire, I enjoyed what was apparently the most popular book in all of Equestria at the time. It was the first installment of a book series about a character that still captures the hearts and minds of colts and fillies today.

That’s right folks, I’m currently reading…

… Harry Trotter and the Unicorn’s Stone.

Ugh, Harry Trotter, Y U No Daring Do?!

Oh well... at least it got the job done. 

“Burp!”

Speaking of getting the job done…

I handed the latest scroll to Grey. “Here you go, captain. Am I done now?”

Grey grunted. “Yes you’re done. Thank you kindly for your help.”

Wow. I think it would actually kill this guy if he tried to smile. He’s like anti Pinkie Pie. 

Ugh, oh well. At least I’m done. “No problem, I guess. But can I ask you a question before I leave here?”

He didn’t look up from his steering. “Yes, what?”

“How did you used to send these back and forth without me? Did you make Red do it or something?”

Grey stroked his beard again, something I’ve noticed he does whenever he’s thinking. “Well, no... unicorn fire doesn’t work like dragonfire. It’s not 'pure' enough. We used to… hmmmm.” He stopped again to contemplate something. “I guess… it would do you some good to see ‘it’.”

Grey actually turned to look at me. “… This is what is known as a D class ship, dragon. Head to kitchen #1 right now and tell one of the cooks there that you’re going to take care of ‘it’. He’ll know what it means and you’ll soon understand why it’s called a D class ship. Consider taking off your cloths.”

...

... Oookkkkaaayyy then...

Not ominous at all. 

Nope, not at all.

I nodded nervously to Grey before leaving through the door. I sighed. “Well… crap. What did I just sign myself up for? Aw Cog, what a silly filly you’re turning out to be…”


***^***


I was currently yanking the apron of a cook to get his attention. I’m below the eye level of normal ponies, but I’m still standing by my belief that I’m taller than Spike. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

“Eh? What do you want, kid?” Asked the cream colored earth pony cook.

“Um, I was told to take care of ‘it’, whatever that is.” I replied nervously.

“Oh… ooohhhhh… oh, oh… Oh?!” 

I… I have no idea what the hell this guy is doing. Some of those 'ohs' sound bored, some sound shocked, and others sound almost sexual. What the hell is 'it'?!

A single tiny pill was suddenly pushed into my claw by the cook. 

“Here you go, kid. Just take those stairs next to the fridge.”

“… Thanks? I guess. Um, do I need to know anything or...?” I attempted to ask, but the cook had already resumed his cleaning.

“… Nuts. Well…” I looked at the door and gulped. “Here goes… something.”


***^***


Okay… these stairs go on forever. I'm calling it now: this was just an elaborate joke by Mr. 'Serious business' Captain Grey. He’s probably just as big of a troll as Celestia! Still… what’s with these stairs? It feels like they go under the ship! Deeper than what I thought the ship was capable of...

Clickclick

The sound of my clawed toes hitting the final step. I guess this is it… but it’s so dark in here that even I can’t see properly. Good for nothing night vision... It’s like there’s just piles and piles of, things down here reaching up all the way to the ceiling and blocking my vision. 

Also a lot of smoke. 

Lots and lots of smoke. 

It’s very smoky down here. 

I probably should have listened to the bit about removing my clothes...

...

... Maybe… maybe if I blew a little fire, I can light this place up and see what’s going on?

Worth a shot, I guess.

... But what if I hit something?

...

... Okay. I’m going to try it. Won't know what will happen unless I try.

With my mind made up, I inhaled…

… And then nearly chocked on my own flames when a giant yellow eyeball opened up in the darkness.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh crap...

I gingerly waved to the monstrosity that was most likely going to kill me. “Um… er… hehe, h-hi there?”

The yellow eye kept staring at me with its slit pupil.

… Wait? Slit pupil?! 

Oh dear sweet baby back Jebus no.

I quickly scanned my surroundings and was able to finally identify what the giant piles that had confused my eyes earlier were made of. 

Gems.

Gems everywhere.

Giant gem piles reaching all the way up to the freakishly tall ceiling.

Piles… fit for any adult dragon’s hoard.





Well… this is it: The End, my Friend. “Gulp. D Class ship… I guess it makes sense now. Hehe. W-well I had a good run here in Equestria. Wished I spent less time being tortured and crying though…”

A booming voice nearly knocked me off my shaking feet.  “Another hatchling dares to disturb what is rightfully mine? How quaint.” 

Don’tpissyourselfdon’tpissyourselfdon’tpiss-. “Oh… h-hello there, Mr. Giant-green-could-eat-me-in-a-single-bite Dragon. H-how are you doing?” 

I quickly slapped myself for being so stupid.

The dragon was truly a fully grown, adult, monster. It was hard to make out in the darkness, but I think his scales were dark green. He was about the size of the back end of this ship… heck, he probably is the back side of the ship! His long neck could reach the ceiling easily. What the hell is it doing down here?!

The giant cranked his neck and lowered his head so he was relatively eye level with me. He twisted his head slightly so he could gaze at me with one of his eyes. 

The room gently vibrated with the force of his voice. “…Tell me, little one. How will the princess of ponies punish me this time for my folly?”

I blinked blankly. “… Wha?”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed and his voice took on a more casual (but still harsh) tone. “The princess of ponies banished me from my own cave the last time I dared to defend what was rightfully mine from one of her domesticated dragon whelps. So again, I must ask you little one…” 

He then roared in my bucking face. 

“WHAT WILL SHE STEAL FROM ME THIS TIME?!”

Oh merciful lord of backpedalling, grant me strength. 

“I-I-I-I-I-I-I…” 

I took a deep breath and straightened myself. “I w-was just told to give ‘it’ this pill! I didn’t know this was your territory!”

“THIS IS NOT MY LAND, WHELP! MY LAND IS MIGHTY! THIS IS SIMPLY MY LAIR AND NOTHING MORE!”

"Eep!" Shouldn’t have used the T word!

“THIS IS MY PRISON! IT IS HERE WHERE MY BREATH IS ENSLAVED AND USED FOR THE SAKE OF…”

I…I didn’t think his voice could get any louder, but somehow it did. Every pile in here rumbled and bounced around with the force of his roar. 

“PONIES!”

Where’s Fluttershy when you need her?! 

... Wait… enslaved? 

Breath used for ponies? 

Oh dear lord: he’s me! Or, at least he’s being used like I was. I guess this is where the brothers got the idea for their machine. Maybe… maybe he’ll sympathize with me?

“WHICH GEMS WILL YOU STEAL FROM ME, WHELP?! TELL ME SO THAT I MAY STRIKE YOU DOWN IN THEIR NAME!”

Or maybe he’s a blood thirsty death machine.

Doing my best not to piss myself, I actually replied to his question.

“I-I have no need for g-gems or your hoard! I-I already have my own!”

I held the pill out to him with shaky claws. Oh please let this be the Deus ex Machina that saves me! 

... But the dragon kept staring at me.

“… Tell me.” He then demanded, finally laying off the Royal Canterlot caps lock.

I took a breath before asking. “T-tell you what?”

The dragon straightened up his back before sitting casually on his tail. He pointed his sharp muzzle downwards so he could look at me.

“Tell me… about your hoard, little one. One as young as you should not have a hoard as mighty as the one I feel from you right now.”

Feel? “Y-you can feel such a thing?”

The dragon actually chuckled goodheartedly. I guess I’ve gone from a potential threat to an amusing oddity... I’m perfectly okay with this. 

“You must be another hatching raised by ponies. It is such a shame how much of our lore is lost on the young. Yes, we dragons can feel each others' hoard and it is from this that we gain our inner strength.” He gripped a clawful of gems from one of his piles and allowed it to slip away from his grasp. This action seemed to please him, but his face grew hard again as he turned to look at me. “Yours… seems to rival even mine, little one. So again I demand… tell me of this hoard which rivals my piles of gems and riches.”

Oh dragon dung. “I… I honestly don’t know, M-mr. Dragon! I-I actually lied about having one in fear that you’d think I was going to steal yours! Don’t worry, I still don’t plan to steal yours! I’m not that stupid!” 

At least… I hope I’m not.

The adult dragon was taken aback. “You… don’t know your own hoard? You lack the knowledge of what drives the second flame within your heart?”

“S-second flame?”

I could see the pupil in his yellow eye magnify and zoom in on my own. Okay, so I guess that theory I had about dragoneyes was correct. Something’s going right at least. Once he was sure I was paying attention to him, he continued in a rather dramatic fashion. It’d be kind of funny if I wasn’t so sure that he was being dead serious. 

“I speak not of the flame of which you breathe. That flame is nothing but a tool; a play thing for hatchlings and a sword for hunters. No... I speak of the flame which burns differently for all dragons; the one that gives you strength, the mightiest flame you’ll ever know… the flame of greed.”

I’m… not sure if I like where this is going.

“Have you never felt it burn within you, whelp? Have you never felt the need to go beyond yourself for the sake of what’s rightfully yours? Nodragon is without a hoard, so tell me of yours.”

“Oh… w-what is mine… mine...” 

I…I don’t think I have anything to my name here besides the shirt off my back, and even that belongs to the staff! How can I possibly have a hoard? Also... inner strength? I’ve been nothing but a crying mess ever since I turned into a dragoness! When have I ever felt stro-

...!

My eyes widened as the events of yesterday replayed in my mind.

‘I spat out a warning to Flim, one filled with pure venom and malice. I wasn’t even aware I was capable of such a thing, but if it means protecting those I care about, I will become evil incarnate in order to safeguard what is mine’

...	

Crrrrraaaaapppp. 

That sinister… fire I felt yesterday within my chest… that has to be it. 

Well great. Looks like I can be a killing machine if I put my actual heart in to it. 

Lovely...

... But, wait… does that mean…?

“I…I think I have felt it, Mr. Dragon.”

“Then tell me of your hoard, whelp. Tell me so that it might sate my appetite for knowledge.”

“M-my hoard is…” 

Oh I can’t believe I’m about to say this to a massive, greed filled, death machine. 

“My… friends. They are the hoard that I wish to defend with my very being… at least, that’s what I’m lead to believe from the one time I’ve felt it burn: while standing up for my griffon friend.” 

The dragon did not seem to like this totally Kingdom Hearts-ish answer. ‘My friends are my strength!’ Unfortunately it makes sense. Tried as I might, I couldn’t trigger a greed growth by myself. It wasn’t until I met Nate that I felt this fire start to grow within myself and I gained the strength to live my life again. 

So, okay, I’ll say it. Despite how cliché, tripe, and overused it is: it seems like something totally acceptable to say here in Equestria. 

“My friends are my strength!”

Mr. Dragon looked like he was on the verge of an aneurysm.

“Friends?! Is this what the princess of ponies teaches you whelps?! That in order to feel your greed flame, you must give of yourself to others?!” He banged the floor with a fist, causing the pile and my body to jump up. “Others are only there to either be apart of your hunting pack or to take from your hunting pack! That has been our way for centuries! Bah! You are no longer dragons. You are ponies in stolen scales!” His head drooped. “If this is the future, where hatchlings follow such nonsense and dare to call it their creed, then my kind is as good as dead.”

Oh no… I… I think I can feel that sinister flame, that greed flame, burning again. My mind takes a backseat as my instincts take over and a voice starts to overtake what is left.

This… this oversized lizard is smack talking my beliefs. Mine! I will not let this stand!

I roared at the behemoth. “You will respect my hoard or I will make you respect it, you bastard!”

Aaaaannnnndddd suddenly the flame disappears on me and I’m left with a very pissed off adult dragon and a brain telling me that that was probably the dumbest thing I could have ever done. Note to self, greed flame is not unlimited like my normal flame. Plus, it also makes me do stupid, stupid things.

Wish I knew that before I sealed my fate. “Um… hehe… i-if you don’t mind, that is, M-mr. Dragon...” 

He started lowering his head.

“I-I-I’m not a-afraid of you!”

My wings said otherwise as they snapped around myself in an attempt to hide me. This totally startled me. 

“Eep!” 

And this display of weakness/adorableness did not help my case one bit. I think I’m more of a dragon version of Fluttershy at this point, Vinyl... minus the badassery. Sorry I’ll never get to meet Octavia now... Nate, Mrs. Blue, Mr. Red, my brothers… I’m sorry.

The dragon’s head dropped to the floor, obviously preparing to eat me.

His head grew closer to my shaking body.

I could smell the brimstone, hear his growling, swore I heard a twinkling sound almost like magic…

… And then he sniffed me. 

... Da huh?

He lifted his head back up. “… Ah. I see now.”

“Y-you do, Mr. Dragon?” I asked, silently praising the lord for these precious few extra seconds of life.

“You are… the spawn of Lady Crackle.”

Lady Crackle? Really? 

... No, wait: more important question to ask here. “H-how did you kno-Burp!”

Before I could finish my question, the dragon’s claw moved at speeds I didn’t know it could pull off and pushed against my belly. This caused me to burp out my orange flames, which he observed closely.

He scratched his chin with his claw. “Hmmmm… you were given her flames and lungs. So bright does your fire burn, and so numerous its forms...”

“I… I was? Umbh!”

I was suddenly flicked across my back by his finger. Ow...

“W-what’s the big ide-”

I stopped my rant, however, when I noticed that the dragon suddenly had a look upon his face: a look like he was reflecting fondly on past memories. He even cracked a smile before his face hardened again and he returned to gazing at me. “Your scales…”

“Y-yes?”

“Your scales…” 

He smiled again. 

“… Are mine. Strong yet mobile, they are perfect for hunting. Perfect for a warrior... Hehe. It seems you have received the best of both of us, yet gifted with your own colors, my daughter.”

“I… er…”

I’m… I’m sorry folks, but it seems brain.exe has stopped working.

… And has caught on fire. 

… And blew up twice.

… And then Derpy came along and…

Eh, you get the point. This will only take a second, please use this time to get some more popcorn. This should be good.

“Y-y-y-y-you're my… my…” Brain.exe is still in the rebooting stage.

“Hmmmm… has eleven winters already passed since I left her? Since I left that…thing?” 

I suddenly felt that greed flame acting up again. “T-thing?!”

“Yes… truly a curious creature, your mother. She lacks the proper wings to fly, yet she does. She lacks the knowledge to speak, yet she does. She lacks the brain to think…”

I felt a fireball start to form in my throat. I spoke before it could reach my mouth. “I’d be very careful about those next set of words, daddy.”

He gave me a hard look, before softening it and laughing again. 

I don’t find this funny.

I began the countdown until I whipped out good old ‘Revenge’. 

Recoil be damned, that’s my mother.

… Kinda.

“3…”

“She lacks the brains to think, hatchling…”

“2…”

“… Yet she held such strong beliefs about the lost art known as ‘family’. Truly a noble trait.”

The flame within me died out again. Once my mind was lucid, I quickly cut off the ‘Revenge’ before I actually launched the darn thing. That would have been stupid. My greed flame seems to make me very stupid. “Families are a ‘lost art’?”

“Yes. Long has it been lost to our kind. We breed for pleasure, not out of love. Lady Crackle was different; she wished to hold on to these bonds between drake and dame long after laying her eggs. A mother dragon is not uncommon, but a father is unheard of.”

Finally some answers. “Really? Why?” This has been bothering me since Iron Will mentioned it to me. Why do male dragons leave their eggs? Like I said that day, it hits close to home so I’m curious.

The dragon answered. “It is because our greed has, and shall forever be, greater than a woman’s. You will share what is yours with your children one day, whelp, willingly growing weaker for their sakes. But they will squander your gift, mother to be, and use it for games. They will eat it and play ‘King of the Hoard’, constantly disrespecting what it yours. This sickens me.” 

He shot out a tongue of red flames in anger, lighting the place up and illuminating his entire, giant, hoard. “We do not share what is ours with anydragon, spawn of Crackle! This is the way of man: the proper way. Your way will forever be lost on me.”

The flame of greed ignited for a third time this night, turning this conflict from a simple observation to a personal one for me. 

“You don’t… share? That’s the reason?! That’s the stupid reason you left her?!” I balled my claws into fists. “That… is not the way of man! The way of man is to be there for others, to be strong where others are weak! To be so, so selfish, and to only think of yourself is to be a lonely hermit! Your way will forever be lost on me!”

Crapcrapcrapcrap! Come on, brain! Get your lazy flank into gear! Start working again before I take this too far! Crackle is not my mother! I have no need to fight this thing morally!

She is not my mother, this is not my father… yet this is my battle. Mine.

Crap.

My feelings and emotions mixed with rage as I stared up at the creature easily twenty times my size. Size did not matter to my heart, even though it did in my mind. I growled at the beast. He simply laughed back.

“Hehe. Even a domesticated whelp cannot escape her greed. Maybe my kind has hope after all… Tell me, what is your name, spawn?”

My voice was shaky as the flame tried to die off again. This time, I tried to hold it so I could at least speak with some semblance of courage. “I… have none to give you. My egg was stolen long ago by ponies who ponies themselves would claim to be the scum of the earth.”

He actually looked like he cared. I’m unsure if I’m just imagining this or not. “I see… is this how you gained your scars?”

I looked down at myself. My scars were still being covered up by my now dirtied suit’s sleeves. I had ignored Grey’s advice to take it off and I was paying for it. 

“How…?”

The room vibrated with another of his chuckles. “The eyes of a dragon see much, whelp, and your scales are my scales. I can tell when they have been abused. Even if I cannot see them clearly, I can still spot the noticeable shifts in formation and the cracks that will remain invisible to your eyes for another hundred years. Your scars lie along your wrists... were you a prisoner like myself?”

I held my glare. My mind started to return to me. “Y-yes. I was.”

“Enslaved for your fire?”

“… Yes.”

“… Hehe. Like father like spawn, it would seem, except you are now free while my chains remain.”

I finally took a hard look around this dragon’s lair… and I saw no chains. I told him as much. “I see no chains… father.”

“Ah. This is because it is not a chain of steel or magic that holds me, it is a chain of fear. We are on the sea, are we not?”

“Y-yes. On a ship called the S.S. Luna Returner.”

A low growling emanated from the mighty dragon. “Then I am within the domain of them: the sea serpents and their masters. Both their kinds do not take kindly to ours. We breathe fire, they breathe water. We claim the mountains and sky as ours, they take the sea and all within it. We have no masters, they bow to their mortal gods... As long as I am on the sea, even in the docks I am not safe. Thus I remain here, by orders of the princess of ponies, eating… this.”

His tongue shot out of his mouth and licked up the pill that was still in my claw. He flung it into the air and snapped his jaw around it. I heard an audible swallowing noise.

It almost sounded like he was purring… evilly purring. “This… nourishes me like a full meal, but it lacks taste. I would eat my own hoard, but then I would grow weaker. It is a dangerous balancing act that I play, whelp, if I wish to live for another hundred years.”

I started piecing this puzzle together. “So… you either comply and get to eat, or you rebel and you’re left to literally swim with the fishes.” 

He nodded his head. “Yes. I am left here to wait until those charged as my wardens die of old age or the princess deems me fit to return to my kind, who will not take me back because of my imprisonment. Truly, this is a fate worst then death. Leave me now, whelp; I do not wish for another dragon, let alone my own spawn, to see me as such.”

... Why won’t this stupid flame go out?! I felt the need to rebel once more against my father, all for the sake of greed. If my mind was still my own, I would have guessed that family was also a part of my hoard, not just friends. 

“Oh, so now you wish to acknowledge me as your own! Should I be touched and honored, father?!”

Once again he only chuckled. “It seems you still lack the control of your own flame, spawn of Crackle. I will allow you this victory, however. Not because I am beaten, but because I find your greed flame amusing. It burns so much like your mother’s. Willing to die for the sake of what’s yours, yours will burns for as long as you need it to burn. 

"Yet… I feel some of my own mixed in as well. Your flame doesn’t merely give you strength and courage, it gives you size and presence. Many will come to fear you, in time, so I would like a name now. Tell me, what should I call you if not as a whelp or spawn?”

Nuts. Will this be a good thing or a bad thing? The flame of greed is still burning within me, so I’m talking from the heart instead of logically. I named myself Cog sort of as a spur of the moment thing. It’s just a word that kept popping up as I thought back on how Flim and Flam treated me. I was nothing more than a tool to them, after all. There was no real meaning behind it other than as a hurtful nickname that I’d hope Nate would eventually get sick of calling me once he realized that it was kinda hurtful. As for my official name... well I still have no clue! I have, like, ten different ideas! I’m so indecisive! 

Again, maybe speaking from the heart will help me finally decide.

“… Cogwill.”

“Cog… will?”

I’m… just as confused as the big guy here. Cog I understand, but Will? Weird… but it feels right, somehow.

I continued. My voice was honest and no longer shaky. Greed fire is good for something, it seems. 

“Yes, Cogwill. It is my last name, my first being dedicated to whatever it is my mother Crackle wanted it to be. Someday I will find her so that I may ease her pain. For now, Cogwill. Cog so that I may never forget the hardships I’ve endured, and Will so that I may honor the man who wanted me to become a part of his family: Iron Will. I still hope that someday we will be reunited.”

My heart... is oddly poetic. So Will for Iron Will… okay. I think my mind is saying that it likes this, but I can’t really tell at the moment. The first name thing is odd though... do I really want to hunt down Crackle? 

Ugh. I need my mind to take charge again so I can sort this out for myself.

“Ah, a name dedicated to your hoard. We are much more alike than you think, Cogwill. The name of your father is Emeraldgrey of the Everfree. Do not forget this, whelp. Now... LEAVE MY DOMAIN!”

“Eep!”

With that I scurried back up the steps; the last of my greed flame going out as well as the last of my resolve.


***^***


Slam!

The sound of the cellar door closing, leaving all that lives down there where it belongs. I panted madly, completely out of breath after my encounter with Emeraldgrey. My mind finally returned to me as well so I was able to think clearly again. 

The Crackle comment came totally out of left field. Why did I say that I would ‘ease her pain’? 

Maybe… maybe I accidentally combined my feelings of home, with my own mother who’s missing me, with Crackle? That could make sense… but right now, even though I can think again, I don’t want to think! I just talked to a giant freaking dragon and avoided getting eaten, twice! If I start thinking about it anymore I think I’m going to have a nervous breakdown!

I allowed myself to slide down onto my tail, my legs finally giving up the juice.

“I… I…”

“Wow. Daddy issues much?”

"Oh sweet merciful God!"

I jumped backwards as Vinyl Scratch popped out of nowhere and nearly caused me to finally loss control over my precious bladder.

My poor, poor brain. “W-where, when, how?!”

Vinyl seemed just as laidback and calm as ever. “Whoa! Chill, girl. Relaaaxx! You’re safe now. Have to say... pretty awesome how you stuck it to your old man like that!”

“You… you saw all that?!”

“Yup yup, sure did Cogwill! Hey, I’ve actually been to one of Iron Will’s shows! Guys pretty cool... Not as cool as me, obviously, but him and his goats sure do know how to party! You say you’re part of that family? Neato!”

Cogwill… yup, she heard us alright. Does that mean she heard about the…?

-Gulp-

“How… how much did you actually hear, Vinyl?”

“The whole darn thing, filly! Hoards, greed, fire! Totally metal, girl! But man, you’re such a softy, Cogy! ‘My friends are my strength!’ Seriously? Haha! Looks like you’re finally setting yourself apart from Octy… but not by much! Don’t worry, you're still cool in my books! But I have to say though, it’s not nice to lie to your daddy like that~”

I wiped away some sweat as I tried to recover from all the back to back shocks. After a moment I realized what Vinyl had just said.

“Lied? When did I lie?”

“Oh you know, the ponies enslaving you bit? Look, I know I tried to squeeze some sympathy out of my folks when I was a filly by telling a couple white lies, but come on, evil ponies? That right there is an oxymoron. It just doesn’t happen! Now, if you had said it was diamond dogs…”

“Doesn’t happen?!” I snapped at the DJ.

She stopped her rant in mid-sentence and looked at me. Her ever present smile remained. “Yeah… doesn’t happen, Cogy. It’s, like, physically impossible for ponies to be that evil or something. We’re a bit different from you dragons after all... which stinks because I would totally breathe fire all the time if I could! Late to work? Fire breath! Long line? Fire breath! Bad date? Magically fling a table at him like I do… but not before setting it on fire with your fire breath! Oh and if your parole officer shows up-”

“Vinyl, please!” I yelled at her again, causing her to stop. “Vinyl… I wasn’t lying. Earlier you overheard me telling Mrs. Blue how Nate saved me from imprisonment. That was done to me by two ponies known as the Flim Flam brothers. T-they tortured me and treated me like nothing more than an animal..." -Sniff- "W-why would you think I would lie about something so horrible?!”

Vinyl stared as the stress finally got to me and I started crying in front of her.

J-just... just no more, please... I've had enough crap already...

“… But Cogy, it doesn’t happen. Ponies aren’t evil, nuff said. So again, you were lying, simple as that.”

I gave Vinyl a hard stare, tears still falling freely. “L-lying… would I lie about these?!” I rolled up my sleeves in order to show off the scars around my wrists. 

The DJ looked at them for a second and then scoffed them off. 

“Fake.”

My blood pressure was steadily rising.

“F-fake?!”

She cocked her head to the side. “Yeah… fake. Trust me, I’ve seen fake scars before, girl. Heck, when I was your age I made plenty of them to get back at my folks! I even faked losing a hoof! I’ll admit, these are pretty good ones though. You just have to share your secre-”

I yanked my wrists away from Vinyl and rolled my sleeves back down. 

I’ve… had enough.

“Vinyl… I just…" -Sigh- "Thank you for looking after Nate tonight, and thank you for the book… but I’m afraid I can’t be friends with somepony as flippant as you.”

After wearing it all day and seemingly being incapable of losing it, Vinyl finally dropped her smile. A look of pure hurt crossed her face, even with the glasses blocking her eyes.

“But… Cogy…”

I was standing by my actions. “Real friends do more than buck a few ponies in the face for you, they give you the benefit of the doubt at least. If you refuse to believe my story, i-if you refuse..." -Sniff- "T-to even so much as consider that ponies hurt me and that my pain was real…" -Sob- "T-then this is goodbye, Scratch.”

Vinyl reached her hoof out in an attempt to say something, but I didn’t give her a chance as I bolted out of the room. 

A line of teardrops followed in my wake.


***^***


As I left the kitchen and started running through the hallways, I felt this… pain in my chest. I guess one could say that it was the pain of a broken heart, but this pain was very much physical and real. I… I guess this is how it feels to lose a piece of your hoard, to lose a piece of yourself. I suddenly feel really angry towards Rarity and Spike for trying to steal from those red and green drag-

My pace abruptly stopped. I both needed a rest from the running and a sit down to take in the revelation that just hit me.

‘The princess of ponies banished me from my own cave the last time I dared to defend what was rightfully mine from one of her domesticated dragon whelps… the name of your father is Emeraldgrey of the Everfree.’

Emeraldgrey... my ‘father’, was the green dragon in Owl’s Well That Ends Well. Celestia banished him for settling in the Everfree Forest, a place away from her ponies. 

Does… does that mean I’m not welcomed in Equestria?

...

I… I think I’m too high-strung right now to think about this. I just lost a friend after all. 

What I need, right now, is to be with a true friend. I need to see Nathan right away… so that I can hug him tightly.

It didn’t take long to find him, however, as just as I got up and turned the corner…

“Ow!” 

Nathan crashed into me, causing the both of us to tumble to the floor.

“Cog!” He quickly tried to get me back on my feet and drag me off somewhere.

“Nate? What’s wrong, Nate?”

“I-it’s, it’s. itsitsitsitsits!”

“Nate! Nathan calm, down!”

Nate held himself as he finally took a breath. I used this time to wipe away some tears and to steady myself out. This must be important. I’ll break down later.

I crossed my arms in an attempt to look fine, when I’m clearly not. “Good. N-now… tell me what’s wrong.”

“T-they’re here, Cog! They found us! F-f-f-f…”

F? 

… Oh dear God, no. Not now!

“H-how? How did those two make it here?!”

“T-the captain wants you to see him about that, Co-”

“Hide in the staffs' quarters, Nate.”

I didn’t even let him finish before I dashed away again.


***^***


I had ran all the way to the bridge only for Mr. Bo, who was currently watching the wheel, to tell me that the captain was waiting for me in the second kitchen. If I had just waited for Nate… bah!

The other kitchen is on the complete opposite side of the ship, on the first floor. I stepped outside in order to take a short cut.

This was the first time I had stepped outside all day.

Everything was so calm and peaceful. The ocean stretched out in all directions and the moon reflected so beautifully on the still surface. The smell of seawater drifted in on ocean airs, and not a single other pony was out to enjoy this sight.

I really wish I had the time to enjoy all this myself... but, if those two flankholes are on this ship, then I will never have another peaceful moment until I find out why.

So I jumped off the railing of the fourth story bridge; it being the highest point of the ship. I stretched my wings out and glided around the edge until I was on the main deck. Flying seems to be easier if you’re in a hurry or have a goal on your mind when performing it...

Once I landed I ran to the closest door I could find and then through the ship. Eventually I reached kitchen #2 and found standing outside the door…

“Hello there, dragon.”

“H... hello there, Grey… I heard you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes... but first, how did Emeraldgrey treat you?”

“… He turned out to be my father, sir.”

Grey cocked an eyebrow. “Really now? Small world. I hope you’re not planning on letting him go, girly. We need his fire to run this ship. He’s a prisoner of the state, after all, for trespassing on a pony settle-”

I stomped my foot. “Frankly, sir, I don’t give a damn about him. I wonder what purpose you had in showing me him, but I can find that out later one way or another. What I do care about, however, are the bastards who gave me my scars. I heard they were here…”

Grey stroked his blasted beard again. “Such a feisty tongue on one so young… I see the resemblance to Emerald now.” He knocked off the stroking and stood firm. “Yes, dragon; we have a Mr. Apple Flim and a Mr. Apple Flam here onboard right now. They tried to sneak on under the cover of darkness using a small, two stallion boat only a couple of hours ago.”

Apple Flim, Apple Flam... He got their real names out of them... He’s telling the truth. “How did they know where to go, if I may ask, sir?”

Grey held out a scroll to me with a wing. “They used this.”

I took it from him and looked at the seal. ‘F.F.’

“Where did this come from, sir?”

“From you, dragon.”

I dropped the scroll in shock.

“What?! When?!”

“You were with us for about seven hours today, dragon. It came in the same way every other scroll came in... through your mouth.”

I was absolutely furious. “W-why didn’t you tell me?! They have a tracking spell on this damn thing!”

Grey, that bastard, shrugged me off! “Because I wanted to meet these two ponies for myself. From the sound of it, they're using a similar system to us. Maybe we could strike up a deal; share some secrets, make both our techs top of the line. Mutual exchange and all that.”

Damn it all! Damn it damn it damn it all! He’s another racist pony! He doesn’t care whose getting hurt as long as it’s not a pony! Where’s that freaking greed flame when I need it?! When I finally do need the damn thing it doesn’t want to burn! Guess I’ll just have to rely on my own strength... good thing I’ve got plenty of anger to back it up.

I grabbed Grey by the collar of his uniform and dragged him down to my eye level. “Strike up a deal?! A deal for what, slavery?! Emeraldgrey is a criminal; he shouldn’t have tried to attack a citizen of Equestria. Using him is a reasonable punishment for someone as dangerous as him… but what about me, sir? What the hell did I do to deserve being strung up to a wall and electrocuted…”

I barked out, and each time my mouth opened flames escaped my throat and threatening to scorch Grey. 

“Over!” 

More flame. 

“And over!” 

And one last mighty tongue, almost hitting his hat. 

“And over again?! What the hell did I do to deserve that, sir?!”

He stood there stone-faced. I was unable to squeeze out even the tiniest spec of emotion from the bucking robot.  “… Dragon, I suggest you get your filthy claws off me right now if you don’t want to get tossed overboard.”

I tightened my grip.

“… Your griffon friend will be joining you.”

I let go. D-damn it all.

“Just… just tell me where those two are… sir. I need to have a little… chat, with them.”

“They're working in this kitchen as we speak.”

... He just can’t seem to stop pissing me off. 

“What?! Why aren’t they being detained or something?! Why?!”

“Because that’s not how I run my ship, dragon. They aren’t criminals, they're stowaways. They have to work off their debt just the same as you. I’ll be expecting you to work with them tomorrow.”

N-no. Why… why is this happening?

“You… you’re a bastard, sir.”

“That’s captain to you, whelp.” 

And with that he fluttered away, leaving me at the kitchen door... the only thing separating me from… them. 

What… what do I do now?

…

I… I need to see them.

Carefully, I opened the door and peaked inside.

“Lousy dishes. Why are we being forced to clean all these without magic, brother of mine?”

“Because we were foalish enough to get caught, Flim.”

There they were; Flim and Flam, cleaning dishes. I slowly let myself in and snuck up behind them, being extra careful care not to scratch the floor or do anything else that would alert them to me being here.

Flim kept talking while cleaning. “If we had just waited a bit longer, we could have grabbed her and left with enough time to sail home!”

Flam didn’t take his eyes off his dish. His mustache seems to have been restored to its former ‘glory’ since I last saw him. “Well we didn’t, Flim, so now we just have to put up with this humiliation for now. At least we can try to figure out where the dragon sleeps in the meantime.”

“Ah yes! Then all we need to do is secure a life boat and enough food and we can make it back to Equestria in time for the running of the leaves! That will surely be our next big break, Flam!”

“Indeed it will, but only after we get all our pieces back together, brother of mine.”

“Yes, we can’t have a machine missing a cog or two, can we boys?” I added.

Flim turned his head to the side to answer me, not really paying attention to who he was talking to. “That’s right, my good filly. We need every piece in place if we are to make it bi-”

That’s when I jumped onto this back, gripped his head with my two claws, and smashed it against the side of the sink. I jumped off and fluttered in place as his body collapsed and hit the floor. The sink had a nice dent in it now. Good. Flam heard the noise and quickly turned his head to face me with horn glowing bright green. 

Landing, I lifted Flim's unconscious body up by the horn with one claw and held my other claw to his throat.

I growled. “Ah-ah-ah; one false move and it’ll become the Flam solo show, flankhole.” 

Flam’s horn stopped glowing. “Damn… dragon.”

I tightened my grip on the horn. “The name’s Cogwill now, not 'dragon'. You will address me as such for now on… well go on…” I pressed my claws closer along the flesh of Flim’s neck. “Say it.”

“…”

“Aww, what’s the matter, Flam? Dragon got your brother’s throat?”

“… I refuse to call you by that name, dragon.”

I pressed even harder against the flesh. I felt as the tips pierced the skin and started drawing blood. “And why not, Flam?”

Flam stood firm in the face of my threat. His face didn’t show any trace of fear. “… We don’t speak to our seat cushions nor do we name our tubes. We don’t grow our apples and we don’t kiss our gramophone goodnight.” His eyes narrowed as he leaned down and looked me in the eyes. “Don’t think of yourself as any more important than any other piece of our machine, dragon. You're our battery and will never be anything more or less than that.”

“…”

“…”

My claw started to shake. D-damn it all, I just blew my act. I… I just can’t kill.

“…” I tossed Flim at Flam, he didn’t even attempt to catch his brother. I turned my back to them. “… You’re not worthy of my time either, you flankholes. Stay the hell away from me, o-or else.”

With that I started to walk away from the two and out the door. I’ve had enough crap tonight.

Flam called out one more time though, causing me to stop my retreat. “Don’t think you can hide behind talkers forever, dragon! When we find that griffon kid of yours…”


And thus the flame of greed erupted into a mighty sun within my heart



My mind was gone



All that remained was pure rage


I used its strength to launch myself at Flam and lift him off the ground. Was I flying, or was I standing? My brain couldn’t process what was happening… just that it was. My body felt heavier and everything seemed smaller... It mattered not… all that mattered was protecting what was mine. I wrapped one claw around Flam’s scrawny neck and used the other to steady myself against the back wall. His horn scrapped the ceiling as he started to panic.

I roared in Flam’s face with a voice that was not my own. It was instead a mixture of many thing; my own, my old one from earth, and a primal beast’s war cry. “If you so much as look at Nate the wrong way, if I find out that you laid one hoof on him or made him cry…” 

The other two voices suddenly vanished, leaving only the beast’s behind. “I will feast on your flesh and use your damn horns as toothpicks. I will make you bare witness to your brother's end as I burn him alive. 

"Do no try to hide. Do not try to run: I, will, KILL, YOU, FLAM! I WILL REND YOUR BODY, I WILL MELT YOUR HIDE, I WILL LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND OF YOU IN THIS WORLD!! AND THEN, ONCE YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THEN A MEMORY, I WILL ENTER TARTARUS ITSELF IN ORDER TO EXTINGUISH YOUR DAMN SOUL!!!"

With his heart finally reaching its limit, Flam passed out in my grip. He was so frail and weak... Just one small motion… just one small push... and I could snap his neck and end all his evil.

Just one small squeeze…

I tightened my grip.

One tiny push…

His still form started turning blue.

… And I’ll kill him.

Kill him…

K-kill…

That one little thought made it through to my brain and caused me to let go of Flam, allowing him to fall to the floor in a heap next to his equally damaged brother. I looked at my claws. 

They… were colossal.

Well over three times the size they normally were, my claws look like they could slice through solid rock. I took a step back, only to discover that my legs weren’t on the ground anymore. I wasn’t flying either, instead I was standing on my now stretched out tail. The forked portion was pushing the door on the opposite side of the room open. With much effort; I managed to jump off the scaly, spiny monster and to my thankfully normal sized legs. I turned to the right and looked at myself in the reflection of the kitchen fridge.

I… did not like what I saw.

No doubt about it… this was Greed Growth.

My once puny horns were now fully matured; no longer did they only barely poke out from my hair, they now resembled Iron Will’s horns more than anything. They stood perpendicular to each other as they stretched out of the back of my head. It looked natural on my new face, which came complete with a new muzzle that looked full-grown and sharp. I looked like Emeraldgrey with hair, I even grew fins at the sides of my head.

D-damn it... I guess we are related. 

My tail was almost a yard and a half long, explaining how I was able to lift Flam up so easily. 

Although my legs were moments ago dangling uselessly up in the air, they weren't completely untouched. Even now, they were leaving scratch marks on the cold, metal floor.

Finally, my wings now draped on the floor as well. The fingers felt so heavy, like they were carrying over two tons worth of weight. The membrane was so massive that, if I tried, I bet I could wrap them around myself twice over…

… But I didn’t want to try. 

I didn’t want any of this. 

The dragon in the mirror wasn’t me. 

This dragon looked like she could kill. 

The blood on her claws made it look like she did kill.

T-that’s not me. 

That’s just not me. 

I’m… not a monster.

… Am I?

Pop!

As if to answer me, my form suddenly reverted back to its original configuration. The flame within me disappeared once again and the remains of my dirtied suit fell to the wayside. My new fins even disappeared. My brain was mine again… and I hated it.

I looked in the mirror, saw the little dragon girl I had become again, and cried.

T-this isn’t me either.

It once was, -sniff-, b-but now I don’t know!

Nothing feels normal anymore! I have no status quo in my life now…

I’m… w-who am I supposed to be?

I…

-Sniff-

… I think I need to go see Nate.

Yes… I need to go see my friend right now more than anything. 

He’s… the one bit of normalcy I have left. 

I stepped out of the kitchen and headed back to our sleeping quarters. I walked in silence and was dead to the world. I didn’t even bother to clean up the dried blood left on my claws that came from Flim’s throat. 

I entered the staff’s quarters after a half hour of wondering mindlessly. Mrs. Blue cried out apologies and Mr. Red looked somber for reasons I couldn’t comprehend. 

... I didn’t care about them though. I needed one thing and one thing only right now. 

I needed my friend.

The first thing I did when I finally found Nate was hug him as tightly as I could and cry on his shoulder like I had during that beautiful sunrise when he saved me for the first time.

... A voice in the back of my mind gave me a single warning before I gripped him…

… Be careful not to crush him.

Nate suddenly looked so fragile. 

So incredibly fragile. 

This only made me cry even harder.


***^***


“Cog? Cog deary? You need to get up, we have at least one more hour to work here before we can sleep.”

I lifted my head up from my pillow, its casing had long been soaked completely thanks to my tears. 

“Just… just five more minutes, please Mrs. Blue?”

Blue smiled gloomily as she fluttered to the bed and started slowly stroking my hair. “I’m sorry dear. I’m so, so sorry, but we already gave you your five minutes. Any more and Grey will throw a fit and make things worse for you. Just handle this one room service order, this tiny easy order, and you’ll be done for the night. Okay, sweetheart?”

“… Okay. I’m coming.” 

I got up from the bed slowly and left the room. Mrs. Blue had a new suit for me and had thankfully not asked what had happened to the last one. Nate sat with me for a full hour when I came back and listened to what happened. I did my best to tell him as much as I was comfortable with, but I got as far as ‘talked to Flim and Flam’ before I broke down again. P-please don’t make me ever have to tell Nate about my greed growth. Please… c-can't I just ask for this much?

Anyways... he stayed with me as long as he could, but Grey came in again and made him get back to work. Nate tried his best to fight back against him, but I told him it was okay and he left reluctantly after that. 

I’m… still not feeling so hot... but I guess I just have to truck on.

Hehe. Oh what a joke I am. Given the once in a lifetime chance to come to a land filled with magic and mystical creatures, and the only thing I actually do here is cry and cry and cry some more. 

I’m so… pathetic.

After dipping my head under a sink and doing my best to clean up the tears, I put on the suit and approached Mrs. Blue.

“Okay Blue... what do you need me to do?”

She handed me a bucket with her teeth. I took it out of her grip so she could talk to me. “Just deliver this fresh bucket of water and hot towel to room 661, dear. Poor mare in there has been sick this whole cruise and hasn’t come out... She says this is her first time on a ship and was unaware that she would get seasick this badly.”

“Okay… okay, I’ll deliver it.”

Blue patted me on the head. “There there, dear. Even if the captain is a bit of a jerk, rest assured that you’ve got a friend in Red and me…” she chuckled weakly. “Even if that lazy pyromaniac fell asleep already.”

“You also have me, Cog.”

I turned to Nate who had just returned with a bucket being draped over his one good outstretched wing. 

Yeah… at least I have him.

He dropped the bucket he was carrying in order to give me one last encouraging hug before I exited the room.


***^***


Even singing couldn’t help me to leave this funk. In fact, I think it made it worse.

“This day has been just awful, the kind of day that I will dread for days to come~ I lost a good friend (that’s sad), met my deadbeat dad (that’s bad); oh how could this day get annnny woooorse~?”

... -Sniff- 

Sighing, I tried to calm myself. I was about to reach the room, after all. “659, 660, 661... Here we go.” 

I ignored the name plate as I knocked on the door. Seen one celebrity’s over exaggerated title for him or herself, you’ve seen them all.

“W-who is it?”

“Room service, ma’am. I’ve come to bring you a new towel and bucket, along with the staffs' wishes for you to feel better.” 

At this point I’m just going through the motions. I’m sure I sounded monotone-ish, but I couldn’t care less. Even better, I know I heard this voice somewhere before, but I just don’t feel like placing a voice to a pony right now. 

“O-oh, yes, of course. Please come in, darling. The doors unlocked.”

I jiggled the handle and stepped inside. Unsure how doorknobs still exist here, but again, at this point I don’t really give a fu-

...

... And that’s when my brain shut down again, but this time it wasn’t from another greed flame spark... it was because I entered the room and saw who it was I was assisting.

And I just couldn't believe my eyes.

“Oh, how curious, a baby dragon… dear? Are you okay?”

“I… I, er, w-was just absolutely blown away by you lovely hat, ma’am.”

The pony chuckled. “Oh, I see. Well even if I’m unable to move about the ship, I still must look my best for passersby and for helpful room service workers, such as yourself.”

“I… appreciate the gesture, ma’am. I’m so sorry you were unable to attend today’s festivities onboard the ship.”

“Oh yes, and I’m sorry as well. Because of my own weakness I have been unable to meet any of the famous ponies onboard! I am truly squandering a precious gift here, and that does nopony any good!”

I laughed at her outburst. “I’m sure you’ll get another chance someday, Miss. Just keep trying!”

She laughed at my remark. “I thank you, dear. Such a kind thing to say...”

I could feel my face start to heat up again, so I decided that I should really try to wrap this up before I do something stupid in front of her of all ponies.

“Well, here you go, ma’am. I’m afraid I must run along now. Again, I hope that you feel better again soon!”

I turned to leave, but I suddenly felt a tug on my tail.

“Oh… oh I’m sorry, darling, but I simply must do something with that lovely mane of yours. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t thank you in some way!”

“I, er, t-thank you again, ma’am, but I really…”

“Dear, I must insist... something has brought you to tears this night, hasn’t it?”

“I… I..." -Sniff- "Y-yeah. I’ve just… been having a bad day, ma’am.”

“Would you like to talk abo-umbh... That was close. Oh I’m dreadfully sorry. This boat rocks so much, it’s hard for a lady to keep her lunch down!”

“I-its okay ma’am. Please, just rest. Worry about yourself a bit more.” I offered her the first non-forced smile I had given out in a long time this day. “It makes me happy to see others happy.”

“Haha, oh darling, that’s a lovely motto to live by. Oh, but just a quick spell, please? It won’t take more than a second.”

“B-but won’t that just make you si-”

Pop!

She… wasn’t lying about it taking only a second. She seems fine though, so that's a relief.

Twinkletwinkle

A mirror was levitated down to me. My hair, which usually lies limply on my spiny back, had been tied up into a ponytail with a green scrunchie. It rested on the upper half of my head; high enough so that it wouldn’t interfere with my flapping wings even when on all fours. The front of my hair was left the way it had been, except brushed down and matted this time to give off an innocent look when combined with the ponytail.

The pony scoffed. “Oh dear... Not my most amazing creation, that's for sure. I guess I’m more under the weather then I thought... I’m sorry for taking up you time, darling.”

“N-no no, ma’am! It’s practical yet stylish… I, I love it! Thank you!”

“Oh, thank you, dear! That is such a relief... I don’t think I could have lived with myself if I had left you with something you hated! I just wish I could have added a bit more pizzazz… wait! I have just the thing~”

A bright red bow was suddenly tied to my right horn, completing the look. It was encrusted with emeralds.

“I… I… t-this is too much for me to take, ma’a-”

But she held up her hoof. “Think nothing of it, darling. A lady should look their best and you look like a lady who desperately needed a makeover this day.” She returned my earlier smile. “Please, keep the bow, dear. It brings out your eyes so nicely. Now, I’m sorry for keeping you. I’m sure you must be ever so busy with the rest of the guests this night... Please try to have a good rest of the evening, dear, and try to prevent anymore tears from tarnishing your lovely face!”

I gave her the biggest smile I could muster. “I-I will! Thank you so much, ma’am! I hope you feel better soon!”

And with that I skipped out of the room, making sure not to mess up my new look. I turned around one final time, as the door closed behind me, to look at the name plate that I had so foolishly ignored earlier.

I sighed and smiled dreamily. “Ms. Lady Rarity of Ponyville. Thank you… thank you so much for just being yourself.”


And thus I walked back to my room with a spring in my step: my spirit returned and my faith in this world restored. The future seemed brighter



…



But only two days remained to save the Element of Generosity