//------------------------------// // XIX - Chaos & Beauty // Story: Flames // by Olakaan Peliik //------------------------------// I was almost awake already, but I was enjoying the time before Kii and her friends started making noise. Just staying in bed and not moving a muscle. Ah, this was the perfect way to wake up-- Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock! The sounds resonated from the front door. “Why Spirits?” I groaned, genuinely curious. “Why?” I got up and started going down to the door. Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock! the sound came again. I opened the door. “Krein, thank the Spirits you're awake,” Niirah hurried past me. Something was in her claws but I didn't get a good look. “Oh hi, Niirah, what are you doing here so early? ‘Not much just waking you up for some reason I have yet to tell you,’” I mumbled the conversation to myself as I closed the door and followed her into my living room. “I need your help,” she said, pacing around the room “I figured that. With?” I asked, laying on the couch. “My siblings sent me letters. All of them.” “We've barely been friends for a week and you're already asking me for advice? Couldn't Aleazh or Nikta answer this?” I groaned and buried my face in a pillow. She ignored my question. “But what do I do?” she asked. It honestly sounded like she had no idea. “Read them,” I said bluntly. I heard her stop pacing and felt her glaring at me. “You're not helping.” “What do you expect from a dragon who barely woke up?” I asked into the pillow. She continued pacing. “You to be coherent enough to help me.” “You came to the wrong dragon then,” I mumbled. “Come on! You have a big family, you know how this goes,” she pleaded. I sat up. “First of all. I have a large family yes, five of us total. You have a gigantic family, eleven in all. That is far beyond the normal large dragon family dynamic.” “So this is why I need your advice. I don't know what to say back!” She slumped down on the floor with a huff of frustration, facing away from me. “Well, what kind of things did they say to you?” I asked. “They told me how they were doing, their recent accomplishments, things like that. Then they all asked how I was doing,” she said, looking at the scraps of paper in her claws. I picked up a pen and paper that were on the coffee table. “And how are you doing?” I asked. “I'm confused,” Niirah admitted, speaking slowly as the words fell out of her mouth. “Everything was easier when I could be angry all the time. But now that I'm not, everything is complicated. Friends are complicated, a family is confusing.” She paused for a moment, then added, “I'm beginning to miss them all terribly, now that I'm getting help with my ‘issues.’ I see now that I was a bad sister and I want to make it up to them somehow.” I put the pen down and tapped her shoulder with the paper that I’d written everything she said upon. She looked over at it in confusion. “That sounds like a place to start,” I said. She took the paper and read it over. “I...thank you. Can I just sit here a while?” I looked at the clock. “Sure, as long as you can handle them.” “Them who?” Niirah asked. “Big brother!” Kii called, right on cue. “I'm down here!” I answered. There was a clomping of hooves as Kii and her friends made their way downstairs. She had a sleepover with all her school friends. There was Hex and Light Knight. Then there were Sparks, a blue unicorn colt, with little streaks of yellow in his mane blue mane; Onyx, the black coated, maned, and silver-eyed unicorn colt; Jade Vision, a unicorn filly with pale yellow color coat, red mane, and tail which stood out against her jade green eyes; and finally, Scarlet Flower, the reddest filly I think I’ll ever meet and the only one in the group who had a cutie mark. Unsurprisingly, it was a red flower. “Oh, hi Niirah. Did you sleep over too?” Kii asked innocently. Niirah’s face turned pink and she suddenly became very interested in her letter. “No Kii. Niirah was just looking for some advice on a personal matter. Now, what Is it you need?” I asked. “Do you think we have enough cereal for all of us?” Kii asked. “We should. Why don't you and your friends go find a seat in the kitchen? I'll grab the morning paper and I'll be there in a minute.” “Okay. Come on everypony!” She led her friends into the kitchen. I stood and headed for the door. The morning paper was lying on the porch like it was supposed to be. When I picked it up though, and I am in no way joking when I say this, it came to life and smacked me on the nose, then rolled away. Once I realized what had happened I looked up and realized that something was very, very wrong here. Houses were floating in the air, a pair of earth ponies were flying past a flock of pigs with giant wings, and the sun and moon were rapidly switching in the sky, causing day and night to pass within minutes. Oh, and there were pink clouds, and they were raining chocolate milk. “Nope.” I stepped back inside, closed the door, walked back through the living room and into the kitchen. “None of you are going anywhere until the world is correct again.” “What do you mean?” Scarlet Flower asked. I opened the blinds to the backyard and, as if the world was somehow in support of me making this decision, another house floated by. I closed the blinds again. “Any objections to staying here until this is resolved?” When nopony or dragon, not even Niirah, objected. I continued. “Great. Now, who wants breakfast?” Everypony and dragon raised their claws and hooves. Most of the fillies and colts parents’ came to get them later that morning. They thanked me for not letting them go out to that mess of a world that was happening at the moment. All that was left was the standard two guests, Hex and Light Knight. Oh, and Niirah refused to leave. “Still no idea on what is going on out there?” she asked. “Nope,” I answered reading one of the books from my shelf. I looked up to see Niirah, blinking heavily, obviously trying her hardest to stay awake. “When was the last time you slept?” I asked. “Hmm?” she answered slugglishly, my question taking a few seconds to make it to her brain. “Oh, uh. Let's see, I got my siblings letters yesterday morning, so before then.” The anxiety of this morning must have worn off enough that she was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. I closed the book and sat up straight. “You know we have a guest bedroom upstairs. You can go take a nap if you'd like.” “I'm fin…” She yawned “...fine.” I gave her a deadpan stare. “You're not fooling me. The guest room is upstairs to the right should you choose to get some rest.” She tried to glare before giving up and heading upstairs. “Whatever. I'm too tired to be mad.” “Uh-huh,” I nodded, picking my book back up. I was trying to read but my eyes wandered to Niirah slowly making her way up the stairs. I was glad we were friends now. Even if it was still a little awkward. “Hmm...” I got an idea. I picked up my “Events” book that had a schedule of all the events coming up that I would be going to. More than half of them were “plus one” invitations. Usually, I just used them whenever my sisters got curious about something that I was going to. But perhaps she would like this “Instrumental Concert” a week from now. I’d be going with Fleur to meet some clothing designers about selling to the dragons in Crater. Perhaps they’d get along well enough? It’s a formal event so I’d have to ask Aleazh and Nikta to take Niirah shopping at Needle & Forge. That might come off as a strange request. For some reason, I couldn’t imagine Niirah liking the idea of clothes. “Krein!” I heard Kii call out. I sprung awake. When had I fallen asleep? I had had another Niirah dream. That black-shadow dragon was there again, and as Niirah ran she was calling for me to help by name. Once again, I chased the shadow dragon away. Afterwards, we sat and talked—I don’t remember what about—then the ground had begun to change to grass when I fell through the ground again. These dreams were definitely strange, and I found myself curious as to how they were gonna end. “Yeah, Kii?” I responded. “Everything looks back to normal!” Kii said. Oh right, the word was out of whack the whole day. I opened the blinds. Sure enough, everything looked back to normal. Kii, Hex, and Light Knight came down the stairs. “Can I go to Hex’s for a little while?” Kii asked. “I don’t know. Can you?” “May I go to Hex’s for a little while?” she repeated, rolling her eyes. “Will her parents be there?” I asked. “Yes, they will be!” Hex chirped, bouncing up and down a little. “All right. But when I come looking for you, you had better be there,” I said clearly. “I’ll be there don’t worry.” She ran out the door with her friends. It’s my job to worry about you, I thought. I figured it was time to wake Niirah from her nap. I was headed up when I heard her scream. I hurried up to the door and knocked. “You alright? I heard a scream.” “I’m fine,” she called from the other side of the door. I could hear her panting as though she’d just run a marathon. I wanted to know if my friend was alright. “May I come in?” “It’s unlocked,” she said. I walked in. Niirah was sitting up in the bed, staring at her claws. She looked like she had been sweating, and there were holes in the sheets from the slashing of claws. “You sure you’re alright?” I asked again. She avoided eye contact. “It’s not important. You look like there is something else you wanna ask me.” There is? There is! “First of all, outside looks to be back to normal. Second, there is an event coming up and I would like you to accompany me if you wish.” She stood and stretched her wings. “What kind of ‘event?’” “It’s a concert, the fancy kind.” I started out the door and back downstairs. Niirah followed me. She stopped at the front door. “Hmm…maybe. I’ll think about it.” “Cool. See you tomorrow?” “Yup.” She opened the door and left for her own home. So apparently the whole “houses floating” and “chaos reigning” the other day was because chaos was actually reigning. An ancient being appropriately named “Discord” had escaped his magical prison in the Royal Canterlot Gardens. Why the princesses would hide something like that in there, I have no idea. Work had become extremely boring. Sign something to approve. Write somepony or dragon a letter telling them “no” and why I’m saying it. Once again I was waiting for a welcome interruption. Ash and Algae were both out today; they didn’t leave me with an explanation they just said they needed the day off. I was picking some dead scales off of my arm just to do something different. “Beat it,” I heard Niirah say a little too loudly. Hmm? Is that a distraction? With my attention now on what was happening outside my office, I put my pen down. “Come on, ya vixen, you are gonna hang with a real dragon tonight.” The voice sounded like one of our new guards. The accent suggested he was from the swamplands at the bottom of the Ice Glaciers that flowed from the Ice dragons home. I peeked out of my office and leaned on the doorframe just watching. The dragon guard, dark green scales and small in stature, supporting he was from one of the swamps. He was leering at Niirah, who was scowling at him and trying to stand up so that she was taller than him. “A real dragon you say? You let me know when he arrives and I’ll have a look,” Niirah said with a mountain of sass. Her admirer was getting angry. “You listen here female. I'm a male, and males are dominant in our species, so you listen to what I say.” “You are thickheaded and stupid. Why don't you go scare away some insects? Those are the only things scared of you,” she insulted him. He didn’t know what to say and started looking around for some clue as to what to say. He spotted me. “Speaker! Are you gonna let her talk to me like that?” “Yes. Yes, I am. And quite frankly I'm betting on her to win this if it comes to teeth and claws,” I said. The guard looked speechless. “Now go clean your armor. It looks filthy, I can see the grime from here,” I told him. “But—” he started. “Excuse me?” I stepped up to him cutting him off. I was bigger than him so it wasn't hard to look down on him. “The only thing I should be hearing out of your mouth is an apology to Niirah here. But if I'm not gonna hear one, you should be down in your quarters making that armor shinier than the armored guards at the pony palace.” He turned tail and hurried back down the stairs, tail between his legs. “I could have handled that you know,” Niirah spoke up. I turned and headed back into my office. “I know. He irritated me by talking back so I gave him a piece of my mind.” Niirah came into my office. “You hate stupid dragons too huh?” she asked. “No. I hate stupid in general. Being unintelligent is one thing, I can handle that. Stupid is an entirely different beast,” I said, signing another paper that I barely bothered to read. Niirah hovered at my door for a moment; I could feel her nervousness. “So when is that concert you were talking about?” she asked. “Friday. Why?” I asked blankly. Niirah cleared her throat. “Because I’ve decided I want to go.” I looked up at her in surprise, then remembered the minor detail. “Well, here is the part you might be uncomfortable with.” She suddenly seemed like she regretted the decision. “What?” she squinted at me. I hesitated a second. “It’s formal attire only. So you might want to enlist my sister's help in picking out an outfit.” She snarled at the idea. “I want to go but, I’d have to play dress up,” she thought aloud, grumbling. She thought for a moment, then she grinned. “I’ll ask your sisters for help on one condition.” I knew I was not gonna like this. “And that is?” “You have to come with us,” she said quickly. Me and my big mouth. “I hate it when I have to go find some clothes,” I groaned. “I can't believe you talked me into this. Fine! I accept your terms.” “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Niirah grinned. “What? But you don't work tomorrow.” I observed. “I know. It’s perfect time to go shopping like you agreed.” She walked off, flicking her tail at me. I looked at a little wood-carved dragon statue I had on my desk. “What am I getting myself into?” “This is the definition of torture,” I mumbled under my breath. Forge was walking by as I said it. “Earplugs?” she offered. “Thank you.” I took them and put them in my ears, muffling all sound. At last, I could think. Needle & Forge had apparently become a very popular location for dragons of the female type. So not only were my sisters fretting over Niirah, but there were dragons throughout the store chittering about frivolous things like the local ponies. Who knew dragons would adapt to their environment so quickly? Olakaan probably would have known. The shop had undergone some major changes since I was first here. Forge’s workstation was now more secluded, to hide the smell of hot metal. Needle was largely in charge of the front of the store, but they both had taken what they learned from my first requests, the requests of my sisters, and adapted it for ponies, and I had to say they were doing well now. There were some ponies here, too; most of them looked to be of the military variety. “Krein!” I heard Nikta yell at me through my earplugs. I focused and removed the earplugs so I could hear properly. “What?” Alezah rolled her eyes. “You had this glazed over look on your face, and we were trying to get your opinion on this.” She pointed to Niirah, who had on a green dress and a very sour expression. I thought it made her look like an angry plant, but I didn’t want to say that aloud. I shook my head. “I don’t know why you are asking me, Needle is over there.” I pointed. Nikta waved a dismissing claw. “Yeah, but he’s just a pony. You’re a fellow dragon and can properly say if she looks good or not.” I rolled my eyes. “Let’s see, black and silver scales. Possibly something white? I don’t really know I’m not good at this. I prefer functional.” “Oh, that’s right. You're a guy you don't understand this.” Nikta shook her head at me. I felt vaguely insulted. Forge was nearby and decided to comment. “To be fair, I don't understand either, and I’m a mare!” “You and your brother don’t count!” Nikta yelled with a playful tone. “I’m gonna go get some air.” I stood and headed for the door. “You’re no help anyway!” Alezah yelled at me. I only wanted a moment to myself. They woke me up as soon as they could get to my place, then after dropping Kii off at school, they dragged me straight here. They’ve all been trying on dresses for what feels like hours. It probably has been hours. “Krein?” I heard a familiar voice say. I looked over to see Snow standing there, with a white coated and fire maned pegasus stallion in tow. “Snow! It’s good to see you. You moved to Baltimare correct?” I asked. She nodded with a smile. “I did. I don’t remember if you two met, but this is my stallionfreind Flame Strider,” she introduced the pegasus. “We met back when I was stationed In Tall Tale. I visited Canterlot after delivering some documents for my First Sergeant. He, his sister, you and I all had dinner together, and that was when you lied about dating a traveling banker.” Strider recalled perfectly. I didn’t even remember that. Snow turned red. “Oh, yeah.” “So what brings you to Canterlot?” I asked, trying to change the subject for her. “The Sergeant here was ordered to attend a ball catering to the guard, to his dismay,” Snow giggled. Strider rolled his eyes in irritation. “I have a lot of work to do in Baltimare and this sets things back.” “Your Guards are more than capable, it’s not like you're taking a gamble,” Snow almost snapped, subtly emphasizing the last word. Strider’s eyes widened. “Anyway,” I pressed, trying to ignore the tension between them. “Anyway, I wanted to do some shopping before the dance tonight and came here because I heard they have some wonderful accessories,” Snow smiled. I shrugged. “I wouldn’t really know. I haven't paid that much attention when I’m in there.” “Why are you here?” Snow asked. I could see that Strider was not happy to be here, not in the slightest. Something was eating at him; it was beneath the stone cold guard exterior, but as a fellow protector, I know what wear and tear looks like, so I’ll spare him this conversation dragging on much longer. “I’m here with my sisters. Speaking of, I should be getting back to them. It was good to see you Snow. Good to meet you again Sergeant Strider.” I bowed. They returned the gesture as I re-entered the shop. Niirah and my sisters were at the counter, making their purchases; they were already exchanging their bits. Each one of them had a bag hanging from their wings. “You were out there for a while. You okay?” Alezah asked. “Yeah, fine. Just saw an old friend.” “Well, we’re done now. You can go home,” Niirah said with a smile. I was finding that I enjoyed her genuine smiles. “See you Friday,” I said heading in the opposite direction that they were headed. The performance wasn't until tonight. Kii was to head to Hex’s directly after school so I wouldn’t have to worry about that. This was one of Niirah’s days off, so she was absent from work. However, Ash and Algae were back and what I was hearing was nowhere near appropriate for work. “Ashie, not here. We’ll get in trouble,” I heard Algae through the walls, giggling as she did so. I did not need to hear that! Too much information! “THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE WORKING!” I roared. I heard them both scramble and Ash’s door close hard. I needed that image out of my head. I wonder if Kii knows any mind wipe spells yet. I would very much like this moment gone. I was surprised at Ash though, he was showing good behavior up until recently. Now, it’s like he’s just an overconfident jerk of a dragon, always bragging and strutting around. He was doing a good job at security though, and until one of the others shows promise and can lead effectively, Ash was all I had. My shoulder began to burn. I touched it and looked down at the flame that had appeared in my claw “Speaker,” Viing’s voice spoke from the fire. “Enforcer. Is there something I can help you with?” I asked. “No. I just wanted to share some concerning news.” His tone did not express anything good. “About?” Viing was growling as he spoke. “A group of traditionalists are calling for Torch to step down as Dragon Lord, saying that he has grown weak in his age, and their resistance has become violent. We are apprehending the ones we can but they seem to be targeting those in Lord Torch’s court specifically. Like you and I.” This was indeed not good news. “There have been attacks?” “One so far. On Ember and I when we were visiting the obsidian mines. No dragon was hurt, but needless to say, Lord Torch is furious.” He paused a moment. “They seem to be staying away from the city for now.” A dark thought crossed my mind. “If this escalates too far, it could lead to civil war among dragons.” That kind of war could be devastating across the globe, especially since now there was a chance of the Equestrian ponies being dragged into the fight. I heard him sigh. “That has crossed my mind. I’m doing the best I can here.” “Is there anything you need from me?” I inquired. “Not as of yet, I just wanted you to know. I’m also sending a trusted Sergeant of mine to be your personal guard as a precaution. His name is Dwiin, he’s a Stone-Fire dragon, scales look like metal—they practically are, actually—he’s hard to miss. You’ll notice him, he’s on his way now.” That’ll put him here by Monday. “I’m assuming that I don’t have a say in this matter?” I asked. Even though I couldn’t see him I could feel him shaking his head. “Not really. Lord Torch ordered extra security for all of us.” “Very well,” I agreed. “Spirits protect you, Speaker,” Viing said his goodbye. “You as well, my friend,” I responded. The magical flame snuffed out. Unrest at home; this was not good. Among dragons that could get ugly fast. I hope Viing can sort it out in time. Suddenly, bringing dragons together in one major city didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. I couldn't get my mind off of what might happen should Viing fail in restoring peace. War, a Dragon Lord Tartarus-bent on world domination, or complete division of dragons with each race having their own self-appointed Dragon Lord. No scenario sounded good, in any shape. I had to focus on the now, or this was gonna eat me up all night. Now I was waiting for Niirah to get to the venue. She said that she’d meet me here. I had given her the time and location. I was standing with Fleur and a group of fashion-oriented ponies that wanted to talk to me, but I had no real interest in talking to them. Fleur was listening to them complain about some outfit they thought what “garish,” while I looked over their heads for Niirah. “Is something the matter?” Fleur asked me. “I’m waiting for somedragon,” I answered truthfully. Probably shouldn't have. “Monsieur Krein, would you be meeting an ami de pouliche here?” Fleur asked with a teasing grin. I’d been studying a little Prench in my spare time, and I know ‘ami de pouliche’ basically means ‘marefriend’. “No, she is not. She is my assistant and I thought she might enjoy this kind of thing, so I invited her.” “Dating your assistant? How drab,” one of the ponies in the group said with their nose upturned. I didn’t know what ‘drab’ meant but it felt insulting, and I’d had enough of this. “Get your nose out of the air and go stick it up somepony else's tail,” I snapped. Fleur looked surprised and quickly stepped back, making it clear that she planned to say out of this. The others were shocked at my comment. “Well, I—” one tried. “Oh, wah-wah.” I imitated bad crying. “Go whine to somepony who cares.” I continued my search. “Well, I never!” another cried. “Come, Fleur. Let’s be done with this brute.” All but Fleur started to walk away. Fleur looked at me, then gave the others a rather cold look. I’m not sure what she said next but I’m fairly sure she agreed with me. “Je trouve que ses paroles sont vraies. Allez le coller ailleurs.” The stuck-up ponies gasped and left. “I have always wanted to tell them that,” Fleur laughed. “You are truly good fun.” “I’m glad you think so. Most just find me too abrasive,” I grinned. Fleur was about to say something but looked past me. “La mia parola. I do believe I found your friend.” She pointed to behind me. I turned and immediately decided that my sisters might have gone a little overboard. Niirah wore a white and silver-blue trim dress that flowed down over her tail, a headdress of silver feathers and decorative chain draping over the back of her head. Sapphires were embedded in the chain between her eyes. For a dragoness that I didn’t get along very well with, I had to say, she was actually stunning. Breathtaking really. “Would you get that look off your face,” she snapped. Her face was turning red and she was trying not to growl at me. “Your sisters are insufferable. Can you believe they thought this wasn't enough?” Considering they are relentlessly trying to set me up with you, yes. “I can believe that they thought that, yes. But I think you look nice regardless.” “Oh, shut up. You're just saying that because you're nice.” She rolled her eyes. I turned to my only available back-up. “Fleur, help me out here. She looks nice, yes?” “Comme un diamant,” Fleur nodded appraisingly. When she noticed we didn't understand she translated. “Like a diamond.” Niirah rolled her eyes again. “I actually don't like diamonds, they’re too sweet for me.” Fleur blinked slowly, obviously having no idea how to respond to that. “Well, perhaps we should go in now?” she suggested. “Please. I feel silly out here with all the ponies staring at me.” Niirah tried to glare back but to no effect. Niirah walked beside me as we followed Fleur into the theatre and up to our seats that were above and to the left of the stage. Niirah purposely avoided eye contact with everypony we passed, almost all of whom turned and stared as she passed. When we reached our seats she seemed to relax a little. There were twelve seats up here, but none were occupied. “Looks like all our company decided to not show,” Fleur observed, smirking a little. “Now we can enjoy the show without critiquer chuchotement behind us.” Niirah was about to ask what she said, but I answered before she could ask. “Whispering gossip.” We sat in the row behind Fleur to her right. Niirah was to my left. Quietly, we waited for the show to start. When the show began it was obvious that this was nothing like the stuff that Kii and Hex were into. This was calm and beautiful music, played by a full orchestra. Don't get me wrong, I like the faster-paced stuff too, but this was peaceful and it was just what I needed after the news I received earlier. After a few pieces had been played, I looked over at Niirah just to kinda see what her mood was. She was rocking subtly side to side, eyes closed and a peaceful smile on her muzzle. It’s like she had completely forgotten who she was, and in those moments when the music was playing, she was truly happy. The piece ended. Niirah opened her eyes and looked over at me, noticing me staring. “What?” she asked in a whisper. “Nothing really,” I whispered back. “I was just thinking that I’d ask you to more events like this if you enjoy them as much as this one.” I bumped her playfully. “I wouldn't be opposed to the idea,” she admitted. A pony got onstage between every performance, thanked the prior performer, and announced the next. “And now, coming all the way from Ponyville with her instrument of choice, Lyra Heartstrings, and her entrancing harp.” A teal green unicorn stepped onto the stage with a stool and a harp. She set the harp down almost middle stage, and the stool next to it. She sat on the stool and took a moment to get in position. Almost as soon as she struck the first cord with a hoof, Niirah locked her eyes onto the harp with a look of awe. She listened to each cord. I could tell because Niirah’s ears twitched with every sound. This went on for the entirety of Lyra’s performance. As she watched the harp, I watched her fall in love with the instrument. My sisters were right about something too. I was struggling to believe it myself though. I had feelings for this dragoness. Not quite sure what they were yet, but they were there for certain. Perhaps it’s just the moment. They’ll be gone by tomorrow.