Chapter 6
It’s been three days since I was saved by the white dragon, Rex, and in that time, I’ve learned a lot thanks to him and “Gramps”. We walked and talked (flew for Rex, Gramp’s wing was still broken) from the cavern, towards Rex’s hoard, while I tried to learn much about this world as I can, mostly about both the land and the creatures that inhabit this world.
From what Rex and Gramps were telling me, this whole world is still yet unexplored, but the lands that are known, are split into boundaries. I used the map to see what’s known, only to find out that the map is only for Equestria and not the whole continent that I’m on. Pretty useless, since Rex said I was in the ‘Badlands’, also known as dragon country. Still, should be pretty important so I guess I should keep it.
Gramps, with his rough voice, then started to explain to me about the different countries there are. Starting from the North most point, from east to west: Dominion (Griffin territory), Gem Fido (D-dog territory), and Badlands (Dragon Territory. I pictured a ‘You are here’ over a imaginary map I had going in my head). The southern part, from east to west, has the black marsh (told to avoid that area), The Great Southern Rainforest (Home to some exoctic creatures and some cat-people) and the Volcanic Waste (Home to scums, bounty hunters, and a uncle named Crackle who lives near there. Weird).
Equestria is apparently Smack dab right in the middle, taking control of most of the land, with the Ring sea on both sides of it. I guess whoever controls the most land, gets to be on TV? It’s just a stupid theory for now. I still need to ask Celestia about it, although she doesn’t seem to be contacting me anymore. Oh well, whenever she’s ready I guess.
I learned quite a few things about the dragons as well. We are omnivores, although we can basically eat almost anything we want thanks to our plentiful amount of canine teeth. Gems are our main source for food, being that they supply all nutritions that we dragons need to live. Firewing also said that we are all cunning, wise, and live up to ten millennia, but Rex says he knows a few drakes that are an exception to that.
Dragons are also able to not just breathe fire, but other magic and elements as well. Rex can breathe a forceful galestorm out of his mouth, and can control other small elements of the wind, allowing himself to be quite rapidly in the air. Firewing says that he earned his name, going fast in a race in a game with another dragon, he gained speed until even his wings were ablaze with fire. He still doesn’t know how he does it, but it’s been useful to him, until now that is.
There is also a long and complicated hierarchy of dragons, based on the color of our scales, which also apparently determines how our body works. Its also funny how they are like the seven deadly sins. I’ll try and explain it in a more shorter explanation.
Starting from Weakest to Strongest:
Green scales- Envy.
Yellow scales- Greed.
Pink scales- Lust.
Blue scales- Sloth.
Purple scales- Pride.
Red scales- Wrath.
Black scales- Gluttony.
Any other color scales are considered 'Insignificant', and based on what Rex told me, certain hoards won’t take such ‘weak’ dragons, so they either kill them or banish them away from the hoard. Sometimes, it happens to even young dragonlings, most who don’t even know how to speak, and they die alone and unwanted, while these seven colored scales are highly rewarded, with the black scales usually the leader of the hoard.
Kinda made me wonder though why black scales where the strongest, until Rex explained is that it was because of all the gems they eat, the high nutrition gives them a bigger size and tougher scales than the rest of the dragons. Right..... avoid black and pink dragons, because I rather not fight with something stronger than me........or be raped by some pink dragon. Yeah, that’ll be a fun bar story.
I also found out that it was Firewing who grabbed me from the forest and was bringing me closer to the hoard, until those dragon slayers interrupted that and attacked his wing, stopping his flight, and having us both fall from the sky. He said that he was on his way back from seeing crackle at the Volcanic Wasteland that he saw me in a forest somewhere in Equestria. Great, so I was in Equestria, just taken out of it thanks to Gramps over here.
Anyways, it was now the last night of rest before we would reach Rex’s hoard, Firewing was fast asleep, while I stayed on guard with Rex. He seemed like a decent guy.... er dragon, to be around. He was even generous enough to share some of his gems with me, while Firewing was still picky about sharing. I found it odd, seeing as he was acting differently than what most of the dragon’s sounded like to me.
We were overlooking a cliff, from another empty cave near the top of a mountain. Above, you could see the precious moon and stars, which I found out was controlled by Celestia’s sister Luna, and how they glistened in the sky. Looking at the Badlands, I can see a few burning dead trees here and there, with a weird orange glow coming from some of the mountains. Lava most likely. I decided to strike up a conversation with Rex, since both of us didn’t feel like sleeping anytime soon.
“Soooo, from what you and Firewing told me, you have to be a certain color to be counted as a strong, fearful, dragon. Yet, your still in a hoard, even though your scales are...” I turned to face him, to see that he had a grieving look on his face. “....white.” I finished lamely.
“Um... everything ok buddy?” I said, walking up to him and putting my hand on his shoulder. He seemed like he was about to cry, but I remembered that dragons can’t cry tears, only blood, so I was a little worried if he might start crying blood. God, that must be freaky to see blood streaming down your face.
“Yah.... just remembering stuff is all...” He said, staring at his own hands. Oh god, is he really going to play the ‘regretful past’ card? I don’t even do that shit! GROW A PA.....
“I’m just remembering how my father treated me, and how I was banished from his hoard for just being an ‘insignificant son’.” He continued, now looking at the luna’s moon, with his feet dangling over the cliff.
….. Right, forget I was about to say anything then.
“Want to talk about it?” I questioned lamely, sitting next to him over the cliff. Seriously, I’m not really good at talking anything personal with any other people except for my brother, and even that’s on rare occasions.
“Do you really want to listen about my past?” He said, giving me an ‘Are you serious?’ look. Should I be honest, or just keep lying like my ‘amnesia’?
“Not really, but it's best to at least let it out to someone, so I’ll just pretend that I am while nodding my head up and down.” I replied back with a grin. Brutally honest it is!
We both chuckled for a bit, till he sighed and looked like he was about to tell a long story. I should have brought some gems to eat if he was going to talk during the whole night.
******************(Warning: Long backstory incoming)******************
“Well, it all started back when I was born about 130 years ago...”He started. WHAT??? HE’S ABOUT 130 YEARS OLD??? I thought he would still be pretty young, even though dragons live for a few millenia.
Rex ignored my surprised face and continued. “The great horde, as it was called, lived in the more center region of these lands, where the majority of the volcano and dragons are. My father was the leader of the horde, a red and purple dragon named Arkose, who took great pride in his horde and how he ran it. He had multiple mates, my mother being the first one out of all of them.”
“My mother, Seyr, was a beautiful creature, with green and pink scales that adorned her body. She was his first love, and soon they were to have a child, me. Even before I was born, they named me Rex, hoping that one day I would take over his place..... that is, until I was born.”
“When I was born, there was no other creatures nearby, other than my father, mother, and a pony doctor who volunteered to help with the birth. We were all alone at the bottom of the horde’s mountain, in a cave to have no unwanted visitors. My father was so anxious to finally have his first born, someone who would take control of his horde. Well he was, until I finally came out of my mother’s womb.... and my father saw my white scales.”
“He was devastated that his first born, his successor, has white scales, a color that is not even close to leadership. Heck, it’s not even a color at all. He ignored me, thought I was a nuisance and a bad sign for the days to come. My father didn’t want anyone to know about his ‘abomination’, so he told the rest of the horde that I died in a miscarriage and that my mother is grief stricken and wishes to stay in the cave, while in actuality, my mother was taking care of me and watching over me. The pony doctor that was there was threatened by my father, that if told a single soul about this, the great horde will attack his village with no mercy.”
“I learned all I could from my mother, from what to eat to how to fly, while my father didn’t even recognize me as his son, just kept calling me ‘It’. He didn’t even talk to my mother.... until he wanted to try again. When I was 33 year old, the horde only thought of me as a stranger that joined the horde, though none of them even accepted me. That was when I found out I was about to have a sibling.”
“ Soon, me, my mother, and the same pony doctor who helped with my birth, were all in the same cavern, awaiting for my now known sister to be born. My father was there, though he never made eye contact with me. When my mother gave birth to her, my father was overjoyed to see that the baby had all black scales, a sign of a great dragon.... Until the doctor said that she was blind and that she might not live that long as the other dragons. My father than just gave up, and left my mother for another mate.”
“My sister was still known as his daughter, while I was just the ‘outcast’ of the horde. Some of the dragons just kept wondering why I was even part of their ‘oh-so-great’ horde. Some even threatened me to leave. Others actually taking actions, and before I know it, I’m surviving everyday against at mountain, surviving as much as I can just to live the next day. However, out of the ‘kindness’ of his black heart, my father banished me and my sister, away from the horde and our mother, when I was 64 years old, and my sister only 31."
“We survived on what we could, either finding our own food or stealing from other dragons. I usually did all the work, while sis just stays and hides. After about 6 years of this, we actually found something remarkable, our long lost Grandfather, Firewing.”
He looked back inside the cave at the sleeping elder inside, and couldn’t help but smile a toothy smile. “At first, I thought he was just a crazy old dragon, telling random stories about ‘the good old days’, until Safyre said that he was related to us. My sister may be blind, but can see more than others. She needs... no.... she DEPENDS on her magic to live. She says she learned something from our mother before she left, something to help her see who is who. I don’t know how it works really, but I trusted her when she said that was our gramps. So from then on, we were traveling with our gramps, learning all kinds of history from him, like the gryphon war.” He turned his head back on at the glowing orange light coming from the volcanoes in the distance.
“I admit, I wasn’t really fond of him at first, with him yapping away about the whole history of Equestria and how he knew Celestia way back when....”
Wait what? Firewing knows Celestia? Dang, is Celestia really that old, heck, even older than that dragon? Heh, small world. Maybe a LONG time ago, they were buddies or something. Makes me wonder though, if this world really is like the tv show. From what Rex says, dragons have it really REALLY rough. I wonder if gryphons, diamond dogs, or hell, even ponies have it as rough as this. Wait, why, out of all of what he said so far, did this interest me to ignore the rest of his stor.....Oh shit, Rex is still talking, I hope I didn’t miss too much...
“.... And that was how Equestria was made.” He finished with a toothy smile.
….......
Shit....
….........
I feel like I missed something really important in that short moment of time....
“Anyways, thanks for listening. I do actually feel better.” Rex started to get up. “I think I’m gonna hit the sack. Tomorrow you get to meet MY horde. Should be pretty fun to see you meet them. Just don’t make fun of Sludge if you know what’s good for you.” With that, Rex went into the cavern, and went to sleep against a stalagmite.
…..
Eh, I‘ll find out what I missed later.
Heh... So this is what I’m doing, going to meet a horde of dragons led by a banished dragon, while my brother is probably off somewhere in danger. What if he turned into a pony like he wanted, but landed here in the badlands?
…...
No stop thinking like that, he’s probably fine.
….......
Shit, I got to find him now, but I don’t know where to start.
Looking back at the cave, I tried to distract my mind from the worst case scenarios, like what I was going to do once I do find Drew. Maybe I can hang with these dragons for awhile.... They don’t seem that bad actually, compared to some of the humans back home. Like Adam....
Leave him alone Adam!
Like hell I will! Just give me the money, and everyone leaves happy!
If I find even a single hair cut off from Drew I swear.....
Yah. Yah. Just hand over the briefcase if you want to see you ‘precious brother’.
You’ll regret threatening me and my brother...
It’s a good thing that pest is taken care of.... but why did I have that dream then.... I really hope I don’t see that shit-face ever again. I might just lose it....
“Heh. Look at me, remembering my past.” I looked up to the moon, thinking that maybe that other princess could hear me. “I really hope that Celestia takes good care of you like I do for Drew,” I look at my hands near my knees. “and I really hope that I can at least find Drew before anything bad happens to him.” With that, I decided to get up and get some rest as well. My last thoughts before falling into slumber was back at the lake, imagining the fun me and Drew would have had if we weren’t interrupted.
“Come on Drew. Hurry! We’re going to be late to Shiningstar’s party!”
“I’m coming Sol! I’m still not use to these wings, so I’m trying!”
“Do I really have to keep teaching you how to properly fly? You look more like a chicken falling from a cliff than a pegasus flying.”
“HEY! I’M NOT A SCOOTALOO!”
“Scoota-what now? You’re talking crazy again...”
“And I’m proud of it! Hehehehehe...”
“HAHAHAHA. Well, looks like we’re here...... Oh boy.”
“Damn, I thought I was going to avoid her at the party. What are we going to....”
“Hello Sol...... and Drew.”
“Hey there.... Sharp-wing... he... hehe.”
*SNIFF*
“I see you didn’t make it home last night.”
“I... what? Whatever Sol, just get inside.”
“Thank you.”
*CLOP CLOP* (Walking, not what you think..... perverts.)
“Thanks for that Sol.”
“No problem. What are friends for! Oh boy. Here comes mister grumpy pants. I’ll take care of him.”
“Be careful...”
“Ahhhh. Stone-edge, here we are again.”
“This is a party, Sol. I don’t want you or that thing disturbing the other guests.”
“Right right... *Sniff sniff*..... and is your wife away from long?”
“Oh don’t pretend you worked that out. Somepony told you that.”
“Your deodorant told me that.”
“...... My deodorant?”
“It’s for stallions.”
“Well of course it’s for stallions! I’m wearing it!”
“So is Sharp-wing over there.”
“.......... Now look. Whatever your trying to imply...”
“I’m not implying anything. I’m sure Sharp-wing just came around for a nice little chat and happened to stay over........... and I assume she scrubbed your floors, judging by the state of her knees.”
“...........”
“Have fun now!”
“.......Dude....... THAT WAS AWESOME!!!”
“Thank you, thank you!”
“I’m glad you’re my friend so I don’t have to face your deduction ability.”
“It’s my cutie-mark after all!"
"HAHAHAHAHA...... Hey Sol, what do you think that thing is in the sky?"
“I don’t know. That looks like a boat but with two giant balloons attached to it. Kinda looks like a ship the dragon hunter's.....”
*BANG*
“WHAT IN TARTARUS WAS THAT?”
“I think that was the ship!”
“Why would they attack....”
*Shrieeeeeeek*
“ATTENTION ALL RESIDENTS OF DRAGON’S GATE! WE ARE HERE TO APPREHEND A PEGASUS BY THE NAME OF DREW! IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND WITHIN TWO MINUTES, WE SHALL BEGIN SEARCHING FOR HIM OURSELVES, DESTROYING EACH HOME WE COME ACROSS! THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND ONLY WARNING!”
“........Why..... Why are they after me? I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Do you think it’s because they know your.... you know.... not really a pony?”
“I don’t know...... I just really wish Will was here to help. He would usually help solve things like this. He's actually a fast thinker if he’s determined”
*FWOOSH*
“Nothing can save you now..... little pony....”
A/N: Hello everyone! Just wanna say that this chapter...... I don’t know, it just feels off to me. No matter how many times I rewrite it, it still comes off weird. Oh well, I guess it’s the explanation of the world and Rex’s backstory that really got me. I added a few random things to it, but.... eh oh well. Anyways, the next chapter will hopefully have more action in it. See you then!