//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Meeting Royalty... That's New 
// Story: The Flame Chronicles 
// by FlameBrony1625 
//------------------------------//

"Wanna run that by me again, doc?"

Dr. Saddles kept staring at me with those humongous eyes. It was honestly becoming a little uncomfortable.

"It's the princesses!" His sudden shouting caused me to jump back a bit, and because since I couldn't keep my balance in this new body, I fell on my rear. "They sent this letter and asked to see you as soon as you wake up!"

I got back on all fours. "Yeah, yeah, I got that part down, genius. Who're these princesses and why do they wanna see me?"

"You've never heard of the princesses?!" Suddenly the nurse intervened, and in a split second she ran up to me and grabbed my cheeks with her hooves. "How could you never have heard of the rulers of Equestria!?"

I really need to tell these freaking ponies that I'm not actually from here sooner rather than later.

"Hey, HEY!!" I tried saying as my face was getting crushed, so I hastily removed her hooves from my face. "Personal space, would ya?"

"Easy there." The doc walked up to us. He inhales deeply and lets out a large breath, then looks at me with a much calmer expression. "I apologize for our sudden reaction. It's just that it's a bit of a surprise that the princesses would be asking for a stranger as soon as he woke up from a two week coma."

Really? I would've expected royalty to go through weird crap all the time.

He lifted the letter with his magic and hovered it toward me. I'm not sure if I'll get used to magic being real. I took the letter and started reading it.

Dear Doctor Saddles,

I'm aware that your patient, who was the mysterious dragon that was found unconscious outside of our city gates by two travelers, has finally woken. Also I've heard that there was quite a scuffle between you and a patient, so that was a pretty obvious hint.

I know he must be going through troubling times at the moment, and he is very confused. My sister and I are going to help him as best we can.

I'm sending one of my royal guards to escort him to the castle. He'll be there by the time you release him from the hospital. I told him he shouldn't be weary of our new guest, so there won't be any problems between the two. 

I've already taken care of the bill, so there's no need to hold him much longer.

Tell him he has nothing to be afraid of, and I look forward to meeting him

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia

Yeah that last part didn't really assure me all that well. I'm pretty sure I was having another panic attack. Oh yeah. Heavy breathing, heart pounding like it's about to burst, and entire body shaking? I'm probably gonna pass out.

"Alex? Are you okay?" The doctor walked up to me, a worried expression on his face.

"Oh yeah. You know, it's no big deal. I was just asked to meet royalty. Tooootally normal. Hehehe."

He sighed and placed a hoof on my shoulder. "I completely understand you are nervous. But I promise you, the princesses are the kindest and wisest beings in all of Equestria. If there's anypony that can help you find the answers you need, they are the ones that can do it."

I was still a little scared, but my breathing started to slow down a little. I let out one last large breath, and I looked at Dr. Saddles, and gave him a nod, letting him know I was thankful for his reassuring words. He smiled and nodded back.

"Doctor." Our attention was back at the door, and another nurse walked in. "A royal guard is waiting outside. He's here for the patient."

He looked back at me. "Are you ready, son?"

I looked at the door again, knowing that if I take one step outside this room, my life could change in more ways than one. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. I then looked up at the doctor. "Thanks for everything, doc. I owe ya big time. Maybe we'll run into each other again soon."

He gave me a warm smile after I said that. "Then I look forward to our next meeting." I smiled back at him.

He then stepped to give me some room. I looked at the nurse, who smiled and nodded, while I did the same. I looked at the door, and took a step forward.

THUMP

"Ouch."

Dammit.





After embarrassing myself enough already, I finally managed to get a little used to walking on all fours. What the hell did I do to get to this point in my life? I was walking toward the lobby of the hospital, and already a bunch of these colorful ponies are giving me stares. I know I'm a dragon and all, and I pretty much appeared out of nowhere, but this is all still pretty new to me too. Trying to ignore those enormous eyes staring right at me, I made my way to the door. I pushed open the door, while trying to keep my balance. It's gonna be awhile before I get used to being a quadruped. 

"GAHH!!"

I should've seen that coming, because as soon as I opened that door, I was immediately and painfully blinded by the sun. I shut my eyes tightly and covered my face with an arm. 2 weeks stuck in a bed can do that to you, I guess.

Suddenly, I heard laughing a few feet away from me, but I still had my eyes shut, so I couldn't see who it was. I groaned in annoyance. "Hey, you try being stuck on a bed for 2 weeks. Trust me, it's not as comfortable as ya think."

"Nah, I'll pass this time." The voice sounded male, and younger, like he was around my age or something. "You did it so I wouldn't have to, haha." 

Ok, this guy's just getting annoying. "If all you're gonna do is laugh at my misery, then you best just mind your own damn business and go away."

"Well I can't exactly do that since I was sent for you."

Oh yeah, apparently a guard was sent for me. "Right. Almost forgot. Just gimme a sec, would ya?"

I didn't hear him answer, but I assume he obliged. I lowered my arm and slowly started opening my eyes. My vision was blurry. What a huge shocker. My sight was starting to come back to me, and when it started to get clear enough, I immediately widened my eyes, staring at the sight before me.

"Woooaaaahhh."

It was a city, that much was obvious, but what stood out was that everything was so freaking colorful. I don't think I've ever seen so much color in my life. However, I'd be lying if I said this place wasn't beautiful.

"Is this... Canterlot?" I asked no one in particular, still in shock at this view.

"Yep! Sure is!"

I looked to my right and saw the pony I was talking to a few seconds ago. A stallion, obviously from his voice. He was wearing some sort of golden armor, which obviously means he's a guard of some sort. His coat was sort of a yellow color, but a different tone. If there's an actual name for it, I wouldn't know. He was wearing a helmet similar to that of a Spartan. There was blue hair sticking out, so I'm gonna assume that's his mane. I'm pretty sure he has a tattoo on his butt, but it's covered by his armor. But what really caught my attention was that on both sides of his back were a pair of wings. A pegasus... Not gonna lie that's pretty cool. I've always been a sucker for Greek mythology when I was younger, so I might be able to tolerate ponies that can fly.

"I'm gonna assume you're the guard?"

He gave me a sly smirk. "Me? Nah, I wear this armor all the time in public. Really let's out my character."

Yeah, I had that coming, but it didn't make it less annoying. "Oh, you're sooo funny. I almost forgot to laugh."

He laughed again. "Chill, dude, I'm just messin' with ya. I'm Flash. Flash Sentry." He held up his hoof, and he was wearing gold horseshoes of some sort. 

I lifted my arm and grabbed his hoof, shaking it. "Alex. Alex..."

Ah crap. I don't wanna give away my real last name. I need a name that seems like it'll blend in with this world. I already met someone named Doctor Saddles, so it shouldn't be too hard.

"Umm... Alex..." 
...

OH. I got it! 

"Flame!" I said that a little louder than I should have, and that made him jump a little. "Alex Flame."

Not the best I could've came up with, but it'll do.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Alex Flame? That's a weird name, dude."

"Yeah, okay, Flash Sentry." I kinda said that without thinking, but I don't think the talking pony had any room to talk about my name. He looked at me with a glare, and I did the same.

Our staring contest have been going on for several seconds. Then all of a sudden, his smile returned. "HA! I like you!" Okay that definitely wasn't the response I was expecting. "I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about on the way to the castle."

"Rrrriiiiight.", I was still processing that whole interaction, but I brushed it off. "So, you're takin' me to these princesses I've heard about?"

"Yep, they sent me as soon as you woke up." His smile quickly deflated.. "Wait, what do you mean 'heard'?

'Uhh..." Suddenly, he grabbed me by the cheeks. Not again.

"Are you saying you've never heard of the princesses before?!"

Yeah great idea, just yell out the fact that I'm basically an outsider here. Before I could come up with an answer, I realized we were still in a public area, and I'm sure Flash did too. We both looked to my left side and saw a bunch of ponies looking at us in confusion, even some pegasi stopped in mid flight to stare at us.

I looked back at Flash, and grabbed his hooves, pushing them away from my face, and looked at him with an annoyed expression. I whispered to him, "Sure, why don't you yell loud enough so the entire freakin' city can hear you!"

I could see a blush on his face, and he laughed sheepishly. "Hehe, sorry about that. But how could you have never heard of the princesses before?"

My expression softened up. "Let's just say I'm not exactly... from around here. Don't ask, it's a long story."

"Uhh, alright." 

I wish I could tell him more, but it's just not the right time. I noticed all the ponies went back to their business, so I could speak normally. "Ok, so we goin' to the castle? Where is it?"

He gave me a smirk, then turned around and pointed. "Right over there."

I walked up to him, and looked where he was pointing, and my eyes widened and jaw dropped immediately. As if the view from before wasn't enough, this was just insane. This could give Cinderella's castle a run for it's money. I kept staring at the castle dumbly. I suddenly felt my jaw close against it's will. Obviously Flash closed it.

"Come on, we don't want to keep the princesses waiting." Suddenly he lifted himself in the air, and started flying in the direction of the castle.

Umm...

I looked back and stared at my wings. I tried to wiggle my back and see if anything would happen. I couldn't flap them, but I did feel a little movement in my back, and it caused my wings to fidget a little bit, much to my surprise.

"Yo." I yelped and looked back to see Flash hovering above me with an annoyed look on his face. "You comin' or not? You're a dragon aren't you? Flap those wings, you dunce." I stared at him, moved my eyes in both directions,, then back at him.

Well this is awkward. Obviously I can't say 'I've never flown before in my life cuz I was never a dragon in the first place.' 

"Umm..." I'm just gonna have to lie. "Uhh, the doctor said I should... uhh... lay off on the flying. Cuz... you know... I was in pretty bad shape when I got here."

His face softened up immediately after I said that. Crap, I think I made him feel guilty about a lie. He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. "Oh. Alex, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to act like a jerk. I just assumed you'd be ok with flying, being a dragon and all."

I feel bad for lying to this guy. I don't like it one bit, but I'm just gonna have to roll with it just a little longer.

I gave him a smile. "Don't sweat it, dude. I should've told ya sooner. Plus I need to stretch my legs. Being in a bed for two weeks gets ya in that mood, ya know?" I emphasized my point by doing a stretch a cat would do, but of course I stumbled a little bit, but I managed to catch myself.

Flash landed in front of me and smiled. "I totally get that! I'm always in the air, being a pegasus and all." He gave his wings a little flap. "So I don't mind a stroll every now and then. I could even show ya around town a little bit on the way."

"Sounds good to me." Just as he started to turn and walk away, a thought came to me. "Wait!" This got his attention. "There were supposed to be two others that were with me. Apparently they're the ones that brought me to the hospital. Have you seen 'em?"

He simply shrugged. "Sorry, dude. This is the first time I've met you, so I haven't seen anypony else."

I looked down to the ground disappointed. I was hoping to thank them. "Oh."

"Hey, don't worry." He tried to reassure me. "I'm sure they're still in Canterlot. They probably wouldn't just up and leave ya like that."

"I don't know Flash, it's been two weeks. I doubt they're still here." 

"Well, you never know." He said with a smirk. "I bet we might run into them on the way here."

I chuckled at that. "Fat chance, but alright. So, we ready to go?"

"Ready whenever you are."

I nodded, and we both started our walk to the castle.

Hold up... Did he just say 'anypony?'





"And right down this street is Restaurant Row."

"Wow. How original." I said in an emotionless voice.

He laughed at that. "Trust me, I thought so too, but you forget about that as soon as you try all the delicious food they have."

I wouldn't be surprised if they considered hay with a side of carrots as a 5 star meal, but I won't tell him that, in case that's pony racism or something. "Yeah, I think I'll pass." I honestly said. "I doubt you ponies have any food a dragon could eat without spitting it out."

"Yeah, you got a point there."

"HEY!!!" I heard a cheerful voice coming from behind me. Before I could see the pony shouting to me, I felt myself being tackled like I was hit by a cannon ball, knocking the wind out of me. Suddenly, I was being lifted in the air, and being squeezed like I was being constricted by a python, so I couldn't breathe. "YOU'RE OKAY!!!"

"Lyra, put him down! Hasn't he been through enough?!" I heard someone else shouting at my attacker.

"Huh?" 

Does she seriously not realize that I'm about to choke to death?!

Then at that moment, I felt the pressure go away and found myself on the ground again. I breathed in as much oxygen as I could.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sooo sorry! I'm just so glad to see you're okay!" 

After I finally managed to catch my breath, I looked to see who was hugging me so damn hard. She was a unicorn, who I assumed was Lyra. She had a light green coat, and her mane and tail was a mix between light gray and white. She also had a small tuft of fur on her chest. Her eyes were the same color as Flash's coat. She had a tattoo of a heartstring- thingy instrument on her butt.

Why do all these ponies have tattoos on their butts!?

"I mean, seriously. Are you trying to put him back in the hospital?!" Her friend trotted up to us with an annoyed expression. She was a pony. Like... a regular looking pony. No wings and no horn. She had a tannish coat, and her mane and tail was dark blue with pinkish stripes, while also sporting a tuft of fur on her chest. I'm just gonna assume all mares have tufts of fur on their chests in this world.

"Dude, are you ok?" I heard Flash ask, but I think he asked in sort of a teasing manner. "That looked like quite the power hug."

"Shut up." I said while still panting.

"Sorry about that. Here, let me help you." The normal looking pony walked up to me and held out her hoof. I grabbed it and she lifted me back up. "My friend here can be a a little jumpy." A little?! "But yeah, we're really glad you're ok."

Why is she talking to me like she knows me?

Wait a minute...

"I don't think you've ever met us, since... well, you know."

Oh my god, it's them.

She clears her throat. "Hi, my name's- OOF!" I didn't let her finish, because I wrapped both of them in a hug as tight as I could. 

"HOLY CRAP IT'S YOU GUYS!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!"

I could hear Flash bust out laughing, but I couldn't care less. These two saved my life.

I felt Lyra return the embrace happily, but the other one was kinda struggling for some reason. I felt her hoof tap on my arm."

"Need... aaaiiirrr."

Well this is kinda ironic.

I immediately let go of them. Lyra smiled brightly at me, but the regular looking pony was breathing heavily.

I rubbed the back of my head and smiled sheepishly, and I'm pretty sure I felt a little heat in both my cheeks. "Sorry about that. I just can't believe it's you two!" 

Suddenly Lyra came up to me, pressing her snout against mine. "Me neither!! I can't believe you're awake!!"

"Me neither!!" I yell back, ignoring the fact that I'm basically touching noses with a pony.

Before this happy moment of ours could continue, Lyra and I realized that her friend was still sitting on the ground, panting. I walked up to her and held out a hand and giving her a friendly smile. "Guess it's my turn to help you up."

My smile turned into a frown. Why the hell did I say that? I sound like I should belong in a cheesy romance novel.

"Smooth." Dammit, Flash.

Lyra's friend looked like she caught her breath, and grabbed my hand with her hoof... well, in a way ponies can even grab.

"Thanks." She said sweetly. "As I was saying, my name's Sweetie Drops, but everypony calls me Bon Bon. This is my friend Lyra."

"Nice to meetcha!" Lyra held out her hoof.

"Alex Flame." I grabbed it and shook it, and did the same with Bon Bon. Now that I finally ran into them, I thought it would be a good time to tell them something I've been wanting to tell them for what they did for me. "Listen you two. If it weren't for you, I don't think we would even be having this conversation. You two saved my life, and if there's any way for me to repay you just say the word. I..." Oh geez, don't tell me the water works are coming. "Thank you... so much."

Bon Bon smiled at me humbly, but Lyra looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Soon enough, I felt myself being hugged by Lyra again, but this time I could still breathe. "You're so very welcome!! We couldn't just leave you like that!"

I happily returned the embrace. These ponies are surprisingly good huggers.

After a while, we broke away from the hug, and I just realized something. "Hang on, did you two stay here this entire time I was in a coma?"

"Yeah!", answered Lyra. "We didn't want to just up and leave ya like that." She basically said the exact same thing Flash said. I looked at him side-eyed, seeing a smug grin obviously saying 'guess I won that bet.' Jokes on him, we never made a bet in the first place so HA! "So we stayed at my friend Minuette's house this whole time."

Then Bon Bon spoke up. "If I'm going to be honest, I wanted to leave here as soon as we were done with our business here in Canterlot, but Lyra convinced me to stay until you woke up." Lyra held up her head with pride, then Bon Bon rubbed left foreleg with her right, with a guilty look on her face. "I'm so sorry, Alex. I shouldn't have been so selfish."

I felt the need to reassure her, so I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about that. To be honest, I'd hate to be a burden on ya. What you did for me was enough, and you didn't have to wait here for my sake."

Bon Bon smiled at my words. Geez, when did my Speech level increase to 100 in pony world?

"Of course we did!" Lyra wrapped a foreleg around my neck. "We wanted to make sure you were still alive and kicking. And I'm pretty sure we got our answer." She emphasized that statement with a thump to my shoulder. "Now me and Bon Bon can go home!"

"Oh yeah? Where do y'all live?" I was definitely curious, I wanted to see these two again.

"We live in a small town not too far from here." Bon Bon answered. "It's only a train ride away. If you ever head in that direction I'm sure you'll know it when you'll see it."

"Well if I ever head that way, I'll look you two up. Thanks again for everything." 

Lyra gave me a quick hug. "No problem! See ya, Alex!!"

I watched the two walk away. I had a warm feeling in my heart, feeling good about myself. I know I'll repay those two someday.

I turned around and faced Flash, who had the same smirk on his face that annoyed the crap out of me. "What're you lookin' at?"

"I've never expected a dragon to be such a softy." 

I felt heat rising in my cheeks, so I huffed and walked past him. "Zip it, let's just get to the stupid castle."





It took several minutes, but we finally managed to make it to the castle, and as expected, it was huge.

Flash and I walked up to the doors, and we saw a couple guards on each side. They were both unicorns wearing the same styled armor as Flash, and they both were holding large spears

Before we could get any closer, our path was suddenly blocked by said spears.

"Halt, who goes there?!" One of the guards demanded with furrowed eyebrows, the other one doing the same. Are they always like this to even one of their own?

"Easy fellas." Flash stepped in. "This is the guy the princesses asked for. Might have heard of him? The dragon that was found passed out outside our gates?"

Both guards looked at each other, then back to us. I was a little intimidated, but Flash didn't look bothered in the slightest.

After staring at us for a while longer, they finally lifted their spears back up. "Apologies. We've only been acquainted with one dragon in the castle before. You may proceed. The princesses are expecting you."

"Thanks, dudes!" Flash said in a carefree manner as we walked past the guards into the castle.

We stepped through the doors, and when we walked into this huge lobby room, with red carpets, ancient art, everything a castle is expected to have. As we were making our way to what I assumed to be the throne room, I felt my nerves beginning to pick up again. The idea of meeting royalty from a world that isn't mine is really not the most relaxing thought for me.

I heard Flash chuckle a bit. "What's the matter? You act like you've never met royalty before." Not the best time, you jackass.

"Gee, what gave it away? The fact that I'm starting to shake, or the fact that it feels like my heart is going to explode? I could go on all day here, buddy."

Flash didn't respond to that, but I ignored that. Suddenly, I felt myself being stopped, and felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked at Flash, who looked at me with the most sincere look I've ever seen since I've been with him. "Look, I know you must be nervous. Trust me, I was too when I met the princesses for the first time. But believe me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. The princesses are the kindest ponies in all of Equestria, and I could tell that they want nothing more than to help you. So please, trust me when I say you have nothing to be afraid of."

I was absolutely flabbergasted to hear this guy give me helpful advice. Nonetheless, I really appreciated his reassurance. I took a deep breath, and let it out. then looked at Flash with a smile and nodded, to which he returned with one of his own.

We found ourselves in front of two gigantic doors.

"Well, this is where I gotta leave ya to it."

Normally I would've pleaded for him to stay, but his advice helped me be more confident in myself, so I decided to agree. "Yeah. It was cool gettin' to know ya, Flash."

"Same here, Flame. Come find me when you're done talking to the princesses. We should hang out." He held up his hoof to me.

"Will do." I lifted up my arm and gave him a fist/hoof bump.

He turned around and flew away, leaving me, and the giant door way. 

I hesitated for what seemed like hours, looking at what could potentially be my incoming doom.

"No!" I felt the urge to scold myself. "Don't you dare think like that, Alex. You heard it yourself. They only want to help you... and I really need it."

I finally mustered the courage to walk up to the massive doors, and reached out. But before I could even lay a claw on it, they suddenly opened themselves.

I was still frozen in place, until me losing my balance slapped me out of my shock. I shook my head rapidly, and started making my way down the long corridor.

While I was walking, I took a moment to look around the area. It was beautiful. It looked like everything was made of crystal. What really caught my interest was the stained glass windows. They looked like they were depicting events that happened a long time ago. But the one that got my attention depicted some sort of weird looking monster being defeated by six ponies. Two unicorns, two pegasi, and two regular ponies. 

I realized that I wasn't looking where I was going, so I looked forward and continued down the corridor. And once I got closer to where I was supposed to go, what I saw instantly made my heart race.

It was them.

The Princesses.

They were both sitting in the respective thrones. From what I could tell, they were much taller than any normal pony I've seen so far. The taller one had a white coat, and was wearing a golden crown, a collar, and horseshoes. She had a super long horn on her head, and a pair of large wings. What is she supposed to be? A winged Unicorn? A horned pegasus? But what really stood out from all of those features was her mane. It was moving like it was a wave in the ocean. It was somewhat... relaxing to look at. I saw the tattoo on her butt, and it looked like the sun. I'm going to guess that this one is Celestia, the one everyone keeps mentioning

I looked at the other... whatever kind of pony these two are. She was shorter than Celestia, and almost every inch of her body was a very dark blue. And her mane literally looked like the night sky, with stars and everything. Her tattoo was that of a crescent moon.

I stared at the two for what felt like an eternity, until the sound of a loud clang snapped me out. 

A looked at a pegasus guard, who looked at me with an intense glare. "You will bow to the presence of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, dragon!!"

"Heed your tongue! That kind of treatment will not be accepted here" The one I assumed was Luna shouted in a literally booming voice. It was so loud my ears were starting to ring again even tho I was covering them.

"Y-y-y-yes. I apologize your majesty." The guard's demeanor was quick to change after that little outburst, and rightfully so.

Geez, imagine having her as a mother.

Then at that moment, Celestia rose from her throne, and spread out her large and honestly beautiful wings, but I still felt a little intimidated from the sight. Suddenly, she began lifting herself in the air, and hovers right toward me.

I backed up a little too fast, and I tripped over my tail, causing me to roll back a few times until I was on my stomach.

So I pretty much embarrassed the hell out of myself in front of royalty. Awesome.

I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a pair of large hooves in front of me. I quickly sat up and looked up, and saw Celestia towering above me, and looking at me with an expressionless face. 

Sorry, Flash. You're words aren't working anymore.

I don't think my heart has ever beaten this fast, and all I could do right now is look at the princess with abnormal fear. She stared at me for a minute. But what she did next really blew me away. She takes her hoof and places it on my chin, and tilts her head down, and gives a warm, friendy smile.

"Welcome to Equestria, Alex Flame."