//------------------------------// // Viva la vlemm enclave // Story: Journey of the Noble Dragons // by closet brony 77 //------------------------------// “So remind me why we have to take a boat to the enclave instead of one of your airships?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Because the Violet Dawn was the only one that could have held all of us along with our escorts. Most of the airships we have in our fleet are much smaller or simply couldn’t survive the trip over.” Griffith replied, downing a glass of apple juice. “Besides even if we could, it would take the same amount of time to arrive there be it by air or by sea.” Tensions were high between the Noble Dragons and the Elements of Harmony in ponyville, a natural occurrence due to the fact that both sides were trying to kill each other the day before. After a quick explanation to the princesses, Lord Ember, and King Thorax who were okay with the deal that had been worked out despite them all having various reasons for not accompanying them, and a one night stay in the crystal castle, as Twilight wanted to be able to keep an eye on Spike’s new ‘friends’, Mia had gotten up early to cook breakfast by way of thanks for giving them a sporting chance. Though they were suspicious of the gesture at first, primarily because they had never had blue waffles before, it turned out to simply be Mia’s special blueberry waffles that quite literally burst with flavor. Pinkie, always looking to push her limits as a baker, demanded the recipe from Mia. But the speedster merely told the party pony she would have to wait until they had arrived at the Vlemm enclave to give her a copy of it. “Speaking of which, we’d all better get going if we want to make the train to Vanhoover.” Twilight remarked while swallowing the last bite of her blue waffle. “You sure nob- I mean, nopony is gonna freak out when they see us?” said Crystal. “Not as long as you stick with us. Besides nopony is going to bother us on the train.” A little know fact about the princesses of equestria is that they have full legal authority to commandeer an entire train for their own personal use; now of course the request must be made somewhat in advance so that the schedules of the railway systems aren’t thrown into disarray and the ponies riding them aren’t inconvenienced, not to mention such authority is seldom used because the need to have such travel arrangements rarely arises but this is one of those situations. Though the Noble Dragons were allowing Twilight and her friends to come to the Vlemm enclave, they were still adamant about keeping the exact workings of their home a secret; and when eight teenage dragons are aboard the same train at once, well that tends to raise questions that they didn’t particularly want to answer. “It’s not the train I’m worried about princess, it’s the walk over that’s concerning. I mean all the stuff we’ve done hasn’t exactly gone unnoticed.” Twilight waved off Crystal’s concerns “oh please, I’m sure after the word has gotten out that we’ve come to a peaceful resolution nopony will even notice any of you” **************************** Every pony noticed them. From the very second they set foot on the castle the Noble Dragons were treated to dozens of stares falling on them. It wasn’t exactly normal for a group of dragons who had launched an attack on canterlot one day to be walking alongside the princess of friendship the very next. But the Noble Dragons weren’t bothered, they had been expecting this and simply walked on by like this was just another ritual in their daily lives; although they could have done without the accusatory whispers. “Hey those are the dragons from the papers!” “What are they doing here?!” “Did the princess capture them?” “Maybe she’s shipping them off to Tartarus.” “You think Fluttershy’s a lesbian?” All of it soon became a bit too much for a certain ice dragon and she started to grow flustered, instinctively clinging to the closest living thing near her as a sort of safety blanket. She never did do well in the spotlight, even after she became a paragon she still liked to just hang back and let others bask in the glory. “Hey, you alright Yam?” Her head quickly snapped up in surprise, pupils shrinking to pinpricks and her light blue face turning red; She was clinging onto Connor’s side rather tightly, her arm linked with his, fingers intertwined. Like any rational girl who accidentally found themselves in a slightly awkward situation with a boy they had a massive crush on, she spazzed out; Yam immediately threw her arm off of Connor and took a few steps away from him, her face so hot she felt like it would burst into flames at any moment. “I’m fine. Really I am!” Yam stammered out while trying to look at everything but the plantmancer. This gesture did not go unnoticed though, ponyville’s resident fashionista looked between the two dragons quizzically before leaning over towards Saphira. “Did you see-” “Yes I did. And before you ask anything else: yes she does have a crush on him, no he has no clue, yes everybody apart from him knows, yes she is always this awkward around him, and no we can’t say anything because it would embarrass her. Any other questions?” the ninja deadpanned. Rarity pursed her lips together and let out a slight grumble. “I’m not that much of a gossip…” Apart from that minor outburst, the walk over to the train station was completely uneventful. It was when they arrived that things started to get a little muddled. “Hey guys I just thought of something: who’s sitting with who?” Said Mia “I mean we aren’t just all going to cram together in one compartment are we?” “Well let’s see; there’s seven of us and eight of you and with four available cars on the train that means we split up in groups of about four.” Starlight explained, doing some quick mental math. “No I got that, I meant who gets to ride with Artair?” Everyone briefly eyed each other in a sort of awkward standoff before turning to look at the lost prince in question. “Yeah Spike, who gets to ride with you?” said Pinkie Pie in an ominous tone that would make anyone shake in their shoes. “Well obviously I’m the first choice” said Griffith in a ‘matter-of-factly’ tone, “being his little brother means I get dibs on riding with him during road trips.” Some opened their mouths to argue, only to realize that the mechanic did have a fair point and chose to instead hold their peace. “Alright, but that means I get to ride with him too” said Twilight, pulling the baby dragon to her side “I helped raised him, I’m like an older sister to him.” “Not by blood.” Dylan muttered, only to be elbowed in the stomach by Saphria. “Sure, there’s some stuff we need to talk about anyway. Which leaves one more seat…..Artair, how about you decide? You’ll be riding with them after all” Without so much as blinking, Spike simply said “Starlight, definitely Starlight.” “Wow that was fast.” Crystal remarked. “You sure you don’t wanna th-” “No. I want Starlight to ride with me, nothing personal, it’s just that the rest of you guys can be a little….oh what’s the word?” “Unpredictable?” said Griffith. “That’s the one.” “Fine, whatever.” Rainbow Dash huffed. “So who’s gonna be with who?” ********************************* One quick discussion later, with a coin toss thrown in for good measure, the order was set with Rainbow Dash riding with Dylan and Saphria, Pinkie Pie and Mia in a car with Crystal and Rarity, and Fluttershy and Applejack sharing with Connor and Yam. The trip would take about half a day in total, and the boat ride would add an extra couple hours on top of that, so both sides would have plenty of time to become familiarized with each other; the confined spaces of the train left them very little choice. In the first train compartment, Spike was parked in Twilight’s lap; the alicorn insisting that she get to hold him for the trip over, much to his displeasure. While Starlight sat next to them and Griffith directly across from the trio, the latter had his gaze focused on the landscape passing by the open window. “So Griffith” said Twilight as she gently stroked the top of Spike’s head. “What did you want to talk to us about anyways?” “Well really, I just wanted to say….thank you.” Griffith replied. “For what?” “For well, everything. And I’m not just talking about giving us all a chance to prove that the Noble Dragons could provide a good home for big bro. I mean for everything you’ve done for Artair; for a while I always thought you were keeping him as a slave or something.” Starlight blinked in confusion “wait where did you get that from?” “Mainly what Cobalt told me, ever since we found out that Artair was alive he’s been keeping tabs on him. Most of what he says isn’t anything good, in hindsight it’s probably why this whole affair turned out the way it did, but I digress. The way big bro talks about you, how he sees all of you, and how you’ve been acting towards him I’m starting to think all of that stuff isn’t true; you’re not his family, that’s our role, but you certainly come close and I really appreciate you taking care of him all this time and making sure he turned out okay.” said Griffith with a warm smile “so thanks for being there for him when we couldn’t and even if you don’t let him remain on the Vlemm Enclave, I hope you can find it in your heart to let me stay with him. I’ll do anything to keep him in my life…” “I’ll….I’ll see what I can do Griffith” Twilight said, returning the smile wholeheartedly before a second thought came to mind “wait a minute, who’s Cobalt? You keep bringing him up.” “Oh right, I never actually told you guys about him: see way back when the dragon kingdom was still in existence, Cobalt was my dadr’s top soldier, greatest advisor, and best friend, those two did everything together up until the war of the broken fang which is where everything went wrong, bad things started to happen and we were pushed into the western seas; he kind of went into recession after that, only surfacing to help dad run the remnants of his kingdom and make improvements to the Vlemm Enclave as a whole, but outside of that he spends most of his time nowadays studying magic, the dream realm specifically.” Griffith leaned forward. “That’s his aura you know, Cobalt actually has full control over the power of nightmares, basically the opposite of what Princess Luna does. Which is how he’s managed to keep an eye on Artair for so long.” The alicorn’s eyes narrowed “Nightmares? Wait a second…..” “I know where you’re going with that Twilight and it was probably him, for what it’s worth he’s already been punished for that so you don’t need to go on the friggin war path.” “Fair enough. But what’s the war of the broken fang?” Griffith hearty chuckled “oh ho ho. Now that’s a story, you might wanna get cozy cause this is gonna take a while to explain. See it all started one-thousand years ago…..” ************************************ In the next car over, a pair of hot heads were attempting to burn holes in each other; Rainbow Dash was glaring at the dragons sitting across from them and Dylan was giving a set of glares right back at them, Saphria meanwhile was sitting down with a look of disinterest. It probably wasn’t wise putting the most temperamental and aggressive members of both groups all together in one train car but unfortunately that’s how it ended up. Unlike the other cars, the three of them had simply been stewing in a passive aggressive silence; wordlessly daring each other to fire off the first shot that would inevitably spark an argument resulting in a straight up brawl. But none of them were reckless enough to do so. Well apart from a certain pegasus that is. “Well? Got something to say?” the Wonderbolt said with a sort of anger that matched her glaring look. “Why? Do you?” Dylan shot back. Rainbow Dash got right into Dylan’s face and very nearly growled “A few things come to mind yeah.” “Oh you want another round with us? Come on let’s go!” shouted Dylan, hopping to his feet. Saphria immediately stepped in between the two and forced them apart “STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!” “She started it!” “I don’t care! I’m ending it now!” Rainbow Dash smacked Saphria’s hand away from her chest “oh yeah, like you’re any better than he is.” “Don’t you start with me. I’ve already beaten you twice in a row pegasus.” the ninja said with a glare, moving her attention away from Dylan. “You got lucky!” “YOU ARE-” Saphria cut herself off and sucked in a deep breath, pausing for a few seconds to gather her thoughts before she started to speak up. “No, I’m not going to lose my temper. Rainbow Dash was it? Can we just please get through this trip without strangeling the life out of each other? For Artair’s sake?” Rainbow Dash’s anger deflated almost immediately, like a balloon that had been poked with several holes, the thought of losing her dragon friend because she couldn’t hold herself back pacifying her. “Alright fine, you guys aren’t worth it anyway.” Dylan narrowed his eyes at the mare, before a small set of giggles started to escape his lips. “What’s so funny?” “Oh nothing. Just that if the circumstances were different we might have ended up as friends.” the light dragon replied as he leaned back in his chair. That comment was the one that managed to catch the athlete off guard as she stared back with a look of confusion. “That look in your eyes, the fierce determination and protective instincts behind them. You’re the kind of creature that would do anything to protect the ones they care about, one who would risk everything for them, their life included. You’ve got loyalty, almost to a fault, just like me and I respect that. Another time, another place, and we could have been close; but not here and not now.” said Dylan. Rainbow Dash ran a hoof through her mane awkwardly, she had to admit that a compliment was the last thing she expected from the Noble Dragons “wow, thanks, I guess.” “Don’t think this makes us all buddy buddy though, you’re still an outsider and I still don’t trust you by a long shot. But if Artair’s willing to vouch for ya, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for now….” With that Dylan focused his gaze on the trees whizzing by the train. Saphria smirked, nice to know that Dylan could be somewhat nice, but of course now that meant she was obligated to extend a similar olive branch to Dash or this would end up being a very long trip. “Hey, ya know we do have organized fighting on the Vlemm Enclave, if you really want a rematch on even terms…..” “Oh you’re so on.” Rainbow Dash replied with a smirk. The train car once again descended back into silence, only this time it was more relaxed and less aggressive, like a fog of hatred had just been lifted. *********************** Rarity felt like bashing her head against the wall right about now. It had been less than a few minutes into the trip when Mia ended up getting bored and struck up a random conversation with Pinkie Pie regarding cookies, one thing led to another and the duo decided to play a few rounds of I spy, only problem that they spied the SAME thing every time: “I spy with my little eye, something that is green.” Said the party dragon “The grass?” Asked the party pony “Yeah!” “Yay! Okay my turn, I spy with my little eye, something that is blue.” “The sky?” “Yes!” “Alright! Now I spy with my little eye….” Rarity groaned, this had been going on for hours now; she wondered if anypony would be willing to switch with her right now. “They seem to be getting along pretty well don’t they?” said Crystal. Rarity looked up to meet the archer’s blue eyes. “Seems like only yesterday that they were trying to murder each other doesn’t it Rarity?” “It was yesterday.” Replied the fashionista. “Your point?” “Well, um….” Crystal released a slight huff “Figures, I honestly don’t know what Artair sees in you.” Rarity raised at eyebrow at the blue dragoness “what are you talking about?” “The little guy’s crush on you, I mean I’ve never seen a dragon fall so hard for somebody.” It was at that moment that Crystal noticed the dumbfounded look on Rarity’s face and came to the only logical conclusion as a result. “Wait, you didn’t know? Well this is awkward, I thought it was as obvious as Yam’s crush on Connor. How could you not notice?” “Wait, is this one of your jokes? Because if Spikey Wikey truly had a crush on me I would have certainly known about it.” said Rarity. “Really?” Crystal replied with slight sarcasm. “Yes, just because he came around every day to help me without a single complaint, always being there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, and supporting me through every…..” the element of generosity trailed off and Crystal could have sworn she could almost see the gears turning in her head. “Oh….oh my I really am dense.” “Better to be dense than to be leading him on, though that does mean I made this for nothing.” said Crystal, holding up a small paper pouch. “What’s that?” “Oh just a bit of itching powder, I thought you were just using Artair and was going to sprinkle this on you in your sleep as a sort of revenge prank; and before you say anything, the worst you could have gotten from this was a mild rash. But not anymore, ah well.” With that, the blue dragoness flug the package out the window where it exploded upon contact with a pegasus with a brown mane stuck up in a pointy quiff, wearing a pink and brown striped sweater vest who happened to be flying by at that exact moment. “GAH! I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!” he screamed before slamming face first into a tree, causing a beehive to fall on top of him. The entire cabin went silent as the three other occupants stared at Crystal. “Oh come on! That was clearly an accident! How was I supposed to know a pegasus just happened to be flying by?!” Crystal protested. “Hey wait a second, I recognize that pony; that’s Milo, he came through ponyville a few months ago with the worst luck I’ve ever seen! My pinkie sense just went crazy whenever he was around.” said Pinkie Pie with a hoof under her chin, watching as the pegasus who was now covered in honey retreat from an abnormally large bear. “Pinkie sense? What’s that?” said Mia, her short attention span immediately shifting to the pink earth pony. “Sooo basically it works like this: I get different, little, niggy feelings….” *************************** It was moments like these that Fluttershy wished she could sink into the floor. Whatever fire in her belly that she had for the past few months in the search for Spike had been snuffed out and she had returned to her normal timid self; of course with that came her natural social anxieties. Being in confined quarters with a pair of dragons she knew next to nothing about did nothing to help these anxieties; from the pointed claws to the razor sharp fangs, every single primal instinct she had was telling her to run away from them, but she couldn’t. ‘Well at least they aren’t talking to me, maybe if I just sit quietly they won’t even notice I’m here any more.’ Fluttershy thought to herself as she pressed herself further back into her seat. Connor, however, seemed to be completely obvious to Fluttershy’s discomfort and if he did notice, he paid it no mind as he decided to address her. “So you’re Fluttershy huh? Let me just say I’m sorry for all the stuff I’ve done to you so far, especially that whole thing with the…..” Connor stopped himself when he saw that Fluttershy was now trying to hide herself behind her wings as if they were a cloak. “Hey, is something wrong?” Fluttershy only let out a slight squeak in response. Now Connor was really confused, wasn’t this the same pegasus who beat the crud out of him in Everfree? The one who ferociously tackled Griffith in Baltimare? Why was she trying to hide herself now? “Okay what’s up with her?” Connor asked Applejack “I thought the dudette was some big, tough defender of Equestria.” “She ain’t exactly the talkative type, Never has been.” the farmer replied. “Seriously? The Pegasus who nearly kicked my butt several times is shy?” “That a problem?” Sensing an argument in the near future, Connor held up his hands defensively. “No, I just thought she’d be a little bit more vocal with how tough she is.” That made Fluttershy peak out slightly from her self imposed hiding spot “you think I’m tough?” “Well yeah, you took everything we threw at you and then some, you all did, if that isn’t strength then I don’t know what is.” Connor said with a smile. “Hey, have you ever seen a frost flower?” ‘Oh no, no Connor please.’ Yam felt dread creeping on her, whenever they met someone knew he always asked her to do that dumb trick and it always made her feel embarrassed despite everyone being amazed by it, but when Connor asked her to do it with that bright little smile that made her melt inside she couldn’t bring herself to say no. The animal lover shook her head. “Oh it’s wicked cool, show em yam.” Said the planmancer, pulling a small flower bulb out of his bag and handing it to her. Yam took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, gently clutching the bulb in her claws. ‘Focus, you’ve done this dozens of times before you can do it now’ Slowly but surely, a light blue aura surrounded her hands as well as a slight drop in temperature; the green leaves of the sprout started to come out before rapidly stretching upwards and outwards, the petals of the flower blooming, then the flower started to turn a shade of blue matching the aura surrounding it, crawling it’s way up the stem and spreading across the petals, solidifying it in the process. “There, done.” Said Yam, holding out the flower for everyone to see. The flower itself had been perfectly preserved by the frost, rendering it one solid piece and a wonderful shade of blue. “That was incredible!” Said Fluttershy, gently taking the flower in her hands and finding it cold but oddly soft to the touch. Applejack on the other hand was mesmerized, running a hoof through her hair. “Mind tellin me how ya’ll did that?” “Oh, you see it’s sort of interweave of our respective auras to accelerate the growth of the plant while also rapidly lowering it’s temperature to accomplish preservation….” ****************** Celestia’s sun was low in the sky, gradually approaching the horizon, casting a golden glow on the Vanhoover beach. Over the course of the trip, the Noble Dragons had shared numerous conversations with the Elements of Harmony and found themselves on relatively decent terms by the end of it. Not enough to qualify as friends as a certain level of distrust still existed between them along with a hint of animosity but it was certainly a step in the right direction. The trot through Vanhoover was relatively uneventful since most of the town was fairly barren, thank Celestia there was a major horse hockey game today, and they had made it to the empty beach where they had been instructed to wait for their ship. The group was all gathered around a large bonfire; Applejack and Connor had combed the beach for some firewood and once a sizable pile had been gathered, Spike was the one to light it up and everyone parked themselves in range of the heat. Roasting marshmallows that Pinkie Pie had generously provided, although Griffith was still confused as to how the earth pony could store not only a bag of marshmallows in her mane, but a box of graham crackers and few chocolate bars. “Smores are, hands down, the best campfire food there is; no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” said Mia, shoving the gooey treat into her maw with a smile. “Preach it sister.” Pinkie Pie added, marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker crumbs smeared across her face. “How long until they get here? It feels like we’ve been waiting for hours.” said Rainbow Dash. Dylan blew the fire off his own marshmallow, now blackened from being overcooked “It’s hasn’t been that long Rainbow Dash, they should be around…..oh no.” Everyone looked out towards the ocean and was met with possibly one of the grandest sailing vessels in existence. A strange combination of a Galleon and an East Indiastallion, the ship had three masts with grand sails adorning them, a solid wood hull with carvings whose meaning was known only to a select few, several oddly shaped cannons lined the edges of each deck, a skull and crossbones looking at a red bird was painted onto the flag flown at the highest point of the ship, but the most striking feature of the ship was the fact that everything on it was a deep black from the sails to the hull, even the cannons and lifeboats were a deep black. Nobody could quite put a finger of hoof on it, but the mere sight of the ship instilled a deep feeling of foreboding within all the onlookers. “Hey that’s the Black Oyster! Man Frinad and Layla really pulled out all the stops on this one.” said Connor. Dylan on the other hand wasn’t so impressed, in fact he was downright dreading what was likely coming his way “please don’t let her be onboard, please don’t let her be on board” he muttered under his breath as a small lifeboat began to paddle towards their location. “DYLAN, SWEETIE!!!!” shouted a tall female dragon from the boat. “Bahumut darn it….” The same dragon that had shouted out the light dragon’s name jumped out of the boat once the water was waist deep and ran onto the beach, giving Dylan a big hug and nuzzling into the top of his head. “How’s my special little sunshine been huh?” she said. “Hi mom, it’s good to see you again.” Dylan sid, hugging her back and blushing out of embarrassment. “And these must be all the little pony friends you made.” the dragoness released Dylan from the embrace and walked over to the rest of the group, holding out a hand. “Hi there, the name’s captain Jane Sparrow, best sailor in the Noble Dragon fleet. Nice to meet ya.” “Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship.” said Twilight, accepting the gesture. Looking over her shoulder, Jane noticed the small baby dragon standing a few feet away and her smile grew even wider. “Ah prince Artair, on behalf of the crew let me just say what an honor it is to be sailing with you” the captain said as she gave him a respectful kneel. “For the last time Jane, you don’t need to bow in front of the royal family; we’ve been over this.” “Prince Griffith, Artair is a long lost prince who was thought to be deceased up until recently, let me have this one.” the sailor replied. “Anywho, we should get going if we want to get back to the Vlemm Enclave before dark, lord Frinad and lady Layla are just dying to meet their long lost son after all.” As they walked over Spike pulled Dylan aside. “That’s your mom?” the baby dragon remarked in an incredulous tone. “Yeah, what of it?” “Well it’s just that you’re so serious and she’s so-” “Childish? Yes, I know; but I love her anyway and she’s the greatest captain on the entire Vlemm enclave. Besides I take more after my late father, now let’s go.” It took four row boats to get everybody aboard the ship: one for the dragons, one for the ponies, one for their luggage, and for Rarity’s luggage. “Did you really have to bring all of that stuff?” said Saphria. “Why of course, a mare must be prepared for any social occasion.” Rarity replied, batting one of her loose curls. “But you don’t even wear clothes most of the time!” “That doesn’t mean I can’t wear formal attire, after all I will be meeting royalty.” Griffith scratched the back of his head. “Yeah about that, you might want to go easy on the whole ‘outer beauty’ shtick you’ve got going sweetheart.” “What? Why?” “While that kind of stuff might be okay in Equestria, it’s not gonna fly on the Vlemm Enclave. Noble Dragons condemn the pursuit of vanity in nearly all forms.” Griffith explained “as a matter of fact, there’s probably a lot of stuff we need to talk about in regards to Noble Dragon culture so you don’t accidentally end up offending some-BUHH.” Jane wrapped an arm around his neck before he could get another word out and pulled him into a tight hug. “We’ll have plenty of time to discuss that over a hearty meal among other things, you all must be starved right now. Come, let’s eat!” ********************************** As they descended lower into the decks, the Mane Six got a true feeling for how truly massive the Black Oyster was: not only was there at least five floors below deck but each was comprised of dozens of individual rooms for a variety of purposes ranging from normal like the medical office to things that were just plain bizarre like an aquarium. Of course there was no time for a tour aboard the grand vessel, they had more important matters to attend to. Like getting a good meal in them. “I must admit, the crew and I were pretty skeptical about letting a few ponies aboard the black oyster but if prince Artair and Dylan are willing to vouch for you all, then who am I to judge?” Jane Sparrow said. “Is that why some of them were giving us weird looks?” said Starlight “Let’s just say that most dragons on the Vlemm Enclave aren’t exactly big pony fans. Speaking of which, how squeamish are you all in regards to meat?” That was a question that could have certainly come sooner, as when the ship’s captain pushed open the doors; the Elements of Harmony very nearly lost their appetites. To be fair, most ponies were vegetarians and even griffins tended to only eat fish for protein. So seeing a fully cooked bird in the center of the table surrounded by various other dishes struck them with a sort of culture shock. One that nearly made Fluttershy faint dead away “Geeze, is it really that big of a deal to eat meat?” said Crystal, plopping down in a chair. “Wha- but, but you’re eating a sentient creature! How could you do that?” said Rarity with disgust. “There are plenty of carnivores in the animal kingdom miss.” said Yam as she sliced herself some of the chicken. “Bears, lions, tigers, snakes, owls, and falcons to name a few; the only difference is that Noble Dragons are omnivores, though that’s not to say that maintaining a vegetarian or vegan diet isn’t possible.” “I can confirm that dudes.” Connor added “Besides, Noble Dragons don’t eat any sapient creatures which means things like ponies, griffins, yaks, cows, donkeys, and any other thing that is capable of thought and reason is off the menu.” “They do have a point girls.” said Twilight “dragons are meat eaters, although a vegetarian dragon is certainly new development.” “Not really Twi.” said Connor, chewing up a small salad “vegetarian and vegan culture has been around on the Vlemm Enclave for like a hundred years now, I mean I wouldn’t say we’re the majority but we’re a pretty good chunk. Not to mention old Artair is one of us.” the plantmancer added while nuding the baby dragon in question. “And if it makes you feel any better, the animals we do slaughter for food are put to sleep in a very humane way; they never feel a thing.” said Saphria. “Well ah guess it’s okay then, hand me one of those apples will ya?” said Applejack. Soon enough, the initial shock wore off and everybody sat down to enjoy the feast that had been prepared for them; though that didn’t stop Twilight and her friends from flinching everytime the meat got near them. “So aside from the obvious are there any other things we should know about the Noble Dragons and their culture?” Starlight asked while tossing an orange slice into her mouth. “Well let’s see: Noble Dragons also have a burning hatred for the pursuit of greed, it’s the main reason why we prefer to use digital forms of currency as opposed to physical, we believe that greed is why the original dragon kingdom collapsed and what sets us apart from Horde Dragons, not to say that we don’t own any personal items though, noble dragons are allowed to have possessions but they are more aimed at personal and practical value rather than status symbols, anything that would incite greedy behavior is banned.” “So, what? You guys just live in complete equality with each other?” “Oh of course not, that would be highly counterproductive not to mention stifling to creativity and individuality; no we measure a Noble Dragon’s worth by their accomplishments and contributions to our society, teachers and peacekeepers for example are closer to the top than the rest and thus get more money and nicer things. Noble Dragons hold education in very high regard you know, same with cultural pursuits like art and technology, we give free primary and secondary education to everyone over the course of eleven years, heck it’s the only thing we’ve used to keep ourselves occupied when remaining hidden for a thousand years, and it’s why we have all this amazing technology; oh that reminds me, we’re also really advanced in terms of tech, like leaps and bounds ahead of where you guys are now. And of course we have a severe distrust of all outsiders which includes you.” “Why is that anyway? I don’t think you ever told us why Noble Dragons hate ponies so much.” “Well when the Noble Dragons were locked in the battle of the broken fang, we asked Princess Celestia for help, even offering our alliance to Equestria in return for her assistance and she said no. Many believe that if she simply helped us then the war might have turned out differently, and many of their loved ones would still be alive, this resentment by the surviving families eventually evolved into a full blown xenophobia that is widespread throughout our entire kingdom. I probably should mention now that you might want to be a bit cautious, there are dragon extremists on the Vlemm Enclave who REALLY hate ponies.” “Is it really that bad?” asked Fluttershy “It tends to vary, at best you’ll get some wary looks, at worst you might start a physical confrontation. But don’t worry though, the Paragons are one of the highest authority figures on the Vlemm Enclave, nobody there would be stupid enough to cross us, just stick close and you’ll be fine.” “Alright good to know” said Twilight “is there anything else?” “Not really, apart from a distinct cultural style it’s more or less the same as Equestria. You’ll see when we get there.” It was at that moment that one of the crew members peeked his head in the door. “Captain, your presence is required on the upper decks” “What could possibly be so important that you needed to interrupt my lunch?” Jane replied, tearring off a chunk of chicken with her teeth for emphasis. “Captain, we’ve reached the locker.” Jane let out a gasp and rushed out of the room, the crew member hot on her tail, leaving everyone else in silence. “Uh Griffith, what’s the locker?” asked Spike Griffith rubbed his chin for a moment in thought before an idea seemed to strike him. “Oh right, forgot about the locker.” the mechanic pushed himself away from the table and stood up “come on, let’s get topside, it’ll be easier to explain there.” ***************************** One quick jaunt upwards later, and it started to become clear why they called it the locker. “When you say ‘the locker’, is that as in Pony Jones’ locker?” said Starlight. “Well we call him Davy Jones, but yeah pretty much.” Griffith replied. In the distance was a large number of storm clouds, stirring and churning the ocean depths, a torrential downpour constantly coming down from the sky, and thunder clapping every so often. The crew was rushing around in a tizzy, desperately trying to get ready for the challenge that they would have to overcome. “Batten down the life wenches men!” Jane barked at the crew “Again, not a thing captain!” “DON’T QUESTION ME! I’VE BEEN SAILING THROUGH THE LOCKER SINCE YOU WERE A HATCHLING!” “Ah know ah ain’t no sailor, but shouldn’t we be sailin away from the storms?” said Applejack with slight worry. “Normally yes, but unfortunately the locker is the only way to reach the Vlemm Enclave. It’s why nobody has ever stumbled upon our little home, none of them have ever managed to survive the trip through the locker.” said Saphria. “Yeah, I mean if the storms don’t sink em’ the sea monsters will.” Mia added. “Luckily we’ve learned to adapt the locker and conquer it so to speak, currently the Noble Dragons are the only ones who can sail through it safely. In fact mom even goes on runs through the locker to train new crew members, or when she gets bored.” said Dylan. Spike turned to look at the paragons “Wait, did you say sea monsters?” “Yes he did.” said Jane Sparrow “really big ones too, you’re all welcome to stay and help but if you don’t think you’re up to it, just head back below decks and we’ll take care of everything. You might wanna decide now because the locker is nearly upon us.” As if on cue a loud rumbling sound resonated from the depths below, eerily similar to that of a primal growl, followed by a small patter of rain that was slowly getting heavier, and a smile that would put the Chestire Cat to shame spread across Jane Sparrow’s face. ******************************** “Wow that was the most incredible thing we’ve ever done!” Spike exclaimed. It had been one wild ride through the locker, the ship being tossed about like a rubber duck in an over active foal’s bathtub and being put under attack by sea monsters that were just as ferocious as the storm but in the end our favorite band of misfits had triumphed and reached the calm that laid on the other side of the storm, consisting of a thick fog that hung over the ship, covering their surroundings in a deep shroud. “I have to agree, I never knew earth ponies were strong enough to knock out a sea king with a single kick.” said Dylan. “Aw, twernt nothin. Spike was the one that really came through.” Applejack said “Oh yeah, you got that sucker right in the eye with that fireball bro.” said Griffith, clapping a hand onto his brother’s shoulder. “Nice job.” “Thanks Griffith. Anyway how long until we reach-” Spike was immediately cut off by the lookout shouting “LAND HO!!!” The veil of fog then gave way to reveal the one, the only, the Vlemm Enclave in all it’s sparkly, high tech glory. First thing one should know about the Vlemm Enclave is that it’s not comprised of a single land mass but rather one large island inter connected with several smaller islands that each served their own various purposes; the second thing one should know is how jaw droppingly mesmerizing it is. The silver city of the central island grew out of the base like a high tech utopian tree that made the Crystal Empire look like Appleloosa, towering skyscrapers that seemed to touch the very heavens themselves, airships and hovercrafts flying through the air that carried dragons going about their daily business, of course all the other islands had a wide variety of colors and shapes in regards to their own purposes that all complimented each other like a strange sort of ordered chaos to it that only added to its overall beauty. Only one word was uttered that could accurately describe what they were seeing. “Woah….” the Elements of Harmony collectively breathed out. “Heck yes woah.” said Griffith as the Black Oyster pulled towards the port. “If you think it’s impressive now, wait until you see it up close.” Once the ship arrived on the shores of the Vlemm Enclave, Saphria was the first one to hop onto the land mass; taking in a deep breath, Saphria let out a pleasurable sigh. “Ah, home sweet home, it’s good to be back again.” said the ninja. “You said it, I missed this place so much.” said Crystal with a similar smile. Unfortunately Twilight and her friends wouldn’t feel the same sense of relief upon their arrival, as the very moment they took one step off the ship; the entire port fell into a deep silence as every single dragon glared at the unwelcome guests. Pinkie Pie was the first to speak up, her eyes darting nervously around. “Um….we come in peace?” A gruff looking dragon with a rather pudgy build and a set of official looking armor stormed over to the group and addressed Saphria. “What. are. They. doing. Here.” the dragon barked. “They, are here on an official invitation from Lord Frinad and Lady Layla soldier.” Saphria replied, meeting the dragon with an equally stern stare. “You expect me to believe that Saphria?” he said with hands on his hips “you know the rules about outsiders and…” “She’s telling the truth Benedict, besides you aren’t going to say no to the lost prince of the Noble Dragons are you?” Griffith said, backing his friend up. The dragon narrowed his eyes at the pair before looking behind them and noticing a small little baby dragon bringing up the rear, whose scales and eyes quickly gave away his identity, causing the guard’s eyes to widen in realization. “P-Prince Artair! By Bahumut the rumors were true!” the dragon sputtered out before immediately kneeling in front of Spike “I apologize for my comment, I did not realize they were friends of yours.” That one comment immediately broke the silence that had washed over the port and the entire place erupted into hushed conversations accented by brief glances in Spike’s direction; not of disgust and fear mind you, but those of awe and intrigue. “Come on dude, the lord and ladyship are waiting for us.” said Connor. “You’ll have plenty of time to bask in your fame the rest of the week.” Before he walked off with the rest of the group, Dylan gave the fat dragon guard a sharp glare. “Listen to me and listen good, you are to collect all of the ponies’ luggage and bring it straight to the palace as punishment for your insubordination, if I find a single trace of tampering you can be sure that Lord Frinad and Lady Layla will hear about it.” “Yes Dylan, as you wish.” On that note, the group traversed deeper into the center of the island where the royal palace lied. The attention they gathered only got more severe, or rather the attention that Spike got became more severe. “Is that?” “It can’t be, he’s supposed to be dead.” “But he looks just like them!” “He’s too puny to be artair.” “Maybe living amongst ponies stunted his growth.” “Do you think Dylan is gay?” Spike was actually feeling pretty good about himself, he never got this kind of recognition back in Equestria except in the Crystal Empire, and these dragons barely even know him yet. Eventually he grew so bold as to move to the front of the group with his brother Griffith and bask in the spotlight alongside him Twilight and her friends on the other hand were too caught up in admiring their surroundings to notice all the dirty looks they were getting. When Griffith said the place was much more impressive up close, he was far from being wrong. All the buildings seemed to be an odd combination of modern architecture and victorian styles to give off a steampunk sort of vibe to the whole place, plants seemed to be interwoven with the very foundations of the structures themselves that vastly contrasted with the glowing screens and high tech fixtures adorning every surface. Some of them had craned their necks so much you’d think they would have snapped right off. “This place is so cool!” said Rainbow Dash “I can’t wait to see what these guys do for fun!” “I can only imagine the sort of advanced spa treatments they have here.” said Rarity. “Not to mention all the knowledge they’ve been keeping to themselves all these years.” Rwilight exclaimed like a filly on hearth's warming day “Now don’t get ahead of yourselves, you still have to make a good impression on Lord Frinad and Lady Layla.” said Yam “Sorry, but there’s just so much to do here, so much to see! I can’t help but get excited!” “Well just be polite when you meet Artair’s parents, they’re real sticklers for manners.” the scholarly dragon said. The palace itself seemed to match the general theme of the rest of the main island; a large Victorian castle with advanced technology built into it that towered over the surrounding structures like an authority figure, fitting considering who took up residence here. Griffith walked up to the main gates and pressed a buzzer on the front, after a moment or two a voice came onto the intercom. “Ah the Paragons, and I see you’ve brought our…..guests….I’ll go ahead and let ya in.” Passing through the outer wall, the Paragons received several salutes from the standing guards outside as well as respectful bows all directed at Spike. “They really take this whole, lost prince thing seriously don’t they?” said the baby dragon, to which his younger brother shrugged. “What can I say, you’re a living legend in these parts.” The crowd pushed their way into the main foyer of the castle itself, two large statues of dragons forming an arch over them, streams of water coming out of their mouths like a fountain that formed a small moat around the edges of the room. “Greetings Paragons, I trust you had a safe journey home.” a well dressed dragon said “Lord Frinad and Lady Layla await you all in the throne room and I advise that you should not keep them waiting for much longer, they’ve been getting rather impatient as of late.” “Thanks Palmer, let me say it’s good to see you again.” “Of course sir, I myself have missed you blowing up the workshop on a weekly basis.” the butler replied. Griffith could only chuckle at that remark “never change Palmer, never change.” ************************************ After about five minutes of twists and turns through a castle that could rival that of the one found in Canterlot, the Noble Dragons and the Elements of Harmony came to a large set of metal doors with a strange spiral insignia wielded onto the front of it with the words ‘dragain uasal go deo’ printed directly above. “So….” said Spike, swallowing the lump in his throat “this is it.” “Yep, everything that’s happened over the past month has built up to this big bro.” Griffith replied. “I”m….I’m nervous Griffith.” “That’s completely normal Artair, you are meeting your long lost parents after all.” “I know it’s just that….I never thought this would actually happen, that I’d ever get to know my real parents….” “Well you’re here and it’s happening.” said Griffith, kneeling down and laying a hand on his shoulder “What if they don’t like me Griffith, what if I don’t measure up to-” Spike was silenced by a finger to his lips. “Artair, you’ve already come this far. No sense in backing out now, your their son and they love you for who you are, just go in there and be yourself. We’ll all be right behind you, right guys?” “Right!” the crowd sounded off. “Okay, okay.” Spike pushed down the remaining butterflies in his stomach and placed his hand on the doors “here I go, meeting my biological parents for the first time, no big deal…” With that, the dragon pushed his way into the throne room, his friends following closely behind him. Once he was fully inside he saw two adult dragons with their backs turned to him; one a ten foot tall male with big bulging muscles and green scales, royal armor adorning his body; the other an eight foot tall female with a pink head fin and purple scales dressed in a set of regal robes. When the iron doors slammed shut, their heads perked up and the turned in the direction of the noise. Their pupils eventually landing on the baby dragon standing at the other end of the room. Making eye contact with the two, something in Spike just connected with those two on a deep primal level, like they were the missing piece to a hole he had felt all of his life and he could tell that those two felt the exact same way. With wide eyes and a slightly opened mouth, the female was the first to step forward. “Art-Artair? Is that really you?” she said in a shaky voice, as if she was scared the being in front of her would fade into dust at any moment. Spike paused for a moment, drinking the moment in and trying to find the right words that had seemed to be caught in the back of his throat, until he simply decided to give the female dragon a small nod. She then started walking towards him, slowly increasing her speed as she got closer, from jogging to running until finally she was full on sprinting towards him. The dragoness scooped the baby dragon up into her arms with a cry of happiness while joyous tears spilled from her eyes. “ARTAIR! MY CHILD! MY BABY BOY! YOU’VE RETURNED TO US!” Layla shouted through sobs “OH HAPPIEST DAY! OH BLESSED BAHUMUT! THANK HEAVENS YOU’RE SAFE!!!” She brought Spike into a tight but comforting embrace, never wanting to let him go for as long as she lived, and Spike did the only thing a son would naturally do in his situation, which was to hug her right back. The male dragon was next to approach, rushing over to his wife and son. “MY SON! HOW I’VE MISSED YOU! I’M SORRY THAT I EVER LOST YOU! I PROMISE THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE!” Frinad exclaimed before joining in on the hug, squeezing Spike between him and Layla. “MOM! DAD!” Spike said “OH THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!” Within seconds all three of them were crying, hugging, and thanking the gods that their family was reunited once more and you know what? For a brief moment, for a single fleeting second, everything in the world was okay for once.