//------------------------------// // 7. Predestination // Story: Twinkle Twinkle - Speaker to Dragons // by Georg //------------------------------// Twinkle Twinkle, Speaker to Dragons Predestination “I was born old and foolish. It was a great timesaver.” — Starswirl the Bearded Having a real doctor or nurse to treat the injured ponies would have helped, but all Twinkle had was a unicorn stallion named Care who had worked at a hospital as an orderly. Still, when he had arrived Twinkle had promptly promoted him, and he had been doing his best ever since to keep everypony patched up. Thankfully, Twinkle’s hind leg had not been broken by Ruby’s actions, but it was severely sprained. She was forced to rely on the same makeshift medical treatment the rest of the injured ponies had used: broad leaves from a number of the valley plants as crude substitutes for bandages, willow sticks for splints, and lengths of wirevines to tie them all together. Since she could not follow Brass down into the green valley to forage for supplies and food like the rest of the ponies, Twinkle dedicated her time to the injured, particularly Nova. He had slipped into unconsciousness a week ago, and only surfaced a few times since then, talking about impossible things and events. Although his burns appeared to be healing, he was wasting away, and Twinkle was taking a considerably unorthodox method to save him from starvation. “That’s disgusting.” The female pegasus who the Dragonlord had dropped scowled and wrinkled up her nose at where Twinkle was pre-chewing several fibrous tubers from the valley. “It’s a waste if he’s just going to die anyway, or be eaten.” After spitting a mouthful of chewed paste into the bowl, Twinkle turned to Pansy and tried to give her the same kind of look Obsidian used to give to disobedient subordinates. The pegasus had been badly treated by the Dragonlord, but she had most likely been protected from the worst of abuse by her fainting disorder. That did not mean she had escaped unscathed. She limped on nearly all her legs, while nearly every patch of her coat was scratched or torn with several leaf bandages around her torso and very few tattered feathers on her yellow wings, making it that much more difficult for Twinkle to say the harsh words she needed to say. “It is my order. All of you need to survive until the rest of your families can exchange treasure for your return.” “It’s ransom,” muttered Pansy with a hesitant glance toward the back of the cave where Ruby was sleeping. “We should kill the dragon and escape.” “You faint whenever she growls at you,” pointed out Twinkle. She picked up a spoon with her hesitant magic, which had mostly returned to her usual weak level of power. The spoon was either borrowed or exchanged — depending on the point of view — from Ruby’s treasure hoard, which had proved to be a makeshift source of the simple tools that ponies took for granted, and that Twinkle had never really thought about before. “The rest of the ponies are servants. Even though Nurse Care is a unicorn, he was not in a position of power in the hospital. He emptied bedpans, for the most part. I am the most noble of the ponies in this herd, therefore it is my position to lead.” “The most noble unicorn,” whispered Pansy quietly, with another nervous glance at the shadowed back of the cave. “I am First Primary to Commander Hurricane, High Exarch of the Pegasi. We discovered the new lands to the south together, and it is my duty to reunite all of you with our greater herd.” Twinkle Twinkle held the spoon of pre-chewed tubers to Nova’s lips. Then, after a period of inactivity where he did nothing more than breathe, she spoke without looking in Pansy’s direction at all. “I do not wish this position, but I am the most qualified. Your fear has made you stupid. Your proposed actions can do nothing but get us all killed. If, by some highly improbable action, you were to kill two dragons many, many times your size, you cannot fly with your wings in that condition. You would be forced to walk tens of thousand trots through an area filled with dragons leading fourteen other ponies, some of whom are gravely injured. Provided you survived the trip with one or more of us alive, and find where our kind has gone, we would then lead the angry dragons back to the exodus where they would kill many, many more of our kind. All because you are frightened.” Pansy bristled, only to shrink back at the sound of Ruby’s interrupted snore from the back of the cave. The pegasus stalked away, eventually curling up in the far corner of the cave and whimpering with her head tucked under one tattered wing. It was discomforting for Twinkle to pressure another pony into compliance with her will, but it was the job of nobility. Her father had said that all leadership was a matter of hurting other ponies for their own good, and she had never really understood just what he had meant. Now, she knew. “That was…” The silent bulk of Nova shifted under his bandages and dressings, and he coughed a few times. His voice was dry and cracking, but once Twinkle had given him a drink of water (thankfully, not pre-drunk) he managed a brief groan and licked his lips. “That was cruel.” “It was honest, and needed,” said Twinkle. She gave Nova another drink of water and held a spoon of tubers up to his lips again. “Now, eat.” Several spoonfuls later, Nova made a face and managed a few more forced words. “This tastes like somepony else already ate it.” “I chewed it for you.” Twinkle took a fresh broadleaf from a nearby stack of supplies and used it to wipe off his face. “If you don’t eat something, you’ll die.” “See, there you are being all honest again.” He opened his mouth and allowed the contents of a spoon to be put inside several times before continuing. “You’ll never be a noble if you can’t lie. Here, I’ll show you.” With great effort, he lifted up a hoof and held it to the side of Twinkle’s face. “You have beautiful eyes, Lady Twinkle.” Since the young stallion’s burnt face was completely wrapped in medicated bandage leaves except for his nose and mouth, and she did not ever remember meeting him before, it was an obvious lie, and not even worthy of a response other than feeding him the last spoon of mashed tubers. “You have this little dimple on the right side of your cheek that shows when you smile,” he continued once he swallowed, “that is when you really smile, not just fake it. I fell in love, that is will fall in love the first time I saw it. Will see it. We’ll have three foals, one colt and two fillies, and be so much in love, in our own way. Then, as the foals grow up, we’ll grow apart until I leave, and you marry again. That will be the last time I see you for a thousand years, and will always remember your face.” The blind pony touched her gently on the nose and ran the tip of his hoof down her cheek where it stopped, making a suspiciously tingling sensation. After a full minute, Twinkle moved the sleeping stallion’s hoof back to his chest and listened to his slow, steady breathing. It was one of the strangest things that had ever happened to her, because she could feel her heart hammering away, making every part of her body throb in sync with her pulse. Somehow, she knew Nova had not been lying. - - Ω - - Both dragons gathered in the outer cave with all of the ponies in attendance, making for a nearly crowded meeting. Pansy stayed in the back, keeping the bodies of several of the wounded between her and the dragons, but Twinkle stood in the very center, holding a twig in her magic. “The Dragonlord asked for the location of the treasure held by the ponies in the exodus,” she explained, drawing on the pebbled floor with her twig. “I will need your cooperation to give him what I promised.” “Traitor!” hissed the lone warrior pegasus, hunching down behind one of the other ponies when the eyes of both dragons turned in her direction. Continuing as if Pansy had not said a word, Twinkle used her twig to tap one of the boxes drawn on the dirt floor. “I’ve given the problem much thought over the last few days, and have come up with only one plan that has a chance of saving your lives. To that end, we will need to produce a primitive variety of paper, a suitable ink, and quills. The last will be the easiest.” Twinkle looked in the direction of Pansy, who fluttered her tattered wings and snapped back. “I’m not going to help you betray our own kind to theirs. Pull those quills out of your own a—” She gave out a sharp yelp when Twinkle’s magic plucked one of her few remaining intact primaries and floated it over to the young unicorn. “Once we have produced a paper substitute, I want you each to write a letter to the surviving members of your family in the event my plan does not work as well as I hope.” She paused, holding the pale yellow pegasus feather in her magic. “I shall try my hardest to save you all, but some of you may not survive. I certainly will not. I hope you do not hold my weakness against my family when you return.” “Why aren’t you more worried about giving the dragons a list of where all the gems are?” snapped Pansy, moving almost up to the young unicorn and fluffing out her sparsely feathered wings to appear larger. “I told the Dragonlord I would give him a list of every pony wagon with more than twenty pieces of gold or thirty gems. Since most ponies are obedient, and that is the limit established by King Bullion on the departing wagons, obviously none of the wagons would have more than the limit. Other than House Blueblood, and their wagons were destroyed on the last raid.” “You mean—” Pansy trembled and looked up at the two dragons towering over her. “You’re going to give him a blank list?” “Yes.” With a faint gasp of inhaled air, Pansy fainted again. Twinkle continued without a pause. “By the time the Dragonlord returns, most of you should be back with your families. I’ve already discussed my plan with Ruby and Brass. He will smuggle you out of the cave in small groups, hidden under a layer of dung in the larger basket we’ve built, and fly you to the rest of the herd. Pansy will go with the first load so she can explain the situation to the pegasi.” “He’ll kill you.” The unicorn nurse stepped forward with his head bowed, looking at the boxes drawn onto the pebbled floor instead of at Twinkle. “The Dragonlord. He’ll tear you to shreds.” “Yes. Both of us,” added Twinkle. “I’ve thought about all of the possibilities, and come to the conclusion that our deaths are inevitable. Even if Ruby were to turn us all over to the Dragonlord, he will still believe that our families are concealing a vast quantity of wealth from him. Once he finished questioning us, the Dragonlord would kill us, then kill Ruby. If we lie to him and point out one of the wagons in the exodus, he will kill us all and attack our families.” “I won’t go down without a fight,” growled Ruby with enough menace that the unconscious Pansy whimpered and curled up into a ball. “I think I can take enough chunks out of him so he won’t chase after your families and mine. Brass will have to fly away to somewhere dragons don’t travel, since he can’t help me fight the Dragonlord without the whole valley diving in.” “Don’t wanna,” grumbled Brass. “You’ll be alive,” pointed out Twinkle. “By taking the rest of the ponies to our herd, you will show that some dragons can be trusted. I’ll write a letter to Princess Platinum to see if she can collect a gem or two from each of the families so you will be rewarded. Now, there’s very little time to prepare if we are to slip the other ponies out in small numbers, so let’s get started.” - - Ω - - The resulting basket looked very… whatever an escape basket was supposed to look like, she guessed. Between the tight weave of willow branches and cattails, it was opaque enough not to show the ponies stashed in the bottom, while still being strong enough for Brass to carry it however long he needed to reach the ponies of the exodus. Twinkle still had her doubts about the plan, but nothing better had come up in the few days it had taken to get the basket ready, so it was time to implement it before the rest of the ponies in Ruby’s cave lost their nerve. “Should we draw straws to select who goes first?” asked Nurse Care, who looked like he would have been perfectly happy to draw a very long straw and not entrust himself to such a flimsy form of transport far up in the sky. “No.” Twinkle pointed. “Pansy will go with Rootworm. Pansy in order to be able to convince the pegasi guarding the exodus that this is not a trick, and Rootworm because he’s young, and has his whole life in front of him.” There was a little grumbling among the whispers of the other ponies and Twinkle was going to continue in the same tone of voice her father used when he was giving orders before her attention was caught by an unexpected noise. Nova staggered to his hooves while she was gathering her nerve, and she moved instead to catch him since he was going to inevitably fall. Which he did. “Don’t,” he managed to rasp into her ear when she was carefully putting him back down on his mat of woven reeds. She wanted to ask him just what it was she was not supposed to do, and just why he was straining to say it, but after thinking for a breath or two and arranging the bandaged unicorn more comfortably on his woven reed mat, it still was not as obvious as he seemed to think it should be. After all, the unicorn was blind with all of the bandages on his face, so he could not have seen… She closed her own eyes and concentrated, focusing not on what her eyes had seen when the Dragonlord had threatened her life, but on the memory of her other senses. The stentorian bellowing. The crushing sensation of Ruby’s claws around her barrel. The scent of brimstone. Something else. The scent of pony poo, carefully arranged to be put over the top of the basket once the two passengers had been stuffed into the bottom, interfered with her memory, but it made something else itch at the back of her mind. Something that Nova had noticed, even blinded and lying on his woven mat where he could get a fresh breeze from the outside of the cave… “Change of plans,” she said. - - Ω - - It was important that Twinkle Twinkle be seen at the cave entrance while Brass flew off into the distance with the basket hanging beneath him. There were probably other dragons who would be watching, aware of the Dragonlord’s demands and seeking any opportunity to earn favor from him. Since he believed Twinkle knew where the ponies kept their treasure, all of their attention would be on her while the rest of the healthy ponies trudged down to the valley floor under Ruby’s close supervision. The mouth of the cave made a good spot to just sit and watch, something Twinkle Twinkle was an undeniable expert at. Although Brass had flown into the distance and was no longer visible, all of the rest of the dragons in the area circled on thermals or perched on the cliff face running along the edge of the valley. Back when she had been with her family in Unicornia, this would have been a fascinating place to watch, with the glitter of the dragons high in the sky and the cool breeze filled with lush, green scents sweeping in the open cave. It took some of the pleasure out of the experience to realize just how many lives were depending on her actions, and how frustrating it could have been if Twinkle was an ordinary unicorn, like the others. So she sat, and watched, and thought, until the sun was low in the sky and the other ponies trudged up the crude ramp Ruby had made from the mouth of the cave down to the valley. Events had all progressed the way Twinkle had expected today except for one thing. Brass was flying back to the cave, far too early and without the basket. “Sis! Sis!” he gasped once Brass had managed to get all four claws down on the pebbled inside floor of the cave. “They were waiting for me!” “Where’s the basket, numbskull?” Ruby clouted her brother in the head with a closed fist in what would have been a crushing blow for a pony, but only slowed Brass down enough so he could make more sense. “They took it. Five of the big dragons who have been hanging around the Dragonlord jumped me when I was about halfway to where Twinkle said the ponies were. They went right for the basket and tore it away from me, but while they were fighting over it, I ducked into some clouds and headed back here.” The big dragon lowered his voice. “Do you think they smelled the ponies?” “No,” said Twinkle and Ruby at the same time. Ruby scowled and jerked a clawed thumb in the direction of her hoard. “The two ponies have been hiding back there ever since you left. Even the other ponies didn’t know the basket was empty.” “You mean Pansy and Rootworm are alive?” gasped one of the terrified ponies who had just dumped her basket into the pile of harvested hay. The two ponies in question emerged cautiously out of Ruby’s back corner of the cave and rejoined the small herd with hugs for all, even for the sullen pegasus. “They would have been dead or captured if I hadn’t changed the plan.” Twinkle thought seriously hard. She was used to being the smartest in her family, even though she preferred not to show it off, so she added, “Nova said something that made me send the first load without ponies in it.” “Greed.” The bandaged unicorn stirred from his mat and coughed several times before one of the other ponies brought him a clay dish full of water. “Underestimated his greed,” added Nova once he had drank the bowl empty. “How can too much greed be bad?” snapped Ruby. The rest of the ponies had gathered around by then, including Pansy and Rootworm who had both been very quiet after their stay in Ruby’s treasure room. It made Ruby take cautious steps to avoid stepping on one of her valuable property, but she moved forward several steps through the ponies to prod her reluctant brother in the chest with one sharp talon. “You had to have done something to tip them off.” She jabbed him in the chest again, making him step backwards toward the cave entrance. “You were working with them, weren’t you?” “Wait!” Twinkle wove through the rest of the staring ponies and walked up to Ruby’s flank. “Stop. I know what you’re doing.” Brass looked down at the pony, obviously confused. “What is she doing?” “Saving your life, nitwit.” Ruby gave him another jab in the chest. “She’s going to attack you and chase you out of her cave,” explained Twinkle. “It’s the only way—” On impulse, Twinkle Twinkle looked back at Nova, who had slumped back on his woven mat but was shaking his head ever so slowly, side to side. “It’s one of the ways she can save your life,” corrected Twinkle Twinkle, thinking furiously just as fast as she could. “You mean there’s another?” Ruby swung her head down and looked nose to nose with Twinkle. Twinkle shot a quick glance to Nova, who was sitting up and appeared to be paying attention. “Yes. I think.” After filling another bowl with water from the stream and scurrying over to the unicorn, she opened her mouth to speak, but Nova spoke first. “Hello, Twinkle. Gentledragons.” Nova had not moved more than one ear during Twinkle’s approach, but she could see just the hint of a smile under his bandages. It made her flustrated, which was annoying because she needed all of her concentration if she was going to get the other ponies through this alive. “Good afternoon, Nova. Are you needing your dressings changed or more medication?” Twinkle sniffed the air next to the silent unicorn, then came to an abrupt realization which took her some time to properly comprehend. “I’m acceptable, Miss Twinkle,” responded Nova, slowly and with great care. He took a drink of water out of the fresh bowl and ate a few small chunks of raw cattail root before continuing at the same measured pace. “It takes less effort for me to keep my pain spell active now, so I’m able to stay conscious for longer periods of time. You may keep chewing my food, if you wish. I take it that Brass has recovered from his injuries enough to be outside for extended periods?” “Yes,” said Twinkle. “Unlike the Dragonlord.” Ruby let out her breath in a sharp chuff and swung her long neck, allowing a much closer view of the dragon for Twinkle. “What?” “The Dragonlord is injured,” said Twinkle, “most likely by the same sort of pony weapons that penetrated Brass’ posterior. He is likewise nursing an infection, albeit not as deadly as your brother’s, but one that is weakening him. I should have noticed it when he visited your cave, but I was too engrossed in looking and listening to him than to sniff the air.” Ruby moved closer to Twinkle to the point where she had to turn her head and regard the pony with only one eye. “So?” “Allow me, fair ladies.” Nova drained the last of his water and shifted positions on his woven mat, moving so the few unburned patches of his coat would be in contact with the woven cattails. “Are you familiar with the Story of the Singing Monkey?” Twinkle was, but she stayed silent. “No,” admitted Ruby, and Twinkle could see the resulting little signals of relaxation in both Ruby and Brass. Dragons liked sitting in one place for hours, telling or listening to stories, and in that respect, Twinkle found herself to be more of a dragon than a pony. “I shall keep it brief,” said Nova. “Due to my injuries, I may need to return to a meditative trance at any moment. In summary, there was once a king of camels who captured a unicorn and threatened to kill him. The unicorn begged for his life and promised that he could teach the king’s pet monkey to sing like a nightingale within a year. The king was amused, and granted his stay of execution with that condition. So day after day, the unicorn practiced with the monkey, howling and screeching until the guards could not stand to be in their presence and only an old goat servant remained to watch the lessons. “One day when the monkey was unusually discordant, the goat asked the unicorn, ‘Why did you promise the king that you could teach his monkey to sing? It is quite impossible, as you are proving!’ The unicorn merely smiled and replied, ‘A great number of things can happen in a year while I live comfortably in the king’s castle and eat the king’s delicious food. I could die. The monkey could die. The king could die. Or, the monkey could learn to sing.’” Twinkle made careful note of what Ruby’s face looked like. She almost seemed as if about to sneeze, with her nose wrinkled up and her eyes closed to narrow slits. Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, she asked, “So, I’m a monkey?” “I thought I was the monkey?” said Brass. “It’s only a story,” said Nova, although slowly and with the fatigue already beginning to creep back into his voice. “In this case, we ponies are the monkeys.” “But ponies can already sing,” said Brass with a curious bend to his head, holding it sideways as if to make sense of Nova’s words in that fashion. “Shut up, stupid.” Ruby returned to glaring at the blinded stallion, which did little to intimidate him. In fact, Nova was settling cautiously back down on his mat and putting his head on the pillow when she added, “What does this have to do with the Dragonlord? Tell me, or I’ll eat you!” Twinkle looked up at the two dragons. “I think I know. I’ve got an idea, but I need confirmation.” She paused with a thoughtful frown. “How well can you both act?”