Usually, the mid morning hours would be calm, crowded, and peaceful. The little ones would go off to school, the adult kirin would go to their jobs, and the dragons scouted the fields for gems and threats to protect their home from. At first glance, it seemed like a really nice day. Of course, it wasn’t going to end that way. They just didn’t know it yet.
By that point, Streaming Sea and Ivory Steam got wind of things. The elder dragon with Cinder had returned to report the fight to them. Without delay, they organized a unit of guards, both Nirik and teenage dragon, to go into the forest. The Niriks had spears and swords equipped, and the dragons needed no such weaponry. They could fight fire with fire.
Right before they went into the forest, Ivory examined each soldier. They all had to be ready for one hay of a fight, and he was going to make sure they were. “Don’t let Moonstone’s youth give you the wrong idea. He will be resilient, arrogant, and not willing to back down. Your combined might will take that advantage away from him. It’s time.”
In the middle of the prep work, Sea leaned into his ear. “Are you sure this is necessary? I don’t believe this alone would cause him to break out fighting. He might be many things, but trigger happy isn’t one of them.”
“You would leave Cinder alone with him?” Ivory retorted. “He might not be impulsive, but there is no denying his temper is just as short as mine. We have to move right now. Understood?”
Sea sighed, looked off to the guards, and nodded. “I just don’t want to start a fight we have no business doing. I might have only been a foal during our first little dragon war, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the scars on the older villagers here.”
“It doesn’t matter. Your enemy doesn’t wait for your wounds to heal. It strikes when it smells blood in the water,” Ivory continued. He brought a cloth over his sword and wiped away the specs of dust that built up from months of no use.
Before they could send the troops out into battle, however, one of the guards stepped up to the plate. She was maybe twenty years old, yet she appeared to be wise beyond her years. “I should have said something earlier, but right before you got us, I think I saw Moonstone leave the village. He’s heading in the direction of the Dragon Lands. Are you sure something’s up with him?”
The other guards were startled and whispered to each other. Ivory came up to the kirin and grabbed her shoulders. “Did you get a good look at him? Any blood or wounds?”
The guard tried her best to detail the events, but she was anxious as she detailed the events. “It seemed like he was crying. Couldn’t see any serious wounds, maybe a few burn marks. But that’s normal for a dragon, right?”
The answer left Ivory and Sea more confused than ever. Sea took it upon himself to respond. “This is bizarre. We have to check to make sure Cinder’s okay. Moonstone might be gone, but we need to find out if she’s okay.”
“Y-You don’t have to. He left her alone,” a voice cried out behind them. The tone was all over the place, barely able to hold it together for those eight words alone. It was Kunzite, and Autumn was there to give her someone to lean on.
Ivory was tempted to go up and demand answers from her the same way he did with the guard, but Sea held up an arm to block him from doing so. Instead, Sea went up to her. “What do you mean? Were you there to see it?”
“Whatever you do, take it easy on her,” Autumn warned. “She’s been through a lot already. She doesn’t need another person jumping on her case.”
“I understand. We’re just trying to find out what’s going on around here,” he replied. “Anything you know, even the smallest detail, could do wonders for us at this point.” He glanced over his shoulder to see how Ivory was taking it. The big guy crossed his arms and pouted a little bit. The nice and quiet way was rarely the right way.
Kunzite sniffed and rubbed her eyes dry. It took a lot to find the strength to keep going. No way was she going to risk screwing it up more, so she had to be careful. At least Streaming Sea seemed like the listening and understanding type.
“Can we take this somewhere else, please?”
------
Tranquility was turning into a resource in short supply within this corner of the world. How much of that was the fault of the guests around here and how much of it was on the leadership, it was hard to tell. All that was certain was that Kunzite needed more tissue. It was a mystery how someone could get through a box of them within a few minutes, but Sea started to understand how.
Kunzite didn’t hold any detail of the confrontation back from there. Autumn did her best to help her friend, from offering tea to whatever else she needed. It barely worked, but it was enough for the younger kirin to get through her story.
“And t-that’s it,” she finished. “I’m so sorry for everything we’ve done since we got here. If I didn’t tell you about Torch, none of this would have happened. If you need me to leave, I can do that.”
Ivory was eerily silent throughout the conversation. Rather than say anything, he rose up from his chair and walked out of the house. He shut the door with a noticeable force, and it made Autumn and Kunzite nearly jump out of their chairs.
“Don’t mind him. He does that when he needs to process something big like this,” Streaming Sea explained. “And I have a lot to take in from this as well. And...I’m conflicted, to be honest. Yes, this created conflict where none was needed. I accept your apology for it, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet.”
Kunzite grabbed another tissue and cleaned up her face. “Y-Yeah. It’s all awful from here on out, isn’t it?”
“No...actually, it’s not all terrible. If it wasn’t for you, none of us would have known that things changed.” He noted the map of Equestria he pinned to the wall. “We spent all this time thinking we were hiding from a draconic tyrant, only to see things have changed. And from the sounds of it, this new Dragon Lord is much different than her father. Even if Moonstone is moody and full of it, he’s nothing compared to his predecessors. He hasn’t burned down the village already, for example.”
Kunzite took a moment to make sure she heard that right. “Are you sure about that? I mean...it came to blows between him and Cinder. I figured you’d be more upset about it.”
For a split second, a spark from Sea’s Nirik form flickered across his chest. “I’m very upset about it. But...I’m trying to see the bright side here. We’ll have to do something about that fight, but...learning that we might not have to hide like we used to, that’s not insignificant.”
“See?” Autumn pointed out. “You did something really good here. It’s not all bad. We just have to make them cool it, and who knows? Maybe something awesome comes out of it. Your mother had to do a lot of hard things to bring Equestria to its golden age. Maybe that’s what’s happening to you right now?
Kunzite gave it some thought, and she lowered her head down. “It doesn’t change the fact that Moonstone’s upset with me, and Cinder’s a whole different story. There has to be something we can do.”
Sea brought his hands together and hummed. “That is the question, isn’t it? She’s been through a lot, and if anyone would snap at a dragon, it would be her.”
“That’s not encouraging,” Autumn trailed off. “But if we put our heads together, there has to be a way.”
-----
Ivory stormed off and went to the first bay he could find. There was no way he was going to stay there after that. The other kirin at the docks wondered what was wrong with him, but he pushed them out of the way and climbed into the closest boat. The villagers asked him why he was treating his own brothers and sisters like dirt, but it didn’t register to his mind. He just grabbed a paddle and pushed the boat out of the bay.
His mind raced with thought after thought, and he chose not to concentrate on any of them. It was blood curdling, finding out this was happening at all. After he gave himself some time to concentrate, he knew there was one place she would be. Just one place. No matter how wise Cinder was, she could be so predictable when the pressure was on.
A lot of the kirin in the village noticed him paddling down the river rapidly. Even if another boat out here had four kirins paddling away, they might not be able to catch up with his rate. Not that he wanted anyone to. He needed to be alone. When the village started to thin out and vanish behind him, that’s when he knew he was close to his destination.
The boat skidded against the banks of the river, and he could see a garden in front of him. It didn’t take him long to reach his destination after all. He pulled the boat further ashore and tossed the paddle inside. When he was finished, he stormed into the garden and waited for the right moment.
Yeah, this was Cinder’s garden, alright. Nobody else would have made a place like this full of water, so far away from the river. Maybe that came with being an Equestrian Kirin, creating nature where there was none, or it could just be a wrinkle in her personality. Either way, he was right where he wanted to be. He paced back and forth around the flower beds, waiting for a certain person to get on in here.
He didn’t have to wait long. His ears picked up the sound of wings beating against the wind, and he recognized that signature anywhere. Cinder had come to the garden, just like he suspected she would, and carried with her the most sorrowful face he had seen since the days of Torch. That was the face someone made when they lost someone close to them, or feared the worst for their loved ones.
Then she realized she wasn’t alone. It made her stop in the air when she spotted Ivory, although she wasn’t alarmed. Just surprised. She ended up on solid ground in front of him, and judging from the way he stood there, this wouldn’t be a picnic.
“Ivory Steam? What are you doing here?” she asked. Her hair and robes were a complete mess, and she had issues staying still at times.
“What happened in the forest?” he asked right away. “Is it true that you and Moonstone came to blows?”
The question put Cinder into her place. She nodded hesitantly, and she was on edge. “We’re both guilty of losing our tempers. How did you find out?”
Ivory scoffed and nearly ran out of the garden. “It doesn’t matter at this point, does it? What matters is that Moonstone left the village, and Kunzite’s been crying her heart out for the last few minutes.”
“He left? Really? After all we did, I can’t...he really did that.” She held her hand over her forehead. “I thought for sure he was going to retaliate or do something worse. I didn’t hide how I felt about him.”
“And how did you feel about him, exactly?” he retorted. “No, no, that’s not what’s most important to me right now. Here’s a better question: Who threw the first punch?”
The question made her wonder why it was relevant, until she caught the game he was trying to play with him. “I did. But I had to, Ivory. Do you know why we’ve survived for this long? Because we fight back against those who would take our home away from us, and we made it out in the past. I had to stop the threat before it threatened us again.”
“What?” Ivory turned back to her, and he needed a moment to make sure she wasn’t lying. “Are you serious? Did you...did you really…”
“Yes, and I would do it again,” Cinder cried a little. “It’s not that I wanted to. I felt like I had to. To keep you and everyone else in the village protected. I...didn’t want another Torch to happen in our lives. It was the worst time I can remember, for all of us. Don’t you remember?”
“I remember it every day. The fighting, the fear that we would have been wiped off the map of Equestria, all that. But I remember enough to see that Moonstone is no Torch. He would have accepted us if we extended a hand to him. And you pushed him away.”
“What do you mean…” She trembled as she took a few small steps towards him. “You mean, you think he wasn’t here just to keep an eye on us? That he wasn’t just spying on us for the Dragon Lord?”
Ivory snapped his head her way. “That’s what you thought he was doing? I never did. If that’s why he was here to begin with, he did a horrible job of showing it.” Then he sighed and forced himself to take a few deep breaths.
“It’s just...I mean…”
“You’ve done a great job overlooking this village for a long time. You really have. And the only reason why I’m not walking away from you right now is because I know your intent. You always mean well, even when you’ve made mistakes. But whatever you’re doing right now, I can’t be part of it. Cinder, whatever it is you’re planning to do, I’d advise that you stop it right now. You won’t help anyone, even yourself, at this point.”
With those words set in stone, he left the garden quietly. The boat drifted off against the currents of the river not long after, and that left the kirin alone by herself. Again. This time, it felt considerably different. Last time, she was deep into a situation she didn’t want to be in. Here, she felt...alone.
I don’t want to feel this way. But I have to keep going. Moonstone could be the first of many, again. Ivory might not believe me, but that doesn’t mean this is wrong. There was a time where I thought I was a freak, because the other ponies thought so at first. But these kirin convinced me that not everything people say is right.
I just need someone to help me with this. Streaming Sea always had a cooler head about these things, and Kunzite? She was terrified to see us fighting, but I imagine it would be scary to see your friend and someone like your sister do that. I just need to talk to her, and we’ll be able to stop this before it gets worse.
I hope. Please, don’t be wrong...
------
This was the kind of day Autumn knew she had to be a really good friend for. Kunzite needed all the support she could find, and there was one way to go around it. She caught wind that some of the dragons started to warm up to Moonstone, and reminding Kunzite that they did some good here together could be a start.
Kunzite was hesitant at first; maybe they would remind her of who was missing out here. That, and she was convinced she needed to talk to him the first moment she got. But Autumn was right. He needed time. Not very much, she hoped, but going to see him right this instant? Not the best plan.
Streaming Sea went with them, as he needed time to think outside of the village as well. Ivory Steam would be far too heated to think with his mind and not his temper for a while, judging from what they heard. If it wasn’t for the fact that something still needed to be done, they probably would have all left for a vacation then and there.
Out of all the mountains the dragons dwelled in, one of them strongly resembled a volcano from the Dragon Lands. There was no active lava, but the mud and vegetation was consistent with an area recovering from an eruption. The lack of snow came from the heated air around here, and there was a faint scent of sulfur in the winds. The oldest dragons spent their days around the mountain, but a few teenage dragons found it to be a fun place to hang out as well.
The three kirin sat down together on a fallen oak tree’s trunk, the roots and branches having long since faded away. Kunzite gazed up at the dragons swarming the peak of the mountain. They were aware she was there, but they didn’t disturb her. A few frollicked around on the ground, either sleeping or resting, while she tried to ease her mind with some grape juice.
“Nobody’s asking you to be happy about this,” Autumn spoke up. “If you need some time to think by yourself, we’ll understand.”
“That’s the last thing I need to do right now,” Kunzite countered. “I’d just beat myself up. We have to think. Sea, did you ever see Cinder like this before?”
“It’s been a while,” Sea admitted. “But it’s possible. I hate to say it, but she’s only been like this when she’s afraid something bad will happen to the kirin, like a disaster or threat.”
“That’s even worse.” Kunzite stood up from the tree trunk and, for the first time in a while, didn’t seem to care that she was stepping in grass. “Is there anything we can do to calm her down? Anything?”
He sat still on the trunk. Nothing came to his mind, and he shook his head in defeat. It was hard for him to see a way out as well.
That wasn’t what she hoped to hear. She clawed at her eyelids and finished whatever was left of her drink. Once it was done, she hopped down and headed for the mountain. Autumn reached out for her and wanted to hug her again, but deep down, she was convinced it wasn’t going to help at this point.
The Equestrian Kirin found herself near the base of the mountain in no time, and her mind was racing as fast as her feet were. The intrusion made the dragons take note of her, although they weren’t upset to see her by their home. Just curious.
Before she could say anything, she found one of the teenage dragons coming to see her. She didn’t know who this dragon was, other than she was green and the same size as Moonstone. “I heard what happened. Word traveled fast. Kind of a shame.”
Kunzite sighed and rubbed her arm. “Yeah. I wish it didn’t come to that, but it happened.”
“I know. Moonstone might not be the nicest guy around, but he was kind of a fun dork. Who does arm wrestling anymore?”
That sent a spark in the kirin’s eyes. “Wait, you’re not mad at him? I thought everyone would be. At least, Ivory seems mad about it.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. We love Cinder. She’s cool, and we’re not gonna let anyone hurt her. But he seemed pretty cool, too. Like a really grumpy guy with a nice heart underneath it all. Kinda wish they stopped being jerks to each other.”
“Heh, that’s about right,” she laughed nervously. “You should have seen when I tried to make him read a romance book. Think he literally threw up. But he wouldn’t let me get it back for a month. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
“Sounds like I should have gotten to know him better. Name’s Emerald.” The dragoness paused for a moment. “What are the Dragon Lands like?”
“Huh? Well, err…”
Before she could go into detail over literally every part of the lands, she could feel a shift in the environment. Emerald’s confidence evaporated into nothing, and even the elder dragons stopped what they were doing. One thing they all had in common: They were looking right behind Kunzite. She turned to see what the fuss was about, and her heart nearly burst in her chest when she saw…her.
Cinder stood between Kunzite and her friends. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, and there was mud on the outskirts of her robes. Despite seeing her just a few hours ago, it seemed like she hadn’t slept for ages already. Autumn and Sea were both alert and slowly approached her, ready for the worst case scenario.
As she took a step closer to Kunzite, it left the younger kirin’s mind conflicted. She wanted to hug Cinder so bad and do whatever she could do to make it better. On the other, the fact that she was willing to fight Moonstone made it clear this could be a dangerous person if pushed the wrong way. She had to be careful.
With seemingly no alternatives, she did the only thing that might not screw this up. “Cinder, I’m so sorry for what happened. I had no idea things had gotten so bad in the past, but it’s better now. He’s very upset, but I can talk some sense into him. He won’t fight you again.”
Despite her appearance, Cinder was very calm when she spoke. “If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. Our fight was one that needed to happen, but you were dragged into it, and you shouldn’t have.”
“What do you mean?” Streaming Sea interrupted. “You may not be one to back down, and I admire that about you. But what is your intent here? Even if he was a threat, I think he conceded any battle to you when he left.”
“That is true, yes. But you remember how it was the last time we engaged with a dragon from that family,” she stated, turning to address him. “We...we have to prepare for a second round. That’s what they do, and he likely alerted them about us. Do you think our defenses are strong enough?”
Kunzite jumped out between them. “No, it’s not like that. Haven’t you heard what happened? It’s not the same anymore. You don’t have to fight this time! He just went home. That’s all.”
Cinder’s lips quivered from the retort. “But...you haven’t been what we’ve been through. You weren’t there when we had to take care of the kirin hurt in the battle…” She shivered tightly from the images in her mind. “Please. You mean well, but I can’t risk it. Not this time.”
“Hey, you don’t have to worry about it,” Autumn butted in. “I met Dragon Lord Ember, too. Moonstone picked up her grumpiness, but once you get on her good side, she can be nice. You might even like her.”
Before Cinder could respond, she noticed Sea had come up to confront her. He seemed nervous, but he held his hands on her shoulders. “Trust me. I don’t want our tribes to go through what happened that day, ever again. Nobody does. Yet, I don’t believe it’s something we have to fear. I can feel it. And if I’m wrong, you can cast me out for being that foolish.”
Cinder’s mind was sent scrambling. Her eyes widened as she couldn’t decide how she should process what all these people, some she had gotten to know for decades, had just said to her. It was too much. Her eyes tried to let out the tears again, but they were too worn out to do so. “Sea...Is that what you believe?”
Sea nodded. He braced himself for the worst case scenario. “I do. This isn’t a burden you have to carry alone. You never had to. I can’t decide for you, but that is my advice as your follower.”
“Sea…” She shut her eyes and backed up a foot from him, enough to get his hands off her shoulders. “You know why I can’t.” Terrified, she turned away from him. It surprised him, as he didn’t get the cold shoulder from her. Instead, she went to address the dragons in his place.
As she thought about what to do, she took a peek back at Kunzite. If she was the most stressed person by the mountain, Kunzite was the second. The poor girl was trying, that much was obvious.
“Many of you were there with me when you fought Dragon Lord Torch, were you not? So you remember all the cruelty he brought with him, the fights that ensured, and so forth. It’s possible we might be facing the same thing right now. And…” Cinder struggled to keep it together. “We should prepare for the worst, so history doesn’t repeat itself.”
The dragons whispered and discussed this amongst themselves, but Kunzite picked up that their tones weren’t too approving. Sea, meanwhile, was dumbstruck. Was it possible she asked them for approval because he didn’t give it to her?
After a minute passed, Emerald bowed down on one knee before Cinder. “If I’m not speaking out of place here...do we have to?”
Cinder’s heart nearly stopped. “Emerald, you’re wise for your age, but...don’t you see what Moonstone is doing? He has to be spying on us, it explains so much…”
“But does it?” A voice echoed out from the throat of an elderly dragon, one that was dark red with yellow eyes. “Cinder, you have carried us far through these years, and we owe you our gratitude. Your plan of defense is sound, as well. But it did not occur to us that a new Dragon Lord would take Torch’s place. And if that’s true, we have considered something else.”
“And what would that be?” she puzzled.
“Anytime a Dragon Lord took the throne, with the new leadership always came new philosophies, and new ways of thinking. Perhaps it might be wise to meet this Ember and see how she differs from her father.”
The words shattered her mind completely. Her eyes widened considerably, more than anyone had ever seen her do. She almost fell to her knees, as all her strength left her legs. “You...you mean…”
“It is what we had considered before your arrival. We find it to be wise for you to do the same, although we will respect your thoughts as well.”
“No...No…” Then she really did fall down to her knees, and her nerves were wracked. As soon as she fell down, Kunzite rushed to her side and tried to hug her.
“It’s going to be okay,” she tried to comfort Cinder. “It’s going to be alright.”
“Kunzite...I can see you have a good heart, and you’re open to many creatures for friendship. But you have no idea what we’ve been through,” Cinder quivered. “No idea at all. I’m terrified. I can’t let this repeat itself. I can’t. You understand? I can’t sit here like it’s all okay. And…”
Autumn immediately ran to their side, and Sea did the same. “Kunzite, please be careful. Cinder needs all the help she can get.”
“It’s not all okay, we understand,” Sea added. “But that’s why you joined us. Neither us nor you would have to deal with this alone. Can you hear us?”
Cinder huffed from Autumn addressing her that way, but Sea’s words got to her. “Maybe...maybe you’re right...I didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want to see you burn...but I feel alone…”
“That’s because we’re all scared of what you might do,” Kunzite stated bluntly. “I just wanted a friend in you...but you hurt Moonstone, and that wasn’t okay. You have to do something to apologize to him.”
Cinder paused for a while, and then she looked off to the distance blankly. “To...him...I need time. I don’t know what to think anymore, and I just want to be able to think...even I know that I’m doing the right thing, or I’m turning into a monster.”
Kunzite gasped and hugged her tightly. “We’ll help you. Just let us help. If there’s anything I can do to help…”
“Then give me time.” Cinder vanished into thin air without warning. All this time while they were talking, her horns were glowing subtly, and she had cast a long range teleportation spell. It was like she was never there to begin with.
“WHAT?” Kunzite panicked from the spell, and she searched the ground Cinder stood on to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things. Sea backed away and huffed from the move, while Autumn reacted the same way that Kunzite did.
“Why did she do this?” Autumn asked Sea. He remained silent. “Where did she go?”
The dragons watched on as well, and the oldest ones shook their heads in disapproval. “It is saddening when one’s personal demons catch up to them, isn’t it?” one pondered. “We’ve let her carry this burden alone for too long. Perhaps it is time to fix this.”
“What do you mean?” Sea turned and asked. “I wouldn’t know where she went. She could be across the world for all we know. She has the power in her magic to do that.”
“I propose we go to the Lands and meet Dragon Lord Ember before Cinder has an opportunity to worsen relations, if that’s her intent,” the dragon spoke. “Do you suggest the same?”
Sea thought about it for a moment, and he nodded. “I would. But I’m deeply concerned for Cinder, too. We have to find her.”
“And that we shall do as well. Some of us will stay behind to look for her, but we must tread carefully. If we do not, we might have an unnecessary war at our doorstep.”
While this was going on, Kunzite hyperventilated and clutched at Autumn’s shirt. “Please, Celestia and Luna, don’t do this…”
“I know. What she did was awful. But we can do something to fix it. Do you have any idea where she could have gone?”
Kunzite paused and thought over it in her head. “I have no idea. Maybe the Dragon Lands...I don’t know for sure. I just want things to go back to normal.”
“Welcome to being an adult,” Autumn sighed. “You’re going to have moments like this, where it seems like you screwed up so bad, nobody will ever like you again. But I’ll tell you from experience, it’s almost never as bad as it looks. You can still do something about it.”
“Like what? Screw it up even more?”
“No. Think about it. You’re talented with magic, and you have wings. What do you think you can do with those?”
She paused again, and it took her a moment to come up with anything. Then the light bulb went off in her head. Maybe this wasn’t her best plan, but it was better than sitting on her flanks. “Autumn, can do you do something for me?”
“Anything. What is it?”
“If something really bad happens to me, tell Mom and Dad I’m sorry.”
“Wait...what…”
“I’m going to go to the Dragon Lands, I’m going to go to Moonstone, and...she will likely be there, too. Whatever I have to do or say, I’ll do it.”
Autumn could see the determination in her friend’s eyes, and she hugged Kunzite. “Just...please learn from what you saw today. Don’t do this alone.”
“I won’t. I just need to find a pen and quill first.”
------
Mom, Dad,
Tell Ember that they’re going to send a bunch of kirin and dragons to the Dragon Lands to meet with her. Don’t worry, they’re not against her. They want to know what kind of ruler she is, things like that. I’m really happy about that part, because it means they might come out of hiding.
But Cinder disappeared. I could tell she wanted to keep fighting Moonstone, but everyone in the village doesn’t want to do that. She thinks she has to protect them, but they think this could be the sign of a new era for us.
I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but I’m going to do everything I can to stop this from getting worse. If you go to the Dragon Lands, I’ll meet you there.
I’m going to make this right. That’s my special destiny. Even if it’s not, I’m going to do it anyway. Mom, you didn’t stop defending the world just because you got your cutie mark. That’s what I should do, too.
Kunzite