//------------------------------// // A Princess's Trials - Part 4 // Story: The Princess's Captain // by PresentPerfect //------------------------------// A Princess's Trials by Present Perfect Part 4: The Dragon Lands Twilight Sparkle was not the kind of pony whose mind shut off for long periods of time. When she woke from her exhausted slumber, the first question on her mind was not where she was, or how her friends were doing, but how she was going to get the seapony transformation to undo itself when she barely understood how the hippogriffs' pearl worked in the first place. "You're awake! She's awake, Tempest!" Skystar, currently in hippogriff form, waved to something out of Twilight's line of sight. Twilight looked down at herself and saw hooves, legs and wings all where they were supposed to be. She laughed. "Well, that was easy!" Skystar gave her a wary look, and called, "Okay, but she might be crazy, too!" With a laugh and a burst of energy, Twilight flung herself off the sand and raced into the ocean. "Make that definitely crazy!" Skystar yelled. The moment she was fully submerged, Twilight felt the pearl's magic course through her. A flash of light, and she was back in her seapony form. Laughing, she broke the waves, splashing and hooting like a foal on Hearth's Warming Day. She waved back to shore. Skystar watched her, dumbfounded. Tempest was tending to a small fire a little ways up the beachhead. "Skystar!" Twilight shouted. "Are you all right?" "Uh..." Skystar gave a hesitant wave back. "I guess? Are you?" "Yeah! Tempest, how about you?" "Just fine, Your Highness!" Tempest called back, not looking up from her fire. "I recommend not staying in the water long. The sharks left sometime during the night, but who knows if they might come back." Suddenly feeling foolish, Twilight swam back to the beach, where she dragged herself out of the water and flopped over on her back. "I just realized my entire body hurts," she said, panting. "Don't mind me if I just lay here for a day or three." Skystar appeared above her a few moments later, prodding at her. "Seriously, are you okay?" "I'm better than okay!" Twilight laughed, still feeling giddy. "Think about it, Skystar! The pearl's magic is still active. It reacts with seawater! Tempest and I are going to be the first seaponies to set hoof in Equestria in... I don't even know how long!" She clopped her hooves together. "Isn't it exciting?" The thinness of Skystar's laugh told Twilight maybe she was focused on the wrong things. Rolling over, she propped herself up on her forelegs, though even that was something of a titanic undertaking, given the soreness of her muscles. "Tempest!" she called, and her Captain looked up, holding a makeshift ladle in her mouth. "Any idea where we ended up?" "Some," Tempest replied, setting the ladle in a hollow turtle shell that was sitting over the fire. "I think it would be best discussed after breakfast." Breakfast consisted of a stew of small berries, tubers Tempest had dug up at the edge of the beach, and kelp harvested by Skystar from the shallows. It warmed and filled, but they all agreed it was the worst food they had ever tasted. Twilight spent her meal lying on her back, just marveling at her piscine tail as she flicked it back and forth over her head, flinging sand everywhere. Eventually, her skin began to dry, and when enough of the seawater had evaporated, her tail let out a dim light before reverting to legs once more. She was almost sorry to see it go. "My best guess as to our location," Tempest began, drawing her attention, "is here." Tempest pointed the handle of her ladle -- a bent branch attached with vines to half a coconut shell -- at a small, ovular rock. Above it was a much larger rock, and to the left of those, a massive heap of pebbles. "Judging by the sand yams we ate, this is the Dragon Lands. Most likely southern, because of the marshy terrain." Twilight boggled just a bit. She had never expected Tempest to be knowledgeable about geography! "Equestria--" she pointed to the pile of pebbles-- "lies to our west, across the Celestia Sea." She drew a line from the small rock to the pebbles. "If we were to, say, swim straight west, we would wind up in the great desert surrounding Klugetown." "I don't think I want to swim to Equestria," Skystar said with a shudder. "Swimming here was bad enough..." "I agree," said Twilight, regarding the waves with a sober weight in her stomach. "The ocean is a lot more dangerous than I think either of us expected." Tempest nodded. "I concur. So our best route is to head north." She traced the ladle up the side of the rock, making a small X at its tip. "If we follow this strip of beach, we will eventually crest the northern point of the island." "Which leaves us with another body of water to cross." Twilight tapped the X, frowning. "The Griffish Channel. I suppose we could fly across it." Tempest flushed slightly. "I think I would be more comfortable on hoof for a while, Your Highness." "I'm not a very strong flyer yet," Skystar mumbled, flexing her wings. Clearing her throat, Tempest said, "I expect we will have ample time to concoct a plan to get us across the Channel. Afterward, it will simply be a matter of traversing the Griffon Lands until we reach a rail line or other means of mass conveyance." She rapped the ladle against the top half of the larger rock. "Somewhere around the Guto River, if I'm not mistaken." The last of the giddiness Twilight had been experiencing that morning completely evaporated. "That's going to be one horseapple of a hike, Captain." "I am aware." Tempest used the ladle to scatter the pebbles and markings. "I am prepared for the ordeal, and I am prepared for both of you to not be, begging your pardons." "Well..." Twilight licked her lips. Turning her head and shading her brow, she gazed out across the ocean. It sparkled and shone as far as her eyes could see. "I do have a friend here in the Dragon Lands. Maybe we could ask her for assistance." Tempest gave Skystar a searching look. The hippogriff shrugged. "Who might this friend be, Your Highness?" Tempest asked. Twilight grinned at her. "Ohh, just the Dragon Lord." Twilight continued to be surprised by Tempest Shadow. They had only been in the wilderness for three days now, but she seemed to be thriving where Twilight and Skystar most assuredly were not. In particular, she had all but insisted they spend their first entire day in the Dragon Lands right there on the beach where they had washed up. Though Tempest had framed the decision in terms of Twilight's own health and tiredness, Twilight didn't miss the looks she threw Skystar's way when she thought no one was looking. She wasn't being judgmental; it was more a pragmatic realization that the younger Princess was very much unsuited to life above the waves, to say nothing of energetic adventures anywhere. As they took off along the strand the next morning, Twilight brought it up. "Well," Skystar said, her voice filled with its usual pep, "we were kinda stuck underwater for like a hundred years, so I guess some of us really aren't used to land legs anymore." "What?" Twilight snapped. "A hundred... I thought you were my age!" Skystar sniffed haughtily. "Ugh, no, my mom's a hundred and stuff. She's Queen, after all. I'm still young, I'm almost seventeen!" She puffed out her chest a little with that. "That would mean you were born underwater," said Tempest thoughtfully. "Yeah." Skystar nodded. "Like, a lot of hippogriffs were, and I guess they're the ones who are having the hardest time? But Mom let me go up to the pool room, you know, the place we met for the first time, Twilight? She let me go there now and then when she thought it was safe, so I'd 'better acclimate to life on land'." She snorted and kicked at a pebble. "Diiiiidn't do me a whole lot of good." "Hey, it's all right." Twilight moved to her and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "We're going to be walking back to Equestria. From the Dragon Lands. It's kind of a ridiculous thing to have to do. No one expected you'd have to do it, too." She wasn't sure that was quite as reassuring as it had sounded in her head, but Tempest chimed in with, "And we will be keeping the pace light. Give it time, and you'll build endurance for the longer journey." She almost smiled. "Thanks, girls," Skystar said, looking relieved. Their plan for the moment was to follow the beach north until they caught sight of the volcano perched in the northern jungles. They could then use that as a landmark while navigating further east inland, and hopefully be able to find Dragon Lord Ember somewhere. It wasn't a particularly solid plan, a fact that gave Twilight no small amount of concern, but right now, it was the best they had to go on. The last time she'd come here, after all, had been via hot air balloon, inside a boulder costume, and that had taken two days' round trip. She couldn't be blamed for not exactly remembering the path to get to the dragons' seat of government. They spotted the volcano by the end of the first day, though it was quite distant. They settled back into the sand for camp, Tempest building them a lean-to without even being asked. All three of them were growing tired of sand yams, for all that they were filling and at least a bit nutritious, but there wasn't a whole lot else to eat in the swampy forest aside from plain leaves. Twilight suggested they all take a swim to cool off -- she was still fairly giddy about the idea of transforming the moment she hit the water and secretly looking for more opportunities to do so -- but Tempest had warned against it, saying a storm was coming. After all, why else had she built them a shelter? That night, Twilight was awakened by the crack of thunder. Though she was able to get back to sleep shortly thereafter, the storm turning into a soft but steady rainfall, she couldn't shake the feeling that hadn't been the only reason she woke up. In the morning, Twilight made sure to go swimming. A small part of her felt guilty for leaving all the survival stuff to Tempest, but not only did she make camp, break camp and cook their sand yams without complaint, she seemed to be honestly enjoying herself. Twilight decided to ask her about it as they ate their morning stew and waited for her tail to wear off. "Before I served the Storm King, I learned a lot about living off the land." Tempest snorted, pointedly ignoring Skystar's shudder at the Storm King's name. "I learned it all the hard way, out of necessity. I was on my own for quite some time." She stirred her bowl, smiling softly down into it. "Raiding campaigns under the Storm King's command would occasionally stretch into weeks or months. I thrived in the wilderness where my crewmates and subordinates floundered. Survival is how I climbed my way up the ranks of the Storm King's army. Even if the prize at the end of a siege was always far more comfortable, I enjoyed having a skill that set me apart from the others." Eyes widening, she cleared her throat and quickly added, "Not that conquering a city is anything I am interested in nowadays." Twilight giggled. During their day's walk, Tempest estimated they would be able to make camp in the jungle, perhaps at the foot of the volcano. Twilight agreed, and they made good time, the smoking mountain growing larger and clearer to them with every step. Their journey was only interrupted by the sound of a rock plunking into the ocean. Twilight took point when she spotted the red form up ahead, at the edge of the sand. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was very familiar, and that she really didn't want to see this dragon right then. "Garble," she growled as they got within earshot of him. Sure enough, the teenage red dragon turned to them with a sneer of disgust. "Why, if it isn't Princess Tinkle Sprinkles herself. Just my luck. What're you doing in the Dragon Lands, pony?" Twilight put on a smirk. "Looking for your Dragon Lord. Seen her lately?" Garble rolled his eyes and chucked another rock into the waves. "Like I'd ever help you find the Dragon Lord. Why don't you get back in whatever stupid pony balloon brought you here and buzz off?" Twilight looked at Tempest, who was bristling openly, no doubt all too eager to show the dragon his place. She held up a hoof, rubbed her chin, and said, "What're you doing out here all by yourself?" That seemed to get his attention. He paused in the middle of hefting another stone, taking a moment to answer. "What's it to you?" "Oh, I dunno." Twilight moved over to him, though not too close. "It's just strange that, out of all the dragons who must live in this place, the first one we'd run into is you. And you're just throwing rocks into the water? None of your cronies around to cheer you on? Just seems to me something must be up." "Ugh." Garble let the rock drop. "If it'll get you to leave me alone, I'll tell you. All the other dragons are busy having some kind of stupid dragon games thing." Twilight could hear the gears grinding in his brain. "I mean, y'know, they're pretty pointless and everyone else got mad at me for winning so much." "They kicked you out for cheating," Twilight said flatly. Garble snorted, a tiny jet of flame spurting from his nostrils. "So what if they did? Maybe I thought rock chucking was more fun than those stupid games the Dragon Lord got from you ponies! Now didn't I tell you to get lost?" He snatched up the rock and heaved it an impressive distance, kicking up a small fountain of seawater. "With pleasure," said Twilight, smiling. "Just as soon as you tell us where to find Dragon Lord Ember." He rolled his eyes. "At the games, duh." "And those are?" "Ergh!" Fists clenched, Garble stuck his face in Twilight's. "What part of 'scram' do you not understand?" "The part where you help us out, and we get out of your hair." Twilight met his gaze calmly, for all that she wasn't feeling too calm. "Or Tempest makes you help us, and your day gets worse." Garble snorted, glaring at Tempest. "What's she gonna do, tickle me to death?" Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Tempest?" "Yes, Your Highness?" "Tickle him, please. As hard as you like." "With pleasure, Your Highness." Garble scoffed as Tempest stalked up to him. He stuck out his chin and snorted. "Hit me with your best--" He was knocked off his feet by an explosive blast of magic. The next few minutes were, if Twilight was being thoroughly honest with herself, extremely cathartic. Sure, Garble had gotten his just desserts after the Flamecano incident, what with being forced to hug his fellow dragons and all, but there was just something oddly satisfying about watching an unrepentant bully get the snot 'tickled' out of him. She did not like that she was enjoying this so much, but enjoy it she did. She kept her wing over Skystar's eyes the entire time, much to the younger princess's consternation. By the time Tempest was finished, Garble was bruised, caked in dirt, and visibly demoralized. He lay on his back at the grassy beach edge, trying and failing to scramble away from Tempest on exhausted limbs. "What are you?" he choked out as Tempest kept her gaze, and her sparking horn, levelled at him. Twilight clopped her hooves together and trotted up beside them. "Good work, Tempest! I think he'll cooperate now." Tempest's horn went out immediately. To Garble, she said, "You are going to take us to the Dragon Lord, or a location close enough for us to find her in short order. Now, without question. And we are going to fly there so we don't waste another day walking. Do I make myself clear?" His eyes filled with a combination of fear and awe, Garble nodded. "H-how are you gonna fly there though?" Tempest gave a devilish smile, first to Twilight, then to the dragon. Tempest had to admit that being lugged through the air across an island jungle by a surly teenage dragon was one of the least dignified things to ever happen in her life. Top ten, certainly. But it was awfully satisfying. The Princesses were able to keep up with no problem, which only told her how much trouble the dragon was having in hauling her. "Pathetic," she said after they dipped close to the treetops for the umpteenth time. "I'm not even wearing my armor, yet you can barely lift me. You wouldn't have lasted a day under my airship command." "Y-yes, ma'am," he said, only a hint of resentment audible in his words. "I-I mean... no, ma'am?" "Stow it." The rest of the flight passed in silence, and in a little under two hours, they arrived at their destination. The jungle below thinned without warning into scrubby plains that were quickly overtaken by fields of tall, irregularly placed rock columns. They touched down in a clear spot, Garble panting as Tempest disembarked. "Just go... that way..." he wheezed, pointing ahead. "Look for a bunch of dragons... You'll find the Dragon Lord." He paused, rubbing his hands together. "I don't care if you wanna beat me up again, but I ain't goin' back there. I got better things to do." Tempest gave Princess Twilight a look she returned questioningly. A small pang had coursed through Tempest as she watched Garble cringe before her. True, he never would have lasted under her command, but she had seen more than one rebellious young creature put straight with enough supervision and discipline. She walked up beside him and threw a leg around his shoulders. "Listen," she said conspiratorially as he flinched away from her. "You may be an idiot and a screwup, but maybe there's hope for you yet. If you ever find yourself without anything meaningful to do, or if you ever wander into Equestria, look for a place called Ponyville, and ask for Tempest Shadow." She thumped him in the chest. "That's me. I'll show you how to make something of yourself." He rubbed the spot she had struck, and for a moment, there was a spark in his eye, the look of a brute who'd never had anyone reach out to him before. It was sadly brief, replaced in a blink with habitual opposition. "As if!" He shoved her hoof away. "Like I'd ever want to hang out with ponies. Smell you geeks later!" He kicked off the ground. He paused to shoot a backward glance at Tempest, then rocketed off over the treetops. Twilight smiled at her. "That was very magnanimous of you, Tempest. I'm proud." "Thank you, Your Highness," Tempest said, heat rising into her cheeks. "I only did what I thought you might." Skystar scratched her head. "It was nice and all, but... 'Smell you geeks later'? Really?" They came upon Dragon Lord Ember around half a mile from where Garble had left them, perched on the tallest rock column in sight, head swinging frantically this way and that. Before her, across the field of stones, dozens and dozens of dragons were in what seemed to be some kind of contest to see who could do the most wildly incongruous things at the same time. Dragons flew, ran, jumped, lifted heavy objects, threw things, wrestled each other, swung on ropes, scrabbled across the rocks on all fours, and spat huge gouts of flame at nothing at all. Around them, tents, poles and all manner of colorful banners and streamers had been set up, though the bulk of them lay in ruins, smoldering or otherwise. As for the Dragon Lord herself... Tempest counted herself unimpressed. She had been expecting something a little more massive. Dragons tended to grow larger as they aged; certainly, one who had become the leader of their people could be expected to be old, wise and above all, massive. This slim, blue dragoness seemed attentive enough, but that was all. She wouldn't have been surprised to learn she was Garble's age. Tempest wasn't about to let her guard down, however; she'd learned that much, when it came to creatures Twilight Sparkle associated with. "Hello, Ember!" Princess Twilight strode out in front of them, a large grin plastered on her face. "Surprised to see us?" The Dragon Lord, to her credit, did not startle much, keeping her eyes on the dragons even as she spoke. "Princess Twilight? What are you doing in the Dragon Lands?" Twilight chuckled and rubbed her pastern against her foreleg. "Funny you should ask! It's kind of a long story..." "Oh, wait, wait! I'm forgetting something." Dragon Lord Ember hopped down from her perch, moving to Twilight and lifting her up in a crushing hug. Twilight struggled for a minute before she was set down on her hooves again. Ember followed up by giving Skystar the same treatment, and then Tempest, who reinforced her opinion that dragons were dangerous and not to be underestimated. "Pony friends!" cried Ember, giving them an exceedingly awkward smile. "Welcome to the Dragon Lands!" Her smile fell as she pointed first at Tempest, then at Skystar. "Except I don't think I know you. And I don't think you're a pony." "This is Tempest Shadow," said Twilight, stepping between them. "She's the Captain of my royal guard. And this is Princess Skystar of the hippogriffs! Tempest, Skystar, this is Dragon Lord Ember. And now we're all friends, right?" Ember gave a half-hearted laugh. "Ha ha, yes! Friends!" She swung a fist across her body. Tempest frowned. "You're not particularly good at this friendship thing, are you?" "Who told you that?" Ember glanced around, as though expecting ambush. "I'm the best at friendship! When it comes to dragons. Except maybe Spike." Tempest thought this Dragon Lord might not be so bad, after all. "It's fine," said Twilight, throwing a hoof around Ember's shoulders. "You're doing great! So what's going on around here, if you don't mind me asking?" Ember let out a screech and spun around. "Fire and flames, I almost forgot! Augh!" She ran her hands down her face as she surveyed the rocky plains. There were considerably more smoldering ruins than there had been a minute ago. With a groan of "Ashes of the dawn!" Ember ground her fists into her eyes. Grabbing the small whistle slung around her neck, she blew a loud, shrill note. "TIME!" The assembled dragons literally dropped what they were doing, some with moans of protest. Another blow on the whistle. "Whoever puts out the most fires in the next five minutes gets a medal!" Ember bellowed. She turned back to the ponies and hippogriff with a strained smile. "So!" Her smile strained even toothier. "This is an ancient, time-honored, completely forgotten tradition called the Dragolympics. After Spike told me about your Equestria Games, I asked my dad, and what he came up with was..." She waved a claw in a circle by her temple as her smile fell. "Look, he's pushing a thousand, he was getting ready for a nap, maybe his mind wasn't exactly where it needed to be." "This is some kind of sporting event meant to bring dragons together in harmony and friendship?" Twilight came closer to self-levitation with each word she spoke. "That's fantastic!" "It... could be better." Ember stuck her tongue out. "Dad kind of forgot everything about the games, including why we stopped celebrating them, so the rules are whatever I can come up with at the moment. Mostly, I just have to promise medals to the winners and then keep an eye on them. A very close eye. Or things end up catching fire that weren't meant to." She turned to Skystar with a slightly less strained smile. "Soooo, Tinkle Binkle!" Twilight facehoofed. "Ember, that's Skystar." "Right!" Ember winced. "Kind of was trying to pay attention to a pack of huge babies with no self-control when you made introductions. Anyway. I've never met a hippogriff before or even heard of one. What would you say to me making you the, uh, Official Hippogriff Ambassador to the Dragon Lands?" Officialness dripped off her every word. "That way we can forge a, you know, strong bond of friendship between our peoples. And stuff." Skystar boggled at the dragon. Stars bloomed in her eyes. "I get to be a friendship ambassador?" Squealing loud enough to attract the attention of some of the other dragons, Skystar hopped in place, gripping Twilight's forehooves and shaking her up and down. "Eeeeee! Twilight, I knew coming with you on this adventure was the best idea ever! I can be an ambassador! Just wait till I tell Mom, she'll be so impressed with how grown-up that is--" Tempest cleared her throat. "I mean, uh..." Having at least the decency to blush, Princess Skystar ceased her jumping, dusted herself off, and turned to address Ember with surprising imperiousness. "I, Princess Skystar of Mount Aris and Seaquestria, do hereby accept your gracious offer, Dragon Lord Ember. May our peoples come together in a strong bond of harmony and friendship and..." She grinned and held out her claw. "Stuff." Ember smiled and shook it. Twilight and Tempest clopped their hooves on the ground. "You know, you're pretty fun," said Ember. Her smile faded immediately thereafter. "Wait... Fun... Games? Valley of the damned!" She spun around. The fires were out, for the most part, though quite a lot of the tents were smoking still. As were some large piles of rocks. And not a few of the dragons. "I did it, Dragon Lord!" shouted a fat, brown dragon some distance away, hopping and waving his arms. "Do I get a medal?" Ember squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her fists, and made a sound like a volcano getting ready to blow its top. "Yes!" she finally yelled. "You get a medal! Good job!" She blew her whistle. "Okay, break's over, back to the games!" The other dragons groaned and went back to whatever it was they had been doing. Ember breathed a sigh of audible relief. "So!" said Princess Twilight as the scene settled back into organized chaos. "To get back to your earlier question, we just kind of happened to swim to the Dragon Lands from the land of the hippogriffs. Can you believe it? Just... totally wound up here by accident!" The Dragon Lord did not take her eyes off the other dragons as she spoke. "That sounds pretty crazy. I'm somehow not as surprised as I thought I'd be, though. Maybe because it's you, Twilight." "Tell me about it." Twilight laughed good-naturedly. "We've got a plan to get back home, so don't worry there. Unless you know of a way to get us to Equestria in short order?" "Hmm-nnn." Ember shook her head. "That's fine. Our only real obstacle right now is getting across the Griffish Channel to the north, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. In fact, unless there's anything you can suggest, we might as well get out of your scales now, since, y'know..." She swept a hoof across the field. "Time-honored dragon traditions and all!" "There's plenty of rocks around if you need provisions," Ember said distractedly. Twilight frowned. "Ember, you know ponies can't eat rocks, right?" After a pause, she added, "And hippogriffs can't either." Ember winced and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ooh. Yeah. Right. Sorry about that." She suddenly snapped her claws. "Wait, you said you need to get across the Channel? I think I know something that might help!" They watched in bafflement as the Dragon Lord blew her whistle, not just once but three long blasts in a row. Standing atop the cairn she had been sitting on, she addressed the crowd of boisterous onlookers with the kind of vociferous might only a true dragon could muster. "All right," she shouted, "listen up! New game!" She pointed at the three of them. "Get these three ponies... Er, uh, two ponies and one hippo-thingy across the Channel to the north! Whoever gets the most across gets a medal, and then we'll call the games for the day!" Crossing her arms over her chest, she smiled at them. Behind her, dragons with greedy glints in their eyes crawled their way over the stones. "No need to thank me," said Ember airily as the dragons broke into a run. "It's the least I could do." Tempest lowered her head, ready to meet the oncoming charge, but Twilight's magic tugged her aside. "Run!" And for the second time that week, they were chased across the wilderness by a pack of slavering predators.