-Huoshan, Tianhuo-
“You really need to get some sleep Mrs. Lambchop.” Turning my tired gaze to Fluttershy, I groaned loudly.
The buttery yellow pegasus with the pink mane has been trying to help me out and I haven’t the foggiest idea why she was sticking around for so long after her friends went to try and make peace between the lambkin and the changelings.
That was going to be an undertaking of the greatest sort from what Pom has told me of her people, I even learned that she was understating the truth from what Paprika gestured to me. The alpaca were the closest allies the lambkin had and Paprika would certainly know.
“I find myself… troubled. Taking care of Pom’s familiars, as much myself, is a lot more work than I had previously thought.” It was here that I received a tongue lashing, mostly across the face by Big Mama. “Also it is quite hard to sleep when you are missing your other half.”
Big Mama soon picked me up by the scruff of my neck and then she summarily dropped me onto the bed that Pom no longer shared with me at night, she glared right into my eyes. The Canis Minor all jumped onto the bed and stared at me in the same manner, they were silently agreeing with their mother that I needed sleep.
“You know I can help take care of Pom’s familiars too, but you call them beasties right? That’s really cute. It seems like they care a great deal about you too… especially Blighter.” Fluttershy was right, I felt the mentioned shadow hugging canine wrapping their paws around me and dragged me down into lying on the bed. I didn’t resist their efforts. “Twilight has a lot of ponies working on this Tianhuo. Ember and Thorax are really quite understanding, they are giving Twilight all the time she needs to bring them back and are helping to try and find any other cultists of Grogar that might have gone into hiding. Even Discord is helping... I think...”
“Yes, that is true… but I myself have added my own option to the mix.” I was starting to give into the softness of the bed. “Hopefully she will respond soon, because she can openly travel to other realms. She is currently our only method of communicating with Fœnum.”
“Huh?” Fluttershy was sweet and kind, but she didn’t have the same spirit that Pom did. I miss my wife’s fretting, mild paranoia and her ministrations to my tired body after a hard day of patrolling the surrounding environs.
“Bamf!” At the sound of someone shouting and a sudden explosive appearance, Fluttershy squeaked and flailed away from the dissipating cloud of magical smoke revealing the two that could assist in the endeavors of bringing the lost back. The unnatural looking unicorn that just appeared, she started speaking to us with an unusually cheerful lilt. “I heard that I was needed by one of my dear old friends, it was very interesting to get the letter from a squirrel that Fred says is in fact a lower tier god.”
“Fluttershy here can tell you what troubles me, I am in great need of rest Oleander.” I laid down and the puppies curled up at my warm sides, Blighter was seemingly ecstatic to act as a pillow for me and Big Mama took up a protective position next to Fluttershy.
It was Oleander the heroic dark magic wielding unicorn, better known as Ollie to her friends that she allows to call her that. Next to her was her ever faithful companion and demon in the shape of a book, Fred the voice twisting menace that speaks softly sometimes and at other his voice goes completely demonic.
They were harmless to their friends, as for their enemies however… I felt safe enough falling asleep with a demon currently in the room. Yes, he was clearly dark, and vaguely evil, but he is clearly honorable enough to not hurt those that Oleander cares about.
“Hm, while I normally do love the smell of a tormented and pining heart like yours..." Fred was exactly as I remember him. "I BELIEVE THIS HAS TO DO WITH THAT LOVELY LITTLE LAMBKIN BEING MISSING FROM HER LIFE OLLIE!”
Distorted evil sounding demented voice and all. Better the demon you knew than the one you didn’t. My eyes slid close as I sent a prayer to Jiutian for the safety of my wife, as I have been doing for these past few days.
Oleander would stay the night and I would have them get into contact with Fœnum Oleander to spread the word to other dimensions to be on the lookout for my wife and her companions. If Pom runs across another Oleander and Fred out there, then they can possibly get them home provided they weren’t irredeemably evil versions of the two.
-Lung Mountain, Frozen Fortress, Pom-
It was a wooden fort with watch towers that was surrounded by a mild amount of volcanic activity in the snowy portions of Lung Mountain. Ocellus was left behind with Shanty at our camp, Smolder had decided to join me in my meeting with Dragon after we hashed out a few things where this could or would go wrong.
Smolder thought I was worrying too much, but I think she wasn’t worrying enough! We were meeting with an adult dragon that was trapped inside a mountain, one that was stated to have magical powers.
It was cold up here, but I had my wool. Smolder didn’t look too excited about how cold it was up here, I could even hear her muttering something about reindeer and their frosty attitudes.
We soon met Baboon after following the monkeys that led us in and he nodded at the sight of us.
“Before we get in there, I would just like to say that that Battle Ro-Sham-Bo tournament was awesome! I’ve never seen martial arts quite like that before.” Smolder had enjoyed watching the tournament and so had I. Ocellus was more curious about the history of Battle Ro-Sham-Bo than the actual fighting. “I think I learned a few things from it and Shanty certainly tried mimicking some of those moves afterwards.”
“Yeah, despite losing, all of you were quite impressive out there.” It was quite the show, I really had to compliment them on their theatrics. “That you even got two monkeys and yourself into the final rounds was awe inspiring, until you lost to Skunk and Panda beat both the monkeys.”
“Well we do try to keep things interesting around here to break up the monotony and boredom of their usually peaceful lives. If only you were around for the kite fighting. Sure those valley dwellers detest us, but I’m quite sure they love all the excitement we bring even if we are trying to harm them.” Stated Baboon with a friendly grin as he rubbed at the back of his head, he coughed lightly into his curled up left paw. “Okay, I hope the both of you are prepared to meet him mentally and physically. This isn’t going to be a friendly picnic or a visit to my monkey grandma, not to mention that Dragon might not like seeing that another dragon is around. So I would suggest you stay out of the range of his claws Smolder.”
“We’re as ready as we’ll ever be, he’ll only be able to hurt me if he can grab onto me. Fire, magic and magical fire don’t do much to my kind of dragon.” Smolder said proudly while pointed her right thumb claw at her chest. “Lead the way buddy.”
-Inside Lung Mountain, Smolder-
There was an expansive lake in the grotto, it was at the bottom of the steps beyond the ledge we were approaching. This is likely where Dragon pops up and communicates with his minions.
At least Dragon wasn’t as successful as Cozy Glow had been in being disastrous, but he still caused as much pain and suffering to others as he himself reportedly felt… I was almost onboard with Pom in feeling sorry for the guy.
Though it made me wonder, where did Cozy Glow even come from? Was she an orphan like Shanty, our teachers said she had been pen pals with Tirek, but that doesn’t entirely explain her background. I’ll want to look into it when we get back to Equestria.
“Dragon, I have brought you the strange outsider you told me retrieve… I actually outdid myself and brought another strange outsider along with them!” Baboon wheedled unnecessarily while standing on the ledge, then again this was apparently one of the first victories he’s ever had without any interference whatsoever.
Baboon and his minions were more like the fun kind of evil that the Power Ponies fight, a living breathing version of that was actually something for me to be in awe of. So I might have snuck myself into reading Spike’s comic collection once or twice, he likely didn’t mind if he ever noticed or bothered to find out. Spike was like a little brother to me, that little dragon was a really chill dude.
The waters of the lake shifted and then Dragon started to rise from it, his scales were all black some with a burnt purple tinge. The guy actually looked fairly threatening as his eyes glowed a fierce white. ‘Dragon’ wasn’t the biggest dragon I’ve ever seen, but he certainly left an impression on me at first sight.
The biggest dragon I know would always go to the previous Dragon Lord, the retired Lord Torch. Torch wasn’t a Dragon Lord anymore, but he was still a lord that holds respect amongst all the dragons that knew of him. Ember was walking beyond his footsteps and those were some pretty big holes.
“Baboon… what have you brought to…?” He quirked his eye at Pom who shivered as she looked up at him, there was no way we would come anywhere close to winning a physical fight with him. Unless Pom was holding out on us and had some serious martial arts mojo that the dwellers of The Valley obviously had.
The monkeys prodded us forward and that was when his surprise became even greater, he stared at me with shock and he looked to be thinking a mile a minute.
“Yo… names Smolder, nice to meet ya.” I said lazily raising my left claw and waving it at him, not going lie I didn’t feel comfortable being in another dragon’s lair like this without permission.
Dragon Lands etiquette stated that if you weren’t strong enough to muscle into another dragon’s cave, then don’t even bother trying. We really needed to get our civilization on the same page as everyone else, the longma make us look bad without even trying with their volcanic city.
I considered the fact that this was not Dragon’s lair by choice and I could completely understand why the décor was lacking; I also don’t think this he had any gems or jewels for me to snack on, being a completely different type of dragon that's understandable. He seemed to eat regular food if the smell of juiced fruit coming from his breathe was anything to go by, at least he kept his teeth clean so he already had much better hygiene than his minions.
“Another dragon? No… not another guardian… a different kind.” He wasn’t as angry as we thought he’d be, but he was more curious about Pom than anything. “Familiar yet unknown…”
“Uh... I would like to talk to you Dragon.” Despite being a shivering mass of nerves, Pom was doing much better than Ocellus predicted she would. “My name is Pom.”
“I find myself… interested… in your presence as well.” There was a slight narrowing of his eyes, he kept his teeth gritted and his eyes in an angry scowl, but Pom was beginning to shake less and less the more she looked at him. Dragon soon hissed out his ambivalence to us. “Go ahead, speak to me and I might deign to listen.”
“I’m wondering something, I’ve been asking all around The Valley about you out of curiosity. You had Baboon seek me out in curiosity as well. Our meeting was inevitable, but how it will end is dependent on you.” Pom took a deep breath to try and stay calm as she kept looking at him in the eyes. “So my question is simple enough in scope, but might be impossible for you to answer. Why did you turn your anger onto the dwellers of The Valley and not towards The Heavens that struck you down? Before you say anything, I already know the excuse you’re going to give me and that’s not what I want to hear. I want to hear the real reason why you won’t turn against The Heavens despite them striking you down, if you just give me the excuse then I might just be able to piece it together from there anyway.”
“It is the animals who made me get struck down and brought about my fall!” Dragon answered quickly and angrily, he spat a small blast flames I easily intercepted with my body.
It felt lukewarm at best and had a bit of an odd magical tinge to it that I could taste in the air, but even if it did hit Pom I doubt it would have done more than singed her. Dragon whined in pain from using his fire and he ducked back down in the waters.
“Thank you Smolder, I said I didn’t want to hear that excuse Dragon! It’s clearly a lie from what I… wait… you…. you can’t even think of going against The Heavens can you?” There was a look of sudden extreme horror that just crossed Pom’s face as she looked down at Dragon dunking his head below the previously stated cold refreshing waters for a bit before bringing it back up. “No, it’s not just that… no… that’s… that’s horrible… it’s wrong. What’s still happening to you is wrong!”
“Pom, talk to us, use your words.” I was still scrutinizing Dragon after he tried to blast Pom with fire, I could intercept it all day. I was immune to it, but he wasn't immune to himself... I hope I never take being fire proof for granted. “What did you just figure out?”
“It’s horrible, this… what’s going on is…” She looked at Dragon sadly and approached him as he raised back up onto the ledge.
“Do not dare to pity me with those eyes of yours!” Dragon bellowed and slammed a claw against the stone, but he didn’t move to attack Pom creating a small shockwave that almost knocked her over. He regretted that action as he hissed in pain a second later.
Pom just continued to look at him sadly.
“You’re not going to hurt us Dragon, we’re not a part of this." Pom moved to sit down within range of his claws, trusting that he wouldn’t hurt her. "You just want to scare us away, you’re in constant pain and you’re trapped in a rather tragic situation.”
After that initial blast of fire… I’m actually willing to agree with her and moved to sit beside her to look at him curiously.
“What do you think you know?!” He bellowed at us while and soon began hissing in pained and ragged breaths.
“That The Heavens... never actually revoked your guardianship of the valley…” The reaction Pom got when she said that, was Dragon looking as if he just took a huge boulder to the face with how far he reeled back. She continued to gaze at him as he lowered himself back into the water silently and was now staring at her with mystified wide eyes. “Stop me if I’m wrong Dragon, but you can’t go against The Heavens and they have you trapped in The Valley since it is still your job. To get free of said job, you’d have to somehow make everyone you once protected leave, including Baboon and the monkeys. It’s either that or find a way to destroy the dwellers and then order your forces out of The Valley so that you’re no longer under The Heavens yoke. As you will have nothing left to protect and will be able to destroy The Valley at your leisure to break free of all that confines you here, you can’t say anything against The Heavens at all. While your arrogance has a small part to do with all this, it is still beyond the pale on The Heavens part to do what they did. It's disproportionate retribution when they could have just slapped you down more gently to give you a fairer warning.”
Taking a deep breath, Pom then continued with what was starting to sound exactly like the current setup around here.
“Furthermore given that Panda got Skunk from The Heavens and he’s likely fated to never truly lose to you or your forces, The Heavens have seemed to set it all up so that he might eventually kill you protecting his friends and home. If Skunk slays you… does he... does he take on your job as The Valley’s guardian?” Pom just looked at Dragon lowering himself further into the water, he wasn’t responding and that was just as much of an answer as if he had. “It’s little wonder you blame the dwellers for your captivity. It is not just this mountain keeping you here, but the whole valley itself given that mystical lotus Panda mentioned somehow appeared directly in the path of your rampage. Your really resilient Dragon... and you’ve still yet to even hit the ground in this nightmare, one that you’re never going to wake up from even after all these years.”
Dragon didn’t say anything, but he slowly ducked into the water and raised his eyes back out. Baboon was staring at her as was I, that… she was right about this being horrible and wrong.
“Skunk is The Heavens response to Dragon's campaign against what he should be protecting when Panda asked for help. Dragon literally can’t fight The Heavens or think of doing anything bad against them, so he’s actually rebelling in the only way he can.” Pom got up and moved forward to sit at the edge of the ledge and looked down into the water. “This is all going to end in at least five different ways Dragon, most of them will be tragedies. Skunk kills you and takes over your job and might even end up the same as you. Skunk somehow redeems you and things go back to how they were before you were struck down, but you will always be wary of The Heavens and you can't openly share this knowledge with anyone. There’s the one that’s currently happening right now; it is that you’re stuck in a stalemate where if for some reason Skunk is ever incapacitated somehow without perishing, then The Heavens will likely send someone else to be trained by Skunk, Panda or whoever is in charge of The Valley in the defense against you in an endless cycle. Finally there’s the one where you actually succeed in your plan, but it’s at the cost of everything you have left. That one will leave you feeling hollow inside and you will never be able to live with yourself afterwards, you might take the easy way out even when you are free of The Valley… you could die raging against The Heavens if they are as powerfully close to omnipotence as I think they are.”
“That’s just four.” Having spoken up, I saw Pom turn to look back at me sadly.
“Option five is the unthinkable and could sometimes only appear in hindsight… or a miracle happens and something changes the status quo so drastically that The Heavens can’t do anything about it and Dragon is healed in both body and mind." Pom, miracles are what we, the people of Equus, are known for. "I don' think Dragon realizes what he needs the most right now.”
Dragon slowly raised from the water and rose above the ledge and glared down at Pom.
“What is it that you think I need?” He didn’t seem to be very cheerful or angry, he even seemed to be just contemplative. “You bring another dragon into my lair, you talk as if you know everything that is going on, what makes you think that you are so special that you think you can even help me?!”
He clutched at his body as he loomed over Pom, his hissing and wheezing form looking ready to chow down on Pom.
-Pom-
“That’s just the thing, everyone is special in their own way, even you Dragon. All you did was try to help those in the valley while they were suffering, you were never betraying The Heavens by actually trying to be better than them were you? You just wanted to help and things... didn’t go the way that you thought they would.” Dragon frowned down at me as I reached up to him. “All it apparently took to change you completely was a single action. How long have you been in here? How long were you here before someone came to talk with you after the rampage where you burned yourself? Baboon and the monkeys have always been here for you afterwards, through everything. Are you seriously telling me that you despise them completely too? After how much they’ve done for you?! Do you seriously have nothing left in your heart, but hatred, resentment and anger? Have you truly lost the ability to understand or even feel any form of… compassion?”
I reached out as I said ‘compassion’ and touched the looming dragon’s belly with my left hoof, after a moment he blinked.
He didn’t reel back in pain, he didn’t roar out in agony and he just looked down at where I had placed my hoof.
I looked at where I placed my hoof as well and there was a strange gleaming underneath it, I blinked and slowly pulled my hoof back to see a single, shining, large golden scale.
Dragon looked flummoxed at the single golden scale, as did I and everyone else. I looked up at Dragon curiously and was slightly worried about his reaction.
“You may leave now.” Dragon rumbled softly.
“But…” I wanted to say something, but he stopped me.
“If you know of a way that I can make you leave The Valley faster… then tell me what it will take to get you away from me!” Was Dragon... trying to protect me... from himself?! I started crying for him. “Baboon, please, escort them out quickly before I change my mind.”
Baboon just looked at the golden scale silently, his eyes slowly drifted up towards Dragon's face. He just stood there and didn’t follow the order, the monkeys were also struck dumb by Dragon's strange change in demeanor.
“Well I would like to be able to go home, but it’s in a different dimension. I seriously doubt you have the magic to help us as you are and I would not ask you to strain yourself Dragon. We’re not part of The Valley and have no designs on wanting to be here for the rest of our lives, especially after what happened to you.” I stated bluntly as I waved to the cave around me. “Also, I wouldn’t want leave you like this when you need…”
“Baboon! Take her away... NOW!" Dragon quickly turned away flaring his fire everywhere, I saw him looking at me out of the corner of his eye as Baboon finally started ushering us away. “I have… plans for them. Bring them back tomorrow with all their companions in tow.... that's an order Baboon!”
What just happened?