If only I had a Venture Fabricator, I'd be able to Fabricate a propeller, then I could fly forever. But I didn't have one, just the GSO Fabricator, so I was stuck with limited flight until I could find some Ignite and Celestite.
It wasn't so bad though, with the recent fuel tank addition, I could burn my boosters for longer, allowing longer flight time. I used this to my full advantage when going back to get more Luxite in the morning. One great big problem appeared though, a huge cloud of smoke emanated from the newly dubbed Luxite Mountain, that wasn't good.
While the majority of techs are fireproof, I did not want to burn off the Rubber tires I had, nor did I want to test my tech's heat resistance. I really needed the Luxite though, I could finally get a proper base down with it, instead of throwing my resources everywhere. Besides, it looked like the smoke was only coming from a local section from the mountain.
I only had to land two times with the new fuel tank, I was glad I could be in the air for longer, it made my trips shorter. Reaching the base of the mountain, I could see that the smoke came from near the top, it was black smoke too, meaning a heavy fuel was burning, that meant greater heat.
I had to see exactly where the fire was though, I could probably avoid it entirely. I could just glide away anyway. I fired the boosters again, ascending the mountain. I made it to the top in almost one go, but had to stop to recharge my boosters. I was getting real curious about just what was burning, last time I was here there wasn't anything that crude to burn. Perhaps the cave did have an owner after all, but just what were they burning and why?
I ascended the rest of the way up, and was now able to see the smoke coming directly from the cave. I just hope whoever lived there would accept me repaying them later, I can't exactly give back the Luxite I borrowed. Well, maybe if I had made a Scrapper, but I hadn't so there.
I drove into the cave, thankfully the smoke rose to the top and I was still able to see. Deeper in though, the angle of the morning sun and smoke created a very dark environment. I only had the lights of my cabin to see in front of me. I still couldn't see any light from a fire, that meant that it was at least under control, whoever was keeping it.
My lights barely pierced the darkness and smoke, which had gotten lower the further I made it into the cave, just in front of me I could see the beginning of the pile of valuables. A breeze blew past me, so strong it nearly lifted my tech due to the wings. Whoever was keeping this fire sure had some good ventilation.
"HELLO." I made myself known to whoever was inside.
No answer, I'm getting real tired of having to repeat myself like this.
"HELLO." I had the speakers say, once again raising the volume.
Still no answer.
"HELLO." I said, max volume, it rung throughout the cave.
That got a reaction, something shifted on top of the pile of trinkets, something large. The breeze came again, this time backwards, as if something was inhaling. That was when I realized my mistake.
Large pile of valuables, no living commodities, lots of smoke, high up on a mountain, and a large form. I didn't know mythology that well, but I was fairly certain I wasn't dealing with a regular person just burning something. Through all my prospecting adventures throughout the galaxy, this was the first time I came across a dragon.
Of course, dragons or dragonlike creatures existed on other planets, and a majority of the time they were apex predators. Something you never wanted to deal with underequipped, something I very much was right now. I was fairly certain I couldn't just glide away either, with this cave being on top of a mountain, this dragon definitely had wings.
Not knowing the airspeed velocity of an unladen dragon(Neither Equestrian nor Zebrican). I didn't want to risk trying to outrun it. The only option I saw right now was diplomacy, something that depended entirely on the intelligence level of the dragon.
A large yellow eye opened up in front of me, almost glowing. It quickly dilated in my cabins light, then the entire head moved up, revealing it's long neck, covered in red scales. It didn't look too menacing, but it didn't look cuddly either. It looked directly at my tech, then behind it as it noticed the tire tracks. Then it spoke.
"So, you're the one who stole my Sunstones," it boomed.
"CORRECT." was all I managed to say, if nervousness translated into the speaker, it would be unintelligible.
"And you've come back for more?" it asked.
"ALSO. CORRECT." I had the speakers say.
"Then tell me, why shouldn't I kill you right now?" it asked.
"BECAUSE. I. AM. WILLING. TO. REPAY. YOU." I said, almost glad techs couldn't show emotion.
It raised an eyebrow, still looking down at me, it spoke again.
"With what, more Sunstones? it asked.
"UNFORTUNATELY. NOT. I. USED. THEM. ALREADY. I. DO. HAVE. OTHER. MATERIALS. THOUGH." I said.
It smiled a wicked smile, before speaking again.
"What could you offer me instead of Sunstones? They are my favorite after all."
It really was a shame I didn't learn this world's name for Erudite, maybe it would think it was also a valuable gem? I didn't have a good idea on the rarity of most gems in this world. Perhaps there was someone I could ask about that.
Rarity sneezed, she really should dust this closet later. For now though, where was that fabulous helmet?
"I. HAVE. A. GREEN. GEM. CALLED. ERUDITE. IT. IS. VERY. VALUABLE. TO. ME. AT. LEAST." I spoke up
"Hmm, green really isn't my color, anything else?" it asked, smirk still on its face.
I though for a moment, what else did I have that was relatively rare? And could I gain more Luxite from this dragon with anything else? I guess there was one thing I had that might do the trick. I'd just have to go with it I suppose.
"I. HAVE. AN. INGOT. OF. COBALT. TO. OFFER. BUT. I. STILL. NEED. MORE. SUNSTONE." I offered.
The dragon looked at me, obviously surprised, it quickly regained its smirk however.
"That will do nicely, I'll even give you some more Sunstone for it," it said.
I feel like I just made a horrible mistake, I probably really just underestimated the actual value of Titanite. I wasn't in a position to bargain though, so I just have to go with it.
"VERY. WELL. I. SHALL. GO. RETRIEVE. THE. COBALT. PLEASE. GATHER. UP. SOME. SUNSTONE." I said, turning around to leave.
"You'd better be back, or I will destroy you," was all it said as I left the cave.
That was terrifying, I wasn't too worried about dying, I still had my original tech and that extra cabin. No, it was making a powerful enemy that spooked me, from what I could tell, I couldn't fight the dragon yet. I doubt that bullets would do anything good, and I only had the one laser weapon. I was glad to get out of this engagement with the glider still intact.
There wasn't much I could do, I either lost my Titanite ingot, or lose everything. I fired up the boosters, and launched off the side of the mountain. Heading back to the base.
"There it is!" shouted Applejack, pointing her hoof to the sky.
"There what is?" asked Twilight, also looking up.
"The thingy I was telling you about, the flying metal object!" Applejack said, still looking up.
"Where?" Twilight asked,
"Consarn it, it just flew into the smoke," Applejack looked down,
"OOOO, did you see a UFO?" said Pinkie, bouncing up and down.
I didn't have much time, a few hours at least. I made it back to the base in one go, the smoke apparently was really good at keeping my glider up. Landing in the clearing, I drove down the ramp and into my base. I don't know why, but I wanted to delay this as much as possible, so I spent an extra thirty minutes just doing random things, from needlessly reorganizing my materials pile, to creating strange works of art out of the extra blocks from other companies I had.
Eventually, I had to come to terms with myself. I grabbed the Titanite ingot, and headed back out. I drove back up to the top of the ravine, ready to take off. But before I could, I saw a blue icon appear on my radar, this time not running.
Coming through the trees, Zecora still had a bit of a limp, but it looked like it was healing. She walked up to the glider, looking it over before finally resting her eyes on the Titanite.
"What are you doing with the Cobalt?" she asked.
"I. MADE. A. DEAL. WITH. A. DRAGON." I answered
Zecora looked surprised, before speaking up again.
"I didn't take your for a risk taker, do you wish to meet your maker?" She sort of joked.
"I. DIDN'T. HAVE. A. CHOICE." was all I said in return.
"I hope you survive, I'd much rather see you alive." She said, before turning back into the forest.
Not really wanting to navigate the ruins again, I launched from the clearing. With the added fuel tank it was actually viable, I'd have to make a more stops though. Right now I didn't really care about that. I fired my boosters.
I tried really hard to make the trip last longer, but the smoky mountain came into view all too soon. Getting one last stop in I fired my boosters once again and headed for the base of it.
With the dragon finally gone, the six ponies could've sworn they heard it cursing under its breath that it was missing out on a cobalt ingot.
Everything started to settle down a bit, Fluttershy landed, and Rainbow took off. The smoke started to clear and the ponies started talking about what just happened.
"That was amazing Fluttershy!"
"I didn't know you could do that!"
"Can you teach me please!"
"This calls for a party!"
The cheering was interrupted though, as an odd sound came from the cliff. Not a moment later, a large form flew past the cliff, soaring above the ponies before gliding down and landing near the cave entrance.
Fearing the dragon returning, the ponies quickly hid behind a rock, which did little to hide all six of them. The form didn't appear to notice them however, it just entered the cave. Silence soon returned to the group, Applejack was the first to speak up.
"That was it Twilight!" She whispered harshly.
"What? The metal thing?" Twilight asked
"Yes! But what is it doing here?" Applejack asked.
"Maybe it's friendly?" Pinkie said, not whispering in the slightest.
"We don't know that!" said Twilight.
"Well it did notice us, it completely ignored us too!" said Pinkie.
"What do you mean? It didn't even look over here." Twilight asked.
"Well duhhh, it's because it doesn't have eyes Twilight. But it can still see everything..." Pinkie said, her eyes going in opposite directions while her head turned a full 360°. "That, and it's got a radar."
"Pinkie, that's creepy, also what's a radar?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know..." Pinkie replied, giggling.
A few moments later, the form exited the cave, with four yellow gemstones and one blue cube floating on it's back.
"That dragon had Sunstones?!" Rarity gushed, nearly fainting.
"Yeah, and that thing is taking them for itself" piped up Rainbow Dash
"Is that... a block of Cobalt?!" Twilight said, also gushing.
"Cobalt!!!" All the rest of the ponies shouted in unison.
"That dragon had Cobalt too!?" Rarity said, actually fainting this time.
"No it didn't, that thing had it when it arrived, but where did it get so much?" Twilight said.
"Maybe it was going to trade with the dragon? But now that it's gone it just took whatever it needed?" Fluttershy whispered.
"Four chunks of Sunstone for that much Cobalt? Either it doesn't know the value of Cobalt, or the dragon caught it in a bad position." Twilight deducted.
"YOU. KNOW. I. CAN. HEAR. YOU. RIGHT." came from the entity, scaring all the ponies again.
"What are you doing here?" Applejack was the first to speak, taking up a defensive stance.
"TAKING. WHAT. I. NEED." was all it said as it aligned itself with the cliff.
"Wait-" was all Twilight said before great bouts of flame erupted from the entity, propelling it off the cliff and up into the air.
While most of the smoke had dissipated, there was still enough to effectively hide the entity as it flew away. All six ponies just stood there in silence.
"You'd better put that in the report to Princess Celestia," Twilight heard somepony say, she wasn't sure who though.
To Be Continued...