“One can see in the earlier fossil record, diamond dog fossils all over the world, as are alicorns, though less numerous, and griffons less numerous still. Before then of course is the ‘abbreviated evolution’ or ‘intelligent design’, a short period geologically speaking when speciation seemed to occur in mere generations which suddenly ended when diamond dogs, alicorns and a bit latter, griffons emerged. After the dawn marker one can see large gems of all sorts, and the profusion of species we see on Equis today.”
—Pena “On the Origins of Ponies*(*and Others) and Magic”
That evening back at the caldera of Dragonholme Scorcher sat on one of the larger stone chairs in the high hall. Smaller dragons stood around in the hall or sat listening to Scorcher talk with Dust, Search, Drizzle, and the others in the council chamber. The five dragon hatchlings played in the center while kobold caregivers watched attentively.
A tan and red kobold, Wind was part of a trio rubbing Scorcher’s sore neck and spine stopped her work. Rain, a small red and tan male of similar size and shape took her place. Other kobolds had washed his scales and those of his companions and they tried to scrub the new black marks from his body. The soot was much reduced.
Scorcher seethed silently. His joints ached everywhere. The lightning shield had been brutally effective.
Rizi walked in quietly, carrying a large plate. The other kobolds had been treading lightly around her now. They deferred to her and let her direct their work. Probably because she was talking to the Dragon Lord.
The plate Rizi carried held sorted piles of rubies and sapphires. She walked behind the table slab before the dragons.
“As long as the spell is in place, no dragon can leave.” Dust said.
“I can't wake her up. I'm not killing my friend.” Scorcher said.
“No one is asking you to.” Dusk said. She swished her tail and shook her frill. “It would break the spell though.”
“I am aware.”
Scorcher looked at Rizi. The kobold was small. Barely taller than a pony. The gems on the plate rattled enticingly as she set down the tray.
No dragon. “Rizi, can Kobolds leave the dragon lands?” He asked.
“Dragons all live here, so why, go?”
“What if I asked you to leave?”
“Why would Dragon Lord send kobolds away?” The tiny green Kobold looked rather upset. The other kobolds all paused and waited for Scorcher to speak. Rizi’s orange eyes started to shimmer.
“Rizi I'm not sending anyone away, well not all. Just one. And just for a short time.
“I need someone brave, who can go to Canterlot. No dragon can, but if a minotaur can cross that shield, I bet a kobold can. Could a kobold do that for me Rizi?”
She blinked and smiled at once. “Scorcher can trust kobold Rizi, yes, yes.”
“That's… very good. What I have in mind is not very hard. I just need to deliver a message. And to get a reply.”
“Rizi knows, kobolds all learn letters, yes.”
“Not a letter. Lots of letters, a message written down. On paper.”
Rizi tilted her head. “No paper, rock, walls, slate or sand. Rizi sorry but no paper great dragon.”
“Rizi. The message is important. I could teach it to you. You’d have to memorize it exactly.”
“Rizi, good memory for words, yes, yes.” Clasping her claws in front of her the little green kobold stood with her back straight, her orange eyes looking almost straight up, her two ivory horns almost touching her back. She looked attentively at the much larger reptile. The small bright green lizard smiled up at him.
Scorchers smiled toothily at that. “Oh really, Rizi, what did I say to you yesterday? When we met?” He was thinking of the game ‘courier’ from his childhood when dragons would whisper and pass a message around a circle. He wondered how badly it would be mangled.
“Will never forget, great Scorcher honor Rizi. Speak first among all kobolds, great honor.” The small green lizard smiled up at him, her light green eye ridges crinkling… “Yes, Dragon Lord to be Scorcher say...”, her voice changed, and grew deep and powerful. “Can you speak? Well, follow me then please. Hey, what’s your name? It’s nice to meet you Rizi. I am Greenwood Scorcher, counselor to the Dragon Lord. Rizi, I want you to…” she continued her perfect narration. Scorcher was startled. She spoke in a perfect parroting of his voice, almost like a recording, but only his side of the conversation and with no pauses.
“Ok, ok wow, that’s enough. Er Rizi if you can speak like that…. well, why do you talk like you do?”
“Why kobolds speak like they do, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Kobolds help dragons, want be like, yes? Kobold, speak as a dragon, mock, offend.”
“And just now?”
“Dragon says say and so Rizi do.”
“Huh…”
Dust smiled at Rizi’s explanation to Scorcher. The little kobold stared up at him with adoration, her spines almost touching her back, orange eyes gazing into slate ones. The dusty white dragoness was introspective. The other dragons all seemed a bit surprised. Her scaley brow wrinkled in thought she spoke to no one in particular, or to everyone. “Scorcher treats Kobolds as if they were tiny dragons.”
“Kobolds have surprising depth Dust, and little Rizi here in particular I think.” said Scorcher. He went on, “I met them many years ago when they first came to Equis. They came here seeking sanctuary from Otherside. They were rare. Now there are so many.”
“Kobolds no more or less, less dragons.” asserted Rizi.
“That’s what Drizzle says Rizi. Kobolds linger and dragons dwindle.” The white dragoness shook her head sadly and looked at the larger red drake. She hesitantly asked “Scorcher, you have lived a long time. Do you actually know where kobolds came from, really, I mean?”
“Yes, but why don’t you ask them?”
“I have, but I couldn't follow them. I didn't understand it. No offense Rizi.” Rizi looked at Dust, smiled and nodded.
Scorcher stretched and smirked. His muscles were finally relaxing. The male Rain swapped for another kobold, this one a pale pink female. “Rizi, there was a story. It was very short. I wonder if you know it? It was called something like The Kobolds Creed. Do you?”
“Serpents Song and Kobolds Crossing Creed, yes?” asked Rizi.
Scorch nodded. He looked out amongst the dragons and kobolds in the hall. “Gather around every dragon. I mean kobolds too and hear this. It is our common history.”
The tiniest dragons gathered closer. The white Tally sat in front next to Dust. A few dozen kobolds sat amongst the hatchlings. The other dragons present walked closer. Story time in the high hall was evidently not to be missed.
“Please tell us the Creed of the Kobolds Rizi.” The short version.” Scorcher said.
“Forty-nine words short, short, yes, yes!” Rizi looked at the gathered Dragons and Kobolds and spoke in a clear singsong voice loud enough to be heard in the hall:
“The Otherside faeries stole some dragon eggs.
One thousand one dragons became faerie slaves.
Like fairies, small kobolds the dragons became.
Frightened of friendship Fay banished her slaves.
Dragon Lord swore his kobolds to save.
So, kobolds swore dragons to always obey.”
“Well told Rizi. That is how I remember it.” Scorcher smiled, his enormous fangs glittering white. Rizi smiled a toothy smile back at him.
“Remember it?” Dust asked, reaching out a dainty claw to pick out a choice ruby.
“Yes, the kobolds came to the dragon lands seeking asylum when I was a hatchling. They came to Torch when he was Dragon Lord. Said they were hexed to always serve others. They told him their Creed. Made it rhyme at that time too. He gave them sanctuary. They swore oaths to obey dragons. Said they were dragons. It was one of his final acts as Dragon Lord.” He leaned back into his stone chair and idly munched some sapphires. Then continued.
“Ember, who was the Dragon Lord next, Torches tiny daughter, she disagreed, that they were dragons, I mean, not giving them sanctuary. So did Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn of friendship. She said they were about as related to us as ponies are to donkeys or goats. No wings, no fire breath, obsessions with numbers, an innate compulsion to serve others. Torch said it wasn’t up to ponies to decide who was or wasn’t a dragon.”
“And these faeries?”
“The unseelie? Oh, they come from another world, Otherside. Changelings came from there as well. Maybe Discord too. Some other things. The only way to get to it is through a door on the far side of the chain. The unseelie came to Equestria many times in the past, they probably had some other ways to get here. Twilight said they live in a different time than ours. It's related to our time, similar but not uh, congruent. Sometimes the unseelie would know about things from the future or past, things they couldn't really know, but did. Twilight said the fay let the kobolds go because they knew the alicorns were coming.”
Scorcher saw his audience of kobolds and small dragons was attentive and listening. He smiled and began to speak in a narrative voice, thinking fondly of teachers from his days at school.
“In those days the alicorns and their allies sought to spread friendship everywhere, throughout the entire chain of creation, and the fay became afraid.” His voice swelled with pride. “They knew Equestrians would free their slaves and overthrow them. So, they let their captives go and pretended to change and make nice.” Now Scorch made his voice low and terrible. “They knew of the dangers beyond their world but as for the Nexus of Sominus, they said nothing and gave no warning. When the nightmares came, we Equestrians tried to warn the faeries of Otherside, but the door to fairyland had already been shut. That fool’s errand cost lives. Mine was almost among them. The tricks and treachery of the unseelie were thus revealed, but it was too late to stop the Nightmares.”
“What are the Nightmares?” asked the pink hatchling.
“Oh, that was one of their names. They have others, Dark Overlords, Night Hags, Terrors. They were spirits of evil. They infected unicorns, dragons, and others with evil when they could. Even an alicorn once. Occasionally one of them would come to Equis.
“They sought anger and bitterness, offering knowledge and great magical power for tiny favors. But the favors always grew and grew, and the nightmares soon possessed their victims. They could be banished or destroyed but never died on their own. They thrived on misery and hatred. One or two would wander here every few centuries. But opening the Nexus of Sominus let millions pour forth, an army of evil.”
“What was the Nexus of Sominus?” asked Taillie.
Scorcher answered “Oh it was a dark world. Normally worlds like that are rarely encountered on the chain of creation. Worlds like those usually pose no threat but hold no hope for real friendship and harmony. Gates to such places are just locked again. Friendship holds no sway there, and magic is weak or nonexistent. But the Nexus beyond Otherside was different. It was a crossroads to such places. The very heart of darkness. Once that door was opened, the Dark Overlords arrived. The guardians of the chain eventually closed the door and sealed it, but the Nightmares were already loose, and they chased us, Equestrians I mean, all the way back to Equis, destroying everything in their path to get to us before they were finally stopped.
“Apparently opening the door to the Nexus somehow made us more vulnerable to the Nightmares. They no longer had to bargain. Instead, they could just wear another creature’s skin like slipping on a jacket. If you killed the creature they were in, they would just slip out and take another.”
“That's scary,” said Taillie.
“Very. They swiftly overran the worlds farthest from Equis. Almost faster than news could travel. The alicorns stopped them, here at Equis moments from triumph. But the victory of the five alicorns cost almost all of the magic of Equis.”
“So that is why we need answers. How has magic been restored? What happened to the tower? How can we wake up Smolder and leave the dragon lands?” He looked at Rizi. “These are the questions I need answers to. Therefore, I must send a kobold to Canterlot.”
“Rizi, if you are willing, I would send you to Canterlot as my messenger.”
Rizi looked down at the floor. Oh. So, this is what Doriz had meant. All eyes in the hall were upon her. Her tribe was depending on her. So were all the dragons. She slowly looked up all the way to Scorchers eyes. Orange eyes met slate. She swallowed, and gave a tiny, determined nod.
—
Later that evening Dust asked, “Why send just one Kobold?”
“Ponies and many other creatures are skittish, new things scare them. A small army of Kobolds might cause a panic. Just one creature is often ignored, avoided or treated as a curiosity instead of a threat.” Scorcher smiled. “Remind me to tell you about the story of Zecora sometime…”