Chapter 27
Expiration
Four loud booms could be heard in Ponyville coming from a few thousand miles high in the sky. Inn was going around the world to see the sights and have a few nice days to herself. In just a few hours, Inn was two countries away from Equesteria.
Inn saw nice forest that she sat in for quite some time, before leaving. She loved seeing the new animals, that is, ones not trying to kill her. Plants that were well lit and were absolutely beautiful. She found lots of trees, but also wide open fields that could be found so easily. Inn loved this spot. She could live here for ever.
But... she could not stay for long.
She continues to look for more wonders just like this. She wanted to see more of the Earth. She needed to know more. This was on Inn's mind for a long time. Now she will finally do it.
She finds a waterfall. Oh goodie! This can be fun. Inn goes to the bottom of the waterfall and stands there enjoying the feeling. She had some fun with the water by changing into a taller pony, and back to normal. She then looks up and sees a darker patch in the water.
Inn gets closer to the patch by making her legs ridiculously long. She put up a fifth hoof to see if there was anything going on behind the waterfall. The hoof went straight through. Inn found a cave. She walked in, wanting to see what was inside.
The cave was not quite straight forward, there was a turn not far from the water. When Inn made this turn, she found a dragon eating some gems. Inn's first reaction was to leave quietly. This was not much of an option seeing as how the dragon turned around and looked at Inn as soon as he finished that gem.
“Oh. I see I have a guest. Why not take a seat?” he asked. His voice sounded old and wise.
“Oh, I-I... I think that I-”
“Heh heh, there is no need to be frightened little pony. I am fourteen thousand years old, and have long since lost my lust for bloodshed and random material possessions. All I wish for now, is gems and company.” The dragon was beckoning Inn to take a seat.
Inn slowly walks up to a small pile if gems and sits down. “S-so what's it like to l-live for that long?”
He runs a claw through the pile of gems by nearest him, as if in thought. “I have seen many wars. Many of my brethren fall. Possibly the biggest thing, the world change over and over again.”
“H-how many times?” Inn was truly interested.
The dragon let loose a hearty chuckle before answering. “It depends on the place. I have seen untouched land become a city in only three months of its discovery. I have seen many civilizations come and go. I have even seen forests take over ruined towns. There are so many things can be look at as a world, and I have seen it change many, many times over the millenniums past.”
Inn looked amazed, with widened eyes. “That's so a-amazing. Have you b-been in a w-war before?”
“Yes. Many wars. The first war I was in had me in the front lines. I was weak and only served to slow down the other armies advances. I learned quickly how to fight. The war was over land, and my group lost due to too few good warriors. The last war had me taking down entire towns, by myself. These were all during the reign of the dragon. I have not seen a position in a army fleet for over four millenniums,” the dragon said after letting out a nostalgic sigh.
“Why did t-the dragon reign e-end?” asked Inn.
“To few of us. The pony armies were even getting better equipped to take us down. We had put ourselves in a bad position. Seeing this, monsters and ponies were taking advantage of it. As I am sure you are aware, the ponies won the struggle.”
The white mare seemed to be bouncing. “Wow, i-is there any more you c-can tell me a-about the past?”
“Heh heh, why don't you tell me a little about yourself little pony. Where do you come from?” Dragons like to learn new things too.
“I l-live in Equesteria. It's nice.”
The elder dragon lifts a claw to his chin in contemplation. “Equesteria? I have yet to see it. It is one of the newer countries. Heh, new for me, that is. That is the country that is ruled by Celestia, am I right?”
“Yes, she is the r-ruling princess.”
“Do you mean ‘queen’?”
“No, her and h-her sister Luna c-co-rule, and neither is q-queen,” explained Inn.
“Well that is interesting. I think I may visit there sometime. For now though, I have some gems to eat. Do you have any other questions for me little pony?”
Inn sits there and thinks while the dragon eats a few more gems. “No, nothing is c-coming to me right n-now.”
“Fine then, have a nice day little pony.”
“You t-too big old dragon.”
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As Inn flew around, she thought about how nice it was to see a full grown dragon not try and kill her, but instead talk. She flew until she found some small houses. The place she found looked like a miniature village.
She sat on a cloud watching the families move from house to house. She had seen many happy foals playing some odd, but fun games. The older ponies were happily helping out the town in many various ways. There was a lot of happiness in this town that Inn has only just recently seen in her own life.
Inn sat there for about ten minutes, and thought that she should go. She would have some fun with it though. She quickly zoomed straight up in the the sky. She made two loud booms there were seen by the rings she left. When she was out of eyeshot from those on ground she made a 90 degree turn for the next exciting thing she could find.
She boomed her way to another village that had ponies wearing some fascinating clothing. There was a design inside a circle of all the shirts and dresses. These ponies were learning how to do some interesting dances. They were working on it in unison, and that just blew Inn's mind.
She watch them until they had finished dancing and then moved on to other things like hauling water. She flew around the countries, and when she saw all she wanted of that she moved onto the next countries.
Inn flew around, until she got back to Ponyville. She then took a brake on the highest cloud she could find. When she felt good enough to go back out she readied up, and boomed six rings. She had to see if she had seen all she wanted to, and do it fast.
Inn watched the world spin past her. She enjoyed the wind going through her wings as if it just simply should. She had to go back to she thinks she missed due to being lost in the sensation.
The feeling of such speed was intoxicating to Inn. She darted around just to see how sharp she could move without really trying. She could do a 417 degree turn with the effort she normally used for a 30 degree turn. She loved it!
When she finally got back to Ponyville, she made a slow stop, learning from last time. She made a trip around the world in nearly six hours. Inn nearly tempted herself to go back out, thinking that she could shave of nearly thirty minutes if she did not goof around like she did.
Inn strolled into her inn, feeling the adrenalin slowly fade from her.