//------------------------------//
// Episode 6: A Journey Continued 
// Story: COLD 
// by Shadow Spector 
//------------------------------//


Episode 6: A Journey Continued


Droll finally stormed out of the mountainous location, abruptly finding himself in a desert-like place, but he kept persisting forward, unwilling to believe in his safety until he was confident that the dragon egg would be safe too. Throughout the constant stampeding, he was beginning to lose his breath, and he briefly considered stopping until he caught sight of the tall walls in the distance, lighting up his mood and reassuring him that there was a goal in mind. Instantly, he knew it meant civilization, and he was desperate for safe creatures at the moment, especially since he had lost his only home just the day before.
Droll arrived at the walls, eyeing it carefully. If there were creatures there, he had to be careful since he had no idea what their reactions would be to a dragon egg, and he was not going to risk finding out. Instead, he glanced around at his surroundings, scanning for solutions, but there was nothing to see, just black walls that stood high and went down until they hit the solid sand of the desert. Droll was hit with the only logical outcome to keep the egg safe which was to hide it. Out of the lack of features outside of the walled civilization, it wasn’t difficult to find the only location for it to be hidden. With his mind racing with doubts of the hiding spot, he began to dig a hole that was just big enough to fit the egg inside, but before he placed it in its designated spot, he pondered his choices for a moment. He could have either gone along with his initial plan to place the dragon egg in place before scoping out the civilization, or he could take his chances out in the world, but through quick cynicism of his own capabilities, he decided that this was the egg’s best chance for survival. After hugging it close, he placed the filled shell inside the hole, hoping that it would be safe there. He would’ve covered it completely with the rest of the sand, but he knew that sunshine was necessary for it to survive, so he angled the opening of the hole towards the sun to make sure it was warm. Finally, he stepped away to find the front of the walls and see if he could start his new life.
He traveled along the walls, concerned with every step of the way what fate the dragon egg would be met with. Before he could make it more than twenty seconds away from the hiding place, his eyes caught on a tall, teal building that barely peeked out over the walls. It towered over the area where he had hid his dragon egg, and he was even more worried about what would happen if anyone found it. He eventually decided to let his fears go as he came to an apparent opening in the walls that was far too slim for him to fit between.
The yak stopped just outside, indecisive of whether or not to take the first step in trying to enter. After a couple moments of silence and motionless thinking, he took the family picture down from between his horns, looking back at the fake smiles of his family that haunted him to his core. He regarded it in great guilt as he recognized the fakeness was a direct result from him.
“Droll hope yak no hurt no one no more,” he said in reflection.
“Hey, who’s out there?” an adult voice launched back from the other side of the walls.
Immediately, Droll froze in fear at the unexpected company that came too soon. He gripped the family picture tightly in his cloven-hooves as a golden stallion came to block the view from the tiny opening within the doorway. The stallion glared into the yak's soul as if Droll had killed someone he loved. Finally, the pony continued.
“What do you want?”
At first, Droll stuttered before gathering his bearings. “Droll looking for safety.”
The pony flinched at the brown non-pony, shifting impatiently. “What? Who’s Droll?”
“Uh - yak Droll.” He gestured toward himself.
“Ever heard of grammar, Droll? Speak ponish for crying out loud.”
Droll cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Droll speak this way-.”
“Come on, it’s easy! Just use articles and helping verbs. Is that too hard for you?”
Before the golden stallion could scold the non-pony any further, a soft voice came from behind him.
“Daddy?” the voice began. 
Immediately, the pony tensed up and turned around towards the source of the sound. From within the walled civilization stood a small, light-green earth pony. When she saw that Droll had seen her, she shied away slightly.
The golden equine sighed. “What is it?”
The pony looked up at her apparent parent before looking down at the ground again. “Well, um, there’s not much reason to be rude. You barely know him.”
“You don’t understand what’s happening here,” he harshly replied back. “Don’t butt into my business.”
The small pony flinched. “. . . Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Y-yes, sir . . .”
The stallion raised his head higher. “Good. Think before you speak.”
The filly lowered her eyebrows softly before glancing at Droll. “I’m sorry . . .” She didn’t waste anymore time in obeying her father’s wishes as she uncomfortably marched off out of sight behind the wall.
The stallion returned his eyes to Droll’s in an annoyed fashion before sighing as if he were forced to do something. “Welcome to Contume’s Community,” he began in an unenthusiastic, angsty tone as if he were reading off a script. “A home welcomed to all creatures to keep them safe. Because Emperor Contume supplies a haven for you, you must supply something for him.”
Droll blinked in confusion. “What?”
“It means if you wanna be here, you’ve got to give him something!”
From behind the walls, Droll could hear a soft squeak of fear that sounded like the voice of the kind filly from earlier. He disregarded this though before pulling off the family picture he kept safe on his head. Droll regarded the memory in sadness before he began to put the frame back into place. Before he could get the picture halfway to his head, a yellow hoof reached out and snatched it at great speed.
“Hey!” Droll snapped.
The equine began to increase the small opening in the walls, prying it open with a grimy screech. “Sorry, as long as you gift something here, you’ll be safe. So without this thing, the leader will welcome you in.”
"Droll no want to give picture! It only thing yak has left!"
The golden stallion snorted. "If the picture is the only thing you have, then there really isn't anything else to gift to us, is there?"
The brown non-pony began to tremble. "Droll really need that back . . ."
"And maybe you will get it back if our leader doesn't find much use in this. But we'll have to wait for when it's presented to him."
The yak growled. “Why leader no come to yak?”
The stallion chuckled. “There’s no way he’s meeting with another non-pony. Not after what happened with that dragon. He needs some time to purify himself.”
Droll was speechless, but he entered in through the doorway to civilization, realizing that he probably wasn’t getting his picture back anytime soon. He looked back to the equine as he closed the opening behind him and noticed the filly was still there watching the whole transaction in guilt, as if she would do something if she could. The sad expression on her face made Droll feel just as guilty, but he felt that there was nothing he could do to make anything better in the moment. 
Finally, the non-pony spoke. “Does yak get shelter?”
The stallion scoffed. “This is your shelter.”
“But no house?”
“You don’t get those here. If you want a place to rest, you’ve got to build it yourself.”
The filly beside the stallion averted her eyes, as if not wanting to be considered a part of the conversation whatsoever.
“I suggest you think of something,” the adult pony said. “Too-da-loo.”
Droll turned to walk away from the two ponies, and before his gaze fully left them, he caught sight of the filly waving goodbye to him, causing Droll to smile to himself. He hoped that he would meet other creatures who were just as nice as she was. Without any clue of his next step, he marched through the civilization, hoping his new way of life would be good.



Before he could get even a few blocks down, he was stopped by a blue-suited mare who wore a hat to show off her authority.
“Hey!” the mare said in a hostile voice. “I don’t recognize you around here. Where did you come from?”
Droll regarded the tan-coated mare in concern, worried about slipping up. “Uh, Droll was accepted by pony just now.”
“Likely story. State your business!”
Droll cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yak just looking for safety. Droll been through much.”
“You non-ponies always want to play the victim. What your kind has done to us is way more than anything you’ve ever been through. If you want to pass, you’re going to have to pay.”
Droll narrowed his eyes in concern as he checked throughout everything he had, but he only found fur everywhere. He had absolutely nothing on him since everything had been taken from him.
The non-pony began to shift uncomfortably as the tan mare began to get more and more impatient. “Yak no have bits.”
“None of you ever have bits,” the equine said in disapproval. “Makes my job a whole lot easier. You’re coming with me.”
With no idea what was happening, Droll reluctantly agreed. He followed the pony as if she were escorting him to a place for newcomers. With no idea what to expect in this civilization, he chose to put his full trust in the pony.
The two creatures traveled through the streets, passing by all sorts of different-styled houses. Droll was admiring the beauty of everything until he looked in the distance to find the biggest one out of all them. Stood up three times as tall as any of the regular-sized houses was an opulent palace that glimmered in the sun, creating a cozy glow that reflected in Droll’s eyes. The yak gawked at the beautiful sight, momentarily thinking it was the grandest building around until the two creatures traveled up to a shorter but wider building, catching Droll’s eyes once again.
“What this?” Droll asked.
“Did I say you could talk?” the equine snapped back.
Droll flinched. Although he figured the best decision was to be respectful with the unknown pony, he couldn't deny his anger beginning to burn with the way the pony was treating him. He said nothing for a few seconds until the pony sighed and spoke.
“This is Town Hall. Our leader here has been able to direct in the creation of this massive project, and it has been constructed to last through anything. Nopony can breach it if they tried and especially nopony can escape it. We’ve full-proofed everything so don’t even try.”
Droll tilted his head. “Escape?”
The equine glared at him before opening the door for Droll to go through. “Watch your head.”
Droll cautiously entered through before the mare took the lead in front of him again, strutting down full speed before making a turn down a separate corridor. Every so often, she would look back at Droll with a menacing look to make sure he didn’t run off, but Droll didn't know enough of his situation to try that. Eventually, the two came to a wide open room that was filled with different barred cells, preventing everything except for vision to pass through.	
The yak looked around with his jaw slowly going ajar. Non-ponies were locked up one after another as if like dominoes. He could barely even see the ending either to his left or his right, but the sound of metal clanging brought his attention back to the front of him, where he saw the mare opening up a cell door. He only had time to gasp before he felt a sudden force push him inside.
Immediately, Droll fell to the ground against the solid-hard surface, hitting his horn with great force against a bump that was more elevated than the rest of the floor. He was dazed for a moment, and when Droll was able to clear his mind, he got up and ran to the now-closed cell door.
“What?” Droll huffed. “What yak do?”
The equine just looked at him in disapproval before turning to a stallion in shades who was clapping the dust of his hooves. “Subject nine-nine-three is here, taken into custody after refusing to pay a fine. How is it coming along with subject eight-eight-six?”
The stallion sighed. “He’s not talking. He won’t even say a word that’s relevant to his charge.”
“He’ll never talk!” a voice beside Droll’s cell shouted out. “He didn’t do anything wrong!”
When Droll turned to his right, in a cell beside him stood a tall pale dragon with emerald green hair, with eyes that shot daggers at the two guards and followed them everywhere, waiting for them to let their guard down. Droll was scared in the moment, but he felt that this dragon knew what was happening.
“That’s enough out of you, eight-eight-five!” the stallion yelled back. “Keep that up and you’ll be punished.”
“You can’t do anything to me that’s worse than what I’ve already been through!”
“Well what happens if we instead do something to your little friend back there?”
The white dragon flinched subtly, but she quickly maintained her angered expression. “He’s way stronger than you can ever be. You can’t do anything to him.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” the mare said back before walking with the stallion to a secluded room.
After the two ponies were fully out of the room, Droll walked over to the furthest reach of his cell to get as close as he could to the white dragon. “Psst.”
The dragon didn’t react to Droll’s advances, so he repeated himself louder. After she didn’t respond a second time, Droll repeated himself once more.
“What?!” she snapped, causing Droll to back up.
The yak cleared his throat. “What going on here?”
The dragon narrowed her eyes at the fellow non-pony. “What always happens around here: bullying.”
Droll pondered the statement for a moment before he looked passed the dragon’s cell to see countless other cells, each with different non-ponies trapped there. Everyone looked miserable, and when Droll turned to his left side, he saw an even longer row of upset prisoners each in their own cells with similar expressions. The only cell that was empty was the one right beside Droll’s.
“Why everyone here?” Droll asked. 
“Beats me,” the dragon said without even averting her eyes. She simply kept her focus on the door just out of reach.
Within the moment, the yak understand what was happening. Everyone in the cells was just like him: put there unfairly. The realization caused the yak instant sadness, but he tried his best to keep his spirits up.
Finally, Droll looked back up to the angry prisoner next to him. “What dragon name?”
“What’s it to you?” she responded without eye contact still.
“Yak just want to know.”
The dragon clenched her eyes shut before finally answering. “I’m Opul.”
Droll smiled at the new knowledge and began to get closer to his acquaintance’s cell, approaching her without paying attention to the floor beneath him. “Yak is-.”
Before he could finish, he tripped over an elevated surface on the ground, causing his head to come against the bars on Opul’s cell and create a TING sound that reverberated quietly.
“A buffoon?” the dragon finished.
“Close,” Droll answered, causing a subtle smile to come to the dragon’s face, a pleasant view that the brown non-pony didn’t get to see. “Yak is named Droll. Droll just arrived at place and Droll have mixed feelings.”
“That’s a way to describe it,” Opul answered back. “What was the excuse they gave to take you in?”
Droll shrugged. “Droll enter into town for first time and while walking, was taken down here.”
“Yeah, figures. That’s how most of us got here.”
“Same with dragon?”
Opul gritted her teeth. “Not quite. You see, my friend wanted to go retrieve something and I volunteered to help him, but we were caught. I guess I wasn’t quiet enough.”
“So dragon deserve this?”
Opul regarded Droll as if he was stupid. “No, what dragon deserve is to get what was rightfully mine back. My friend and I both need something that was taken from us and we won’t stop until we get those things back.”
“Dragon friend sound brave.”
“Well, yeah, I just hope he’s okay.”
As if on cue, the door partially across the jail opened up and the two ponies from earlier exited, carrying an orange griffon whose face was all bruised up. Droll clenched his teeth as he watched the orange non-pony, but he didn’t seem to be in any pain. Instead, the griffon's face put on an expression of pure anger as he was forced to comply with the ponies. The two equines brought the griffon over to the empty cell next to Droll and threw him in with no concern of how he would land.
“Candid!” Opul said in distress. “Are you okay?”
“Hey, no talking!” the stallion reprimanded.
“Bite me!”
The stallion looked confused for a moment before putting his shades back on and sitting down, pulling out a book to read as he supervised the unjustly jailed non-ponies.
“Griffon okay?” Droll asked.
The orange non-pony glanced at Droll out of the corner of his eye before looking around at whoever he might've been talking to. Finally, his eyes focused back on the stranger. “Um, who’s this?”
Before Opul could answer, Droll spoke up. “Yak name Droll. Droll just arrived and placed here wrongly.”
“Why do you talk so stupid?”
From behind, Opul spoke up. “Oh come on, Candid. Don’t say that.”
“Well, it’s true.”
Droll sighed as he began to walk away from Candid’s cell until his cloven-hoof caught on an uneven section of the floor again. Immediately, the yak felt the full weight of his body crashing down onto the solid ground and laying him flat, sprawled out on the floor. As soon as the sound of the collision settled, the only noise that could be heard was the subtle sound of giggling from behind him. Droll instantly snapped his head back to see the source of the sound and his sight was well worth it. From the cell beside him, he could see the orange griffon partially covering his beak with his head bobbing up and down with each moment of laughter. 
Droll regarded it in fascination. He was surprised at how he felt in that moment. Normally a feeling of anger or defensiveness would settle in at being the laughing stock of an embarrassing blunder, but such a feeling was completely absent. Instead, he felt a moment of joy at what he was able to do, something that happened as a direct result of him. It was different than the regular wholesome smile he saw on the princess's face the day before. Droll felt like he was appreciated for getting such a positive aspect in a time so dark for everyone, and in that moment, he knew that he had to try for more.
When Candid stopped laughing and looked away in his natural scowl, Droll was instantly lost in an endless sea of possibilities within the comfort of his own mind. He wanted to put smiles back on his friends’ faces and he needed to do it soon, but he didn’t quite know the best way to make them happy in the moment. He thought that maybe a possible way to get them to like him was if he did something to make them joyful in the moment, but nothing was coming to mind until his eyes focused on the cells again. Instantly, he knew what he had to do.
“Guards, guards,” Droll called out as he went to the front of the cell.
“Would you quiet down?” the guard requested. “I’m trying to read here.”
“Yak wonder something-.”
Before Droll could finish, the mare entered through the room again with a clipboard. 
“Okay, we need to record the inmates today. We’ve gotten over 50 of them today, but none of them are in the database yet. We need to fix that now.”
Droll persisted again. “Yak have question.”
“No talking,” the mare said back.
“How old this place?”
“I said no talking. Make this easier on us.”
“Yak just ask question.”
The mare rolled her eyes before meeting Droll’s in an impatient manner. “4 years old. Emperor Contume started this with his best friend Constellar until he wronged him and Contume had to finish leading this place on his own. Are you happy now?”
“What happened to Contume friend?”
“Ugh, you asked a question already. Just give it up.”
“But yak brand new here and want to kno-.” 
Droll was interrupted by a series of his own coughing fits. The sudden coughs put both the stallion and the mare on edge, and the two ponies looked at each other with an absence of a solution. Droll collapsed on the floor, coughing more violently and gasping for air. Instantly, the two ponies jumped up from their seats, indecisive of their next approach. After a few seconds of the two guards frozen in place, Droll looked up at Opul with a glare and instantly, she knew what to do.
“You two!” she yelled. “Can’t you see what’s happening? Droll is the newest member here, and he wasn’t even checked for any diseases! He’s going to start an outbreak in this community unless he’s fixed right now!”
The stallion immediately panicked and rushed out the door while the mare just watched in fear.
“Wait,” Candid looked at Droll and Opul before gazing back at the mare, “you brought a sick yak in here? He’s going to kill us all!”
“Don’t just stand there!” Opul yelled. “Get him out of here before he gets the rest of us sick!”
Droll continued to cough aggressively on the floor when the mare took out a set of keys in a jittery fashion. She unlocked Droll’s cell before grabbing him by the horns to pull him out. Immediately when the yak was successfully out of the cell, he smirked before he jumped up and grabbed the keys, pushing the mare down on the floor with all his force.
With Droll now free, he immediately traveled to Opul’s cell to unlock her out of the cage. The only thing the pony did on the ground was yell for help, which alerted Droll that he needed to work fast. Within seconds, Droll had unhooked several keys from the key-ring to give to Opul, and the dragon took the opportunity to free as many creatures as she could, handing off several other keys to them for them to continue exponentially freeing prisoners. As she was doing this, Droll stampeded over to Candid’s cell to unlock him from his bars and give him his own key.
“Dear Celestia, Droll,” the griffon began. “You’re not as stupid as I thought you were.”
Droll gave an amused smile before he proceeded to unlock even more non-ponies from their cells, copying Opul’s ideas to free prisoners even faster. When the yak had unlocked several more creatures, guards flooded in through the doorway, but they were blocked by three times as many creatures stampeding out, putting both the non-ponies as well as the ponies at a standstill and giving Droll, Candid, and Opul, as well as the other limited creatures with a key, infinite time to continue unlocking everyone else out of their unfair treatment.
Droll reached the left end of the series of cells, unlocking every creature he could, and the first thing each creature did when they were free was make a break for the door. The ponies were not standing a chance against the non-ponies as they began to advance closer out of the exit. When Droll looked to the opposite side of the long hall, he saw Opul finish unlocking the last creature before turning to Droll and giving him a smirk. 
Every creature was trying to exit through the door at once at this point and they outmatched the ponies 5 to 1, causing the equines to make a run for it through the exit. As if pursuing them, all the non-ponies bursted through the doorway as well, running as fast as their legs could carry them to freedom. Droll and Opul were about to follow before Candid stopped them.
“Wait, no. Not this way. The community guards are going to send everyone they can to track down the herd where they’re going. If they don’t have any of us in the database yet, then we can’t give them the chance to get us down.”
Instantly, Candid bolted through the air down a separate, lightless hallway as Opul followed close behind in the air. Droll followed as best as he could to keep up, but the two were surpassing him, leaving him in the darkness of the corridor. Droll kept running as fast as he could, but he began losing sight of Opul and Candid in front of him as they flew so fast to escape their prison. It was just under a minute before Droll lost where they were completely, causing him to slow down to a standstill in the long hallway, panting at the top of his lungs.
The yak sat down on the floor, alone in the shadows. He had no idea where to go. He needed someone to help lead him out of the darkness, but there was no one. He couldn’t do this on his own, and he wanted to give up. Tears were soon to enter his eyes as he realized that he might’ve been beyond hope. He blinked his eyes shut to give in and listen to the silence until he heard the familiar sounds of wing flaps come his way.
“Uh, you coming?” the familiar male voice asked.
Droll looked up in astonishment.
“Come on,” Opul said. “We’re not leaving you behind.”
Droll blinked tears out of his eyes as his touching smile spread across his face. As a team, the three took off into the darkness once more, making their way out of the prison together.



The three non-ponies continued making their way as far out from the Town Hall as possible. They didn’t stop for anything, and the thought of the community guards being on their tails preoccupied their minds to keep them invigorated in their flight to safety. If they were even so much as seen by any guards as they exited, they might’ve gotten their descriptions down, but with the thought that they were blending in with everyone else, they felt comfortable that they’d be able to make it out and stay out for good.
Finally, Candid slowed down, and Opul and Droll were soon to follow behind him. They were all breathing heavily except for Candid who appeared to be used to flying at high speeds for prolonged periods of time.
Finally Candid spoke. “Well, well, well. What gave you such a brilliant idea, Droll?”
The yak was still breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. He lifted up a cloven-hoof to alert the griffon that he needed a moment. Eventually, he tried to speak. “Well, yak . . . Nevermind, one more moment.” Droll began breathing heavily again as Candid rolled his eyes until finally Droll took a deep breath to slow his heart rate down. “Droll just think that if yak so new, ponies don’t know much. Droll use that.”
Opul and Candid exchanged approving looks at their new friend, proud at what he did, before Candid spoke.
“You know what, Droll? I’m usually not one to really give creatures a chance, but you? You’re alright.”
Droll smiled to Candid and then looked at Opul. “Does this make yak and dragon and griffon . . . friends?”
Candid looked over at Opul with a look of pretend decisiveness, as if the two had the exact same thought in the moment. “Hmm, what do you think, Opul? Do you think he can?”
Opul looked back at Candid with the same humorous look. “Oh, I’d say he has to pass the initiation before he can be considered ‘okay’ with us.”
Candid nodded in agreement. “Right, initiation. Would you like to inform Droll on what that is?”
Opul looked at Candid in a look of deviousness that told the griffon that he was soon to be the brunt of the joke. “Well, Droll, for your initiation . . .”
Both Droll and Candid regarded the dragon in an unsettled look but patiently waited for her to continue. Finally, the long awaited requirement was spoken.
“You must hug Candid.”
Immediately, Candid stuttered in immediate refusal. “What? No! No one agreed to this.”
“Actually you did when you agreed with me that there should be an initiation 30 seconds ago.”
Candid widened his eyes before firmly speaking. “No.”
“Too late,” Opul grinned.
Candid regarded Droll apprehensively, and the yak got closer to him. The two slowly approached eachother uneasily before Candid finally spoke.
“No, I’m not doing this. Hug a pillow.”
Opul finally erupted into laughter, clapping her claws together in delight. “Okay, that’s good enough.”
“Griffon no like hug?” Droll asked, trying to egg him on all in good fun.
Candid crossed his arms. “Hugging is for emotional, insecure creatures.”
Droll’s smile faded slightly and Opul noticed, causing her to put on a feared look. As Droll opened his mouth to speak, Opul took the reins of the conversation.
“Well, today was great. So much fun, right? Met a new friend. Failed our missions. Caused a prison break of creatures that we didn’t know for sure were innocent. I see this as an absolute win. Why don’t we all celebrate by going to Hayburger, am I right? I’m buying.”
Candid and Droll both looked at Opul and their expressions began to lighten up. Candid gave an approving grin to Droll and the feeling was clear to Droll that he found the right group. He almost didn’t notice the teal building on the inside of the walls that marked the location where his dragon egg was. He quickly made a note to remind himself to retrieve the cyan shell at some point that day.
Finally Droll turned to Opul and nodded his head, agreeing with her proposal. With now all brightly-colored expressions, the three new friends began to walk off into the rest of the community to finally relax after their long day.
 








Cold