//------------------------------// // Episode 4: Courage // Story: The Drake Six // by JNKing //------------------------------// Hawke had returned.  Spike knew it from the look in Swift’s eyes as he shot into Diamondback’s cave. A far contrast to when the griffon-dragon hybrid had left, having just learned where his dragon mother might be. He had been so eager to learn more about his heritage.  Yet barely an hour after he left, he shot back into the cave, his feathers fluffed up and his eyes shining with betrayal and fear.  “Swift?” Night asked, as he fled into the deepest reaches of the cave. “Swift, what happened?” She glanced at Spike. “Family reunion went that bad?” Spike shrugged and raced to find Swift, eventually finding him burrowing into one of the mine caverns. Spike just barely managed to grab his tail, though the grab caused Swift to yelp, scattering feathers everywhere. “Swift, hang on,” Spike pleaded. “Just… talk to us. Tell us what happened?”  Swift shivered in his corner. “It… was… Hawke.”  Instantly, Spike understood. He knelt to Swift’s level. “Tell me what happened.”  ## Swift’s day had started off so exciting; Diamondback had figured out who his mother was, and where she was at.  “Her name is Sunny,” she noted. “Ironic name, though she could’ve chosen it for her firepower. She usually hired griffons to find her things in exchange for her protection.” Swift gazed up at Diamondback in hope. “And… you know where she is?”  Diamondback handed him a map. “Should be in the highest mountains,” she said. “After all, griffons like high altitudes, and she likely wanted to be closer to her namesake.”  So, off Swift had gone. Full of hope and eagerness. Finally, he was going to see the dragon who birthed him.  Sure enough, he soon saw a mountain that was teaming with griffons. Granted, he had been hesitant as he approached; some of the griffons had looked similar to the griffons Hawke had been around.  But they left him alone, only sparing him intrigued looks at his dragon heritage as he flew into the cavern and found his mother.  Her treasure trove was filled with treasures that seemed based on how shiny they were. On top of gold and silver, he spotted a few pieces of glass that probably held little value, but sparkled like diamonds.  And all too soon, he found her: Sunny was full grown, with scales almost as bright as Celestia’s sun itself. She even had Swift’s blue eyes. Though they had a strangely cold light to them as she glanced at the approaching Swift.  She looked him up and down with a grimace, focusing on his back half. “Huh. You ain’t like most of the birds I find.” She peered at him. “Who are you?” Swift smiled in hope that they were getting somewhere. “My name is Swift,” he said. “I-I think I’m your son.”  Sunny’s eyes widened, and she stood in glee. “Well, how about that?” she mused with a grin. “Decided you didn’t like being with the griffons?”  Swift fluttered closer. “No,” he admitted. “They were mean to me; never accepted me, I… I was hoping you would.”  Sunny grinned. “Then I imagine you wouldn’t mind bossing them around, yeah?”  Swift’s face fell. “W-huh?”  She pointed. “I know some of those griffons are stiffing me on gold,” she said. “If you’re my son, you can shake them down for me. It’s not good when I have to waste time on the weasels; makes them think they’re important or something like that.”  Swift blinked at her. “But I…”  “Seriously?” Sunny asked, her smile fading. “You never learned how to fight?”  “Well, no, but…”  “Unless…” Sunny’s gaze grew disappointed as she sighed. “Of course.”  “Please, wait!” Swift tried to beg, but then a new voice piped up. “What did I tell you? I told you he was a weakling.” Swift’s pale feathers grew cold as Hawke flew up next to Sunny.  “The boy’s useless to you,” Hawke said. “It doesn’t matter if he was loyal; he can’t defend for anything.”  “H-Hawke?!” Swift stammered, flying backward, while Hawke only flew closer to Sunny. “Let me take him,” Hawke recommended. “I know a few places that will pay big money for him.”  “MOM, DON’T LISTEN TO HER!” Swift protested, but Sunny looked at him with at most intrigue.  “Are you going to let her talk about you like that?” Sunny asked, indicating Hawke. “Go on. Stop her. Prove why I should keep you around.”  Hawke smirked. “Yeah, runt,” she dared. “Prove how useless you are to her.”  Swift shuddered, his feathers shedding from stress. He hated fighting, and it was even worse knowing that Jackknife and Spike weren’t there to help him. But with his mother watching, he knew he had to try. He had to earn her respect. So, with a shaky breath, he shot forward… and was immediately redirected into a wall.  He fell into the treasure trove, Sunny watching him unsympathetically.  “Get up,” the dragon said. “Nah, he’s done,” Hawke replied.  Trying to prove her wrong, Swift got back in the air… but Hawke smashed him into the wall and sent him back to the ground.  Sunny was frowning in apathy. “Get up,” she said. “Nah, don’t even try,” Hawke said. “You know you’ll fail.” Swift tried to rise to his mother’s command, but he didn’t even get off the ground before Hawke flew into him, tossing him across the treasure trove as he yelped in agony.  Sunny sat back with a sigh. “That’s a shame,” she noted. “Usually, dragons can count on their children defending their hordes until the Greed starts to take them.”  Hawke laughed, plucking his feathers out of the air. “This little coward can’t defend his own feathers, much less your horde.” Hawke flew back up to Sunny’s ear. “I, on the other hand, can promise quite the bounty for who I can sell the runt too.”  Swift gazed up at his mother pleadingly. “Mother, please,” he almost cried. “Don’t listen to her.”  But Sunny shook her head in disappointment. “Sorry, kid,” she said. “But if you really wanted my help, you would have proven yourself.” She shifted away. “He’s all yours, bird.”  “MOTHER!” Swift screamed as griffons flew in and surrounded him.  She didn’t even look at him as the next beatdown began.  ## Swift lowered his head as he concluded his story. “I barely managed to get away from them,” he said, before his gaze turned bitter. “No thanks to that… wicked old hag.”  Spike pat Swift’s head, but Diamondback gasped in alarm. “Swift Winds, such language!”  Spike looked back at Diamondback. “But… that’s cruel, what she did.”  Diamondback gazed on them with pity. “Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of dragons will work,” Diamondback noted. “She wasn’t lying when she said dragon children will often defend their parents’ hordes. You could have really impressed her if you had stood up to your aunt, Swift.”  Swift glared at Diamondback. “You didn’t spend years being told by your aunt and father that you were never good enough,” he hissed. “You didn’t spend years getting beaten down by her every day.” He shrunk into his corner. “All those years… I thought my mom would accept me.” He began to cry. “What a joke.”  Spike winced at his words and hugged the hybrid, trying to let him know he still had people who cared for him.  ## Unfortunately, the incident had hit Swift even harder than he had implied. For the next few days, Swift refused to leave his little spot. Night brought meals to him regularly, and Jackknife, Spike and Phoenix took turns talking to him, but no matter what, Swift never left his spot. And any attempts to try otherwise resulted in him burrowing himself deeper into the tunnel he had found refuge in.  Then the day came where they saw Hawke outside. While Jackknife stood ready to chase her off, Spike went to Swift.  “Swift,” he pleaded. “You can’t stay in there forever.”  “Why not?” Swift asked. “There’s nothing for me out there.”  “There’s food,” Diamondback pointed out, coming to Spike’s side.  “And friends,” Night added.  Swift burrowed deeper away from them. “And danger!”  Diamondback sighed. “Danger is a part of life, darling,” she said. “Every day, you’ll take a risk. The only thing you can really choose is what you’ll risk it for.”  Spike and Night exchanged looks with each other at Diamondback’s wisdom. Then… “DB!” Jackknife called. “We got trouble out here!” Diamondback sighed. “Just think about it, darling,” she told Swift, before rising and heading to the outside. Giving Swift a sad look, Spike ran after Diamondback… and promptly froze so he could hide behind her.  Swift’s mother Sunny was there; with a legion of griffons. Jackknife stood ready, along with Diamondback’s Diamond Dogs, but for once, Jackknife didn’t look eager for a fight. “Ah, good, Diamondback,” Sunny said. “I understand that you have something of mine.”  Diamondback jutted her chin out. “Interesting,” she mused. “Because according to Swift, you don’t really want him.” Sunny shrugged. “Not really,” she admitted. “But I do want the gold on the price tag he’s got attached to him.” She indicated Hawke. “Hawke here says she can get at least 50 thousand bits from him.”  Diamondback hummed, glancing at the griffons and their readied weapons. “So, if I pay his weight in gold,” she mused. “You’ll leave him be?”  Sunny shrugged. “If you’re that willing to take on a useless thing like him, sure.”  Hawke gave Sunny a scandalized glare, but Sunny didn’t even glance at the evil griffon. Jackknife, however, snarled. “He ain’t useless!” He snarled. “He’s cautious, dat’s all.”  Sunny scoffed. “Too cautious,” she replied, glancing at Diamondback. “Are you sure you want to buy him? He didn’t seem that impressive when I first saw him.”  Diamondback took a breath, pondering her words, before a small voice piped up from behind them.  “Then… let’s see if I can make a better second impression.”  Spike looked back, and his eyes lit up as Swift reluctantly came out.  Sunny gave the young hybrid a scathing glare. “So, you’ll defend Diamondback and not me? What makes her better than your mother?”  Swift shivered as her words washed over him. Spike feared he was going to flee and make another fool of himself. So, he stepped forward and stood next to Swift.  “Because we make sure he doesn’t have to face threats alone,” Spike declared.  Sunny laughed at Spike’s small size, unaware of Night and Jackknife stepping up next to him. Then the Diamond Dogs formed ranks around him.  Everyone was ready to charge forward and beat down Sunny, Hawke and the rest of those griffons… before a bag of gold suddenly flew through the air and into Sunny’s claws. Sunny stared down at the bag and then at Diamondback.  “51 thousand,” Diamondback said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Go ahead, count it up. I’ll wait.”  Sunny quirked an eyebrow, but began counting the gems, as Hawke gave Diamondback a scathing glare.  “Seriously?” she demanded. “You’ll give up your treasure for this runt?” She pointed at Swift, who bristled and growled at her. “What can you even do with him? He’s weak! He’s a coward! He’s…” “Had enough of your CRAP!” Swift roared, leaping up and stabbing her with his beak.  Hawke wrenched him away, clutching at her shoulder with a roar of rage, before lunging at Swift again.  Briefly, the two birds wrestled in the air. Jackknife blasted a beam of water, hitting Hawke and knocking her off course. Taking advantage, Night shot up, head-butting Hawke away. Her attack allowed Swift the opportunity to stab the angry griffon with his beak again, before Phoenix lunged up with her jet pack and kicked Hawke in the stomach.  Hawke backed up, screeching as her griffons started to rush in.  Night pulled Swift back as Jackknife, Phoenix, the diamond dogs, and even Spike prepared for battle. But then…  “ENOUGH!” Sunny barked, making her griffons freeze in mid-air. She placed the last of the gems and gold into the bag Diamondback had tossed her. “It’s 51 thousand. Just as she promised.” She tucked the bag under her wing. “We got nothing to fight about now.” Hawke whirled on Sunny in stunned shock. “But he… he stabbed me! I was supposed to sell him, he…” “He’s been sold,” Sunny replied, glancing at Diamondback with an intrigued grin. “Why she wants to invest in him is her business.” She gave Hawke a fiery glare. “Unless you were planning on screwing me over and keeping some of this for yourself.” Hawke wilted under Sunny’s gaze, and bowed her head in submission. Sunny turned back to Diamondback.  “Pleasure doing business with you, DB,” she said, giving a curious look at Swift. “I hope he doesn’t disappoint you like he disappointed me.”  Swift bristled, Night and Spike glaring darkly at Sunny, but Diamondback merely grinned. “We’ll see,” she replied neutrally, before turning her gaze to a fuming Hawke. “Now why don’t you run along, little hawk. The grown-ups are done talking.”  Hawke seethed, fire bubbling in her eyes. But with Sunny glaring at her, Hawke was only able to give Swift another death glare before reluctantly following after her patron.  As they left, Swift’s trembling started up again, and feathers shed from him like water.  “Easy, buddy,” Spike said, trying to sooth him as Night hugged him. “I can’t believe I just did that,” he mumbled.  “You gave her a start, that’s for sure,” Jackknife praised, wiping the red off Swift’s beak.  “I can’t believe I just did that…” Swift whimpered again.  “Calm yourself, Swift,” Diamondback said. “You’re going to need to be able to face conflict like that.” “But…” Swift whimpered. “I just made her angry. She’ll be back, won’t she?” “Most likely,” Phoenix admitted. “But you made a huge step today. You fought back.”  “And someday,” Night promised. “You’ll send her packing yourself.”  Swift managed a smile at that idea. Swift pat his side.  “And until that day,” he reminded Swift. “Never forget that you got us.”  Swift’s fear faded as he brightened, and he hugged Swift closely, as the others also got in on the group hug.  ## Dear Twilight and Princess Celestia, I’ve often heard that courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s the ability to act even when fear is influencing you. Swift proved those words to me when he stood up to his abusive aunt and neglectful mother. Despite being scared out of his mind, he still found the strength to stand with his friends and prove that he was more than what his mother and aunt thought he was. And while he hasn’t dispelled the threat that his aunt will pose to him, he’s made the first big step by refusing to let her decide who or what he is.  I hope to be able to share praise on who Swift becomes, alongside my own growth and development in the weeks to come.  Your faithful dragon friend, Spike