//------------------------------// // Chapter Sixteen: Yesterdays Enemy, Todays Allie, Tommorrow's Friend // Story: The Element of Willpower // by Redwolf15 //------------------------------// Chapter Sixteen Yesterdays Enemy, Todays Ally, Tommorrow's Friend 'Wha-? Where am I?' I was being carried, I knew that much. By someone big, and warm. But carried by who? Did Jet or Sails come back? God how I hope they didn't. "I think he's waking up." That voice, it's familiar. Too familiar. No... I tried saying something but it just came out as a slur of mumbles. I'm still grogy from whatever the hell happened. "Easy child, don't take things too far. You still need rest." A second voice. Deeper than the first. And just as familiar. My voice finally comes to me. "How? You two died. Again." Corig and the Dragon Lord. Alive again. "Thanks to you. You saved us child." The dragon said. "How'd I do that?" My vision returned just in time to see a confused expression on Corig's face. To my surprise they weren't just alive, but all their injuries were gone. Dragon Lord's scales and teeth were all in their place and his wings were whole. And Corig didn't have any sign of ever being in a fight, cuts and bruises vanished. As to what else I could tell, Corig was cradling me in his two massive arms with my red coat over my body like a blanket. We were riding on the back of the Dragon Lord. "You mean you don't know?" He asks. I shake my head. "What did I do?" There was a long silence. "Sorry child, it's not our right to tell you." The dragon responded in a disappointed tone. What did I do? And what do they know about it? "Where are we?" I ask looking around, obviously still in the tunnels. But without the ex-slaves or guards, it seemed kind of barren. "The mine. We're working our way to the surface." Corig says flatly. "Corig told me what your primary objective was as to why you came here." Dragon Lord pipes up. "And after all you have done for us, we have agreed to aid you on your mission." "So you mean..." I look at Corig with hope in my eyes. He nods his furry head and a smile that went with it. But his eyes said something else. They were cold and harsh. "Why the sudden change of attitude? Just because I brought you back from the dead doesn't mean that you have to fight for me. It was a choice." My expression changes along with his. "Bornak, or I should say Discord, we once knew him." Dragon Lord pipes up. "Kind of noticed. You called him two different names. And he called you two something else. But you never recognized him from the beginning, so what happened, Dragon?" I stare at the great beast carrying us on his back. "Krinox." "Pardon?" "It's my name, Krinox. Dragon Lord is but a title. Only the few I deem worth know my true name." "Krinox, it's a nice name." I comment. "But stop changing the topic. How do you know him?" Corig sighs. "Might as well tell him our story old friend. After all, with your size we have to take the long way out." "I suppose I should start..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay there's going to be quite a bit of talking here. So purple will be the Dragon Lord, green will be Corig, and the occasioanal oranage will be Jesse and regular color text will be as per usual. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Long before ponies ruled these lands, it was dragons who ruled the world. Back when I was young we were the greatest creatures to exist, or strength and might were unbeatable, we ruled both the land, and sky. Our fire was so great that it was said that the first dragon created it with his dieing breath. He hated living in a dark world, so with all his strength he sent a giant fire ball into the sky where none are able to fly, shining light in this world and all its creatures. And we were smart and noble. Not the lumbering beasts that live these days. And there was a second race that lived with us." "The Diamond Dogs. But we were cowardly mutts. We were worse off in those days than we are now if one can actually believe that." "Our two races never cared for one another, we dragons cared for no one but ourselves. Not to say we were ignorant of the others though." "But one day a young pup decides to try something different from the other dogs. He explores. He finds new things and new wonders. And he finds a young purple dragon." "Let me guess, that pup and dragon were you two?" "Heh-heh, not like we tried hiding it." "May I carry on? Thank you. So the two meet each other. But neither one knows the other. And neither are afraid. The young pup was uneducated and didn't know how to speak, none of the Diamond Dogs knew how. So the young dragon tought the pup." "As time progresses so too does the pups education. And the bond that the dragon and Diamond Dog grew stronger. He teaches the other dogs how to speak. Until eventually an entire clan learns how to speak and soon helps other clans. Much of it was rather choppy and bad, but we learnt rather well." "Eh-hm." "Right, sorry." "But it wasn't just how to speak, we thought the Diamond Dogs how to fight, forge tools from the metal ore they dug up, how to plan, and much more. In return they would give us a fair portion of gems they would dig up. Being large and bulky, dragons couldn't find gems very well. And to help the bond between the dragons and Diamond Dogs, Corig became Prime Alpha and I Dagon Lord." "One alpha leads a single pack until he is brought down and a new one takes his place. But the Prime Alpha leads all the packs. It always comes down to his final judgment alone, and all alphas and packs must obey. But not just any Diamond Dog can become Prime Alpha. There are trials and tests to claim victory over and approval from elders before becoming Prime Alpha. Many who attempted the trials have ended up dead." "And the Dragon Lord is a title much similar. Dragons may be independant, but they know what honour and loyalty is. At least they used to. Even though they looked after themselves, they still followed the word of the Dragon Lord. His word is law." "That's nice and all, but ya mind telling me what the war was all about?" "*sigh* Impatient. There were wonderful years of living in peaceful bliss with the other species, until things turned completely around. One day each species reports that the other killed a large number of one another and took a large stack of gems for themselves. Pandemic and hate began to rise. But Corig and I never believed it, we kept trying to keep the two races from killing each other, and for a time it was working. Until I witnessed the most horrific thing." His voice grew dark and sad. "One day I return to my nest to meet my mate. Of all the stars I wished I never did. I found her dead, her blood was splattered everywhere, and our hatchlings... I witnessed as a single Diamond Dog slattered them all. They were barely old enough to breath fire and he killed them each and everyone." "As the same for me." Corig's voice soon grew the same coldness that was in Krinox's "I found what was left of my mate, spralled over our cave. And my pups were.... Our youngest couldn't even see yet." "I'm sorry to hear about that. It must have been hard for the both of you." "Believe it or not, but a dragon can actually die of a broken heart. If he cannot learn to cope with a loss or fill a missing piece of his life, he risks going mad. I could never forget the one who did it, Grom. Corig's most trusted friend and Alpha." "And it was the dragon Bornak, who took everything from me. Krinox's most noble dragon." "We swore vengance and demanded so. But of course we denied the other not believing our favorited and closest member could do such an act. Because of this, our own rage and hate blinded us, sparking the war. And the end of a life long friendship." "The number of Diamond Dog's back then were far fewer. But we were mighty. Despite being weaker than a dragon, we easily killed them by hiding underground for long periods of time until one was foolish enough to land near." "Gems were the main source of a dragon's diet, because the Diamond Dogs no longer dug for us, we were forced to steal and reserve our gems for dire times. This soon grew to hoarding, and eventually greed, dragons slowly reverted to beasts who would only look out for themselves and protect their horde from anyone who would try and take it away from them. We soon turned on our very own, trusted no one and were no longer the majestic and noble creatures we once were." I sit in Corig's lap for a time while the silence passed until I asked the question. "How did you two die? Did you kill each other?" "Mm. No. Like I said before, if a dragon cannot cope with his loss or learn to the fill the empty hole in his heart, he risks going mad. That's what happened to me. Some dragon's who tried to stay on the noble path and follow the old ways were forced to stop me. By any means necessary. I slaughtered many of my brothers and sisters in my madness, but they were finally able to stop me." "And what about you Corig?" "I was killed in battle. Three dragons slaughtered us all. I was the last to go." Croig's ears perk up as we come to a wall. "Hang on, we're here" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahhhh! Me brain hurt because pretty colours. Back to colourless text. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corig gently moves me off his lap and gets off Krinox's back. He begins digging at the wall, quickly making a hole big enough for him to crawl through. We hear the sound of crumbling stone and sunlight after digging about two feet through. "Hey! There's one!" Krinox and I hear someone's voice on the other side. "No! Wait, wait, wait let me- GAK" Corig was soon dragged out and Krinox and I looked at each other both confused and concerned. "Alright, mutt, you better tell me what I want to know or Tartarus will have another soul to look after!" I hear a distinctly familiar voice. One I am so glad to hear again. "Hey I know this one. He's the Prime Alpha. This is the guy that threw Jesse in the Pit. He'll definitely know what we want to hear." Hey, is that Jet? "Hey Krinox, can you break down that wall?" I slide off his back and onto the ground. My body feels weak and I'm about to collapse at any given moment. I untie Silver Fang fom my side and use it as a cane to support myself. Krinox gets on his hind legs and uses all his force to push against the wall. I suppose I'm not the only one who feels weaker, Krinox actually looked like he was about to strain himself. The wall finally collapses and pieces of stone fall away. We hear a lot of startled screaming from the other side. I shield my sensitive eyes from the sun with one hand. After being underground for however long I was in there, my eyes had adjusted to the dark. "It's okay Sharla, you can let him go." I call to my friends from the other side of the dust. As the dust settles down everyone starts getting scared and defensive when they see Krinox, but once they saw me, they began to lighten up. I was right, it was Sharla's voice I heard. She was on top of Corig, her duel sided axe on his neck. "Jesse!" I'm tackled to the ground by Light Flicker, Shantze, and Flex, they were holding on to me like I was about to jump from a cliff. "Hey scamps, glad to see you too." I'm weaker than I expected, they actually knocked the wind out of me. They scream and hold me tighter as they see Krinox tower over us. "Don't worry, he's a friend. The Diamond Dog too Sharla. You can let him go." She looks at Corig one last time, a horrible scowl over her face. She reluctantly lets him go, not liking it one bit. I push myself up. Shantze and Light jump off me while Flex perches nicely on my shoulder. It's nice having him there again. "Jesse, I'm so glad we found you." Shining Armor appears out of the crowd with Flora, Jet, and Sails behind him. "Your friends from the mine found us and told us what happened. The entrance caved in so we had to find a new way in." Jet walks up to me, I could see him better in this light. He had more of a dirty silver rather than a grey coat, his eyes were a sapphire blue, and his cutie mark were two lightning bolts that looked like they were made from fire rather than electicity, they crossed at the center. Damn that's cool. "We met them not too long after we escaped." "After telling them what happened and about you, they told us to show them where the cave was." Blue Sails continues. She looked much like how I imagined before, her eyes were a cyan blue, like Rainbow Dash's coat, but a little darker, and her cutie mark was an ocean wave. "But you called that Diamond Dog a friend, he was the one to put you into slavery, don't you remember?" "Oh I remember Sails. I also remember what happened back there after freeing the Dragon Lord here." I point to Krinox with my thumb and refer to him in his formal title. "And trust me on this, he can be trusted and he is my friend. They both are." "Eh-hm, well if there isn't anything else that needs to be done I suppose we'll be on our way." Corig walk over to Krinox. "And just where do you think you're off to? Just because he can forgive you doesn't mean we will." I griffin pipes up with a sword in his hand.(Er, talon?) "Because they need to go and get help so we can defeat Discord and send this world back into harmony again." I deadpan to him. I push my sword out a little from the sheathe for intimidation. "And if you have any objections with that, then I suppose we'll have a problem. " He looks at me a little scared, my intimidation was working like a charm as he backs off. "Thank you for everything you have done for us." Krinox bows his head in respect. Corig climbs on him and looks down at me. "Thank you, if it weren't for you we never would have known what really happened. And our hate would only relight a lost war." He bows to me in the same motion. "Ready, old friend?" "Ready!" Krinox unfolds his huge leathery wings and takes off. "Meet us at Canterlot! It'll be a huge castle on the side of the tallest mountain! And good luck to the both of you!" I call out to them before they get out of ear shot. In a reply we hear a howl and roar echo loud enough for the whole world to hear. "Hey Jesse," Shining Armor comes up next to me "can we trust them? I mean the whole purpose to coming here was to ask for the Diamond Dogs help. But after what they did to you, I don't think we can rely on them." "Captain," I say in a stern voice not taking my eyes off in the direction they flew off in. "I'd trust those two with my very life. Besides, we were to try and convince the Diamond Dogs to help us. Mission accomplished, and as a bonus, we'll have the dragons on our side too." "But that Diamond Dog imprisoned you. What could have happened in there that made it so you can trust him?" Jet asks me, not sure what the hell is going on. "It's fine Jet. Trust me. But the better question now is, what are the rest of you going to do?" I turn to the other freed slaves from the cave. I didn't make my voice loud enough for them to hear, only Jet and Sails heard me. "Well, Jet and I are going to go back to Vanhoover. After all that's happened, I just wana go back home." Sails says with a smile. Hey, this is the first time I've seen her do that. She looks good smiling. I lean down to Sails so Jet can't hear us. "Does he know that you like him? Because after something like this, I'd suggest confessing to him." Her face goes from blue to red. I chuckle to myself as she tries saying something, but words just can't seem to come out of her mouth. Jet just looks at us confused as to what he missed. "Good question though, what are we going to do with them?" Shining Armor asks no one in particular. "Hey, don't worry about us." A unicorn comes up to us. She had a yellow coat, purple mane that's been cut short, and a cutie mark of a blue heart inside a box said. "We've got families to go back to. We all more or less already agreed on that. Some of us all live in the same town while others have to go out of Equestria. See, some of us are already leaving." She points at the large crowd, already getting smaller. Griffins and pegasi were flying off, other ponies and other ex-slaves were dividing into smaller groups and heading in different directions, they were all leaving to their homes after gone for years. "No pony else may have said this to you yet, but, on behalf of all of us, thank you for everything. Thanks to you we were given our lives back." With a small blush she turns away and joins a group of ponies and moves off. We watched as the rest left to go home and thanking me for freeing them. Soon it was just our original group, Jet, and Sails left. "So, you're heading home to?" I look at Sails and Jet curiously. "Yeah, I suppose we've taken too long of a trip." Jet says in a carefree tone. "Thank you for everything you've done for all of us. Your friends told us what your mission was, and we wouldd like to join you, but I really want to see my family again. It's been too long." Sails wraps her front two legs around me for a hug. She's surprisingly soft. "What are friends for?" Odd that I'm the one saying it. Before coming here I had next to no friends. Now I'm making them left and right. I've changed a lot since I came here. Maybe I should give Princess Celestia a friendship report. Maybe even thank Discord for sending me here; right before we turn him to stone that is. She lets go. "Hey, you were able to do what I always talked about, and I know when I'm beat, guess now I'm the second biggest badass. But don't think it'll stay that way forever." Jet challenges with a gleam in his eye. He extends a hoof out to me. Does he want what I think he wants? "Heh-heh. Wouldn't have it any other way buddy." I meet his hoof with my fist. Bro-hoof. "So, I guess this is good-bye. It was nice meeting both of you." Sad, I've made two great friends, and it hurts to say good-bye. "Nuh-uh. You're to weak to walk on your own." Sharla takes off her axe strapped to her back and gives it to Shining Armor. She grabs my arm and puts me on her back. "Until you get your strength back, I'm your legs." '*sigh* Can't argue with her. Hell, she'd probably break my legs if I tried walking.' I wink at Sails indicating for her to tell Jet as Sharla walks away off. "Hey Jet, can we talk for a minute?" She asks in a rather shy tone. I look back after a few seconds and see Sails kissing Jet. His face soon matched the color of his mane and his eyes were wide in shock. I wish the two of them the best of luck, because they'll need it. "Hey numbskull," Flora pipes up in her usual rude tone. "What happened after you left? And what did happen in those caves?" "It's a long trip to Canterlot." Shining Armor informs with the same interest. "Alright, alright. Well, after I went looking for food, I met a very dangerous foe, and soon to be a very loyal friend... "