//------------------------------// // 13: Reuniting // Story: Pony of the Gears // by TheFoxern //------------------------------// Politely clearing one’s throat is usually a generally approved way of waking someone up, as is a gentle shaking or even a knock at the door. A way that is generally frowned upon, but is most often used by those of a more childish mindset, is leaping onto the bed and jumping up and down. The first few moments of the one waking up are usually panic and then anger, unless they too are of a childish mindset. Unfortunately, Copper is not and this is the way he had just woken up. When he saw the pony who was doing the jumping, though, he could not be angry. “Hi Pinkie,” he said blearily, trying to focus on her. “C'monc'monc'monc'monc'monc'mon!Wakeup!Getup!Thepartyhasalreadystarted!Andit'salreadystartingtobeasuperawesomehappyfuntime!” Again it took Copper several seconds to mentally add in the spaces and separate the words. He cleared his throat as he sat up. “Ah, yes...the party. Sorry, I was tired.” She stared at him. “You're back to normal!” she declared, pointing a hoof at him. He blinked and nodded. “Yup. Back to normal.” He took a deep breath; Pinkie had brought the smell of baked goods with her. There was a pause inside his head as he wondered how that was possible and then he realized it was her breath. “Been at the cupcakes already?” “Yup! I spent all night making up a suuuuuper big batch of awesome cupcakesandcookiesandcakesandcandiesandcupcakes!” Pinkie was still jumping up and down on his bed, to the point he was having difficulty actually getting off of it. Somehow she always managed to jump on the other side of the bed in just the right way that made him roll back into the middle. “Jeta said that I should wait till the party was going before coming and getting you. She said you'd like the dramatics.” He chuckled softly as he decided to simply roll off the bed and into the water. It was cold and he shot straight up and shook. He had forgotten that his room was not completely unflooded. “Yes, well...I enjoy that sort of thing. It...adds a little something. I'll have to make a fairly dramatic entrance as well... How's Twilight?” “Oh she's good. I saw her at the buffet last time I checked,” she said with a grin. Jeta swam into the room, carrying a large box. “Ah good. Pinkie got you up.” “It's not fair to sic her on a sleeping pony you know...it's borderline cruel,” he said as he chuckled. It was impossible for him to keep a straight face. “What's in the box?” Jeta set the box down on the surface of the water and pushed it; it floated towards him. “Something for you to wear. It seems the white unicorn-” “Rarity,” Pinkie interjected, with a grin. “Yes, Rarity...has turned this into a bit more of a formal affair, since there's so many ponies. And it's really lifted everypony’s spirit.” She looked at Copper a second to gather the words. “Thank you.” He shrugged and chuckled softly as he opened the box. “Anytime. It was just a-” his voice trailed off. “How...did you get this?” His eyes did not leave the contents of the box. “After you died...we...well, there was a large group of us who...who went back...and we found it...just where it had snagged. It took a bit of repairing, but... I think it's good.” Jeta said, staring down at the water. “I...I know you said it wasn't worth it...and I should just leave it...but...it had calmed down...and...well...” Her voice trailed off. “Whazzit?” Pinkie said and leaned over. “Oooohhh. Pretty bow!” He smiled a bit as he lifted the bowtie from the box. It was copper in color and sparkled very softly. In the center was a dark red circular stone. “It's a bowtie, Pinkie...” His mind wandered back to the day when he stood with Horsh and he was fussing over the tie. “I see it has a new stone.” There was a white collar for the bowtie inside the box and Copper picked it up and began fixing it around his neck. She nodded slowly. “Yes. The old one had came off...but when we found it...it just didn't look right without it.” “Red bubble stones are rare, I thought?” he said, before putting the bowtie on once again. It felt like forever since he had worn it. But now, he would always wear it. It was the only thing he had that Horsh had ever given him. “They are,” Jeta said as she moved up to him and gently touched the red bubble stone. “But we felt it was worth it...it...it was hanging in the central meeting hall. I had thought of giving it to you earlier, but...it took some convincing to get it down.” He nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “Thank you, Jeta,” he said, giving her a big smile. “This...this means a lot to me.” Pinkie reached down and adjusted his bowtie a bit. “Right then, silly goose. You ready to make your entrance?” “Yes,” he said, standing up straight. “The question is how...” Jeta smiled at him and glanced at Pinkie. “Oh, don't worry. We have made plans.” He raised an eyebrow. “Really now? Well...then this will be quite interesting.” A smile crawled over his face as the three of them headed out of the room. ~ The room was dimly lit by the light Coral that Copper had brought with him. “Are you sure about this?” Jeta said as she swam up beside him, staring off into the distance at the large mountain looming in the distance. Smoke was billowing out from the top. “Not really...” Copper said cautiously. “But...if it's true, then it will be worth it.” It was only a few minutes of travel, but they had gone a great distance. Now that Copper had adjusted to life in Aquis for the most part, traveling around was less tiring and a lot faster. The singing still got to him. The words were burned into his head now. “Do you think they'll miss us at the party?” she said, looking back at the city, whose lights could still be seen. They had taken out The Great Coral for this, which shone the brightest of any coral. “I'd hardly call it a party,” Copper said and rubbed at his neck; the bowtie felt a bit too tight. “Honestly, it's more just a big group of ponies standing around and talking. That's more of a gathering or something. There's no-” he stopped, as he was about to say music, but it was hard to be anywhere around seaponies and not find some singing. He waved a hoof vaguely. “Cake,” he ventured. “It's all shrimp and...those disgusting fish eggs.” “Caviar,” Jeta said, smiling slightly. “And they are pretty bad...but they want us to call it a party.” “It's not a party. I have never been to a party. And that was not a party.” It was starting to bother him now. If that was a party, he didn't want to ever go to one again. Even the ball at Lady Evale's was better than this. But that was a long time ago. He wondered how long exactly it had been and realized he had missed something Jeta had said. “What?” She looked at him. “I said, we should slow down. That way we don't run into anything when we get closer to the volcano.” Copper did so, slowing down and began walking on the sea floor. “Run into what exactly?” he said, eyeing the volcano. He had seen volcanoes before, but never under water. That was a true sight to behold. It billowed smoke constantly. But the smoke was lit by lava from below and caused great shadows across the smoke. Or was it more of a sludge? Copper wasn't sure what happened when you mixed smoke with water. “The heat probably turns the water into steam...and so it would be smoke under water...I'm sorry, what?” Her brow wrinkled as she stared at him. “If you're going to ask questions you should at least listen to the answer,” she said, folding her flippers. He sighed softly and nodded. “Yes. Sorry. My mind was wandering.” “Obviously.” She turned back to the volcano. “Mostly we need to watch out for vents. Places where the ground has split and sometimes jets steam. If you go too fast, you could swim over one as it jets and get cooked.” “That is something to avoid...” Copper saw that there seemed to be a lot of places that shot out steam as they got closer. “Copper...” Jeta said, swimming closer to him. “Why are we doing this?” Copper frowned, as he stared at the volcano. “You heard the Councilor... Since I prodded him to get going with his investigation, it's shown that most of the pollution is coming from the volcano's area.” “But he also said that he was handling it personally...” she said frowning. “Yes, well, I don't trust him. At all.” He took a deep breath; the bubble around his head was a bit unnerving. He preferred his scuba gear, but he couldn't take that into such a fancy get together. So he had to get a hold of a bubble stone. Thankfully that had not been too hard. Apparently it was easy for a diplomat to get something like that. “But...I mean...do you think he's causing it or something?” It was a suspicion that had obviously been on her mind as well. “If he's not the cause, he's not trying to solve it,” he said, taking another deep breath. The bubble made him want lots of air. Or maybe it was the feeling of water pressing against him that made him want to breath deeply. Either way he kept taking deep breaths. “But what-” “I don't know,” he said, sighing. “It's just a feeling, okay? And this feeling is always spot on. It hit me the moment he started talking about it.” “And that's why we left the party so quickly?” They paused at a fissure in the ground that had a red light coming up from it. “Yes,” Copper said as he leaned cautiously over it and peered down. “Hm...that's interesting.” “What?” Jeta joined him, looking over the edge as well and then frowned. “What is that? It's not lava.” “And it's not even warm around here...always gotta trust the feeling.” He leaned a little farther, squinting into the light. “I think I can see a tunnel...” “But...why would someone- Hey! Wait for me!” She swam down the fissure, following after Copper as he sank down. He came to a soft landing and kicked the floodlight that had been pointed upwards so that it shone down the tunnel. It led off a ways and then sharply turned to the right. The tunnel walls sparkled. “Are...are those...” she stammered softly. It didn't just sparkle. “This is where they've been getting the bubble stones...” Each one created oddly shaped pockets of air. It was to the point where large sections of the wall were completely dry. “But...I thought there was some kinda shortage...” she said as she pushed at one of the stones. “It's stuck...” He looked at her and then shook his head. “This rock is tough...” He started making his way down the tunnel. “I doubt you could shift it with your flippers...you need some...heavy...machinery...” His voice trailed off as he saw around the corner. “What?” she said as she swam after him and froze as well when she saw it. It was a large room, extremely large. But it was lit from bottom to top and in the center was a machine. A massive main structure at the center and from it eight long arms that had several joints, which made it capable of bending at many different angles. At the end of each arm, there was a large drill. The tunnel they had been traveling down had actually been one of the holes the machine had bored. “Octopus,” he said, frowning. Of course a seapony would name it something like that and probably asked for it to be designed like that. But who designed it? That would have to wait. “Come on.” He leaped off into the open water and began swimming towards where he guessed a control room would be. Looking up showed where the smoke was. And it wasn't smoke, it was sludge. “This is where the pollution is coming from...” Jeta said sadly, staring at the black sludge as it rose out the top of the dead volcano. Copper had to search a bit, but eventually found a door a little ways from where he had been looking. He forced it open. To his disappointment, it was empty aside from a large complicated-looking control panel, with many levers, buttons, dials and a few blinking lights. “Wow...” he said as he saw the controls, moving into the room. “This...what genius made this...” Jeta came in behind him. “We have to destroy it,” she said, panic in her voice. He looked at her and blinked. “Destroy it?” His mind raced and then he nodded, looking at the controls again. “Right...stop the pollution... Ponies’ lives are at stake.” He took a deep breath; he felt a pang of guilt for it, but he began working the levers. “What are you doing?” she said, as she heard engines turn and start. The sludge began pumping out even more. The Octopus had simply been idling. “Destroying it,” he said simply. It was hard to work the controls, the machine wasn't designed to dig down. “But...what are you doing?” Jeta looked out the door and down. Realization dawned. “Copper...you're not-” “Oh yes. I am,” he said and pushed a lever forward. Everything jerked and rumbled. “What better way to ruin something hiding in a volcano, then an eruption?” “But...but Copper, underwater eruptions aren't like they are above land...it...it's worse,” Jeta said, panic raising in her voice. “We might not get away.” “Right. Let's get going then.” He pushed the lever forward until it snapped. They both swam; Jeta kept coming back to him and telling him to hurry up. “I can't swim as fast as you.” He panted, it was already getting hotter. He glanced back and down as they reached the tunnel that they had entered by. Bright light was coming up. Then everything shook. “Copper!” He could hardly hear Jeta over the crash of stone. When he opened his eyes, he went to swim forward, but something stopped him. His bowtie was snagged. “Damn thing!” he said and pulled and pulled, until it snapped. Jeta rushed to him. “Copper! Are you all right?” Water. No air, just water. He thrust his head back into the bubble and gasped for air. “Damn. I forgot about that.” He looked at the bowtie and then bit off the small bubble stone. “Let's go,” he said, holding it in his teeth. “But what about-” He looked at the bowtie. He had told Jeta where he had gotten it and who had given it to him, but it didn't matter. “Leave it,” he said as he swam. “But-” “I said leave it! It's not worth getting crushed by a rock.” ~ He could barely see the volcano from here. It was going to be a grand entrance, without a doubt. And he knew Celestia would hear of it eventually. But she wouldn't be able to find him. Just know that he was alive. That made him feel a bit smug. He shook his head; it was not good that she would know. He sighed, watching the volcano gently smoke in the distance. Even after seven years, it hadn't calmed down. Or perhaps it had started up again recently? Who knew. It was just a vague dark line on the undersea horizon. “Are you ready, Copper?” He turned to see Jeta peeking in through the curtain and nodded. “As ready as ever.” He took a deep breath, because some habits died hard. “There's a lot of ponies down there. Apparently word of the party got around and...well the place is packed...” Jeta was nervous, he could tell. “Good,” Copper said with a chuckle. The party had been moved to the grand hall, the biggest indoor place in Aquis and was apparently spilling outside and into adjoining rooms. She looked at him and then smiled. “You never used to laugh so much... I like it.” “A couple days with Pinkie will do that to a pony,” he said, returning her smile. “But I do believe it is time to make my grand return.” She nodded and disappeared behind the curtain. Right. Plan was, walk out and then walk the stairs down. It was ridiculous, he realized now. That was something Celestia would do. But he was challenging her, wasn't he? “Mares and Gentlecolts!” Jeta called out, her voice echoing around the hall. The place went silent. “It is my honor, to finally present the colt who all this is for and whom without, it would not have happened.” There was an eruption of flippers slapping together and hooves stomping and splashing on the ground. “Right then...shock and awe.” He walked forward and pushed the curtain out of the way. It was a tad brighter than Copper had expected and it took a few seconds for his eyes to become accustomed to it. In those seconds, the noise died down abruptly and was full of gasps and shouts. “Evening everypony,” he said as he started to make his way down the stairs. Those at the bottom of the stairs started to move away, trying not to even be close to being in his way. “Now I know what you're all thinking...” he said, smiling. “But no. I'm not dead. Not anymore.” He could tell there was a lot trying to back away and a lot trying to rush forward. There were ponies and seaponies absolutely filling the room. Maybe this was a tad too much? Too late to stop now. “Yes, I was dead. But thanks to some very powerful unicorns,” he scanned for Twilight, but couldn't seem to find her, “I have been brought back. None too gently I might add.” He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around. “Any questions?” His smile seemed unable to contain itself. “Yeah. What took you so long?” Copper turned to see Pinkie making her way over the crowd. “We have been having lotsa super duper fun waiting for you!” He smiled more and moved towards her, ponies moved out of his way. He blinked a bit. “All right, show’s over.” He made a shooing gesture with his hoof. “It's still a party. Get to partying.” That seemed enough to break whatever spell they were all under and conversations erupted. “Where's Twilight and the rest of the gang?” “This way, c'mon!” She swam off back the direction she had come from. He jumped up and swam as well; ponies seemed fond of staying on the floor and seaponies were keen to join them, so a dozen hooves up was free and clear. Then he saw them. All of them and the smile he had grew even bigger. He landed in front of them, looking at them. What did you say at a time like this? Rarity was crying. So was Fluttershy. Even Applejack looked like she was on the verge of crying and when he looked at Dash, it looked as if she had almost started crying as well, her eyes swimming with tears. Twilight was crying as well, though not very much. What did you say at a time like this? “Sorry,” was all he could manage to say. They all smiled at him. “An' what have ya got to be sorry fer?” Applejack said. He closed his eyes and nodded. Part of him wanted to cry as well. But he was too happy for tears. Not even tears of joy. “Quite a lot,” he said with a smile. When he had opened his eyes again, they had all moved closer to him. “For how I left, for one. And showing up so randomly, with no explanation...” “I'm pretty sure that was a fairly good explanation,” Rarity said, smiling. She was wearing an absolutely stunning dress. It was hard to describe what color it was exactly because it seemed to shift and shimmer in the light, but it went between greens and blues in a mind numbing way. It was designed to be worn underwater. Copper wondered how long she had taken to make it. “Quite the show. And I have to say that that bowtie suits you quite well.” “Thank you.” He took a deep breath, looking around at them. “It...it is so good to see all of you...” My friends. The first ponies he actually thought of as friends. A little pathetic when he thought about it. More than a little in fact. Very pathetic. “How's everypony been?” After a moment of discussion, it was agreed Applejack should start. “Well, the farm’s been doin' a whole lot better these few years. Everypony loves our apples, but ain't no new farms croppin' up anywhere and it seems the rest just can't keep their doggone doors open.” Copper tilted his head to the side. “Why's that?” “Dunno. Trees just ain't lastin' as long as they used ta. That's what I figure. Well, that and Sweet apple acres has the most fertile soil in all Equestria. I reckon it's the Zap Apples that does it.” There was a short silence as Copper processed this. “Zap Apples?” he said after his thought. “I've never heard of them.” The other ponies stared at him. “You ain't never hearda Zap Apples?” He shook his head slowly. “No...but I've spent most of my life outside of Equestria and the last four years dead.” This caused a bit of silence. “I'm going to stop bringing that up...” he said and cleared his throat. “Sorry.” “It's alright dear. It's just...odd to think about.” Rarity said, giving him a slight smile. It seemed a bit forced Copper thought. “Well...” He looked at Applejack. “What's a Zap apple?” So she told him. There were a few parts that seemed to him a bit far-fetched, though he wasn't one to disbelieve any of it. It seemed possible, just not likely. “And that's how we get Zap Apples, which we mostly make into Zap Apple jam! Yep, that jam kept us up and running back then. But now, everypony wants our apples from Los Pagasus all the way to Manehatten.” Silence once again, as Copper stared blankly up at the sky. “Manehatten...how...uhm...what is it like there now?” “Not as bad as you would think,” Rarity said as she stepped up beside Applejack. The other ponies had seemed to fall back a bit and allowed them to talk, but now they were all up once again. “Not many ponies were hurt; most of the damage was structural.” “The airship was slow and ponies evacuated when it started bombing ships out in the harbor. That's where most of the deaths were. A few tried to fight back and the rest of the deaths were amongst those who stayed to fight,” Twilight said, giving him a concerned look. Everypony was giving him a concerned look. It was his fault. “Well, that's good...” It wasn't a massacre. “And it's up and running again?” Only a few deaths. But a few to someone who was not there could be dozens. Especially in comparison to how many ponies lived in Manehatten. Applejack nodded and gave him a weak smile. “Yeah. Pretty much everythin's been rebuilt. And there are a lot of new buildings.” He nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “You'll have to invite me over next time Zap Apple season starts,” he said suddenly, smiling. “I'd love to help out and see it for myself.” Everypony brightened up a bit. That's right Copper, put on a fake smile and pretend everything's all right. It is for the most part, anyways. “Well that'd be great! It was recently so, you'll hafta wait for the next time.” He nodded again, taking another deep breath. “I'll look forward to it.” And he knew he would. Oh how he would look forward to it. It would not be normal, not for him, but it would be something to do with friends. Friends who wanted to be around him. Applejack smiled at him, a genuine smile that made Copper feel a lot better. There was a lot more discussion of the logistics of the sales of apples and apple based products. Copper listened to every word, keeping mental track of it all as if there would be a test later on. He wasn't sure how long had passed, but eventually Rarity came over and nudged Applejack slightly. “I'm sure Copper doesn't need to know every detail dear.” She gave Rarity a look and then smiled. “Well, I'll hand the reigns over to Rarity then and go get some grub.” She turned and walked off through the crowd. “No that's...I didn't mean...” Rarity stopped and looked at Copper. She straightened up a bit. “I suppose it's my turn then, yes?” He chuckled softly and shrugged. “If you'd like. I'm not going to force anypony to talk to me.” “Nonsense,” she said as she moved a bit closer and sat down. There was a moment of silence, which Copper felt the need to break first. “I'm sorry I lost your cloak...it...burned up, I'm afraid.” She waved her hoof vaguely. “Oh don't worry about that dear. I can easily make another, better cloak. That one would be far out of fashion this year.” He chuckled softly and she arched her brow. “What's so funny?” “Nothing,” he said shaking his head. “Just...never been concerned with fashion,” he paused, “Obviously.” The tattered cloak shifted in the currents; everypony moving about and all the seaponies swimming caused quite a few of them. The nod she gave was slow and cautious. “Yes...well...you can't be blamed, after all you've been-” she stopped before settling on, “Gone, for four years. Fashion moves on a day to day basis and would be impossible to keep up with.” All he could think of to do was nod in agreement. “I could see how that would make things difficult for a pony such as yourself.” She blinked and then smiled. “For me my dear? Oh no. I,” she raised a hoof, placing it across her chest, “am one of the many reasons that it changes so often. I am one of the top fashion designers in all of Equestria.” “I do not doubt it,” he said, smiling. It was easy to believe; even though there were probably bits of dirt with better knowledge of fashion than Copper, it was still so obvious. He remembered when he first saw the cloak. The feel of it. “Where did you find the time to design your dress?” He had to ask, it was starting to bug him. She smiled even more. “Oh I stayed up late last night and put it together. Can't go to a party without dressing up.” He chuckled softly and adjusted his bowtie absentmindedly. “Yes, I do believe I understand that.” “Where did you get that wonderful bowtie?” she asked as she leaned forward, to look at it closer. “The stone is truly lovely. A bubble stone, yes?” “Oh yes,” he said, nodding. “It's one of the rarer kinds. Dark ones are rare and red ones are rare and dark red ones are even more rare. The rarest ones are black.” “Oh? Why is that?” she said, her head titling slightly to the side. A shiver ran through him. Please don't look at me like that, it sends shivers through me. “Mhm. They're said to also be very powerful. Once it reaches a certain depth of darkness, the bubble expands. There's one in the museum that can easily fit a hundred ponies in comfortably.” “Goodness.” She looked down at the little necklace she wore around her neck and Copper noticed it for the first time. It shimmered as her dress, somewhere between blue and green. He smiled a bit; that must have been where she had gotten the inspiration for the dress. She reached over and adjusted his bowtie slightly. He was surprised he didn't flinch. “It looks very old...” she said as she fiddled with it. “Oh it is. I...it...it had belonged to Horsh,” he said and cursed himself for that slightly sad tone he had slipped into. He took in a deep breath and sighed as her face turned to concern. “That was your griffon friend, yes? The one from Griflon?” “Yes. It's the only thing he ever gave me... Besides advice. A lot of which I don't remember.” He stared slightly up above her and then smiled. “But, that was a very long time ago.” “Not for you,” she said and his smile faltered. “For you it hasn't been that long at all... Are you going to be all right?” “I'm always all right,” he said, taking another deep breath. “Eventually...” he added, it was something he felt needed to be there. It had to be said and he needed to be the one who said it. Eventually he would be all right. He was always all right eventually. Not even death had damaged him irreversibly. At least he hoped it had not. “But it is good to hear that things are going well for you.” “Oh more than well, thank you,” she said with a smile. It faded slowly as she looked past Copper. “But I do believe Rainbow Dash wishes to have her turn now.” He looked back at Dash, who was practically vibrating on the spot. “Yes,” she said, sounding as excited as she looked. Rarity rolled her eyes and wandered back to the group. “Well Dash, how have things been with you?” Copper said as he turned to face her. “Amazing!” she said, her wings flexing. “I'm a Wonderbolt!” Copper blinked, it took a short moment for him to remember that that had pretty much been her entire life goal. “That's great,” he said with a smile. “Fantastic in fact.” “I know! Though, technically I'm just a reserve...but I get called out to all the big events and the best part is I have my own Wonderbolt suit!” He looked at her, she wasn't wearing it right now. “Where is it?” She sighed and gestured at the other ponies. “They said I shouldn't bring it. Said I'd draw too much attention. But why shouldn't I? I'm pretty awesome.” “Pretty awesome,” Copper agreed, nodding and smiling. “Well that's great that you finally made it.” They talked quite a bit about events that she had been to, apparently she had been a Wonderbolt for a few years and seemed more to Copper their trump card rather than a reserve. But eventually she stopped. “Well, I'm going to go see what sort of grub they have around here...” “All right, Dash,” Copper said, chuckling. “I'm sure you'll find a lot of things to your liking, if they haven't changed their dishes too much since I was last here.” She nodded and half flew half swam off. “See ya.” He turned to the group of ponies. Er, not a group anymore, but a singular pony. “Where'd everyone wander off to Fluttershy?” Copper said as he made his way a bit closer to her. “Pinkie couldn't sit still this long...Twilight's off looking at architecture...Dash and Applejack are getting food...and I think Rarity is showing off her dress...” she said and he noticed how she did not look at him. Sitting down he said, “Well...how have you been?” “Fine...” she said, staring at the ground. Copper guessed that would be the most he would try to get out of her and the most he probably could get out of her, right now anyways. For now, he was going to enjoy the companionable silence, or relative silence since the party was still going full swing. He had a lot to think about. Celestia probably knew by now, or maybe not. How long did it take to get to Canterlot from here? He had no idea what the travel time was by train. He had taken an airship most of the way and walked the last bit into town. But there was always a magical way of sending messages. Would Celestia send someone magical to watch over Twilight? Probably not. Twilight was her faithful student. Part of him wouldn't be surprised if she sent a letter to Celestia herself. But didn't she need Spike for that? “Where's Spike?” he said, looking around. Spike was not there as far as he could tell. Fluttershy jumped slightly at the sudden question. “O-oh, Spike's still in Ponyville. He didn't want to come... Dragons don't do too well under water...” “Mmm…not the species he is anyways... I know there are sea dragons a ways off from here...” She looked at him for the first time since he arrived. “Sea dragons?” He nodded slightly, smiling. It was easy to get Fluttershy to open up. All one had to do was talk about her interests. “Oh yes. They range from all shapes and sizes like regular dragons. Though their colors tend to be a bit more muted and they're not as shiny. They also don't breath fire. They spit out streams of boiling water.” “Wow...and you've met some?” He had her full attention now. Again he nodded slightly. “Oh yes. Just one though and he was a tad rough around the edges. Not a bad dragon, just a little hard to talk to.” He waved his hoof vaguely in a direction, which turned out to be west. “If you look west, for the thin line of black in the distance, that's the volcano he calls home.” “He lives in a volcano?” she asked, leaning to look in the direction he was gesturing, but there was a wall in the way. “Oh yes. They love the heat. At this depth a volcano is the only thing that can keep the temperature to the point that they like.” “What was he like?” So he told her. ~ There was a rumbling and Copper took a deep breath. He glanced at the necklace he was wearing, with its pale blue bubble stone. His eyes wandered to the large hole and the very soft glow coming from within. “Excuse me!” he called into the hole. “If you don't mind I'd like to have a word with you!” He did not dare go in; the water out here was almost to the point of unbearable already. He knew that in there, some parts would be so hot they would flash into steam. There was a long silence before he saw the two blue eyes, the slits focusing on him. “What do you want?” The voice was not as harsh as he had expected it, but it rumbled slightly. It also sounded tired. “Merely to talk,” Copper said, staring at those eyes. The problem now was to not back down. He could boil him alive with a breath. There was a soft grinding noise and the eyes seemed to shift slightly. “Then talk.” In the gloom Copper could make out the shape of the dragon. It was huge. He cleared his throat. “The seaponies don't mind you living here, in fact they quite like having you. But they would like to ask you not to eat them anymore. They are willing to set up an arrangement of fish deliveries, in exchange for not eating them.” The eyes seemed a lot less harsh now. “I do not eat seaponies.” Copper blinked, his mind back peddling quite a bit. That had been unexpected. “Ah. Terribly sorry.” He said hurriedly. “Ponies were going missing sort of around this area, coinciding with your arrival. Terribly sorry.” “I have seen a few of them wander by, but I do not eat them. I eat the shiny stones in my home, when I cannot get any fish.” Those eyes seemed to stare not at Copper, but at a space a few hooves behind his head. But he was used to looks like this. “Again, sorry for the accusation.” Thoughts were racing through his head. One thought jumped to the front of the line. “Perhaps we could come to some sort of other agreement?” There was another shift and the eyes lowered. It dawned on Copper that the dragon was making itself more comfortable. “What sort of agreement?” “Fish, for the stones?” he said and took a deep breath. “The volcano that is your home is filled with precious stones that create pockets of air. To the seaponies these are very valuable. And they would be willing to trade quite a lot of fish for a handful of them.” A thoughtful pause followed and the eyes disappeared for a moment. “Perhaps we could come to some sort of arrangement... I do like the taste of fish.” ~ “So he was nice?” Fluttershy said, tilting her head slightly. “Oh I suppose so. He didn't boil me, so I would assume so,” he said chuckling softly. “It went a lot better than I could have hoped it to.” “Do...you think that we...could go and visit him?” she asked and Copper could hear the hesitation in her voice. The sort that said, yes I want to go, but I'm also scared to go. He gave her a bright smile. “Of course. I'm sure he'd be happy to see me again.” Or at least I hope he will be, he added to himself. The rest of the party went by and it was great. Copper had a lot of fun and a lot to eat. And maybe a bit too much to drink. Sometime after the party he found Chestnut passed out behind a table. He wondered if changelings could die from alcohol poisoning as he helped her to her room. Then he went on a search for his room. Why did he always have such a hard time finding where he was staying? Eventually he found his way to a balcony and decided that it was a good a place as any. He wrapped himself up in his cloak and went to sleep. Later he would have to admit it was the best sleep he had ever had, though the hangover and the taste left in his mouth the next morning, detracted from it a bit.