//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Dinner Date // Story: World of Chaos // by ugugg93 //------------------------------// Twilight was frozen in fear. Not many things truly frightened Celestia's student to this level, for she had faced Nightmare Moon, a Hydra, and even two other dragons. In fact, on two of those occasions, she actually charged her opponent. Of course, having a dragon cornering you in his lair while two of your friends were held captive, two passing out due to exhaustion, and she herself barely be able to cast a simple light spell before going comatose, Twilight assumed panic is a reasonable response. And while she had no doubt Pinkie's physics defying antics could make her last a few minutes, Pinkie was not known for her haymaker. Twilight stole a glance behind her at the other three ponies at the ground level, and while Applejack was readying herself for a fight, they were all, including the party pony, visibly frightened by the sight in front of them. Sarlaka smiled at Pinkie, “Well little one, it seems that you are the winner of the 'get to the dragon lair first' contest. Do you wish for your prize?” Twilight said a silent prayer to Celestia that Pinkie would do anything but say something stupid. A noticeable few seconds passed before the bubbly mare replied in her usual tone of voice, “Ooh! I didn't know you were giving out prizes! Gasp! Is it a dragon cupcake!?” Twilight mentally facehoofed. Sarlaka merely chuckled, “You will see in a little bit, but for now...” He started approaching the four mares, with Applejack bracing for an attack that never came. Instead, he lurched back on his back two legs, and with a foreclaw, grasped the cage that the two pegasi were locked into, and ripped it off the chain with no apparent effort on his part. He turned to the other four, “I will make you a deal. I will let you all go on one condition.” While her friends were still stunned at the dragon's presence, Twilight was able to respond first, doing her best to sound brave, “And what condition would that be?” she said, a slight squeak coming out in the middle of the statement. “Only that you listen. I have something to tell and propose to all of you, and I wish for all of you to give me your insights on... a few certain matters. However, once I have told you what I have to say, all of you may leave, and I promise that I will not only not stop you, but you will never hear from me again.” “... really?” Twilight heard Rarity ask in a very confused tone. “Well, if you try to kill me, attack a few guards, or commit any other various high crimes, you probably will run across me again, but I don't think six young fillies will get into any sort of messes like that. So no, you will not see me again.” “Jus' like that. Yall gonna let us go. No catch? No apple buckin' backstabbin'?” Applejack stated, still ready to fight, but stood less aggressively towards the dragon. “Jus' like that,” he replied, attempting to imitate the cowpony, though with the booming voice and the jaw structure, it was only partially effective. This earned a muffled scowl from the earth pony, and a giggle from Pinkie. Twilight looked at the purple dragon, trying to sense any kind of dishonesty coming from him. Though he wasn't the Element of Honesty, he appeared to be telling the truth enough. “Fine,” she finally stated, crossing her forelegs across her chest, “we'll hear you out. So what do you have to tell us?” “My little ponies,” Sarlaka chucked again, “I'm sure all of you are feeling very hungry, especially after such a terrifying ordeal. Please, I have set up a fine dinner for you all, and considering at least two of you have not eaten in at least a day, I suggest you take it.” It was only then that Twilight heard the tell-tale rumbling of her stomach, now begging her at the mention of a meal. Hoping nopony heard, she tried to keep face, “I'd rather just hear what you have to say.” The dragon lowered himself back onto all fours, so that if face was level with the ponies, “Please,” he spoke, his tone becoming more serious, “I insist.” Twilight sighed, and, relenting, simply nodding her reply. Gently, Sarlaka placed the cage on the ground, and pulled the door off the rest of the jail, uncaring at the destruction that was the result. He stepped back, and started to turn towards the door just to the left of the entrance. “Follow me, and don't touch my little pile of goodies. I do not like having thieves at my dinner table. Leads to awkward silences.” He turned a corner, and was out of sight. Slowly, Fluttershy and Rainbow, who was using Fluttershy to keep her balance, exited the cage. As soon as the two stepped out, they were rushed by the other four, Pinkie uncharacteristically being very gentle with the chromatic mare, while Rarity made sure she was the first to reach the yellow pegasus, asking all sorts of questions, most of them inquiring about their condition and what the dragon had done to them. “Well,” Fluttershy softly spoke, “he really wasn't that unpleasant. Maybe not nice, but he wasn't that mean.” Rainbow huffed, “Not mean my flank! You call batting me like a fly, ponynapping us, and then caging us in that thing,” Rainbow pointed over Pinkie, who still hung on the pegasus, at the cage, “not mean?” “Umm... I mean... he didn't eat us...” “Oh! So he didn't eat us. I'll make sure to thank him after my fur comes back in!” “Anyways!” Twilight interrupted, “As much as this is a lovely conversation, I would much rather know why he even went to all of this trouble to talk to us. Think about it. A dragon plus what could pass as the entire town's guard could have easily torched us. Yet they went through the trouble to get us here alone with him.” Applejack brought a hoof to her chin in thought, “What ya meanin'?” “I mean that whatever he is telling us is something that he doesn't want to tell everypony in sight. Though WHAT that something is is still a question.” “A question I would ANSWER if you were to get over here, sit down, and shut your muzzles!” an audibly annoyed voice echoed through the cavern. The ponies looked at each other, shrugged, and turned towards the door. Twilight noticed that Applejack made sure to stay in the rear, having more than once turn Rarity's head forward as her eyes drifted towards the vast riches of the dragon's hoard. Fortunately, Rarity was sensible enough not to go through with any crazy schemes she had floating through her head. Passing the threshold of the dragon sized doorway, the girls let out quiet gasp. Continuing the theme of the previous room, the dining room, while not quite as large as the previous chamber, was still an extremely large. It was furnished and decorated to the extent that only the most wealthy of nobles of Canterlot could possibly imagine creating. Massive chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling, while smaller candle-like torches lined the walls, creating a brighter space than before. On the walls, various paintings lined the room, though the subject of these were much more varied and typical than that of the main hall: from portraits of famous ponies to a landscape of an unknown mountain range. Further lining the walls, various tapestries hung, depicting even more variety of scenes, though one very prominent and large in particular displayed a small story. It depicted a very ferocious looking purple dragon locked in combat with a larger green dragon, with the ending being that of a very grizzly looking death of the latter. While the walls and floor were finished as well, they did not have a mirrored sheen like the last room, and instead were just simple stonework. Curiously enough, through all the elegant decor, there seemed to be several hundred, if not thousands, of small three to four inch long vertical grooves cut into the walls, scaring the otherwise flawless stonework. The dining table itself was massive as well. Made from some kind of stone, it was almost proportionally sized for Sarlaka, though it sat lower to the floor, giving the six ponies the ability to sit and eat there as well. The food contained on the table was enough for a party three times the size, with all kinds of various fruits, vegetables, and grains sitting upon it. There were six pony sized chairs set, plus a space at the head of the table where Sarlaka was laying down with a proportionally small bowl of various gemstones in front of him. He gestured with his foreclaw for the six friends to sit. The ponies nervously, with the exception of a bouncing Pinkie Pie, sat themselves into their chairs, and just looked at the food. Most of it was somewhat familiar, such as pears, grapes, lettuce, and carrots. However, some of it was obviously more exotic, as Twilight had no recollection from her books on what these were. Such foods, like a spiky yellow-brown fruit with a green leafy top that was yellow in the center, and a round hairy brown thing that was white in the center, perked her curiosity. Several times, Twilight attempted to take the first step, and take one of the more familiar foods, but every time, her nervousness got the best of her, and she withdrew her hoof once again. “You know, last time I checked, fruit didn't bite. Well... the ones I'm serving doesn't at least,” Sarlaka smiled, popping a gem in his mouth, not eating it right away, but playing with it in his mouth, savoring the taste. “May I suggest the apples over there Miss Cowpony? They aren't quite as red as your cutie mark, but they're still good.” Applejack looked at the dragon, who still held his half smile. Bearing her teeth wide in a forced smile, she took one of the apples, inspecting it. Other than its color, which was red as a normal apple from her orchard, if a little bit rounder, except that it wasn't nearly as red, and yellow-orange hue to it. Slowly bringing it to her mouth, five pairs of pony eyes were looking at her as she took a slow bite, and started to chew. After a few seconds, Applejack stopped, and with a little bit of juices running down her chin, a genuine smile grew across her face. “Yeeeessss?” Sarlaka smiled wider. “Ah... what kind of apple IS this!?” “I'm told its called a honeycrisp. Frankly when I do decide to eat fruits, I tend to favor those.” He leaned over to Pinkie, who was seated next to him, and said in a mock hushed tone, “They're my favorite.” Gaining some nerve, the rest of the group started to slowly take some of the other food that was on the table, filling the plates in front of them. Once filled with the colorful foods, they started. At first the ponies ate somewhat politely, though Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie less successfully as the others. “Please,” the dragon lord said, “you haven't eaten for a long time, and I know you have traveled far. You don't have to be polite for me.” With that statement, the floodgates seemed to open, and with the exception of Rarity, all of them started to devour the food with earnest. Their host merely watched for the first five minutes of the dinner, every so often popping a gem into his mouth, content to let the other ponies eat in silence while he grinned. “What's that?” Pinkie pointed a hoof at a gem encrusted cupcake the size of her head in the center of the table. Sarlaka reached over, picking up the subject in question, “Why that is the “dragon cupcake” you won.” He set the cupcake down in front of the pony, who only could look at it with slowly widening eyes. “Don't worry, its rock candy.” Pinkie Pie's toothy smile took over her entire lower face, and she thrust her face into the culinary masterpiece, throwing frosting to either side. At first, Twilight feared she was going to drown in pastry delight, but after a minute, the pony lifted her head, gasping for breath, with a large smile, and several pounds of frosting, on her face. “So where are we anyways Lord Sarlaka?” Twilight spoke finally. “First, just Sarlaka is fine. Second, I get to ask the questions first.” “Oh? And why's that?” “Because I'm the hundred fifty hoof long ancient dragon that could eat a pony as an hors d'oeuvre, and you are all... well...” he popped another gem in his maw, “hors d'oeuvres.” “You wouldn't,” Twilight said, her voice sounding much more confident than she actually felt. Sarlaka shifted the gem in his mouth, “Probably not. Ponies taste awful, but its always fun to get a reaction out of you little ponies. As for MY questions, lets start with who you are. I don't think I ever got your names.” “Ooh! That's easy! I'm Pinkie, she's Rarity,” Pinkie listed as she gestured to each in turn, who gave some sort of affirmation when acknowledged, “that silly filly is Rainbow Dash, she's Fluttershy, she's Applejack, and finally, that pony right there is-” “Twilight Sparkle,” Sarlaka finished for her, his grin no longer present. Twilight raised her eyebrow, “Why yes. How did you...” “The fabled Elements of Harmony are known by only a few around here, and I'm lucky enough to be one of them.” “Wait wait wait,” Rainbow interrupted, “Now I don't know entirely how they work, but we've only known ourselves we were the Elements for only a year, how are we “fabled” or whatever?” Sarlaka's eyes squinted for a few seconds at the statement. “You've only known for a year?” “Uh... I think so...” Rainbow looked inquisitively at Fluttershy, who nodded, answering the silent question she was asking, “...yeah... just about a year. Why? How long have you known?” “Oh, but I'm the one asking the questions. You may ask me later.” Rainbow glared at the dragon at that response, but eventually crossed her forelegs in front of her in temporary defeat. “Now!” the dragon said with renewed vigor, “Next question: how did you get here?” Twilight remained silent, eyes just looking down at her plate, eyes wide, a slight amount of juice seeping from her mouth. “Twilight, darling? Is everything alright?” Rarity asked, waving a hoof in front of her face, attempting to snap her out of whatever daze she was in. “What... is... this?” Twilight finally pointed at the yellow-centered exotic fruit sitting in front of her, with a tell-tale bite taken out of the inside. “That?” the dragon questioned, “Pineapple. Why?” “... its the most amazing thing I've ever tasted... ever...” “HEY!” Applejack and Pinkie said in unison. Pinkie in particular decided to assault those nearby with little bits of partially chewed fruit that was in her mouth at her exclamation. Being across the table, Fluttershy and Applejack were the unfortunate victims. “What?” Twilight looked around, seeing two somewhat angry faces, one that was attempting to rid itself of partially chewed fruit, one assisting the previous, one staring in disgust, and a dragon who was barely containing his laughter at the antics, “Its good!” “Better than a Sweet Apple Acre specialty apple!?” “Uhh...” “Better than the cake I gave to you at your birthday!?” “Uhh...” “Better than my Equestria famous Sweet Apple Cider!?” “Uhh...” “Better than one of my super mega awesome 'go into a coma because its so good' cupcakes!?” Sarlaka cut all of them off, “I think we've gotten off track a little. Please. Now... how did you ponies even get into my domain? Doesn't happen often that one comes in without my knowledge.” “We... uhhh... teleported here I think,” Twilight said, keeping her eye on the two offended ponies. “Are you sure, or are you leaving something out?” Twilight looked around, with all the others mostly silently affirming what she just said, though Pinkie had her hooves crossed still, “Yeah, that's what happened. It was on accident though.” “Now my lovely little purple unicorn,” Sarlaka spoke, all of the friendly banter in his voice throughout the dinner now gone, replaced with seriousness, “I don't like it when my dinner guests lie to me. I will ask again. How did you get here?” “That's the truth! We teleported just outside of that one town... what was the name? Confoundedpony Town?” Sarlaka let out a little bit of smoke from his nostrils, “Ok, the first time is forgivable, Element of Magic. The second time loses its humor very quickly. But lying to my face three times is not something I find amusing. The six Elements of Harmony cannot just teleport into my lands without me knowing. It is impossible, and the fact that you six think that you can slide such a thing past me is-” “Hey!” Rainbow interrupted, flying out of her chair, getting into the dragon's face, “She's not lying!” Sarlaka's eyes crossed, focusing on the blue dot that could easily stand on his snout with room to spare. “I will say this once, Fly,” he spoke, putting emphasis on the last word, “Get out of my face, or I will make sure you never use those wings again.” Twilight heard Fluttershy let out an “eep”as the other five ponies looked on as the stareoff continued. To Rainbow's credit, the comment didn't seem to phase her very much. She seemed to back off a little, but she still continued to stare-down with the colossal dragon. Of course, her loyalty was making the flying pony do something very very stupid. Thankfully, Applejack interjected. “Alright Mr. Dragon. If yall know so much about tha' Element's of Harmony, then ya know tha' Ah'm tha' Element of Honesty. Ah can tell ya righly tha' what Twi's sayin' is tha honest truth. Well... at least we think it is.” Sarlaka looked past the cyan mare hovering in front of his face, and instead turned his stare at the orange earth pony. He seemed to inspect her face for something. “You tell the truth, Honesty.” Applejack nodded, to which Sarlaka turned towards Twilight, “I apologize for losing my temper, Magic. If you understand, that explanation is quite... confusing, especially considering everything.” “Honestly, no, I don't understand at all!” Twilight replied, “I don't know anything that's going on. I know its 'your turn' to do the questioning, but where in the wide world of Equestria are we!?” Even in frustration, Twilight was relieved that at this point, Rainbow had landed back in her chair and was once again eating some of the pears in front of her, though Rainbow's glare on the dragon had not stopped. Sarlaka either seemed unaware, or didn't care, “You really haven't figured it out, have you?” “Figured out what? I don't know about my companions, but I for one am getting quite tired of the runaround that we are getting, and the stress is getting to me,” Rarity finally exclaimed. “Answer me this, what year is it?” “Why?” Applejack cocked her head to the left . “Just answer it.” Twilight rolled her eyes, “Why 2531 Princess' Harmony of course.” “Magic... the current year is 1499...” The six mares stopped what they were doing, and just stared at the elder dragon in front of them. Rainbow had dropped the fruit on the floor. Fluttershy's eyes were almost as big as the plates in front of the ponies and Applejack looked very similar. Rarity's eye started to twitch slightly at the news. Even Pinkie was stunned silent, and her jaw nearly hit the table in shock, the frosting still sticking to her face. Twilight could only look on in horror as Sarlaka finished his sentence. “... Chaos' Reign...”