“Right. I didn’t think this through all the way. Now there’s a scared filly with misty eyes sniffling and whimpering underneath me.” I lowered myself to appear smaller before the black and yellow filly, whose misty eyes only seemed to moistened further upon looking at my face in so close a proximity.
The petals of wildflowers tickled my snout, but I made sure to physically withhold all sneezes so I didn’t immolate the child by accident. “I’m not going to hurt you, young one. Twas never my intention, I assure you,” I cooed, planting a reminder in my head to punch something later for my feminine action as recompense.
“D-d-d-d-d-d.” She continued to shake and struggle with that one consonant, and I knew she was trying to say ‘dragon’.
“Yes, I am a dragon. No, I do not enjoy the taste of fillies and colts. You’re too chewy for my tastes, I’m afraid.” When the words left my mouth, I mentally slapped myself. Panicking, I tried chuckling my way through the horrified stare she was now tossing my way. “Well, that is to say, I’m only making an, um, inference. Alicorns are more or less lean in the chest, but the foals haven’t had enough time to develop muscle and- I’m not helping this.”
She covered her mouth with both her black hooves, and peered at me like a mouse would do to a tom cat when caught between its paws. I smiled at her sheepishly, and her horrified gaze turned into a girly wail of terror before running towards the town in the distance.
You may call this bullshit, but I heard the neck of every flutterpony in this creators-forsaken valley snap to look at me! And as I peered back at them with that same sheepish smile, they too took off and ran towards the village.
“Great. As if meeting the Queens wasn’t going to be hard enough...” Sighing in exasperation, I stood up and sat back on my ass, scratching my chin slowly with a single finger. “Now how can I clear this up with the guard. No doubt they’ll try to gut the ‘terrifying’ dragon.” I rolled my eyes and grunted.
Scanning the village in the distance for an appropriate mob, I nearly choked on my next inhale as a giant black figure winged its way into the air and made a beeline straight for me! I knew from the sounds of massive, flapping wings that it was another dragon.
“What!? Why the hell is there another dragon here!? And for that matter; why did that filly make such a big deal about me being here if there was another dragon in the area!” Feeling quite miffed about being treated as a monster when clearly, there was another of my kin here; I crossed my arms and tapped my foot irritably against the brown earth below.
And as the dragon neared, I could make out some key features. Number one, it was a dragoness; which has been made apparent by the wavy, black eyelashes that looked to be flapping like her wings. The second feature I noticed was her lithe body, which was almost similar to mine; but given my masculinity, I was frighteningly more muscular and taller.
The last feature, however, gave me a lot of pause. It was her scales. True enough; if Sjach, my old mentor, was right about Pink Scales and their borderline lusting disposition, I was going to have quite the chat with her.
While I waited for her to touch down, which she was doing right now, I thought of many proper greetings to give. “‘Sup.’ No, too casual. ‘Greetings, milady!’ That one’s too formal.” I found myself growling at the blank I was drawing for a proper hello, which means I wasn’t paying attention to the person I was going to actually address.
“So, you’re the drake that’s been terrorising my friend, Vespa?” Her voice was oddly alluring, and brought me from my thoughts quickly. I gazed into her yellow, glaring eyes with mild interest. Stranger still, this dragoness had a blonde mane that curled towards the bangs, and stretched lavishly down to the middle of her back.
A harsh poke to my pectoral muscles brought me out of my ogling, and I affixed the dragoness with a steely gaze of exasperation. “No. I was the drake asking your friend, Vespa, for the whereabouts of the Queens. I have a missive from an annoying Alicorn that needs to be delivered, and not to be rude; but I rather not squander any more time here with you, knowing that my goal is probably twenty steps towards the village yonder.”
She glared. “The first step you take out of those twenty will be your last. Until I get some answers out of you, Mr. Drake, you’re not going anywhere.” The dragoness saw fit to poke me once more, getting an annoyed grunt from my throat as recompense.
I grabbed her claw in my own, nearly crushing the appendage and causing her to wince. “Don’t touch me. We may use words, my dear, but make no mistake; I will not hesitate to defend what’s left of my pride and good-looks, even if the challenger is of the opposite sex. It would also be a shame, miss, if you died a nameless death.” I tossed her claw to the side, and nearly felt bad as she followed the appendage with a shocked visage.
The dragoness stumbled like a drunkard during happy hour, kicking up a mini gust of dirt and wildflowers, before falling quite unceremoniously onto her face. During her descent, she gave many ‘woahs’ and other sorts of words one would use before falling. And then, she topped it off by squeaking, falling face first into the dirt.
I snickered as she rubbed her snout. “Smooth moves you got there, dear heart! Now if you’re done shooting the breeze, I would like to get this quest over with before making tracks to Atlantis.”
Quite comically did her head pop up from the dirt, sending medium-sized chunks of it everywhere as she snapped her head to face me. “Atlantis? You’re going to Atlantis?”
Even though it shames me to admit it, this dragoness had me miffed and curious. Raising my eyebrow, I responded with, “What’s it to you?”
Her eyes seemed to sparkle like their precious stone counterpart, and she quickly hoisted herself up while shaking any excess dirt from her mane. “Hey! I was just thinking about going there, too! Do you have room for one mo-”
“No,” I interrupted sharply, getting a quick glare from her.
“And why not, Mr. Drake? I’m cutting you some slack after attacking my home, and you think I wouldn’t look for some sort of payback? You must really think highly of me.” She crossed her arms and tapped her own foot, mimicking me to a tee.
Tilting my head and frowning to show my displeasure, I continued to tap my foot against the ground. “You’re not coming with me. I have no need for a flip-flop Pink Scale as company. You’re better off here, amidst the flutterponies who only concern themselves with Loooooveee~.” I bunched my claws together and drawled out the word while swinging my body from side to side, mocking the dragoness into giving a growl of fury.
“Take that back! Love is a very integral part to the survival of any species! I will not stand for you mocking it!” She slashed a claw diagonally through the air, the after-wind hitting me in the face and causing me to shut my eyes a little bit.
I took a claw and waved back the locks that had fallen onto my face with a smile. “I’m sorry if I offended you, miss; it’s just that the notion of love is lost on me. I’ll never understand its many intricacies without knowing of its many pains. And therefore, I find the subject of love to be foolhardy and time-consuming.” Her face got even angrier at my explanation, making me raise my eyebrow again.
“You just didn’t give it a shot,” She declared angrily, poking me in the chest again. “I bet if you actually settled down with a nice queen, you’d be able to testify that love is a wonderful thing! And have a little tact, will you!? The flutterponies believe love to be the answer to every problem in this world, as do I! That emotion is our way of life, and I’ll not stand for anymore of your horrid words towards it!”
“Did... did she just say I should settle down!?” The more I looked at her, the more I felt my rage boiling. I lowered my head and continued to growl before pouncing on her in a heartbeat. Her fearful face snapped something within me, and I promptly roared in her face. Her mane went everywhere, and the group of flutterponies that were slowly creeping up to watch were now scattering in a fearful frenzy, shouting for their guards as I pinned the dragoness completely down.
“I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE!? IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID!? LISTEN HERE, BITCH; I KNOW WAY MORE ABOUT LOVE THAN YOU EVER WILL!” She shrunk down as I yelled in her face, her eyes wincing as my spit sprayed out. “LOOK AT YOUR BELLY! I BET YOU HAVEN’T BIRTHED A SINGLE CLUTCH! DO YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO LOSE YOUR ONLY MATE TO AN ACT OF SUICIDE, WHEN OVER HALF HER FUCKING EGGS DIDN’T HATCH!? NO!? THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT LOVE! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT!”
Breathing heavily while still glaring down at her, I awaited some form of answer from the dragoness that now had her eyes completely closed. And as I waited, I felt my heart plummet into the bowels of my belly.
She... she was crying...
My eyes widened as I released her from my pinning maneuver, walking backwards as I observed her body balling up into a fetal position of sorrow and fright. “I fucked up... ah hell! This isn’t good!”
“HEY!” That voice was familiar enough to make me look to my side, my shock alleviating enough to be replaced with a little curiosity. It was that little black coat and yellow mane flutterpony filly, and she looked absolutely disappointed and livid. “No one picks on Apphy like that! She’s the sweetest dragon this side of Equis, and my friend! You better apologize, mister!”
“Was... was that a command,” I thought with absolute distaste. The feeling was only heightened when the realization of an Alicorn speaking to me like that made itself apparent. I growled and turned my back on the filly. “Buzz off, bugface. I don’t have time for this. Plus, she started it. I’m not at fault here, your friend is.”
“NO! You made a female cry! Have you no sense of chivalry, pride, or honor!? Since you’re a dragon, I would think these things to be of high importance to you!” She buzzed around my head until we were eye-to-eye, making me huff in annoyance.
“VESPA! GET AWAY FROM HIM! DID YOU NOT SEE WHAT HE DID TO APHRODITE!?”
Many other claims and orders like that one filled the air, the voices of gathering flutterponies causing me to turn around again. I had to rub my eyes in order to keep them from popping out, seeing as how the whole fucking city was in front of me!
“By the Creators,” I swore wearily, pinching the bridge of my snout in agitation. “Please tell me the Queens are amongst you lot! I need to get to Atlantis, and I don’t have time to fly over those shacks in the distance to a castle and await a meeting!”
‘Fear not, Mr. Drake; we are here.” A motherly voice announced before a beautiful white flutterpony with crystalline, blue wings and lovely, shining, blue-green locks, parted the sea of villagers with her gait. As she strode forward, the wildflowers seemed to stretch out towards her, almost begging for her touch.
The same could be said for the other flutterpony that followed her. This one had the same body shape as her counterpart; slender but curved in the right places. Her face, although the difference is miniscule, had an aged appearance to it. Her mane was a bright tint of pink, and matched her crystalline wings perfectly. The eyes, however, were a darker shade of pink than both mane and wings.
Another thing that confused me about these types of Alicorns were their eyes. If someone didn’t know the history of the flutterponies, one would assume it was a tribe of blind Alicorns, based on the fact that their eye appear to be clouded.
Even so, the duo stood side by side as they peered up at me, their gold tiaras and slippers with color-coordinated butterfly outlines shining brightly in the afternoon sun.
“Ah, you must be the Queens of the Flutterponies, no? I am Ragnarok.” I heard a chorus of grunts come from the crowd, making me wonder if any nobility was assembled in there that remembered my actions during the Royal Council Meeting of old. “You two might remember me from a Royal Council Meeting some time ago. I do not blame you if you don’t, but I am rather hurt that my rude action would be forgotten so soon.” I smiled as the Queen on the left, one whom I remembered was named Chrysalis, rolled her eyes.
“I remember that, serrah. I am Queen Chrysalis, the one who you saw fit to relieve your stomach near. This,” She lifted a hoof snootily to the other diarch, “is my eldest sister, Queen Pandora. Now that introductions are done; you should begin explaining why it was necessary for you to act uncouth and destroy the peace of the village.” Her tone was one of disappointment, not anger.
But, that motherly tone of hers was doing little for making me feel like a drake. “I am not your child, Queen Chrysalis. The tone you’re using, in my opinion, sounds like you’re talking down to me. Please change it. Also, I’m here to deliver a missive of love from my...” I trailed off and scratched the underside of my chin, debating what to call Eliahcus in terms of address. I snapped my fingers and smiled, “...employer. It’s for one of you two.”
I lifted the same claw I was using to scratch my neck, holding it right beside my head. And then, I froze in place with a shocked expression upon my face. “Shit! I used the Elder Tongue to bind the missive into my mane with magic! I can’t use the Elder Tongue around non-scales! I’ll become a traitor to T’Rell-Vadriz; and then what little honor and pride I have left will be next to worthless!”
“Well,” Pandora asked with a voice much like her sister’s. “Where is this missive of yours, Ragnarok? I’d like to see this confession of love with my own eyes.”
I coughed into the claw I raised up nervously, feeling some sweat roll down my face. With a tentative chuckle, I promptly turned around. This action brought me face to face with the flutterpony named Vespa, and she had her hooves on her hips and a raised eyebrow as if saying ‘And what do you think you’re doing?’ to me.
I sighed, turning back around to face the Queens. “I cannot bring it forth from my mane. I have bound it to my locks with the Elder Tongue of my people, and it is considered taboo for me to speak it in front of non-scales.” I dipped my head in apology, closing my eyes briefly before opening them again when my head came to rest normally.
The Queens exchanged looks of impassiveness with each other. Pandora turned her head back first, looking at me with caution evident in her eyes. “What if we left you alone with Aphrodite? Chrysalis and I will cast a barrier around our people, muting them to the sounds of the outside. Since dragons are magic resistant, it would strain the two of us too much to include Aphrodite in our spell.”
After her explanation, I looked over to the Pink Scale dragoness. She had her arms crossed and was glaring the intensity of nine suns at me. I dipped my head towards her, and she responded by flipping me off. Snarling, I looked back down at the Queens.
“Do what you want. But tell your friend to keep her talks of love to herself. Old wounds were dug up today that had no business in resurfacing, and I’ve yet to receive an apology for it. Even so, this solution of yours isn’t too bad. But be warned,” I leaned down close so that my mouth was between their heads. I whispered, “If I ever find out you two were eavesdropping on the Elder Tongue; your home will become the birthplace of a new crematorium,” I hissed, sliding my head back slowly as I watched them nod in confirmation.
They walked back to their people, and both of them jerked their heads back at me while looking at Aphrodite. She glared, but when Queen Pandora shook her head sharply, the dragoness seemed to lose all her rebellious thoughts and adopted a face full of fear. She hastily made her way over to me, but kept a good distance away for- and this is just a guess -fear of being pinned once more.
Once everyone was situated on the flutterponies’ half, the Queens touched their horns together and shut their eyes. In an instant, all the flutterponies were surrounded by a swirling bright-pink and blue-green shield of magic.
I sighed and looked over to my company. “Do you know the Elder Tongue, Ms. Aphrodite? You look very well-learned, and beauti-” I widened my eyes, staring at the dragoness in fear. She looked puzzled, as if someone was asking her to sniff between her toes for a mural. “... Nevermind. Anyways, do you know the Elder Tongue? I’m sure you’ve had some experience with it.”
Aphrodite shook her head, still staring at me with caution. I mentally slapped myself for almost calling her beautiful back then; not that it would have mattered any, seeing as how she really is beautiful. The weird part of the whole ordeal was my previous outburst against her, which she did not take in spades.
“I see,” I nodded at her, raising a claw to my mane. “This will be your first word to hear, then. There’s always a good place to begin, Ms. Aphrodite.” I closed my eyes and channeled my magic into the mane atop of my head. I could feel the magic make it wave about, making me feel warm around the scalp.
With a smile, I spoke the word that would unravel the missive from within my mane. “Retexo.” I gave a chuckle from the ticking my hair gave me, feeling the strands part and lower the white letter into my waiting claw. My mane dropped back down to its slicked-back style, and the Queens took this as a sign to release the barrier.
Walking back up to me, the Queens awaited the missive addressed to one of them. I nodded in understanding at their silent stares, and lowered my claw down to their faces. The letter was plucked and opened with the blue-green magic of Queen Chrysalis, who also began reading its contents as I waited. Her mouth dropped somewhere near the middle, and then her face practically exploded with red blush.
“It’s for you!” She shoved the letter halfway up her sister’s nostril before dropping the aura and shaking her head back an forth. “There are just some things a mare was never meant to read! Honestly, the stallions of this day and age are becoming quite vulgar,” Chrysalis remarked with a stomp of her hoof.
I snickered at the face Queen Pandora was now sporting. Just like her sister, Queen Pandora’s face immolated itself in embarrassment, and she was using a hoof as a makeshift fan. “Oh my. This is very bold. Who’s it from?” Her question was not laced with disgust, but genuine curiosity.
“Looks like you’ve still got it, Eliahcus.” I cleared my throat and waited as the Queens watched me. I knew they were growing irritated by my stalling, and it wasn’t until I was poked in the chest by Aphrodite again that I spilled the beans. “An Alicorn by the name of Eliahcus.”
Both of the Queens dropped their jaws. It was Chrysalis who shouted first. “Eliahcus!? As in LORD Eliahcus; the blood brother of Lady Lauren!? That’s the stallion of whom you’re referring to!?”
I nodded sharply, and this was all it took for both Queens to scream like bar wenches to a strapping lad walking in for a mug. The Queens started dancing and prancing around in a circle; a proper display of overwhelming joy if I’ve ever seen one!
“Ahhhh,” Chrysalis shrieked in joy, “I can’t believe my older sister is being courted by Lord Eliahcus! He’s so handsome! Ahhhhh!”
“I know,” Pandora yelled just as shrill and loud, “It’s been forever since a stallion showed interest in me! This is just too much! And that letter! Oh, by the stars, it was so passionate! I’m getting hot and bothered thinking about it! Ahhhhh!”
“Uhhh, ew? Glad to see what fans your flame, Pandora, but please; keep that lust under control! There’s a difference between lust and love!” Seeing as how there was nothing else for me to do here, I turned around and opened my wings, preparing to make a quick flight back to Atlantis!
And again, here’s Vespa.
I glared at the flutterpony filly. “Move, please. I need to leave.”
She glared back at me, returning the gesture in spades. “Not gonna happen! Not until you apologize to Aphrodite!”
I blew some air through my nose, sending the buzzing flutterpony spiraling away. “That’ll learn you, brat! Don’t take that type of tone with me!”
I flapped my wings once or twice, getting a feel for the warm air of the approaching evening. It felt good, but I knew better than to assume my flight as quick and effortless. After all, I’m pretty sure it’s only been an hour and a half after the use of the Kinetic Rings. I had eight-and-a-half hours left before I could fly that fast again.
“Wait!”
I growled but didn’t turn around.
“We have to give you something as recompense for delivering such great news,” Pandora yelled, her sister and herself flying around to talk evenly. “This type of news can’t go unrewarded; especially for someone who didn’t seem like he wanted to come here in the first place! Please, ask us anything, and you shall receive it to the best of our capabilities!”
I looked over to Queen Chrysalis who was smiling so wide, I could make out her snaggletooth. Apparently, it was hiding inside the white coat she had. Go figure.
With a sigh, I pinched the bridge of my muzzle. “I can’t just leave without getting anything?”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
Another sigh left my mouth as I casted my head down, grimacing at the wildflowers below. “I can’t think of anything useful you two could provide. If it’s all the same to you delightful ladies, I’d rather be making this lonesome trip right now.”
One of the Queens cleared her throat, and I looked up just to see Pandora and Chrysalis beaming at me creepily. “Lonesome, you say~,” They both asked mischievously, making my eyes widen as I peered at them after raising my head.
“This will not be fun...”