//------------------------------// // Teaching dragons // Story: Secret of the Silver Dragon // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// Silver Dragon had been rummaging through the several rows of books and occasionally took one out. He was given a gem to keep, but he didn't eat it. He, in fact, decided to keep it for his gem collection, and opened a dimensional pouch to place it in. Twilight forgot to ask him about the way he lived, as well as his diet. "So...you're leaders are these princesses who move the sun and the moon?" "Yes." replied Twilight. "That's preposterous. Although I suppose another dimension has it's rules." "What do you mean?" "Every dimension, including my own, has nature dealing with all of those things, such as celestial rotation. I suppose you "clean up" snow when spring nears?" SD started to laugh. "We do, actually." SD's laughter died down. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" "No." "...fine. I'll have to talk to your princesses about an urgent matter concerning that whistle." "Why?" "Your friend brought something that I cannot speak of into your world. It jumped through the portal the whistle created and detached from me within the tunnel we were going through." "Is that bad?" "You betcha. When I go in those tunnels, I have a time constant that surrounds me, allowing for ample movement within the timestream. However, when someone other than me goes in, they have a chance to appear in different times of the dimensional reality that the tunnel is connected to." "That all sounds very complicated. How do you travel through dimensions anyways?" "That's a secret." "Then...could you explain what this whistle is for?" SD got up after sitting down to read a historical book and looked tiredly at Twilight. "That whistle is one of the few I forged and handed out to those who I believed would need my help eventually. I usually only handed two of them out at a time. When you blew in them, a portal would open near my location, allowing a direct travel from my current point to the precise location of the whistle." "That's pretty cool. But why is there one here?" "That's what I don't get. If I analyzed the elements here correctly, there is no need for me in this place...something about elements." SD looked creepily at Twilight:" You wouldn't to know anything about that...would you?" "N-no." "Hm. Fair enough. When can I meet the princesses?" "Well, first, I have to send her a letter to tell her about you." "Then I'll finish reading this." Twilight took out a parchment and a quill and handed it to Spike, who had been waiting for something from the Silver Dragon. She started to narrate what she wanted written down, with an occasional miscomprehension from the little dragon. The lavender pony finished and, with a magical belch from Spike, the parchment flew out of the window in white sparkles. "The heck was that?" asked SD. "Spike is somewhat linked to the princesses. When uses his fire, it usually sends something to them. But it's mostly sent to Celestia." "I'm guessing that this Celestia is a more important figure-head." "Yes. She did rule by herself for one thousand years." "Mhmmm. Do I have to wait?" "Sure. I just want to...run some more tests with your whistle." "Fine, but you're wasting you're time. It can't be replicated. Only through my scales can you make one, and only my species knows how to forge them." "They're that difficult to manipulate?" "Mine in particular. One innate ability is that of absorbing metals and creating a new one with it. That is why you're friend broke her legs earlier. She is your friend, no?" "Yes. That was Applejack. A farm pony." "Interesting. Do your thing with the whistle, but you won't get anywhere." mocked SD. Twilight descended into her basement, the whistle in tow, and slammed the door shut behind her, then locked it. Durrr. I can manipulate space. I'z can go throughs thar. No point in locksing it. SD thought. A few minutes had passed and there was still no answer. Spike had gone near the dragon in a nervous way. He was fiddling with his fingers. The silver being caught glimpse of him and lowered the book. "Something wrong?" "Well...you are another dragon...even if you are different. Could you teach me to breathe fire like most dragons?" "What for? It should come with practice. And, as I said, I'm not too good with the other elements of nature." "Well, let's just say that I'm not too good with fire when it comes to other dragons." SD started to think. "MMMMMM...alright then. Let's get out and start with the basics. You're lucky I knew some very powerful fire dragons." "Awesome!" roared Spike. SD set the book down on a nearby table and opened the small door of Twilight's house, only to see a rather stunning white pony that was about to open the door herself. She stared at the gigantic being with her mouth gaping wide and her eyes in shock. "Pardon me." said the giant, struggling to fit through the tiny opening. "Hi Rarity." said Spike. She just watched them as they moved a bit further away. The silver giant stopped and started to stretch a bit. Rarity ran into the library. "Okay Spike. You want to learn how to breathe huge gusts of fire?" "YEAH!" "Then you have to learn how to breathe in normally." "YEAH! Wait, what?" "You heard me. If you want to breathe fire at a super level, you must learn how to properly harness the compliment of fire, which is wind." "Yeah, sure." "Not convinced? Watch closely then." SD took in a large inhale and closed his eyes. He got into a long pose until he opened his eyes and expelled a GIGANTIC torrent of flame from his mouth. Everypony nearby stopped their paths as their jaws dropped in horror. The dragon stopped and wiped his mouth as a smile formed. "HA! I still got it." "That...Was...AWESOME! And I can do that just while breathing?" "Eeyup." "Can you do anything else." SD poked his jaw a bit and then snapped his fingers. "Which side?" "What?" "Which side? Left or right?" "Uhhh...right?" "Muahahaha!" An evil look started to form on Silver Dragon's face. He clenched his right fist and opened it again. A dark aura started to spin wildly around his arm. "Watch what happens when darkness is given it's full potential." "I think I've changed my mind." The sky had already started to darken, and storm clouds started to threaten everything under them. SD looked at Spike's worriedness and stopped immediately. The sky quickly became itself again. "Awww. Fine. Tch! I never get to have fun with darkness." "That's okay. So what about that breathing?" "Just breathe in and out calmly until you feel some sort of ball form in your throat. When that happens, yell, and you'll start breathing huge amounts of fire. It'll take awhile, but if you manage thhat, I'll teach you how to breathe fireballs." "Alright." Spike started his "training". Silver Dragon's word wasn't exactly irrefutable, but he didn't seem to lie. He returned inside the library, where Rarity and Twilight were sitting at a table. Rarity shakily drank her cup of tea as her eyes followed the dragon closely. SD stopped and looked around in confusion. "Twilight, where's my book?" "Uh-oh. "What do you mean "uh-oh"?" "I put it back in the shelf. I thought you had already finishied it." The dragon looked annoyed. "You're lucky I know much about time." He reached to the location of Twilight's teacup, and seemed to reach through it. A little sparking and he pulled the book out. "What? How did you? That doesn't even...?" stuttered Rarity. "Temporal echoes. Given a certain time, I can cancel an event that happenned. I only do it for stupid things like this." he shook the book. SD layed down against the bookcase ans, with one arm supporting the back of his head, continued to read where he left off. "So...Twilight tells me you are from another world?" "Yes." "Then have you, by chance... encountered any rare gems?" Twilight looked at her friend with a " what the?" face. SD put his book down, sighed, and rubbed his eyes. "I suppose you want to see a gem that can only be found in what is now a non-existant dimension?" "That means it is-" "-Impossible to find no matter where you go." "Wait, but I thought you said dimensions can't be destroyed." complained Twilight. "Only those that YOU create. Others, that are natural occurences, cannot be destroyed, no matter how hard you try." "Can I see the jewel?" asked RArity. She was bouncing all over the place...figure of speach. SD used one finger to tear a rift. He then reached in to grab the jewel he was looking for. Out came a magnificently carved purple-wine gem. It seemed to have some type of aura inside as it twirled like fog. It matched Rarity's mane perfectly. "Here you are. It's called a Dasberry. It was the last jewel I could get out of that dimension before it's collapse." "It's positively stunning." Rarity's eyes sparkled at the gem as she started to reach for it. SD swiped it away, threw it quickly back into the ortal, then closed said entity. "No! I haven't purified it yet." "What do you mean? It looked to be of the purest purity!" "To the untrained eye. That thing was surrounded by a very dark evil. If you touched it...well...let's not talk about it. I have others that are purified and those that are of white-light." "N-no. I think I'm good." said the fashhionista as she backed off. A burp was heard, along with a massive explosion, and Spike came in all singed and blackened. "Paha! What happenned to you?" "I was doing what you told me, and then a letter came." SD took a peek outside. A black scorch mark lay where Spike had been standing. The dragon started to exhilirate himself. Spike handed the parchment to Twilight, while he went off to clean himself. Twilight's mood went from amused to distraught. "What's wrong Twilight?" asked Rarity. "It's princess Celestia. She's left and has gone to a private meeting. Luna is in charge now, and we can only get a meeting with her in a week." SD stomped the floor, causing a minor earthquake. "That naive IDIOT! Tell her that anything strange happening recently has had it's answers found. Have you been having recent problems that you can't explain?" "Well, there have been someponies who have been dissappearing as of late. We haven't found the cause." "Kidnapping? And if I deduce from what happenned earlier with your friend, they have been "harvesting" sacrifices. But why? He can't get any more powerful. Unless..." "Unless?" the two mares asked. " There could be another here that is going to be revived." "I don't understand what you're saying SD. What are you talking about?" "Send a message to your precious princess and tell her that you have found the answer to the dissappearances. In the meantime, I'll be staying here." "What? But you can't-" "-I nver said that I would eat anything. I have my own means of doing things, which is why I'm so clean." This last statement brought up the eyebrows of many in the room. "I'll only stay here and read these books." "What did I het myself into?" thought Twilight. "Oh, and if the the "audience" is still more than one day away by tomorrow, then I'll be forced to fly to the castle.And any opposition will be met swiftly. The catastrophe that your friend wrought with that damnable whistle might destroy your world."