//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: I, Dragon // by Psychomaniac //------------------------------// Chapter 4 I need to start sleeping in the water again. I also need to move around. I try a few of my limbs. Functional, pretty limber. I am a bit sore from sleeping on a hard surface. I usually prefer to sleep underwater for this reason. I get on my feet and stretch some more. I flex and extend my wings. Ouch. They are way tighter than they should be. I move them slowly, testing my range of motion. Looks like I have full mobility, but it’s pretty painful. This is gonna be a long day. I hope Rarity wakes soon. It’s almost time to leave. I am expecting Twilight any minute. Sure enough, I hear a knock at the door. A jolt of pain goes down my spine as I try to change forms. I really need to stop doing that. I make my way over to the door. Guess I will just have to rely on luck here. “Who’s there?” I ask. Lets hope if it isn’t Twilight, I didn’t just cause a scandal for Rarity. “It’s me, Sparky. Spike is here too. Please open up.” I obey the request. The door is difficult to manage with my claws, but after a few seconds I get the door open. Twilight and Spike both enter. Twilight is nice enough to close and lock the door behind them. Spike grins up at me. “I have been wanting to spend the night here since forever. How did you do it?” he asks. “Well, first you gotta break through the floor because of a basement you didn’t know was there.” I point out the hole to Spike. Twilight’s spell is still in place, preventing any accidents. I’m just glad there is still only one hole. “Then, in the process of leaving the basement, foolishly assume you are a half century younger than you really are. That may be tricky for you. Then it’s just a simple matter of compressing your mass much further than it was ever meant to be compressed, causing you extreme amounts of pain, and almost frying your magic completely. If you do that, I am absolutely certain you may spend the night anywhere you please.” “Now, now, Sparky. My darling little Spikey Wikey will never need to resort to such things to sleep here if he wishes. I dare say I would never expect somepony, or dragon, to go through what you did yesterday.” Rarity descends the last few steps from her bedroom upstairs. She looks like she has spent plenty of time on her appearance. Not so much as a single hair in her mane or tail is out of place. Spike gets a goofy grin on his face. He all but floats to the white unicorn. “Hey, Rarity,” he says, that goofy grin of his plastered on his face. This kid’s got it bad. Twilight and I will have to get right to work once I get back with Rarity. “Spike, Darling. How have you been? I do hope you are doing well.” “I’m always good when you’re around, Rarity. Do you really have to leave?” he asks her. “I’m afraid so, Dear. My floor won’t repair itself. We shouldn’t be gone to long. Then I can tell you about all of my adventures! Will that be okay, Darling?” “I guess.” Spike turns to me. “You’ll make sure she’s okay, right?” “On my honor, young one. Rarity shall be returned to her loved ones exactly as she is.” I may be laying it on a bit thick there. I lean down to his level. “She’ll be fine, Spike. I suspect she is more than capable of handling herself should the need arise.” “I know.” He looks down at the ground. I really need something to keep him occupied. Once again, Twilight to the rescue. “Spike, you already know your role in this. You’re our link to each other if we need to communicate. Without you, Rarity would be lacking what could be a vital lifeline. Are you ready to try it?” Spike nods. I glance at Twilight. I have no idea if she really intends to try to communicate, but if it helps Spike get over Rarity’s absence, I suppose we could try it. “Do you have any scrolls, Rarity?” Rarity drifts a rolled up scroll to me. I take it and look at Twilight. She nods and I put the scroll in my mouth. The parchment is engulfed in electricity and shoots out from my mouth. Almost immediately, Spike feels a jolt in his mouth. The parchment pops back into existence as it emerges. Spike just stands there, mouth hanging open. “How do you feel, Spike?” I ask him. “I aan’n eeel eye outh.” I am guessing his lips and tongue are mostly paralyzed. He gets a look of anger, picks up the scroll, and huffs fire onto it. Intense burning follows for me. I belch and the scroll is back. His retribution was definitely not pleasant. I exhale and a bit of smoke exits my nostrils. My eyes water, and I sneeze. A lightning bolt shoots out of my mouth, rebounds off the shield covering the hole, and smashes back into me. My eyes widen, and I cannot help but laugh. I have never been hit by my own bolt. Then the pain begins. My reserves of energy are still very low. Sending a scroll a short distance takes almost no effort. Polymorphing is a continuous moderate effort. Shooting lightning is a very short burst of extreme effort. I lay back down to see if the room would be kind enough to stop spinning. It takes a moment, but the room complies with my silent request. It would seem I will be unable to use by bolts for anything aside from messaging for some time. “Are you alright, Darling?” asks Rarity. “I will be, I just need a moment.” I grin. “The sneeze that floored a dragon. I doubt I will live that down anytime soon.” I slowly rise, and start moving my wings around in their sockets. The muscles are still very tense. I feel a firm pressure on the affected muscles. I look back and see a purple glow coming from Twilight’s horn. “Princess, what have I told you about using magic on me without my permission,” I ask, chuckling. “Would you like me to stop?” she asks back at me. “Oh, no, I never said stop. Wherever did you learn to do this?” She opens her own wings in response. “When I first started learning to fly, I always felt sore afterwards. Rainbow Dash always wanted me to push myself while she was training me. She would always make sure I would do my stretching exercises before and after each session. Even after that, though, I would still feel sore and worn out. So, I found a book on massage techniques. I learned to pinpoint or dull my magic as needed to get in deep. It worked wonders. I am simply scaling up to match your size. You seem to have a lot of the same musculature as a pegasus.” I continue to move my wings around as she kneads my muscles and lectures us. Before too much longer, I have full mobility and strength in all of my limbs. Spike wanders over. “Whoa! Nice wingspan, Sparky!” It seems the numbness of his mouth wears off after only a few minutes. I myself still have a burning aftertaste in my mouth and sinuses. I nod at Spike, smiling. I then look at Rarity. “Are your things ready? We have to leave soon.” She shows me her saddlebags. I widen my eyes in surprise. “Come now, Darling. Surely you don’t think I do not have the ability to pack light. I am quite certain we will be bringing back much more than I currently have on me. It only makes sense to bring a minimal amount of items for our departure.” I grin at her. “You are correct, Rarity. Thank you for your foresight. Twilight? I believe we are ready to begin.” Hugs are passed around as everyone says their final farewells. Spike’s lower lip quivers a bit, but he holds his tears. Good lad. “Rarity, if you could take your place, I should be able to start you at altitude. No need to bring us out to the street and chance an encounter.” Rarity climbs up onto my back and settles on my shoulders between my wings. I barely even notice she is there. I lift both of my wings to make sure she is in a safe place. Seeing she could be squeezed on my upstrokes, she shifts backwards a bit. Much better. “Alright, Sparky, Rarity? Are you all set?” We both nod affirmative. I feel a tingling sensation as Twilight’s magical field envelopes us. I extend and level my wings, ready to be airborne. A loud “POP!” sounds and I find myself high above Ponyville. Twilight had oriented me in a slightly nose downward position that, after a few flaps of my wings, lets me get my forward momentum going. Clever. I glance back at Rarity on my back, and see her clinging to my spines for dear life. A fitting description in this case. “Will you be alright?” I call above the rushing wind. She looks miserable. Her hair is flying everywhere, her eyes are watering from the moving air, and there’s nothing she can do about it. Still, even with all this going on, she also looks determined. She just nods her head, then closes her eyes and lies as flat as she can. I turn my head forward and leave her be. I angle to the southeast. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I set down several hours later near a large lake. We are just outside the badlands. I remember stopping here just prior to my visit to Ponyville. Normally, I would have landed in the lake itself, but I doubt my passenger would have liked that. I instead find a nice patch of sandy beach for us. After landing, I lower myself and let Rarity off my back. She shakes her head, and her windblown hair almost snaps back into its usual perfection. It could still use a good brushing, but it looks great considering she just spent a few hours flying through the elements. “Nice trick,” I comment. “We will rest here for a few hours. I don’t suppose you like fish?” “It’s hardly my favorite, but in this case, I am just happy to get something in my belly, Darling.” I nod and make my way into the lake. Knowing I have no catch limit here, I go all out. I catch 22 of the biggest and fattest fish I can find. I eat most of them before I even emerge from the water. I also bring back some plants from the lake bottom. I don’t know their name, but I do know they are delicious. I lay out the remains of my catch before the unicorn. “Is this all? This cannot possibly feed the both of us,” she says. I chuckle. “This is your share, Rarity. I have eaten my fill already.” Before us are 5 large fish and a mound of lake grass about a foot high. “If you want more, I would be happy…” “Oh! No, that will not be necessary. If you would be so kind as to start a fire, I can get these cleaned and prepped.” “I’m afraid I have no experience starting a fire, Rarity.” “Well I cannot eat these raw.” I grin at her. Her eyes go wide as she looks at me, then at the fish. “Oooohh no. No no no. I simply cannot do it,” she deadpans. I pick up one of the fish and carry it over to the lake. I use my claws to behead it, gut it and cut it in half. I then bring it back to her. She looks in horror as I lay the two halfs at her hooves. I just smile at her. “Enjoy your lunch.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I’ll admit raw fish isn’t that bad, Darling, but it’s not something I will be eating any more than necessary. In fact, let us never speak of this again.” We finished our meal a little while ago and are now flying south. Rarity is shouting to be heard, but she is managing. At least she is keeping her lunch down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The day is starting to fade as we reach the edge of the ocean, and Equestria. Thanks to our early start, We have made it much further than I had hoped we would. The salty spray from the waves below make me think of one thing. Home. It’s been less than a week, and I missed it so much already. I settle in for a landing on the beach. “Would you mind waiting here for a while, Rarity? There is something I must do. I won’t be too long.” She nods and hops down from her spot on my back. Once she is clear, I take back to the sky, angle out to sea, and dive in. I cannot help but smile through all of this. The currents, the salt, the sounds, all around me are the things I love most about the oceans of this world. I hurl myself out of the water, give a few flaps of my wings, and roar my excitement at the skys. I am home. I dive back under. I go deep. I take the salt water into myself, letting it sustain me. Fish scatter from around me. They know their master. They know they live because I am not that hungry for now. I dive until I reach the sandy bottom. I dig into the silt, raising a cloud into the dark waters around me. The distant surface above me prevents the light from penetrating far, but I can see better than most in this darkness. This is my home. My realm. I cease my digging. It served no purpose other than to raise the salinity of the ocean surrounding me a bit. There are a few scattered shells, but no real treasure. I collect some of the shells anyway. I can think of somepony who might like them. My thirst for the ocean satisfied, I surge back to the surface. The currents took me a few miles down from where I started. I retrace the shore and find Rarity lying where I left her. She sees me and waves. I come ashore and expel the water, retaking in air. “Did you have fun, Dear?” she asks me. I nod my head, grinning like mad. “What’s it like?” she asks. I respond by opening my mouth wide. She looks inside and gasps. I feel her levitate the shells I found to her. “It was just as I remember. Living so far inland, even for so short a time, inspired a lust for the ocean that I didn’t have before. I really must make a few visits to the coast in the future. In the meantime, lets take up camp here. We are making excellent time, so there is no need to push ourselves further today. I would love to show you the depths, but the pressure down there alone prevents that. Not too mention your inability to breath underwater.” “I am sure it’s marvelous, Darling. Although, yes, I am afraid that is a world I simply cannot be a part of. I do thank you for these, though.,” she says, referring to her newly acquired shells. “It was my pleasure, Rarity. My deepest pleasure. You have no idea how much fun I had retrieving them. If ever you have need of something from the seas, I am your dragon. Just say the word.” “Well, the word for now is food, Darling. I am a bit peckish after our flight. Would you be a dear?” “Of course! I need but a moment.” I fly back into the surf. About 10 meters underwater, I come across a kelp forest. I gather a few lengths of the fast growing plant. I also catch a few medium sized fish. I make my way back to shore. “Here you go. I hope you like seafood,” I say, chuckling. She looks at me with a neutral expression. “More fish, I see. And what is this?” she asks, eying the kelp. I have about 20 meters of the stuff in my arms. I grin at her. “This is one of the most tasty sea plants I know of. It grows like a weed too. I brought enough that you can eat your fill of this alone, if you like.” She takes a bit into her mouth, and makes a sound in which I have come to take great delight. “SQUEE!” A 3 meter piece is already gone. I laugh, offering her more. She just sits an chews on what she has. I think the fish will be going to me after all. Now I am just left with the issue of hydration. I can drink seawater. It presents no problem for me. Rarity, however, cannot. I do know how to make fresh water as a kind of spell. It’s another skill almost every dragon learns at an early age. It’s no more difficult than polymorphing, really. Therein lies the problem. It’s also as difficult as polymorphing, therefore I am unable to do it at this time. I search the skies above me. A few clouds, but they are too small to provide rain. Were I an actual pegasus, I could produce rain from any cloud. I can move them, I can stand on them. I cannot drain them. “We will have to move back inland. I think I remember a river a few miles back. We can set up camp there instead,” I state. “Whatever for, Darling? This seems like a lovely spot. I am not even thirsty.” “First, you don’t drink when you’re thirsty. You drink before you are thirsty. Second, you have been eating a plant that is saturated with salt water. You will be dehydrated unless you get some fresh water into you. This is not negotiable.” She stares at me. I stare back. She gives a loud “Hmph!” and turns her head. She makes her way onto my back, and we take off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We found a clearing next to a river last night. I got Rarity to drink plenty of water before we went to sleep. Celestia’s sun starts to cast its rays on us. We wake up, and bathe in the river. I have to admit, if I were a pony, Rarity-with-wet-mane would definitely be getting my interest. The remaining kelp I gathered yesterday evening has long since dried up. I toss it into the river. It’s better fresh anyway. I call out to Rarity, who is still in the water, “Breakfast?” “Yes, please. Some more of that sea plant would be wonderful. Also, maybe, perhaps…” I smile and ask, “Rarity, would you like some fish.” “Maybe, just a small one? I don’t want to be a bother!” Rarity exclaims. “I’ll turn you into a proper dragoness yet, Rarity!” I inform her. I give her a nice big toothy smile, she give me back a set of shocked, wide eyes. I think I saw a twitch in there. Ah, how fun. I set off for the sea. My ocean. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Breakfast was uneventful, aside from Rarity gutting and cleaning her own fish. According to her, her father taught both her and her sister on various camping trips. She admits to liking camping, although she will never tell her friends. She swears me to secrecy on this. She also likes spending time with wildlife. This might explain part of her attraction to her pegasus friend. I cannot help but bring this up. “So, you and Fluttershy?” I ask her. “We started seeing each other only a few days ago. Nothing too serious just yet. We have always cared for each other, but each of us wants to see if we can be something more. It’s funny that my prince may very well turn out to be a princess. I suppose if I am honest with myself, I never preferred one gender over the other.” “How are things so far?” “Well, it’s going very slowly. It’s mostly me. I give so much of myself, I find it difficult to reserve enough of myself to give to the pony I want to be with. It’s strange thinking of my own generous nature working against me. I have had ponies take advantage of me in that regard. And now I’m rambling. Shouldn’t we be off?” I nod and lower my body. Rarity takes her place. Our next stop will be my hoard. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We arrive late in the afternoon. Dusk is still a few hours off, so not bad over all. We are left with one challenge. I grin at Rarity. She gulps in response. “The entrance to my hoard is below us,” I inform her, pointing down the cliff on which I landed. “The opening is about 30 feet below the surface of the water. You will need to hold your breath and hang on tightly. You are going to feel a lot of pressure in your ears. The water pressure will be about twice what it is here. Would you like to come inside?” There’s that determined look again. I already knew the answer, but it’s never good form to just bring a lady into your home without asking permission. “Sparky, Dear, I would love to join you in your home.” “Splendid! Please remove your saddlebags. We will pick them up on the way out.” She does so. “Alright, Rarity. Hold your breath!” I hear her gasp as I launch us over the edge. I control our fall so we land relatively softly in the water. I dive quickly down and into the entrance. The hole in the cliffside goes up at a steep angle until we reach the surface again. A few enchanted gems provide a low level of light. The entrance levels out and a smooth path lies before us. Rarity tries to disembark, but I stop her. “Please remain where you are for the time being, Rarity. You will have time to explore soon enough.” She nods and retakes her place. I step over a few tripwires. The first few are simply noisemakers. Meant to scare away intruders and alert me if someone trespasses. The next one are meant to cause a cave in about 50 meters ahead. The last ones are located at the cave in site itself, designed as a last resort. I have intimate knowledge of the location of all these traps, having placed them myself. My siblings also know of their locations, just as I know how to enter my siblings’ respective hoards should the need arise. We enter my main chamber, and I see a dragon on top of my hoard. He appears to be asleep, but I can tell when he’s faking. I lower myself to the ground to allow Rarity access to the ground. I step away from her and roar my defiance to the other dragon. He rises and roars back at me. The air is electrically charged. He shoots a bolt at me that I catch in my claws. I hurl it back at him. We go back and forth like this for a little while. It’s all in good fun, but of course Rarity doesn’t know that. I charge up the mound and grapple with the other dragon. We both start laughing and the grapple changes to an embrace. I hurl him off my mound and roar. He roars back. I walk over to him and throw a wing over him. Grinning like the fools we are, we walk over to the white unicorn. She stands her ground, clearly missing something. My brother changes his form to a pony and runs next to her. For some reason, he always goes with an earth pony. Stranger still, it doesn’t affect his flight. “Don’t worry, miss, I’ll protect you!” he tells her, still grinning. Rarity just looks at him, then turns to me. “Sparky, who is this? “Rarity, this is my brother and clutchmate. He decided to check in on my hoard early, apparently. I wasn’t expecting you to be here for a few weeks at the least, Brother.” My brother looks at me. “Sparky? Really?” He shakes his head and laughs at me. “Yes, the ponies named me. I wear that name with pride. It’s not like they can even pronounce my birth name anyway,” I inform him. He laughs. “You don’t have to justify anything to me, ‘Sparky!’” He is having way too much fun with this. Of course, were our situations reversed, I cannot say I wouldn’t do the same to him. “And who do we have here? Has my little big brother found a pony for himself?! Aww, that’s too sweet. Lemme know when the wedding is, bro.” I let out a good laugh. He hatched after I did, but grew to be larger. We always tease each other about it. It’s always fun when we get together. “Alas, my Rarity has promised herself to another! I was simply devastated when I learned the truth. Oh, woe is me!” I put my forearm to my head and pretend to swoon. I personally think it’s made all the funnier that I’m still in my draconic state. “Ah! Brother! What is this! His heart cries out to me! I must act! Where is this other man! I will show him what for!” Rarity is turning a nice shade of red. She shuts her eyes and starts counting to herself. She glances at the exit tunnel, then decides against it. My brother isn’t finished just yet, “And what will the kids look like!” “HEY!” Rarity and I say together. “It’s like you’re already married!” My brother takes his leave and goes off to a side cavern. I turn to Rarity. “So, that happened.” “Yes, indeed it did, Darling. I have a sibling of my own, of course, so I know they can be a bit grating. Still, I am glad I met him. He seems nice enough.” “He is, although no doubt he was here to rearrange my hoard. It’s among our favorite tricks to play on each other. It’s like we know we have something, but no idea where it is. Well, enough of that. Rarity, I promised you your pick. Please look around. I have a few things I will be bringing back with us, and plenty to exchange for payment for your floor. I’m thinking 100,000 bits should cover it. What about you?” “Goodness! That much could buy the boutique outright, that is if I was in a selling mood. I doubt you will need half that, Darling.” “Oh well, I’m sure I can think of something to do with the rest of it. Philanthropy has always been a hobby of mine. Oh! And if I might make a suggestion for you, in that room over there is a crystal butterfly in a glass case. I am sure if you just so happened to know of a pegasus, I mean a pony, who just so happened to have a butterfly, or three, as a cutie mark, why, that might make a wonder gift for her, er, that pony I mean.” I don’t think I’ve done so much winking in my life. Guess I can afford to sweeten the deal. “I will be willing to part with that item, and maybe one or two others. Take your time.” She goes off to the room I mentioned. My hoard isn’t the biggest. I have only had a little more than a century to collect items for it. The butterfly is actually one of the more priceless artifacts I own. I just have a good feeling about giving it up. I make my way over to my books. Three large bookshelves full of books on various subjects. A bit more than 10,000 pounds of paper. The return trip will be much slower than the trip here. I move to a side cavern that I use for storage. I select 4 bags that I use regularly. These bags are enchanted to reduce volume, but not weight unfortunately. The only limiting factor is one’s ability to carry the weight of the cargo inside them. 2 bags will be for books, the other 2 for the items with which we will be returning. The enchantment protect the items inside from movement, and the elements. They are what allowed me to bring the books below the waterline in the first place. I bring the bags over to the bookshelves. I wish I could fit the shelves, but I bet Twilight will be able to manage without them. I start packing the books into the bags carefully. Rarity notices and walks over. “Are these for Twilight?” she asks. I simply nod in acknowledgement. A pale blue glow surrounds several volumes and they are placed into the bag. We continue packing all the books until I stop her. I tie up the bag halfway through the second shelf and grab another bag. Rarity notices the magic involved in the bag. She tries to lift it, and just barely gets it off the ground with her magic. I smile at her efforts, and start packing the remaining books into the second bag. When we are finished, we have 2 bags that are a little larger than Rarity’s saddle bags. Each weighs almost three tons. I carry them over to the entrance of my cave. Rarity sees the other two bags I have left. She calls her magic and two items float over to me. One is the butterfly. This doesn’t surprise me at all. The other does. If she inspected the item for magic, I will be impressed if she found it. If the butterfly is one of the most valuable items I own, this other item IS the most valuable. It may not seem like much. A simple necklace, really. I take it from Rarity’s grasp. I then fasten it around her neck. “Do you know what this item is?” I ask her. She shakes her head. “I felt a faint magic aura around it. I have no idea what it does. It looks priceless, so if you don’t want me to have it…” “Nonsense. If I didn’t want you to have it, I wouldn’t have put it on you. I can think of no better gift for you. Maybe Twilight can study it and make more. Even if this isn’t the case, I would very much like you to have it, Rarity. As a friend, please accept it. As for it’s value, well, yes, it is worth quite a bit. You will find nothing in my hoard worth more actually. I have no real need for it. I have no doubt you will put it to good use. For finding the most valuable object, you may find one more item of your choosing.” “The most valuable… No, no I couldn’t!” “I said it’s the most valuable in terms of price. Not the most valuable to me, Rarity. That would be the butterfly I already gave to you. Go and find something else.” “No. I am more then happy with these two items already. Something for my beloved, something for me. I couldn’t ask for more, Darling. Thank you so much.” I simply smile and nod to her. All these items of wonder and mystery. This vast treasure. She has her pick of anything else she wants. Her restraint is amazing. Of course, I keep the heart of the hoard with me always. A simple blue pebble that was given to me long ago. The very first object of my hoard. I sometimes bring it up to remember the old times. I do so now. I once knew a blue dragon. She and I were hatchlings who just so happened to find one another. She was on her own, and I still had my family. We encountered each other in the sea. I would meet her at an ancient shipwreck, and we would go on adventures. One day, she gave me this pebble to remember her by. I never saw her again. I longed to see her again, and still do. She is still out there, somewhere. If ever I find her, I will do anything for her. I tuck the pebble back into its place. A pocket I carved under my scales next to my heart. It caused some minor irritation when I first did this, but the scar now serves its purpose. Even when I polymorph, that pocket remains right where it is. I gather various gems and jewels anyone would pay dearly for. I place them in the last two bags. I call Rarity over. “Yes, Darling?” “The butterfly will be best carried in one of these bags. They are enchanted to resist the elements, as well as our swim we are about to take.” She levitates the display case and places it into the bag. I close both of the bags of jewels and tie them to me. I do the same with the bags of books. I am now quite weighed down. Swimming will be much slower this time around. I don’t tell Rarity though. I just make sure she is wearing the necklace. She seems to have forgotten about it for the time being. I call out to my brother. “Sparky! Leaving so soon?” “Indeed, Brother, I cannot keep Rarity away from her friends for too long. I am sure you understand.” “Of course. I am glad to have seen you again. One of us may pop in for a visit sometime. We will let you know. Rarity? Please keep him out of trouble. He can be… difficult. I suppose we all can. You all will take care of him though, right?” “Oh, don’t worry, Darling. He already has made so many friends among us. His antics aside, he will get along swimmingly!” she says. I absolutely love her choice of words. “Take care, Brother! Standard rules apply! Happy hunting!” I nod to Rarity, and she climbs onto my back. We make our way down the tunnel, bypassing my tripwires, and come to the waterline. I glance back at Rarity to ensure she is still wearing the necklace. She is. I grin at her and submerge us. I swim much slower this time due to the added weight. Rarity hold on to me, looking ahead. I wonder if she notices her eyesight is better underwater now. Getting to the edge of my cavern, I start to swim parallel to the surface. I allow us to sink just a bit deeper. Looking back, Rarity has a panicked look on her face. She lets go and starts to surface. I grab her and hold her in front of me. Her eyes go wide and she exhales her air in a scream. She clinches her eyes shut. She’s breathing. She opens one eye, then the other. She is still breathing. The confusion I see on her face is just wonderful. Her panic has subsided, and a look of rage crosses her face. Her horn charges, and I am stuck by a blast of magic. It hurts a bit, but nothing serious. I just grin at her. We surface, and I fly us back to the top of the cliff. “You SCOUNDREL!” She exclaims. “You Brute! You, you, aaugh!” She sees her saddlebags and levitates them onto herself. “Perhaps I should have explained what Poseidon's Pendant does. My dear, I am so sorry, but I just couldn’t help myself. I did say I had no use for it, and now you know why. Of what use to me is a pendant that lets one breathe and see underwater?” She just continues glaring at me. This time, I am the one to look away. The grin is still there though. I suspect it will be for some time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We land at last night’s camping area. It’s close to midnight, but I wanted to make sure we were back in Ponyville by tomorrow evening. I lower myself and Rarity silently climbs off my back. Her look of rage has passed, but she looks troubled none the less. “Are you alright?” I ask her. She shakes her head and starts to cry. I go over to her. “I thought I was going to die. I thought you were going to kill me and I was going to die. I was powerless against you. How could you?! Prank or no, you cannot place a pony in that situation! I didn’t know what to do. When I lost my breath, I almost… I just don’t know what to think. I am sure you had every faith in this blasted pendant’s ability, but I have been so scared since I left your hoard. I don’t know what to think about you, Sparky.” I am taken aback by this. Looking back, yeah, that could have been handled better. Hindsight is always perfect. “Rarity, I would never hurt you. We dragons can be strange to those outside our race. I have told Twilight of dragons who will bury travelers in sand up to their necks for a conversation. I have played many a trick in my day. Thus far, yours has been the worse. I never wanted anyone to fear for their life around me. I cannot stand the thought of taking a life. If you like, when we get back to Ponyville, you never need to see me again.” “I doubt that will be necessary. I think we should just sleep on it for now.” “You know, if you like, there is no more comfortable a place then underwater. The weightless feeling is right up there with sleeping on a cloud.” “I have no doubt about that, Sparky. I may at some point in the future. For right now, though, I think a good night’s rest will be just the thing I need. Goodnight, Sparky.” She lies down next to me. As I extend a wing over her, she smiles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following evening, we arrive in Ponyville. We made good time, skipping our lunch stop in favor of arriving sooner. I land just outside of town. By this time, I am able to use my full range of abilities again. I change into my pegasus form, and we enter town. I escort her to her boutique, where she finds, much to her delight, her floor has already been repaired. I bid her farewell and visit Twilight. It’s late in the afternoon, but hopefully too early for everypony to be going to bed just yet. I knock on the door. A moment later, it’s opened by Twilight. “Oh! Good evening, Sparky. How was your trip?” “Uneventful. Rarity got to meet one of my brothers. It was a great time overall, right up until Rarity thought I was going to kill her.” “WHAT?!” she exclaims. She glares at me, her horn powering up. “If you harmed her…” “No, no, you misunderstand…” I start. “Ooohh, no. You listen to me. I don’t care how big you are, I…” “She was never in any danger for the duration of our trip!” I blurt out. “I swear, she was fine the whole time. It was a practical joke that went very wrong. You might be better off getting the story from her. If I had known how things would go, I would have done everything very differently. As it is, it might be best if a few of you were to go see her tomorrow. Physically, she is fine. Emotionally and psychologically, she will need help and guidance. Don’t take no for an answer.” I sigh. “It actually might be best if you don’t wait until tomorrow. I know she will be okay, but just to be sure, somepony should stay with her. Twilight continues to glares at me. I was expecting this, but it doesn’t make it any easier. “Tomorrow, you will have some explaining to do. It’s apparent your joke did in fact hurt her. I will go there myself right now. Go to your lake. I will find you tomorrow myself, and we will straighten everything out. Was there anything else?” “I wanted to drop these off to you.” I gesture to two of the bags on my hip. I untie them and set them down. I cannot take them upstairs for her. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want me to anyway. She takes them up in her magic, straining a bit with the effort. “How many books are there in here, and what is the deal with these bags?” “They are bags of holding. I have several already, so feel free to keep them. They basically create a pocket in space for themselves. The only thing they cannot do is affect the weight of the items inside. I wouldn’t recommend putting living creatures inside of them. They would suffocate after about an hour. Also don’t turn them inside out. That would dispel the effects. You may place one bag inside another, however this is pointless, since the only limit to the bags themselves is the carrying capacity of whoever is carrying it. There are a few other rules, but as long as you keep them away from portable holes, you should be fine. You also might want to watch Pinkie Pie around them. Just a thought. As for the amount of books, I had 3 bookshelves, each held anywhere from 1,300 to 1,500 books. I didn’t really count them.” Normally this gift of books and magical artifacts would be cause for celebration from her, however, the events prior to that has led to a somber atmosphere. Without another word, I turn around and start to leave. Twilight calls out to me. I look back over my shoulder. Twilight is walking up to me. She stands beside me and extends a wing over me. I take comfort in the gesture, and sit down. “I know you didn’t mean any harm. Please just learn from this. I will make sure Rarity is okay. Good night.” “Thank you, Twilight. Good night.”