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// First Migration  
// Story: Part Pony 
// by Taraji 
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Then, for the first time ever, I got to expirence a dragon migration!


“It's mostly inhabited by Ponies, but if we stay out of their way, they'll stay out of ours," explained our leader, Orion. "When we arrive in Equestria, there will be plenty of gemstones to feast on that the Dragons who lived there before left for us. So we must leave gems here for the next colony to feast on. DO NOT bring any with you! It is a very long flight, so eat up now."
After Orion finished explaining rules of flight for the next day, every Dragon retired to their cave.
"Mother," I asked, while snacking on a gem, "Will Equestria look anything like here?"
Our old home was a deep and wide green valley in The Land of the Zebras. There weren't many trees, just endless fields of grass and weeds. Tall, white-capped moutains surrounded us and littered the horizon.  Caves, where we slept, spotted the sides of the moutains down to the floor of the valley. There were enough caves for every dragon in our colony to have one, but each family only owned one. Families with young dragons who can't fly, like me, lived in the caves closer to the ground. Inside, they were long and wide like the nests of the Quarray Eels, and high so that even our tallest dragons had to jump to touch the top. 
“I don’t think so, my sweet,” mother replied. “There will-"
“BE PONIES EVERYWHEREEE!!!!” 
I screamed and hid under mothers wing. 
Garble, my older brother, erupted with laughter. 
“Garble!” I squealed. “You scared me!” 
“Chill out, shrimp,” Garble said through laughs. “Namby-pamby ponies can’t hurt us.”
“Garble is right, Dysis.” Mother lifted me out from under her wing, and placed me in front of her. “Like Orion said, if we stay our of their way, they’ll stay out of ours.”
I still felt a little unsatisfied. 
“Why do we have to move to such a dangerous place? What if they raid our home? Will there be any Zebras there? How come-"
“Get some sleep - Both of you." Mother chuckled. "We have a long day tomorrow.” 
I walked over to my side of the cave and climbed in a basket mother had woven for me. I tried to sleep, but my mind couldn't stop wondering about the horrid Equestria. I closed my eyes, but quickly sat back up again. "Mother! I won't be able to bring my basket will I?” I frowned and rubbed the sides of the smooth basket. 
Mother smiled at me. "I'll make you a new one when we get there."
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"Can't I bring just ONE gem, mom? I promise I’ll hold on to it! I might get hungry while we’re in the air!” 
“Garble, I said NO. Eat it now or put it back in the hoard.”
I slowly opened one eye. It was still dark. The sun hadn’t even risen yet. I groaned and closed my eye again. 
“Dysis, sweetie, don’t go back to sleep. We have to leave soon.” Mother said, beckoning me. 
“Mom. The world does not exist this early in the morning. I’m still dreaming.” I mumbled.
“Nonsense.” 
“No Dragon should ever be up this early. Dragons should be nocturnal creatures.” 
“Well, getting up early is good for you. And this doesn't happen often. Only on Dragon Migration Daaayyy!”
Garble picked me up by my tail and bounced me in the air. “You still get to ride on mommy’s back, shrimp.” He poked my bare, wingless back. “Just wait ‘till you get wings. You’ll miss the privilege.”
“Put me down!” I yelled. 
He dropped me back in my basket and walked out of the cave, grumbling about the gem and having to fly all the way there...
I picked up the gem I had been saving for…well, for nothing really. I just picked it up one day and kept it. I guess it was just the hoarder inside me. 
I walked to the middle of the valley where the hoard was. It was bigger than ever! I guess a lot of dragons had been keeping their own little stacks in their caves. 
“Dice! Hey, Dice!”
I turned around and saw my best friend, Kyna, running towards me. 
“Do you wanna ride with me on my mom’s back during the migration?" She tossed her purple gem into the pile with the others like a stone across a lake.
"Sure, I guess," I replied. "I was just going to sleep on my mom's back anyway."
"Ugh! I know! It is way to early. It's barely sunrise!” She pointed to the dim light reaching over the mountains. "I thought you liked watching the sunrise though?"
“No, nooo, I like watching the sunSET. BIG difference."
I've always loved watching the sunset. I was born at sunset. I often stayed up even past sunset since I was so awake anyway. Mother says that when a dragon is born partially affects their color. I was born at sunset so my color is deep orange base with yellow spines and light orange eyes. Mother and Garble look similar. Except Mother and Garble were born at sunrise. 
Kyna rolled her green eyes. "Ohh, my bad." she said sarcastically. I laughed and playfully punched her arm as we made our way to her cave. She was born in the middle of the day on a very sunny day. She’s sky blue base with white spines. 

After everyone finished putting their gems in the hoard, Orion gave us a short pre-flight pep-talk. We were already running a little behind schedule and he didn't want to waste anymore time on the ground. "I know all of you are upset about leaving your gems here - I am too - but just like we are leaving gems in this hoard, so are the dragons in Equestira. We have much to look forward to Dragons! This will be an adventure many of us haven't experienced! Don't think of it as a loss, think of it as a gain. So let's fly!"
Everyone cheered and took off like shooting stars. Kyna and I hung on tight to her mother's spines and screamed with the other baby Dragons on their mothers backs. All of our cheering mixed together was like a chorus of terrified, excited angels.
We had ridden on our mothers backs before, but this was different. This time, it was with purpose!
I looked down at our old cave. It was already so far away. It looked somewhat... heartwarming. I thought I'd leave feeling sad and missing the hoard, but it looked really charming - all the empty caves waiting to be filled again, the huge hoard waiting to be devoured by other Dragons, the vast fields waiting to de filled with little ones playing - I smiled.
It soon became too far away and only looked a spec of dirt. I looked down at the earth and saw the Zebras running with us, waving goodbye, waving flags and singing at the top of their lungs. I waved back enthusiastically, then my heart sank. There weren’t any Zebras in Equestria. I'd miss them emencely: their stories, their wisdom, their advice, their skill. They were always visiting our colony teaching us new things. They were the ones that taught my mother how to weave a basket. 
My thoughts were interrupted by Kyna asking, "Mama, how long will the flight be?"
"We won't get their until this evening, dear," she replied.
Kyna and I groaned. We laid on our backs next to each other and fell asleep.