//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Alicorn's Pride // by JuyUnseen //------------------------------// Chapter 10 A Journey Ends. “Look. I’m not saying it’s inexplicable, I’m just saying I don’t want to explain it.” Luna and Cliff were deep in one of their regular arguments regarding magic. “I still say you just don’t get how it works!” Cliff called back. “I do to!” “Then explain it!” the two had been arguing in circles for the better part of an hour, and as of yet neither of them had gained the other hand. “For the last time.” Luna huffed, “It’s MAGIC I don’t have to explain it. It just works.” “Will you two kindly shut up?” Sothe asked heatedly. Although he enjoyed listening to conversations while they traveled this one got old within the first five minutes. Cliff and Luna glared at each other for a few minutes more as they walked. The four of them had been traveling for the better part of the day and the sun hung low far off in front of them. The horizon had been bare for hours after leaving Deadrocks, but around midday Cliff declared that he could see another mountain range off in the distance. Luna had then decided to test out a spell that was supposed to increase her range of vision for a short while, which had been the spark that had lit their debate on magic in general. They walked in silence for a while after, staring at the gray lumps in the distance. Being in sight range of their destination hadn’t done much for their moods. They were still at least a day or so away from them, and Greywings had told them that Deadrocks was the only town on the northern road, so they would have to camp on the rocks. The prospect of this had knocked everyone’s mood down a bit so arguments had become more common than normal conversation. The four of them trod on in silence, unaware of the distant shape of a form in flight off to the south. --- Treeflame knew she must be on the right path when she saw the northern range. She remembered the road that run along the top, allowing passage from the griffin wastes to the dragon lands. She was ecstatic at the sight of the mountains, they reminded her of home. “Here I come.” She mumbled as she flew, “I’m coming home.” --- “So… you mean to tell us that not only have you ignored the council entirely, but you have also slaughtered three towns worth of griffins? No vote on the matter? What gives you the gall to think you could make such a choice on your own?!?!” Rust asked angrily through his teeth. Greathoof had spent more than an hour telling his story, and now that it was over the other councilors were more than a little shaken. “You make my crusade sound petty Rust.” Greathoof smirked at the rusty brown pony, “Do you have any idea what this means for the country? Athelta could effectively double in size.” “Athelta,” Rust seethed back, “Is run by a council. No single pony makes decisions on the country’s behalf.” He stood, “Again I ask you. What gives you the right?” Greathoof eyes him coldly. “You know…” He began pacing the floor of the chamber, “Thelia began asking such questions when she found out the truth. She argued in circles with me, demanding I stop my ‘insane plans’ or to step down.” He stopped and turned to face the other alicorns once again, “Tell me, did any of you manage to find her?” The room was silent, the gravity of the situation seemed to weigh heavier on the councilors as they looked down on this bloodthirsty pony. Greathoof smiled at their lack of response and slowly slid his hidden knife from under his wing. “She died. Right here in this very room.” Greathoof said with and edge of insanity, “She didn’t want to see the possibilities that lay before us. She refused the destiny I’ve laid out for us. She proved herself to be useless to this grand new world we’re entering, so with this knife I made sure that she stayed in the old world forever.” As he finished, his voice grew cold again. He glared daggers at the ponies who watched him in fear. “You… you killed her.” Sky Dancer managed to say. “Naturally.” He smirked, Seems that they’re finally beginning to understand. Rust leapt to his hooves. “Not only are you a traitor to your people, but you are also a murderer!” The brown pony flared his wings and was face to face with Greathoof in a heartbeat, “You are not one of us. You aren’t worthy of power of any sort.” He spat, oblivious of the knife that still floated in the grasp of Greathoof’s magic, “You are hardly even an alicorn.” “Choose your words wisely, Rust my friend. Lest you wish your fate to match her’s.” Greathoof stepped away, “He’s right on one account. I am no longer one of you. No longer am I a council member, but then again neither are any of you.” The knife flew and struck the Atheltian banner that hung above the council chairs. “This council is no more.” His soldiers stepped forward, brandishing their swords. “No, instead I think I shall lead alone, and all of you will do as I say if you wish to live.” --- A squawk broke the silence of the mountain path as a dot of flame grew closer to the group of travelers. “Welcome back Philomena!” Celestia called out, happy to see her pet once again. The group stopped walking as Philomena landed on a boulder and offered up the small scroll in her beak. Sothe took it and scanned the parchment. His eyes narrowed. “Something wrong?” Cliff asked as he dug through his bag for some food. “From the looks of it, Greathoof has something planned for Athelta… River can’t seem to figure it out yet…” “Well nothing we can do about it from here.” Cliff shrugged and bit into his newfound jerky strip. Luna munched on half of an apple from her bag. “I wonder what’s going on back home…” she mused around her chewing. “Please don’t talk with your mouth full.” Celestia pleaded after getting a good look at a wad of half chewed apple. “Bleughhh.” Luna opened her mouth more before swallowing and giggling. Celestia hit her playfully on the shoulder, and Luna retaliated with a tackle. The sun began to set as the group ate. Philomena set some sticks ablaze for the travelers before promptly falling asleep. “So… should we make it to the dragons by tomorrow?” Luna asked, staring up at the stars. “If we make good time, yeah we should.” Sothe assured her. Cliff stretched before laying himself down on his side, exposing his belly to the heat of the flame. He let out a contented purr. Celestia giggled at the sight. “I guess no matter how big they get, they’re still part cat.” “You’d better believe it.” Cliff murmured sleepily. Luna began to clear rocks from the space around her, doing her best to make a makeshift sleeping space. Celestia followed suit, and mas asleep in moments. Sothe lay down next to her and after a moment of stretching, he too fell into slumber. Luna rolled onto her back and gazed up at the night sky. It was so pretty, daytime couldn’t compete with the beauty of the night in her book. She missed flying her rounds. She missed the time alone in the darkened, starry sky. She sighed. “Tomorrow…. Tomorrow I get to see dragons.” She whispered into the night as enormous, scaly creatures entered her thoughts. As she thought and stared sleepily, something flitted into her field of vision, something new to the night sky. “Dragons,” She said again, “Just like that one.” She sat up. There was a dragon overhead, a real dragon. She opened her wings and took flight, struggling against the thin air. --- Treeflame flew long into the night. She flew while the sun was setting, she flew while night was falling, and she flew as a blue form followed her. She did a double take. There was an alicorn flying towards her. “Oh no, they can’t have found me.” She whispered, pouring more speed into her tired wings, but a full day of nonstop flying had finally taken its toll. She struggled forward through the air, but the exertion was too much and she sighed, defeated as she began her descent towards the mountain path below her. She landed and readied herself for the inevitable. The sound of hooves on stone rang out as Luna landed next to the tired form of the dragon. She took a deep breath. This was a real live dragon. “H-hello?” she asked tentatively. The dragon looked up, surprised. This alicorn didn’t sound angry or threatening. In fact the voice sounded nothing like that of a soldier, the foremost difference was that this voice was distinctively female. “Who are you?” Treeflame asked. Luna cleared her throat excitedly. “My name is Luna. I… we’re… me and my friends… we’re traveling.” She stammered a little, “You… you’re a dragon aren’t you?” She asked, her voice betraying her enthusiasm. Treeflame looked the young alicorn over, bemused. “No, I’m a manticore, can’t you tell?” She said arching her tail over her head like a scorpion’s sting. She giggled for a moment, “Yes Luna, I’m a dragon. My name is Treeflame.” Luna smiled. “Nice to meet you Treeflame.” Luna said happily. She suddenly noticed the dragon’s heavy breathing, “Are you okay?” “I’m fine… I’ve just been flying all day… and then seeing you gave me a bit of a fright.” She giggled again. “Why’d seeing me scare you?” Luna asked, “Is my mane messed up? Is there something on my face?” Treeflame laughed out again at this, “No, nothing like that… I…” the dragon sighed, there’s no use trying to hide it, she thought. “I’ve spent the past three years of my life in captivity.” She tried to keep her voice even as a look of surprise crossed the blue alicorn’s face, “I’ve been forced to work for a horrible alicorn by the name of Greathoof.” “Greathoof?” Luna half yelled the name, “You’ve been a… a slave for him for three years?” “I think so… it may have been longer…” the dragon sighed again, “you… you don’t work for him do you?” Luna gave what was likely the coldest look she had ever given in her life. “No. No I don’t. Nor do I ever plan on getting close to that monster in my life. He’s completely evil, he’s ordered the slaughtering of cities and the killing of thousands. He’s hardly even an alicorn in my book.” She finished her short speech in a huff and then looked down at her hooved, embarrassed. “Do you… I mean those rocks can’t be comfortable… would you like to stay by our campfire tonight?” She sounded nervous. “What these old thing? These rocks are the finest in the land, not even the softest bed can compare,” She giggled at her own sarcasm, “But I suppose I could stay with you, if you insist.” Luna brightened at this. “Great!” She exclaimed, “I’ll show you the way.” and so the two walked back towards the makeshift camp. “You know, I’ve never seen a dragon before… what do dragons talk about?” “Well what do you want to know?” “Absolutely everything.” --- River slumped onto her couch when she got home. Today had been awful. Not only had she been unprepared for Greathoof’s course of action, but she had been unable to do anything to stop him from taking over the council. The only upside so far was that he hadn’t publically announced his takeover yet, hopefully the general populace would stay in the dark for a time. She hit her head against the arm of the couch. WHY!?! She mentally screamed at herself, Why did I have to be so adamant against those standing army votes? Months ago there had been talks about whether or not to garrison a standing army in the city, and River’s vote had been the deciding factor. She had kept thinking that maybe if there had been an army available, today might have turned out differently. She hit her head again. Greathoof had spent the day making rules and putting things in order. His first order of business had been to send for some of his sympathizers and accept them into his ‘grand army’. One such pony now stood outside of River’s door, keeping her under house arrest. His next decision had been to strip the other councilors of any power, they were mere figureheads now. She sighed, unsure of how the night could get worse. It did. The telltale squawk rang out from her window, and she cringed. Philomena stood on the sill, letter in beak just as always. River slowly opened the window, hoping the guard out front had hear nothing. “Hi Phil…” She murmured to the phoenix. The bird squawked again, this time loud enough to alert the burly stallion out front. The door crashed open. “What’s going on in…” His eyes fell on the firebird. “Get out of my house.” River commanded with as much bravery as she could muster. Her command was met with the open window slamming shut in a burst of magic and the letter getting torn out of Philomena’s grasp. River sat down as the guard’s sword was turned on her, sighing in defeat. --- “So you’re headed to the dragon lands too?” It was morning, and Sothe was having a discussion with the newcomer to the camp. “That’s right, I’m headed home.” Treeflame responded happily. She felt that she couldn’t have had better luck, she hadn’t met one new friend, but four. Everyone in this group seemed nice and they also hated Greathoof. That was always a plus. Add to that the fact that the group was headed in the same direction as her and she felt like the luckiest dragon alive, “You guys have any room for another in this group?” “I don’t see why not, so long as you can put in a good word for us with the elders once we arrive.” Treeflame giggled. “So long as you’re not a bad alicorn at heart, the elders will be fine. I’m certain of it.” She had vivid memories of the elders, great dragons of even greater wisdom. Every one of them were as old as the caves they lived in, and they were still going strong. “Welcome to the team.” Cliff said happily, extending a clawed hand in greeting. Treeflame gave it a shake. Celestia greeted her as well. “You’re a lot smaller than I’d have expected a dragon to be.” “Well I’ve got quite a bit of growing ahead of me.” The blue dragon laughed. She was ecstatic, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in a group of people who didn’t hate her, much less a group of new friends. She assisted with packing the campsite away, and on request, roasted a strip of jerky for Cliff. He chewed the meat happily. “Let’s keep her.” He said around his food, and with that the group of five was off. --- “I have to say, I’m impressed.” Greathoof mused, “Not only did you manage to get a warning to half of the griffin population, but you’re also helping them, and all so stealthily too. Very, very impressive.” His eyes scanned the letters splayed out on the table before him for what seemed like the hundredth time. His mind was methodically going over his options. He couldn’t decide on how to deal with this situation. “Sir? Do you wish for us to hunt the group down?” Asked one of the soldiers who stood perpetually at Greathoof’s side. “No. We don’t have enough forces here to spare... wait… there’s an idea.” He smiled evilly at River, who stood on hooves chained together, “I think I need to send a letter of my own.” He trotted to River’s desk and took up a quill and blank scroll. His horn flared red as he scribbled furiously, and once he was finished he went to the window where Philomena always brought her letters. “You will not ruin my plans.” He hissed at the restrained mare before sending the letter away with a burst of fire. --- “And that’s how I learned to fly.” finished Cliff. They had been traveling for quite some time now. It was almost midday and everyone was lost in conversation, so lost in fact that they took very little notice of their surroundings. They stopped caring about the bleak, rocky world that surrounded them, they took no notice of the sun making its daily journey, and they most certainly didn’t notice the great mountain looming in front of them. They did however finally notice it when Cliff, preparing to preform a trick, took off and rammed headfirst into the wall of stone. Treeflame fell over laughing, and Cliff stood shakily. “Who put this… Woah.” He said in awe of the enormous mountain in front of them, one that could rival the Daimond mountain is size. “We’re here.” Said Luna. “Great!” Exclaimed Treeflame, “Now we just need to-” She was cut off by a sudden pressure in her gut that grew and pushed its way into her throat before releasing itself with a great belch. A scroll fell from the cloud of smoke that now hung in front of Treeflame. “Find the cave.” She finished with slightly labored breathing. The group huddled around the scroll. “what is that?” Asked Sothe. “It’s probably a letter from Greathoof.” Replied Treeflame slowly. With a faint glow of magic, Sothe nudged the scroll open and floated it up to eye level. Everyone gathered close and began to read, and as they did, the color drained from each of their faces. The letter told of the events in the capital, and now the group knew that all was not well. “We need to go home.” Celestia whispered. -------------------------------------------- Author Note: Here it is, my unoffical end of part one. And with it I want to once again thank everyone who has taken time to read so far. I love everyone who has followed it and so I want to make an announcement. I'm taking a break. Just for a week or two. I want the next chapter to be rather epic, and I also just need some rest from all this writing. During this break I hope to make major edits to the original 10 chapters, and possibly find an Editor or a Pre-reader. I'd love it if anyone could take time to Pre-read any of my chapters before posting, I'm sure that the quality of them would go up if somepony did. See you in a week or so, and thanks for reading.