The whispers of Twilight were caught in the ears of pretty much every other beings that stood there. That one word which she whispered caused all of the mares to widen their eyes even further. They didn’t know whether or not she was right on the matter. While it was true that the creatures shared treats of the legendary dragons, it didn’t mean that they actually were the creatures of old.
Then again, who were they kidding in the first place? They were just trying to make sense out of the place where the nonsensical always held the upper hand. They weren’t in their own universe anymore. They couldn’t play by the rules that were known and used for the longest of times. Instead did they had to return to zero and learn everything once again.
The eyes of the mares all looked to the swirling dragons as they couldn’t believe it. They actually were seeing beasts that should have gone extinct so many years ago. Nopony had the right words to say nor the deeds to be done. They were once again touching in the dark as they could only hope on the fact that the creatures wouldn’t toast them at first glance.
The mind of Twilight was constantly turning and twisting around everything. There must have been something in her vast mental library that could have been of aid to them. She must have read something about the creatures of old that would have been able to save their skin.
The light bashes made against her head by the palm of the hand sent and eerie sound through the whole sphere. The mares of the company turned around to face Twilight and signaled her in silence to stop doing whatever she was doing.
Yet the unicorn didn’t gave them an answer. She had sunken too much in her own thoughts to realize exactly what she was doing. Which resulted in perhaps the most foolish action that could have been done.
Everypony else looked back up to the dragons. Each of them noticed how their heads weren’t focused in front of them anymore. Instead were they swirling around with their heads aimed directly at the mares themselves. Each of them realized that trouble was about to get to them, if they weren’t quick with something. But what could they have done in front of dragons?
The dangers were high enough and somepony had to take Twilight out of her concentration. Applejack took it to herself as she nudged the unicorn rather hard in the side.
In an instant was Twilight’s concentration broken and she shocked up. The pain in her side which was caused by the nudge caused her to both groan and growl at the same time. She wanted to end the life of another being there and then for ruining her much needed concentration.
Yet when she noticed that the arm of Applejack was pointing towards, her eyes followed. The mare then saw the magnitude of trouble they were in. A hand was brought to her face before she calmly shook her head. It wasn’t happening, it couldn’t have been happening.
The dragons had aimed their heads to the company of mares as if they were circling around their prey. The fangs were the things they needed to be most cautious of, the fangs that belonged to the mouths of the dragons were the sharpest things according to ancient legends.
The soothsayer quickly regained her thoughts moments before she gestured to each of them. They all needed to drop themselves down and give a bow to the creatures. Much like the pegasi, dragons were creatures of great pride and respect. The job was simple enough, treat a dragon with respect and one shall receive that same respect.
Hopefully.
The mares nodded to the soothsayer before they made the bow to the diamond floor. Each of them had their own manner in which they would make the bow. Some were simple while others were properly high class bows.
And then the waiting game would begin for them. The waiting game that would have determined whether or not they would end up as toast or continue in the actions of their quest.
Streams of sweat had begun to run down the sides of their faces, they weren’t getting it too warm though. No, they were nervous. Nervous for the events to come and the things to happen. Who knew in what kind of mood the dragons would have been and if there could be reasoned with.
Twilight dared to look up to the creatures with her eyes wide open and was granted perhaps a front row seat for whatever would happen next. The soothsayer took calm breaths just to get her nerves under control. The last thing she needed, the last thing any of them needed, was that she or they would lose their focus.
High up in the sphere of magma were the two dragons still flying through the air. They made calm motions with their wings while each looked over to the group of mares. They had both seen the bows that the creatures had made but they weren’t too certain.
In their own eyes did the bow seemed to have been out of fear rather than respect. Whether or not they would have come down anytime soon remained another question to be see. But as they kept staring to the company, there was a strange shift in their eyes. It almost seemed as if they recognized the anthronies for whatever reason. That shocking expression when one saw another being or object it knew but hadn’t seen in a terrible long time.
The growls that were then released by the giant creatures terrified the company even more before they finally altered their course of action.
Within seconds were the two dragons getting closer and closer to the mares. Twilight saw it all happening while her fight or flight syndrome kicked in. She wanted to run away just so badly but her hooves didn’t want to take a single step. She knew that she had to keep on standing like that.
With the altering of the course did the shadows of the dragons shifted all over the place. That caught the attention of the other mares in return. All together were they watching for the scene to come and it wouldn’t have been one to disappoint.
The dragons both would have charged the fires they carried in their mouths. The plumes of smoke left the nostrils of the creatures as the fires matched the eyes they carried. Whatever would be happening from that moment onward did nopony knew. They wanted to run away so badly but just as with Twilight, their hooves couldn’t do a single step.
They were forced to watch the events happening before their eyes and silently had the mares made peace with it once again. They looked over the smoking and swirling dragons as they always seemed to have barely missed one another in flight.
The scene was spectacular to witness yet horrifying at the same time. The fear of the unknown struck them all as the dragons had both reached the end of the sphere. They were far away from each other and just hovered in the air.
The eyes were locked upon one another as their mouths were filled with the fires. Small flames even managed to escape from it through the fangs and the lips which moved every so often. Yet then it finally happened. The unthinkable thing finally seemed to happen.
The flames that had been building inside of the mouths, were finally released into the world. A bright purple and bright green flame were called into the world and shot towards the other. In the middle did the two columns of fire met up with one another and began to spiral around.
The third column was created and the creatures glanced even deeper into each other’s eyes. Suddenly they just rushed forward after the fires ceased from their mouths. But that central column managed to remain standing for some reason.
The two began to circle around it for a couple dozen times before they would have done the unthinkable and just crash right into one another. But not just one another though. For the two creatures of old would also have crashed right into the column of their own made fire.
An explosion happened as the whole room turned to white for a moment or two. The mares of the company left a gasp for air as they were shocked at the events that had been playing out. Had something go wrong? What else was happening inside of the sphere?
Those were the kind of questions that rushed through their minds at the moment. Whatever had happened, they couldn’t have been to blame for it. Right? The mares tried to make sense out of the possible shimmers that the white light carried.
But they just didn’t saw a thing. It felt like somepony would have shone down a powerful arcane light straight into their eyes. They could only pray on the fact that everything was alright.
Seconds later it would have happened, seconds later could they hear the roaring sounds echoing through the entire place. A roar that was in fact a mixture of the sounds given off by the two dragons before. Yet they didn’t sound like two separate beings.
The light began to fade away and the mares were granted their first sights of just what had happened. Their mouths dropped open in both utter amazement and fear. Just for a second or two they glanced over the thing and turned their heads back down.
The bows of fears and frights had turned into bows of utter respect as before them stood the impossible. Twilight was the last mare to lower her head and closed her eyes. The image that was burned on her retina would remain there for a long time to come.
The very image that they all saw was one of the most unbelievable they had seen during their whole journey. The sights that were granted to them in the middle of the sphere couldn’t have been justified with words.
At the spot where the dragons had crashed together it stood tall and mighty. With both of its legs and arms resting upon the diamond floor, it had made contact with the ground. A long neck that held the head in a regal position above them all. The wings that were laid next to the body in calm and a tail that would have placed Pinkie’s to shame.
It just sat there in both a regal and relaxing pose. A green spiked, purple scaled dragon that literally made the mares dwarves in its eyes. Its eyes glanced over the company members as a plume of smoke left its nostrils. It didn’t seem frightened by their appearance or their entrance to the place for some reasons.
If anything, they would have managed to awaken his curiosity. One of the talons he carried at his fingers began to tap the diamond floor. Shockwave after shockwave was sent through it as the eyes kept themselves firmly upon the mares.
The mares on the other end didn’t dare to say or do anything unless it said or allowed them to. So once again had the waiting game began. One that they were willing to play for as long as it would have been needed.
Though they didn’t had to wait all too long actually. In their minds it may have seemed like seconds or minutes, but the time was a whole lot shorter. A deep and low sounding exhale came from the dragon’s body just before the deep voice spoke the words. “Arise you six. You, are worthy of my time,” he spoke to them in an honorable, deep voice.
At least, they thought it was a male dragon given the tone he carried in his voice.
All of the mares stood up from their bows as some placed their hands behind their backs to not be seen as a threat while others just allowed it to dangle. Their eyes looked up the neck of the dragon before they were finally met with his eyes.
Just the sheer size of the creature that they were seeing was imposing enough already to make them have nightmares. Intimidating as it was, he just sat there in a relaxed pose. But they knew that the time had come and Twilight was the guinea pig to do what needed to be done.
Even though he was a beast of old, even though he could have been found in the very center of Equestria, even though he might have been the last living dragon in existence, he was responsible for the tremors the plagued the lands above.
Twilight took a couple of steps forward and gulped deep. She noticed how his head and eyes followed her every movement. She was kept in a sharp eye by the breast and he wouldn’t let her go with anything funny. Which she could understand, but she didn’t knew the borders of the creature. With all of the courage gathered asked the mare perhaps the most obvious question in the universe.
“Can you, tell us your name?” she asked the dragon of old.
The dragon released a toothy grin as he then lowered his head to the unicorn. But as Twilight looked into the eyes, she noticed there was a newborn sadness within them. Almost as if the asking of his name was already enough to drive him to tears. That fact alone, made her extra cautious about him.
“My name, is the first thing that you ask of me?” the dragon repeated before he laid his neck on the ground. Doing so enabled the creature to look her directly in the eyes. Twilight’s head almost stood normal as she glanced back into his eyes and nodded. A deep exhale was released through the nostrils which caused her long hair to be blown away for a moment. “My name, is The Eternal One,” he replied to them all.
The tone in which he spoke the words were conflicting with one another. Twilight could not only sense that, she could even feel it too. He had to think about the name for a moment or two before he told them it. Which meant to her that he was lying to them, or something else was playing.
Would she do it? Would Twilight have been crazy enough to argue against a dragon of old? Especially with the scenes that they just been witnessing? Everypony prayed on the fact that the unicorn was wiser than that. Yet they didn’t knew where the loose cannon of Twilight would have been aimed at. Let alone being fired at.
Prayers were said in silence and mental voices before they returned their attention to the unicorn and the dragon. They hoped so much that she was wise enough. What happened was that they hoped for the best but were preparing for the worse. They knew Twilight longer than that day. They had known her long enough by them to realize that nothing seemed what it was around her.
Perhaps that was the reason of why they were just so worried.
The eyes of the unicorn narrowed themselves as she replied with words of her own. “Something tells me, Eternal One, that that isn’t your actual name. It sounds more like a title given to you by somepony else.” Behind her could the five slaps in the faces be heard. All of the anthronies facepalmed at the same time towards her.
They couldn’t believe it. But Twilight was either daring or stupid enough to argue against a dragon. One that was probably a thousand times her own age, no less. The urges to not step in and smack the mare in the face were high everypony yet they managed to keep themselves standing. For what would happen next was something that they didn’t even wanted to interfere with.
The dragon released a deep exhale through its nostrils, the mare did happen to have a right on the matter. The sadness inside of the eyes only became greater but he tried to hide it by the words that were spoken. “You have no right to talk to me like that! Give me one reason why I shouldn’t roast you straight away,” he growled to her with a terrible growl in his tone.
He meant the words that were spoken though. He would have grilled them all in just a heartbeat if he had the chance. Yet somehow he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do it because of the sadness in his eyes. That was the card on which Twilight was playing. Or at least she hoped that she was playing on it.
“Your eyes tell another story, but what is the story they tell you?” the soothsayer asked of him. Her tone tried to remain calm. Yet the undertone was already filled with fear for the fury.
That question alone was perhaps more than enough to make the dragon tremble upon its feet. It never had expected such words to have gotten out of an anthrony. The reply that was going to be made had to be one that was carefully formulated. She was a clever mare, she saw through things most wouldn’t even consider.
Attention was given to Twilight in the fullest of glory as she took it up a notch. “Would you care to tell me, or us, your story?” she asked in a polite tone. She needed to know everything about the beast that could be known about it. One way or the other would she just pry the information straight out of him.
Whether the dragon liked it or not. Not to mention, if he realized what was happening.
In his eyes had everything changed in a split second. Nothing seemed to be what it was as her voice echoed inside of his head. It began to haunt him as it seemed like a ghost of the past who had returned to him. Something wasn’t right at all. The sadness in his eyes made place for a burst of anger and rage as his tail smashed itself against the floor a couple of times.
“I don’t remember my actual name anymore!” he bellowed towards Twilight before the neck rose back up. Soon enough was the head followed and the two hands were placed firm on the floor. Out of his mouth there came a column of fire which was shot straight to the ceiling together with a roar of either power of sadness.
Twilight had to take a step or two back as she finally seemed to have been stepping on the toes of the ancient creature. But the words that he spewed to her rang truth. That genuine rage that was given off to all of them made Twilight realize that it had been an issue he had been dealing with for some time already.
“It’s okay, it’s okay! You don’t have to remember your name. I only said that the one you gave me wasn’t your actual one,” explained Twilight in the faint hope that it would manage to calm the beast down and come back to its senses.
Even though the chance was rather small for that to happen, it was worth a try in the least. No other member of the company even dared to speak up a single word. All of them were just too terrified about the fact that he would roast them at any given time.
Only then did the fires stop coming from his mouth before he quickly managed to regain his posture and regal pose before the unicorn. The head was almost laid down on the ground but given just enough space to talk. There was another matter that had come to light for the dragon. A question that needed to be answered by any of them.
“Why, are you here?” he asked of the company and showed them all his teeth. Once again he tried to intimidate them all. But the glance in his eyes just was too kind to have become threatening. Either that, or Twilight had been reading the emotions all wrong from the get go.
“That, that’s a long story actually,” the soothsayer replied to the dragon. She began to figure out a way to tell him everything in a short version. Seconds ticked by as the only sounds in the place was the boiling magma and their breathing. “Okay, I think I have it summarized. The lands above are having tremors, earthquakes if you will.”
“Earthquakes above?” the dragon repeated before he rose an eyebrow towards them. “What causes them?” If they didn’t know any better, it almost seemed as if he was willing to help them all in the quest to stop the tremors. Yet he didn’t realize that he was the cause of it all.
A terrible fact that had to be brought to light by nopony else then Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn soothsayer released a deep exhale through her nostrils as she told the rest of the tale as she knew it. “From what we have seen, it is you that causes them. When your wings slice through the magma here, it is visible on the outside. You, cause the tremors in the lands above.”
In an instant had the dragon’s eyes turned from kind to sorrow. He realized the fact of his own mistakes and turned his head away from the group. Twilight rose an eyebrow as she never had expected the creature to be doing just that. Dragons never turned their head away from their conversation partner. Not until it was deemed over at least.
Things were only getting more and more strange and bizarre. “They said it couldn’t hurt too much. They said that it was good for me to slice through it. They told me, it was for my own best will to be placed here,” the dragon mumbled under his breath, yet they all heard it.
In response did everypony look to Twilight with confusion. The soothsayer looked on her own turn back to all of the mares with that very same expression. The words spoken by the creature in that monotone voice just baffled all of them. It wasn’t like anything they had ever expected to see happening.
Yet the questions still rose up. The most obvious one was of course who the mysterious ‘they’ were. Twilight shrugged as she read the questions in the eyes of every mare and didn’t how to answer them. The best thing that they could be doing in the moment was just to remain silent and allow the soothsayer to continue with the conversation.
The unicorn didn’t knew what she had to do in order to get the attention back from it. “E-Eternal One, we still hadn’t finished our talking, not yet at least,” dared Twilight to bring forth. As disrespectful as it sounded, it was the only way she knew to get him back on track.
It seemed to have worked though. The dragon turned his head back towards her and allowed another plume of smoke to be released through his nostrils. “You aren’t going to put me down, are you?” he asked her in a dead serious tone. “Many have tried before, under the name of her, but they all failed as they fell before me. My breath and my talons, have seen their share. Let that be a lesson, to all of you.” His eyes moved away from Twilight and then to the rest of the company’s members.
Each of them got a share of the ice cold glare that the creature could give them. They were just terrified about it all. One wrong motion or word and he would have noticed it. Despite it being as old as their imagination, the dragon still had a very keen observation sense. Nothing would have left his eyes and the mares felt like as if they were chained down to the ground.
Gulps were given off by both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They weren’t a fan of the creature to begin with. Though with the knowledge that it constantly would be watching them as well, they were literally terrified of it. Perhaps it was understandable but Twilight didn’t care for it in the moment. There were other thoughts that plagued her mind and she needed answers upon them.
She just hoped that they were smart enough to not do anything stupid, unlike herself though. Yet the thoughts of Twilight began to travel even further back in time. She remembered of course the settlement with the ghosts quite vividly.
It was there when the connection was being made. The connection that possibly would be changing everything that she knew. Her fist was slammed in the palm of her other and as the eyes went wide. “I think I know exactly of whom you’re speaking here. The settlers that had been conquered by Nightmare Moon, right?” Twilight just bluntly said to him.
The dragon shifted his attention back to the unicorn before he gave her a nod. “Yes, they came here so long ago… Their weapons ready to end my life once and for all. But instead, they got what they deserved. They joined the devil, that was the only thing that they could receive. Pain beyond measure,” the dragon returned to her, showing no sympathy for the ghosts.
The words were harsh and Twilight couldn’t agree with them. She knew the story behind the settlers as the dragon only knew his side. Yet she didn’t had the desire to argue against it. The fear for his flames was still great in her heart and she had to deal with it one way or the other. Perhaps the only thing that could be done then was to return to their conversation as it was.
“But, if we can get back on track here for just a moment,” stated Twilight while she made some gestures with her hands. “We know that you cause the disruptions within our land. The question is, how are we going to solve it without putting you to, eternal rest. I just want this to resolved peacefully if that’s a possibility.”
The eyes of the dragon narrowed themselves while an expression of remembrance came to him once more. The words that echoed in his ears and the tone in which they were spoken were familiar. All of it reminded him of the past that was forgotten so long ago. A deep exhale of nostalgia seemed to have left his throat before the words were returned to her.
“That’s exactly as one of them would have said it. Always looking for the middle road to be walked. Even in places where it was thought to not exist,” the dragon replied to Twilight before his lips curled up in a genuine small smile.
Though because it was given by a dragon, it just looked plain creepy in the eyes of the mares. Once again were the mysterious ‘them’ mentioned by the dragon. Yet who were these ‘them’ and ‘they’ that the creature spoke of? Who were they and what was their connection between the seven of them?
Applejack’s anger began to race through her as they didn’t get any straight answer out of him. Instead he would always divert from the course and come back to facts that didn’t seemed to be mattering much at first. His words caused her to be fed up with everything as the steam powered leg almost began to tremble.
The pistons and hoses managed to go in a state of overdrive while Applejack was that close to snapping out against the creature of old. Respectful or not, she would state her mind as it was and see what would happen from there.
Again and again it happened and the patience of the mare was running dangerously thin. Twilight’s conversation with the dragon of old didn’t seemed to be making much sense to anyone. For it was the dragon himself who was constantly diverting from the course. Rainbow had already given up on following as Fluttershy and Pinkie tried to conquer their fears.
But enough was enough. Finally had Applejack reached her breaking point and snapped like a little twig. The admiral took a couple of steps forward and away from the group. She walked even further than Twilight as her steam powered leg clashed against the diamonds with every step.
“And now ya listen to me, alright? Ya might be this big beast of ancient times, but Ah’ve fought creatures ten times worse than ya! So yar gonna tell us exactly who these ‘they’ and ‘them’ are, as well as yar excuse for terrorizing our land, right now!” Applejack yelled in a growling tone.
They could all understand the anger of the admiral without a doubt, but whether or not it was on the right was remained to be seen. The dragon was not used to those kinds of words being spoken to him. So it resulted in a deep growl that came from his side. Applejack then froze up in fear when she realized the trouble that she could have potentially caused.
“And you, remain silent for the rest of this conversation! You have no right to speak to me like that nor shall you ever!” the dragon returned to her while the fires could be witnessed already in the throat. As close as Applejack was to snapping a moment ago, that close the dragon happened to be by then.
Fluttershy looked over the scene as it played out before her. The doctor realized that she had to do something. She had to do something in order to prevent it all becoming one giant massacre and that they would all end up as ghosts.
The pegasus removed herself from Pinkie’s side and quickly covered the distance between Applejack and the dragon. She looked to both of the beings with a demanding expression clearly visible before the words left her mouth. “Quiet, the both of you just be quiet and think about your words! Applejack, we’re having only one shot at this and if you screw it up, you can kiss everything that’s even remotely dear to you goodbye!” the doctor said to her. She had whispered her last words towards the admiral. Her tone was haunting to make it stick with her.
Applejack nodded calm in return, the words of Fluttershy did happen to be true, whether it was liked or not. Slow but sure did she took her steps back to the rest of the group. Then the doctor focused herself upon the dragon. With the feelings of fear crawling up inside of her, she said her words in a rather confident sounding tone. “I apologize for my friend here, she’s having a rather short temper, shall we say. Twilight, if you want to continue, please do.”
And then did even Fluttershy remove herself from the scene so it only left Twilight and the Eternal One. That was the way it started and so it would have ended.
The soothsayer nodded to herself before she asked the question once more. The question that hopefully would be gotten a straight answer upon for once. “Do you know, how to stop the tremors that plague our land right now? Do you know a way to fly inside of here and not slice through the magma. Or better asked, do you dare to argue against ‘them’ and do what you think is right?” It were tough questions to answer for the dragon, that much was already obvious to them.
The face of the dragon turned as pale as snow when he heard the words which were asked of him. They were hammered inside of his skull as the eyes had been closed. Something about the words had awoken something inside of him. Almost as if an old key had been found to a door that mustn’t been unlocked.
Though the key was placed in the hole, turned and the door opened. But instead of something terrible that would happen, all kinds of wonderful memories began to fill the mind of the dragon. Including a series of words that were spoken by them, a long, long time ago. “Only those, who carry their aura can restore Equestria to how it once was,” he said to the company. His words were spoken in a tone that was both emotionally filled, as well as monotone at the same time.