//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 The Bitter Old Dragon // Story: The Dragon King's Rebirth // by Sipioc //------------------------------// Chapter 8 The Bitter Old Dragon It was cold, but it was peaceful. Sound was present, but muffled, literally drowned out in the hush of your tranquility. You could feel the blood rush to your face, stinging your cheeks from the crisp water, but you welcomed it. It was bracing to say the least, plus the day was already hot. You could hear the voices of the three fillies, talking back and forth. Their babble further reduced to animated hollow chirps followed by a chorus of giggles. An ache in your chest told you that your "alone time" was coming to an end. With a surge of bubbles you broke the surface. ---------------------- "-gasp-" You pulled your head out of the cold water of the fountain in the middle of town. The two dancing stone mares in the middle were the first sight to greet you as you opened your eyes to the now unfiltered world, mocking your dour mood with their chiseled revelry. "Have a nice dip?" Chirped the snarky pegasus Crusader, her voice now comprehendible, but not really missed. "We were starting to worry." She continued dryly. "You were down for so long, I thought Applebloom would have to give you 'muzzle to muzzle'." She playfully quipped to her friend. The filly in question, glared at the pegasus, and gave her a subtly shove, which only increased the orange fillies' smug expression. You responded with a shake of your mane, allowing a fwick of water to harmlessly, but no less purposely, mist the fillies. A squeal of surprise escaping their muzzles followed by a laugh. You couldn't help but grin a little yourself. ---------------- "So you ready for yer first day?" Applebloom asked, wiping the droplets from her face with a foreleg. "Meh." Was all you could muster as you and the trio followed a white picket fence leading just outside of town, the school house, now coming into view. In truth, you didn't especially mind attending schools. After all, you took pride in keeping your mind sharp and knowledge retention was a prime way of doing so. If regurgitating useless "pony facts" and numbers helped in that, so be it, and it kept the older ponies happy. The downside, was the other occupants of the school; the urchins "your age". Their immaturity, insolence, and sheer stupidity made you physically sick. You immediately thought of the endless stream of asinine questions, jokes that were told wrong, or were just utterly dumb, requests for "potty breaks" moments after just getting back from said "potty". But most of all.... the...whining. You had to suppress a growl, recalling the high pitched squeals and pathetic displays. In your past experiences, when something made those noises you quickly ceased them with a quick lunge to the throat and a jerk to the side. That however was evidently unacceptable, as you learned when you attempted it in preschool. A ghoulish smile escaped your lips at the memory. 'Thought twice about squawking so loudly after that didn't you, Peach Pit?' You thought to yourself. "Somethin' funny?' Questioned Applebloom, bringing you out of your reverie with a start. "Huh? Oh...yeah. Just...remembering." You responded casually. "You do that a lot." Piped in Sweetie Belle "Do what?" You said, arching an eyebrow as you met the petite unicorn's quizzical gaze. "You say something, and then kinda zone out." She noted. This observation earned her a glare. "Yeah, my brother does that too." Twanged Applebloom. "Mus' be a colt thing, I reckon" She giggled at you, as you felt your cheeks grow warm. "Well 'ahh reckin' you should keep your..." A yelp not far ahead of you cut off your scathing rebuttal, followed by running hoof steps. You turned to the source just in time to see a gray blur careening towards you from around the bend in the road. The collision knocked you on your back, and rolled you twice, the grey meteor rolling with you. When the world came to a stop, you found yourself in a rather compromising position; muzzle to muzzle with a light grey pegasus colt splayed on top of you. You were still reeling from the hit, but quickly your senses regained their hold, followed not far behind by your trademark temper. "...get....off." Came out of you, as soft as a whisper, a foreshock of the quake about to happen. The grey interloper met your eyes and merely blinked once. "What?" He stated dumbly. "GET OFF ME YOU SLACK JAWED IDIOT!!!!!!" You screamed in his face, pushing him back with a shove and the force of your voice. The colt moved back to his hooves, his purple eyes darting to the left and right, as you seethed at him. You had been inexplicably struck, your personal space violated—scratch that, DE-FILED, and he revealed how dumb he was; you were out for blood. Bringing yourself to your hooves, you ground your teeth and stared bloody murder at this lowly wretch. "Are you gonna hit me?" He spoke up, once again in his high pitched voice, now adding a fourth tick mark to his "about to lose some teeth" card. You brought your foreleg up, prepared to do just that, as hard as you possibly could. "Right here, please." He said, offering you his left cheek. This gave you pause as you looked at this strangely willing volunteer for a thrashing. Your hoof frozen in place for a second, only for your to reengage your wind up, before he stopped you again. "Just-uh hard enough to leave a bruise on my face, I don't want a black eye." He stated plainly, leaning in a little with his eyes scrunch up. "Just enough so that I can go home for the day." 'Okay seriously, what?' You lowered your hoof and regarded the small pegasus before you. Your willingness to hit him now gone, as your suspicion out weighed your anger. "What is this? A trick?" You asked at the still squinting colt in front of you. You a scanned around you for an adult that you where sure was meant to be a 'convenient witness' to this beating. There were none, and for that matter, you couldn't help but notice that the general lack of any activity on the school grounds itself, the playground especially completely devoid of activity. "Rumble?" Applebloom cautiously came up from behind you. "What in tarnation is wrong wit' you?" The colt, 'Rumble' apparently, screwed one eye open and looked at the filly. He slowly raised his head. When he was sure you weren't gonna deck him, he opened both eyes and met with the apple fillies' own. "M-Miss Cheerilee is sick today." He spoke in a hushed tone that seemed to cause a shudder wave, that skipped you, and washed through the three ponies behind you. "I feel sick. Do I look sick? Here feel my forehead." The orange coated Crusader lamented with desperation evident in her voice, as she felt held a hoof to her temple, attempting to will herself into illness. "I can't, I think I'm coming down with something." Hacked the unicorn of the group, a series of pathetic coughs to punctuate her sudden ailment. "Ah-ah think mah cutie pox are comin' back on." Applebloom said in a scratchy voice, oddly adding a few taps of her hooves. Taking in the scene, you took stock of what was going on around you: An eager candidate for a concussion, a unicorn with a sudden coughing fit, a pegasus that was feeling flush, and a earth pony dancing a jig. 'Well, Cozy promised Ponyville would be different.' You thought as you sharply brought your previously enraged hoof to your own face in an act of utter exasperation. After a few moments of wheezing and a kick ball change, you decided to ask the question you dreaded. "Not sure I really wanna know," you said through your facehoof, not even bothering to open your eyes and face the ludicrous sight, "but, what in the name of sanity are you all going on about?" "Yer new, you wouldn't gettit'." Applebloom said as ceased her prancing and sunk to her belly with a sigh. The others followed suit, all sharing the same deflated expression. At this, you removed your hoof from your face and waited for them to continue. "If Miss Cherilee is sick, the that means we have a.... substitute." Sighed Sweetie Belle, her 'fit' miraculously abated. "Yeah...so?" You said flatly as you narrowed your eyes at the pile of ponies, the urge to hit something again, beginning to creep it way back into your mind. "That means," a now legitimately pale looking Scootaloo pointed a hoof. "SHE is our teacher today." You followed the pointing hoof up to the steps of the school house where a unicorn mare stood impatiently in the doorway. She was thin, poised, her coat, an off blue in color. Her dark green mane had thin streaks of grey, showing her age. The mane itself was tied back in a tight bun, in such a rigid fashion that not one hair escaped. On her nose sat a pair of thick rimmed glasses that had a chain that was connected to a stuffy shirt and old timey corset that hugged her boney figure conservatively. She peered over her specks at a pocket watch, in an expression of bored contempt at the timepiece. "Bitter old dragon." "Wha?!" The remark popped you from your thoughts. Your eyes wide as you turned to the grey colt. "Now you see why I was running." Said Rumble, his eyes and ears cast low, as he too slumped to the ground. "I-I don't get it." You shrugged, recovering from your initial shock of the comment. "What's the big deal?" "She's awful!" Applebloom warily stepped next to you, not taking her eyes off the unicorn substitute in fear that the mare would pounce on her in one leap if she saw her. "She's mean, no fun, and gives out tons of extra homework." "And that's not the worst part." Said Sweetie Belle glumly coming to your other side. Two fillies came out of the school house behind the unicorn. One was a dark grey in color, a pair of glasses on her nose. She came out and snuggled up to the mares legs, an act that went unnoticed by the unicorn. The other filly was a gaudy pink in color, a silver tiara on her head. The pink one said something to the mare. After a brief hesitation, the mare put her watch in her side pocket and nodded to the tiara'd filly. With fiendish glee the filly went back in and returned with a long rope in her hooves that appeared to be suspended from the ceiling. With devious zeal the pink filly began to tug on the rope. The bell a top of the school house began to chime, a clear sign that class was about to begin. The ponies behind you sighed and got to their hooves. Each had their heads low as they made their way toward the source of the bell. Out of the woods came numerous other fillies and colts, all with the same heavy hooves and sullen expression. You simply followed the crowd of dragging feet up to the school steps. The two fillies at the top of the steps seemed to be the only ones enjoying themselves as they looked out among the sea of broken spirits, with an heir of superiority. "Good morning, children." Said the mare in a drab, unenthusiastic drone. In an equally unenthused chorus the school ponies around you responded. "Good Morning, Mrs. Austere."