Me On Another Whirlwing Adventure
When we were finally done with our magical project, it had been 2 whole hours. The finished result was a pair of interesting magical articles, which we tested extensively to see if they worked.
"So what was that magical herb called again?" I asked Lena.
"It's called rhadia root, and it is pretty rare, but a lot of the things I've come up with need it, though I'm not sure of the reason."
"And how exactly are these things going to work?"
"Easy. The amber, emerald and amethyst will recharge with energy from the sun, or heat, or whatever else possible while not in use, and when you require it's abilities, you merely turn the knob here. The effects should last a good time, given that it's properly charged, but there should be a time limit, though we're not sure what it is."
I nodded, picked one of the objects up, lifted a scale in my chest and dropped it in. I grinned at her stunned face.
"Somethin' I picked up on guard duty. Automatic pockets. I don't want Physics mad at me just yet."
She smiled and let it drop.
"I'll fix a little supper. Tomorrow you can decide what's next for you. Take a look around the house. I built it myself."
I raised an eyebrow.
"All by yourself." She grinned.
"Started out as a little cabin, but telekinesis makes things go quite a bit faster."
I nodded, impressed.
Walking around the house, I found that she had a bedroom as well as a guest room with a couple of beds. I chuckled and silently flapped my wings a few times to see if I would fit, hovering over them.
"Not even close to my size," I chuckled out. A yell from Lena caught my attention.
"Soooooooeeeeeeee! Sooooooeeeeeee! Pig pig pig pig piiiiiiiiig!!!"
I chuckled again and floated out the door.
"So the pink one actually has a sense of humor. Didn't expect that so much." I sat down at the small table and observed the food she had set out. "Bread, fruit, hay and salad. No kiddin'."
"Clam up and eat your grub." she said, stuffing herself with salad.
I observed a distinct lack of something important, to say the least.
"Um... Lena? Silverware?"
"Whatever for? I have magic, and I don't mind you just eating." I shrugged.
"Whatever floats your root beer." She stopped eating for a bit.
"Root beer? I don't drink alcohol, but I've never heard of beer of roots." I chuckled.
"One. Whatever floats your root beer is an expression, like whatever floats your boat. It means do what ya want to do, because I don't mind most of it. Two. I don't drink alcohol either. Three. Root beer is a non-alcoholic beverage, made in some manner from sassafrass. One of the greatest drinks that have ever visited sentient life."
"How do you know so much?"
"I used to have a lot of time to think about things, and being curious certainly helps." She shrugged.
As I knew I would probably be able to out-eat her, I let her be full before cleaning up the scraps, including the hay, which wasn't too bad.
"Better get you accomodated to the guest bed."
"Lena, I already tried that, and believe me, I'd either break the sides with my feet or I'd break it with my weight. I'll just find a tree to hang from and keep watch. 'Sides, I'd never be able to sleep well with you in the near vicinity."
"Whatever floats your root beer," she said, grinning.
"Well, good night. I'll just be my batty self and drift off to dreamland. Good night."
"Sweet dreams."
"After spending a couple days with you, nobody would be able to have anything but nightmares."
"Har-de-har-de-har-de-har." she replied sarcastically. "Get outta here, ya green monstrosity."
I shook my head and headed out the door, eyes on the nearest tree which could probably support my weight. I fluttered next to it and turned upside-down, my talons wrapping around a thick branch as my wings wrapped around myself for warmth and comfort. I heard two small fireflies near me.
"Now there's something you don't see every day Chauncey."
"What's that Edgar?"
"A dragon acting like a cocoon."
"Oh, I don't know Edgar. You never know what's going to be the next big fad amongst neither dragons nor ponies."
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I woke up to the light of dawn and poked my head out of my scaly container. Without bothering to open my eyes, I let loose a pretty darn big yawn, smacked my lips and scratched my stomach.
"That was something I didn't need to see." I opened my eyes to see Lena standing there.
"And a good morning to you as well. I trust you slept well, as I was still able to hear your snores?"
"Yeah, laugh it up big guy, breakfast is ready."
With that, she turned around and left me hangin'. I took a claw off the branch and grabbed the trunk of the tree, my sharp toenails driving into the wood quite easily. I slowly walked down, one step at a time, before stepping on the ground and running towards the cabin.
After breakfast, Lena confronted me with the question.
"So what now?"
"I've been thinking. I believe I'll go around Equestria for a while, see what it's like, maybe train a bit. After that, I'll probably visit you again. By that time, I demand that you have a solid grounding in teleportation. I want you to be able to teleport into a tree at a moments notice when I come back, or else."
"Or else what?" I sighed.
"Lena, you never say 'or else what'. Never. It just sucks all the threat out of it. But think of it this way: I'll be having a lot of time to think of a decent punishment. Bear that in mind."
She winced as she thought of it. Apparently, she still had a little bit of fear. Understandable. We stepped outside.
"So I guess this is good-bye?"
"For now." I winked at her. "Keep yer chin up, and just do me one favor."
"Which is?"
"Don't get eaten." She smirked, and then gave me a small hug.
"Thanks for all your help, Scales." I grinned.
"No problem. Thanks for your time. See ya later, Bubblegum."
"Adios, dragon."
"I never did mention to you that I could speak Spanish, did I?"
"Spanish?"
"Probably something like Sponyish or something like that around here. Anywho, cheerio, ta-ta, arrivederci, adios, au revoir and all that jazz." I saluted her with two fingers.
"Hold up a minute there. You're still going to need a map and stuff." Out of nowhere, she came up with a map, a compass and a sextant.
"I don't know how to use the sextant," I confessed.
"Instructions are on the side."
I moved a scale on my back and deposited the items there.
"Thanks, Lena." I started a light jog.
"Other way, genius!", she shouted at me.
"I knew that!" I said, running away.
[/hr]
Canterlot Castle... Again
Celestia woke up with a start in her humongous bed, in a cold sweat. She got up and shook herself, trying to convince herself that it was a mere mistake in her powers.
"Yes, that's it. Merely a glitch in my sensors," she said, adjusting her crown in the mirror. "Aw, who am I kidding? Something is up, and I don't like it."
"Tia? Are you all right in there?" Luna's voice floated through the doors.
"I'll be right out, sister," Celestia responded. She stepped outside the door to reveal a preoccupied Luna.
"What is wrong, Tia?"
"I'm not completely sure. A strange new power has manifested itself, and it's headed into Equestria."
"Is it dangerous?" Luna asked, worrying.
"I don't know yet. All I know is that it's nothing we've ever seen before." Luna put her hoof on Celestia's shoulder.
"Then all we can do is try to intercept it and interrogate or control it. Now how about some breakfast? I believe there is a new coffee cake down in the kitchen."
Celestia's eyes brightened immediately as she galloped down the hall.
[/hr]
Back to the Dragon
I zoomed across the ground, alternating running with two legs, running on four limbs and flying low to the ground, to get a feel for all three methods. The distances were being eaten up quickly, even though I wasn't going full speed and wasn't getting tired.
'I love this body.' I grinned as I raced through a forest, barely touching the ground as I leaped off tree trunks to keep moving with all four limbs, acting like a very large, jumpy spider. I leaped up to the branches and started jumping and swinging off them to keep moving forward, thinking of myself as a monkey. I came down from a high branch, grabbed another and flung myself into the sky, spreading my wings and flapping. I soared up into the sky and observed the world from above. I sighed at the natural beauty. 'Kinda ironic how I used to be slightly afraid of heights.' I descended slowly and perched myself on the top of the tallest tree around to see the horizon.
"Now let's see... I need to hold it like this, and then do this... Gotcha..." I muttered, holding the sextant up to my eyes and lining it up with the horizon. "So, my next training spot... Northwest."
I jumped down the tree and landed with a large thump on the ground. I carefully looked at the compass lined up and ran straight Northwest. Suddenly, an unknown creature leaped at me and drove me up against a tree. I grunted and looked around, seeing nothing. It hit me again, from my right side, and I got a glimpse of a brown body. I snarled automatically.
I detected movement in the bushes in front of me, and a vicious timber wolf jumped out, teeth bared for puncturing my body. I immediately extended all my claws and punched it downwards with my right hand and scratched it with my left. Then I used my powerful legs to jump up, gaining power for the tail slam I performed on it's toppled body, shattering it. I scowled.
"Come out, whoever you are. I know you are there. The blows you dealt to me were too stealthy to be timber wolves, and you had fur, not sticks. Now reveal yourself." I heard a rustling in the leaves. "Do you talk, or are you merely a mindless beast like the manticores and the blink hounds? If you have a good enough explanation of why you attacked me, I might just let you live." Another rustling was heard. I flipped up a large branch to my hand with my foot and lit it on fire. "Last chance." The leaves to my left rustled more and a brown figure stepped out.
"Alright, alright, I admit it. It was me. Ya got some good senses on ya."
It was a short and squat brown animal, similar to a bear, but with a few differences in it's body structure. I crumbled the flaming part of my makeshift club and sat down on a nearby log.
"Take a seat and let's chat. I'll start. What's your name and why did you attack me?" The creature smiled as he sat down, unknowingly portraying a sharp set of teeth.
"You know somethin'? You're the first actual person to ask who I am before they ask what I am. It gets annoying after a while. Anyways, my name's Grizzle, and I'm sorry about attackin' ya like that, but I thought you were somebody else," the bear-creature said.
"Who?"
"Real obnoxious red dragon with quick legs. He comes by here from time to time and bugs the heck outta me. I got sick of it."
"So wait, wait. How could you mistaken a green dragon for a red dragon?"
"I was lookin' around for heat, not color." I nodded.
"That's understandable. You know, I think I might have met that red dragon."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. Lean guy with out-of-place muscles, whiny, about a head shorter than me. I gave him a pounding a couple of days ago in Sunny Desert." The bear's eyes twinkled.
"Well, I'm certainly glad someone handed it to him sometime. So who are you?"
"My name is Scales. I'm a sort of an enhanced dragon, and I'm pretty quick on my feet and in my brain. Now if you're not too offended, I am pretty curious as to your species." Grizzle chuckled.
"Well, you're not the first there. I usually don't give that much info about my kind, but I can tell I can trust ya with the knowledge. We call ourselves Hybridians, and most all of us live in a place a long ways from Equestria. I'd prefer not to tell why I'm over here, so close to pony land," Grizzle began.
"Very well, I won't press ya. Please continue."
"Anyways, all us Hybridians look very different. We're all beings that are basically a little pinch of other species built onto a main body. Me, I'm mostly bear, and my other most noticeable trait is wolf, followed by a bit of eagle. I'm also part snake in my senses and part pirahna in my teeth."
I noticed all of these traits on him. A short brown hairy body with thick arms and big hands with long claws. His fur was streaked in some parts with grey, and what appeared to be roly-poly fat was, to my surprise, pure muscle. His head was more dog-like than bear-like, having a sleek snout and pointed ears. Slung around his right shoulder and going down below his left arm was a belt with various pockets on it. I guessed those were what held the items he had. On his back, obviously stuck in the sling, I could see a weapon, a hilt of one, peeking over his shoulder. His infrared vision was clearly by snake and his teeth were present as he smiled.
"So now for my question. Hmm... Where'dja get that wound in your arm?"
I looked over to the wound Lena had made. It was a scab now, and much smaller than before.
"Just put it this way: don't annoy something with the ability to summon sharp vines. Well, you can, but don't push it too hard."
Grizzle chuckled. He was a jolly one alright.
"So, I'm just throwing this out there. Are you, by any chance, related to draconequuses?"
His smile faded slightly as he pondered a bit.
"That's a good question. Frankly, draconequuses are close to us, but much more powerful. We don't really tend to interact much, because, well, we don't need to. Their goals vary, but they're normally not so evil, they just want to do what they want to do. An example is Discord. Guys nutty, but not really evil. He'll do what he needs to do to have fun, and just does it. That doesn't mean we're all okay with it, but we don't interfere. For us, it's mostly just get on with our lives, have fun along the way, that kind of stuff. Another difference between us and the dracos is that they have a basic body structure that's common to all of them. They're all long and pretty skinny, with two wings and such and such. Hybridians can have four legs, two legs, six legs, horns, no horns, wings, no wings, and so on and so forth. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, that'll do nicely. I'm just naturally curious."
I lit a fire on the shattered corpse of the timber wolf and grouped all the sticks together.
"You're immune to fire?"
I nodded.
"Kinda comes with being a dragon, don't it?"
"I suppose so. So anyways, what say we have a little spar before nightfall? It'd be a nice workout fer both of us, I reckon."
I grinned.
"If ya li...Oof!"
I was interrupted as his fist connected with my stomach, sending me into a tree. I smiled as I stood up.
"Alright. Let the games begin."
I cracked my neck to the sides. As he threw another punch at me, I managed to catch it with my now insane reflexes, but he proved to be stronger.
"Whassamatta? Can't hold my muscles?"
His left fist connected with the side of my face.
"Though I may lack in strength, I make up for it in speed, agility and smarts."
I crouched down and leaped up into the trees, the ground beneath shuddering from the sudden absence of matter. I picked out a shoulder scale and chucked it hard down at Grizzle. He grunted as it struck him in the stomach.
"Just be thankful that I can make it sharp or dull!" I yelled down at him.
He trotted into the bushes and disappeared.
"Hello mate," he said from behind me.
I turned around to see him floating with a giant pair of brown wings as he punched downwards on my scalp. "I toldja I was part eagle."
I landed on the ground easily. Then I too disappeared. Grizzle's face showed obvious confusion as he hovered in mid-air. I quietly floated close to him and knocked him into the tree. He chuckled.
"You're not too shabby. Let's put this fight back down on the ground."
He dropped, claws digging inside the tree trunk, slowing his descent. I revealed myself and folded my wings, dropping. At the last possible second, my feet braced myself and I landed without harm.
"There's more to me than meets the eye," I remarked, an almost sinister smile playing on my lips.
We headed at each other and leaped, claws ready to dart ahead and damage the other person. Before we got there, to his surprise, I flapped my wings and sped over to the right, accelarating before practically bouncing off a tree, then off another one and then coming at him from behind. I clubbed him and landed.
"Like I said, speed, agility and smarts."
He smiled as he came up from the ground.
"I gotta admit to ya, yer better than I expected. But don't think that you've won yet."
He came at me with a new ferocity, mostly hitting me with devastating punches while I dodged merely a few. He never let up enough to give me the chance to attack him. I tried grabbing one of his hands and striking with my other, but he merely slapped it aside and kept punching me. Finally, with one fluid move, he sent me sprawling on the ground, unsheathed his weapon and ended, panting, near my throat. I chuckled.
"Good match. You beat me."
I stared up at the massive blade. It was black metal, with veins of blue coursing through it. Grizzle sheathed his weapon and helped me up.
"Yer not so bad yerself. Ya just need a bit o practice and training."
"Yeah, well, so far, I've had a bit more luck with my body."
"How so?"
"Well, in my previous fights, under the most stressful situations, my body had given me a hormone much like adrenaline but way stronger. That substance is most undoubtably what ensured my victories against the blink hounds and the dragon."
"Well then, I'm certainly glad I didn't have to fight against it. Why didn't I have to, anyway?"
"I suppose because I wasn't hurt enough nor was in deep enough danger. But it's kinda for the best. I go a little bit feral when it happens, even if I control myself. I wouldn't want to hurt you. By the way, about that weapon..."
"Yup, that's a pretty common specimen of Hybridian metalwork and magery put together. Durable and powerful, that's how we make 'em."
"Well, I'm certainly glad to have met another friend."
"Friend?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't we be friends?"
He simply grinned happily.
"You know somethin'? You're not an ordinary dragon."
I smiled as I hung upside-down from a tree, ready to sleep.
"I get that a lot. G'night, Griz."
"Night Scales."
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The Castle of Doom and Despair... NO YOU DIPSTICK! IT'S CANTERLOT CASTLE!!!
Princess Celestia sweated as she reviewed her guards. 'Strong, strong, strong, weakling, weakling, strong, strong, pathetic, strong, average...'
'Sister, you aren't taking this very well. Stop worrying so much. You can't take the strain,' Luna said telepathically.
'No Luna. This is serious. Whatever it is is close to Equestria, and I don't want to take any chances. Are your hidden spies in place?'
Luna telepathically sighed.
'Yes Celestia, now please just take a break and eat some cake.'
'Very well, Lulu. Just be sure to alert me if something happens.'
'Don't worry Tia, it'll be alright.'
Whoops, sorta went a little overboard here. Anyways, hope you enjoy the new chapter. Grizzle is a dude that just popped into my mind today in the shower, so I hope he's acceptable. On behalf of me, Scales and everyone else in this story, thanks for reading and keep your stick on the ice.