//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 - Dragon Mischief // Story: Portals. Portals Everywhere! // by Piece Bot //------------------------------// A couple of weeks after the Flim Flam Brother incident, Joseph was making the last few adjustments to his gun, Joseph lifted it up and found it was slightly heavier than normal. It was probably because of the two extra gel tubes he added as an upgrade thanks to the notes he found in the Aperture building. As he was about to test it, he saw a flash come from the table in the corner of the room. Getting up from his seated position, he walked over and found that it was an hourglass. Picking it up, he saw that it had four different colours streaming into an empty bottom half. Focusing on the colours, he heard a message. “I am Draigo, a primordial dragon. To those who find this hourglass, know that I’m here should you need help. I will give my protection to those I deem worthy. I will give my attention to those who need to talk. Finally, to those who misuse this item and others like it, you shall know my wrath.” “That’s rather grim.” Joseph remarked and cleared his throat. “Let’s try this. G’Day Draigo. This is Joseph.” He said out loud, feeling extremely foolish. A portal opened up on the other side of the table as an armored human stepped through. His armor was crimson and gold with golden floral patterns near the edges. A spear and shield were on his back and a war axe was strapped to his waist. A helmet with a mask covered his head. “Greetings. I’m assuming you’re Joseph?” the armored man asked. “Yeah, mate.” Joseph nodded, his voice going an octave higher than normal. Clearing his throat again, he gave it another go. “Yeah. I’m Joseph and you are Draigo?” Joseph asked, feeling a bit underdressed with only his orange jumpsuit on. “Yes, I am Draigo. Now, I’ll answer a question you most likely have. Yes, I’m actually a dragon. After I was summoned the first time I realized that not everyone would have a nice wide open space for me to come into and that travelling as a dragon into an unknown world could be a bit dangerous for me and those nearby.” He strode over to Joseph and stuck out his hand, “ Nice to meet you.” Joseph took the hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you too. And you’re a dragon. That’s something you certainly don’t hear every day.” He said, taking his hand back. “There should be someplace around here to sit down.” Joseph added, looking around the room. All he could see was a table, a few bookshelves and a makeshift sleeping bag. “Oh right. There’s a place to sit downstairs if you want.” “Sure. Where are we, anyway?” Draigo asked as he followed his fellow human downstairs. “This is Twilight’s library. She calls it the Golden Oaks Public Library, which it is. The second floor, where we are now, is where she has her own personal library, her room, Spike’s room and a bathroom. The lower floor is completely taken up by books except for the kitchen, strangely enough.” Joseph answered, pointing to the rooms as they passed them. “Ah, okay. I’ve met her and her friends in my world, but haven’t been inside her library yet. Do you live here then?” “It didn’t start out that way but that’s what it ended up being.” Joseph shrugged. “Twilight and Spike aren’t here right now anyway. Twilight’s in some sort of coma at the hospital while Spike tries to take care of her there. I’ve been looking after the place while she’s recuperating.” Joseph continued and found a couple of seats around a table. “These are usually for reading but it can be used for chatting as well.” “Hmm, was there a battle or did Twilight have an accident with one of her experiments?” Draigo took a seat and relaxed into it. “No, nothing like that. We were solving a puzzle room after I fell into it at Aperture. The sheila had pressed one of the buttons, the floor rose to stop an incoming cube and her brain sort of stopped working I guess? It caused her to panic and fall towards some brown goo but Rainbow Dash managed to save her but not before a big chunk of her tail got dissolved. She’s been recovering ever since.” Joseph relayed what had happened and sat opposite Draigo. “Ah, I see. Well, I hope she recovers quickly. Now, tell me. How would your ponies react to a dragon being in here with you if they were to show up? I ask because it’s a whole lot more comfortable in my draconic form than this one,” Draigo said as he looked outside to see if they were being watched by curious eyes. Joseph followed his gaze and saw that there were a few ponies watching them but they weren’t that close to the window. “Let’s see. It took the blighters a few months to get used to me but I think that they would be fine. Depends how big your draconic form is. They’re used to Spike who is a small dragon and is only about as high as that fourth bookshelf from the bottom.” Joseph pointed at the shelf behind Draigo. “It depends really. I mean, they got used to turrets being in the town fairly quickly so who knows? All we can do is try.” “Alright, this could get interesting,” Draigo said as he started to turn into his draconic form. His armor and weapons melded into his body and became scales. His neck, arms and legs lengthened and grew claws where his toes and fingers were. Wings sprouted from his back along with spines and a tail from his waist. He grew slightly, about the size of Celestia, and went onto all fours. Once all the changes happened and the light hit his scales different colors showed themselves depending on the angle. “Ah, much better. This is how I usually look in my world. I can grow or shrink as needed.” Seeing the transformation, Joseph shot out of his chair, causing it to tumble to the floor. He emulated being a fish out of water for a few moments before his brain grasped the situation. “You weren’t kidding about being a dragon mate.” Joseph managed to get out and looked to the window. If he was shocked at the transformation, then the various ponies outside the window only moved closer to see what was happening. “That is certainly … something.” He remarked, taking in the sight. “Hmm, that’s about the same reaction I got when I told my Twilight that I’m a Primordial Dragon. Just with less questions and no combat beforehand.” Draigo commented as he stretched his limbs. “Primordial ….. I think I heard something about primordials back home on Earth. In Australia anyway, there were tales told of primordials that could wield different elements but that was the thing. They were tales. You seem to be the genuine article.” Joseph stated, leaning back in his chair after he somewhat came to terms with what was in front of him. “That I am, somewhat unfortunately. The change has come with immense power and immortality, but I had to exist from the beginning of time. I traveled the void of space, alone, for more years than the Earth was around, according to what I had found on the internet back then. It was very lonely and now that I’m not alone I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way,” Draigo told Joseph as he laid on the ground where he was sitting before. Joseph nodded and leaned to the side to look at him. “That sounds like a good goal to have. Me? I have no goal. I’m just taking it one day at a time and hopefully I won’t get killed by any turrets. I’ve managed to beat a couple of puzzles in Aperture but the third one was a doozy. That’s where I got these tube attachments.” Joseph brought his portal gun up and gestured to the two coloured tubes on the sides. “I haven’t figured out if it works or not though.” “Well, there’s no time like the present. Give it a shot.” Draigo stood and waited for the test to begin. “It would be better if I tested it outside. Twilight would be mad if I damaged any of her books.” Joseph said with a grin and stood up, leading Draigo outside. “Ah, right. Angering the pony you live with is a really bad idea. So, any idea what it’s supposed to do?” Draigo followed him outside and looked around at the ponies present. The different coloured ponies that were crowding the window turned around and wondered what was going on with those two. “Alright. This should be fun. The blue tube has blue goo inside it that lets me bounce extremely high and the orange goo in the other tube lets me run super fast. Should be fun to smash my face against a wall if I can’t stop in time.” Joseph answered and aimed the gun at an empty road. Pressing a button he installed on the handle, the blue goo made a squelching sound as it shot out of the gun, painting the road blue. Running up to it, he bounced and landing on the goo, jumped back up without doing anything. “At least we know this one works!” Joseph shouted as he kept jumping without knowing how to stop. “Now how do I stop this crazy thing!?” “Well, I don’t know how to stop the effect, but allow me to stop you at least,” Draigo said as he tapped into his magic and began to manipulate the air around Joseph. Soon enough, Joseph was floating in midair with nothing but the wind supporting him. Draigo then brought Joseph back over to the library, while keeping him airborne, and set him down gently. Joseph dusted himself off and grinned. “That’s certainly one way to stop. Thanks for that. Now let’s see about the other one.” Joseph said and pressing the button, the orange goo squelched out this time as it hit the road, effectively painting over the blue. Knowing what it can do, he gingerly stepped onto it but the gel reacted instantly, tripping him up and causing him to slide down the road on his back at an increasingly fast rate. He screamed as his feet hit the wall of a house. “OW!” Joseph shouted. “I think my feet are broken.” Draigo took off and flew over to the now injured Joseph “Hmm, I wonder if the restrictions apply to this world as well. Well, nothing to do but try it,” he muttered to himself as he once again tapped into his power stores. His claws started glowing white and he pointed them at Joseph’s feet. “Well, my restrictions seem to have been lifted. Try standing up.” Slowly crawling off of the orange goop, he did as instructed. Getting up cautiously, he put weight on both of his feet and found that no pain was shooting up his legs. “They’re … fine. They’re fine! How did you do that?” Joseph said happily, jumping up and down a couple of times to be sure. “Well, remember those tales and how those primordials could wield the different elements? Well, I can wield all of them. That includes the super over powered elements of Aether, Nether, and Space/Time. I just used Aether, or life force, to heal your injuries. Normally, there’s restrictions put on those three, but for whatever reason those restrictions seem to have been lifted while I’m in this world, if not others,” Draigo answered as he repaired any damage the wall had taken from the impact. Joseph looked on as he watched the wall be repaired, seeing it be left good as new. “If Aether is life, then would Nether be death?” Joseph wondered, waving his finger in the air as he stepped side to side, testing the weight put on each foot. “My feet are definitely good as new, mate.” Joseph added, returning his gaze to Draigo. “That’s right, Nether is basically death. I’ve never used it and don’t plan on ever using if at all possible. I’m glad I could help. I think there’s a certain lavender pony that could benefit from a bit of healing,” Draigo answered as he stretched out his wings once more. “Right. She would be …” Joseph turned on his foot and with his finger still in the air, pointed towards the house behind him. “Twilight would be thattaway, behind the house. The hospital is somewhere in that general direction anyway.” “Alright, care for a lift or are you good?” Draigo asked as he stepped up to Joseph. Joseph leaned away to look around the house and found that there wasn’t he couldn’t make a clear shot to the hospital. “A lift would be good. Thanks mate.” He said in gratitude. “Alright, just don’t puke on me if you get airsick,” Draigo said as he flew up and grabbed Joseph by his shoulders before he flew up and over the house in the direction of the hospital. “I don’t get airsick.” Joseph replied as he felt himself be lifted up by Draigo. Seeing them fly over the house, his eyes widened. “Struth! It’s a different view from up here. I can see for miles ahead and speaking of which, turns out the hospital is to the left of us.” Joseph said, frowning at his navigating skills. “Eh, you’re not heavy and it always feels nice to fly around. The view doesn’t hurt either.” Draigo turned toward the hospital and gained some altitude. Joseph swung around a bit in the dragon’s grasp as they turned. Words got caught in his throat as they flew higher though, causing his eyes to bug out slightly. “This is higher than I’m used to.” He said in a small voice. “We could go higher,” Draigo teased as he seemed to fly higher. Getting an idea, he swallowed his fear and looked up at Draigo. “I actually want to try something. Fly as high as you can. I want to see how fast I can fall towards outer space.” Joseph said with a manic grin, holding his portal gun tightly. “Oh, you have no idea how high I can fly,” Draigo said as he began to grow, “Hope the ponies down below don’t panic from a colossal dragon being above them.” As Draigo grew he shifted Joseph from two claws, to one, and finally into the palm of his claws. Joseph held on tightly but slowly loosened his grip as Draigo stopped his transformation. “Apparently Spike grew into a colossal dragon from some sort of greed thing and the ponies all panicked but seeming as we are high up, I don’t think they’ll mind.” Joseph answered, getting ready to take the fall of his life. “Ha, Spike growing from greed. That’s funny to imagine. In my world, I’m double the size of the biggest dragon. Then again, I created them to be that size at max. Alright, here we are. This is as high as we can go without you needing something to help you breathe.” Draigo slowly stopped and began to hover in place. “Alright. I have Buckley’s Chance in hell that I’ll survive this but if I manage to shoot past you, can you catch me?” Joseph asked, balancing himself against the slow up and down movement of his claws. “I will be sure to catch you, but let’s hope for a success.” Draigo looked down at the town below them and then glanced at the crazy person in his claw. Without any more ceremony, Joseph took careful aim and fired a portal at the town below. Seeing a bright flash as it hit on the roof of a building somewhere directly underneath, he nodded and turned. Taking a running leap, he fell through the air. Firing a portal at where he estimated he would land, Joseph began to flail his arms and scream in joy. Hitting the portal, he shot through and only picked up speed as he headed toward Draigo. As he approached Draigo, Joseph felt the air around him begin to cushion him. As he flew towards the dragon he continued to slow down until he was once more being supported by the air around him, right in front of Draigo. Joseph looked in confusion only for it to clear when he saw Draigo in front of him. “Hi, friend. How are you doing? The weather up here is grand.” He said with a smile and a wave. “Isn’t it? I’m kinda surprised you aren’t freezing, though. Well, let’s get down from here before you start freezing,” Draigo said as he began to descend toward the speck that was the hospital below them. Joseph shrugged and held onto a claw. “Adrenaline will do that to you. Gets the blood pumping and makes you do crazy things. Or maybe I’m thinking of drugs.” “Well, I think you’re right on both accounts, in some instances.” Draigo stopped flapping and started to glide for the rest of their short journey. As Draigo coasted to a stop near the hospital, Joseph hopped off and crouched when he landed, minimalising any damage. “The hospital is just around the corner. Not sure how well the ponies in there will take to another dragon going in.” Joseph commented. “Well, I can stay out here if Twilight has a window or they can just deal with it,” Draigo commented as he walked around the corner of the building. “I think Twilight’s room is on the second floor. I’ll go in anyway just to make sure.” Joseph said as he followed Draigo. He walked into the lobby and found that there were only a few ponies milling about. It must have been a slow day for them. “Excuse me, sheila? Where can I find Twilight?” Joseph asked the white pony behind the desk. “Second floor. Third door on the right.” She answered, not looking up from her clipboard. Joseph thanked her and walked back out, placing his hands in his pockets with his gun under an arm. “She’s the third window from the left, on the second floor. I was close about where she was.” “Okay, I’ll stay out here and look through her window.” Draigo walked over and laid on the ground in the area of said window. He still had to lower his head due to his size and length of his neck. Joseph gave a thumbs up and ran back inside, breezing past the various patrons and headed upstairs to the second floor. Opening the door to Twilight’s room, he found Spike snoring lightly as well as a big head outside the window. Breathing out slowly, he walked to the window and opened it. “Welcome to Twilight’s room.” Joseph whispered, and then backed away from Draigo to give him some space to work with. Draigo looked into the room and blinked. His eye and the surrounding scales was all that could be seen through the window. Twilight began to glow as Draigo’s power encompassed her body. The glow lasted for about a minute before it died off. “There, she should wake up any moment now.” Spike stirred a little and then suddenly woke up as he felt the pony beneath him move. He heard her groan and then watched as a hoof rubbed her head. “YES! You’re awake! WOOHOO!” Spike shouted happily, jumping onto Twilight in a seemingly bone-crushing hug. “Spike … you’re hugs are almost as strong as Pinkie’s …” Twilight said softly, smiling all the while. “I still doubted it wouldn’t work but I’m glad it did.” Joseph said in a normal voice to Draigo. “I manipulated her very life-force. Anything and everything that was wrong with her was made apparent to me and then healed. It’s nothing like normal healing spells,” Draigo told Joseph as Twilight endured the fierce hug from Spike. “Still though. I can see why there are restrictions put on those powers of yours in your Equestria.” Joseph said, scratching his head. Twilight looked over to the voices and she smiled wider. “Hi, Joseph. Who’s the big eye you’re talking to in the window?” Twilight asked, the morphine in her body making her feel slightly loopy. “Man, those must be some really good painkillers if you’re not freaking out. Anyway, my name is Draigo. I’m a Primordial Dragon and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Twilight,” Draigo commented with a grin that wasn’t visible to those in the room. Feeling Spike crawl off her after the hug was done, Twilight breathed in and out, getting some air back into her lungs. “Believe me. I would freak out and then take notes. And then freak out some more. It is a pleasure to meet you too Mr. Draigo.” Twilight replied. “Oh, you can take that IV out. You won’t feel any pain. As I told Joseph, everything that was wrong with you is now fixed and I do mean everything,” Draigo told her. Twilight blinked and testing out her magic, she took the drip out and carefully placed it on the bag. “Everything? I find that hard to believe.” Twilight said. “You’d better believe it. I’m Australian so I’m used to weird stuff happening all the time. It didn’t take me long to get used to his Aether magic.” Joseph replied, crossing his arms and leaned against the wall. “Would you like another demonstration, oh ye doubtful mortal?” Draigo asked. “I would actually. This type of magic doesn’t exist here or if it did, then it would be forbidden magic.” Twilight answered. “Of course, magic that can heal bruises and small cuts does exist but being able to heal the body in one blast is not possible.” “Pick your target,” Draigo said as he shrunk down to his previous size and flew threw the open window. Spike reeled back at this and pointed wildly. “You shrunk! You were big but then you shrunk and flew through the window! That was awesome!” Spike said gleefully, bouncing up and down on his tail a few times. “I’ll pick my target, but you’re going to have to tell me about that shrinking thing and how you got here.” Twilight said, her eyes just as wide as Spike’s. She got down off the bed and after looking out the door for a bit, lead the group down the hallway. “Well, to start. I can shrink and grow at will, it’s an innate ability not magic. How I got here is a little more complicated, but to simplify it. Joseph summoned me via my token,” Draigo told them as he followed them further into the hospital. “So you’re a Displaced? We ran into one a few months before I went into my coma. Forgot what his name was but I remember him saying he met Starswirl the Bearded.” Twilight reiterated and stopped at one of the doors. “I think … yep. This is the one. Rainbow Dash is here with a broken wing. I may have been in a coma but I could still hear things.” Twilight added, nudging the door open. “Yes, I’m a Displaced. That saves a lot of time. Oh, Starswirl. That was an interesting pony,” Draigo commented, “Now, is it just a broken wing? I thought you’d have something a bit tougher to fix.” “Well, her pride is also broken but I don’t think your abilities could fix that.” Twilight replied with a small smile. “Well, it would depend on how her pride was broken, but in general you’d be correct,” Draigo admitted. Joseph watched as he saw Rainbow idly push her bedside lamp on and off but after a while, she went to grab a book, only to stop at seeing the visitors in her room. “I wasn’t reading! I mean, what are you guys doing here?” Rainbow asked in a panic. “We’re visiting, but Mr. Draigo here, apparently, is going to heal your wing.” Twilight spoke up, trying to calm Rainbow at the same time. “Who? Also, why are you out of bed? Shouldn’t you be in a coma?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “Well, basically the answers you’re looking for is only one thing. Me,” Draigo answered as he stepped up next to Rainbow’s bed. Rainbow went to move away but was stopped by her bandaged wing as well as the drip tube running up her leg. “You? You took Twilight out of a coma and now you’re going to heal me? I’d like to see you try.” Rainbow said with a bit of a smirk. “Well, her ego seems fine at least,” Draigo commented, “Challenge accepted.” Draigo’s claws and Rainbow’s body started to glow white. After a few moments the glow faded. Draigo took the IV out of Rainbow’s leg and used a claw to cut the bandage off her wing. “Try flapping your wings.” Rainbow’s smirk slowly faded to be replaced by a stunned look as her wings worked just fine. “Woah. What was that white glowy stuff?” Rainbow asked in amazement. “That ‘white glowy stuff’ was an external manifestation of Aether being manipulated,” Draigo explained. Rainbow scratched her head as she thought through what he had said. “He basically used your life force to heal you.” Joseph translated to Rainbow. “Oh, okay. That makes a bit more sense. Thanks.” Rainbow said with a smile. “By the way, what are you? You certainly can’t be whatever he is.” Rainbow pointed to Joseph, who only pointed to himself in slight confusion. “Oh? Are you sure about that?” Draigo said with a smirk as he transformed back into his armored human form. Spike dropped the red rubber ball he had been playing with as he witnessed the transformation. Twilight’s eyes narrowed while Rainbow’s mouth fell. “Nope. Now I am not so sure. You certainly have the same shape as he does.” Rainbow answered, shaking her head. “Fine, I’ll remove the helmet,” Draigo said as he reached up and removed his helm to reveal his human head. He had dark brown hair that was cut short and blue eyes that seemed almost like ice in color. “You’re a human?” Twilight asked, looking at his face in interest. “Twilight, Spike and Rainbow? Meet hairless ape number 2. A primordial dragon!” Joseph announced grandly, gesturing to Draigo and chuckling to himself. “Oh, you should see your faces and I do too have hair. It’s just cut short or covered by my armor,” Draigo commented as he laughed at their reactions. “I got hair too but we don’t have as much hair as the monkeys here. Now Rainbow. You’re wing is good right?” Joseph asked, steepling his fingers and pointing them towards her wing. Rainbow only nodded, too stunned to speak. “Twilight is obviously out of her coma so that’s all fine and dandy.” Joseph said, placing his hands on his hips. “I need to take notes now!” Twilight burst out, immediately teleporting to her home. “Dang, Twilight’s gotten into one of her nerd modes,” Draigo said as he transformed back into a dragon, “Ah, much better. Do we wait here for Twilight or do we leave?” “May as well wait here. She’ll only take a few minutes to get her notes together and then she’ll teleport right on back. She used to take a lot of notes from me but that stopped when Princess Luna rendered me mute for three months.” Joseph replied, sitting down on the floor; relieved to get the weight off of his feet. “Ha, she turned you mute? Man, mine probably wishes she could do that to me. Both of them have made it so that I couldn’t fly and had to hobble back to Canterlot via combat, though,” Draigo told them in a matter-of-fact tone. “Wow. Makes Joseph’s sending Princess Luna to the moon for an hour sound like child’s play compared to what you went through.” Spike said, tossing the ball back and forth between him and Rainbow. “Oh, they were just worried about me leaving and since magic doesn’t affect me they had to beat some ‘sense’ into me. They’re really very nice so long as you don’t piss them off. In fact, I live in Canterlot castle,” Draigo told them as a dreamy expression came onto his face. “Whenever I get forcibly teleported to the castle, they don’t seem happy to see me so I assume they’re always pissed off. At least when I’m around anyway. I find the castle dull and boring anyway. No offense.” Joseph said with a forced smile in Draigo’s direction. “You live in Canterlot castle? I lived there too once before Princess Celestia told Twilight and I to leave and make some friends in Ponyville.” Spike added. “Speaking of Twilight, I thought she’d be back by now. Oh well, guess I’ll just practice some magic until she gets here,” Draigo commented as a draconic form started to appear out of thin air. While the others were occupied with Draigo’s magic, Twilight appeared in a puff of smoke, holding a notepad and a quill in her magic. Wrenching his gaze from the magical display, Joseph turned to Twilight. “G’Day Twilight. What took you so long?” Joseph asked. “Someone moved the notepads, scrolls, quills and ink bottles around so I had to rearrange them back into their rightful places.” Twilight answered, narrowing her eyes at Joseph. He only gave a sheepish smile and gestured to Draigo. She followed his arms and looked to the dragon. “Oh. Right. Uum. You’re a primordial dragon correct? They don’t exist in this Equestria.” Twilight asked, tapping the quill against the pad. “That I am,” Draigo answered as the draconic form became more and more detailed. “Primordial dragons do … what exactly? The only thing I’ve seen you do is manipulate Aether.” Twilight asked, writing his answers down. “Well, one of the things you want to know about, I’m doing right now. Another would be to control dragons and another would be to basically do whatever with the rest of the elements. That’s not everything, but that’s a good start,” Draigo answered as the draconic form that used to be see through became solid. “So manipulating matter and the four basic elements as well as- controlling dragons!?” Twilight ended in a shocked tone, her eyes flicking to Spike for a brief moment before going back to rest on Draigo. “Yeah, what’s something Spike would never do?” Draigo asked as the draconic form became an actual dragon. “Tell Rarity how he feels.” Twilight said automatically then quickly covered her mouth in a vain effort to hide what she had said. “Oh?” Draigo said as he smiled evilly, “Where is Rarity right now?” “I believe she’s working at Carousel Boutique at the moment. That big white, circular building near the town hall.” Joseph said, liking the look that Draigo had on his face. “Well, we need to go to her or she needs to come to us.” Draigo stood and put the newly made dragon on his back. “We can go to her and surprise her with our newfound health.” Rainbow suggested with a grin. “What are you doing with that dragon you made?” Joseph asked ,standing up and stretching a bit. “Oh, she’ll wake up in a bit, but for now it’s a surprise,” Draigo had a sly smile on his face. “I don’t want any part of this but I’ll come anyway for support.” Twilight said, flashing her notes and quill back to the library. “Oh, you were partially right about the four elements. I can manipulate them, but I can also manipulate anything else that is considered an ‘element’,” Draigo told her as he walked out of the room. The others moved to catch up to him. “So that means you can also control the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked curiously, Draigo’s ‘evil’ plan forgotten for the moment. “I’ll leave that up to interpretation,” Draigo said as he grabbed Spike and Joseph before taking off towards Carousel Boutique. “HEY! IF YOU WANTED TO RACE, WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY SO!” Rainbow shouted as she took off after him, leaving a rainbow streak behind her. Twilight just grumbled and teleported to the Boutique. “Sorry Rainbow, I didn’t want Twilight to try to stop us,” Draigo told the pegasus as she caught up. “Yeah, well. She’ll find a way.” Rainbow replied, slowing down as she caught up. “She always finds a way. That is one smart sheila.” Joseph commented as he looked at Rainbow’s colourful streak. “Oh, there’s a way to make sure she doesn’t interfere,” Draigo said as his ‘evil’ grin returned. “You’re impervious to magic as well?” Joseph questioned. “Well, there’s that and freezing her in time,” Draigo said nonchalantly. The three of them blinked at that. “What?” They all asked in unison. “Hahaha, you’ll see,” Draigo said as he landed outside the boutique. Rainbow kept flying and ended up crashing through a window. Joseph cringed and opened up the door to find Rainbow on top of Twilight. “Ehh. Sorry.” Rainbow said with a grin and leaped off, looking around for Rarity. “Hello? Is there a Ms. Rarity here?” Draigo called out once he was inside. Rainbow slowly flew around and found that there was a door ajar. As she was opening it, a white head came out causing Rainbow to quickly head back to the group. “Did someone call me? Oh? What are you all doing here and who is this? One of Spike’s friends?” Rarity asked, walking out of the supply room. “Yes, I called you. My name is Draigo and I’m a Displaced,” Draigo introduced himself. Rarity’s eyes widened at that. “Oh. A Displaced you say? Sounds just like that Vash fellow we ran into about five months back. What brings you here?” “Well, besides a token, Twilight’s curiosity,” Draigo told the white mare. “And what is Twilight curious about this time?” Rarity asked, looking at Twilight. Twilight went to say but decided not to. She didn’t want to admit it, but Twilight wanted to see if he could actually make Spike do what she asked. “Well, me, but right now Spike has something to tell you,” Draigo said as his eyes gained a slight glow to them, “Go on Spike. Tell Rarity how you feel about her, your honest feelings.” Spike’s eyes gained the same glow and he opened his mouth to speak. “Rarity, I-” He was interrupted by Twilight. “WAIT!” Twilight shouted. “Wait for what, darling?” Rarity asked. “Sorry, Twilight. There’s no stopping it. I won’t have you interfere again,” Draigo said as Twilight glowed for a second and then froze like a statue. “What did you do to poor Twilight?” Rarity asked in terror. Rainbow stepped in though and tried to get Rarity to think rationally. “Rarity, listen. Twilight will be perfectly fine if you just hear what Spike has to say.” Rainbow said. “Rainbow is right. Just listen to him.” Joseph echoed. Rarity took a breath and nodded. “If Twilight is harmed, I will hurt you twofold. With needles.” Rarity threatened as she looked to Spike. “What did you want to say to me Spikey-Wikey.” “Rarity, I have a big crush on you. I’ve felt this way ever since we first met and I had no idea how to tell you. That is why I always follow you around and do whatever you say. I will still do all that but at least you now know how I feel.” Spike said, shaking his head as the glow from his eyes left him. Rarity could only look, her gaze not really focusing on anything while Joseph and Rainbow laughed in the background at Rarity’s dead stare. “Well, I’ll let Twilight go now that she can’t interfere,” Draigo said as Twilight once more glowed, “Welcome back, our contestant Spike has just completed his challenge and has gotten the reward of a blank stare from Rarity. What are you going to do now?” “Um … uh …. I was going to stop him but it seems like I can’t do that. Did you freeze me in time?” Twilight questioned. “The challenger’s interference has more questions! When will they stop?” Joseph added in between taking breaths. “Ding, Ding, Ding. She correctly guessed the answer. Now, what will she pick as a prize?” Draigo commented into a clenched claw like he was holding a microphone. “I don’t know, Draigo. What are her prizes?” Joseph continued, unzipping the top half of his jumpsuit to cool off. The only thing underneath it was a white singlet. “Well, Joseph. She can pick from asking any question that I have to answer honestly, some custom made jewelry, or not having to be around when Rarity finally snaps out of it,” Draigo listed off. “If it was up to me, I would choose door number 3 but it seems like we’re out of time.” Joseph looked at his non-existent watch as he saw Rarity finally twitch. “When did you two become game-show hosts?” Spike asked, looking at the two of them as if they had grown a second head each. “As soon as I unfroze Twilight. Now, what will Rarity do now that she’s shown some form of physical movement?” Draigo said as he prepared his powers. “You …. like me? I don’t how to say this but … I … don’t like you in the same way.” Rarity said in a slow and calmly measured voice. “Well, that was disappointing. But I have to say, that sheila’s voice sounds scarier than if she actually moved.” Joseph commentated. “Haha, I saw this coming. Good thing I prepared,” Draigo said as he brought the female dragon from off his back. “I know it’ll take awhile for Spike to get over this, but this little one should make it much easier for him.” Draigo placed the dragon on the floor in front of him. “You don’t? I guess I expected this but I didn’t think you would actually say it.” Spike said sadly as tears began to well up in his eyes. At the sound of Spike’s voice the little dragon on the floor woke up and looked around. She saw Spike and immediately went over to him. She noticed his sad expression and building tears and then hugged Spike lovingly. Spike stopped crying even though tears still fell down his face at the touch. He opened his eyes and found another dragon hugging him. The dragon had blue scales with a paler colour for her belly. The spikes on her back were a faded shade of pink. When she opened her eyes and leaned back to look at him, they were a magenta colour. “Spike, meet Ember. Ember, this is Spike,” Draigo introduced the two. “Hello, Ember. Nice to meet you.” Spike said uncertainly as he slowly took her arms off of him. “You made Spike a girl dragon? Not bad.” Joseph commented. “I was planning on doing the same for my Spike if he doesn’t find one during the migration that’s going to happen pretty soon,” Draigo said as he watched Ember grab one of Spike’s claws in her own with a giggle. “Migration? What migration?” Joseph asked as he saw Spike awkwardly shake claws with Ember. “The dragon migration. All the dragons get together and do whatever they do. I have stayed away from that every time it’s happened since my dragons consider me as ‘god’,” Draigo explained with an exasberated sigh at the end. “I can see why they think that.” Joseph remarked and turned to look at Twilight who seemed to have tears in her eyes. “You okay?” “I’m just so happy Spike confessed and found another dragon.” Twilight said happily. “And you wanted to stop him,” Draigo said smugly. Twilight only smiled sheepishly at him. Joseph turned to find Rainbow was about to fly the coop. “Where are you going?” “Sorry, can’t take that mushy stuff Spike’s going through at the moment.” Rainbow said simply and flew off without so much as a goodbye. Rarity walked over to Twilight with a big smile, seeming to have gotten over the shock of hearing Spike confess. “Thank you for telling me about this whole dragon thing Twilight. I don’t think Spike would have confessed his feelings willingly.” Rarity said within earshot of Draigo and Joseph. “Oh, so Rarity knew about his feelings and about what was going to happen. Not sure a ‘lady’ would do something like that,” Draigo commented loud enough for Rarity and Twilight to hear even though he was speaking with Joseph. “Oh, you have me all wrong. This was all Twilight’s idea. I was working on a new dress for an order when a piece of paper was magicked into place. Turns out it was a message, saying that you were going to use that dragon, sorry, Ember, with Spike but to do that, he had to confess his feelings. That could only happen with your dragon controlling powers. So blame Twilight. I only assisted in helping a friend.” Rarity explained while Twilight laid her ears against her head and tried to inconspicuously sneak away. “Well, first things first. Rarity, I didn’t hear you deny that you knew about Spike’s feelings. Twilight, how did you know I was going to, as you put it, ‘use Ember’ for Spike’s benefit? I had started creating her well before I even mentioned dragon manipulation to you,” Draigo said as he kept Twilight in place by trapping her hooves in some earth. “Eep. Rarity got the timing of the facts wrong. I did send her a message telling about the dragon but I had to no idea ‘it’ would be a ‘she’. Everypony knew about Spike’s feelings for Rarity, we all thought it would only be a matter of time for him to confess. When the four of you raced ahead, I teleported to the boutique and told her about the dragon manipulation. I was only looking out for my friend, I just had no idea the dragon you created was a she.” Twilight said, pleading, knowing that she isn’t able to move. “You planned this?” Spike asked Twilight in disbelief. “So it seems, Spike. It seems Rarity knew about your feelings and then let you continue as you were, hoping you’d either confess or grow out of it. It also seems to me that a ‘friend’, whether the one you live with or the one you help, wouldn’t allow you to continue something that they figured was doomed to fail anyway,” Draigo said as he bore down on the two mares most at fault. “What? Why? Why would you do this Twilight?” Spike asked, walking up to her and Rarity with Ember in tow. “Because you are like a baby brother to me. I didn’t want to see you get hurt so me and my friends thought it would have been better to not tell you that we know you like Rarity. I thought I knew enough about friendship to handle this properly but it’s obvious that I don’t.” Twilight finished, looking down at the floor. Spike didn’t have anything to say to that. “See, there’s your fatal flaw. You thought this was ‘friendship’. No, this is something else, love. Love is similar to friendship, but it’s much more than friendship. To put it into a phrase, love is friendship on fire,” Draigo told Twilight, “Now, if you want to know about love you have to experience it, not read about it. Well, if nothing else you could talk to Cadence about it since she’s the princess of love.” “I never heard that phrase before.” Joseph said softly, looking at Twilight with a hard gaze. At first it was all fun and games but after this revelation, it got a lot more serious. “My old babysitter? You want me to ask my old babysitter? I haven’t seen her in forever, I don’t even know where to look, I mean, I assume she’s still in Canterlot …” Twilight trailed off as she realised it wasn’t going anywhere. “Try asking Shining Armor, I’m sure he knows where she is,” Draigo said with a huge grin on his face. “Who?” Spike, Rarity and Joseph asked in unison. Twilight sighed and looked up at the group. “He’s my brother.” Twilight said, bracing herself for the inevitable question. “YOU HAVE A BROTHER!?” They all shouted in unison, the previous events momentarily forgotten. “She does and it gets better. He’s the Captain of the Guard,” Draigo said the title in a mocking voice. “You’re brother is the flipping Captain of the Guard!?” Joseph asked in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” Rarity asked. “Because it didn’t seem important at the time?” Twilight said hopefully. As Spike was about to retort, but he belched and a scroll came out of some green flames. “What’s this?” Spike wondered, unfurling the scroll. Clearing his throat, he read it out loud. “To Twilight and her friends. You are all cordially invited to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. RSVP by … The date says that the wedding is in a couple of months.” Spike said in disbelief. “Well Twilight, what do you think about that? You brother is getting married to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Draigo said as he released her from her earthen bindings. Twilight magicked the scroll out of Spike’s grasps and quickly reread it for herself. “My brother is getting married!? How could this happen? How could he not tell me he was even engaged, let alone getting married!?” Twilight said in a panic. “Easy, he’s a dork who’d rather play soldier than keep his sister up to date on his love life. Though, I can tell you one thing that’ll make it a bit better,” Draigo said and then waited for a reaction. “What? What could possibly make this better?” Twilight asked in a fuss. Everyone except for Draigo had backed away in fear of upsetting her even further than she already was. “Do you know who Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is?” Draigo looked down at the frustrated mare before him. “Who? It’s probably some estranged princess from another kingdom or something.” Twilight said, her voice sounding like venom at the thought of who Shining was marrying. “Twilight, what does Cadenza mean? Do you know?” Draigo asked hoping she’d be smart enough to put the pieces together. “Cadenza … Cadenza … Ca-den-sa … Cadence. Cadence. CADENCE!?” Twilight said in shocked surprise, looking up at Draigo with an open mouth. “Congratulations, you’ve won the grand prize. You get a wonderful new sister-in-law that used to be your babysitter. How do you feel?” Draigo asked, back in the game-show host mode. “Uuum … uuh …. surprised, shocked, happy, frustrated, angry, happy, shocked, ... “ Twilight rambled, pacing around the boutique. “I think you’ve sent her off on a tangent.” Joseph commented. “Well, it’s still better than her being pissed off at her brother, even if he deserves it,” Draigo muttered the last bit to himself. “This is true.” Joseph agreed and turned to Spike and Ember, who both seemed to have gotten over their uncomfortableness around each other and were talking amicably together. “Those two seem fine. Rarity has gone back to her workshop? Maybe? Wasn’t really paying attention.” Joseph observed. “Yep, I had hoped that those two would hit it off. Not every dragon I create works out like that. Rarity is indeed back making dresses. She snuck off after Twilight blew up about her brother getting married without her knowing and Rainbow is probably napping on a cloud somewhere,” Draigo said as he mentally ticked off the ponies that had been present earlier on. “I knew Rainbow nicked off earlier. I even asked her where she was going. Said she didn’t like that mushy stuff happening with Spike at the time. Oh, right. Here.” Joseph put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a mini companion cube with a keychain. He then tossed it over to Draigo. “Thanks, if I find myself in need of help or just someone to hang and have fun with I’ll summon you. If you find yourself in a situation that you need some help, don’t be afraid to call me. I’m more than glad to come help,” Draigo said as he caught the keychain. “I’ll be sure to do that. To activate my token, just spin it around your finger a couple of times. I’ll appear somewhere above you. Maybe. Haven’t really been summoned yet so I don’t really know what to expect. Mind if I summon you for the wedding? You were here for the invitation after all and it would be nice to chat to a fellow Displaced while there.” Joseph said as he shrugged his shoulders and gave a smile. “Of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world. Especially if I can embarrass Shining Armor somehow or get to meet another set of Princesses,” Draigo said with a bit of a blush at the end. Joseph raised his eyebrows in response but didn’t say anything about it. “What happens in your world, stays in your world.” Joseph said and sighed, looking at him. “You ready to go?” “Sure, everyone else is distracted so I only have one ‘see ya later’ to say this way,” Draigo said as he transformed back into his human form, “More entertaining to travel like this when my message says I’m a dragon.” Draigo chuckled, thinking about Joseph’s earlier reaction. Joseph cleared his throat, smiled and brought his hand up to his mouth as if he was holding a microphone. “Ladies and Mentlegen. Boys and girls and children of all ages. Please give one final round of applause to Draigo, the Primordial Dragon. Draigo. Until next time, your contract is complete. Catch us next week, same bat-time, same bat-place!” Joseph finished, bowing slightly for effect. “Next time on Dragon Ball Z...Oh that’s where that song was from, duh. Sorry, old memory came back to me just now. Well, I look forward to next time.” Draigo stepped through the portal that opened up behind him and was gone in a flash of crimson. Joseph chuckled and waved, looking at the hourglass where Draigo had disappeared. He looked at Twilight’s pacing and then he facepalmed. “How the hell am I going to get the sheila to calm down now?”