//------------------------------// // Chapter Two, A Father at Last? // Story: Dancing Flames, Cooling Ember // by Tamara Bloodhoof //------------------------------// Chapter two A Father at Last? There is going to be alternating voices in Ember’s head. Red is Ember and purple is, well, you’ll see. I felt as if I had my head had just slammed into a concrete wall at 40mph, and yes, that actually happened to me. Sparring with your kickboxing teacher can do that to you. My brain felt fuzzy, and I couldn’t even open my eyes for the pain. ‘Wait, why are my eyes closed? Why does my body felt lighter yet….harder? And why the buck am I standing up?’ I then realized that, even though I was standing, the only part of my body I could completely feel was my head. The rest felt strangely numb. Wait, numb? Oh dear lord, did I get drugged!?! “Ha, ha, ha….bellyful o happy in ten seconds flat.” I muttered deliriously. ‘Wait, why had I been I asleep in the first place? Wasn’t I talking to that psycho woman in the black suit? Her hair even looked like mine for crying out loud. Wait, she said Equestria……!’And my eyes suddenly sprung open, eliciting an almost inaudible groan to emanate from my mouth, the pain coursing through my head forcing me to shut my eyes again in a hurry. I remembered what the hell had happened just a bit ago, and man was I angry. ‘Wait, if I was in Equestria, then was I a pony? I need to check few things. Need to make a checklist.’ It took a while, but in the end, I had made a pretty neat mental list. 1. Learn how to move my new body. 2. Find out where in the Everfree forest I was in. 3. Find the bitch that sent me here. 4. Kick her to kingdom come. 5. Find a way home. 6. ? 7. Profit. ‘Well then, why don’t I try working on #2’ I thought as I struggled to open my eyes. They opened ever so slowly, but even after they had opened, all that greeted my eyes was a wall of pure black. ‘Okay then, do my eyes work or not? I mean walls of black usually mean......wait, I know, let’s see if I can use the rest of my body.’ Keeping my eyes open, I tried lifting my left arm, and to my surprise, I felt a limb similar to the corresponding human limb raise itself into the air. ‘What kind of mare has arms? I thought you had to learn a whole new way of moving?’ I tried lifting my other arm, and, lo-and-behold, I felt it rise into the air as well. I then tried to move my fingers, and realized with a stab of shock that I only had four fingers. ‘What the hell happened to my pinkie, it got tired and ran away?’ So then, I knew that I had two arms, four digits on each hand (no pinkie), and even a tail, but it didn’t feel like a bunch bush of hair, but rather like a single long muscle, almost an extension of my torso. Scales seemed to cover me all over, making my body feel hard…. Scratch that, plated. I also had better hearing than before, and as soon as I realized that I discovered that something was bugging me, as if I had overlooked something obvious. ‘Just what happened to me? If I’m dreaming, then I guess I’ve finally cracked due to stress.’ My eyes had also adjusted enough to see in the reduced light, but it wasn’t exactly reassuring. There were a few shapes in the darkness with……outlines? But the shapes looked like scales. Wait, if they were scales, then that meant *gulp* d-d-dd-d-DRAGONS! Sure enough, when I strained my ears, I could hear a horribly deep snore that I hadn’t noticed before. At least I had found out what had been annoying me for so long My brain shut down. I had just lost my life, my body, and now I thought that I lost my sanity. I felt like screaming, crying, and shouting obscenities all at once, and I proceeded to do just that. I started screaming like a banshee, and my mouth randomly formed swears that I proceeded to say in a voice high enough to shatter glass. Even as I started screaming, I cradled my head in between my hands, my face now sporting twin streams of tears. For some odd reason my eyes started to hurt as I cried, causing me to add a massive migrane to my list of grieviances. The dragon next to me stirred, raising itself up to its full height and out of its slumber. I finally got a good look at my surroundings, and realized that we were in a cavern that reached up to at least seventy feet. The great drake in front of me took up over three quarters of it. ‘Smart move, genius. Wake up one of the only creatures that can eat you in one bite. That's just a briiiiiiliant plan.’ ‘Shut up. Sarcasm isn’t going to save us.’ ‘Nope, but it will make me feel better.’ ‘I said, Shut Up!’ Yes, I was having a mental argument as a dragon, pissed off at me waking it up, roused itself and decided to get its bearing. It was staring down at me, and I had dissolved into gibbering non sense while cradling my head in my hands, looking for all the world as if I had just gone insane. Then again, maybe I have. ‘I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,’ “Look up little one” rumbled a deep, booming voice. ‘I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,’ “Look up hatchling, and let me see you better.” The voice ordered again, agitation creeping ever so slightly into his…. yea, his tone. ‘HOLY CRAP I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’M GOING TO DIE!’ “LOOK UP LITTLE ONE!” boomed the voice, shaking the entire cavern, almost bowling me over. Using every bit of my willpower, I forced myself to look up. A huge, scaly black head was right in front of me. It had a beautiful sheen to his scales, pearly white teeth, a pair of huge, yellow horns, and purple plates upon the top of his head. What struck me though were his eyes. Those eyes, they weren’t filled with hunger or anger, but rather with tenderness and even, I kid you not, love. “Where is your tribe young one?” he asked, genuine concern painted across of his face. “I don’t know, I just know that I’m alone.” I replied after a while, deciding to play the tragic genocide survivor. “You mean that your family has abandoned you. I too was abandoned by my tribe, but I rose above it. I feel sorry for what you must have been through, young hatchling. If you need, I will raise you, for all hatchling need a tribe, be it strong or not.” I just stood there, jaw to the ground, my eyes the size of dinner plates. Was it really that easy? REALLY? I guess I must have looked rather ridiculous, for his sad eyes flashed with a brief spell of amusement. It was only after a minute or two that I realized that he was waiting for me to respond. “Yes sir, if you don’t mind.” I said quietly. Dear lord, I’ve suddenly become both Nodoka and Fluttershy at once. At least the vermin ermine wasn’t around. 'What about me?' Scratch that, Kamo's in the house everyone. “They must have decided that your plight was underneath them, believing that they have no ties to a child once it hatched.” he stated, his voice now reaching what was probably the equivalent to a dragon’s deathbed voice. His eyes continued to gaze at me sorrowfully, full of empathy for what I must have been through. But, dear lord, his words had struck a soft spot. I wanted to say he was wrong, to shout that my parents loved me and always cared about what I thought, but the words just got themselves caught in my throat. Now that I think about it, my dad never cared if I was having emotional problems, he only cared if I was better than everyone else, and mom never once talked to me when I cried, never held me, not when dad was around. I guess that what he said was closer to the truth than any story I could or would come up with. It was only after I had processed all that when his last words finally registered. ‘Wait, plight, what plight? Did something happen to me? Why did he say plight? What happened to me?!’ 'Search me.' “I’m sorry for your misfortune, young one, I believe that they would have been most beautiful otherwise.” he said. “What would have been beautiful.” I asked squeakily. He gave me one long, sorrowful look, and then said two words. “Your wings.” *Loading* *Loading* *Loading* *Click* “WHAT THE BUCK?!”