//------------------------------// // Chapter Four, Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, but Feathers May Just Kill Me. // Story: Dancing Flames, Cooling Ember // by Tamara Bloodhoof //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, but Feathers May Just Kill Me. It had been a week since me and dad had met. The clothes and bag that I had brought from Earth had been placed to the side of our cave, only kept as a memento of me appearing. Since then I had learned enough to make most bronies water at the mouth. Most of it was rather basic actually. There was the layout of the world of course, but other than that it was just a matter of relearning the nationality order, but this time it was divided by races. First off was (Squeal!) biology class! Dragons had canines, canines, and, surprise, more canines! Despite that, we could also eat fruits and vegetables, but that was only for taste, our bodies didn’t absorb the nutrients. Instead, gems were a dragons main source of vitamins, protein, minerals, and everything else! Meat would also suffice, but it was far less nutritious, tasty, or, get this, filling! One gem was more filling than a whole antelope, who knew? Dragons also had a series of defenses, including our razor sharp claws, diamond hard scales, our dagger like teeth, and even our breath. Most dragons breathed fire, but there have been stories of dragons who were capable of breathing the very elements, including ice and even lightning. We were cunning, wise, and could live for up to ten millennia, but, unlike the alicorns, we are mortal. There was also a hierarchy of dragons. Each of the seven main dragons had a color and a behavior that tied to it, and if you were any other color than the "Seven Lords" you were considered to be insignificant. It took dad over an hour to explain, but in the end I made a chart that gave the same amount of information in a fraction of the time. I listed it from strongest to weakest, and even included their main behavior problem. 1. Black dragon-Gluttonous assholes. 2. Red dragon -Wrathful monsters. 3. Purple dragons-Proud to the point of overbearing. 4. Blue dragons-Slothful powerhouses. 5. Pink dragons-Simply put, were the skanks of the dragon race. 6. Yellow dragons-Greedy cowards. 7. Green dragons-Envious weaklings. ‘Is it just me, or do all the dragons seem to be based off of the seven sins?’ ‘It’s not just you Gemina.’ ‘Guess you should have been pink then Ember.’ ‘Ha ha, very funny Gemina.’ Other than that, there was the study of species. There were four main races, the Ponies in Equestria, the Griffins in the Griffin Dominion, the Dragons in the Badlands, and the Diamond dogs in Gem Fido. They were the most intelligent of the races, capable of making civilizations. Dad, who was at least millennia old, had seen the rise of the griffin race under the guidance of Nightmare Moon, and their horrible fall from glory over nine centuries ago. Since then they had been unable to recover properly, and it seemed that there would never be another golden age of the griffins. Second, the diamond dogs were quite possibly the most brilliant sculptors of Terra Firma since the world had been created. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t truly realize the extent of their intelligence back when they had all been powerful, and evolution had robbed most of their might from them. Third were the ponies. They lived in peace, their ruler protecting them from the worst of the world. They worked together and made themselves a utopia, the gem of the world’s crown, but most of their race was horribly ignorant of the world around them. Last were the dragons, the founder race. They had been existed since the beginning of time, but had, like the diamond dogs, reduced in strength and grandeur by squandering their gifts upon a grand illusion of avarice. Nowadays, most dragons were glad to have a full hoard. Other races existed, including the Cat-folk, Zebra, Changelings, and Minotaurs. These races could also create their own civilizations, but had yet to carve into the mainland in order to do so. ‘And then there’s you, the first bucked up dragon since lizards learned to walk.’ ‘I told you to shut up Gemina! Do you ever listen?’ ‘Huh, what was that?’ *sigh* ‘Never mind.’ Our cave overlooked a forest, lush and green in the spring air, which was surrounded by a huge circle of mountains. The forest had a multitude of fruit, but had no animals that we could catch, meaning that we had found very little to eat over the last week, only about one meal per day. Both of us had pits in our stomachs, but we had to stave off hunger somehow, and water became our answer. I also had gotten a good look at myself in a forest lake. I was taller than when I had been on Earth, at least six feet. I was built a lot like a human, my body being slim and even well muscled, with a figure that most supermodels would die for. However, I was missing something. I had no, for lack of better words, breasts. It didn't bother me too much, for no lizard actually has external mammaries like a human female. Other than that I had black scales covering my limbs, torso, and tail, making an almost chitinous exoskeleton, harder than any armor I had seen on Earth. My face, however, had gray scales covering it, making my whole face the color of ash. My hands had lost a finger, specifically the pinkie, but that hadn’t hindered me at all so far. I could still pick up objects, and the scales on me had literally blunted any thorn that I touched. But those suprises paled in comparison with the last. I had been introduced to a multitude of draconic ideas and even their culture, but I learned about their rituals by PARTAKING IN ONE! My father came to me two days ago, right after we had our meal, and instead of taking a nap while I practiced trying to breathe fire (I still couldn’t get it to happen constantly. The best way I can think of describing the process of breathing flames it is like trying to vomit, but having fire come out instead of bile.) like he usually did, he instead asked if I would walk with him. “Sure dad.” I answered, my voice calm, all the while my mind was abuzz with questions, from wondering if he was going to kill me to whether or not he was actually a king in hiding. ‘Either way I’ll find out soon.’ I thought, and followed him from the cave down into the forest. He led me to the pond, and there he sat down in the surrounding grass. “Bathe yourself.” He said, his deep voice strict and commanding. I gulped and proceeded to do just that, scrubbing myself with my scaly hands, scooping up the water in order to wash away the dirt that had collected on my scales. After I was sparkling in the sunlight, he said only one word in the same harsh tone. “Come.” ‘Ooooh, someone’s in trouble!’ ‘Gemina, shut up right now or I swear to god, you will never have another peaceful moment again.’ ‘Okey-dokey skipper.’ I swam back to the shore, and walked straight towards dad. His face was exceptionally grim as he looked at me, now standing patiently a few steps away from his feet. After our eyes had connected, his eyes suddenly changed. They looked at me no longer in sadness or love, but in hunger and rage. My eyes immediately shut, breaking contact with those horrible, pitiless pits of hatred. I longed to shrink away from him, to flee from the monster that stood before me, but my feet were rooted to the ground in fear. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, I was no longer Ember, just a worm, a tiny worm that was wriggling right in front of a monstrous bird. I was alone, all alone, with a monster ready to pounce. ‘Buck up Ember, he’s your father!’ I started, where had that voice come from? Wait, that voice was in my head. Could it be, no, that’s impossible. But maybe, just maybe… ‘Gemina, is that you?’ ‘Who else? Now just deal with it.’ ‘I can’t, he looks too scary, he’s gone insane!’ ‘It doesn’t matter if he looks angry, hungry, or downright murderous, he’s our dad!’ ‘But he’s going to eat us; he’s going to kill us!’ ‘No, he’s not. Just look at him... please Ember.’ My eyes snapped open, their gaze already staring straight at the glare from the monster. I may have my doubts, but I had never been heard Gemina plea before, and if I refused to listen now, how could I ever expect to hear her ask again? I was full of courage now, for I wasn’t alone. Since when have I ever been alone, whether I wanted to be or not? Gemina was with me now, and she always will be. Buck the monster in front of me, that’s my dad, and even if I have to beat him to a pulp, I’m going to get my dad back. But the glare disappeared. The angry expression had vanished, replaced by pride. The monster that had stood before me was gone, my father in its place. I started to walk towards him, but he shook his head and spoke to me, his voice no longer harsh, but rather filled to the brim with love. “Each dragon has a moment in their lives when they feel their lives drawing to a close. I have felt the wind change this last week. It hungers for my spirit, my soul. I will not let my soul pass away however, and I have chosen my successor. You have proven to me that you are worthy of this honor, and I am prouder than I had ever thought possible.” he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “Ember, please come closer.” I stepped towards him tentatively, and he lowered his head to mine. A single tear fell from his eye, but it was a tear of blood, a deep, shining crimson. Without thinking about it, without even realizing what I was doing, I licked it from his cheek, my tongue cleaning his face. After I had swallowed, I could feel power coursing through me; almost like, well, magic. “My power is now your power, for you are now me. May you live long past my end.” He said, smiling down at me. “Now, my daughter, it is time to go home.” I walked behind him, stunned beyond belief. I had just received the highest honor possible, and yet all I felt was sadness. My father said he would die soon, and all he could think about was helping me. “Thank you dad.” I whispered, ‘and you too Gemina.’ I didn’t hear a voice respond to what I had said, but I suddenly felt a happiness that resounded deep within me. Gemina may not have spoken, but I had never felt closer to her before. ************************************************************** Today I had woken up from my sleep in cold sweat, my nightmare still fresh in my memory. I looked to the spot of the cave where my father slept, ready to wake him up and start the day, but I was alone in the cave. ‘Did he leave me?’ I thought my mind a maelstrom of panic and fear. ‘Think sanely. If he’s gone, what should I do?’ ‘Hmmm, difficult, I’d say you should go find him.’ I chuckled wryly. Ever since that ritual, I had felt invigorated, could breath fire (but it was still only the size of a lighter), and Gemina had actually cut back from pure sarcasm to being helpfully sarcastic. Even though she did try to annoy me whenever she could, she now actually gave me ideas rather than just trying to infuriate me. But, sarcastic or not, it was sound advice, so I drew myself up and ran to the entrance. As I neared the opening however, I heard a mighty roar and a shriek of "SHIT! Gilda, we're leaving, NOW!" It sounded masculine. Finally reaching the mouth of the cave, I looked outside and saw my dad flying over a mile away, two small shapes flapping away from him as fast as they could. I jumped off the mountain, skidding down to the forest. I was trying to reach dad. Whether I was going to stop him or help him, I didn’t yet know. After I had reached the trees, I leaped upon the canopy, jumping from branch to branch, striving to move faster than the wind, but I was to slow and they were to far away, I would never catch them. What had he found? Was it a threat? Was it food? Or did he just snap? A new voice broke through the bellows of my dad. "Damn it, it's going to catch us. Into the clouds!" the voice yelled. It sounded familiar. Wait, was it Gilda? All the shapes were rising up, striving to reach the vast ocean of clouds. The two small ones were griffins. It was Gilda! “Dad, STOP!” I screamed, still leaping towards them. I was never going to reach them. ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ ‘Let me take over, that’s what.’ I heard the voice, but the words were still resounding inside my skull. Let Gemina take over? I had never said yes to that idea, but was there a choice? ‘Fine, just get us to dad!’ I thought, my voice sounding panicked even inside my own head. ‘Okay then, just sit back and enjoy the show.’ Her voice squealed gleefully. I suddenly lost control of my limbs, but instead of falling flat on my face, I tumbled to the ground, my arms suddenly becoming a second set of legs. I could feel pressure building inside my stomach, pounding against my ribs, screaming to be let free. I was saying words that I recognized, but made no sense in my predicament. “Mico, cursu, tenetur. Corpus, fugere velocius quam semper. Ventus!” ‘Why am I speaking Latin?’ but the next second answered my question for me. I had suddenly started moving twice as fast. I was moving so quickly that I would have given NASCAR a run for its money. Trees zipped past me; bushes were thrown into the air in my wake, for who can stand near that which has become speed incarnate? Suddenly the pond loomed right in front of me. I tried with all my effort to stop, but my limbs didn’t respond. Gemina had full control, and I could do nothing but watch. Right as we neared the edge however, I sprang from the ground, leaping all the way from the lush grass to above the treetops. I could see my dad swooping down; about to swallow Gilda, who was laying upon the ground, when the second griffin flew right into his mouth, saying two simple words, “Watch me.” “NOOOOOO!” I screamed in time with Gilda as dads mouth swung shut. I froze, poised upon the tip of one of the huge trees, my face frozen in shock. My dad had just killed a griffin, a race of intelligence, and had not shown any remorse. ‘How could you, I thought you were good.’ But dad wasn’t right. Something seemed to be caught in his throat. He was screaming in agony, his face a picture of pure terror. What had happened to him? Why was he coughing up blood? He breathed deeply, and his eyes dilated in fear. He thrashed upon the ground, his body crushing trees for yards around him. He then literally retched up a lung. The organ lay right in front of him as he suddenly went still. His neck was still moving though, but not in the usual slow rise and fall, but rather as if a giant hairball was being coughed out of it. ‘Or maybe a Griffin ball?’ said a sad voice in the back of my head. ‘Gemina, why?’ ‘He said it himself, everyone has their time. He just was surprised by who got to fulfill the prophecy.’ The griffin was pushing himself out of dad’s mouth, his fur and feathers coated in blood. He turned and looked at the body expectantly, but after determining that nothing was going to happen, he pounced upon dads head and shouted for all the world to hear. "WRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He then leaped off the dragon onto the ground, his face beaming in pure joy. He moseyed on over to Gilda, his swagger apparent even from this distance. When he spoke to her he sounded completely unfazed, as if he did this all the time. "What's the matter? Never seen someone kill a dragon?" he asked. "You magnificent, stupid, beautiful, DUMBASS!" she cried, her sentence a amalgaration of swears and compliments. But she didn’t stop at just screaming at him, oh no. "I thought you were dead! What the hell were you thinking!?" "I guess when I saw you get hurt, I just went a little crazy." the boy griffin responded casually, licking the blood off himself. ‘My father’s blood’ I thought. "Why does dragon blood taste like lemon juice?" he asked to thin air. Was he completely mental? Scratch that, he had just flew into my fathers mouth in order to kill him, he was beyond mental, but evidently he wasn’t heartless as he asked kindly, "Can you move?" "Yeah, I think I c... gaaaah!" Gilda responded, trying to put weight on her burnt back limbs, and falling back into a crouch. "No, you can't. Let me help you." "I SAID I'M FINE!" She yelled. "Well, I suppose I can just leave you here then." he said, shrugging. "Okay, fine. But you never EVER tell anyone about this." And with that they flew off without a look back. I crawled to the corpse of my father, my whole body shaking in silent sobs. Once I reached the body I stroked his head. I had never before mourned about dragon’s inability to cry. “Dad, are you there.” I whispered, praying that he would respond, but no answer came. “Dad, this isn’t funny. Come on, get up.” I cried. “Dad, WAKE UP!” I shrieked, my voice breaking at the last words. But he didn’t move, he didn’t answer, he didn’t look. He was frozen, his face a picture of agony. I pulled his head onto my lap, sobbing over his face. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I bellowed to the heavens, and in my rage and pain, I finally breathed fire. It wasn’t a small flame; it wasn’t even as small as a flamethrowers blast. No, the flames that erupted from my mouth reached the clouds above me, burning a hole inside of them, through them. After the gout of fire was gone, rain fell, masking the sounds of my continued sobs. ************************Back in Griffin’s cave************************ Griffin had laid Gilda unto the rocks, using straw to make a cushion for her burned limbs. As he turned to the entrance, he saw a flame geyser erupt from the forest, the fire disappearing into the clouds. He stared for a few seconds and then returned to his newest job, getting aloe for Gilda’s burn. ********************In Embers Cave******************** Ember stared into the fire that she had built. It had been many hours since dad had died, and ever since returning to the cave she hadn’t moved a inch. ‘You have to move Ember, you need to prepare.’ ‘Shut it Gemina.’ ‘No. Dad wanted you to travel, to find out about the world right? That’s why he taught you all about the world?’ ‘Maybe, maybe not. I’m alone now, so who cares.’ ‘I do, and he did to.’ ‘Fine, maybe I will travel the world, but I have a more important quest now. I’m going to kill that griffin.’