It was a bright and sunny day in Dragontown. The sun shone out radiantly, the sky was clear, and the market was bustling with dragons going hither and thither.
But most importantly, Nightfall was starving. Practically famished, in fact. Or so he kept muttering within Wishful’s earshot as she trotted alongside him. “I really should’ve eaten breakfast this morning…”
Wishful rolled her eyes and let out a little giggle. “Nightfall, you say that every morning. Even when you do eat breakfast. And it always goes the same way; you go to Apple Slice’s stall, load up on too many apples, and then we don’t know what to do with them. I’m still trying to figure out if we should give them all to Goody to make a pie… or a dozen.”
“I do not! That was barely two bowls full last time. And besides, wouldn’t it be a Baker’s dozen, technically?” He shot back, his stomach still growling as he made his way through the maze of market stalls. Everything just looked so delicious; carrots, onions, potatoes and garlic lay in sacks scattered around the stalls. Crates and barrels full of fruits of every variety he could want tempted him with their sweet aromas. Cuts of fresh meat lay hidden away in iceboxes. A broken crate of ripe oranges served as the base of one stall, though the vendor had to keep grabbing the oranges before they rolled out of the bottom.
Soon enough, he made his way to his usual, and probably the largest by produce volume, stall in the marketplace; the Apple Clan’s. And as usual, Apple Slice was behind the stall, haggling with a pair of loud customers who clearly didn’t value a good apple as much as Nightfall did, while Ambrosia looked on and just shook her head. As Nightfall got closer, he was just able to make out exactly what was being said, as the nearer he got, the louder the hagglers got. “Two and ten? That’s practically highway robbery, and you know it! One and ten seems much more fair! Come on, we have a family to feed here!”
Apple Slice rolled his eyes. “An’ how exactly do ya expect meh ta feed mah family at those ridiculous prices? Ah’ve already cut it down ta almost half! What do ya want, a complimentary apple strudel ta go with it? ‘Sides, Ah don’t think yer family will be goin’ hungry with the Hoards y'all make anytime soon. Ah don’t think three mouths are that hard ta keep fed. Now kindly close yer traps, and gimme Two and Five, Gwynnia darn it! And if y'all can’t take that, then go and buy from somegon else’s stall!”
The two dragons finally begrudgingly handed over the Hoard notes and took their basket of apples before rearing up onto their hind legs and stomping away with their snouts in the air, their posture practically daring anygon to step in their path. As the usual mutters and head shaking from the other vendors followed, Apple Slice slumped forward, banging his forehead on the front of his stall. “Ah swear, some dragons wouldn’t know a fair price fer somegon else’s hard work if it whacked them in the head with a cast-iron skillet. Ah wish Ah could have some customers that don’t try ta gouge meh fer once. Oh well…”
At that moment, he conveniently noticed Nightfall standing nearby, and looked up with a smile. “Close enough. Howdy Nightfall!” He waved a claw towards him. “Come on over. It should be about lunchtime fer ya, huh?”
“He forgot breakfast. Again.” Wishful said in a stage whisper. Nightfall rolled his eyes and raised a claw in protest.
“Hey, I didn’t forget breakfast. I skipped it because it’s the end of the month, and we’re low on cash until we get the money from my folks in the mail this afternoon.”
“We wouldn’t be low on cash if you didn’t keep buying apples practically in bulk,” Wishful replied with a shake of her head. “In fact, we’d probably actually have enough left over for you to actually save up some. Maybe even open a bank account you can access? A checking account this time, perhaps?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault my bank account is all the way back in El Dragado—”
“Uh, y'all two? It’s nice ta see ya two talkin’ responsible money management and all, but if yer here ta buy somethin’, Ah suggest ya do it. As much as Ah like y'all, Ah do have other customers.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” Nightfall nodded, taking out his money pouch. But as he looked into it, he had a feeling that if he paid full price for what he needed this time, there’d be only dead flies and dust bunnies left in the pouch… Well, that and a certain diamond coin Lord Lumin told him to only use in the most dire of circumstances. While his stomach might protest otherwise, he was not quite there yet. And even if he was, he doubted Apple Slice could break a coin that valuable and not go instantly into debt. “Uh… Slice? I have a tiny request.” He shifted slightly, trying not to look too desperate. “Could you… Could you maybe give me a teensy discount this time? I’m kind of short on funds, and I don’t ge—”
“Say no more, pardner! Yer mah best customer, anyways. Can ya gimme two and fifteen and let’s call it a deal?” Nightfall blinked. He was expecting three at best. He might actually have a few Treasure coins left before the month was over, for once.
“Sure, that’ll do.” He handed a few Hoard notes and a small stack of Treasure coins over to Slice, who quickly stowed them in a sturdy coin box behind the stall he kept for that purpose. “Thank you, Slice. You’re a life—er, cash saver!”
Slice smiled back, “Shucks, think nothin’ of it. Thank ya fer actually paying almost full price the rest of the time. That’s more than some dragons will do.” At that moment, a little timer behind the counter dinged, and Apple Slice breathed a sigh of relief. “An’ that’s mah lunch break. Yer lucky ya got here just as Ah was about ta change shifts. Hey, Ambrosia!” He called over his shoulder.
“Eyyup, Slice?” She called back, heading towards the counter, lugging another barrel of apples behind her.
“Could ya take over now? It’s mah lunch break.”
“Sure thing, Slice. Ah’ll see ya at the house fer dinner then?”
“Yep.” he replied as he handed the key to the coin box over to her, and slung his pack over his shoulder. He looked over at Nightfall and Wishful, dropping the usual basket of apples into Nightfall’s waiting claws. “Ah don’t suppose y’all got anywhere ta go ‘sides here today?”
“Other than feed Nightfall’s nigh-insatiable lunchtime appetite? Nope.” Wishful said, giving her father-figure a pointed look. Nightfall opened his mouth to protest that his appetite was perfectly fine for a Dragoon his age, when his stomach betrayed him yet again. He sighed and shook his head, looking up at Apple Slice.
“No, we don’t. I was going to reorganize the B section of the bookshelves—”
“You mean the ones you had me reorganize most of yesterday afternoon?” Wishful snarked.
“Hey, it can’t hurt to double check!”
Apple Slice cleared his throat. “Ahem, guys? Since y’all have nothin’ goin’ on, would ya mind comin’ back towards mah house? Ah’d kinda like ta have somegon ta have a chat with on mah walk back.”
Nightfall looked towards Wishful, and she gave a shrug in response. Nightfall nodded, reaching into the basket for an apple. “Alright, fine.” Crunch. He bit into the apple as he started to follow Slice, who had almost immediately taken that as his cue to head back towards his house, weaving his way expertly through the maze of market stalls and back into the open square. Nightfall and Wishful weren’t far behind, though the purple Dragoon still tended to get slightly lost in the marketplace. A week living here, and he still got turned around while exploring Dragontown sometimes.
The three of them made their way towards the edge of town, as Apple Slice talked with them, his frustration evident. “…an’ would ya believe that derned high-falutin’ Mint family wanted ta buy mah apples at less than even half price? Ah don’t know which was worse; Gilded or Silvered!” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Well, if Ah had to pick Ah’d say Gilded. She’s got Silvered so henpecked Ah think he can barely step outside without her complaining about too much sun, and making him go back and get her hat. Ah swear, those two don’t even seem ta care about the bad example they’re setting fer poor Gold Watch. That Dragonling’s gonna pick up their bad habits if they keep it up long enough, and Gwynnia only knows how much of a disaster it would be fer three Mints ta be running around town like they own the whole darn place.”
Nightfall nodded mutely, munching on his fourth apple as he continued listening attentively to Slice’s grievances.
“Ah just don’t know what ta do sometimes. We raise the most produce in the whole town, but ‘sides you, nogon ever seems ta pay near full price fer mah apples ‘sides you and the other four. Heck, and Timmy usually lets meh keep all the change since he usually wants ta get out of the market lickety-split.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Ah just wish Ah could go somewhere ta sell and be gua-ran-teed ta git full value fer meh and mah sister’s hard work, ya know? Ah would do anyth—”
At that moment, and as Nightfall was about to bite into his fifth apple, Apple Slice was cut off by a loud pop as a scroll appeared in front of Wishful in a burst of golden light. Nightfall instinctively bit down on the apple and right through the core, his eyes watering as Wishful took the scroll in front of her in her magic. “You okay there, pardner?” Slice said, looking over to see Nightfall coughing and spitting out apple seeds onto the ground. “Or are ya just trying to grow an orchard of yer own?”
“I’m… fine.” Nightfall managed to sputter out, before prying a large piece of core out from between his fangs and tossing it aside. “I’m fine now, don’t worry,” he said, pointedly ignoring the skeptical look Slice shot him. “Seriously, I just bit off more than I could chew. Wishful, the scroll, if you would?” He turned to the filly.
“Got it,” Wishful said, unfurling the scroll. To the trio’s surprise, seven tickets fell out of the scroll and into Nightfall’s claws. As Nightfall peered down at the tiny writing on the tickets with V.I.G. (for Very Important Guest) on them in bold, blocky letters, Wishful cleared her throat and began to read:
Their Royal Highnesses, Lords Lumin and Umbra, are pleased to announce the Big Burning Bash on the 21st of March, 5001 Sine Rex et Regina, to be held in the magnificent city of El Dragado. Their Highnesses cordially extend an invitation to Nightfall Sheen, Wishful Legend, and the Bearers of the Components of Balance, in gratitude for services rendered to the Crown and Country.
Sincerely,
Lord Lumin Draconis and Lord Umbra Draconis
Regents and Princes of Draconia
Caretakers of the Sun and Moon
VIVAT DRACONIA. VT GWYNNIA ET CONIVNX BENEDICAM EAM PER OMNIA SAECVLA SAECVLORVM.
As Wishful finished reading the scroll and rolled it back up, she found Apple Slice looking at her with confusion. “Okay, Ah understood most of that. Now, before Ah can get excited about gettin’ ta go ta the biggest bash in Draconia, can ya please tell meh what in Gwynnia’s name that fancy Old Draconic means?” He looked over her shoulder to peer at the letter, “And why is that written with a V where the U should be?”
Unbeknownst to him, this line of inquiry managed to send Nightfall into full-blown nerd mode, as his smile was looking ready to crack his jaw if he repressed it any longer. “Well, this is actually pretty fascinating! See, because we needed a fairly unchanging language for certain legal documents, the Prince—er, Princes—use Old Draconic as part of their formal letters, particularly for the usual official postscript and our calendar year nomenclature. You know how we say S.R.R. after the year number, right?”
Apple Slice took a few seconds to try to process a few of those more difficult words, before nodding as he guessed the meanings, “Ah guess so. Ah always wondered what it actually meant.”
Nightfall’s expression practically begged for Slice to ask him, so he let out a sigh of resignation and asked, “And what does S.R.R. mean?”
“Sine Rex et Regina!” Nightfall piped up, looking like a dog that’d just been thrown a squeak-toy. “It means ‘Without the King and Queen,’ in modern Draconic, thus delineating the years since their absence began. Oh, and the postscript at the end, ‘Vivat Draconia. Ut Gwynnia et coniunx benedicam eam per omnia saecula saeculorum’? That translates to ‘Long live Draconia. May Gwynnia and her mate bless her unto ages of ages’; well, technically it just means ‘forever’ paraphrased, but per omnia saecula saeculorum literally means ‘unto ages of ages,’ similar to the ancient Fairy Draconic phrase eis tous aionos ton aionon which means roughly the same. This was derived in turn from one of the languages of the ancient Orions before…”
At this point, Slice had gotten hopelessly lost in Nightfall’s impassioned linguistics ramble, slightly regretting having brought it up in the first place.
“Nightfall, no offense, but yer harder ta follow than a lost houndog in the woods,” Slice cut in bluntly, wincing a little at the disappointed look Nightfall shot him.
“But I never get to talk about this sort of thing much…” Nightfall muttered wistfully, before shaking his head with a sigh. After a few moments he looked back up at Slice with his best attempt at an awkward smile. “So… um, anyways, what do you want to do at the Bash?”
Slice thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up as an idea hit him. “Ah… hmm, Ah could sell mah family’s best dishes there! An’ everygon’d pay full price, fer once! El Dragado dragons are known ta appreciate the full value of a dragon’s hard work.” He was looking more and more excited about it by the second, enough so that Nightfall had to repress his urge to try to insert reality into the farmer’s profit fantasy. Slice didn’t notice Nightfall’s sceptical expression, and just went on imagining the Bash that was to come. “Praise Gwynnia, this is the best thing ta ever happen ta meh!” The orange Dragoon looked ready to leap into the air and try to fly to El Dragado himself that very moment. However, practicality ensued, and the Dragoon dropped back into a more relaxed posture, a little frown across his snout as the first problem to be fixed came to mind. “Don’ have anythin’ ta wear, though. Gonna hafta talk ta Extra ‘bout that little problem. Good thing it’s not till next year’s Festival of Lady Flora.”
Having lived in El Dragado himself, as well as having attended the Bash multiple times before, Nightfall wasn’t quite so sure the farmer’s plans would come to fruition. In fact, he suspected they probably wouldn’t. But things might be different this time, he thought; after all Slice was a national hero same as him, so the El Dragado elite would probably be inclined to actually pay full price and more, if only out of respect. Yes, that would probably be it.
Nightfall finally shook his more cynical thoughts aside and settled in favor of a more immediate worry; informing the others. “Hey, Slice?” He turned towards the other Dragoon. “Do you think you could gather up the others you can find, and send them my way to the library? I can get ahold of two of our friends if you will.”
“Sure thang,” Apple Slice nodded with a confident smile. “I can round ‘em up sooner than ya can say ‘Slash is a flying crash hazard.’ “
Nightfall couldn’t help but snicker a bit, “Not gonna argue with you there. Let’s split up and find the others, shall we? We can meet back at the library as soon as possible.”
“Got it,” Slice nodded, turning around and heading off back towards town. And with that, the two of them went their separate ways.
Before long, the six of them were assembled in the library’s main floor, Slash and Extraordinaire respectively taking advantage of the nearest couches, while Timidwings stood awkwardly in a corner, Goody bounced in place with an eager grin, Nightfall sat beside Wishful in his overstuffed armchair, and Slice rolled his eyes while waiting for Nightfall to finish telling them the news. “…and so, long story short, we’re all invited to the Big Burning Bash.”
The first one to react, at least from what Nightfall could tell in his currently pink-filled field of vision, was Goody. “Omigosh omigosh omigoooosh!” Goody was practically hovering in front of him, personal space seemingly forgotten as Goody bounced off the armrest of the chair—how, Nightfall would never know—and landed in the middle of the library floor. “The Big Burning Bash? The party to end all parties? The only party I’ve yet to top?”
Nightfall nodded mutely, trying not to shrink back into his seat at the sudden display of exuberance. “Yes. The Burning Bash.” he confirmed.
At that moment, the others in the room seemed to finally process what they’d heard, and one by one, ideas started running through their heads of what they could do at the party to end all parties. Slash was the second one to speak, his voice tinged with awe as he stared up at the ceiling of the library, imagining himself soaring through the clouds with a certain aerial stunt team. “The Shatterbursts are probably gonna be there, right? Of course they are; it’s the biggest bash in El Dragado. Which means…” His eyes went wide. “I’ll finally get a chance to show off some of my moves to them and get their attention! I could just make my entrance in the middle of their show, and—”
“Slash, I don’t think that’s gonna endear ya ta ‘em any,” Slice cut in with an eye roll. “I mean, how would ya feel if some random Fairy Dragoon with an ego almost as big as his mouth went and crashed yer show at the biggest party of the year?”
Slash opened his mouth to protest, then promptly shut it again with a sulky look. “Well, you didn’t have to put it like that…”
Slice saw the window to assuage the other Dragoon’s wounded pride quickly closing, and took the opportunity to soften the blow. He placed a claw on his shoulder with a comforting smile. “Hey, Ah’m just ribbin’ ya, Slash. Ya know that; don’t take it too seriously.” His smile fell for a moment as he went back into a more stern expression. “But in all fairness, Ah don’t think they’d take kindly ta ya bargin’ into their show, ya know? Ya could still get ta meet ‘em though, at least once the show is over; Ah’m sure they’d have a minute or five ta spare fer a fan, especially a V.I.G. one.”
Slash’s grin was in place once more as he imagined how that meeting would go. “Yeah, you’re right… I mean, getting to actually talk with Captain Hawker, Volatora, Stormwing…” He looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be nervous or just thrilled at the idea, and settled for an expression Goody would probably call ‘nervous-cited.’
In the meantime, Timidwings, for once, had emerged from his corner and was pacing back and forth across his side of the room, cracking a small smile of his own. “I… I’m going to get to see the Royal Gardens. With the V.I.G. ticket, I might be able to make it into the royal Menagerie that I’ve heard is in the gardens. So many animals just waiting for me to see and talk to and make friends with and…”
Extraordinaire, who had been up until now absorbed in his own imagination, shook himself back to reality, sporting a goofy grin that looked extremely out of place on his snout. “The Princes’ niece should be there, right?” He sighed dramatically. “Lady Noble Scale, the most beautiful, charming, mysterious Dragoness of El Dragado, whose fabled beauty is practically legend?”
Nightfall just barely stopped himself from biting his tongue. “Umm, Extraordinaire? Lady Noble Scale isn’t exactly the most—”
“—sociable of Dragonesses?” Extraordinaire cut him off. “So I’ve heard. But if there’s anygon who can get her to open up and come to eventually swoon at their charms, it’s me.” The white Dragoon sprawled dramatically across the couch, one claw raised in the air, the other stroking his chin in thought. “And so, I’ll be the one to unravel the mystery that is Her Grace, Lady Noble Scale, and her murky, if likely absolutely fascinating, origins.”
Nightfall at this point realized he would be unable to convince the other Dragoon otherwise, and just slumped back in his armchair, rubbing his temples. “Fine. If you say so. I’ve known her most of my life, and I’ve never seen anygon get very far past her icy attitude. You’re welcome to try, though. Just remember the old saying about beauty—”
“Yes, yes, that it’s usually scale-deep, I know.” Extraordinaire waved a claw impatiently and huffed. “I know she’s different. I just have to crack her shell like nogon ever has.”
“You’d have better luck cracking a glacier,” Wishful muttered just loud enough for Nightfall to hear, looking at Extraordinaire with a bit of a sulky pout that went completely unnoticed by him as he continued to concoct his plans.
As the white Dragoon went over the ideas in his head, he realized one very important little detail he had overlooked until now. He immediately shot up into a sitting position, his eyes going wide. “By Gwynnia, we don’t have anything to wear!” He practically shouted, drawing the attention of everygon in the room. Extraordinaire jumped off the couch and sprinted towards the door with an almost manic glee, looking back over his shoulder at the rest of his friends. “Well, come on you guys! To the Boutique!”
With that, he bounded out the door, the five other Dragoons trying their best to keep up with the white blur streaking ahead, leaving only dust behind.