Flames

by Olakaan Peliik

V - Settling In

The sun was shining directly onto my face. I found that odd since I never slept out in the open, and I was usually awake before dawn. I slowly opened my eyes and discovered the sun shining through a window set into a whitewashed wall. I had forgotten that I was in Equestria: Canterlot no less. I sat up and scanned the room.

Kii was still asleep on the bed. She had piled all of the blankets on top of her in a mound. Only her snout and tail were protruding from under the mountain of fabric. I chuckled to myself and walked up to her quietly. I pinched the end of her tail.

She yelped and withdrew her tail underneath the sheets. Poking her eyes out from under the blankets, she gave the cutest glare. “You’re mean!” she whined.

“I’m your brother,” I replied and walked over to the closet where I stashed my bag of gems: dragons have an instinctual need to check on their hoards regularly. Before I could reach it, there was a knock at the door. “Who would be knocking on our door?” I asked out loud. Kii just shrugged at the question.

I opened the door and saw Princess Cadence standing on the other side, Raven hiding behind her. “Ah, I was worried you’d still be asleep,” the Princess smiled. “May we come in?”

“Of course.” I let the door swing open gently and I went back over next to Kii’s bed.

“When you both didn’t arrive for breakfast, we wondered if we had offended you in some way,” Cadence explained and walked up to Kii with a smile.“Good morning, Kii. Did you sleep well?”

Kii bounced on the bed over to Cadence. “Great! I’ve never slept on a bed before! I usually sleep on Krein’s back so I’m off the rocks.”

Cadence giggled along with the little dragonette. “That doesn't sound very comfortable.”

“It’s not,” Kii admitted.

Cadence then turned her attention to me. “Raven here has a schedule of appointments for you. I suggest you hold your questions until she’s done.”

Raven stepped forward. She managed to look me in the eye this time, although nervously. “Good morning,” she squeaked and looked down at her notebook. “Per the Princess' instructions I have made an appointment with a banker at Phoenix Bank, to set up an account for you to hold your finances. After that, you are meeting Princess Cadence at Celestia’s school, and she will be going in with you to speak to the faculty about your sister. Following that you have an appointment with a realtor to help you find a place to live. Also, a pony by the name of Fancy Pants has requested to see you. Apparently a Dragon Ambassador moving around Canterlot turns some heads.”

“What does this Fancy Pants want with me?” I asked.

“His messenger didn’t say. He just said to come to eight eighty diamond drive later today,” Raven explained.

“Intriguing.” I looked over at Cadence. “Do you know this Fancy Pants?”

She nodded. “I’ve met him. He’s a good pony, has a lot of pull in the city. If he has requested to see you, it’s because he has a good reason.”

“Okay then.” I looked back down at Raven. “Is Spike still here? I’ll need somedragon familiar with the city.”

“Unfortunately, Spike has returned to Ponyville, but he says he will visit every so often,” Raven informed me. “But Captain Armor put in a request with the City Guard, they have provided a pair of Guards to escort you through the city for the day. They are waiting in the lobby.”

“Oh. Well...good. Thank you,” I nodded, remembering my treatment at the hooves of the City Guard yesterday. “Come on Kii, we're gonna go see the city a bit more.”

Kii excitedly hopped down off the bed and headed for the door. Before leaving, I grabbed my saddlebags out of the small side room.

“Why’d you put those in the closet?” Cadence asked me as we headed for the lobby.

“It seemed like a safe place,” I told her honestly. She just nodded in agreement.

We got to the lobby and I instantly recognized one of the guards that was supposed to escort Kii and I. “Snow, a pleasure to see you again,” I gave her a respectful bow.

She returned the gesture without any sign of fear. “Good so see you, too.”

Her partner was a unicorn mare with a powder blue coat, auburn mane, and dark blue eyes. She was frozen at the sight of me. I looked over at Snow. “Did you not tell her I was a dragon?”

She grinned with guilt. “It might have been left out of the information I told her.”

“Her name is Vanity if I remember correctly?” I asked, Snow nodded. I looked back at Vanity. “Vanity, My name is Krein, this is my sister Kii. We aren't going to hurt you. Okay?”

She nodded and subtlety tried hiding behind Snow while attempting to keep what dignity she had left. “So where are we going first?” Snow asked.

“Phoenix Bank. You know where it is?” I asked her.

She nodded and pointed to the exit. “Yeah, it’s only a few blocks from here.”

“Let’s go, then.” With Kii at my side I started into the city with Snow taking the lead. Vanity was trailing behind us, trying to keep as much distance between her and us.

The city was bustling with activity today. Ponies were everywhere, which turned out to be a good thing, because they were all to absorbed in each other to notice two dragons amongst them. They were all busy buying things like clothes, food, and other things that I assumed were necessities for ponies.

With the crowd being so thick we had to take detours around the streets with the most ponies. Also with Vanity’s short attention span—she stopped every time she passed a reflective surface to check her mane—it was taking even longer to get to Phoenix Bank than it should’ve. At this rate we’d miss the appointment.

We were stopped again. Vanity got distracted by a window display of some fake ponies wearing frilly clothing and was commenting loudly on her opinions of the clothing, wondering if the color would go with her mane.

Snow had had just about enough. “I am so sick of her!” she hissed, more to herself than to us. “I wish I could knock some sense into her.” She wrinkled her snout and put on a mocking tone. “But daddy is a Brigadier.” She grunted and resumed her normal voice. “I hate her so much and I’m stuck with her all the time. I very much prefer the partner I had in the Academy. At least he actually knew how to be a Guard.”

I waited a moment before making my suggestion. “We could ditch her.” Snow looked at me like a had just spoken a different language. “She fell behind while looking at shop windows. I’ll support that if you get in trouble,” I continued with a small smile.

She didn’t need any more persuasion. “Let’s go.”

We moved as fast as we could without running. Soon enough, Vanity was out of sight. Without the added weight, we made it to Phoenix Bank quickly. It was a tall, glass building with a symbol of a phoenix rising from a flaming bush over the revolving doors. When I entered, all the ponies inside froze, staring at me.

“Ah! Ambassador, there you are,” a voice called out. “I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.” A unicorn pony approached me, only slightly shaking. She had a copper coat, silver and gold mane, and a gemmed silver key for a cutie mark. “My name is Silver, I will be your banker. This way please.” I followed her over to a desk. “I understand you wish to open an account with us?”

Snow stood a few feet away watching the few ponies that were here. I sat down on the other side of the desk from Silver. “I was told it was easier than carrying my money with me all the time,” I stated.

“I can tell you it certainly is,” she chuckled softly as she brought out a large amount of papers. “Now, how much are you depositing here today?”

I lifted the bags of gems off my shoulders, removed the map, journal, books, and set the bags down in front of her, allowing their contents to spill out onto the decks. “That.” I heard a small squeak of surprise come from Snow, who was staring at the gems.

Silver also seemed awestruck with the jewels. “Um...if you’ll remain here I’ll have somepony appraise these for you so we know how much they're all worth.” She got up and left to go find somepony.

A few minutes later, she came back with a blue earth pony with funny looking glasses. “Oh, wow, you weren't kidding,” he commented to Silver upon seeing my hoard. “I’ll have a number for you in a short while.”

Silver levitated the bags onto the earth pony’s back. “Please make sure you get it right.” she said with a hint of worry.

She sat back down and we started over the paperwork. Kii got extremely bored after what I assumed was thirty minutes of reading and signing papers and started fidgeting in her seat. We went over all of the legal documents. The blue earth pony came back with a roll of paper and gave it to Silver, and returned my bags to me empty.

The earth pony looked at me before leaving. “Every gem in those bags was worth a lot. I can say with confidence that you won't be needing to worry about money for some time.” he commented and then walked off.

I looked at Silver who was reading the roll of paper with wide eyes. “What’s it say?” I asked.

She looked at me, blinked and cleared her throat. “Thirty three million, three hundred seventy four thousand, five hundred twenty nine bits total,” she read off the number with disbelief. “Well, congratulations on being one of the wealthiest individuals in Canterlot. That is certainly the biggest deposit I’ve ever seen.”

“My gems are stored now and will be converted into your bits?” I asked her.

“Um...yes. There is one last thing.” She levitated a box over to me and opened it. There was a bunch of little fabric bags in it. “This is what our bank is famous for. Withdrawal bags. Go on, take one.”

I was unsure but I did as instructed. When I removed the bag from the box, it changed in appearance. It changed from the cloth to a scale-like leather. “What does this do?”

“That bag is enchanted so you have access to your bits at anytime: whenever you need some money, just reach in and take some. Mind you this is for small amounts. Anything larger than five hundred bits will need to be done through paperwork.”

A curious feat of magic. “How does it know how much I want?”

She shrugged. “Personally, I don’t know exactly how the enchantment works but I know it’s a form of teleportation magic. The bag will also only work for it’s owner, you.”

“I have one last question. I will be looking for a place to live later today. How will I pay for it?”

“The real estate agent should have the necessary paperwork for you to sign,” Silver explained. “Will that be all for you today?”

“It is. Thank you.” I stood to leave and Kii eagerly followed. I looked at Snow. “Celestia’s School is our next destination. If you’d lead they way please.” Snow nodded and led us out of the bank. The whispers of the other ponies followed us out.

Snow, Kii, and I made our way outside and was greeted by a light brown unicorn, with a dark brown mane. She wore a grey hat that had a note tucked into the fabric that read “Press” on it.

She trotted up to me confidently. “Hello there I’m Quick Scoop, I work for Equestria Inquirer newspaper. I already know who you are Speaker Krein. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?” she spoke quickly and with an odd accent.

I looked over at Snow for permission. She just shrugged and nodded. “As long as you ask me them while we walk,” I stated, continuing on our way.

“Great!” She started to walk beside me. “Now I know you're new to Equestria and Canterlot specifically. How would you say you experience so far has been?”

I thought a moment. “It’s peaceful here. Although my welcome hasn't been as warm as I would have hoped. But I suppose seeing a dragon isn’t common for ponies in Equestria.”

“That it isn’t.” She wrote down what I said in her notebook. “Now what are the dragons gonna do for trade with us ponies?”

That was an easy question. “We have a type of glass in the Dragonlands called Obsidian. It’s a volcanic glass that is surprisingly dense and extremely sharp. Dragons often compare how sharp their talons are with obsidian. We are working on trade options now.”

She kept writing thing down. “What kind of applications does obsidian have?”

“Well, fighting with the stuff doesn't work very well. It breaks too easily for that,” I started. “But some of the healers in the Dragonlands fashioned blades for cutting away dead flesh from the wounded.”

She paused her writing to look at me. “So it has medical applications? Surgical to be precise?”

“That sounds correct, yes.” I told her. We had walked a fair distance while she was talking with me.

We were nearing the school now, a sign indicated as such. “Now you said ponies have not been a welcoming as you thought,” Quick continued. “Can you give them a reason as to why they should?”

I sighed. “I can’t tell them to not fear me. I can only ask them not to. I’m not a violent dragon, nor is my little sister Kii.” We arrived at the school, a grand white building that sprawled across the entire block. Princess Cadence was waiting up the stairs outside the door. “I’m afraid I have to end these questions. Another time perhaps.”

“One more question, if you please,” she asked eagerly, bouncing up in front of me. I nodded. “There have been sightings of dragons in the countryside to the west what can you tell me about that?”

“Well, what do they look like?” I asked.

“Big, two legs, two wings, they don’t speak, they squawk,” she explained in a single breath.

I felt a chill run up my spine. I knew exactly what she was talking about but I hadn't seen one in about six years.

“Those aren’t dragons. Those are Wyverns,” I stated. “And they aren't after valuables, they want food. And to them, ponies and dragons alike are food. There is a way to repel them though.” I paused a moment before explaining. “One cup of dog tallow, one cup of dragon sneeze flower extract, one cup of wolf’s bane extract, and three cups of ergot seeds, mash them together so it’s well mixed, it should have a pasty oil texture. The smell should repel them, however if you coat a weapon tip in the mix and manage to land a good hit, it will make the Wyvern extremely sick. You get all that?”

Quick Scoop nodded, her pen flying across her notebook. “Thank your for your time Ambassador,” she bowed.

I bowed in return as she left. Once she was gone I turned and walked up the steps to greet Cadence. “You hear any of that?”

“Just you giving our ponies a way to protect themselves,” Cadence replied. “But I have to wonder, does that potion only work on Wyverns?”

“It extends to all draconic creatures, even us dragons, but I hope you will keep that confidential,” I told her in all seriousness.

“I won’t say anything, I promise,” she smiled, “Now we have an appointment for the young learner don’t we?” Cadence looked over at Snow. “You may go get yourself some lunch. We will be a while.”

Snow bowed and took her leave. Once she was gone, Cadence and I entered the school. The walls were white stone, and the floors and ceiling were a dark wood. Colorful banners were everywhere. There were pictures everywhere showing every graduating class the school was host to. I guessed there were a few hundred years of classes shown here.

“Magic level one is through here,” Cadence stated as we entered a new wing of the school. There were small ponies running around chasing each other on an odd construction of shapes and colors.

We approached a trio of adult unicorn ponies. “Gingersnap, Crimson Charge, Floribunda,” Cadence greeted them. “This is Speaker Krein, and he is here to enroll his little sister in school.”

The three ponies looked at me and Kii. The oldest mare looked unamused, while the other two were already gushing over Kii. The youngest mare came up to Kii to talk to her.

“Hello there Kii. I’m Gingersnap and this is Crimson Charge—” She pointed to the stallion behind her “—we’ll be the ones teaching you to control your magic. You wanna meet your classmates?”

Kii smiled brightly and nodded. “Okay!” She followed Gingersnap onto the playground and the young ponies gathered around her.

I turned my attention to Crimson Charge and Floribunda. “So tell me what i’m so expect from Kii learning here.”

Floribunda took the lead, giving me a deadpan stare over her glasses. “If you’ll follow me,” she stated crisply, already turning and walking away. We exited the wing. “It was by Princess Celestia’s order that your sister be accepted into the school. Allowing your sister into the school should have been a group decision.”

I scowled, I’m not sure if it was her uptight demeanor or how she was talking about my sister, but I didn’t like her. “How long will she be learning each day?” I asked.

“From nine in the morning to three in the afternoon, starting Monday,” Crimson explained in a sharp tone.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Um...what’s today?” I asked hesitatingly.

Floribunda let out an uptight laugh. Crimson shot her a sideways glare then explained. “Today is Friday. Tomorrow we have Saturday and then Sunday, no school on those days. Then Monday.”

“Oh, okay,” I nodded. I found Crimson much easier to talk to than Floribunda.

“Celestia has already asked that we get all the paperwork ready for you to sign. As her guardian you will receive all of her progress reports.” Cadence added.

“Where is the paperwork?”

“In here.” Floribunda lead me into an office, Crimson and Cadence entering behind us. Floribunda levitated out a bundle of papers and placed them down on the table in front of me with a scowl, handing me a pen. I began signing the papers.

“What’s this part?” I asked, pausing over a section that read “Emergency contact.”

“That is where you will put the name of a pony that we can contact if Kii is in trouble and you are unavailable,” Crimson explained kindly.

“But…” I protested, feeling as though I was stating the obvious. “There is no one else here. There is no one else anywhere.”

“Yes, there is,” Cadence interrupted. “Princess Luna told me that you could consider her to be somepony to turn to if you or Kii was in trouble.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Of course,” Cadence smiled.

“Well, that solves that problem.” I wrote “Princess Luna” on the line. Floribunda scowled and let out a small huff through her nostrils.

“Excellent,” Crimson said, glowing with happiness. “Now, why don’t you let Kiii stay here so she can become acclimated to the school and the other students?”

“Without me?” I asked hesitatingly.

“Don’t worry, Ambassador,” Crimson reassured me, patting me on the shoulder. “I promise she’ll be well taken care of.”

I glanced over at Floribunda. She just glared at me.

“Okay,” I nodded. “I have one more appointment today anyway. I’ll come back after that.” I looked out the window to the sun. “It's about noon right?”

“A few minutes past,” Floribunda stated shortly, glancing up at the clock.

I made a mental note to learn how to read a clock. “Snow and I will go meet up with the realtor and I’ll pick a place. Good day Princess, Floribunda, Crimson.” I bowed to each of them and exited the school and joined up with Snow. As we started to exit, I paused at the doorway, looking back to where I had left Kii.

“Are you alright, Ambassador?” Snow asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, shaking off the feeling. “We have a realtor to meet.”

---

Two hours. Two hours and this realtor hadn't shown me a single living space that was suitable for Kii and I. I was walking behind the realtor now my head slumped, wings and tail dragging on the cobblestone road.

“I have two more houses to show you and they are right across from each other,” the complete brown unicorn stallion said eagerly. He was wearing an expensive looking black suit and tie that were blocking his mark.

I was pondering on things I’d rather be doing than this, like napping. Snow on the other claw was taking notes and asking mind numbing questions about each of the houses. We came up to a fairly large house. It was a pale yellow color. Upon entering, I found that it was severely cramped inside. The builder had wanted as many rooms as possible apparently. Every room was small, my wings were scraping the walls. It was clear that this place wouldn’t work.

“No,” I told the realtor.

The realtor turned to face me. He was trying to look angry, but he was still trembling as he looked up at me. “Ambassador, you have turned down every home, apartment, and condo I’ve brought you to. What are you looking for?”

I fixed him in a glare, because it should have been obvious. “Space, room to move, enough space where a dragon like myself can live, while another grows up. And should I have a dragon guest from the Dragonlands, I’d like to be able to host them.” I was just short of yelling.

He had shrunk and was shaking a bit. “W-well there might be one place. I can’t guarantee it’s as big as you want it but it’s the biggest I know of.” He maneuvered around me and out of the house.

Snow and I followed. “I thought you were gonna eat him for a moment,” Snow commented.

“It crossed my mind,” I grumbled.

The scared little stallion lead us over at least four blocks. He pointed to a large two story home with a low, grey brick wall surrounding it.

“This looks promising. I wonder why we didn't come here first,” I said, shooting the agent a glare as we entered.

As soon as we entered the house, I started to like it. The entryway was large, open, and the stairs lead around the right side up to the second floor. There were two paths on the left, one into a hallway and one into a roomy living area. The house was already furnished which was a boon. There was a large kitchen with large windows that led into the backyard, which was large and had a tall, strong tree for when I teach Kii to fly.

Upstairs there was one master bedroom and three smaller ones. The bed in the master bedroom could easily fit two dragons of my size, and each bed in the smaller bedrooms could fit me easily. There was a bathroom attached to the master bedroom, and another bathroom for the the three smaller ones to share.

The real estate agent was waiting in the living room while I explored. I came down the stairs and walked up to the agent with a smile. “So when can I move in?”

“Today,” he said with a sigh of relief. “Just sign these papers please.” He produced a small stack of documents in a puff of magic.

I proceeded to sign the papers. I even found the one the banker was talking about regarding payment. Once the papers were signed he gave me a slip of paper titled “Deed of Ownership,” and a key.

“Congratulations. You are now the resident of seven one two quartz drive. Enjoy.” He gathered up his papers and exited the house quickly.

Snow smiled at me. “So what are you gonna do now? I don’t think you have any more appointments.”

“Well after I go pick Kii up in a little while, I have to meet a pony named Fancy Pants at eight eighty diamond drive,” I told her as I sat on the couch. It was squishy and slightly bouncy: Kii would love it.

Snow nodded. “That’s only a block over. I take it you don’t need my help for the rest of the day?”

“No, I think I can find my way for now.”

“Good. Have a nice day.” She bowed.

I bowed in response. As she left I realized how quiet the house was with no one to talk to. I turned to the already full bookshelves, deciding to read until I had to go pick Kii up.

Author's Note:

A special thanks to PonyJosiah13 for editing this chapter for me.

V.2

Comments

[TheAmazingMe]

I love the little touches of prejudice and skepticism and that our favorite Speaker is perceptive enough to notice.

[PonyJosiah13]

Hmm...I wonder if that anti-dragon poison will ever come up again. Ooh, ooh, maybe Krein winds up dealing with a bunch of anti-dragon activists who try to use it against them!

[Sidetrack]

“This looks promising. I wonder why we didn't come here first,” I said, shooting the agent a glare as we entered.

I was hoping for the response of "because this is a warehouse" or "its technically an abandoned factory."