Heritage

by vildtiger

Cave of the Earth Dragons

Spike trotted inside the Trade Exchanges festival and more than once had to be reminded by Twilight that they weren't here for trading items. Moving quite disappointed away from a brand new and his favorite comic series, Spike returned back to his mission finding Topaz or just other Earth Dragons. That task itself proved difficult for besides from spotting Topaz steal some candy, neither he nor his two friends could see any sign of other dragons.
"Maybe we should search outside Rainbow Falls." Twilight suggested, mostly because she did not want to confront a dragon at a place filled with civilians. Spike agreed and they left the festival, searching the area outside the town.

Ember went over to one of the many lakes filled with what looked like liquid rainbows and couldn't stay quiet with her distaste of the many colors this single lake had. "I'm surprised none of you ponies has gone blind with all the bright colors you have in this place." She flew away from the lake, adding as she landed beside Spike. "I prefer Dragon country, at least there my eyes wouldn't hurt."

Spike glanced a bit concerned at her, not sure if he should tell her his thoughts about that the dragon county looked so barren in his eyes. Before he could open his mouth, though.

"Aww has the sky dragon gotten color blind over the centuries?" A familiar voice taunted Ember, but no teen dragon could be seen in this rainbow lake area.

Ember's barred her teeth of this insult. "Who dare mock the dragon lord?!" Furriers looking around for the source of the voice. "Show yourself!"

The voice laughed as if she had said a joke. "Ha ha ha! You're the dragon lord?!" And near the lake where Ember complained, a green teen dragon appeared. "Boy, the Sky dragons must really be desperate if they accepted you as their lord."

"Rhys!" Spike called, happy seeing the teen dragon again.

Rhys smiled down to Spike. "Nice to see you again, I'd hoped the map gem wouldn't be too hard for you, but.." He turned his pale blue eyes towards Ember. "Did you really have to drag a Sky Dragon with you?"

"watch your tongue!" Ember sneered at him and showed him the scepter that proved her royalty for other dragons. "You're speaking to your dragon lord."

Rhys's eyes narrowed. "You're not the lord over me, I'm an Earth Dragon." Rolling his eyes of something he saw an obvious. "Sheesh, and here I thought your kind couldn't get stupider, now you're thinking you can order the rest of us aro—"

"I am NOT stupid!!" Ember roared at him and before either Spike or Twilight could stop her, she charged at Rhys.
The male teen dragon didn't look concerned, though, he allowed her to get close and with a smirk, he ducked from her claws and swiped his tail over her face, knocking her to the ground. Ember did however quickly recover and stood once again ready to battle. "That's all you got punk?!"

Rhys turned smirking back to her. "Not really, but unlike you Sky dragons, we Earth dragons are more into using our brains instead of brute strength. But you're probably too stupid to know—"
And he ducked again from Ember attacking him again, however, this time, she stopped her flight so she was too close to another tail swipe. Turning around she fired a breath of fire at him and Rhys let out a small yelp, but the smirk didn't leave his mouth. "Huh, seems you do have a brain after all." The smirk grew. "So let's see how you can handle this!" And it was his turn using his fire, but unlike Ember's that only went one way; straight forward. Rhys fire acted more alive and surrounded Ember and trapped her in a vortex of fire.

Startled of this, Ember forgot keeping an eye out for Rhys and only realized too late she had let her guard down when the earth shook under her feet and before she could get airborne, the green dragon grabbed her leg and pulled her down into the hole so only her torso was above ground, Ember tried getting up from the hole but with her wings trapped in the hole and her claws too narrow to really be useful in digging, she was pretty much trapped.

Rhys appeared from the ground and said grinning to the shocked Spike. "And that's how you ground a Sky dragon." To raising a brow when the said purple dragon ran over to Ember and dug her free from the teen's hole. "Eh... What are you doing?" Rhys asked confused over Spike's action.

With earth loose enough for Ember to get free, Spike turned back to Rhys. "Ember is my friend."

"Friend?" Rhys titled his head before he smiled in small understanding. "Oh, you mean you have made an alliance with this one like you have with the ponies!"

"No, Spike meanis—" Twilight tried to explain but Spike stopped her. "Yeah, an alliance, so you shouldn't pick a fight with any of them." And quietly told Twilight while Rhys made awkward apologies to the Ember. "Dragons does not know the meaning of the word friendship."

Twilight nodded slowly and added a little sad. "Must be hard living without any friends."

Spike couldn't agree more, but he guessed that's just dragon culture. Turning to the pretty furies and also ego broken Ember. "Could you try not to pick a fight with Rhys and the other dragons?"Adding with puppy eyes. "Please?"

Ember didn't care much for the cute look, in fact, it did make her a bit nauseous, but Spike was a friend, so she could bite down her pride. "So long he doesn't mock my intelligence."

"Great!" And Spike turned to Rhys who rolled his eyes but would agree with one condition. "If she stops showing her title in my face."

Ember agreed in a very annoyed manner.
Spike realized that maybe not only the ponies had a problem with the other tribes; it seems the dragons still has the issue and probably their pride has kept them from ever trying making peace with one another.
Speaking of peace. "Oh, I and my friends has come to make a... eh, alliance with the Earth dragons."

"I didn't come to make peace..." Ember mused still angry over being beaten by Rhys. Spike elbowed her once before continue to the bit startled Rhys from hearing this request. "So Twilight, the eh... representative of the ponies has come with this token of good will." Twilight levitated one of the friendship lessons letters over to Rhys. A first confused over this Rhys opened hesitant the letter but quickly turned into fascination when he read the words "... Always expect the best from your friends and never assume the worst. Rest assured that a good frie— Are these discoveries of the word: friendship?" Rhys asked Twilight curious, Twilight nodded and told him a bit proudly."I have found several of these "discoveries" by the help of my frien- I mean allies. Spike has made some discoveries as well." She added smiling down to Spike.

Rhys nodded and returned the letter back to them. "I don't know if the elders find this fascinating, but you could try. Been long since we last got new knowledge- can I get another?"

Spike and Twilight both beamed that the letters seemed to be working as their way in. Ember just looked baffled at Rhys fascination in the letters as he kept wanting to read them. Spike handed the teen another letter and with nose down in the letter Rhys asked them to follow. The green dragon led them towards a cave there was hidden by a rock formation. Rhys only took his eyes away from the letter when he said out to the thin air. "They mean no harm."

"You sure?" A white adult dragon appeared right beside the cave opening, startling the daylight out from both Twilight and Spike. This white body, blood-red spiked with blue belly dragon gave both Ember but mostly Twilight a suspicious look. "Our lord made it clear that no alicorn should enter our domain."

"This alicorn is an alliance with Spike here." Rhys nodded down to Spike who nervously waved up to the white adult. "And she is bringing us knowledge." He added, gesturing to the letters in her saddle bags.

The adult hummed for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I will let the pony pass." Twilight let out a sigh in relief.
Turning to Ember, the adult dragon asked. "Are you here to speak with our lord?"
Ember glanced down to Spike and Twilight, but both of them just looked confused. Guess she might as well get a chat with the Earth dragon lord, turning back to the white dragon Ember nodded.
The white dragon nodded back. "I will take you to her when I have found a guard replacement, meanwhile; stay out of trouble, especially you pony." He gave Twilight a hard look, making her wish she could disappear.

Rhys nudged Spike who signed to the bit nervous Twilight to follow, they went into the darkness of the cave and inside the city of the Earth Dragons.
Twilight was about to make her horn light up as the cave got darker at the moment, but she didn't have to as the walls soon got lit by strange orbs of fires in all kind of colors. The young alicorn and dragon stared baffled at these orbs of fire.

"What's that?" Spike asked.

Rhys glanced up to the orbs. "Oh, that's our fire sealed inside bottles, pretty useful and it does make sure you don't have to clear a forest just to keep a cave bright all the time."

"Why? Don't you have lava pits?" Ember asked Rhys, the green dragon then explained that this cave does not have lava, only water.
While the two teen dragons discussed the usefulness of lava pits as light source Spike and Twilight glanced at one another for a moment, not sure if Rhys had been joking or serious about the dragons could've cleared a whole forest to get a little light.

"We better move." Rhys suggested, stopping the probably first casual talk an Earth dragon had with a Sky dragon. The trio followed the green dragon down the path of glowing fire orbs and when leaving the cave corridor. Spike and Twilight gasped at the sight that met them, even Ember seemed impressed by the sight. One huge cave, with countless of smaller caves and corridors, forming a spiral like pattern. All around could these fire orbs been seen and where there weren't any of those orbs, lamps or fancy looking fireplace was placed. The caves walls were filled with gems in every color and it seems the dragons there went past those gems could easily keep their hunger in check for some reason, in fact, they looked more interested that the gems were nice decoration than food.
"Come, you better inform your arrival to our lord." Rhys snapped them out from the awe of this dragon cave, Spike, Ember and Twilight followed the teen deeper into the cave and Twilight did winch a little from all the staring she got from the dragons they passed. She even heard some of the younger ones ask the adults what she was. Spike in the other hand was busier taking all this in to notice the other dragons staring. This was after all the first time in his life he ever saw dragons that were lacking wings just like him. Like the Sky dragons, the Earth dragons were much different in form and sizes, although he could easier see the different from each dragon species. One of those species and the most common was the kind that looked very much like him, Rhys and Topaz with their bright colors and somewhat slender bodies.

Nearing the middle of this underground city, Spike and Twilight eyes spotted what only could be described as a alter or just strange art. Whatever it was Spike could only descript it as dried lava formed around a metal statue of a dragon holding this black stone, surrounded by firewood. It made him wonder how this bit creepy stone would look like when surrounded by fire.

Rhys noticed the twos staring at the statue/alter before them and explained them proudly. "This is the Stone of Fire; some also call it the Alicorn Crystal."

"Why is it called that?" Twilight asked, already pulled up her journal of her dragon study. Rhys eyed the journal suspicious before he explained. "According to legend, the alicorn that gave us our magic fire was taken by a mountain's blood- he fell into lava." He added to Ember and Spike before continued. "But even without his magic, the fire couldn't hurt him since he was still part of the fire. So in a battle where either fire would die, they both engulfed one another and became a crystal made of death fire."

"Wait, you mean there is a pony inside this—" Twilight gasped but stopped when Rhys began laughing

"Come on, do you really think your kind would survive falling into a pit of lava? Last I checked your skin is not fire proof."

Twilight gave him an offended stare although it quickly faded since Rhys did speak the truth, even with her big knowledge of magic; Twilight doubt she had the power to keep herself safe from lava incredible heat. Turning to the black stone again. "So why do you think there is a pony inside?"

"If you stay for a while then you can see for yourself." Rhys grinned and lead them away from the black stone. "We soon have the Birth of Fire, I think it would be similar to what the ponies has above us at the moment."

"So you trade with one another?" Spike asked hopeful but his dream of trading with other dragons dropped from the confused look Rhys gave him. "They trade?" The teen turned away from the two, musing. "Guess I can't compare the Birth of Fire to that then..."

"For a moment I thought all you Earth dragons would be weird like Spike." Ember mused, earning a smirk from Rhys but an annoyed huff from Spike.

"What do you do to this Birth of Fire of yours?" Twilight asked, trying to help Rhys finding words of what he could compare this special event to pony standard.

Rhys scratched his neck spikes, trying to figure out the best way explaining this tradition to a pony. "Well... we gather around the Stone of Fire with gems and while enjoying a good meal, our historian will tell the stories of our history. Our history is very important you see, so we won't forget how we became powerful in magic and why Wisdom is our ideals to life."

"Sounds very much like a history festival." Twilight mused and added happy pony and dragons had one thing in common with one another. "We have a few of those but I don't think any of them are as important as this Birth of Fire festival you have." Oh there is one. "Except Hearts Warming's Eve..." She remarks a bit sheepish from forgetting how important that festival was.

Both Rhys and Ember looked equally confused, so Twilight took the honor explaining them of that holiday as they left the Magical Crystal. When done explaining Ember had to admit that she was mildly impressed by the pony race at the moment. "Old stories from my people tell that we too fought the Wendigoes but only our brute strength kept them from completely freezing our land." She eyed Twilight in a way she never had before. "I didn't know your ponies hold a magic that can keep them away."

Rhys didn't speak; unlike Ember's people the Earth dragon fought the Wendigoes directly all because of an alicorn... the historian kept reminding them of the many losses the Earth dragon tripe went thought because of their promise to an alicorn. Spike eyed Rhys, noticing the anger in the teen's eyes but he couldn't say why, though, he just hope it wouldn't affect their mission too much.

Author's Note:

writing the fight between Ember and Rhys was really fun, they both are skilled fighters but they have such a different fighting style. it did help me get over the pain of describing the dragon cave.

if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.

Comments

[beirirangu]

you really need an editor, or, more specifically, one that knows that you should only put one character's dialogue in any paragraph at any time, mostly to avoid confusion of who's talking

[The Great Derpsby]

I do hope someone gets to put one of those earth dragons in his or her place. They're not proving to be very likeable as of yet. Rhys, for example, is a total jerk who deserves a humble pie to the face.