Animal Friends

by Elkia Deerling

Chapter ten: Garble, Garble, and executioner

“Alright, Rainbow Dash. A little higher. A little… higher. Good, now stand still.”

Spike was balancing on Rainbow Dash’s back, doing his best to stay balanced despite the chain wrapped around his arms. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, stretched herself in a weird posture so Spike could reach the lock.

“Are you done already?” Rainbow Dash said, her voice indicating that she could probably not stretch herself this way for long.

A rattling and a few little clicks were the only answers Dash got. Spike’s forked tongue hung out of his mouth as he fumbled with his claw in the lock as a worm would wriggle around in the dirt.

Even though their eyes got used to the dark and they were able to see some things, the darkness still pressed upon them. An endless, disorienting darkness, which took away every sense of place and every sense of time. Neither Rainbow Dash nor Spike had any idea how long they’d been imprisoned. But at the moment, neither of them cared, as they could practically smell the free air, even though it would be mingled with a sulfuric stench.

It was Spike who had come up with the idea. According to him, it could work. And Rainbow Dash, who served as a step-up, had skeptically agreed, but was now amazed by her flexibility.

Spike felt the tumblers between his thin claw. It was good he hadn’t yet gotten his growth-spurt, for his claw fitted exactly into the lock, as if it were made for it.

One down.

“Spike, I don’t think I can hold on for much longer.”

Two down.

“Spike!” Dash’s legs wobbled.

Three down.

“SPIKE!”

Click.

Rainbow Dash crashed to the ground, and pony and dragon lay on top of each other in a sad little heap.

Rainbow Dash jumped back on her hooves. “You better have done the job, Spike.”

“Yup,” Spike said, getting up as well. “No prison can hold Spike the dragon for long.”

“Well, it has been long enough,” Dash said. “Let’s get out of here.”

They opened the cell door as silently as they could, but gritted their teeth at the screeching sound it made. Rainbow Dash took the lead, while Spike cantered behind.

They both hadn’t thought about the other door they would possibly have to lock-pick their way through. It looked thick and impenetrable, made of heavy wood and heavier iron. But, luckily for them, the door proved to be unlocked.

“Nice!” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, as she opened the door with her head.

But that smile turned upside down in the blink of an eye, as they walked straight into Garble’s open arms.

“Hello there, my little prisoners,” he said, grabbing Rainbow Dash with one arm, while scooping Spike off the floor with another. “You just couldn’t wait to get your trial now, could you?” He let out a snicker, which echoed through the hallway and up the stairs.

Spike and Rainbow Dash were too startled to say anything, as they looked at the great red dragon, flanked by two of his soldiers.

They didn’t even need to say anything, as the party started moving up the stairs. Garble laughed with every step. “You should have seen your faces. I bet you guys could smell the freedom. But you know what? Even if you could have gotten out of the castle, there’s still a whole city full of dragons to navigate through—dragons loyal to ME!”

Even though Garble’s iron grip forced most of her breath out her lungs, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “How did you—“

“How did I know you were escaping?” Garble said, imitating Dash’s high, rough voice. “I’m glad you asked, Miss Puny Pony, because, you know, you have such a lovely and loud voice which I just love to copy.”

It took her a couple of seconds before Dash realized what Garble meant. If her hooves weren’t bound, she would probably have slapped herself over the head.

But she decided to let that mistake fly, and focused on more important things: surviving. Just like Daring Do did in her books, Dash did her best to avert her gaze from the burning torches, so as to try and keep her night-vision as good as possible. Rainbow Dash tried to take in every detail of the castle and make a mental map of the place. At the first possible opportunity, she would fly away, if only those terrible chains would be loose.

They passed through yet another door, and entered a stone hallway. It was lined with blood-red curtains, and seemed to be endless. It was only gloomily lit by a couple of wall sconces, which gave the place a hellish look. Once more, Rainbow Dash looked at the ground at the red carpet which looked as if it absorbed all light. She heard a door creak, and then her hopes of retaining some degree of night-vision shattered, as light flooded over her.

A hurricane of dragon voices greeted them, and the party walked inside. Dozens and dozens of dragons were sitting, standing, or hovering in an enormous hall. It had obviously been a theater, as there was a big stage in the middle, made of rough-hewn stone. On the balconies and on the rows of seats, dragons raised their fists into the air, shouting obscene words, curses, or cheers through the hall. Some of them belched a cluster of flames into the air in enthusiasm, looking forward to the trial of the two intruders.

Suddenly, a couple of large stone-dragons, obviously the ones with the loudest voice, started yelling and repeating the same word over and over again.

“Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!”

Soon the others joined in, and their collective snarls and roars made the courtroom tremble.

“GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!”

At the end of the walkway, there were a couple of seats clustered on the stage. One was high, and showed a tattered flag with a stylistic image of Garble’s face, underlined with flames. Opposite of the high seat were two other, lower benches, which didn’t look more comfortable than the high one. And finally there was one more next to the high seat, looking out on the public.

Garble stopped, turned, and flung his two prisoners right on top of the small bench. He snarled an order to his two soldiers, which started to unfasten Dash’s and Spike’s chains. With a sigh of relief, they rubbed their forelegs, arms, and backs, sore from the contact with the cold hard metal. But their chances of escape were quickly minimized, as the dragons chained them both to the stone table—one shackle at the time.

Garble himself trotted to the middle of the stage, and faced the crowd with a grin.

“Dragons of Garble’s Kingdom! I bid thee welcome!”

An explosion of cheers rumbled through the hall. Fists and heads were thrown into the air.

Garble smiled as he felt every dragon’s rage, passion, and attention lying on top of him like a warm, snug blanket.

“Today we have gathered for something very common. You know what that is?”

“TRIAL! TRIAL! TRIAL!” the voices boomed.

“Yes,” Garble said. “A very common trial with very uncommon ‘guests.’” His voice made a strange sound at the mention of that last word.

All of the dragons looked at Rainbow Dash and Spike, but probably more at Dash than at the dragon. Dash felt their murderous stares sting her, and for a moment, she could feel herself tremble and her gaze wandering to the ground. Never before had she felt such collective despise in so many stares. Rainbow Dash felt like she had just made a painful blunder in a competition, and all of the attendees were stare her down in shame. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, however, this was a whole other kind of competition—with the stakes being life or death.

Spike felt the same; this was exactly what he wasn’t hoping for. He had expected to meet Garble again, but never like this. He tried to make eye-contact with Rainbow Dash, hoping to find some spirit in the brash pegasus’s rose eyes. But Rainbow Dash had hung her head, and Spike felt all his grit drain away.

Garble made a small pirouette and pointed to his captives. “This here is Spike the dragon, a, let’s say, acquaintance of mine.”

The dragons in the crowd laughed and pointed, their sharp claws gleaming in the torchlight.

“And this here,” Garble continued, “is Missus—“ he paused. “Missus… eh… Yes, what is your name anyway, pony? Don’t leave me hanging here, this is getting really awkward.”

Rainbow Dash could have refused, but what would be the point of that? “Rainbow Dash,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Rainbow Dash!” Garble shouted with obvious delight.

A burst of laughter rolled through the crowd. Some dragons fell off their seats while pointing at the rainbow-maned pegasus down below.

“Isn’t she a pretty pony,” Garble said, tickling Rainbow Dash under her chin. Dash jerked her head away. “Whoa, and a spirited one at that. Well, we know how to tame dragons, so we’ll definitely know how to get this little pony on her knees, won’t we?”

Once more, the crowd cheered and laughed. One of them started shouting ‘guilty,’ and was soon followed by the rest of the hall.

“GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY!”

Garble skipped back to the middle of the stage. “Whoa, whoa now. Not so fast everyone. Remember: every dragon—or everypony—is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. I am a fair ruler and will personally make sure that this whole trial will be done in the fairest way possible. Isn’t that noble and honest?”

Now the crowd of dragons was finally sort-of silent. Some shuffled on their seats; others wondered whether they should shout something mean. But then they remembered who was standing on the stage, and a hesitant cheer came out of their mouths.

Rainbow Dash and Spike looked each other in the eyes, almost simultaneously. Both of their faces were etched with doubt about the ‘fairness’ Garble announced.

“What’s the matter?” Garble said to the crowd, his voice concerned, but his tone dripping with venom. “Aren’t you happy? You know what? I know something to cheer you guys up. In accordance with my ‘fair trial’ politics, I will not be the judge for this case.”

Now the crowd was totally silent. Spike could smell the confusion in the air. Did Dragon-Lord Garble go mad? Was he giving up his reign? What was happening?”

But Garble stood unmoved, a sly smile curling his scarred lips. “Instead, let’s hear it for Chain Link, the first non-Garble judge!”

Then, the cheering, the enthusiasm, and the laughter returned tenfold. All dragons were waving their claws into the air, knowing that with Chain Link as a judge, they would be in for a show.

There he was, standing in a corner, unseen. A shadow shifted, revealing the figure of Chain Link against the light of the torches. He still wore his worn cloak and the chains around his neck, looking as if they would crush any other dragon who would wear them. He started walking, shuffling, towards the stage, the chains rattling around him. In every row of seats he passed, the dragons grew silent for a moment, as if an aura of reverence surrounded the old dragon. His single, gleaming eye shone from underneath his hood, looking first to Garble, then to the pony and the baby dragon, and then to the high seat. Without a word, he climbed the cobblestone steps and sat down, letting his eye scan the crowd as if he were going to judge them all this day.

Garble almost danced as he walked towards the remaining empty seat. He jumped onto his bottom, and looked expectantly towards Chain Link, as if he were a schoolboy eager to get his marks, knowing that he did well.

Chain Link placed both claws slowly on either end of the stone table before him. With a voice as cold as a deep dark grave, he said, “Let the trial begin.”

The crowd went wild. They knew they had to be silent, but nevertheless, all dragons shouted and let out their hatred and passion and energy for a few more minutes before the trial could actually begin. Strangely enough, the sound suddenly died down; Chain Link didn’t even need to use the stone hammer at his side.

Rainbow Dash and Spike shifted on their seats, their chains rattling against their legs. They looked at each other, and could see the worry in their faces. They both knew and realized that if they would want to escape, they would have to bring their a-game in this trial; there was no other way.

Chain Link’s white slit-eye moved from Garble to the crowd, to Rainbow Dash and Spike, and finally to a small pile of stone tablets in front of him. There, the eye moved back and forth, as he started reading the letters engraved on the tablets. There was still silence. The only sound that broke it was the occasional burp or flap of dragon wings. Finally, Chain Link straightened his back, bent over, and spoke.

“Rainbow Dash the pegasus and Spike the dragon. You have been charged with treason, trespassing, assault, and fleeing a crime scene. How do you plead?”

Silence again. The cold voice of Chain Link felt as if it sucked all the grit out of Dash’s and Spike’s bodies. With all the will in Equestria, Rainbow Dash stopped looking at the dragon’s white eye and nudged Spike. “What should we—“

“Not guilty,” Spike said.

Garble leaned back and rested his feet on the table in front of him. “Naturally.”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Wait… How did you know what to say? Do you have experience with court cases?”

“Eh… Sort of,” Spike said, aiming his gaze at the ground for a second. “You know, I did once try to destroy Ponyville after I got a teensy weensy bit gigantic and greedy. There was a short trial after that, but I kind of kept it a secret to as many ponies as I could.” He bit his lip. “Until now.”

With those words came the realization that Spike would be their only hope, and Rainbow Dash looked at him as if she saw the baby dragon for the first time. “So what more do you know?”

“Well…” Spike jumped up on his seat, which was way too big for him, and looked Chain Link into the eye. “I would like to request a lawyer to speak on my behalf.”

Chain Link said nothing, and if he would be going to say something, he would get interrupted by Garble anyway, who held his stomach in a burst of laughter.

“Haha! You’re such a rookie, Spike. Did those ponies teach you to let anyone else speak for you? Here in the Dragon Lands, we can fight for ourselves. We can defend ourselves just fine without lawyers.”

On the high seat, Chain Link waved a claw in the air. “No. According to Equestrian law, you are permitted to be represented by a lawyer. You are from Equestria, so you may choose your lawyer.”

Spike turned around. “Is there anyone here willing to defend the life of an innocent fellow dragon?”

He did use the right words, which were heavy and formal, but it didn’t matter at all. Garble’s voice heralded another burst of laughter, spreading through the courtroom as if it were contagious. The dragons in the courtroom laughed and pointed. Perhaps when the crowd would have consisted of other dragons would one or two step up and defend Spike. But clearly these dragons were loyal to Garble, and shared his hatred and attitude to the bone. And besides, no dragon right in his mind would want to defend Rainbow Dash; a pegasus; an outlander; an outcast in their lands.

“And I don’t need a lawyer, thank you very much,” Garble said, flicking his claw as if he were shooing off an annoying cat.

“Very well.” Chain Link pointed a jagged claw towards Garble. “The prosecutor may explain the case.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Garble said. With a single agile jump, he stood straight and noble on the stage. He paced up and down, but actually he didn’t need to think about words to say; it was all just for show—and he was the star.

“These two criminals, especially the purple one over there”—He stabbed a claw at Spike—“have been a thorn in my eye for a very long time. Once I thought Spike was one of ours; a dragon living by the dragon code of toughness, awesomeness, ruthlessness, and conquest. But then he betrayed me, at the most crucial and vital moment, and ran away like the coward he is with his pony friends.” Garble paused, and faced the crowd. “Now I know what you’re thinking; isn’t dealing with ponies highly illegal? Well, it is. But you know what? I’m going to let that little fact slip off my scales. If he wants to live his life in pure pansyness, I’ll let him. Now how’s that for being forgiving and just, huh?”

An applause went through the crowd, accompanied by the rumbling of clawed feet on the floor. But when Garble motioned with his claw for silence, the crowd obeyed immediately.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash jolted up, and opened her mouth to speak. But Spike quickly jumped and placed a claw over her muzzle. “Don’t interrupt!” he whispered. “We’ll get our chance to speak.”

Dash looked at Spike with a frown, but did what he said; he was the one with the experience after all.

Garble twirled around, but made sure to keep both the crowd and the defendants in his eyes. “Alright, now for the second crime: trespassing. In accordance with the dragon laws, which I made myself and of which I’m more than proud, no living being is allowed to wander our beautiful wastelands without seeking the approval of the great leader—that’s me—first. And, let’s not forget that those laws account for dragons. Ponies, on the other claw, are banned from entering the Dragon Lands, especially flying ones. I mean, look at her.” He pointed at Dash with a scowl. “She would probably fly way too fast and disrupt our aerial military drills. We wouldn’t want our beautiful skies to get polluted by all kinds of flying trash now, would we?”

While the crowd nodded or shouted words in agreement, Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. She wanted to shout, yell, fly up and kick that dragon’s scaly ass. From all the insults she’d heard, she thought that ‘Rainbow Crash’ would be the worst. But at hearing these words of utter disrespect, she felt a fire as hot as the flames these oversized lizards belched burn in her stomach. Spike put a claw on Dash’s shoulder. “We’ll get our chance, Rainbow Dash. We’ll show them. Just hold still for now.”

Garble folded his claws over his chest. “Right,” he said with a smile; he was obviously enjoying this. “Third offence—and boy, what an offense it was—assault. Now, your honor, while a small dragon party and I went towards the presumed location of the trespassers, we found them, and tried to arrest them. But after a miniscule, tiny little warning shot, that blue pony over there launched itself at me, obviously intending to hurt me, or—“ he paused to summon the dramatic effect “—kill me!”

Every dragon in the hall gasped—every dragon except for Spike and Chain Link.

“I know,” Garble said. “It’s terrible, isn’t it? Her first murder, at such a young age.” He looked at Rainbow Dash with a pitiable pout, seasoned with fakeness. “It would almost make me cry—almost.”

Now the crowd showed their best fake sniffs and sobs, although some of them couldn’t withhold their laughter.

“And after this attempt at murder,” Garble said, stabbing a claw into the air. “She saw that I was obviously way too strong and awesome for her, which is just common sense. Without so much as a second glance, she bolted off with her pesky little dragon friend, were it not for Chain Link, who used his invaluable and awe-inspiring skills to capture this fleeing outlaw.” At the mention of Chain Link, Garble nodded towards him, but Chain Link showed no reaction. Garble cleared his throat and continued. “Anyway, that was the fourth offense: fleeing a crime scene, and thereby fleeing the claw of the law. But luckily, the claw of the law really is long, and made of cold-heart scales and with an iron grip. We got them. I have spoken.” And with a little content grin at that last colorful improvisation, Garble jumped over the table and onto his seat, taking his leisurely pose.

“Very well,” Chain Link said. He grabbed a stone tablet and scribbled a few letters down with his curled claw. The sound sent shivers up Dash’s and Spike’s spines. Then he put down the tablet, and leaned over to the pegasus and the baby dragon, as if he wouldn’t understand them otherwise. “The defendants may testify.”

Rainbow Dash and Spike exchanged looks. As much as Rainbow Dash wanted to say the things that were on her mind—especially things related to Garble—she realized that it would be wiser to let Spike do most of the talking. Thus, Spike nodded, and stood on top of his chair. Of course he felt nervous, but somehow, he had the feeling that Chain Link would indeed be an honest judge, even though he looked as if he were made out of stone. Spike thought that he and Rainbow Dash would have a better chance of getting out of this courthouse with Chain Link, rather than with Garble. Spike swallowed, but forced himself to look at the single milky eye.

“Your honor. I shall tell you how events came to pass.” There was a slight quaver in Spike’s voice, but he swallowed it away. “You see, we have come here to the Dragon Lands on a quest. We need to have parts for a teleportation machine to rebuild it, because our friend—“

But he was cut short by a hard nudge from Rainbow Dash. Spike turned towards her, rubbing his arm. “We shouldn’t tell them everything,” Rainbow Dash said, her voice tuned down to a whisper. “Especially not about the disappearance of a certain somepony.”

At first, Spike didn’t understand, and his eyes darted around. Rainbow Dash gestured with her head to her flank. Spike looked, saw her cutie mark, and then realized exactly what Dash meant. If the dragons would know that one element of harmony was missing, they would know that Equestria was weakened. Perhaps they would lock him and Dash back up and spend their energy on assembling their armies instead. Perhaps they would march upon Equestria, pillaging and raiding every settlement of the ponies. “Yes, let’s not say too much,” Spike whispered. “And besides, we haven’t sworn the oath yet.”

The crowd became restless, probably wondering whether the trial was over yet; or perhaps wondering if the defendants had lost their tongues in fear.

But Spike cleared his throat, and continued his tale. “So we needed parts. That’s all. We came to the Dragon Lands by boat, and we were actually trying to find the capital city and the throne of Dragon-Lady Ember.” But the moment Spike said that, he regretted those words. He quickly continued talking, trying to talk over that little mistake. “I mean, the eh… the current dragon on the throne. We were trying to ask for permission, your honor. After that, we were going to ask for the fabrication of the parts, and ship them back home to Equestria. Simple as pie.”

“Yeah, sure,” Garble said, so softly that Chain Link wouldn’t hear it. But Rainbow Dash’s ear turned in that direction, and she heard it just fine. The venomous mocking tone made a bomb go off in her head. Suddenly, she flapped her wings and hovered in the air, the chain clinking violently. “IT’S THE TRUTH!” she shouted. “We WERE just going to get parts, until your personal army of oversized snakes jumped in front of our noses!”

“So what? You got a warning first!” Garble shouted back.

“You just sprang out of your cowardly hiding places and nearly clipped my wing with a crossbow bolt! I don’t call that a warning shot, Garble!”

“Nearly, not quite,” Garble countered. “So it was a warning shot!”

“ORDER!”

Chain Link’s voice was at the same time loud and sharp, cutting through the argument like a white-hot knife. Everyone went silent. One of the dragons in the crowd dropped a toothpick, and you could hear it falling on the ground. After a few uncomfortable minutes, Chain Link sat straight and looked from Garble to Dash and Spike; from Dash and Spike to Garble. Then he sighed like a chilly breeze. “Two different stories. Two different versions. I do not know who speaks the truth, but I have my suspicions. I say we call our witnesses, and shed further light on this case. Dragon-Lord Garble, you may call your witnesses and cross-examine them.”

“With pleasure,” Garble said. After throwing one more deadly glance at Rainbow Dash, he turned to face the crowd. “Boulder Bash! Shinedown! Get your slithery asses in that seat!”

From one corner of the hall came shouts and calls. A few dragons shuffled aside, and in a matter of minutes, Boulder Bash and Shinedown got pushed onto the stage. They walked towards the seat next to the judge, their steps a far cry from Garble’s enthusiastic gait, and sat down.

Chain Link eyed the two for a few seconds, looking as if he tried to taste their anxiety. “The prosecutor may proceed to examine the witnesses.”

Garble walked over to Shinedown, and leaned on his desk, treating it like a bar with drinks. “My dear Shinedown, would you please share with us your experiences regarding these two individuals over there?”

Shinedown shifted in his seat, not knowing where to look. “I eh… I was just patrolling the skies, as I always do, and then I… eh… I spotted them—the pony and the pipsqueak I mean. And then I signaled with my scales. And then Boulder Bash made a small rock avalanche to alert the high guard. And then you arrived with the army, Garble—eh, Dragon-Lord Garble I mean.”

“Very well,” Garble said, trying to sound calm even though Shinedown was both a terrible storyteller and once again forgetting his proper title. He slid towards Boulder Bash, tracing grooves in the stone with his claw. “And my dear Boulder Bash, what happened when we politely asked our friends here to halt and throw their claws—or hooves—up in the air?”

“But you didn’t—“

Garble’s fist shot out, jabbed Bash against the throat, and retracted faster than the eye could see. The brute reached for his throat, doubling over in pain. He wanted to yell, but the pain flared like a red-hot cork in his windpipe, and the only thing that came from his mouth was a gurgling sound.

“And my dear Boulder Bash, what happened when we politely asked our friends here to halt and throw their claws—or hooves—up in the air?” Garble said again, using the exact same words, but now they had an even sharper edge of false politeness.

For a minute, everything Boulder Bash could do was gargle, but he knew he had to say something quickly. Determined not to make the same mistake twice, he decided to say as little as possible. “The blue pony attacked you,” he said between wheezes. “Then she flew away.”

Garble spun around on his heels, his arms outstretched. “See? Different dragons, same story. Everything falls into place, just the way it’s supposed to be. I have nothing more to ask them.”

Chain Link nodded; his eye blinked. “Very well. The defendants may choose witnesses and cross-examine them.”

“This is bad,” Spike said to Rainbow Dash. “Those dragons are all lying; they’re all loyal to Garble. We don’t have any witnesses ourselves, and those dragons are not going to help us.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “But isn’t there something we can do? Can’t you work your lawyer magic or something?”

This was hardly the time for jokes, but Spike realized that Dash was right; he had to make the best of it. He had to trust in his own skills.

But then, Rainbow Dash veered up. She had to buy some time so Spike could think of something, and might as well make that time useful. “But before you’re gonna say anything, I would like to know one thing myself.” She stood up. “I call Garble as my witness.”

For a brief second Garble actually looked surprised, but then his showman’s mask slid before his face again, and he gave Dash a sneer. “Sure, ask away.”

“I wanna know what the hay happened to this land, AND I want to know what happened with Ember!”

Garble jolted as if the words stung him. He glanced around the hall, then finally at Chain Link. “Your honor, that story is both irrelevant and unnecessary, which I’m pretty sure are the same things. How I came to power has no connection with this case, and neither has the fate of Ember. I suggest you—“

“The pegasus asked you a question,” Chain Link said in his deep, droning voice. “Answer.”

“Yeah, come on, Dragon-Lord! We all love that story,” one dragon shouted from the crowd. “Tell us!”

And then, the others joined in and together they called, “TELL US! TELL US! TELL US!”

“FINE!” Garble flapped his wings, made a small circle in the air, and then landed right in the middle of the stage, the stone cracking underneath his claws. “You want the history of Garble’s Kingdom? You’ll get it.” He cleared his throat; two small flames fled through his nostrils. He forced his voice to calm down, as he knew that this performance was both well-known and well-loved. Here we go.

“So there I was, Dragon-Lord Garble, but not quite Dragon-Lord at that time. I was alone on the streets—cloaked in shame and humiliation. Never had my level of awesomeness been that low. Never had my health been worse. With sad eyes I had to watch Ember rise to the throne, taking the place of our great former Dragon-Lord Torch. It pained me to see what Ember did with her power, and how she abused it. It pained me to see how Ember threw the dragon code away into the great fiery pit, and our self-respect and pride with it.” A tear rolled down Garble’s cheeks, but it evaporated before it could touch the ground. “Some plans of the new politics were terrible—well, actually all of the new political plans were terrible, as many of you would agree. Our once glorious raids and attacks dwindled, until at last they diminished. And what did we get in return? TRADE. For centuries we took what we needed with our awesome strength and power, and now we had to give in our pride, pretend to be friendly traders, put on a false mask, and gain our goods honestly?”

Some dragons started crying as well; others started to boo or spit fire in frustration.

But Garble wasn’t done yet. “But the fact that really disgusted me; the fact that made me throw up at least twice a day, were Ember’s ‘friendship politics.’” Garble clutched his stomach and gagged; a few ashy clouds escaped his mouth. “First we had to pretend we were friendly with our former victims, and now we had to actually be friends with them? Allow their weak tribes and people to coexist and be protected against our power? I saw that moment that their weakness was contagious, and that, if we would be ‘friends’ with them, we would grow weaker too, until there would be nothing left of our great culture and traditions—especially the dragon code. I knew in my heart that Ember’s friendship politics would never work; they were way too unrealistic. Friendship isn’t in our blood—rage and passion and fury is in our blood. DRAGON’S DON’T DO FRIENDSHIP!”

The crowd agreed, screaming and yelling and repeating Garble’s words. Teeth and fangs glowed and glittered, and they looked about ready to go to war; they wouldn’t even need weapons or armor.

“But the last and final politics which ignited the flames of my glorious revolution were… ponies. Let me not waste too many words over this matter, for I am getting nauseous just letting the words out of my mouth. Ember… wanted… to be friends… with… PONIES!”

Another wave of rage from the crows. Some dragons stood up as if they wanted to walk to the stage and strangle Rainbow Dash with their bare claws.

“Can you believe it?” Garble continued. “Making friends with the puniest, weakest, most ridiculous race in all of Equestria? Well, I couldn’t, and still can’t. And that, my dear subjects, is how the revolution started. I gathered a force of sympathizers, and marched towards the Castle of the Dragon-Lords. The guards were no match for us. In fact, as soon as they realized what I was doing, they joined me, seeing the nobleness of my deed. We stormed the castle like the storm that raged outside that day, fueling our anger and power. At last, I reached the throne hall, where former Dragon-Lord Torch and Ember were, the Bloodstone Scepter in her claws. As soon as I entered that hall, I felt the Bloodstone Scepter call me. I felt its power already surging through my boiling veins. The only thing I had to do was reach out and grab it.

“But they wouldn’t let me. I had expected Ember to defy me, but not former Dragon-Lord Torch. I tried to reason with him; tried to show him the truth and righteousness of my intentions, but unfortunately, he decided not to follow me, and to this day it still hurts my heart when I think about how I had to destroy him.”

Spike and Rainbow Dash gasped; the rest of the hall was silent. This was their favorite part.

“The battle was long and fierce; terrible and intense. Sparks and fire flew through the air, adding only more rage to the storm outside. From miles away, flashes of light and dragon fire could be seen from the direction of Garble Gorge, and women and children retreated in their homes and locked the doors, scared of the outcome of the battle.

“But they didn’t need to fear anything, for I was victorious. At the break of dawn, a blood-red dawn heralding a new beginning, I stood on former Dragon-Lord Torch’s charred bones, gazing down on his daughter, who lay in a puddle of her own tears. But there was no time for mercy. She saw that her father was dead, she saw that the Dragon Lands had a new leader, and perhaps she even saw my righteous mission. So, out of her own free will, she handed me the Bloodstone Scepter, ready to be used by a real, genuine Dragon-Lord. A Dragon-Lord true to the dragon code. A Dragon-Lord which will make the Dragon Lands great again, and the race of the dragons glorious and rich, as we are meant to be!”

Garble’s story came at an end. The dragons in the crowd gave a formal applause, their claws clicking against each other and their feet stomping on the ground. Some of them blinked away tears—the smaller ones did.

Now Spike and Rainbow Dash had gotten what they wanted; an answer to their questions; the reason why the Dragon Lands were as they were. But they both wondered whether it would have been better not to know, as Garble’s story smashed all hope they had left. They knew they weren’t going to get the parts; they knew they were not going to get out of here alive. With Garble on the throne, all was lost.

Rainbow Dash blinked, her eyes now watery despite the dryness of the air and the oppressive heat of the room. Spike blinked away a tear. Desperation ruled their minds.

Garble made a pirouette, bowed to the crowd, and then turned to Chain Link. “So, how did I do?”

Chain Link swayed a bit; his chains rattled. “Do the defendants wish to cross-examine more witnesses?”

But Rainbow Dash and Spike were at a loss for words. They were still processing all the horrible things Garble had said. It seemed unreal to them. Even though Garble had told everyone in the hall loud and clearly, they were still wondering how in Equestria this had happened. It seemed unreal to them, as if they weren’t actually here, in a trial, pleading for their lives.

But then the picture of Fluttershy flashed before their eyes. They had to live—for Fluttershy. They had to find a way out of here. Perhaps, once they were free, they could search for a blacksmith who wasn’t loyal to Garble’s regime. Surely there must be some kind of resistance. Surely not every dragon would share the same ideas as Garble. Spike shook his head. They had to get out of here. He took a moment to recompose himself, going by every step of the trial that had passed, and every step which still had to be taken in order to finish it. He looked at the seat with the witnesses: Shinedown and Boulder Bash. Then he looked at Chain Link. “I wish to cross-examine the witnesses.”

Chain Link nodded.

“Mister Shinedown,” Spike said, although he would rather skip the formalities and call him something mean, “may I ask you a question?”

Shinedown grinned. Against a tiny dragon like Spike, he suddenly looked much more confident. “Sure thing, pipsqueak.”

Spike chose to ignore the insult, but still he frowned. “The prosecutor, Dragon-Lord Garble, has accused Rainbow Dash of reckless flying through dragon airspace without the permission of the Dragon-Lord. What is your position in the Dragon-Lord’s army, if I may ask?”

“I’m a scout,” Shinedown said. “The finest aerial scout and watchdragon around.”

“I see.” Spike rubbed his chin with his claw. “So you have to fly a lot, and look for suspicious things in the kingdom, I presume.”

“Indeed.”

“Then you go wherever you want, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And I don’t presume that you have to ask the Dragon-Lord permission when you fly somewhere, do you?”

Shinedown’s eyes lost contact with Spike’s for a second. He threw a glance at Garble, and saw him tracing his claw across his neck in a threatening gesture.

“I… eh… I don’t.”

Yes, Spike thought. I got him. “If you can go and fly wherever you want, then why does Rainbow Dash need to ask special permission to Garble when you don’t have to? Isn’t that a little bit unfair, since we’re talking about the same airspace in the same land, and we’re both talking about flying races?”

For a moment, Shinedown looked lost, but then he found his voice once more. He pierced his gaze against Spike’s. “I don’t have to ask Garble permission, pipsqueak, because I’m a part of his army. If your Raincow Lash wants to fly around in our airspace, she would have to join Garble’s army as well.” He let out a sharp snicker. “She would be a wonderful addition to the force, if I say so myself.”

Then Spike felt the hope sink to his toes. He felt himself blush in shame. He looked at Rainbow Dash, who looked back at him as if she were saying, ‘you sure you know what you’re doing?’

A low grumble came from the judge’s seat. “Do you wish to question any more witnesses, Spike the dragon?”

Spike knew he had to. He had to at least try. As he turned his gaze towards the gigantic Boulder Bash, his mind raced as fast as an adrenaline-filled pegasus.

“You gonna say something or what?” Boulder Bash said. His voice was loud and angry, as if he would rather eat the baby dragon right now.

Then, Spike’s eyes flared up with a sudden idea. “Mister Bash, if I can call you that, you saw that Rainbow Dash and I got ‘arrested’ by Dragon-Lord Garble, as you were a member of the party that carried out the task. Am I correct?”

“Yup,” Boulder Bash said, as he started picking his teeth.

“And of course you saw Dash’s reaction to the holdup, didn’t you?”

“Yup,” Bash said again.

“Good.” Spike actually smiled. “Now Rainbow Dash here, she got startled after seeing so many dragons advance on her at once. I’m sure she felt more than a little intimidated, didn’t you, Rainbow Dash?”

Dash’s first reaction was to say ‘no’ of course, but she kept her words at bay, and swallowed her pride—just this one time. “Yes,” Rainbow said, putting on her best, most pitiful Fluttershy-look. “They were scary.”

“Right,” Spike said. Now he was actually smiling at Rainbow’s silly face. “Now, Mister Bash, what would you do when a band of menacing-looking dragons, armed to the teeth, would corner you with obvious hostile intentions?”

Boulder Bash laughed. “Ha! That’s easy! I would have fought till the death, crushing each and every dragon’s skull until I would drop to the ground.”

“Okay. And, according to dragon law, would that be considered a foul deed?”

“Of course not,” Boulder Bash said. “We have the right to defend ourselves when threatened. That is my favorite right, you know, and the right I use the most. Well, actually—“ Bash frowned in thought—“actually it is the only right I can remember.”

“I see. And what did Rainbow Dash do during her arrest?”

“Duh. She fought. If you could have called it fighting. It looked more like the buck of a dumbass ass.”

“So she defended herself.”

Then, Boulder Bash realized his mistake. His eyes flashed from side to side. In the corner of his eye, he saw Garble; the Dragon-Lord was about ready to explode.

“Thank you, your honor, I’ve said enough.” Spike looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile on his face, and Dash smiled back while giving him a hoofbump, celebrating the first good point they’d made.

Chain Link folded his claws together. “Very well. I have heard enough. The trial is over.”

Once again, Rainbow Dash and Spike exchanged glances. They knew that this was the moment. It was time for the judge to plead them innocent or guilty, and to determine their punishment, would they be found guilty. Both Spike and Dash were sweating, but it was not because of the heat. They turned their heads towards Chain Link, gathering all the hope and positive thoughts they could.

Garble just sat there, his arms crossed, a smile on his face. He knew what would happen; he had nothing to fear. Garble breathed in, and began blowing smoke-rings, which drifted over the stage and up in the air, before finally dissolving against the chandeliers.

Even the crowd was silent. Every dragon was on the edge of his seat. They too, knew what would probably happen, but they still liked the sound of Chain Link’s voice when he said that one magical word.

Chain Link breathed in, breathed out. An ashy grey cloud of fine dust and soot formed before his hood. His milky eye gleamed. Then, Chain Link unfolded his claws, and started using one to wave away the dust cloud, almost as if he were drawing in the air. Dash and Spike could hear him grumbling and whispering. The cloud became thinner and thinner, cut into tiny lines and wisps by the curved claw. Then, it suddenly dissolved, and retreated as if it were scared of the dragon’s curled, jagged claw and its icy touch.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t stand it anymore. “Is he gonna say something?” she whispered.

Spike said nothing, but looked at the high judge’s seat, his eyes glittering.

Everyone was silent. Everyone was expecting. Even the chains around Chain Link’s neck stopped rattling, as the dragon swayed slowly from side to side.

“Hmm…”

The sound was indistinguishable; a mere grunt like cracking stone.

“My verdict…”

Spike and Dash and all the other dragons except Garble leaned forward.

Chain Link breathed in and out; his words drifted on the cold airstream. “I hereby declare Spike the dragon and Rainbow Dash the pegasus guilty of their crimes. I hereby sentence them both to death. The sentence is to be carried out tomorrow at the break of dawn.”

And with a knock of his stone hammer, the trial was over.

Comments

[Luna Nightshade]

Well... nice try, Spike ...

[Elkia Deerling]

Jup. Things aren't looking so bright for Spike and Rainbow Dash. They aren't so bright, but they will get interesting...